Laurel the Woodfairy

I wanted to try Oya as I have had good luck with plum scents at least some of the time--most notably the divine Queen of Spades. Oya starts with sweet, strong notes of cherry-almond and plum. There's something sharp and chemical underneath, which is really a shame--the topnotes are nice. Alas, Oya is more about war with my skin than love!

I've been so impressed with Beth's tea notes that I'll give this a shot, despite the dreaded jasmine. On first application, Phantasm smells much like dear Embalming Fluid--lovely clean lemon and green tea. As it dries, the jasmine peeks out. It doesn't mess up the blend too badly, but I'd rather just wear E.F. and not mess about with one of the notes that hates me!

"What shall Cordelia do? Love and be fragrant!" (apologies to Will Shakes) I'll be giving this to my sister, the ingenue thespian of the family. She already has Ophelia and Juliet; I'm hoping she'll get to play all these wonderful parts someday, and of course she'll need the right imps! On me, Cordelia opens with lemon pound-cake, similar to Follow Me Boy. Yum. She settles down to a beautiful, clean lilac-wisteria; a fresh floral with just a hint of lingering citrus. Very sweet and pretty.

What kind of Victorianist would I be if I didn't jump at the chance to sniff this? Thomas Hardy is The Master. I'll buy any scent inspired by anything he wrote (although if Beth ever comes out with Tess of the D'Urbervilles, the squee will know no bounds. Pleeeeeease?). On me, Darkling Thrush is like a wintry version of City in the Sea--what I loved about that blend was the combination of aquatic and soft floral; Thrush has both of those, plus that elusive, delightful snow-and-pine scent from Skadi, Snow Bunny, etc. (I concur that the review that called this note "Yule at the Lab" was dead-on. ) I don't really get amber, which is just fine with me--Hardy would roll in his grave if it smelled more like Hope than like Darkness.

Snow Maiden was one of the rare blends that I had to try for the name and concept rather than the notes--I would feel like I'd missed out this Yule if I didn't have at least an imp of her. I love that Beth created so many new blends this year, since testing and reviewing are a huge part of the BPAL fun whether or not the scent becomes a fav. Snow Maiden smells like Skadi crossed with Eos, which is just as odd, yet lovely, as one might expect--crisp pine and snow like Skadi, but with soft pale florals. This reminds me a lot of Snow Bunny--there are subtle differences, but it's so closely related as to be a good replacement for the Bun. I'm honestly not too crazy about the pine/frost family of scents, even though I think it's very cool that Beth keeps finding variations to play with. I'm glad I have an imp but don't need a bottle.

I only got a decant of Snow-Flakes, as I tend to be wary when there are no notes listed. Besides, I have my precioussss bottle of Snow White, but I still want the fun of trying the new stuff along with everyone--it's a form of BPAL solidarity. Er, why yes, I am hardcore, why do you ask? I understand the comparison to Numb--I believe this is violet here, but it's subtle, and mixed with a soft mint and a definite aquatic. There's something very faint that keeps making my brain go "Snow White?" Could it be the rare and gorgeous lily-musk? That's the most distinctive note in Snow White, so I suspect it could be. Well, this is really pretty and I'm so glad I have an imp, but it reminds me that I adore Snow White and would rather be wearing her!

Ah, but that is the beauty of BPAL, now isn't it??? Almost all of us are here because we are so out of the mainstream, taste-wise!

I did not buy Lick It last year--for whatever reason, I wasn't in a peppermint mood. This year, though, I am BIG TIME in that mood! Now that I have bath bombs, body wash, and lotion in candy cane scents, I am all prepared to layer Lick It Again properly and be sweet all season. And, as a side note, let me just say that I love the labels on the bottles this year--very elegant. Mmmm, Lick It Again is just as good as I hoped! It's slightly tingly on my skin, and I can clearly smell both vanilla and the yummy peppermint. It *does* have a slightly menthol edge to it at first, but that doesn't bother me. The overall impression is of peppermint combined with cupcakes or other foodiness, and I just love it!

If it has rose as a main note, I *will* try it! I am grateful to have gotten an imp of this at the Atlanta M&S! Wet, this reminds me of London--a soft tea-rose, very gentle. But slightly greener than London. However, the ylang kinda drowns the rose as it dries on me, and I don't like that nearly as much. I may give this to one of my friends or relatives with similar but not identical taste to mine.

Lurid was not really on my radar until Eat Me made me realize how much I like currant as a note. Since then I've been tracking down blends, such as Bewitched, that also contain it. Lurid is an odd scent, and I know just why: white musk. Sometimes it turns to hairspray on me. It doesn't quite do that here, but it makes the currant...unsettling. Somehow. I know that's vague. It's not a bad scent, but it's just slightly too artificial for me, and that's got to be the white musk + ozone.

I love Baudelaire. Had to give this a shot. Hmph, violet just really doesn't work too well on me. It turns into this strange sort of fake-floral with a plastic edge, like...like a My Little Pony. That's exactly what it reminds me of. The vanilla is nice but not enough to save it.

I would have to say Pride is my besetting sin, but Lust is a close second. High time I tried this! Lust smells like Ren Faire incense; I swear I got a hint of orange blossom before it morphed into sweet ylang. There's a nice spiciness going on here. I'm not overly fond of patchouli; it's not bad but it doesn't really add anything I love. Brian was not lust-crazed at smelling it; he said it was "ok...slightly gypsy." Ah, but I have a bottle of Gypsy Queen for that sort of mood, so I don't think I need this one.

I love dragon's blood but I haven't reviewed any of the draconic scents in awhile; so, since I'm fond of red musk, I'm trying Dragon's Heart. It's much, much sweeter than I expected--I thought Dragon's Milk was so sweet because of the vanilla, but now I'm thinking the resin itself is also very sweet. I *almost* like it, but if it's this sweet I might as well just stick with the Milk, since for some reason this is going a bit powdery.

I have no idea what pennyroyal smells like, but it's supposed to be good for headaches so I'm curious about it. It smells...or at least something in here smells...of fresh mint. Pleasant, clean, but a touch medicinal--rather like some mint tea that I have. The musk appears on the drydown. I don't think it actually has headache-relief properties for me. Oh well, worth a try!

Although Beth designed Numb for, as she brilliantly put it, "grr-stickity hot" weather (hee hee), it remains a winter scent in my mind, so I'm testing it now to see if it should go into my holiday-scent rotation. In a word, nope. Candied violets, or possibly violet dusting powder. A nifty, old-fashioned scent, like a big powder puff on a Victorian lady's dressing table, with just a hint of alcohol as if from cologne...however, my ideal Victorian lady is my beautiful roses-on-ice Havisham, so I just don't think I'd wear this.

What's in an imp? That which we call Juliet would smell...well, not too good on me. I forgot she contains heliotrope, my enemy. The nice, crisp pear helps, but there is just no getting around the ooey-sweet devil flowers. However, I may pass this on to my sister, the ingenue of the family--she's bound to play Juliet one of these days, and she can wear Glitter, so heliotrope doesn't seem to bother her.

This blend sounds like an unusual cocktail; you could confuse a bartender by ordering a Mock Turtle. Vodka, apple, lime--sounds good. However, the Turtle is VERY faint on me; after a good slather, I just get a wussy sort of mint and the barest hint of apple. This is more of a virgin-appletini of a scent on me; not enough kick for my taste.

Tez is one of several scents that I tended to overlook in the GC because they belong to the "unpronounceables" category. However, I've seen such positive references to it, and I adore cocoa in Velvet and Candy Butcher., so it's time to give this a whirl! Right out of the imp, there was the quickest flash of yummy cocoa, but then Tez became all patchouli and flowers, which is a seriously weird combo on me. I don't think my skin is amping the better aspects of this one. Ah well.

I wanted to try this, not only because some of the Countess' notes sound similar to Queen of Spades (I'm running low), but also because it just is SUCH a quintessentially Beth concept for a scent--sexy, wicked, subversive, feminine. Rawr. On me, the Countess is sweeter than QoS--the plum and berry produce a wine effect similar to Wanda, but with incense behind it. Although it's definitely the same family as QoS, the Countess just isn't the Queen. Ah well.

I didn't even bother to try this on me; I took the imp right over to smear on Brian! And it is a good scent for a guy--pure leather with just a little smoke. It strikes me as more of an English gentleman out riding rather than a cowboy or rock star. Simple but classy.

Although I sniffed all the Tricks and Treats at the Atlanta M&S, this was the one I chose to try on my skin. I'd put it in the same category with Smut as a strongly musk-based scent; good throw and staying power. The sweeter notes don't really come out on me--Snake Charmer and Storyville are far better about manifesting vanilla and spices (respectively) over the musk, so I don't mind being Trickless in my own collection.

I tried Lucy at the Atlanta M&S--she was sharply astringent iris on me, with a touch of jasmine on the drydown. She faded fast, with no sign of the rose. Lucy's Kiss, from the GC, is a version of the character that I can wear a bit better.

I got to sniff the Imp at today's M&S--the perverse little bugger did not show me any rose, no doubt knowing my love of rose, but was a pure cognac scent; probably too strong for me to wear, but I was impressed by how much it truly smelled like sniffing a bottle of fine cognac!

Ah, my skin really amps the lovely cider spices here--I get mostly spiced cranberries with a background of juicy apple. It's the Hesperides grove in autumn! Perfect for when Creepy is too desserty and you want a fresh, outdoor apple scent. Since Samhain is about all I want to wear in Oct., I like that the cranberries push Punkie Night more towards Nov./Thanksgiving in my association; I'll get more play from this in a week or two.

Ah, sexy vampire girls. What's not to love? I wanted this one for the name anyway, but a lot of the notes also bode well--especially the skin musk and honey, which sound so O-ish. On me, the Brides do a quick-change routine--for just a second there was something sexy, honied, and reminiscent of La Fee Verte. Then, suddenly it was all sweet flowers. It's the scent equivalent of catching a glimpse, out of the corner of your eye, of a girl flashing her fangs--but when you turn to look, she's all, "What? I'm totally cute and innocent over here." I'm not just crazy about it, but it's a nice floral that I'll wear more in the spring. Besides, what a great name!