dronzeka

This smells like lime lollipop and green herbs! The green herbs go ever so slightly Irish Spring on me, but that's what they usually do. The lime lollipop seems to be losing out to the herbs, and I'm not sure I could wear this all day (but hey, it would smell GREAT on my husband!).

(I am amused that there are way more recent reviews of the foody Yules than of Hypothermia...) This is gorgeous when wet - a fresh bracing blast of COLD made up of some kind of mint (I don't really think it's peppermint--maybe pennyroyal?), an almost pine-y eucalyptus, and maybe a little cold ozone. It calms down quite quickly to become much more of a skin scent which, on me, goes back and forth between a slightly creamy wintergreen with a little pine and mint, and Irish Spring soap. I think what some people have compared to the Snow White-like throwdown is rescuing it somewhat. As someone said above, this definitely leans unisex for me. (I should go put some on my husband...!) This might well be a candidate for the scent locket because I love it when wet--it might be a wee bit "room scent"-like, but very fresh and energizing!

I get primarily wintergreen or spearmint. Maybe something a little aquatic in the background (almost cucumber-y?). It's quite light, airy, and delicate. Very fresh, if not really quite what I'd associate with snowflakes (it reads as very green to me, a pale watery green). Myself, I love peppermint and pennyroyal but am pretty meh on every other mint, so am not sure that this quite works for me, but it is very nicely done.

I should just quote Venneh's review directly, because I came over here to say the same thing: this is definitely Snow White + rose... ...and Snow White still smells like play-doh on me. And the rose starts off like soap, too (which it doesn't usually on me). FWIW, once it settles down the rose smells very very VERY like Hope from CD (which I love), but I get very little of it. And it can't really compete with the play-doh. If I wait long enough it's a bit more rose, kind of like a faded/diluted Hope. It's less play-doh, but not very interesting. Sigh. And it sounded so good.

Gardenia and peaches (as if that wasn't clear from everyone else's reviews!). I find this super-yummy - fresh, fruity, bright. Thank you for the sniffie, generous formumite!

This is very, very soft on me. I get the same kind of grapefruit that's in Shattered, softened and sweetened by the other notes. On me, this is very well blended--it's difficult to distinguish the notes; overall, it's an elegant, cool sweetness. It doesn't smell like soap, itself, but it is a scent that you might find in VERY high-end (probably French!) bath products. I REALLY like this, except it's such a skin scent on me--I so wish I had a bottle, so I could slather, but all I have is a treasured imp!

mmmmm! at first I'm not really sure what this smells like. But as it dries down: beeswax! and then: something vaguely sweet and powdery! but in a good way. This is very warm and soft. I'm not really getting a lot of - any?- smoke, but it's very comforting and definitely makes me think of candles - vanilla ones, but not in the icky craft store way; the beeswax grounds the vanilla and the two blend beautifully. And I agree that there's skin musk in this, it's a little tiny bit reminiscent of Giant Vulva (but without the resins). This is really, really nice; I think it would make a wonderful comfort or sleep scent. It's not fancy or glamorous, but a wonderful skin scent. (Oh, wait, at the right angle I get a bit of smoke in the throw! It's lovely and very candle-y, not like a bonfire; it's very faint, though, and I kinda hope it gets stronger as it ages...) Yeah, I could go for a bottle of this...

In the bottle: fresh green grass! and a wee hint of flowers. Wet: grass/flowers. Drying: okay, there's a brief moment when I get a whiff of something...sort of yucky. Like, musk gone really bad. Wait, now it seems to be gone... phew! Drydown: pleasant, if somewhat generic. On me, the musk is a little powdery, in a nice way, sort of like a nice baby powder. (Not like Gladdener of all Hearts, though, which has never smelled like baby powder to me.) There's a slight floral sweetness in the background. These flowers aren't big heady tropical things - they're little fresh wildflowers. As it dries further, I get more grass again - which, sadly, goes kind of sharp and unappealing on me, but if you like grass and it works on you, you'll probably like this. In the end everything blends together into a soft powderiness. It is quite comforting and soft.

How strong is the jasmine in The Girl? Has anyone who has a problem with BPAL's jasmine tried it? (I'd love an AL replacement but jasmine is usually a deal-breaker note for me - turns anything bitter and acrid.)

Ooooh - love, love, love! Wet/early dry down, this is very much like Atrocious Attic on me, which is to say mostly rose and lavender, with a powderiness that I think comes from sandalwood (or something dusty) in Atrocious Attic. Here, there's rose and lavender and the dustiness is less sweet, more recognizably amber. As it wears down, I get leaves! It smells like fall! Without turning into bad-men's-cologne-ick on me! (This is very unusual for me!) It really is like one of those late summer days where the day is warm and sunny and sweet, but as the sun goes down and the air gets cool, you can smell the first of the leaves turning and falling to the ground. The final drydown is much less sweet/floral, much more amber, a bit more unisex. I may have to track down a back up of this one (it's even still up on the site, I'm tempted to be evil and order a bottle...).

I find Yvaine definitely conveys cool detached authority - it's lavender and magnolia, very cool and crystal-y without being haughty or snooty. I've worn it when I wanted to appear/feel composed and serene and slightly elevated from the world, if that makes any sense. (Although I'm thinking now I have to try Manhattan...)

I love - LOVE - this. It's a new fave - I actually wore it for 4-5 days in a row when I first got it, and I NEVER do that. On me, it's quite simply honey and lotus - the honey is the rich, sweet, but clean honey of Mead Moon rather than the kind of funky, almost skunky honey of O and Jezebel. The lotus has that recognizable bubble-gumminess, but something about the honey makes it more complex than it usually is on me - it gives the lotus depth and grounds it, I think. The two blend together beautifully into a gorgeous honeyed floral - rich but not too heavy, and quite sweet, but not cloying (mind you, I love sweet, so if you don't, your definition of cloying may not match mine!). Although there's lots of honey, it doesn't come across as foody to me (while I love sweet and smelling like things you can eat/drink - honey, vanilla, tea - I can't do the hardcore foody cakes/cupcakes/sugar, for instance). It's sophisticated and on the sexy side, but more in that I think it would be great for a fancy evening out, not that it reeks of sex or anything (that said, I've worn it all day, happily - I just apply with a light hand during the day). On me, it has great throw and lasts really well - 5-6 hours without any problems. It's not much of a morpher for me, but by the end of its run the lotus burns off a bit and it's mostly honey. I ADORE this. I nearly used up my imp within the week (and I only haven't bought a bottle yet because I'm broke, but am going to break down and do so soon).

That makes sense to me - my faves are generally lighter (I'm not an incense/resin/heavy musk fan), things like Alice and White Rabbit and Antique Lace and Dorian. When I wear Glowing Vulva, I have to remember just to use teeny dabs or it will be crazy! Oh for sure that has to have something to do with it. However, even on the scents that are the strongest on me there is no way I am applying it with a toothpick!! I just roll my eyes when I read that. Hee! No, it's always more than a toothpick for me, too.

That makes sense to me - my faves are generally lighter (I'm not an incense/resin/heavy musk fan), things like Alice and White Rabbit and Antique Lace and Dorian. When I wear Glowing Vulva, I have to remember just to use teeny dabs or it will be crazy!

How interesting! I tend to think of myself as low key/unemotional, but then, I do tend to anxiety, am a bit impatient, and am a a very fast talker... I'm not someone whose skin eats scent in 30 minutes (except certain scents - Severin, I'm looking at you!), but I also put a lot on: upend bottle onto finger, swipe on the two pulse points in my neck, another upend/swipe, dab on base of throat, left & right collarbone, another swipe, back of hand, wrist, and inner elbow, another swipe, other hand/wrist/elbow. Sometimes I then do the back of my neck or my cleavage. The only times anyone's commented on my perfume have been when I've just put it on (my husband, my mom), or when I've got into a warm car with someone! Body-temperature-wise, I'm always hot rather than cold, which you'd think would amplify my scent? Perhaps I burn it off more quickly?

Okay, I'm going to bump this thread and ask, any suggestions for an interview with a judge? (for an internship, not sentencing. ) I'm going to be very very cautious about wearing anything at all, since you're supposed to be uber-conservative when interviewing with judges, and I may end up just dabbing on the teeniest bit of TAL Charisma or Lionheart or the like for inspiration - but I just wondered if any scents - especially all the good light clean ones mentioned in this thread - leap to mind as especially judicial? I'm slightly inclined to Wensleydale, because that has very little throw on me and what throw there is, smells like clean laundry - about as inoffensive as I can imagine. But I'd still love to hear suggestions! (I'm also a good 10+ years older than the average applicant, I think, if that makes a difference - I don't think it will matter too much to a judge, so I'm not worried about looking too old/too young, but I'll throw it out there.)

Okay, since I love Dorian and am indifferent to Snake Oil, it figures that this ....is all Snake Oil on me. Seriously, lavender baby powder Snake Oil. It's not *bad*, mind you, and I think I might grow REALLY to like it. But I was hoping for a little more Dorian! It's got great throw and lasts forever. The waft is really nice and not quite just Snake Oil; when I sniff my wrist, though, it's all Snake Oil again.

Oops - already answered!

At first this didn't smell like much of ANYTHING on me - which I think was the white musk; it's a very kind of neutral scent on me. Then the other notes started to come out - the orange blossom does a lovely job of keeping the apricot from screaming JAM!!!! on me, and the apricot adds a nice non-floral sweetness. This is very nice!

This is indeed interesting! I'd steered away from this because I'm not usually find of leather, but then people kept talking about it as a black tea scent.... It's crisp and gender-neutral (I think I'm duplicating the review above mine...), with a little sparkly bergamot and a smooth undercurrent which is probably the leather, but not what I think of when I hear "leather" as a note. I'm going to have to wear it a few times to figure out if I need more of it, because it's so unlike what I usually wear, but it's cool and sophisticated and clean. (On the drydown, I get more of the leather - I kind of wish I'd get more tea, but it's definitely an intriguing scent!)

This starts off all APRICOT!!!!! - super sweet and syrupy. As it dries, the clove is coming to the fore and tempering what was really overly sticky-sweet. It's much nicer once dry, but I think it's a little too jam-y/Yankee Candle-y for me. It has a similar kind of feel to Carnal - that bright fruit deepened by something earthier, clove here, fig in Carnal - and I like Carnal much better; it has a rich holiday feel without being so Yankee-Candle-esque. A nice blend, but not quite me.

That is AMAZING!! Thank you so much - that's great! (Though I do have to laugh at how some of the comparisons totally don't work on my skin - just more evidence of how different skin chemistry is!) I didn't get very much mandarin from Lady Lilith, but I think that note is pretty similar to the mandarin in Carnal. Keep in mind, though, that Carnal smells nothing like Lady Lilith otherwise, because LL is so floral. But if you're really only looking for the mandarin, Carnal has it. If you don't like fig, though, you won't like Carnal. Me, I love Carnal, because it smells like a very expensive Christmas-time jam - the fig provides a lovely rich grounding for the bright mandarin. I do think though that the mandarin fades over time - my bottle is still lovely, but I think it's turning into more fig than mandarin (so if you want some for the mandarin, you might prefer to order fresh from the lab).

Obatala screams summer to me... I pretty much can't wear it in the winter any more! Lick It Again and Knecht Ruprecht are very wintry scents for me... as is Carnal, which is very Christmas-y to me, for some reason. And Pumpkin Queen is a very cold-autumn scent to me. Can't wear that in the summer to save my life. I have a Possets Cambienne from March a year or two ago which smells like crocuses and fresh earth, and I *have* to wear that in the early spring - wearing it any other time just feels wrong!

If you like rose, this is SO BEAUTIFUL. I get white rose, which I find is lighter and sweeter than red rose, with honey, and cream. Um, yeah, I know that's helpful, since that's what the description says already. But really, this is frakking gorgeous. If you're not into rose or sweet scents - if it doesn't sound like something that appeals to you - it won't. But if it sounds like something you like? you'll LOVE it. It is a little bit in the vein of Hope (though to me that's a very pink rose), in that it's a very simple, sweetened rose scent. The honey is a bit richer than the sugar in Hope, which I find very white sugar/cotton-candy-esque, and the cream adds a little bit of depth and is a tempers the sweetness just a bit - it's like good quality whipping cream, which has richness and depth and is in a gazillion desserts but isn't itself sweet. Hope, to me, is so simple that it's a little creepy as an expression of a vampiric Siamese twin - there's such a contrast between the sweetness of the scent and the sinisterness of the illustration. It's almost like Hope (the vampire twin) is so removed from reality that she can think she's all sweetness as she sinks her teeth into someone's neck. This, in contrast, is the scent of a young woman who's flirty, and knows darn well she's flirty, but isn't really experienced enough to know where that flirting might end up. Anyway. That's a random comparison. This perfume is wonderful.

Wow, I don't want to sound like a crazed fangirl either, but this: just seems so completely simplistic! Beth isn't reaching for Ye Olde Bottle of "Ocean Mist" - she's blending a whole bunch of EOs, absolutes, and all the other things people have mentioned to create something that smells like ocean mist (and then blending that with blood orange and Egyptian musk). I mean, jeez. And it DOES take her weeks to blend these things - which is why there are limited editions that we anticipate (eagerly, drooling) for weeks, and why something like Carnival Diabolique has taken so long to finish. I can kind of understand the skepticism about the volume of scents that BPAL produces - not that I agree, but I can kind of understand. There are SO MANY different BPAL scents, I can see thinking that they must start to repeat themselves, and yeah, there are some scents that smell a lot like one another (see the threads about GC equivalents to LEs and the like). But none of them are absolute dupes of one another - none! Obatala smells a lot like Milk Moon 2005 (thank god, or I wouldn't have a decent substitute for MM!), but they're *not* the same, and even if they are really close, some people are going to like the one better, and others will like the other. And part of BPAL's niche is to have this crazy variety (as opposed to CBIHP, which is going for a different niche). If the scents weren't actually different, people would figure it out and the strategy wouldn't work (because I just don't think consumers are quite as stupid as everyone assumes they are). Or to put it another way, maybe we all are brainwashed, but if we like the way BPAL does things, what's his problem with it? Individual notes are like letters - there are only 26 of them, but they can be combined in nearly infinite ways, and the resulting words combined yet again. Or we're talking about the ways that individual food ingredients can be combined into a ZILLION different recipes. (Sorry, I'm really rambling, but that post is kind of amazingly ignorant. Or just snotty.)