ND¢

No one's mentioned Sachs- Not as smoky as you might like, but there is complexity to it, and it wouldn't be too hard to get your hands on some.

First thought: HEMP. Wet, it's a blast of hemp with sweet undertones. I like the near-brashness and the very faithful hemp scent. As it dries, I can smell a background, but none of the other notes except, I think, the honeysuckle are really distinguishing themselves at all. Maybe I smell the beeswax a bit. Hemp with a touch of honeysuckle and beeswax. I am not displeased in the least. First potential bottle purchase of my Luper decants. I like light, springy scents that aren't Floral.

I hope my high expectations of this one don't let me down. Wet: This is the Ronin-style honey, thick and strong. The apricot smells not like apricot, quite, but I can't pick out what it DOES smell like, and I don't get cayenne pepper at ALL. More of a nondescript potpourri smell, inoffensive and pleasant, but BPAL shouldn't remind me of 'inoffensive potpourri.' I think I can almost see the 'cheesecake' comparison Balame made. The apricot note's got a tang to it, an almost dairy tang. The generic potpourriness recedes as it dries... pretty, simple. I'll keep this one for aging purposes. I often have a kitchen-sink effect with so many notes in one perfume, so this nice, simple apricot honey scent (as it is in the drydown) is refreshing.

Like most, I get hit with the orris as soon as I opened my decant. It (fortunately) quickly pipes down a tiny bit-- I associate the smell with Johnson's baby shampoo and, while pleasant, I don't need to smell like it. There's a faint whiff of ambergris and maybe a gentle bit of musk. Either the amber is just softening it up or I'm not unentangling it from the golden musk. I might keep this decant to see how it ages.

No go: LE: Appalling Abbatoir, Bloody Banister, Chellah v4,Byron v13, Dia de los Muertos 09, Doozers, Eisheth Zenunim, Egg'd Mailbox, Gaoler's Daughter, Hellfire, Horrors of My Secret Toil. Lick It, Taphophobia Vespertilio Proterus GC: Bathsheba, Bensiabel, Bluebeard, Black Pearl, Black Rider, Bread and Butterfly, Dragon's Musk, Dragon's Tears, Eden, Grandmother of Ghosts, Libertine, Masquerade, Meliai, Rapture, Thy Godfather's Present, Titania, Tzadikim Nistarim, Viola .::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::. The Man's Collection: Aperotos Eros, Bloody Banister, Brood XIX, Coyote, Incubus, Laudanum, Loosening of the Obi, Men Ringing Bell With Penises .::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::. Indy's Scents: (see bottle collection, plus these imps) Light: Mad Kate, Dormouse, Severin, Karme Sweet: G Poppet 10, Kumiho, Parker Lily, Pandy Spicy: Raven Moon, L'Autunno, Perversion, Glowing Vulva, White Rider Dutty: Snake Oil, Snake Charmer, Spanked res, hippie ghost, Nightmarchers v5, Third Charm (notice pattern? Snakes, Charms,... March? )

Through the graciousness of a generous forumite who preferred to share than to hoard, I got a wonderful, full bottle. I first notice the sarsaparilla, which easily and quickly blends with a vanilla note. The dry (but still soft) spice of this is given fullness by the leather note, which is very soft indeed, but unmistakeble. I think that this is the mildest patchouli I've ever smelled, adding only the suggestion of sharp fullness carrying the perfectly blended sarsaparilla/french vanilla. I was afraid the honeysuckle might drown everything else on me as florals tend to do, but it's so well blended that I don't even truly detect it as a separate scent. The longer I wear this, the warmer and more vivid the leather becomes, remaining sweetly spicy and redolent of sarsaparilla, french vanilla and that coy twinge of patchouli. This is just so good, and even though I will probably never be so lucky to find a bottle, I will cherish every drop of this scent.

I received my bottle from the lovely Catseyes who posted above me *waves* And though I am sorry it didn't work for her, I've wanted to try DMH since, literally, Day One of my BPAL existence. And though after six years it is doubtful I will get DMH, I was 100% to see her post. Of course, you all know what it smells like. On me the essentially Leather SN quickly adds a subtle layer of gentle herb or a nice, inoffensive soft men's cologne scent, and that's pretty much how it stays rather than being leather and nothing else. Since I haven't ever smelled the original DMH, I don't know if it had a similar tendency. But it's so subtle my nose can forget about cologne and go 'leather' again. I will love wearing every drop of this out, both alone and as a layering base (I tried it a few times already. It did give my other recent Grail BPAL, Trick #1, a nice little above and beyond what it already has.) I consider one of my Grail BPALs officially fulfilled.

So I've been waiting and wanting to get this scent for four years, and now thanks to a lovely forumite, I have it. I feared opening it and being disappointed. aquatics are not my friend, so I feared those reviews as well as I bent to my task. In the bottle: Green. Green and open with a tangy note in the middle of a gentle background of wet plants. Breathing in deeply you can detect an authentic smell of soggy leaves that's spot on and terrific. And I haven't even put it on yet. wet on the arm: wet green plants with that same high fragrancey note and something in it is the same note as in one of my CT3s: an aromatic but strongly natural smell (eta: probably the tomato leaf.) I really like it. The quest of so many years: success.

Distinctly smoky cinnamon-apple smell.

Before I even open this imp (a generous freebie in a swap) I will just say I've got very high hopes for it, so we'll see how they bear up under testing. I would be prepared to layer this with something gourmand or sweet if it is lacking in balance, but I adore Beth's 'simple' (few notes) blends and... okay okay. In the imp: Harsh sandalwood, not too spicy, and leather. On me: I totally get the stable comment for the first second. Then it immediately gains a slight dimension of sandalwood-spice, enough to throw it off a bit from that (thank god.) A sharp or almost 'raw' leather scent with sandalwood layered over it, and a vague spice as I exhale. It wants to tip into 'cologne' but doesn't quite, also thank God. Yeah, there is a little sweetness to it like people have mentioned. You know what, I like it. I tried a little Pandy on over it and, though it wasn't a match, I still think this will be great for a subtle layering.

This is the scent that finally nailed neroli as a no-go for my skin. It's just sharp and very, well, shrill. This is an interesting scent, but the neroli dominates any hope of perceiving it other than through a thick fog. I think the peach would be a sweet, cute note, and I almost get the cocoa absolute too.

It's like the previous reviewer said... something about this just works for me and I don't know why. It's a comfortable, natural scent. I get the odd duality of the cool vs the food note. On me the caramel (and prob. musk and nicotiana) smell terribly familiar. It's another BPAL that I can't pick out (not Hearth, as someone mentioned.) Strange, evocative, and very straightforward, and since I'm not a floral girl I enjoyed this more than I thought I would given the description. A totally non-buttery caramel, BTW, for those like me who overamp and as such avoid like the plague the lab's buttery foodie scents. This is definitely more gourmand, and I don't see it as a masculine fragrance at all so much as a very simple, almost alluring scent. Sometimes I feel like oils with a jillion notes in them are just a screaming mishmash that is more trouble to discern than to enjoy. This is not overly complex, and doesn't have that problem.

I discovered how BPAL-licious today would be when I keyed open my mailbox and found not one, not two but three packages. Without further ado: One of the packages is not a swap, but instead an Etsy order: mineral makeup from 8 Bit Cosmetics. I'll review that separately.... The first package is from the lovely Gateau. Karme, Pandy and Hippie Ghost. Originally what drew me to it was Karme-- I've been wanting to smell it since I read the description. Karmê (Κάρμη): Sun-warmed squashes, peppers, salad greens, snap peas, radishes, green onions, and silphium. Lab imp. In the imp: a familiar floral? no... oh no. Aquatic note with an undercurrent of garden-y complexity. I never trade for or buy aquatics, because there's a note that smells identical to me in all of them and it reminds me of some perfume-in-a-can I had from Walgreens when I was a kid. And in all those drugstore perfumes it's supposed to be 'water' but to me it's sweet and formulaic. I smell it in Karme. I capped it back up for a minute because if that's what I get from this scent I'm going to cry. On me: The aquatic dissipates, thank heavens, and morphs a dandelion very reminiscent of Roadhouse or... it's been a long time since I smelled One to Tie Two To Win, did it have this? A Blade of Grass? ... It does smell like plants, though no onions- people mention cucumber, and I can see that-- not actual cucumber but perfume-cucumber, a sweet flowery version of the real. I like having this imp and I will definitely keep it-- at the very least until I acquire Roadhouse and do a side-by-side sniff comparison. Pandy: Fresh white musk, honeycomb, sweet apricot, elemi, orange blossom, and mischievous pink pepper. In the decant I smell the sweet apricot and what I'm GUESSING is the honeycomb, because it's reminding me of a sweet food I can't place. on me: ooh, that's nice. apricot with a sweet background of gentle honey. I wish I knew more about honey notes and how to distinguish them. But other people mentioned they mostly got a honeyed apricot too, so there you have it. I think I smell a bit of pepper beneath it, but as for the rest, if it's there I can't tell. But what there is of it I do like and I'm a-buying a bottle. Comforting and feminine, this is a scent I would proudly go out wearing and expect to catch a few looks. Hippie Ghost: A faded snapshot of patchouli-stained peasant blouses, soft suede boots, and smoke. In the decant I smell patchouli and a kick of disagreeable stinky smoke. Some people said pot smoke, but that's a nice smell and this is nasty to me. on me: Well-blended but not pretty smelling... I don't get anything but a vaguely cologney bite under a muddled grimy almost-patchouli. Maybe a little more weedy-smelling than it was in the imp. It mellows out pretty quickly-- When dry it's a well blended sharpish pot-smoky patchouli with leather peeking out. I like it when it's dry- well-blended and smooth, but I don't need a bottle. And along with the imps, Gateau included a huge, lovely jar of Nyx eyeshadow powder! Now I'm about to carry my pretties off and incorporate them into my collection....

Took me a while to appreciate how unusual this scent is (or to appreciate it at all, for that matter... it sat neglected, beautifully aging, in my BPAL box for literally a year and a half if it was a day. Then I dug it out one day when I was bored and stuck at home after surgery and smeared a shitton on my neck and the back of my ear. Honey was not a scent I thought I liked, but the pepper blends cleanly with it to sharpen it up (I think this is how I avoid the artificial/play-doh smell on me, to some extent, because some floral honeys smell weirdly fake on me.) And this is a strong, dominant honey instead of a girly light honey. I am sure the 'strong dominant' perception comes not only from the, well, dominance of the honey note but also from the slightly muddying oakmoss. And then it dries down to a beautiful perfect sandalwood that's so crisp and simple that it's like brushstrokes on white paper. This reminds me of Mum Moon, which I also love.

So let's see. Current as of 2/13/13. The bottles with asterisks are not up for swap except in certain Grail-scent-related-cases. Albedo v5 x3 Atlas Badgers* (decants poss for Storyville, Voodoo Queen, Dolly Kei, and Pinched.) Blood Moon 2005 x2 Dead Man's Hand v8* Gaoler's Daughter Geek x2* Gypsy Harikata Hod (original 10mL) Hod Res x 3 Hungry Ghost Moon (pending) Loosening of the Obi* (boyfriend appropriated this one...) Men Ringing Bell With Penises* (...and this one) Mum Moon* Nagarjuna v2 Phyllocrania Paradoxa v1 Planting Moon* (see Badgers restrictions) PX23 Ronin Sachs Shanghai Tunnel Shub-Niggurath Snake Charmer (orig CN version)* Taphophobia v2 Tamamo-no-mae x2 Trick #1 * Vipralabda x3