dorothy humbird

Wow, Clare... that would be a dream come true for me. But then, I am notorious for relentlessly analyzing data that other people never give a second thought to. Mmm, data analysis... For me, the longest lasting scent that I frequently still smell after a full night's sleep is Shub. It consistently hangs around on my skin for hoourrs and hours, and I couldn't be happier about that! I have had similar results with Red Lantern, too.

Blue Moon 2007 is in fact a beautiful, sweet floral. The many notes blend together into a breathy, dewey mist.. I keep thinking 'honeysuckle,' and by turns I get a blue-white-pure sunlit golden color association from this scent. It's refreshing, not at all heavy, but also substantial enough to stick around for several hours. And yet... I don't think Blue Moon is my scent. I like it, but I don't see myself as a floral person; I gravitate more towards scents of comestibles. I may decant a bit out to make a spray and then send the rest of the bottle off to a more loving home. This scent deserves to be appreciated to the full.

Oh, lovely Morocco... why are you so faint on my skin? On first application I get a clean, soft, slightly spicy burst of vanilla-y musk. It is lovely, and reminds me of Antique Lace, but not as strong. On my skin it dries down to an even more elusive version of the wet stage... oh so soft, and delicately spicy. Unbelievably feminine and beautiful. Unfortunately I feel like Morocco doesn't have much staying power on my skin, and most likely not a whole lot of throw. No way am I swapping this imp away, though... maybe it's time for a scent locket? ETA: What the balls, me? Morocco is not at all faint when I wear it these days; maybe when I first reviewed I was having nose issues? ANYWAY... Morocco has jumped up well into my top 10 BPAL scents. It's so luxuriously, sophisticatedly, come-hither-but-be-suave-about-it divine. I put it on nights when I'm wearing my vintage slips to bed... someone mentioned this is Audrey Hepburn and Sophia Loren in a bottle... yes. It's like wearing the sex appeal of back-seamed cuban heel stockings and a prim 40's cocktail dress. Classy, yet hawt.

I tested this out briefly the other day and was pleased by the honey-ylangylang I got initially, reminding me pretty strongly of La Petite Mort. However, Hetairae is most definitely its own intriguing blend, and on giving it the full day test today I'm coming to find that I really like its nuances. As I said, it starts out very sweet honey with a bit of the fig's juiciness, and the floral component of the ylang ylang. It doesn't take long for the patchouli base to show itself on my skin, though. The components all seem to blend nicely for me, and I keep thinking that somehow it smells rather expensive. -- very evocative of the "worldy" courtesans the blend is intended to emulate. Clove in this blend is a background element for me; I don't detect a whole lot of it, but I'm sure it's adding its magic all the same. Overall: just my type of blend -- a little sweet, a little resin, a little fruit or floral (or both!), a little spice. Balanced perfectly and blended by a genius. Thanks, Beth... this is beautiful.

First applied to my skin there is a heavy buttery-cake/cookie element with a lot of dark berry from the blackcurrant. However, given about a minute and a half to settle on my skin, the roses come to the fore. I'm immediately reminded of the last time I was in a hookah bar, because we chose rose tobacco that night. It's a pleasant association for me, and says something about this rose: less dewey, fresh-cut and more smoke and mystery. As this dries down I continue to get a lot of rose, and in the background there is a base of what reminds me of pancake syrup -- very sweet, with a buttery note that doesn't quite remind me of baked goods so much as liquid sugar. I must say, I'm enjoying it... I'll decide whether or not to hang onto the imp over the next week or two, I'm sure. ETA: This oil is extremely longlasting, with what I assume is really good throw. It's been going strong for 6+ hours now.

On my skin this mostly smells fruity-berry after an initial burst of buttery pastry/cake. There's still a softness of cream or vanilla, but ... berry. Very berry. I'm not quite decided yet if I will want to smell this much like a berry cupcake, but I'll definitely keep it around.

After reading all these reviews proclaiming Voodoo's uncanny scent-resemblence to cola, I was not disappointed on first smelling my frimp (courtesy the lovely evilmistressoftoast ). It sure does smell like cola! -- and yet, I can pick out the particular elements that are foiling my nose -- especially evident to me are the pine and patchouli on first application. It smells wet, and sweet (lime, vanilla) - rounded, but with an underlying dry, dusty edge of the vetiver, and the sharp nasal-clearing properties of the pine. Still, it's all kind of roiling together for a while and I do continually catch myself thinking, "Cola!" As Voodoo begins to drydown there is a change, and I'm no longer wearing soft drink concentrate. Things begin to smell more softened, and I keep detecting a patchouli note that I like. If I had to guess what is coming more to the fore in this stage, I'd say vanilla, and possibly myrrh. Having dried down for a few hours I have to say I really like what Voodoo has done on my skin. Closer to my wrist it smells drier, from the vetiver I think. I also pick up a lot of patchouli that close. But I keep getting wafts of mysterious vanilla-patchouli and spice when I'm not actively sniffing myself out. There is a tiny edge of pine, and a bit of clove that keep things kind of spicy... it ends up reminding me a fair amount of Blood Kiss, weirdly enough. I definitely agree with Naamah - this is unisex, and I'd like to smell it on a guy. Final verdict: win!

MB: Tokyo Stomp starts out on me like most everyone seems to experience it - buttery, minty, and strangely reminiscent of a certain slender Girl Scout cookie. It's pretty foody, as vanilla scents go. For me, the initial scent isn't amazing enough to steal my heart; but instead of sticking around to woo me, this Monster Bait stomps off to wreak foody fumigation elsewhere. I'm left with only the barest hint of fresh vanilla, far too weak to do its name justice. Swapped this off to a lady who I hope will appreciate it more!

Warm, yet floral. I get a bit of the sage vibe, but the sweetpea is making things dewey and (duh) sweet. The notes all seem to be balancing nicely. I wore this one morning when coming back from a night sleeping over at a friend's house, and I'm pretty sure everyone in the car was suffocating because I'd put too much on. This is a strong blend, which is kind of unexpected. It's really is a warm-smelling scent, too, which is also sort of odd, but pleasantly so. However, I just don't see myself wearing it that much -- I think the overload in the car put me off. Perhaps too much Aeval is too much sweetpea? I'll hang on to one of my imps and swap the other.

Something in this blend reminds me powerfully of how Obatala smells on my skin. I get a weird buttery-popcorn/Auntie Anne's pretzel vibe from both of them. Here, I also get white grape... but the buttery-milk note is overpowering. While wet, it's basically all I can smell. As it's dried down a bit, the butter-popcorn note has mellowed; the whole blend has mellowed, actually, and I have to stick my nose to my wrist to get a sniff. I fear that Milk Moon and I are not meant to be. Barely any throw after a short drydown, and I can't stand the wet stage... someone out there's gotta love it for me!

This reminds me quite a bit of some of my mother's perfumes. Apparently she is a big fan of the white musk. I'm no good at distinguishing poppy or, really, even patchouli, so I don't know if I am getting primarily musks and nothing else, or if it's actually blending. This smells like a refined, classy and mature woman - she is in the midst of her toilette before a symphony performance of Vivaldi's The Four Seasons. Understated and expensive. This smell also reminds me of some kind of body powder my mother used... so, I have very older-woman associations for this scent. I don't think it's really me, but it is lovely.

Something about this scent reminds me of a spring flower. Possibly lilies? But, not floral-smelling at all, because it's too warm and soft around the edges. There is a bit of a spice here, but I don't think "SPICY!" when I sniff my wrist. Just, "mm... sweet and warm..." Definitely will hold on to this.

Sweeeeet fruit. Very grapey. I can smell something musky and warm beneath that, but not really a sharp tang of wine that I would expect. I'm sad that above all, I get just SWEETNESS instead of a sense of the individual notes. The oakmoss, blood musk, tobacco flower, opoponax... not really evident except vaguely as a background, or a cushion for the dripping-sweet grapes, honey, and plum. This smells on me, as others have said, a heck of a lot like grape Jolly Ranchers/Dimetap/Kool-Aid. I think (hope) a friend of mine will appreciate this more than I do.

Seconding Eclipse -- when I first apply it, it smells almost exactly like almond extract. This calms down after about 5 minutes, and then it's similar to Dana O'Shee - but with more prominent almond.

I was hoping for more vanilla out of Lyonesse, but alas... that is not what I get primarily. On me, I smell what I have come to think of as "the amber vibe," which I first picked up in Bastet, and then later in Red Lantern. Here, I think the ambergris and sea moss are what tip it from "interesting" into "no thanks" for me. There is something too ... rich and golden about Lyonesse -- it really comes off as guilded to me, and in a way that I can't appreciate for whatever reason. I want to say it's perfumy, or soapy, but it's not really either. Guess there's no accounting for personal taste. Ah, this is why BPAL has hundreds of scents and not just a handful.

First wear: "This smells like pear tart! Yummmmm...!" Second wear: "Hm. I'm getting an air freshener vibe... maybe I'll come back to you later." A few tries more, and I have resolved my qualms with the questionable air-freshenerness. Tenochtitlan is so warm, and sweet, yet with hints of spices underneath and the smoothness of amber to ground it that I can but love it. The pear is quite prominent, but it is made more interesting with the tulip poppy and the epazote to shake things up. I wear Tenochtitlan when I want something a little fun, a little bright, and a little comforting.

Kuang Shi is very green-smelling, with a sharp edge to it in the imp and on initial application. Green, but notably mango-fruity, with the sandalwood hanging out in the background sopping up the juice. On me it dries down to a mango-y, lightly musky powder sort of scent, with a sweet hint of mandarin. I like it well enough, but it reminds me so much of Belle Epoque in drydown, and furthermore I am not a huge fan of the sharp early stages - so I don't need to keep the imp around.

Initial stages Spicy! Somehow feels like wood... dry. Yet sweet. I am guessing this is the sandalwood, which I am not very familiar with in isolation. It's quite, quite interesting - I think I like it. Beginning to dry.. The spiciness has mellowed under the overwhelming influence of woodiness. P.S. this is pretty strong. I like the smell of the throw a lot more than I like it up close (reminds me of a cedar chest), so I hope it mellows down more as it dries. Drier.. Mm, it is mellowing. This is such an interesting scent to me - not something I associate with myself, but I think I would like a scent that has these components. I might try layering this with fruiter scents. Conclusion It's softer now. Final impression = so intriguing, I have to keep it. It's unlike any other blends I've collected so far. Also: I am terribly envious of Ghost Light's Anne Bonny experience. Edited because I never seem to remember that board formatting =/= html formatting.

All-around lovely. I have a hard time pin-pointing what this smells like, which is to be expected when we don't get any hints from the description. It doesn't change much from initial application to drydown. Very light, refreshing, and springy - like a cool, clear brook, or a dew-covered blossom. To me it smells like some other perfume/smell from my past, like a fresher version of the first perfume oil I ever owned. (Terra Nova - not sure what scent) It's really lovely, and I'd be pleased to smell this on someone else; alas, it doesn't strike a chord with me personally, so I think I can safely swap it without weeping.

This is quite a nice blend. Initially I could smell FRUIT FRUIT FRUIT, especially the apricot, but in a few seconds my nose started picking up on the rose note, and the warmth of the musk. I like how Yerevan is blended. There is something about it on my skin that reminds me of some deodorant I've used in the past, except about 348 times classier. I could actually see myself wearing this as a perfume, perhaps. Perhaps. But I'm not certain enough to keep it around; it kind of reminds me of middle/high school [extreme awkwardness and the painful sarcasm of youth - I do not miss you.] Hopefully someone else will appreciate Yerevan for all it has to offer.

Begins pretty strongly rose... I think I can faintly detect the spices, but they are quite gentle. Something is keeping it from being Just Rose. However, not very long after touching my skin... it's turning to soap. This is the first BPAL blend ever to go soapy on me, and that is including other rose blends (Wanton, Black Rose). I don't think I need to hang on to Lucy or her kisses.

In vial, and on skin: Very, very citrus straight on. Smells to me of grapefruit: fairly sweet, but with a bitter edge. {I put this on my wrists earlier today in the hope of noticing it throughout the day, but I forgot I had it on once I left the house. Later, when I was at work in the afternoon I noticed an odd, non-citrusy smell on my wrist and tried to figure out if it was Aizen-Myoo in late-late-late drydown, but was baffled as to how it had gotten there. But now, I'm thinking it was. It must be the cherry blossom and tea that are left; a little dry, a little sweet.} Dry-down: The citrus has settled down quite a bit, and I am getting much more of a soft floral note -- I think this is the cherry blossom. It must also have tea grounding it, or just be a naturally non-bothersome floral, because it doesn't make my head twinge like some can. There is still something fruity about this... I could eat something that smelled this way. I can tell that this earlier drydown is the precedessor to what I was smelling on my wrists at work today. There is something about it that reminds me of a cupcake doll I once had (her rubber skirt flipped up, and she had a hat that was made of icing, with a cherry on top - so she literally became a cupcake) ... sweet, and a little powdered -- like powdered sugar rather than baby powder. It's not at ALL what I expected from the initial smells. I still have to decide if I want to keep Aizen-Myoo around... it's nice, and definitely interesting, but we'll see if I wear it.

In the imp, I can smell the mint hovering over the other notes. For some reason my expectation of this scent is "foody" -- I think because I keep getting it confused with March Hare. On my skin, the pennyroyal's sharp mintiness is the most noticeable facet of the blend, but it's layered over a warmer base -- probably the musk grounding things. Oh man... something about this (I'm guessing the lavender) actually reminds me of the boy I'm seeing right now. Uh oh. [This will mean me going to sleep with my nose glued to my wrist tonight.] Oddly enough I do get a bit of an edible vibe from this blend on my skin... not just the edibleness of mint and lavender, but there's a warmer bit that seems like I could eat it. Maybe this is just because I have spent such a good amount of time biting the boy's neck at this point that I've created a connection between his cologne and things that go in my mouth. While this is in early drydown the pennyroyal's minty edge keeps the blend fresh, although the black musk has quite a warmth to it underneath. As it's drying the mintiness has mellowed out... Wow. This is very, very nice... I would definitely be making plans to test it on the lad if he didn't already smell almost exactly like this (and he refuses to tell me what he wears, the bastard!) ....at the same time, I can see this scent being unisex - or at least easy to get away with wearing if you're a lady and you tend to like masculine scents. It's just sweet-lavender enough to keep it from being wholly masculine.

This was a frimp from my swap with artofsuicide -- thank you!! Goes on quite strongly jasmine to my nose, with perhaps some rose rounding it out. It's not nearly as overpowering as some florals I've tried (esp. heavy BPAL rose blends), but also not quite to my taste. A little while into drydown I started to smell some fruitiness in the blend; I'll have to look at the notes and see what that might be. [Fig? It must be.] Further into drydown I could smell drier notes kicking the jasmine and rose out of the way and coming to the fore; right now, about 2 hours after application I'm not getting much at all throw wise, but if I shove my nose directly up against my wrist I smell a fainter, softer version of the original jasmine-rose. I have gotten absolutely no coffee from this, unless it's the 'dry' stuff I identified earlier. Interesting. This is nice, and not nearly as scary as I was imagining jasmine blends to be, since it bothers a number of people if prominent and/or seems to amp a lot. While Mata Hari itself doesn't seem like it's going to be my blend, I'm glad I got to try it so my worries about jasmine were allayed.

Blood is quite spicy-dark clove with cherry on me. Similarly there is a period in Blood Kiss's morphing that my ex-boyfriend once identified as smelling exactly like clove cigarettes. BK seems to do pretty widely varying things on people's skin, so it might stay in that stage for you -- for me it ends up a heady, luscious syruppy scent (blended so well that cloves aren't super prominent) grounded in vetiver, but it's worth a shot I'd say. ETA: Here's a link to a similar question.