Jenesis

I had to get a decant of this, just to see what everyone is raving about! Mine is the 07 version. Sadly, this just... doesn't work. My initial reaction was "Blech!" and it's still "blech" 2 hours later. Thick, cloying, oversweet, floral-marzipan-thing. I'm sure this is lovely on the right person.

Yep, the orders are delivered by Royal Mail... whether that's a good thing or not is up to you I've never had to pick up a BPAL parcel from the depot though as they put our post in the porch, not through the letterbox.

Note: My bottle of Bengal is very aged; it has a non-laminated label. Cinnamon is an amper on my skin, so we all know what this smelt like for the first ten minutes! After that I definitely get the clove and ginger, with a sweetness behind it, presumably the honey and/or musk. The notes are so well-blended that it's hard to pick any single one out. I found that as my bottle is so old, it's very, very potent. I managed to overapply by dabbing tiny amounts on, so I have to learn to be careful! My mother's opinion wasn't so good, she said it smelt like "Something dead"(!), but to her all BPAL smells like "fag ash", "air freshener" or "rotting flowers", so don't take her word for it

I've made 8-odd orders, ranging from 2 bottles ($45-worth with postage) to a $185 order. I've never got charged for anything, no VAT or customs charges, and my parcels have never been stopped. I know 8 orders isn't a huge amount, but I think as the boxes are quite small they're less likely to get stopped. Hope this helps

This, to me, has a lot of elements of Death of the Gravedigger in it. The snow note is there, along with a warm, leafy, almost rich smell. After a couple of of hours this goes to a gorgeous, sweet-ish, sophisticated scent, with none of Gravedigger's sharp tang. Lurverly!

This one is an odd one for me. First on, it smells like plastic. In fact it smells like a cheap doll I had as a child. On the drydown it does get slightly better; more sweet and fruity, and the plastic note goes to the background. I will post again later with how it managed long-term. ETA: As promised, the long-term analysis is here! This goes lovely and soft on me after a while. It's a fairly sweet, skin-smelling (if that makes sense) scent with little throw. It's very cuddly and snuggly (The Boy was snuggling my neck all day!). It's hard to describe exactly, but it is very nice.

This is one of the few "Made for me!" scents. In the bottle, it smells like the deep woods - woody, rich, alive. On me, it smells... divine. That's all I can say really! I definitely pick up the pine and the ambergris, which blend beautifully to create a smooth wood scent. It's sweet and warm, yet sophisticated and unisex; this would smell great on a man. One of my top 10!

This one does this weird lemon-sherbert thing on me. Off to the swaps with ye!

Mmmmmm yummy fruity goodness! Apricot and me get on so well, and the white musk just rounds out the whole thing. Big bottle material! It's like a slightly more complicated March Hare.

This one is a little hit-and-miss on me, as citrus sometimes works, sometimes doesn't. This blend is an odd one. Wet, I can detect the grapefruit and a sweet lime. It's very light and pretty. Dry, sadly, it turns into washing-up-liquid.

...Sweets? Eh? Seriously, I can smell sweets/candies in Bastet. That's probably the almond. I was a little wary of the lotus/cardamom blend, but it seems to be behaving so far. It's a very complex scent, which I think goes into the "not me" pile. It's nice, but for some reason it doesn't sit right.

Goblin = love. Nom nom nom! Sweet coconut grounded by non-tobacco-smelling patchouli. I have no idea what benzoin is so I don't know what to smell for, but there is something else behind the coconut. A lovely blend and definitely a keeper, maybe a bottler!

Aw, man! I had such high hopes for this. Sadly on me it turns rather plastic and fake-smelling. I'll hang on to my Imp, to see if it improves with age, but not quite bottle material.

...Wow. You guys aren't going to believe this. This is a rose scent that works on me. It smells like those rose-flavoured sweets, or rose Turkish Delight (which I love!). No leather just yet, but it's only just drying down. This is pretty much Rose SN for me at the moment. Very pretty and girly. Maybe bottle material, especially if I can find something to layer it with.

This is... hard to describe. It has this dark, smokey vibe about it, while there is a sticky sweetness underneath (the caramel). It's not really me, sadly.

I don't have a very sophisticated nose, so on me this is exactly like Aziraphale. The "dusty books" note present in both is a bit dodgy and perfumey on me, but it settles down to a nice, light, wearable musky scent. I'll hang on to it to see if it ages.

2007 version. Bottle: Gingerbread! Wet: Gingerbread! Dry: Gingerbread! This is a very simple, very yummy scent! Fresh-baked gingerbread with a sprinkling of cinnamon. I keep wanting to lick my arm. As others have said there is a "scorched" note in there; the cookies were left in the oven a bit too long. Nom nom nom! I thought I'd quote this as I agree with it. Shub was ruined for me by the herbs turning medicinal and yucky, and GP is a wonderful alternative.

In the bottle, I can definitely see where "PICKLES!" comes from! However, on my skin there are no pickles. It's a very faint, soft scent, as others have said. I'm hopeless at describing notes, but I can definitely pick out the musk (which is a winner), and I'm getting hints of dry, Autumn greenery. So it definitely catches the story very well! Later: When I applied this today, I put more on. It's a lovely, warm, soft musk. Definitely a skin scent. A wonderful addition to any collection! ETA: I'll add to my review, "Let this age". I've had it for six weeks now and it's gone even more lovely (and less pickles..). If you don't like this fresh, try aging it in a dark corner for a few months.

This is a very, very faint scent on me. I'm practically snorting my arm-hairs to smell it. Sadly, this isn't like what I was expecting. All I get is coffee. Fake, plastic coffee, the kind they use to flavour cheap chocolate. I'm not getting any cinnamon or cocoa at all. Later, the sugar starts to come out, turning the coffee into this weird creme-brulee smell. I want to age this to see how it works out, but right now I'm not all that impressed. EDIT: I'm glad I kept this instead of swapping it straight away. Now that it's a few weeks old, it's gone much more chocolatey, with the coffee in the background. This to me smells exactly like creamy hot cocoa with a bit of cinnamon ground on the top, with a few chocolate-covered coffee beans beside it. To quote a lolcat or three: Nom, nom, nom!

Sweet jesus. This sounded so nice from the description. All I get is rotting milk poured over rotting fruit.

Wet: I can't pick out any individual notes, oddly. It's just very smooth and creamy with good throw. Very sweet. On the drydown I can pick up the nutty smell, as well as some rather powdery honey and faint sandalwood. Dry, it goes rather different. For some reason it reminds me of Brown Jenkins; it has that same "snuggly, warm, smooth" quality. The woods are present. The amber and honey threaten to go powdery, but never quite manage it, it smells like it's about to go to baby-powder-city but the sandalwood keeps it in check. Later, this turns into a lovely, soft, "skin" scent. Not much throw.

I have the same bottle and it's 2005. Ahh got it. That's fine, thanks!

Quick question: I have a bottle of Samhain from a swap. The bottle is cobalt blue. The label is paper (i.e. not laminated), with "Samhain" on it, and a picture of a woman in a red dress with the moon behind her and a bat beside her. I can post a pic when I get back from my lecture later. What year is this bottle from? It has no year on the label. ETA: It smells very "aged".

WANT MORE! ...That is all.

I had high hopes for this. Sadly, from the initial sniff of the Imp to an hour after application, this just smells like... rot. Sickly, horrible, rotting, damp leaves. Blech. Off to the swap pile with thee!