Laurel the Woodfairy

This is great! A cotton candy scent for grownups! The vanilla-rose base gives it depth and sophistication. I got a hint of sour on first application, but it faded quickly. I'm not sure what that was. The cotton candy also fades fairly quickly on me, although I enjoy that phase, and I'm left with a longer-lasting base of vanilla rose that is very wearable and not too, too sweet.

A very young, sweet scent--I immediately thought Bath n' Body Works or Vic's Secret, as others have said, but for me that's not a good thing; I was hoping for musk and floral, but this is strawberry-vanilla candy. I'm actually kind of embarrassed to be wearing it at work. I will give my decant to a friend's daughter; it'd be adorable on a little girl, but I feel too old and grouchy to pull it off.

Wild Rabbit is the sexier version of White Rabbit from the Mad Tea Party: I get tea and lemon (there's no lemon listed, so maybe that's just white tea), which is very clean, and then a hint of honey-vanilla. It's like White Rabbit got a little drunk and dabbled in "O".

Mmm, this is pure clove on me, with just a hint of amber on the drydown. I actually like my clove "smokier" (clove tobacco, ideally) but this is lovely and spicy for autumn wear.

In two words: softer Tintagel.

In more detail: this is not an "angry" scent on me, nor is it a strong one; my skin eats it up pretty quickly, although it has good throw when first applied. It's a good fall scent if you want something spicy but not the obvious pumpkin or apple. Rich, warm dragon's blood with bit of extra spice and a hint of amber. It reminds me of beloved Tintagel, but less strong.

I love the variety of Harvest Moons there have been over the years...I have one that smells like apple cider, one that's more like greenery. My first was '04, although it's long since used up. Harvest Moon 2017 is spicy blackberry wine! It's deliciously juicy and definitely suggests wine, but without being too "grape". It dries down into spice and leaves, rather like Dry Leaves & Cardamom. I really like it and will wear often for autumn.

These notes sound amazing; I'm really excited about this one! Wet, Aeronwen is all fig (I love fig!). Spice notes quickly begin to develop, along with a lovely hint of amber. This is an unusual, autumnal scent that makes me think of sipping spiced tea by a fire.

I'm not sure what I was thinking when I ordered this--well, I know I was thinking that I love cardamom and currant--but I know my skin amps leather. And sure enough, all I get at first is leather and patchouli. As it dries, I get a hint of spice and citrus. I will say that it's a softer and more wearable leather than most, and I think I will love it on my boyfriend more than on myself.

I failed to buy anywhere near enough Red Lantern, so I have hopes for a similar caramel note from Agrat. I do get caramel, but my skin also amps the teak. I like it, although it's softer (less throw) than I expected...a hint of caramel apple but mainly teak. I'll use up my decant but keep hoping Red Lantern returns!

I'm a little obsessed with Pink Sugar, and always looking for a more "grownup" version, so that's my hope for Alisz. Wet, I get vanilla mint, a bit like the holiday "Lick It" scents. It's clean, sweet, and refreshing, but it's drowning out any rose or spun sugar that might be in there. Dry, the mint is still prominent, with a hint of currant underneath. Darn. I wasn't really looking for another candy cane scent, but that's what I've got here. I'll tuck Alisz away for holiday wear.

I've been wanting a clove-cigarette scent for fall, and from some of the reviews Clemence sounds like the girl for the job! Wet, I get the spicy clove note I wanted, over a base of patchouli. It's not a "hippie" patchouli scent on me--just something darker under the clove. As it dries, the other spices start to develop. Carnation always "reads" as spice rather than floral on me, so it is a perfect complement. I'm delighted with Clemence!

Given my feelings about both spiders and jasmine, it was definitely "impish" of the Lab to include an imp of this with my last order! However, you just never know until you try it on. I don't smell jasmine at all: on me, the Widow is rose blended with the wine note I associate with Lady MacBeth. There's a hint of myrrh on the drydown, but it doesn't have a great deal of throw. I like it but do not love--I generally prefer the "fresh" rose scents to the murkier ones, if that makes sense.

A generous frimp from the Lab, with a really sexy-sounding list of notes! However, on me it's quite dark and masculine, reading more as black musk than red/gold (maybe because of the hemlock?) with only a faint hint of spice. The orchid comes out on the drydown, a "papery" note. I don't really like it on me, but I think it will make an excellent fall scent in my oil burner.

A generous frimp from the Lab, with a really unusual list of notes--I can't recall every trying any other cranberry BPALs. On me, it smells like fresh cranberries over patchouli? I guess it's the musk, but it smells like patchouli on me, which adds a dark earthy undertone, like a cranberry bog!

This is *exactly* what I was hoping it would be: grown-up spicy floral! I love the carnation in Alice, but it reads so "young" with the milk notes that I think of it as a child's perfume. 'Mum Moon is one of my favorites, and I've always thought the two spice-florals, carnation and 'mum, were similar but just different enough to provide contrast. I'm honestly surprised they haven't met like this before! They blend perfectly into Super Spice Flower Power. I'm glad there are no other notes in there to distract from this power couple.

A sniffie of the Ship of Hel sailed my way with a decant circle! I will admit that the notes scare me, but with BPAL you just never know. In the imp, it smells like Christmas trees and men's cologne. On me, it's still definitely evergreen, but the aquatic note that read as "men's cologne" when wet has settled into a softer base that keeps the wood notes from being too sharp. It's not really my taste as perfume but would make a really cool winter home scent.

Since we have BPAL/BPTP bath oils, room scents, etc, the next thing should definitely be BPAL for intimate grooming. C'mon, don't tell me you want your bits to smell like a Summer's Eve when they could be a Cave of Treasures. Juvenile humor aside, this is much less sweet than I expected--in fact, after an initial flash of honey while wet, Cave isn't sweet at all; it's a dry spice--amber and cardamom. I love it! Really unusual, like a bone-dry chai.

These are some great-smelling bandits, wow! This is actually what I hoped Humanite would be on me: tropical juicy sexy goodness. My go-to for gardenia is Lady of Shalott, and my favorite fruity scent is Titania, so this is like a gorgeous meeting of the two (but with none of Titania's iced pear, all peach). Perfect for a tropical vacation!

Hmmm, this is both beautiful and disappointing to me: beautiful because it's a wearable white floral (heavy on the tuberose) that's foodier than Midnight and doesn't go funereal like Eternal on me. Disappointing, though, because NONE of those delicious-sounding fruit notes are present on me. I was hoping for a more floral version of Titania, my go-to summer scent, but Humanite is nothing like that--it's vanilla and tuberose, the end. I like it, but my decant is enough.

Strawberry Moon is one of my favorite BPALs to wear in spring, so I was curious if this would be a similarly "juicy", fresh strawberry note. It is, but it is unbelievably sweet and strong due to the addition of a big, fluffy marshmallow note. It puts me in mind of my Strawberry Shortcake doll from childhood in the '80s, or Frankenberry cereal--a childlike scent, despite the name; a great one for a little girl if you changed the label! I'll use my decant this summer, but it reads way too young on me to need a bottle.

As it happens, I had just been discussing oil diffusers with a friend who is into natural healing...she keeps a wellness/immunity-support blend of essential oils diffusing in her office in cold/flu season. She mentioned that her recipe contains orange peel and geranium, as well as other citrus notes like lemongrass. So my first thought, on sniffing Season of Ghosts, was that I need to put in in a diffuser--it smells like exactly what she described, and sure enough, similar notes! I don't like it as a perfume on me; it's sharp and the orange is bitter rather than sweet. However, it definitely "opens" my sinuses and I think would be great for a room scent in winter.

This is SO GOOD! Wet, it's not sweet on me, but sharply spicy ginger and pepper. I really like this, because my main complaint about gingerbread is when it isn't spicy enough. On the drydown, the vanilla comes out and softens the overall blend; still spicy, but more mellow. Delicious!

A generous frimp from the Lab! Rapunzel, thankfully, smells nothing like rampion. This is a light-green scent, fresh and delicate, reminding me of rain-washed ivy growing on R's tower.

A kind frimp from the Lab! Wet, I get boozy almond amaretto with a bit of vanilla...honestly, I'm thinking sarsparilla?! Warm and resinous on the drydown, less boozy, but I don't get lime or pine at any point. It's fun but not as mysterious and sexy as I expected from the notes.

A rare instance of buying a bottle "sight unsniffed" for me, because my beautiful mother is named Sharon, so this HAS to be a gift for her! It's a beautiful scent, nothing "rose" about it, more of a layered resin. It smells like a halo, if that makes any sense: golden, light, warm without being overly sweet. I think she will love it!