Wwindy

Chaotic Neutral Half-Elf Mage This is absolutely *amazing*. I don't care for either Chaotic or Neutral by themselves, but somehow as a team they just work. Neutral tames the super-sharp sandalwood edge Half-Elf sometimes gets, and Chaotic brings a hint of well-rounded fruitiness to the party. Overall, it's a gorgeously complex blend of musky, woody notes with overtones of green and a touch of fruity floral -- it's hard to describe, but it smells SO GOOD! I've been wearing this combination for four days straight now, and I hardly ever do that...

I'm in agreement that this really doesn't smell much like Panther Moon! What this reminded me of right away was Dancing Koi. I put them side by side and there's a strong resemblance, but PRC12 has a dryer, dustier, less creamy feel (comparatively speaking, that is; I still wouldn't call it a particularly dusty scent in and of itself) -- almost like a mixture of Dancing Koi and Zenobia. I haven't yet tried it next to Fledgling Raptor Moon, and will report back on that ASAP...

I never got any lemon at all, either in the Lab imp or on my skin. Instead, I get all powdery musky men's cologne -- and it's somehow a very familiar men's cologne. Huh. This must smell like some particular man... ok, wait, the more it dries down the more it reminds me of... ARGH this smells exactly like my ex-husband!!! Might be nice for someone else. I can't possibly wear this. Off to swaps!

Rose pastilles! I dunno why, but all I'm getting from my test swipe is sweet rose candy -- not fresh roses, not even fresh geraniums, but those little pink French candy things. After drydown, I do get a hint of a very pleasant, moderate patchouli underneath. Just a hint, though; mostly this smells like I've been rolling around inside a giant tin of rose pastilles. ETA: Aaaannnd... this is why I need to wait to review blends until I wear them for real, not just take teeny test swipes! After a stronger application and longer drydown time, I'm finding I *love* this. The rose geranium is strong and true but not overpowering, and it's deliciously shaded by the musk and benzoin. I don't notice any jasmine, and I don't think I'm getting any plum either. I *am* getting that nice smooth patchouli again today, but I may have helped that along by using patchouli soap this morning. This really does seem to have a deep, dark blue vibe to it -- as such it fills a hole in my collection, and I'm pleased to have it!

Not a particularly original observation at this point, but... Holy cow is this stuff good. Seriously! *Gorgeous* deep, dark, swirly, rich resinous goodness. Very elegant, very sexy in a bad-ass heroine kind of way. In some aspects it reminds me a little bit of Helios, in others Oblivion, but overall it's entirely its own thing. As others have noted, it's surprisingly close-to-the-skin for such a complex, resonant blend, but that's ok -- it means you can slather with abandon and revel in the scent without blowing anyone else away! It does shift a bit from application to application -- I've now dabbed twice and thoroughly applied once, and out of those three tries I got the fascinating cumin note only once. That note really *is* fascinating, and it definitely works -- not foody, just nose-grabbingly interesting, and difficult to place if you haven't been reading the note list. Absolutely haunting. It actually also reminds me a tiny bit of Caliph's Beloved, which... uh... yeah. Mmmm. I'll be hanging on to my bottle, and possibly attempting to hoard more!

I wish I'd known about BPAL in time for my wedding! Hmmm, what would I have worn... possibly Heavenly Love & Earthly Love, both for liking the scent and for name appropriateness. Although that one didn't even exist yet when I got married, so that wouldn't have worked very well! We had an autumnal-themed wedding, so this one wouldn't have worked for me, but I think Her Voice would be nice note-wise for a spring/summer wedding... although the source poem is kind of iffy on the whole "happily ever after" thing, unfortunately! Oh, I know -- I should've worn Brides of Dracula!!! Heh.

My Hermia had a bright peppery note to it when it was fresh, but as it aged it turned into sweet pink cake with faint floral overtones. So yes, depending on the age of the imp (and of course what the blend does with your chemistry), that could definitely be Hermia.

Thirteen (Nov. '09, the Miskatonic Valley one ), of course! Anybody else?

Agreed! I don't know about the Southwest (never been there, have to fix that sometime!), but Helios smells like golden sunlight pouring down over a spicy imaginary Arabian desert -- it's what I hoped for but didn't get with Sunbird.

I don't know what the original scent might have been, but I second the recommendation for Falling Leaf Moon! Definitely a hyper-realistic autumnal leaf smell there.

Mictecacihuatl -- that was as appropriate a blend as I could find in my collection for Cinco de Mayo!

Smoky sweet lavender with lots of interesting depth. I'd say it's in the middle of the spectrum between Dolce Stil Nuovo (purer, gentler, more ethereal) and Love & Pain (stronger, sharper tobacco and lavender). As others have noted, this is definitely lush and perfume-y -- it reminds me of some of the big 80s-era perfumes I used to like, especially Bijan with the honey-vanilla-musk aspect. I think I would have liked a little more amber and musk and a little less lavender, though. ETA: Now that this has had a little time to settle... ZOMG*thud*HolyCow!!! The musky smokiness has come forward and the lavender has calmed down a bit, and the whole blend has clearly somehow melded itself into its full potential of rich sexy gorgeousness, with subtle hints of sensual wickedness in the background. (I still can't pinpoint any rose, and am not sorry about that either). This is incredible -- I can't stop sniffing myself. Whoo! Moral of the story, if you don't love Ninon right off the bat, give her some time to work her wiles on you...

Wow, this one is a *huge* morpher depending on where I apply it: wrists are totally different from crooks of elbows, neck is different from both of those, etc.! The level of "green-ness" here (the myrtle and maybe a bit of an edge from the carnation, I'm guessing) varies widely, although it's notably sharper and stronger on my wrists -- but that element is elusive and dies down quickly. As most reviewers are noting, the amber is (unsurprisingly) far and away the dominant presence. It's a lovely light, clear, warm amber; definitely evocative of glowing amber gemstones set in gold. And yes, it hovers just on the edge of powdery, although I think it's staying on the right side of the line. The overall effect on me is soft and girly. Nice for spring! It's also very temporary -- this one fades *fast*, and does seem to leave a little bit of that "stale perfume" sort of residue behind, so I feel like I need to keep reapplying.

This is going to sound weird, but... if you can cope with frankincense, Prosperity of a Country (Frankincense, orris root, asuhi, leather, and ginger-infused cream accord) is totally the way to go. I wear that over Gingermilk all the time!

Whew, I get mostly *very* sharp peppery balsam from this when it's wet! As it dries down, it gets mellower and mellower, and the musk and amber warm up; the bay does stay a touch on the masculine side, but it's manageable. The end result reminds me a lot of Fledgling Raptor Moon.

Vicomte de Valmont, maybe?

Man, I wish I still had my decant of Passionate Shepherd! It'll probably be The Hell-Gate of Ireland for me instead, since I know where that one is.

So who's wearing Mort de Cesar or Ides of March today?

I wish we could specify -- there are several blends that seem to have notable variants, and I'd love to be able to say, for example, "Not the cakey one" or "Not the orange Pez one." Let us know if you get an official statement back from the lab, please?

There's definitely a strong astringent evergreen aspect to this blend -- my husband was reminded of bug spray, unfortunately, although I don't mind the herbal-ish brightness of it. The spice notes are very subtle. Basically, it does exactly what it says on the label: it's cheap gin! Not Hendrick's, not Tanqueray... generic well-drink gin. Good if you like gin (which I do), but don't even attempt this if you don't!

I'm really wondering if a few months from now, after the Lab's gone through another batch of this blend, we'll start seeing very different reviews from the ones so far... because honestly, it seems to me like the first half of this oil's description is just *missing* from the scent we're actually getting! Here's what I get: tart, astringent rhubarb (it's hard to describe that smell if you've never eaten rhubarb -- it's very bracing, sort of sharply red fruity-vegetal), with slight citrus-y overtones, followed up by a soft, faint, pale musk. I smell no amber, patchouli, or dark musk whatsoever; there's mayyyybe poooossssibly just a tiny hint of leather if I talk my brain into interpreting it that way. I *slathered* this oil, and still didn't get any of the alleged heavier notes... and after an hour or two, it was like I'd never put anything on. Even my sweater didn't carry any scent, which is unprecedented for me with BPAL! I'm working with a decant, so it's possible I'm not getting the scent as intended -- but it's pretty striking that so many of these reviews are saying the same thing! I really am almost convinced that something funky happened with the mixing, because I just can't believe there's actually patchouli and amber (two of my all-time favorite BPAL notes) here. Bizarre.

I wish that's what I got from Arabian Dance! It's all leather all the time on me, even though it smells gorgeous in the vial. Woe...

The Russian Dance today, for my daughter's first-ever trip to see the Nutcracker ballet!

I thought I was wearing Diwali appropriately today, but turns out I looked at the wrong year -- it's not until Nov. 5! Oops. So who else will bring out their Diwali on the 5th, huh?

Oh wow -- this smells like gingerbread and Constant Comment tea! No tea note, I mean, but almost exactly that mix of spices with a hint of orange. Such a warm, spicy-sweet scent... Is there maybe a tiny tiny hint of patchouli way down underneath this? I'm not sure, but there's something really rich and almost chewy going on here. I don't normally go for the foodie blends, but this is absolutely delicious. OM NOM NOM!