LiberAmoris

I'm already halfway through my bottle of Mr. Jacquel, that's how much I like this blend. It's hard to describe just how velvety soft it is, but there's that gorgeous warm-as-sunlight amber, the plush patchouli, and those spices---hard to tell exactly what they might be, but they add a little spice and dimension here in the nicest way. On my skin it's kind of like The Lion meets Sin (sans cinnamon). I'm also picking up on that slightly dusty, water-damage-on-books note that I love in other BPAL blends---I think it might be an element of the patchouli. I think I may need another bottle soon, at the rate I'm going. It's just that good.

More rose! I feel like I am on rose overload lately, and I'm loving every minute of it. Lady Luck Blues is elegant and slightly debauched, like a lady leaning against a wall and smoking a cigarette, with one stocking falling down. I can smell each listed note here, and they're all ones I enjoy, although iris can go a bit strange on me. But in LLB it's lovely and adds just the right spike to what might otherwise be a pleasant, but somewhat placid, combination. Eminently wearable and a definite keeper.

Poisson d'Avril is one of those springy bouquet blends that makes me feel as though I have cut flowers all over my apartment, when in fact it is just my perfume. There are so many flowers in this that it's difficult to sense them independently, but the overall feeling I get is of a complex floral that smells like it has blue flowers in it. Sometimes I catch a hint of something that smells like lilac, but it must be the bluebell or crocus. Definitely in the vein of Flower Moon or Beltane, and other blends crammed full of pretty posies.

I'm sure there are people that can say no to a blend with wide-throated yellow monkey-flower accord in it, but I am not one of them. And I am glad I didn't. I feel very lucky to be one of those people with fairly amenable skin chemistry, and Beth's roses always bloom true and lush on me. Even so, between Rose Moon and Schlafende Baigneuse, I feel like I have a couple new rosy favorites. The rose here does truly feel yellow, rather than red or pink or white, and it's creamier and lighter to match. Combined with the skin musk, white cream, honeycomb, amber, and yellow monkey-flower---the feel is very yellow and gold and white and luminously dreamy---just like the tones in the painting. For those concerned with musk and cream in blends, these notes certainly inform the blend but they don't overwhelm. The overall feel is of a golden floral, almost regal. It's sensuous and beautiful and almost private. Totally lovely.

Y'ha-Nthlei is like what soap smells like in heaven. There is something so undoubtedly fresh about this blend that the comparisons to soap spring to mind, as so many soaps have an ozone or marine scent to them. But Y'ha-Nthlei is so much better than that. I smell the marine notes (and a touch of ozone, but just a touch), the unmistakable fresh tang of bergamot, cool eucalyptus and the yummy ambergris/grey amber. It's like the moment when you go under water and the wave seals over the top of your head. I don't reach for aquatics that often, but I really enjoyed testing this one out.

Wow, there are just so many notes in Blue Moon. It's very impressive on that scale alone! The notes that are the most prominent on me are the moonflower (yay!), orchid, iris, cucumber, clary sage, wood aloes, and buttercup. But when I pull my wrist away from my nose and smell the air, it smells like what I imagine one beam of blue light falling on a street corner would smell like. It's concentrated. It's bright and uplifting, yet mysterious and portentous. The moonflower is the note that sticks around the longest on me---hours later it's like moonflowers tussucked in creamy, blued moonlight. But there are all these delicate little crosshatchings in the way it smells, like motes drifting about in light. It's complex and dimensional without smelling like a tumult of notes. There's nothing chaotic about Blue Moon, just serenity and a sense of peace. So glad I got a bottle. This is the kind of blend I'll save to wear when I go out on a summer night because it will just feel right.

Tamamo-no-Mae is awfully pretty. It definitely is creamy, like white tea with a touch of milk or soy milk and a spray of florals. There’s something almost peachy about the way this plays out on my skin, although it must just be the combination of notes striking my nose in such a way to create phantom notes. The ginger is barely audible on me---there’s just the barest brush of it. I’m trying to pick out the other notes, but this is so finely milled that it’s difficult to do so. I think I can smell the rice flower, moments of the white sandalwood, and the Amacha (hydrangea leaf?). I believe the black locust flower is in the pea family, and I do smell something that’s like a mellower, greener, less intense sweet pea kicking around in there. The light resiny bottom to the blend is probably the benzoin gum, I’m guessing, and it lends a very, very subtle incensey hint. I’m really enjoying this. It’s just perfect for this time of year.

Minotaur really is like a cross between Jacob's Ladder and Schwarzer Mond! I have an ongoing love affair with galbanum, so I was all atwitter about this one---and I'm not disappointed. It's lovely, dark and deep. With something glistering in the dark. Or hot resin-on-resin action. There is something ancient, musky, and hypnotic about Minotaur as it wafts about in the air around me. It's the kind of mythic and mysterious BPAL experience I'm used to, but which never ceases to amaze and move me.

Mr. Nancy is bake shop sexy. I love the way it segues seamlessly in the air from something foody (spicy cookies) to something pert (lime), to something mellow and diffuse (tobacco), to something classic (bay rum). It works on me, it works on my friend Dan, it worked on a bunch of my lovely ex-coworkers, and it works on my mom (I dabbed some on her arm last month after she kept asking me what I was wearing). The trick for me is not to put too much on---when I've worn too much it gets a little sweet for my taste, but when I just dab a little here and there it's fantastic. I kinda love the whole Carousel, or what I've tried so far, but Mr. Nancy is definitely a standout.

Bloody Mary is the only Monster Bait I ordered from the latest batch---something about it just seemed fun and mouth-watering. And I do like it quite a bit---it's kind of like Bordello gone wild. The cherry is true and luscious, the cream and sugar are not overwhelming. It's dessert-y, but not so sweet that I feel like I might attract bees. I don't need a lot of cherry-dominant blends in my collection, but this is a nice break from my florals and resins. It's playful. And sometimes it's enjoyable to wear something that's the perfume equivalent of a wink.

The Deep Ones is an aquatic more in line with Danube than say, something with a prominent ozone note. That is to say, I pick up on more florals and grapefruit here than I do ozoney soapish notes. It's the kind of deep, plashy aquatic that makes me want to drive out into the woods in the summer and swim in a lake. Aquatics aren't the category of blend I find myself reaching for often, but this is quite nice.

Another BPAL blend I'm glad I tried several times! The first couple of times I wore Queen Alice it seemed too subtle for me---the notes were so low-lying and muted on my skin that I thought I hadn't gently swished the (closed!) imp enough times before application to blend the oils. But on the third try, this was a beauty! I pick up on the cider and wine notes, and there's definitely something sweet going on, and then of course those carnations. But everything is really working in the service of the whole, and it manages to be both playful and elegant at once. I think I would wear this for the carnation alone---it's just so warm and spicy here. I'll ponder whether a full bottle is necessary, but I have a feeling it might be.

Herbert West is like Embalming Fluid after a good hot shower and a shave. I think I'm smelling green tea, citrus, white musk, a smidge of bay rum (?) and a white floral? These are just guesses, but the overall impression is that this smells like a man just out of the shower, standing at the basin shaving. It's pretty yummy, but not something for me. Another score for one of the liberated, perfume-wearin' men in my life.

Death on a Pale Horse smells so clean and fresh on me that I have a hard time imagining it in the terms of its inspiration---until I remember that it's death on a pale horse, and then everything falls together. This is indeed something dark traveling on something light. The musk and mint and lavender are surprising and uplifting, herbal and bright. At the other end of the scale, the patchouli and vetiver keep this balanced with their bass notes. There's tension between them, and the citrus helps buoy the conversation, while the calla lily refines it. This may not be something I'd reach for often, but I'm really intrigued by it. I think I'll be passing it on to one of the BPAL-wearing men in my life for further testing.

Yeah, Bien Loin D'Ici smells less like Smut to me and more like a supercharged Sed Non Satiata. Actually, what it smells like, and it took me about a month to suss this out, is a mingling of the Chinese Bee & Flower soaps Jasmine and Sandalwood. So good. As much as I love the way this smells, it's the kind of blend I'm more likely to use in my incense burner than wear. It's incredibly incensey, almost amazingly so, and the smell of this in the air around me is just such a great balance between incredibly calming and incredibly sensual. I would buy a bottle just to use for that purpose alone.

Squirting Cucumber is exactly what it purports to be---fresh, crisp, almost aquatic cucumber with lush summertime grass. It's green and light and very evocative! I can imagine this would be fantastic when the weather is humid and hot---a couple dabs of this stuff and I think I would feel much refreshed.

I love lilies but almost none of my fave BPALs have lily as a prominent note. But I quite enjoy Voodoo Lily. Go figure. It reminds me a smidge of this perfume I had when I was in grad school that was orange and lavender, with lily thrown in. So perhaps I'm responding more to the scent memory than anything else. But it works for me. I'll definitely keep the imp and enjoy it!

Beth's apple note is so true and amazing and Poisoned Apple really shows it off to advantage. This is definitely evil apple, but what I like most about it is that it really feels like apple freshly plucked, with the sharp smell of the broken stem and the faint lingering smell of the soil and even the air around the tree as the neck's been snapped from the branch. It's very visceral. To me, this is every bad apple, and there have been a few of note. I'm not sure I would ever wear this regularly, as the apple note astounds me but never ends up being something that I turn to when I'm getting ready to leave the apartment in the morning, but I'm so glad I got a chance to try it. For people who love apple, this is a must-try.

Pink lime, pink grapefruit, white nectarine, wild rose, sage, woody patchouli, bergamot, and ornery hedgehog musk. Croquet is awfully springy and pink and fun. It's like a gourmand pink lemonade that leaves a lovely, refreshing aftertaste. When I first applied it, I thought that I would definitely keep the imp, but an hour or so later I'm thinking I might need a bottle. Like Titania, this just feels like a head ornament from a Midsummer Night's Dream----all flowers and fruits and twined up bits and bobs of natural things, working together. Croquet just feels fun and playful and free of motive. It's the kind of blend I would bring on vacation or wear when I need a lift at work. Mostly I pick up on the nectarine and lime/grapefruit, with the rose and sage poking through from time to time. It does smell creamy, which is hard to explain but quite nice.

Ostara is totally spring in a bottle! It smells like strawberry cream with roses and armfuls and armfuls of wildflowers. And it's so fun and light-hearted, which I'm kind of enjoying as a foil to the heavier scents I normally wear. I can't wait until the weather warms up just a smidge---I'll put this one into heavy rotation.

Mmmm, roses and cream! Like Faith, Hope merges a floral with the yummy creaminess of Antique Lace, and it's a combination that's just beautiful. This is the kind of blend that I find myself turning to when I want something simple and unabashedly floral. There's no beating around the (rose) bush here, this is straight up rosy bliss!

Like a lot of people have already said, Faith is like Antique Lace plus violet. It's a total comfort scent for me, something snuggly and floral-creamy that makes me want to curl up on the sofa and read a book. It's also perfect for the transition between winter and spring somehow. As it fades, it evolves into just the most lovely milky violet, the equivalent of a sheer purple that just hangs on and on. I'm so glad I got a bottle!

Brown Jenkin is so good. I love coconut, and it's just perfect here, dry and warm and slightly tropical. I even like the orris in this blend, and orris is normally a no-no note on my skin. And the musk and the incense...so gorgeous. Definitely going on my bottle list for the future. It's like wrapping myself up in a warm cream-colored fisherman's sweater that recently been worn by a good-smelling man.

THE KNAVE OF HEARTS Crushed roses and blackcurrant tarts. I get loads and loads of roses from The Knave of Hearts, which is never a bad thing for me, as I love Beth's rose notes. The buttery baked tart note is secondary, and the blackcurrant is pretty subtle. I like the currants with the roses, and the tart is fun and yummy, but I just don't think I'm digging the combination. Sometimes the buttery blends are just a little too much for me, a little overwhelming when they're so close to me on my skin. This would be great in my oil burner, though.

The Dodo is a much stronger blend at first than I anticipated---loads of red musk and cassia make it feel heavier at first sniff than it ends up at the drydown. As it dries, I catch hints of the lemon, sugar and mango. They definitely temper the blend a bit and make it lighter and sweeter and more free-spirited. I like the way the red musk is backlit here by the other notes, but I don't think this is the best red musk blend for my chemistry. I think it might be the mango that's the culprit---I love the taste of mango but the note has never worked quite right on my skin. But I'm awfully glad to have tried The Dodo, and know just the person to pass my imp on to!