slittlecrowrussell

This is the ultimate smell for any of us who had a mispent rural youth. The exact smell that is the precursor to crazy-hot outdoor teenage sex. It's the smell of drinking cheap American beer followed by a passionate make out session on the grass. It's the smell of summer nights, pick-up trucks, dirt roads, and wild outdoor parties - minus the gross smells like pee, barf, and cow poo. Dandelions - green and freshly crushed, the smell of laundry detergent and cigarettes when you nuzzle into his shirt, the beer that you spilled on your jeans - warmed by body heat...

The musk and myrrh in mine are really strong and dark. The first blast was a little overwhelming because it starts out dark, bitter, and smokey. A few minutes later, the benzoin and vanilla emerge to soften and round everything. This one morphs, shifting in between smokey, earthy, dryly sweet, and softly resinous. I was really sad that Crow Moon didn't really remind me of a crow, so I'm thrilled that this one is definitely 'raven-ish' - dark, mysterious, changeable... a slinky midnight black kind of scent. This one is probably going to be at its best with a little aging (if you can make yourself stay away from the bottle).

I think this is one of the blends that gets shipping shock. I wasn't impressed at first sniff, but then I let it settle a bit and warm up (about 30 minutes). It was a totally different experience to open the bottle a second time. On the skin, the first, immediate note is evergreen... balsam type evergreen. Pine often ends up smelling like Pine-Sol, but this one behaves like an actual tree - green without being 'too green.' After the initial balsam pine phase, a lovely warm musk swirling on a base of dry sandalwood-myrrh begins to emerge through the greenery. It's like walking in the November woods and stopping to snuggle up with someone you love. Overall, it smells dry and clean without being at all reminiscent of soap - very unisex. This is the kind of scent that I'll wear when I'm going to be outdoors (skiing, hiking, etc.) because it smells both natural and sexy.

Oh where oh where has my patchouli gone... I'm a patch-lover and I was hoping for something spicy and patchouli, but on me, Clemence is spicy-sweet chai tea all the way... she's subtle, but she lasts several hours (the spice in particular) ... Sniffing between the spices, this has an amazingly true black tea note. She very pretty, but almost too subtle for cold wintery weather. Clemence would be a good companion on a warm fall day... or for casual daytime wearing...

The first hit of fragrance is almost identical to the first "offertory cakes" sniff of All Soul's. From there, vanilla begins to emerge, a skin-musky vanilla, not unlike the musky note in Ivanushka, but anchored by sweet myrrh. I was hoping for a morpher with this one, but the only thing that really moves around is the vanilla. I was worried by the amber, since amber has about a 75-25% chance of going waaay baby powder on me, but here it's kept firmly in line by the myrrh. Thankfully, the musky resinous goodness stays stable - with little wafts of vanilla and light spices breezing through. Sadly no carnations are in evidence... This doesn't have a lot of throw - great for wearing in summer or during times when you don't want to be too obvious with your perfume. The only downside is that it only lasts a couple of hours and then you have to reapply. If you like Mama-Ji, Morocco, Ivanushka, or similar scents, you'll like this one... PS - I got the Play-Doh phase too... it doesn't last long though... thankfully...

This is an utterly lovely blend of gardenia and other white tropical flowers... it has a subtly green edge, as if you're sniffing the whole cut flower and are getting a touch of the green crispness of the stem along with the lush blossom... sadly I don't really get the incense in this. Marae has a creaminess to it that's probably due to the vanilla... in fact, I found it overall to be quite subtle. It would be a good one to wear on a hot date on a hot summer night... if you want a summery version of a thick, creamy floral like Hell's Belle. The only bad thing was that I couldn't smell it after only half an hour... Much later on the BF said that he smelled "lovely flowers" on my neck though... which is nice, but I like to enjoy my BPAL too! For this reason alone, I'm debating about reluctantly sending Marae to the swap pile. If I could get the fragrance to last, it'd be one of my all time favs...

The first waft is cinnamon, not sweet foody cinnamon - dry, spicy cinnamon. The sweetness is probably being restrained by the clove. Thankfully the clove doesn't jump out into the forefront though. About 15 minutes later an undertone of rosemary and cypress emerge - maybe even a teensy bit of sage. There are definitely some kitchen herb garden notes here. I was really worried about getting something too "green", but (at least in my bottle) the spices dominate the herbs. About 15 minutes later, everything settles down as sweet (but not too sweet) resins emerge. I like this resinous part a lot, it's sweet but not in any way cloying the way that sweet myrrh is different from regular bitter myrrh. I was hoping for a little more incense and a little more blood, but I didn't really get either of those. Instead this one ends up as spicy resin, but MMMMMmmmm.... I likes spicy resin I'm definitely keeping this... If you like this try Winter of Our Discontent (one of my all time favs), Minotaur, Mort de Cesar, Dixie Love Perfume (Twilight Alchemy)...

This is a really nice spicy floral. Not your average light kind of floral - heavier, more reminiscent of the thick fragrance of night-blooming flowers and greenery that slinks through the window on really hot, humid summer nights in the Deep South. Though I like it quite a lot as a fragrance, there are other BPAL fragrances that I like a little more.... so why do I own a bottle? Well, here's the thing... I cannot believe that amount of attention that this pushing-forty gal gets from men when she's wearing it (including her beloved ). It doesn't matter if I'm wearing crappy sweatpants and look like I just crawled from under a rock while in the supermarket or if I'm power-suited up trying to look like a mean-ass attorney... guys are drawn to this oil like flies to honey. In fact, for me it works far better than TAL Dixie Love Perfume... For this reason, I'm careful when and where I wear this one. It's great for date-night or a night out with the girls, but I don't exactly want to be bringing on THAT kind of attention in say, the office... PS - If it starts to go powdery, a little layering with something that has nice patchouli makes it utterly WOW!

I usually can't wear rose without it degenerating into something powdery and old lady smelling. The only other BPAL rose I've been able to wear is in Gypsy Queen, and I swear this one has the same rose notes in it. Except that Spellbound is really, really rosey. A dark, deep, blood-red rose - nothing lady-like, innocent or proper like tea roses, instead this rose is seductive, sophisticated, and slightly sinister. There's a definite incense type hit to it too and the red musk is definitely of the Schezerade variety, but it is Schezerade laying naked in a bath of roses... My skin drinks BPAL, I usually have to reapply at least twice a day to keep a fragrance. This one lasted all day long... I'd recommend Spellbound if you like Gypsy Queen, the Masque, or Schezerade...

I reviewed this and the review disappeared. Weird... Well, here goes again... I was so sure that this one would be the spring scent I've been looking for, but alas, GERANIUM! I thought that perhaps the geranium would settle down and waited for the dry-down or some sort of morphing to happen. Nothing. 2 hours later I still smelled like nothing more interesting than a great big potted rose geranium sitting on a windowsill soaking up sunshine. This isn't a bad thing (esp. cause rose geranium is a good aromatherapy for PMS and other female hormonal issues), it's just that I like to wear fragrances that have a little more complexity. Usually I totally amp the other notes that are in this, I don't know why my skin is going this to me with this one!

Oh Gods do I love this scent.... and amber doesn't even reach its full potential until its aged... I can't imagine how good it will smell in a year. I like Golden Priapus a lot and I find Fascinum to be similar to it, but somehow more complex. The amber and musk blend gorgeously in Fascinum, and the cedar and slight citrus tang add enough weight to keep them from getting powdery. I find saffron to have a slight wintergreeny edge to it that can be weird in some blends, but when balanced by a little bit of wood is unusual and compelling. Fascinum is lovely on a man, but if you're a strong kind of woman who is feminine without being girly-girl, it's a great scent too. Here's the thing that breaks my heart about Fascinum ... it doesn't last on me... it was gone in about half an hour no matter how much I tried to find ways to get it to linger... I'm SO sad...

Geranium, geranium, geranium... fresh, green, floral GERANIUM. 15 minutes later - soap...soap...soap... Oh DIRT, why hast thou forsaken me!!!

This is definitely the same kind of sugar-caramel in Red Lantern, but this is more straight-up honest-to-goodness brown sugar without any of the other fancy stuff that makes Red Lantern such a morpher. It's sweet, but the tang of Oak is also prominent so its not at all cloying. Oak is a sharp and tannic wood, not a resinous piney type wood or a minty birchy wood, it's sharp as a splinter or maybe a slightly underaged single malt whiskey. Ah yes, a little bit of caramel and a little bit of whiskey... ahhhh... Now all I need is a good cigar....

I'm not super-crazy about the scent, but every time I've worn #20 Love Oil, I've gotten large amounts of attention from guys (including the first time that I just tested a little and forgot about it... went to the grocery store in old sweatpants looking like a total grub and it still worked. Really caught me off-guard cause I wasn't expecting it. Interestingly, I've noticed that #20 Love Oil has a slightly greater effect on men of color than on white guys. Love Me (again, I'm not head over heels about the smell - though it does have that cherry note that folks were mentioning) has similar effects, but seems to work more across the board. The first time I wore each of these for my guy, he was like "What are you wearing?" The effects of both of these oils is pretty striking so I use them with caution.

This has got to be my all-time favorite BPAL scent on a man.... and it works really well on me too! I just adore the incense in this one - sweet but not too sweet... very smoky and mysterious... reminiscent of somewhat dark religious ceremonies... and then there's the raw passion of blood musk and spices interwoven thoughout (I don't really get the cypress or chamomile scents)... with the edgy and controlled sensuality of black leather... in all I reckon its about as close as one can get to sex magick in a bottle. It's not a morpher and the throw lasts on and on and on - the incense note in this one far outlasts incense heavy blends like Lurid Library (which I adored except that it lasted only about an hour on me).

In the bottle this one smells like sharp, spicy resins. On the skin it mellows significantly into spicy clove and sandalwood with smokey rose playing tag between them. It's not a restrained and proper tea rose kind of rose, but its not a blood-dark red rose... more of a wild rose... wild roses on an altar where incense is being burned... There is a solemn quality to this scent and a quality of memory. Memories of past loves... and past lovers... Even with the rose, this scent strikes me a very gender neutral... in fact, I think it would probably smell really good on the right guy... At times the clove-spice wants to get unruly, but the base notes seem to do a good job of wrestling it back into good behavior. I have a feeling that aging will round out any sharpness and amp up the smokey resinous qualities making this utterly fabulous. I'd say it's worth getting a back up bottle and putting it on a dark shelf somewhere for a year or so...

I was praying for a darker, sexier version of Golden Priapus... alas, my prayers were not answered. I get patchouli... at first honeyed ambery patchouli... then patchouli. It's a nice patchouli though because its not hippie-head shop patchouli , but rather sinister antique store patchouli (the vetiver really gives it a nice, dark edge). Lucifer reminds me a lot of Lycaon with maybe a little dab of Gomorrah... I like it, but not enough to crave a whole bottle of. Now that I'm looking at the ingredients in it, I have a feeling that it won't really reach its potential until its aged a little bit and when it does, I think it will be utterly gorgeous... I'm almost tempted to try to get a bottle just to put it away for a bit...

This one hits you like a cinnamon-spice cannonball! Hard to describe cinnamon as not being foody, but in this blend it isn't. Overall there's little sweetness, but lots of spiciness. It's not a real morpher though it does settle down somewhat and when it does, the fragrance reminds me a lot of TAL Dixie Love Perfume, but again, a little less sweet. It's one of those that I'm not too fond of alone, but reckon it would probably be amazing as a layering scent - over say Velvet (can you say luscious Mexican cocoa?), Pumpkin Patch blends, or something else foody or over a floral that's too sweet or light and needs darkening and spicing up. It would probably work well in turning a light summery scent into fall/wintery scent.

This one is a party on a tropical night with load of great dancing, copious rum, damn fine cigars, and a constant undercurrent of sensual possibilities.... It's not a morpher and it's not a super-sweet fragrance, but its very sexy in a bad boy/girl tobacco-leather kind of way... definitely not girly-girl and certainly not nicey-nice (which is why I can get away with wearing it ). The leather notes (which sometimes smell like gym sneakers on me, but smell great in this blend) are nicely balanced by the light woody-fruity sweetness of date palm, the musky richness of tobacco, a dab of earthy roots, and I do believe I smell a touch of rum (could just be a Pavlovian reaction cause what's Havana without rum after all?). It has medium to low throw and lasts a pretty long time - though it's fairly faint at the end of the day. Tested it on both the BF and the teenage son (both with very different skin chemistries) and discovered that it does exceptionally nice things to male chemistry... Teenage son is now banned from wearing it...

The first blast is incense, incense, incense. Then musk and more musk. Rich, deep, sexy musk - not powdery, sneezy, wussy musk. Black musk smells horrible on me - so I'm guessing this probably a red musk variety (aka - Schezerade, etc.). This reminds me a lot of the particular incense note in my beloved Gypsy Queen... This isn't a complex morphing kind of scent, but its simplicity means that will also be an absolutely fabulous scent for layering. I can probably safely add this as a base note to any scent that I want to make more complex by adding a twinge of incense to (especially anything that's spicy). It would probably work to tone down any scent that's too bitter/sharp/leathery or any scent that's very floral sweet (especially something with rose or lily notes). Not too sure that it would work well with foody notes - the exceptions being cocoa (not chocolate) or vanilla notes which would probably smell pretty darn good with a little of Lurid's musky incense mixed in.

My Gods! The spicy, incense notes in this one make it a dead ringer for my beloved and increasingly more rare Gypsy Queen, the only difference is that Mama Ji has vanilla instead of rose. I can't believe I'm actually about to write this, but I think I even like Mama Ji better!

At first this scent was so sharp and almost bitter (like petitgrain mixed with green herby things). It really smelled horrible on me for about 15 minutes. I was almost ready to wash it off and put it up for swap when it suddenly (and I do mean suddenly - like in about 45 seconds) it morphed and suddenly the room was filled with the incredible smell of sun-warmed, fresh-fallen maple leaves. I live in New England, so it's a smell that I know really well and this is pretty darn close to a dead ringer. The throw is excellent and perfectly balanced - it doesn't punch you in the nose but it definitely lingers - and doesn't morph again. I like that it's subtle, but still has a commanding presence. I don't really detect the smoke, but I don't really mind. The leaf-smell is utterly perfect in and of itself. It's very unisex - definitely one that I'll be putting on the BF. Did I mention that it lasts...and lasts...and lasts... my skin tends to drink fragrance, but I can still smell this clearly at the end of the day.