plexaure

Oblivion is one of those scents that caught me massively off-guard. There was a frimp of the oil in my very first order from BPAL, and I put off trying it for the longest time, mostly due to the somewhat disconcerting color of the perfume itself. (It's quite literally olive green, if you haven't gotten your hands on it just yet.) The site's description was also something that made me a bit wary. While I had a little bit of experience with picking out some scent notes due to having been a patron of Lush for about a decade now, I had no idea what to expect. Musk, spices, saffron- all of those were far from anything I'd tried before. Then one fateful day I basically just thought fuck it to myself, and tried putting some on. And I fell in love, pretty much instantaneously. On my skin, something about this perfume just about blossoms; the scent goes sweet without being sugared, incredibly warm with the spices, and dark enough to keep some interest. It isn't traditionally masculine at all, but neither is it traditionally feminine. It's beautiful and cozy, for the most part, with just a hint of a cold edge, and that's a combination I really like. But the thing is- I'm not sure what, exactly, it is that's working so damn well on my skin. (I tend to have weird chemistry, which just adds another layer to my problem. For example- the last time I tried Snake Oil, it went downright sour on my skin. I'll have to try it again sometime soon, seeing as scents do change with age & your personal body chemistry, but it wasn't particularly pleasant, and it was a pain to scrub off. And by now I've learned that I tend to have the same problem with most of BPAL's vanilla notes [at least that I've tried so far] in that they also tend to turn a bit sour, and it's very disappointing because I absolutely adore vanilla. Then, for another example, Miskatonic University turned into some sort of straight-up death note on my skin- I can't even begin to describe how disappointing that was. I'll probably still give it a second chance sometime in the future, just because I had such high hopes for it. And for one more example- Azathoth turns into straight-up root beer on my wrists. Initially, at least.) Anyway, I digress. I'd prefer GC scents for imp-testing purposes, but if you can think of a suggestion that instantly comes to mind and it's not GC, feel free to post it anyway! I just know that I'll be able to place an order on the BPAL site sometime in the very near future, which is why I figured I might as well post, to see if I can get any suggestions. I'm really not particularly picky about notes- hell, I'd even try more vanilla scents (as I'm planning to with the lupers this year) if there was some faint, scant hope that they might work on me. I do know that musk works very well with my chemistry, at least, so I suppose that could be something to go off of? A short list of some of the scents that I like, seeing as the ones listed on my profile are a bit out of date: Dorian Dana O'Shee Black Phoenix Dragon's Musk (I think? It's been a while since I tried this one, oh dear.) Dragon's Hide (I tried both this and Dragon's Musk at the same time, and while I remember liking them both very much, there was one that I liked more than the other. And I can't for the life of me remember which.) Ogygia Himerus Seraglio Akuma The Bow & Crown of Conquest Hod: Resurrected There're plenty more, but those are some of the main scents that're sticking out to me at the moment. And for reference, here're some scents with musk notes that I have imps of, but still have yet to try. (One can only try so many perfumes in a day, gosh diddly darn it.) Morocco* Hecate† The Isles of Demons Katharina Mary Read Old Demons of the First Class‡ Robin Goodfellow (* On the top of my to-try list. I can't believe that I've had an imp of this just sitting around and I haven't tried it? Spices and carnation and musk, oh my. Three of my favorite notes. Please, ye gods of old, let it work with my chemistry. Please.) († I might've tried this one, but if I did, it was long enough ago that I can't remember my impression of it. Fairly sure that if I did, however, I liked it, seeing as it doesn't stand out as any kind of predominantly "ew" or "just kind of eh" scent to me.) (‡ I think I might've tried this one as well, but if I recall correctly, it was on a day that I was beginning to get a headache, and I had to wash it off not so much because it was unpleasant, but because any and all scents were making my head start to feel worse, oh dear.) I also have a spreadsheet with all of my current imps/bottles right here- note that the ratings are very outdated, however; I've tried more than I've put ratings down for on the chart. (I always seem to forget to update it, not to mention that I ought to add a column for notes, to jot down the reason for giving the scent whatever rating I put down.) Anyway, this post is getting ridiculously long. Suggestions are extremely appreciated! Thank you! (P.S. Don't be afraid to try suggesting totally off the wall scents! I'm always up for trying new things, and veering out of my comfort zone. I mean that's what happened with Oblivion [and Dorian, Dana O'Shee, and Ogygia], and look how that turned out. )

I don't have altogether too many violet-based scents, but I do have both Nocturne and Queen Gertrude, and violet is one of my favorite notes. Nocturne smells almost identical to the violet candies I've had before, no joke. I'm not sure what about it goes so sweet on me, but it seriously smells like violet candy. I really adore it, actually; it's not the strongest scent in the world, but it's so damned pretty that I would like to get a bottle of it. It also seems to give me nice dreams if I put it on before I sleep, which is definitely a plus, in my opinion. It's dreamy and soft and I would really recommend it, honestly, if you like violets. And if I could translate a scent into imagery, this would be something like a desaturated lilac-colored fog drifting over a hazy meadow of violets. Then Queen Gertrude is definitely sharper, by far. I do like it, but it's almost intimidating. In some ways, it's very similar to Nocturne, but it definitely has more of a bite to it, I'd say. This one I'd describe more as a field of violets, frosted over, just in sight as the sun's about to rise. It has an edge to it, somehow, and while I wouldn't wear it as much as Nocturne, I do still definitely like it. I also have a vial of Bruised Violet Compound, but I've yet to try it- I'll try to get around to it tomorrow, if I remember.

I'll have to try those sometime as well! Also, update on Creeper Dragon- it very much reminds me of Dragon's Hide or Dragon's Musk. The leather and musk notes are very much like the leather and musk notes in those two scents, but softened out by the cream & honey notes. At first, though, when it was wet on my skin, it was basically just "OMG MUSK" and it took a little while for the rest of the notes to come out. My god, though- it's really nice, and I'd definitely recommend it, especially if you like Dragon's Hide or Dragon's Musk.

I actually haven't tried it yet! I'm going to sometime soon, however, seeing as in the bottle it smells absolutely fantastic. I actually picked out all of the scents, since she's not really into BPAL. Or, not into BPAL yet, anyway. Out of the lupers, I got- Creeper Dragon For Each Ecstatic Instant Liaison Red Lantern Venus Callipyge Venus Libitina Comparison of Celebrated Beauties The Wet Nurse and the Old Monk along with the lunacy scent for March, seeing as I really adore basically all of the notes listed, my god. I'll definitely update once I've tried Creeper Dragon, though! I tried Red Lantern earlier, actually, and I think I'm in love. I don't really mind the scent of cologne, so I might have to see if I can get my hands on a decant of it at some point. There're still a few more lupers that I really want to blind buy full bottles of, though. Last year, it was right when lupercalia rolled around that I actually first got into BPAL- the first bottles that I bought were two lupers (Love and Sleep, along with The Elephant's Leash, which I really wish I had a backup of), and Peninsula Delioiorum. (Honestly, I have a tendency to blind-buy limited edition bottles, rather than getting decants. The thought of possibly missing out on getting a full bottle of something glorious is too hard to ignore, I think, though I'd consider getting decants of scents that aren't at the top of my blind-buy bottle list. I do get imps of GC scents well before I get bottles, however, since the imps tend to last an extremely long time. I still have a tiny bit left of the imp of Oblivion that came with my first order, actually, and that's after using it a hell of a lot before investing in a bottle, and managing to spill, well, the majority of it at one point. That was a horrifying day.) And now I definitely do want to try Mary Shelly, oh dear. I need to get a job. (Though I'm actually working on that, but I'll refrain from starting to explain because then I'll go off on a dozen unrelated tangents and will end up making this post two or three times longer than it needs to be.)

I actually haven't tried any of those, though Scherezade has been on my must-try list for a pretty long time now- I just haven't gotten around to purchasing an imp yet. And, as far as Creeper Dragon goes, I actually was able to get a bottle! (My fianceé actually bought me a fairly large BPAL haul as a belated Christmas/Valentine's Day present, since she wasn't able to get anything for me at the time, and by "fairly large" I mean she bought nine of the lupercalia scents for me. My god. Thankfully, her birthday is coming up in a few days, so I think I'll have a bit of a chance to repay her, seeing as I'm planning to make her some hand-crafted jewelry, themed after things that she's fond of. [i actually need a bit more cording for two of the pieces I'd like to make for her, since I can't find any that's thin enough at home, even though I thought I had some. I should be good on supplies for the largest piece, however, which I've already got fairly planned out.] I really ought to start on that, since her birthday is on the 19th, I'll have to ship it a considerable distance to get it to her, and I don't want it to be too belated, but anyway, yeah. I'm beginning to digress very badly.) There were quite a lot of imps with the order, actually, and some of them sound very promising- I updated my BPAL chart with the ones that came with the bottles, along with adding some notes to some of the ratings/adding a few ratings themselves, and I'll list the new imps at the end of this post. Also, all of those sound lovely, and whenever I get an imp haul (which is inevitable, basically, at some point after I'm able to find a job), I'll most likely end up with all of those on the list. (It might be a while, but hey, I'm a relatively patient person, and I really do appreciate the suggestions.) I actually have an imp of Magus sitting around in my bullet box right now! I'll have to try it sometime soon, and Sed Non Satiata sounds really lovely, especially since it's been recommended in both posts now. Please do let me know how Mars Rigonemetis turns out! I initially passed by the Mars scents while picking out my lupers, but considering the fact that all three of lupers I've tried from this year's collection have turned out gorgeously, I might have to go give the scents a second look-through, before they're discontinued. (I very much want a bottle of Aristocratic Couple, but it was out of stock when my fianceé placed the order and I was worried about not being able to get the lunacy scent before it was discontinued, so I decided to get Venus Callipyge instead- I can never resist the lure of anything with carnations, and just from the sniff I've taken, I'm looking forward to trying this one.) I'm not sure whether this is the same scent or not, but there is indeed an oil called Coyote on the main site- it's here. And honestly, regardless of whether it's the same (or not), it still sounds fantastic, my god. Definitely something I'd like to try. Mary Shelly has piqued my interest before, but I've never gotten around to trying it just yet. It sounds very promising, though, because I do very much like both the spice and musk of Oblivion, and how bright and green Ogygia is. Then Antony is one that I've looked at before- the ambergris makes me a bit nervous, as that's not really a note that I've tried before, and so I'm a bit hesitant. If it's green and musky and leathery, however, that greatly ups its appeal factor in my eyes, the nervousness in regards to ambergris notwithstanding. I'll have to go look through the review threads for both this and Mary Shelly, and most likely Coyote as well. And now, the scents that came with my order- ones marked with an asterisk, I already had an imp of: Aglaea Alecto Alice* Baobhan Sith Bard Bewitched Bordello Cleric Cordelia Dana O'Shee* Dee Druid* (However, I haven't even tried my initial frimp from some time last year. Whoops.) Florence Machu Picchu Morocco* Pontarlier Two, Five, and Seven* Yemaya (I think that's all of them.)

In the bottle: Oh God, so much caramel. It smells a bit synthetic to me, which made me a bit nervous at first, but I decided to try it anyway. Wet: Still mostly caramel, but the other notes are starting to come out already. During the drydown: The caramel has faded to the background, just at the edges with the coconut. It's gone floral on me- the delphinium has blossomed and I believe that's the tobacco I smell along with it. It's actually slowly morphing as I type this- now the fruity notes of the black currants are coming out, blending damned beautifully with the more floral notes. There's just a bit of amber in the undertone, which I'm fairly happy about; I don't hate amber, but too much of it seems as though it would ruin the balance of the scent. The spices are also there, albeit subtle. The currants are starting to fade back out already, and while I'm not altogether too familiar with opium notes, it does seem that there's something taking its place near the forefront, and I'd wager that's likely it. I've had it on for maybe fifteen minutes so far? I really should've timed this, seeing as this is one of the most interesting morphs I've had on my skin thus far. And now it seems that the notes are all leveling out a bit- the coconut is over the scent almost like a sheer veil, not shying away, but I think that's what's blending everything together so beautifully, which is... unexpected? Coconut isn't my favorite scent, but this might just cause me to grow to like it, or at the very least grudgingly respect its presence. More likely the former, though, assuming that it continues to keep this scent oddly together, even on my skin, which likes to take otherwise lovely scents and trample on the notes until there're only a few left, with a largely tainted soured tone to the any sweetness underneath. Sometimes that soured bit works itself out after enough time, but often I find it's too unpleasant to wait through, so I end up scrubbing the perfume off. (This happened to me the first few times I tried Snake Oil, unfortunately, but I tried it again just yesterday, and decided to be patient, seeing as I was trying it along with two lupers. [The Wet Nurse and the Old Monk on my left wrist, along with Venus Libitina on my right, with Snake Oil somewhat higher up on my right arm.] And honestly, the main reason I was patient was because Venus Libitina went considerably off on me at first, but I was still clinging to that hope that it would work out, and my god, did it ever. As did Snake Oil, by that point, while the Shunga was already starting to fade a bit. [i'd only dabbled a bit of each of the lupers on, however, so one can't really get a good grasp on longevity just from that.] It also happened with Miskatonic University, which went awful on my skin, but this gives me a bit of hope to try it again some day, hopefully in the near future.) And oh God, now I think the main notes I'm smelling are the caramel (which has gone much softer and less synthetic, smelling more like the genuine thing [the soft, creamy, heavenly kind, no less] rather than having your face shoved into a Yankee Candle), the tobacco, and the coconut. I think I might be starting to amp the tobacco a bit, but I'm not entirely sure? I'm still semi-new to how the nuances of the note smell, but if I'm placing it right, then yeah. I honestly don't mind, however, because it seems to be a scent that I like, quite a damned lot. Anyway, I think it's been closer to a half-hour by now, and everything has softened out quite a bit, and it's really, really lovely. I'll add another note in about an hour from now, assuming I remember, to give a status update on how it's holding up. (And I'm very glad that I didn't let the initial blast of caramel deter me from trying this scent, my god. This might end up becoming one of my favorite scents, and it would've been a shame to trade it off without having even tried it.) EDIT: Well, more than three hours later and it's still sticking around, and considering that my skin has a penchant for getting rid of smells quickly, that's not bad at all. (Especially since I only put a tiny bit on, due to the overwhelming caramel at first.) It did slowly morph more as time went on, but I... forgot to add to this post during those times. Oops. By now it's somewhere around a soft, sweet scent- mostly caramel and coconut, I think, but the tobacco is still there as well. All in all, this one's definitely a keeper.

I want to start this out by saying- I am so damn disappointed. Not because of the scent itself- that gets an easy 7-8/10 stars- but because it seems to be the first BPAL scent that's made my skin itch/burn like a fire ant bite. If it wasn't for that one little fact, this would easily be in my favorites. (One more reason to get a scent locket, I suppose.) Anyway, I only kept it on for so long, so I don't have a very extensive review of any sort. However, what I got from the scent while wearing it was almost like a slightly earthy chai tea, transmogrified into perfume form. It's spicy without being bitter or overbearing, and not sharp at all, toned down near perfectly by the other notes. And most of all, it's warm. It's absolutely lovely, and I really wish that my skin didn't react so badly to it. From the (short-lived) impression I got from it, it's definitely a scent that I would recommend to those who like warm scents, or those who like scents that go heavy on the spices. (What a damn shame it won't work out as a perfume, in my case. )

Mmm, Ogygia is one of those scents that's been steadily climbing up my favorites list, and now sits somewhere proudly near the top. I received a frimp in one of my last orders, and after an initial bit of hesitation, I decided to try it out. And I fell in love. With the more BPAL scents I try, the more I'm becoming assured that aquatics work stunningly well on my skin, which is something I never would've thought to begin with. Ogygia starts out blisteringly strong, sharpness of the aquatic notes outright overpowering everything else, but after it's been on my wrists and begins to dry down, it starts to mellow and round out almost immediately. The violet notes in the back come out strong, sweetening the edges without becoming entirely floral, and the juniper makes a faint appearance as well, blending in right alongside in a way that I wouldn't have ever expected to be as lovely as it is. Every time I smell Ogygia, as well, I'm drawn back to memories of when I was fourteen or so. There was one B&BW body wash that I liked in particular, back then, and this reminds me of it very strongly, though for the life of me I'm not entirely sure what it was. This, maybe? In any case, it's been years since I've actually had some of said body wash to smell in person, so I can't vouch for an accurate comparison. But in any case, that's what it reminds me of; summer days, off at camp, in hellishly hot & humid weather, while said showers were my only salvation to keep me from collapsing of heat exhaustion. It really does smell like the sensation of upending a substantial amount of cool water over yourself on a hot day. It's cooling, but not glacial, and utterly, utterly refreshing. I've got a full-sized bottle in my next order, no less, and this really will be the scent to wear for the remainder of the summer. It's also relatively neutral, though with my chemistry, the violets come out as an obvious enough note to dissuade über-masculine individuals from jumping at the bit to try it. That is, unless said über-masculine individuals simply don't care about smelling like a garden, which, admittedly, is disarmingly endearing. In any case, I'm going off on a tangent. Five out of five stars, absolutely.

I've actually tried Misk U before, and. Well. It was quite an experience. (I actually left a review, which is what the link goes to.) I've actually tried quite a few of the lovecraftian scents so far, and I'm planning to try as many as I possibly can. Thank you for the suggestions!

Oh goodness, I'm also pretty bad at describing myself, but I'll make an attempt! MBTI: INTP/INFP/INTJ (Mainly shifts around between the first two.) ENNEAGRAM: 9 ZODIAC: Leo. I am, first and foremost, introverted. That isn't to sat that I dislike people! I most definitely don't, but too much interaction drains me emotionally, and I end up shutting down and going pretty unresponsive unless I can get away and be on my own to detox a bit. (I should probably mention that I'm also autistic? I dunno, that probably accounts for my whole can't-stand-too-much-interaction thing. Anyway. Not so much a big deal when I'm just talking about my personality, I guess?) Because of how introverted I am, in person, I tend to come off as overly reserved, shy, overly naïve, and probably somewhat innocent? But. Well. To put it in summation, one time I compiled a list of all of the kinks/fetishes I've got, and it totaled over 100. I figure any more detail than that is probably a little too inappropriate for this site (oh my god.) But, aside from that, I'm also a complete mushball, and if I ever find out that I've hurt someone unintentionally, I end up kind of basically being a wreck. Thank you, alexithymia, for my utter lack of being able to regulate my own emotions. Mmm, I constantly worry that I tend to come off as kind of dry, and maybe even uncaring? But I think I might honestly worry more about it than I should, because people around me seem to like me, and I'm generally a pretty amiable person? Ah, the woes of being a socially challenged autistic teenager. Or adult. I mean I'm technically an adult (over eighteen), but I'm also still in my teenage years? I dunno. I can be kind of cynical, but unless I'm in a heavy depressive spell, I tend to be more positive than negative, and I tend to try my goddamn hardest to make those around me happy as well. (It can also be kind of exhausting, but I guess that kind of happens? I've struggled for a pretty long while with learning to put myself in front of my friends, and I'm slowly getting there. {I mean, not that it's not important to help them? But I'm learning that my own needs should come first, otherwise I end up becoming an utter wreck, and it's not good for anyone.}) Uh, shit. What else? I think my personality is genuinely so ambiguous that it would take a really massive post and a lot of really deep introspective thinking to get it all out in one cohesive spot, and even then I'd probably miss something? Let's see. I'll just write a little more, I guess. I love learning. Like, I fucking love learning. The only problem is that I have an awful working memory, so as far as things like math go, or things involving a lot of simultaneous input, I just literally can't do them without a hell of a lot of prep beforehand, and a whole bunch of paper and pens for notes. But as far as researching and learning about things I'm interested in, I just absorb information like a sponge. It's kind of cool, because even if I can't balance your checkbook without a whole lot of effort, I can tell you some completely practically useless but ridiculously interesting yet utterly irrelevant facts. And when I'm tired, I start typing like someone who's succeeded in ingesting an entire thesaurus, and constantly spits out word-vomit from the depths of those obscure and nigh-eldritch tomes. I try to avoid it, but sometimes it just doesn't work. I love Lovecraft, and the Cthulhu Mythos (although I'm still far from consuming all of the media it encompasses, so I'm genuinely still a wee babu insomuch as learning about it goes), along with other strange, alien, horrifying things. In fact, I adore bad horror movies, especially the ones with excessive gore. It's strangely hilarious to watch them try to shock the viewers with obscenely unrealistic amounts of blood, especially in times when it's so excessive that you know the human body literally doesn't even hold that much blood. Anyway. I'm also a huge nerd, if that wasn't obvious enough already. And music- I love music. Honestly, it's probably the one thing that keeps me from tearing my hair out from the sheer overwhelming sensation of existence, on a fairly regular basis. My taste varies a pretty huge amount, but I tend to stay away from hard rock, or really much of anything screamo, seeing as it tends to give me headaches. I love love love electronic music, though. It makes me feel very happy and buzzy and energized and it's great. ALSO- and this is probably an important thing- MY GENDER AND PRESENTATION TEND TO SPIN AND SHIFT AROUND LIKE THE FUCKING WHEEL OF FORTUNE, so definitely do not be afraid to give more masculine suggestions, either? Like, I can seriously roll with whatever, and I don't have any specific preferences between masculine scents, feminine scents, or things in between. Anyway, this got considerably longer than expected. I am so sorry, oh my god.

So I'll preface this review by saying- I AM SO UPSET. Miskatonic University is one of the scents I'd wanted to try since I heard about it. I'd read through all of the reviews, and heard it was fabulous and smelled just like coffee. Damn you, skin chemistry. In the imp, it smelled very strongly of somewhat artificial cream and caramel- the same sort of thing I'd associate with a Yankee candle. Now that isn't bad, per se, but it's not the kind of thing I'd normally go for. In the process of getting the imp open, I also managed to get a bit of the perfume on my fingers, so I honestly just went "fuck it" and slapped on a decent amount, since my skin tends to absorb scents considerably quicker than the average person. Big mistake. After just a few seconds, the cream and caramel scent faded into something akin to mouldering books and slightly rotted cream, and unfortunately, it was strong enough to make my stomach churn. Even worse- there was no hint of coffee in sight. I've mentioned before- my skin does weird things to perfume. Apparently, this was no exception. Still, I persisted, hoping it would dry out to something less revolting. After ten or so more minutes, I could faintly smell the wood tones in the background, but the rotted cream and moldy books scent was still up front and personal. I gave it a few more minutes, hoping and praying to any god that would care to listen to me, that the scent would redeem itself. But alas, it simply wasn't to be. I finally washed it off when I realized it was only making me more nauseous, and slapped on some other BPAL lovelies to clear the smog. I can still smell a bit of it on my shirt, which is at least closer to how it smelled in the imp, but no thank you. No thank you whatsoever. This goes firmly on the "DISLIKED" pile, as unfortunate as it is. I'm extremely glad that this was a free imp, and not something I'd shelled out money for, only to come up with bitter disappointment. It's sad. Overall rating: ✦✧✧✧✧ This is the first BPAL scent that I've had to wash off, because of the utter repulsion that ensued after slapping it onto my wrists. God damn. Now I finally know what it's like to find a death note. And I was so excited for this one, too. (Cross-posted to MALIGNEDGOD.)

This is the first perfume I've felt the impulsive, utter need to review, even though (while I'm still relatively new to the BPAL world) I've tried a pretty fabulous selection of scents so far. In my travels through the lands of perfume oils, I've discovered something very strange- my skin chemistry tends to warp scents to something altogether different than their intended purpose. Why am I mentioning this, exactly? Well, immediately upon application, dear lord Azathoth turns to a befuddling blend of unmistakable sassafras, also known as none other than the signature scent of root beer. Albeit a more complex root beer than the cloyingly sweet blends found in your average supermarket. Then, after a few more minutes, the vetiver and cedar come in and balance out the sweetness, which steadily fades into the background as this dries down. Eventually, the vetiver and cedar are firmly in the foreground, with a hint of something sweet to round it out. This seems to have a better staying power on me than a lot of other perfumes, which is really great, considering how much I'm starting to adore it. I'm not a huge fan of vetiver (especially after trying Saturnalia, which I thought was fine, but those around me were appalled by its somewhat unusual vetiver and violet blend) but I don't hate it either? However, in this blend, it's beautiful and smooth and grounding, and I think I could learn to adore it. I also love the cedar a considerable amount more than I thought I would. It seems to work very well on me, which is fantastic. This comes off as a somewhat more androgynous, bordering on almost masculine scent, which personally, I don't mind at all. Just be aware of the fact that it is most definitely a very dark, heavy scent, if you're not a fan of things like that. Unfortunately, I didn't get any of the citrus tones at all, which was pretty sad. And as far as saffron goes, I'm not too sure that I could pick any of that up either? (Note that I haven't tried much of anything else with saffron thus far, so I could most definitely be wrong.) Overall rating: ✦✦✦✦✧ A high 3.5 stars, which I'll round up to 4. Although not the type of scent I'd normally go for, this would be amazing in the winter, and lovely on a crisp fall day as well. I'll definitely be saving/aging my imp, and I would definitely contemplate buying a bottle sometime later on. (Cross-posted to my new perfume blog, Maligned God.)

I'm so distraught right now, holy shit. So around Valentine's Day, I snagged a bottle of the Prince Charming shower gel, not realizing that it was a limited edition Valentine's Day item. Fast forward to about a month from that day (by which I mean earlier tonight), and I realize that the bottle says limited edition, after putting a tiny bit in my bathwater (along with a blend of Epsom salts and essential oils) to pick up the smell. Fast forward to my frantic post-bath scrambling to see if Lush, by any godforsaken chance, still has it in stock, and my dreams are crushed: there's neither hide nor hair of it on the site. I'd purchase a bottle from Ebay or something, but even the smallest size bottle is going for upwards of $20, and I can't even tell you how upset I am. While the shower gel smells a bit strange in the container, it turns into something creamy and wonderful on my skin, with a sharp bit of citrus, rounded out by the pomegranate and marshmallow extracts. It sounds like such a strange combination of notes, and I'm really at a loss as to what I could use to replace it. The notes listed are as follows: Grapefruit, pomegranate [juice], marshmallow root extract, vanilla, and almond. Somehow, with the way it's blended, the last three notes all but blend together to create a lovely, creamy undertone, that really keeps it from going too overboard with the grapefruit (which I often find to be too strong on its own), while the pomegranate adds something absolutely unique, blending very nicely with the grapefruit. Sandalwood oil and geranium oil are both in the ingredient list, but I'm not sure how much of an influence they play in rounding out the grapefruit's scent. I'm really not sure what I should even be looking for, seeing as I'm very much still a newbie to BPAL (my first order hasn't even arrived yet), and am still figuring out the what's what, as far as perfume oil goes. It seems, however, that I'm looking for an almost-sharp citrus scent, toned down by some sweeter notes (preferably in the vanilla/almond family, as they both smell wonderful on me, and I'm not sure about any other traditionally sweet notes, just yet), with some kind of hint of other fruit? Man, I'm really starting to ramble here, but I figure that should get my point across.