Laurel the Woodfairy

I absolutely adore Midway for sticky summer days, and I'm hoping Midnight here will be a Gothed-up variation suitable for this year's darker Carnaval. The description is vague, though, so I don't know whether to expect night flowers that love me (moonflower) or night flowers that hate me (jasmine). Whoa, this smells very strong and like...jasmine soda-pop?? Insane-sounding, I know. What I mean is that there's a "fizzy" note that hits the front of my sinuses; the night-blooming jasmine in Luna does that as well. There's something sweet, pink, and deep-fried way in the background--just a touch of Midway's cotton candy and funnel cake. I like the concept here, but the combination is odd on me; it seems to clash rather than blend, and I put that down to jasmine's usual dislike of my skin.

I went to look up Gaueko on the Lab site, as he was a frimp that I didn't recognize. I misread the tiny print and thought it said "penis of the darkness" instead of perils of the darkness." I was really intrigued for a second there. Anyway, this is a murky, deep scent--bitter lavender mingled with sweet woodsmoke over a hippie base (any combination of sandalwood, nap champa, and/or patchouli says "hippie" to me). Not to my taste, but any review where I get to say "penis" is worth my while.

Such a romantic story--Love and the Soul. Psyche was a generous frimp with my CD decants, and one I've always meant to get around to testing properly (as she's a rose scent). However, I don't really smell much rose--I smell a soft, comforting blend of lavender and white musk. Not as *passionate* a scent as I would expect for Psyche; pretty, but a touch weak--reminds me of the mild lavender soaps my grandmother always used to have. Just not very "me". Oh well.

I got decants of all the CD scents to help me decide on bottles, and Phantom Calliope was the randomly-drawn empty bottle included with my decants. I'm so delighted--I'm really carried away with the concept of ghostly music in the carny air, and I LOVE the artwork on the bottle. So, here goes my first CD review! *sniffs the bottle* Oh, the spices in this one are so rich; I can smell them already! *dumps decant imp into bottle and slathers* Oh, this is fantastic! I want to eat my arm. There's never been a cherry scent that I liked, but I barely smell the cherry here except as a rich touch of sweetness; definitely *black* cherry. The wonderful cassis from Monsterbait: Underbed dominates the blend, and that note always brings cocoa powder to mind for me--a dry but *rich* note. Cardomom is, of course, the spice in chai that gives it that special chai kick, and it combines brilliantly with the cassis. I only register the patchouli as a general depth to the scent...a Samhain undertone. Overall: The Calliope is beautifully blended, sexy and autumnal--it makes me imagine buying a spicy drink from a vendor at Carnaval Diabolique, then sipping it as I walk through drifts of fall leaves...haunting music floats through the air...Wow. Love it.

I somehow missed Lurid in the catalog--now I want some! That sounds like a good match. I thought this thread was going to be about a perfume called LuLu that I seem to vaguely recall from the '80s...I don't know why my brain retained the commercial. Voiceover: "LuLu, is it you?" Glamorous Frenchwoman: "Oui, c'est moi".

Nanshe has the lemon-cake note from Sundew, which may be lemongrass but smells *dense* on me (hence the comparison to cake). There's lavender underneath, and the overall blend is reminiscent of Arcana but really STRONG. I don't like it all that much as perfume, but I don't doubt it does its job, as Beth's blends are wont to do. As it happens, all I want my sleep blends to do is knock me the f**k out. So I'd best pass Nanshe along to someone who wants to use it for its powers.

Osun needs to grace my life right now; I feel absolutely worked to death and in need of time for beauty and pleasure! In the vial, I smell honey and...rose? Is that what that is? On me--yes, that is *definitely* rose, blooming beautifully on my skin and undercut with herbal honey. This is really unexpected, as I thought it might be more like Litha. I can't quite decide if I like this combination, since I like both honey and rose as dominant notes but both at once is a little much. The drydown is a bit more herbal and bitter, so I think I'll let Osun go (but retain her influence!).

Well, here's a celebrity death-match of a scent--will my love of moonflower and cardamom beat out the evil jasmine and lily? Answer: sort of. Moonflower is just so gorgeous, and it does reign in the jasmine here, for an effect similar to Luna. Pannychis is a really strong blend, and I like the incense and spice underpinning the flowers. But I have Luna, which not only smells good but is one of my favorite ritual blends, so I don't really need this one. If you're out of Luna and just want it for the scent, not the magick, I recommend Pannychis.

After the overwhelming success of Eat Me (the imp was immediately followed by a bottle), I had to try Drink Me--having the little bottles with those labels is just too cute and makes me feel like Alice! In the vial, Drink Me smells very clearly of pineapple and caramel, which is unlike anything else I've smelled from BPAL, so that's fun right there. On me--well, I'm glad someone already said "pineapple upside-down cake" so I don't have to drive myself insane trying to place it. That's what it is! A rich, foody, custard and cake scent, with a soft pineapple topnote floating over it all. I don't get cherry from this, but there's a brown-sugar note that's delightful. It somehow smells WARM and like baking. This is not something I need mass quantities of, but it's so clever and fun that I may have to keep the imp--even though it's pretty rare for me to think "I need to smell like pineapple upside-down cake!"

I ordered Endymion as part of an attempt to catch up on my GC wishlist--it's been on there awhile. I really like pear in Titania and am fond of anything Moon-themed (such a lovely story). It's a fresh, crispy, *juicy* pear topnote, and combined with the soft florals underneath smells...well, a lot like Pear Blossom from B&BW. Which I like, although it doesn't quite say "Luna in love" to me. The white musk drydown makes it more complex than anything from B&BW (as I would expect from a Beth creation). This would be a fun one for spring, but I have Titania, so I don't suppose I truly need it.

If it's a rose blend, I'll try it; if it's a Love Potion, I'll try it (I'm almost caught up on those, actually!)--this makes Seraglio a double threat! In the vial, I don't smell rose--I smell almond-orange cookies. On me, the almond-orange cookies have more depth and spice to them, but still no rose. However, this is a fun, unexpected blend--much more playful than I thought it would be. I like it, but don't just madly love it. And since my imp box runneth over, I can resist.

I have no idea why I'm only just now getting around to Harlot--probably because the name sounded similar to other Love Potions and so I didn't notice the roses! cinnamon! Romany, as in gypsies! Once I took a closer look at that description, I about squeed myself. Just when I think I've tried every possible rose, there's another one--this time a spicy rose. Harlot was very nice at first. However, and this is odd, it went a bit dusty/bitter on the drydown. Since I have so many rose blends, I don't feel the need to keep any that aren't completely perfect on me--so off she goes!

I will try every last one of Beth's roses, yes I will, precioussss. Even though I am worried about the leather. Wet, this smells like I expected (and hoped) Rose Red would smell--bright, dewy-fresh rose. I catch one of the roses from Two, Five, Seven. The leather is pretty faint on me, since my skin lurves the rose and amps it. But there is that hint of Wanda on drydown--both the leather and the wine, with a great big dollop of rose on top. Since I'm almost out of Wanda, this is the perfect replacement. Everything goes better with rose.

Hymn to Proserpine is Exhibit A for why I always test imps before buying GC bottles. If ever there was one that tempted me to spring for a bottle unsniffed, this was it. I LOVE the poem, and I normally like amber and the "darker" fruits (assuming that's pomegranate, plum, etc.). This one doesn't work on me. It's very sweet in the dreaded "old lady" way (powdery, cloying). There's a heavy incense quality that reminds me of The Caterpillar, and a touch of...licorice, oddly enough. The fruits are only distinguishable as a syrupy mess of goo, although maybe one of them is registering as licorice on me. It's a bold scent, and I'll bet it'd be lovely with the right chemisty, but not mine. Luckily, I have a big bottle of juicy rose gorgeousness to honor Persephone/Proserpine, so I can let this one go without too much grief.

Oddly enough, this is the first of the Dark Elements that I've tried, even though I've found the concept fascinating since I saw it the very first time I perused the Lab site! Aquatics tend to be too "masculine" on my skin, unless blended w/ floral as in City in the Sea, but here goes. The China Rain note is really cool--very fresh and evocative. However, it evaporates almost at once and leaves nothing but vetiver, a note I dislike. Too bitter, heavy, and yes, masculine for me. I can definitely see how this evokes, first, heavy rain, and then morphs into rotting wood. It's a really clever narrative of a scent, but not my taste. ETA: Oh great. As an added bonus, now I have The Scorpions' "Rock You Like a Hurricane" stuck in my head. *facepalm*

Kumiho is a scent I've been meaning to get around to sniffing for ages; it reminds me of Macha becuase of her awesome story of the same name! On me, Kumiho smells pretty much exactly like B&BW's White Tea & Ginger, which is a scent I love! Clean but spicy, a wonderful summer scent. I would have to say that Sudha Segara is my favorite ginger scent, but Kumiho is a lovely variation on the same theme. It smells of Sudha's ginger crossed with Embalming Fluid's lemony tea. I'm planning bottles of the other two, so I don't know if I need a bottle of this one or not. I'll use up the imp, though!

Query: is it any wonder King Lear's daughters weren't too fond of him, considering he gave them names that sound like venereal diseases? Anyway, Goneril is a sharp shrew of a scent, just as one would expect. I'm not overly fond of lily, but I hardly notice it here due to the astringent black orchid and dark, heavy woods. The scent evokes a cold, imperious woman dressed in black velvet. Great interpretation of the theme, but this lady isn't my type!

Ooo, I love Midsummer's Night!!! Comparison: Drakkar: bergamot, lemon and rosemary...basil, amber and patchouli...cedarwood, leather and sandalwood. Vicomte: Based on an 18th century gentlemen's cologne: ambergris, white musk, white sandalwood, Spanish Moss, orange blossom, three mints, jasmine, rose geranium and a spike of rosemary. So the sandalwood and rosemary overlap...as usual, BPAL has far more awesome stuff in it!

Alas, it's not the same. It *is* a good one; I already bought a jar. It's delightfully autumnal, but not Samhain.

If you can find the discontinued YC scent Autumn Lodge (I got it on Ebay)...it smells like Samhain!!! I am *hoarding* that one.

Wow, just .. wow. Yea it's real. That is so cool!!!! I wonder if anything else from that line is out there somewhere??? (*debates adding to spreadsheet*)

I've noticed lately how much I like ginger (especially in hot weather), so I'm curious about this one. Dark, reddish-orange color in the vial. On me (and it will stain the skin, so be careful!) Vixen is like a summer version of Masquerade. The patchouli needs to STFU; it's trying to drown the really nice combo of ginger and orange blossom. Even so, it's warm and spicy but somehow lighter than blends in the same "family"--or maybe it's just my association; patchouli w/ fruit blends (like Depraved) feel like summer to me--warm orchard earth. Definitely a down-n-dirty sexy blend, but with a playful side to it.

... Her scent is a bounty of golden honeyed almonds and a whisper of African and Middle Eastern spices. Queen of Sheba was one I overlooked in the catalog for the longest time, but honey and almonds are both usually delicious on me--and the concept of "the perfect marriage of equals" is too dreamy to miss out on. At first this reminds me of a spicier, creamier Dana O'Shee, which ought to be a great thing, but somehow it's just slightly "off". This is the Dana almond, definitely, but I don't really get the honey and something mildly funky is in there for a moment--then it all fades right into my skin and is gone within a few minutes of application. I think I just need a big ol' bottle of Dana, since it's the smooth almond blend that loves my skin most. Lovely concept though!

Someday I hope to have a complete set of BPALs for Sabbats. Litha will have a place of honor next to Beltane in my bottle-armoire. Lovely label--sunset and a big bonfire. I'm so excited about this one! In the bottle, Litha actually smells rather similar to Beltane--fresh, complex herbal-floral. On me, though, it blooms and becomes unique--a lemony topnote (I can see the comparison to Sundew), with herbal and "green" notes underneath (I LOVE ivy as a note), settling into a delicate bouquet of "clean" florals and just a hint of the yummy mead. It really does smell like pollen--good call, yeahbutnobut! Does anyone remember a B&BW scent called Happy Daisy? Litha is like a much grander version of that to me! Happy, fresh, bright, breezy...the fairest of summer days.

This one's a crap-shoot (imp-shoot?)--I tend to like honey and most musks, but ylang ylang is not really a favorite (though not as evil as jasmine). Skuld is a pretty rich amber color in the vial. In the imp, it smells much like O--that lovely, sexy honey note. On me, it smells like...O with a side of bubblegum. Ylang, like lotus, registers as way too sticky-sweet on me. I can see this being pretty on someone else, but I have a nice bottle of O and no need for competition. If Skuld is "Being", then on me it's "Being a trampy schoolgirl."