Cariad

(I hope this is in the right place - it's my first post...) I'm a bpal virgin, lured over by a recommendation from the Lush forum and seduced by the descriptions of the scents . I love the sound of dragon's blood perfumes, but I'm not sure which one to go for... I like the sound of Dragon's Heart (just for the name!) but I'm pretty inexperienced with 'musky' perfumes and the red + black musks sound quite strong (is that my imagination?). Dragon's Bone sounds interesting as well, though I'm not too sure about the 'dryness' of it. There are probably loads of blends which I have missed as well... I like most perfumes with a bit of intrigue, perhaps a bit of spice; preferably nothing too foody or sweet (although B Never's Love and Keep It Fluffy are both good on me). Other blends I was thinking of trying: Bathsheba (again with the red musk), Nuit, Vixen and Santa Eularia (just because I love the mediterranean...) Thank you! Cariad x

Snake Oil with purple fruits, only better - deeper, more inviting, more incense-y... SO sexy I thought I wouldn't be able to pull it off. Then it broke my heart by turning into cloying-sickly-sour-plum-medicine-doom on my skin. Stupid plum. ETA: after reading Andrabell's post, I might just have to get another sample of this one...

... A deep, resonant scent, both comforting and soft: lovers’ roses, solemn chrysanthemum, dark vetiver and dazzling cactus flowers. Have I really not reviewed Santa Muerte? o_O This was one of my first 5mls, and I suspect I'll come to think of it as my 'scent of 2007'. I got an imp of it last autumn and, as usual, tried it out on a piece of tissue before I put it on my skin - never really a good idea, and this was no exception, because all I could smell on the tissue was sharp, green vetiver. On my skin, however, it's a different story altogether: warm, almost dusty green - I can understand the comparisons to cocoa - melded with a lovely rose and bright, juicy cactus flowers (and... well... my untrained nose can't make out the 'mums, but I'm sure they're there). It's a beautifully blended perfume, with each layer rising up into the other, complementing one another perfectly. When I moved to Spain and spent winter in a warm, dusty-golden landscape full of cactus fruit and convents, Santa Muerte really came into her own - rich, earthy, mysterious, feminine and playful. I wore this oil almost non-stop for 8 months and I still find myself reaching for it whenever I want something grounded but elegant. I love it --> I have to add a disclaimer: my skin will turn *anything* warm and earthy if it can, so it's no surprise I'm such a fan of myrrh, vetiver and the like. It's still a beautiful and unusual perfume, though; definitely one to try for those who don't normally go for rose or florals.

I have a bad head cold, so I might have to add some more coherent comments when I can actually smell again, but... oh my god! This is a scent I would *never* have picked out on my own, but it's so... me. All I can smell through the cold is slightly chocolatey, earthy, sensual goodness. It's not as in-your-face SEXY as, say, Snake Oil; more like "I know exactly how sexy I am; it's up to you if you want to find out..." And that is more or less exactly how I want to smell.

I totally second Masabakes - it's very heavy on the myrrh, but if you can get past that, it warms up to a deliciously tart, juicy blackcurrant with a trace of mimosa to make it more elegant. I don't like sweet scents as a rule, and this is the only non-citrus fruity BPAL that has worked on me to date.

Wow. I don't know what prompted me to get an imp of Hecate, but I'm so glad I did! Almonds aren't usually my thing, but I can trust my skin to do good things with myrrh and dark musk, and the whole blend worked out *so* much better than I could imagine... On first sniff, Hecate is powerfully almondy, but also curiously un-foody. The other notes are definitely lurking in the background, and they give a dusky, night-time feel to the blend. On my skin, the almonds quickly settled down and the rich, spicy myrrh and dark musk came out, making this smell *gorgeous.* This is what I hoped Bastet would smell like - slightly homely and alluring from the almonds, but with a fierce edge. I can see this one becoming a favourite, especially in winter.

In the imp: WHOOSH! This stuff is minty! On my skin, the violet comes to the foreground, and the interplay between the bright mint and cool, dark violet is lovely, really evocative. If I pay attention, I can make out the rose and the sandalwood too, rounding out the scent. This is a really beautiful perfume - the equivalent of standing in my parents' cottage garden on a clear summer night under the stars. I think I might need a bottle of this. eta: the osmanthus has come out to play now that I've applied some more - it makes Utrennyaya smell like the less fruity younger sister of Venice. I'm still loving this blend!

Litha smells slightly different every time I try it, but it always smells like summer. I grew up in the West Wales countryside, and this blend really does smell like a warm, sunny afternoon in a Welsh meadow, at just that point in the year when all of the grass seeds and the wild flowers are out. At first, the honey and the greenery in the bottle reminded me of a less fruity Hetairae - no bad thing imo The first time I tried it on my skin, the verbena came singing to the front with a lovely, fresh lemony smell. On the whole, though, it's the mead which really stands out - slightly mellower than the usual BPAL honey note, blending so beautifully with the other notes that all I'm left with is the glorious impression of those summer meadows. Like most of the other seasonal blends I've tried, I probably wouldn't wear it as a year-round perfume, but it's just perfect for this time of year.

I decided to give this one last try before I put it in the swaps box, and my god am I glad! I usually try out my new imps on tissue first, and with Masabakes all I could smell was MYRRH! - so I pulled a face and put it away somewhere to forget about it. I got it out again today while I was writing out my swaps list, and because myrrh and I usually get along just fine, I decided to swipe a little on my wrist to see if it would change at all - and wow! After a few seconds of dusty, dry bitterness, it warms up to a delisciously dark, fruity scent with enough of a bite to keep it from being too sweet. I've had no luck with fruity blends until now, but this one is a winner.

I'm trying out a frimp of Shanghai today as well - it doesn't really smell like jasmine, but it really does smell like TEA!

I got an aged (2 year old!) imp of Snake Oil from a very generous swapper I was really curious to try it after all I've read. When I first applied it, there was something sharp, almost astringent-smelling about it - it reminds me of the initial smell I get from Hamadryad. But that's only the tip of the iceberg... This scent has *depth*. At first I thought it was far too sultry for me, but as it dries down it mellows into the loveliest, most intriguing, enticing vanilla - and I don't even like vanilla! It also has a gorgeous throw, almost like a veil of perfume. I've been trying to cull my imp collection (semi-seriously) by getting my boyfriend to grade the different perfumes out of 10. Snake Oil started off with a 7.5 but eventually got bumped up to a 9, after he kept sniffing my arms and asking, "my god, what IS that perfume?! grrr..."

Have you tried Fox-Woman Kuzuhona? I *love* jasmine flowers and I love jasmine tea, so I've been searching for a BPAL jasmine blend that works on me ever since I discovered BPAL. The Fox-Woman is it. It's rounded out slightly by wisteria and cherry blossom, so it's not a straight jasmine tea scent, but it's close enough for me. Sweet, light and beautiful

The Fox-Woman Kuzunoha is perfect for when I want to smell fresh, delicate and springlike I had a perfect spring moment yesterday, walking to class in the sunshine underneath the cherry trees, smelling of delicate blossoms and tea.

First impression: Sex! That's really what it smells like to my nose. Sex. I knew I wanted a bottle of this as soon as I saw the perfume notes, but my god, I never imagined it would smell this good on me. The amber blends beautifully with the citrus, making it a glowing, golden blend, much less sharp than I expected. The pepper gives a sexy kick, and the vetiver stays in the background, rounding out the blend with a hint of depth and darkness. But this blend is so much more than the sum of all its parts. This is a silk-and-killer-heels perfume, and to my impressionable nose, there is something of the crone about it... My first head-over-heels true BPAL love eta: having gone back to look at the painting, I have even more respect for Beth's artistry in this blend - it somehow manages to capture both the beautiful, sexual, alluring side of the gorgons before they were cursed (the side that got them into all this trouble in the first place), and the shadow of the 'monsters' they became.

I've just had THE most amazing, delicate, perfumed pot of tea of my life, and I am determined to find its BPAL equivalent According to the menu, it was Japanese 'femeninty tea' (or something like that - I'm translating -badly- from the Spanish): it had sencha tea leaves, rose petals and other 'traditional Japanese ingredients'. I'm pretty sure there was cherry blossom in it. The smell was slightly fruity, slightly rosy, and slightly musky. I thought Kabuki and Kyoto would be good blends to try, but I know they won't have that delicate rose scent - perhaps I should layer them with something? Or is there another blend that I'm completely overlooking? Tea blends don't normally work well on my skin, but if I found something that smelled like this, I wouldn't care - I'd use it on my skin, in a locket, in my house, on my clothes...

Hmm... that might be worth checking out, because 'masculine sweetness' is definitely what smells best on him - his other favourites are Aureus and Xiuhtecuhtli

Is there anything in the GC (or just *anything* I can get hold of at the moment) that smells like Quincy Morris? My boyfriend finally got round to testing my unloved imp the other day, and it smells OH SO good on him! I think it's the pear that I like so much, but none of the other pear blends I can find seem to have the same sort of masculine vibe. Any suggestions?

Why is it that certain rose blends turn funny on my skin when others smell so gorgeous?! London was rose heaven on my skin, but a bit too straight *rose!* for everyday wear. The roses in Moscow and Rakshasa were just perfectly-blended hints of floral softness, which I loved. I think Harlot was a good rose, too, but it didn't stick around for long enough for me to find out ...but my skin seems to turn some of my other rose blends into cloying petrochemical hell. I picked up an imp of Rose Cross, thinking that I couldn't go wrong with two of my favourite notes, and it turned so cloying on my skin that I had to wash it off. The same happened with Parlament of Foules. I'm beginning to think that roses + resins = disaster on my skin. There are so many more rose blends that I want to try, but I'm scared of the dreaded BAD rose. I'm mostly after that 'hint of floral softness'. I might try following Chrysantza's advice and go for rose blends with a base of musk... Spellbound is one that comes to mind - anything else that people think I *have* to try, while I'm being enabled? eta: I completely forgot about Santa Muerte! The rose in Santa Muerte is beautiful but subdued. I'm beginning to think that earthy roses are the way to go for my skin.

Wow. I got an imp of Love Me in my advent calender this morning so I tested it out with a small dab on my elbow, and wow. The effect this has had on my state of mind is just incredible. The only thing I can think of to compare it to is rose oil. I don't think there is any rose in this, but rose is the only other oil that makes me feel immediately relaxed, carefree and confident. ...Although, come to think of it, this has a much less 'pure' effect than rose - it makes me feel kittenish - that absolutely sums up the first few minutes on my skin. It's not really my kind of scent, but I stuck with it because the throw was so deliciously spicy-sweet. It really gets up your nose, in the best possible way. The drydown just gets better and better. My nose isn't nearly good enough to identify the notes in this, but I'm not getting any woods - just smoky, darkly sweet & playful cinnamon incense. This is the kind of scent that lingers on the skin. I can imagine my OH burying his face in my neck to smell this one - I'll have to try it out at the weekend...

I've just tried Tarot: The World and it is *the* most perfect scent I have come across. Can anyone recommend me some similar oils to try? I'm a bit of a newbie so I'm always on the lookout for recommendations, + I don't like the idea of wearing a Tarot oil on a regular basis... I can't make out many of the notes except cinnamon and possibly rose geranium. I love the spice and the woodsy-earthiness and the gentle lemony freshness of this blend.

Perfectly blended. The whole is definitely greater than the sum of its parts. Roses and cinnamon are two of my favourite scents, and I knew this was going to be a delectable creation, but somehow this manages to smell so much better than I had even dreamed - hot, sultry, soft, sweet, very inviting... and then, 5 mins after it touches my skin, it disappears in a puff of smoke oh well - I might use the rest of the imp on my pillows, see if it really does induce sexual dreams

Rapture, on me, smells exactly like B Never's 2 Hearts, which is supposed to smell exactly like Lush's Fever: jasmine and rose. On me, both of the perfumes smell likek cloying jasmine I'm still looking for something that brings out the sandalwoody goodness of Fever.

Ah, London. I've had a love/hate relationship with this city for most of my life so I was intrigued by the perfume... Being a cynical miss, I still think that it should smell of tea and roses with an undercurrent of grime and stale beer. Instead, it smells exactly like a tea rose - not a single note, but an actual bloom, with all the depth and body of the scent straight from the flower. This the rose scent I've been waiting for. It doesn't smell cloying or powdery on my skin, and it's neither girlish nor old-ladyish. Whatever wickedness it's emboldened with, I *like* it! I would feel equally comfortable wearing London in the British Library or in a bar in Camden. It epitomises the "love" part of my relationship with the city. My first candidate for a big bottle order...

Another good one I've been using is www.basenotes.net/directory It's the same sort of thing - really useful when looking for a bpal fragrance that my mother would like (she's an Estee Lauder fan usually )

I'm glad I finally got around to trying this one, because the drydown is worth it. In the imp, it smells like germolene! I think it must be the 'crisp northern wind' element that gives it that medicinal tinge... On my skin, it stays quite medicinal for the first few seconds, but quickly mellows out into a lovely soft floral and berry blend with a bit of wintery sharpness, like roses and loganberries over frosty leaves. Like all the wanderlust scents I've tried so far, it's wonderfully evocative. To me, this seems like a January scent. It's very wintery, but not spicy or indulgent like a festive scent. It's like the cold, bleak but beautiful light of day at the dawn of the new year. I'm definitely saving my imp.