Laurel the Woodfairy

A generous Lab freebie, so of course I had to try this one first! Right out of the imp, Nine Mysteries gave me a sharp peppermint zing, closely followed by citrus/herbal. It reminds me of my box of assorted herbal teas--two of them are peppermint and orange-spice. Not much floral on me, but the peppermint is a nice nose-opener. If this is going to be part of the Yule release, I'd say it's a good winter scent--tea and candy-canes by the fire.

Ah, Veil is a beauty! That lavender note I loved so much in Arcana, with soft white flowers underneath. I could do without the faint touch of gardenia (I *loathe* sweet flowers like gardenia and heliotrope), but there's not enough to mess up the overall loveliness. Veil is the scent of a wreath of flowers and herbs a bride might perch on top of her veil for a spring wedding. I wanted this one for my mom, because I was told it might resemble her signature scent, White Linen. It smells almost nothing like that on me, but I like it so much I may keep it and give her something else, hee hee.

I'll probably wear Haunted out for Halloween clubbing, maybe with some Black Rose on top. It just seems appropriate! For Samhain ritual...alas, I have no Samhain! But I *do* have Three Witches, which I will layer with Jack for a pumpkin-pie effect.

My first Tarot oil, and it's marvelous! There's a clean, high, aquatic green note presiding over a slightly spicy earthiness. A quiet and self-assured scent. It doesn't remind me of a Lion nor a Leo in the slightest--it does seem elemental, but on me it's every element *except* fire--there's water and earth and air in here. But then, I'm a Pisces, so perhaps the slightly watery quality I'm picking up is a product of my chemistry. Definintely more of "the Maiden's steadfast will" than the roaring Lion on me. This will be a ritual oil rather than one for daily wear, for when I need some inner strength.

Um. Bazooka bubble-gum. The End. (This is my shortest review ever, but that's all Old Madrid felt like doing for me; maybe it's chastising me for throwing over my early study of Spanish to switch to French.) Those of you who got wine and flowers, I am jealous!!

Well, you know I have to try all the poisons (although I'm still hoping for a Cyanide BPAL at some point). Hemlock is shocking-green in the vial; I haven't seen any other oils that color. Wet, it was Vicks' VapoRub with a touch of lemon. Ew. Drydown...not really any better, just less pungent. My skin doesn't like this. (Socrates would concur )It is, however, completely appropriate that Hemlock is a poisonous little imp that wants to make me ill. Even when I don't like one of Beth's oils, it's always a good expression of whatever she wanted to capture. Hemlock is definitely gender-neutral and Brian expressed interest in it, so I'll give the imp to him. If he doesn't like it, off to swap.

Don't forget to experiment with layerering as well! Perversion + Snake Oil = sex and candy

Ah, Melpomene...I believe she was the one Milton addressed as "thou goddess, sage and holy...divinest Melancholy". Or if not, she was surely the Muse who inspired these lines from Shakespeare's Twelth Night: "Come away, come away death. And in sad cypress let me be laid." She wraps the wearer in her sad cypress base note, with just a breath of geranium and herbal mint to offer hope. I'm actually astounded at how much I like this; I know a thing or two about depression and how it translates into art (as I know many of you on here do), and this is an empathetic scent from a Muse who understands.

Ahhh...with my love of white/green florals I knew this would be a keeper. Reminds me of my beloved Havisham, only warmer. So clean and ethereal and softly feminine. I can see how the faint bamboo note might be like Neo-Tokyo, but that one was not good on me and this is great (perhaps because there's no fruit). This is just gorgeous, a breath of heaven. Dew-kissed early spring blossoms high on a mountain, slightly whiter than the morning mist that swirls around them. When I run out of Havisham (sob) I will buy a bottle of this.

I had mixed feelings prior to trying this, since I hate gardenias on me and everyone seems to agree this contains them...yet I love the idea of smelling like a Sacred Whore. Yup, the dreaded gardenia. Sickly-sweet and somehow depressing--I don't know why, but they always make me horribly sad. To me, they smell of loss and heartache, and I have yet to like a BPAL that included them. There is some interesting incense in here and also a touch of vanilla, and those are lovely. Alas, the gardenia sprawls all over them in wanton abandon and is now smirking lewdly at me, having tainted the good-girl notes beyond all recognition. I don't feel bad about swaping the Whore around...you know she likes it.

to the Madness! Great screen name, btw. Well, it depends on the guy, but it's hard to go wrong with Snake Oil or O. Wanda is great for putting you in a dominant-type mood. Tell me more about the type of guy you want to excite and I'll be more specific!

Oh how I love *real* lavender, not the icky fake one in so many bath products. So clean and calming. Arcana is perfectly balanced on me--the sharpness of the lavender leavened with sweeter neroli and verbena. You know what this reminds me of? Brother Cadfael, the series of Ellis Peter mysteries about the medieval monk who acts as a detective. He's also an herbalist, and in the BBC version of the novels he has this thatched-roof building as his apothecary, surrounded by a huge herb garden. Arcana is what I imagine that building would smell like, with a faint waft of incense from the nearby cathedral in Cafael's monastery. It's a medieval scent suspended in time, redolent of sacred mysteries and home-remedy folklore. Arcana is indeed gender-neutral, and I want to use it both as a sleep blend and to wear for yoga. And possibly for general anointing purposes. And rituals. In fact, I can think of so many uses for this that I may need a bottle.

Beth was exactly right--Mata Hari overwhelms you with coffee right out of the bottle. But hang on a minute; it's just a smokescreen for her *true* identity as a gorgeous feminine floral. The drydown is lovely; my only regret is that I don't really get the fig--I LOVE fig but have yet to find a BPAL where it will come out on me. Apparently Mata Hari is hiding it up her sleeve for a future mission...

A decant from the lovely Minilux, who clearly loved it enough to buy a bottle. Perversion is strongly coconut on me at first, and combined with rum smells just like a pina colada as Spanglemaker said. There is indeed a warm touch of leather and vanilla, and the longer it's on the better they blend. Which is fortunate since I don't really want to smell like a perverted pina colada. What I *do* really want, though, is to slather some of this on Brian, since he loves both coconut and rum. This isn't masculine per se, but it has so many of the notes I associate with him that it seems so to me. I think it might turn into an oil that he wears and that I dab on when he's away to remind me of my pervy love. Edited to add: I was right! I love it on Brian. I will ask him to do his own review.

Midnight is by far the most "perfume-y" BPAL oil I have tried; I could easily believe it was an expensive French perfume...one in a dark-blue crystal bottle with a tassel on it. The flowers are lush but completely blended; no one note stands out for me. It's sweet and white but, thank goodness, not that cloying icky sweet that heliotrope does on me. This seems like something to wear on a hot summer night in Paris; it's a standing-on-the-balcony scent, a tryst-in-the-garden scent. Sophisticated, sexy, and intoxicatingly feminine.

Quoth the Woodfairy: Ooo, I like this one! The Raven does have a touch of candy-violet about it, but I adore neroli and that balances it out. It's a very soft scent (soft as a raven's feathers?); I just put it on and already have to re-apply to review it properly. The Raven is lovely but frustrating--I put it on and love it, but then it's gone. Since I associate it with a poem about lost love, I guess that's apropos... Will I enjoy my imp? Definitely. Will I buy it again? Nevermore! (sorry, I could NOT resist) Edited to add: Oops, it gives Brian a headache. Off to swap then!

This is another generous decant from dearest Minilux. Mabon was much lighter and brighter than I expected (not sure what I was expecting). I got the apples and ivy very strongly--I didn't think I would recognize the ivy, but this is definitely it; clean fresh greenery, with a sharp herbal note. I like this quite a lot but wish the blackberry would come out to play, since I love it too. As is, it's more green than sweet on me, and makes me think of an English cottage with ivy growing on it and an herb garden. Charming and slightly old-fashioned.

The King of Spades seems a bit more lighthearted than his love, at least on me--the resident King is making dinner and has onions on him, so I tried it on myself. The coconut and plum both came out in a big way for a yummy fruit blend, then deepened into vetiver and a touch of mint. I put the King on one wrist and the Queen on the other, and they make a lovely pair--both of them dark and regal, complementing each other. I think they would also layer well...er, but I'd put her on top; she's just that sort of woman.

The divine Minilux offered to decant Queen of Spades...and then sent me half a 5 mL in the gorgeous Lab bottle. What will I do with this woman? She's too good for this world. In the bottle, Queen of Spades is very rich and dark, too complex to distinguish what's going one. I smeared a very large amount all over my wrists (er, haven't figured out this Big Bottle business yet), and it is gorgeous! A lot of cinnamon came out on me as a top note, and it's very specifically cinnamon stick, right from the pantry. And under the spiciness is this gorgeous juicy purple--plums and blackberries and dark florals, deepened with amber. :nosegasm: This is a sophisticated autumnal scent which imparts power and queenly command on the wearer. Perfect for ritual, but I'm going to be wearing it often just because I love it so. And when Brian gets home I will try the King out on him and we will be a Power Couple!

Oh yes! In our household it's always B-Pal! I find myself translating a fair bit--for example, I just received a generous decant of Mabon, which I referred to as "Mabon--you know, the harvest festival we just had" for Brian's benefit. Same with Samhain, which I pronounce "Sow-wen, you know, Halloween?"

Haunted is another of my "overdetermined" scents--one that resonates for me to such an extent that I put off trying it for a long time in case it didn't work out. I was once asked to pick one word that describes me; I picked "haunted." Personal theme song? "Haunted," by Poe. You get the idea. So it gives me great joy to say: I LOVE THIS!! Warm and slightly sweet but not cloying, soft and lovely. There's a Dana O'Shee-ish whiff of something almondy, then it morphs into a slight alcohol touch (Disarrono?), then I'm left with musk for depth. This is a great fall/winter scent, or a great evening scent. I still prefer florals for every day, but this is perfect for when I feel...well, you know.

Titania was completely overdetermined for me--neither Fae nor Queen Mab worked on me at all, so I was on pins and needles about this one; I so want a proper Faery oil! And the verdict is: Pears! Flowers! Soft and feminine with no icky powdery stuff! Clean-bright-magick-goodness! It was even more gorgeous in the vial than on me, but I don't care because--oh, thank Goddess--now I have the oil to wear for my Midsummer Night's Dream theme handfasting! Lalala, so happy. Now I need some Oberon to complement her.

Ok, you guys know from my thread in Randomness that I made the mistake of reading about the Black Dahlia case and am now utterly spooked--to the point that I'm tempted to toss the imp out my window, unsniffed. However, 1. I can't waste good BPAL, and 2. the late Beth Short (R.I.P., sweetie) would find some other way to haunt me until I deal with this. Soooo--deep breath--here goes. Magnolias...warm and deep and sad, a bit like Eternal. I grew up with magnolias in my grandma's garden, and here they are, in all their glory, along with hothouse flowers that are less natural but still lovely. A beautiful floral, wistful and retro. Yep, this captures Ms. Short very well, the 1940s wannabe Hollywood starlet. But--HA! I don't like magnolias, so I have a legitimate excuse to swap! Whew.

Ooo...really nice. Softer than I expected; it does remind me of O, although a bit spicier and stronger than O on me. (I know I just said it's soft, but O is very soft on me; neither of these is what I would call strong). It also reminds me of a sexier Dana O'Shee; after having it on for a few minutes a touch of almond appeared, which went well with the myrrh. This blends right into my skin, and I'd like to try layering it with O or Dana--it seems likely that they could all have an orgy together Thus far, none of the supposedly Sexy (with a capital S) scents have induced a Nosegasm for either me or my boy. I'm still looking for my Seductress scent (when I find it, everyone will know!), but I would just say this is completely wearable and very nice.

I finally get to jump on the "O" bandwagon--this has got to be one of the most-reviewed of all the oils! Mmmmm....oh, I can see why. O is soft and warm and golden, and I'm already sure will blend amazingly with other oils (er, maybe that's why she's a "submissive" scent? ) I am totally buying some more of this to send to my friend who loves Amber Romance from Victoria's Secret--O is like a much better-blended, superior version of the things she likes about it. But I won't share mine; I need some O all to myself.