BlueberryPie

ON ME: To start with, this smells almost exactly like a musty dungeon. I suppose I should stop being surprised now that Beth can create a smell that so perfect encapsulates “old, old stones”. My old highschool was basically a castle on top of a cliff, Harry Potter style, and we had a legitimate dungeon where we held art classes. This scent honestly reminds me of going down rough stairs hewn out of stone into the art classrooms. It's certainly atmospheric. However, as it dries, this turns to....uh, oatmeal on me. A bowl of cold oatmeal. I’m not sure why it happens, but it is rather amusing. It’s not a BAD scent, per se -- definitely not as bad as Hungry Ghost Moon turned out on me, but it’s not exactly what I was looking for either. SCORE: 3/10

Well, that clears things up. What turned me off of Roadhouse wasn't the tobacco note. It was the hemp. Something about it makes me nauseous. This blend was very disappointing, considering the hype. I wish I'd gotten more patchouli and vanilla, as I'm sure I would've loved that, but hemp is clearly a Note of Doom for me. Oh well, that's one more ultra-rare bottle I don't have to worry about finding more of. SCORE: 1/10

ON ME: Oh my god, THIS is what dragon’s blood resin smells like? My god, what have I been missing out on? I’ve been staying away from that note because blood doesn’t usually work on me, and resins make me nauseous, but this...my god, this. This was what I’d hoped BPAL’s strawberry note would smell like, sweet and fresh and juicy (though this is more on the sugary sweet side than the accurately strawberry-like side). At least, I think it’s the dragon’s blood resin that’s doing that. I’ve smelled BPAL’s rose before, and this isn’t it. And this definitely isn’t how red wine smells -- at least, not real red wine. Must. Try. More. I wouldn't say this is my favourite ROSE blend, per se, because it doesn't really smell like roses to me. But this definitely got me intrigued in dragon's blood resin. SCORE: 10/10

ON ME: Damn, I was really hoping I’d get a lot of vanilla and apple blossom in this one. Instead, I get a lot of mandarin, something green, and not much else. At least I’m not getting any tobacco, which is a relief. Sadly, I still can’t tell exactly what BPAL’s opium note smells like. This blend does turn SLIGHTLY chemical on me, the way Hungry Ghost Moon did, but not quite to that extent. I can ignore the bitter, medicine note in this if I wanted to - there was plenty else to draw my attention. But I’m pretty sure it’s not the opium that was doing that -- the reason I didn’t like the Forest Reverie was because it turned very, very sour on me for some reason. It contained opium, and while it didn’t work on me, it wasn’t bitter and chemical the same way this and Hungry Ghost Moon is. It’s kind of frustrating. I wish I knew what kept doing that. I’m going to say this scent isn’t really for me -- it’s not terrible, but there’s no reason to put up with the weird chemical note in this when there are so many fantastic blends from BPAL that doesn’t have this problem. SCORE: 4/10

ON ME: I only got a sniffy with very little left in it to test. Either there simply wasn’t enough to slather, or this is a very faint perfume, but after wearing, I still can’t say what I feel about it. Mostly because most of the time, I can’t even smell it. Every once in a while, I’d get a generic perfume smell wafting up to my nose, but in general, this was just a whole bunch of nothing to me. The only note I can remotely identify is rose and amber, and only because those two are my favourites, so I’m pretty sure my nose if fine-tuned to them. I don’t think I can be bothered to hunt down a full decant of this. SCORE: 2/10

Like the description said, this was nothing but resins. It's one of the only BPAL perfumes that smelled like a perfect single note on me, and didn't morph at all during the entire duration I had it on. This has the perfect name -- this is exactly how a church smells like in my imagination. Sadly, I don't think it's really me. I love the scent, don't get me wrong, and I want to beg a friend of mine to wear it every day. But it just doesn't quite fit with my image of myself in my head. Alas. I wish I was the kind of person who loved this perfume. SCORE: 7/10

The closest point of comparison I can think of to this is The White Rider. They smell very similar to me, which is weird, considering The White Rider smells exactly as its description -- "white leather and sandalwood". Mandrake is somehow darker than The White Rider, a bit more dirty and rooty. But otherwise, they are scents in the same general category to me. And while I didn't dislike The White Rider, it was never a scent for me -- personally, I just gravitate towards girlier scents of the fruity, sugary sweet persuasion. So while this isn't a bad scent by all means, if you're into this sort of thing, it's not really "me". If scents are a colour, this would be a dark mossy green, mottled with brown. SCORE: 4/10

At the start, this is the indistinguishable foody-ness that a lot of other reviewers got on me. I can smell the buttered toast (and I'm still amazed that this is a scent you can recreate in perfume-form), but I can't tell anything else apart. It's warm and delicious and I thought I'd love this... And then the dry down happened. I'm not sure what note is doing that, but this turned bitter on me, almost like the way Hungry Ghost Moon did. It almost smells like an almond note, but not a natural almond -- it's a strangely chemical almond that is how I imagine cyanide would smell like. Which is amusing, given the context here. It's not QUITE as unpleasant as Hungry Ghost Moon, but it still bothers me. Given how much I love another foody scent in the same collection (Eat Me) and how well that one worked on me, I think I'll just stick with that instead. SCORE: 4/10

Oh. My. God. I didn't think it could get much better than Purple Phoenix as far as plum scents went. I was so, so wrong. This...This is perfection. The florals in this are a lot lighter and gentler than Purple Phoenix -- it never overpowers the plums, it just supports it and buoys it up like it should. And then it slowly fades away and leaves a beautiful sugary plum scent that just...oh god, how do I even describe this. I am in love. SCORE: 10/10

Mmmm, plums~ I'm so glad this note decided to come out for me. It's the main reason I got a decant of this. And it is, indeed, a beautiful floral plum scent. Sometimes, depending on the weather and my chemistry, the florals come out a little too much and I don't get much plum until very late in the dry down, but usually, it's a very balanced scent. I mostly just like it for how sugary the plum turns in the dry down, while still retaining its distinct fruitiness. Whereas Goblin Market was strangely herbal, and Perversion was very musky, this was just a very nice, somewhat dark floral that dries to a sugary sweetness that I just can't get over. God, my nose has a sugar addiction. SCORE: 10/10

The perfect scent to wear to your next bondage ball, dungeon adventure or sojourn to your favorite pleasure dome. Smoky rum and black tobacco with a whisper of steamy leather with a splash of crystalline chardonnay, layered over a sensual, sweet, and deceptively magnetic base of tonka. This starts off as a very pleasant sweetness with an underlying current of musk (and a very sweet musk too). The whole blend was a lot lighter and prettier than I thought it would be. The tobacco and leather notes really scared me away from this -- both perfumes I've tried with those notes before didn't work on me at all (Roadhouse and The White Rider). This is almost like Lust mixed with syrup -- they both have that delicious musk note, but Perversion is a lot sweeter. As it dries, the musk slowly disappears, until I just get a very warm kind of sugariness behind. It's nowhere near as complex on me as on other people, but I still love it. What can I say? My nose has a sweet tooth. This is very much everything I'd hoped Goblin would be. Except whereas Goblin was honey sweetness with a weird sort of herbal tone to it in the wet stage, this just has very nice musk. SCORE: 10/10

In the VERY wet stage, this smells dark and sinister on me, and I don't get any fruit at all. I discussed with a friend who'd also bought this perfume what it could be, and he guess nutmeg and black liquorice, which confuses me because neither of those things are in the description. However, once it dries, it turns into a very sweet candied apple on me. I don't really get any other fruits, just apple and sugar. But I still really like it. I just like fruity, sweet scents. (That, and fooody scents.) The dry stage of this smells almost exactly the same as Princess & Playtime from Lou Lou's, so it's good that I know what to replace this with when this bottle runs out. Score: 7/10 (Mostly for the weird wet stage.)

Wow, this is....probably the most unique perfume I've ever tried in BPAL's catalogues. And I'm not sure I like it. I don't get the foody or cake-y scent that other reviewers have gotten at all. I get rice wine, ginger, and lots of woods. It's...hard to describe what this scent is like. The best I can come up with is...you know those little gel capsules you can take your medicine in? It's like if you opened one of that and took a sniff, very bitter and medicinal and almost chemical at times, except with the OCCASIONAL very faint whiff of grapefruit. And there's a strange musty smell when it's wet too. I feel like a hypocrite, since I got into BPAL because of it uniqueness, but I'm not sure I really like this. It's just not me...and frankly, I can't imagine who it might be for. This must morph very different on different people, because all I get is bitter, chemical medicine. Like a particularly dirty Chinese hospital. Score: 3/10 ETA: It figures that the only perfume with staying power I've tried on in days would be the one that's absolutely horrible on me. Dry, the occasional whiff of grapefruit disappears (which was the only saving grace of this perfume), and I get nothing except bitter, chemical medicine. This is the first BPAL perfume I've tried that just managed to get worse the longer I wore it for. I'm revising my score to a 0/10.

Wet, there's a strong mint note in this for me. But a mint note that's somehow very sweet, instead of being cool and refreshing. Like cheap mint candy. Unfortunately, I don't get a dry stage at all. This pretty much completely disappears on me after 30-45 minutes. I think it's more my fault, though. I tried on Harlot's House yesterday, and that one disappeared quickly too. And so did Belle Epoque, the day before. I think it might just be because my chemistry is going wonky due to girl-part issues. So I'm gonna have to retry all of these in a week or so. I really hope it gets better when I do, because this sounds so good on other people. If the mint eventually calms down and I get more of a rosy, spicy scent, like some other people do, I think I'd really love this. I think I'm gonna refrain from scoring for now and wait until I have a normal chemistry.

My nose must be crazy, because I swear I get a rose note in this. But then again, the only rose scent I've tried so far is Roses, Pearls, and Diamonds, and it's rather faint on me in that one. So maybe my nose just hasn't learned what roses actually smell like yet. I wish the white tea note would come out more on me, because I love tea scents. But overall, this is just a very floral scent on me, with the faintest whiff of sandalwood. Which isn't a bad thing at all. I enjoyed this a lot. I thought I was going to think it was generic at first, but there's something about the subtle freshness to the florals, something tempering it down and making it not piercing or cloying that really made this blend for me. I'm now wavering on whether to get a bottle of this. The main problem I have is that my skin eats this up, so after an hour, there's almost nothing left. And I want to get a bottle to see if the problem improves when I slather, and I can't slather properly with an imp. I'm too paranoid about using anything up. (I have so many almost-empty imps at home that I refuse to use.) Score: 9/10

This is exactly what it says on the label for me -- sandalwood and leather. It's just a pity that the blend turns out to be a little too masculine for me to wear. It has very powerful throw on me too. I just spilled a little over my fingers and I smelled like The White Rider all day. It completely covered up my Ave Maria (which I'd slathered on). So, for someone who likes sandalwood and leather, I imagine this would be just heavenly. Score: 9/10

This is....grief encapsulated. Florals, weighed down by gloom. It's that moment after you've had a good cry into your pillow, and you're just lying there in the darkness, fresh tear tracks on your face, your head still throbbing and your throat still raw. And you close your eyes and feel the pain settle in your stomach and turn into despair. And you know the reason you stopped crying isn't because you've gotten over it, but just because you're too tired to care anymore. It's not quite a cathartic scent for me. It's something that makes me want to curl up in a tiny ball somewhere dark and quiet and hide forever. Score: 8/10

Oh wow, this is beautiful. I was really scared of rose notes at first, because heavy florals tend to scare me off. I guess I associate them with headache-inducing department store perfumes. But my kind of sort of boyfriend mentioned liking roses, so I've been trying perfumes with rose notes out, and this one is definitely a winner. Perhaps even THE winner. I think it's mostly because the coconut comes out so strong on me, and I love creamy, sweet, foody scents. BPAL Coconut is definitely a Holy Grail note on me, right after amber. It's so sweet, but milky and warm, not cloying or artificial at all! And even with the overpowering coconut, the rose is still there too, underneath the coconut, like a dewy rose, except instead of the dew being water condensation, it's coconut juice. If that even makes sense. I am the worst person in the world at comparisons. I'm definitely going to get a bottle of this. I can see using this as both an everyday scent and a formal occasion one -- the rose gives it a level of sophistication that most of my foody scents don't have. Normally, this doesn't have THAT much staying power on me. But I've found that if I've put Coconut, Vanilla, and Tiare hair gloss from BPTP the night before, this scent can last through the whole day the next day. The coconut in both mixes really bring each other out. Score: 10/10

This is another one of those scents that's so finely blended that my newbie nose can't pick out the notes at all. It just all merges together into a dark, but still wet and fresh green scent. Like dawn just breaking out over a summer forest covered in dew. I was worried this scent will be too masculine on me (and I'm a very girly girl type), but it didn't smell bad at all. Granted, I don't think it's very me, it's just a little bit too dark, even though I like green scents. But I can see myself loving this scent on someone else. Sometimes, I put it on anyway after a shower, when I know I'm just gonna be staying home, and huff my wrist happily in front of my computer. Score: 8/10

This smells like money on me. Like, literal money. Take a bill out of your wallet, press it against your nose, and take a whiff. That's how this smells on me. I have no idea what note is causing it. I suspect it might be the tobacco. But needless to say, I'll be passing this imp on. As much as I like the more, ahem, sophisticated and expensive-smelling perfumes, I want them to be a LEETLE bit more subtle in screaming "MONEY MONEY MONEY". Score: 4/10

I got this as a free imp from the Lab (thank you!), otherwise, I would never have ordered it. I tend to shy away from all the sexual blends, because I'm still kinda intimidated by the whole idea of sex (it's weird and icky). I was really reluctant to try even this on, but I figured letting it sit in my drawer would just be missing the point of perfume. Thankfully, it didn't produce the same....uh...reactions in me as it did many other members, or it really would've scared me away. But I think I really like this scent. I've found that I like warm, rich scents, and this is definitely one of them. Something about the red musk and patchouli combination is very pleasing to my nose. This is a perfume that, unlike, say, Gingerbread Poppet, doesn't really resemble its name on me, and for once, that's a good thing. It's a delightful scent that I'm not terrified of! Honestly, I think on me, it's not that bad an everyday scent. Score: 8/10

Like with a lot of other people, the fruity notes from this blend turned very artificial on me. It ends up smelling like bubblegum or lollipop, which isn't a bad thing, but definitely not MY thing. I'm sad because I don't get any musk or woods or amber or even vanilla at all. Just artificial, almost plastic fruit notes, particularly strawberry and cherry. I had very high hopes for this (I'd been on a binge for strawberry notes when I bought this off of a forum member), and I'm absolutely crushed that this didn't turn out how I'd hoped. This is probably the only scent I've tried so far that had amber, and yet didn't work on me. I think I'm gonna let the imp sit a little and try again later. And if it still doesn't work, I'll hand it off to a friend who loves strawberry notes and hope it works out better on him. Score: 6/10

Oh wow. This has several distinct stages on me, and every single one of them is its own distinct shade of horrible. When first applied, this is stringent and sharp, like insect repellent. As it dries down, it turns into cheap, supermarket air freshener. And as it continues to dry, out of nowhere, this sour, bitter, just plain wrong note comes out of nowhere. And in its final stages, the sour note just plain stinks, so I end up smelling like an onion. I have no idea what's causing this. According to a friend who also dabbles in BPAL, it might be the opium, as she's never tried a perfume with opium in it that smelled good. I'm gonna try another perfume with opium (Belle Epoque) today to see if she's right. But I am very disappointed. I was hoping this would work on me, especially since other rose scents had worked so well on me. (The fact that my kind of sort of boyfriend likes roses helps too.) I think I'm gonna give this to a friend. *sad* Score: 1/10

I am so relieved that I like this scent. I tried on a little bit of O, and it just did not work on me. Something in it turned medicinal and plastic-y at the same time on me, and I was terrified that it was vanilla, because I'd been looking forward to trying on so many BPAL vanilla scent. But now, I think it's the honey. Because this perfume was perfect on me. It's what started my binge on foody BPAL scents. I still can't believe that someone managed to capture the concept of "Yumminess" in a bottle so accurately. It practically screams "CAKECAKECAKE" on me. It's quite amusing as I was complaining the other day to my neighbour that I had no clue what to wear for our dinner that night. And he told me to not wear anything, because he hates smelling perfume while he's eating. And I told him that he's never smelled BPAL and intentionally chose the most foody scent I had at the time -- this. And he grudgingly agreed that it was more suitable to dinner than most other perfumes. Alas, he's still a godless heathen, as he seems to detest all my other perfumes. Even delicious, delicious ones like Roses, Pearls, and Diamonds. Score: 8/10 (The only reason this isn't a 10/10 is because it is VERY strong on me when first put on. I didn't know, so I applied when I was in the car on the way over, and my cousin had to roll the window down because it was too heady for her. And I felt very bad about that.)

I'm honestly not sure how I feel about this blend. My first impression was that it was very generically perfume-y. Not unpleasant, but I had such high hopes for it that it couldn't help but feel a little disappointing to me. But reflecting back, like the OP said, the scent is very, very smooth, and all the (very different) notes blended together so well that I can't honestly call it "generic". It takes a tremendous amount of skill to make a perfume this complex, and yet this well-blended that I can't begin to guess at notes (apart from the obvious orange). So I guess my final opinion is that it is a brilliant perfume. Somehow metallic, just like its name suggests, without being unpleasant or tangy at all. I have no idea how else to describe it. It's really a scent that you have to sniff for yourselves. But it's not for me. And with it being limited edition, I don't think I'm gonna go to the effort of tracking down a bottle. But that's a matter of personal preference. The perfume is absolutely fine, it's just not for me. I can't begin to guess at the staying power or throw, because I got this as a testable sniffy and there was so little left that I could only dab, instead of slather like I normally do. Score: 5/10