Heather Perkins

Irregular and reddish, porous and cold: a rocky red musk, with lumps of frankincense and opoponax, crusted with ice. Where to begin with this scent?! I find it to absolutely amazing. I have never tried one of the red musks before, but I know that I tend to do well with the musk in Dorian, Venus Cloacina, and Lyonesse, along with frankincense in everything, so I decided it was time to treat myself. So here's my thoughts. In the bottle: I don't know opoponax by smell so I can't say if it shows it's self anywhere for me, but twist open and take a sniff I really get that crust of ice. It's got the brightness of almost a menthol infused medicine. In the back you can only just smell a faint musk, but it's sweeter than the usually sharp scents I tend to get. Wet on skin: it's got a lovely red color, and that brightness of the ice is immediately gone, now it's just a cool tinge to the whole smell. It doesn't seem to have much throw and just kind of sits around my wrist. The scent of it though. The frankincense has gotten a little bit stronger, which is to be expected on me, but it still has this slightly sweet but sharp tingly smell to it. Dry down: Goodness I don't know what my body chemistry does with this particular blend because I have never had another test do this: the first hour it seemed like the scent was going to be nice, but sit close to the skin when suddenly about an hour, hour and a half later I start really throwing it. I tested it twice once pre and post shower, and with different activity levels so I guess it's a grower not a shower. When my Round 2 hit the sweetness has faded and I feel it grows just a touch more sensual. In all I really like Thebe and I'm glad I went for it, but it feels like it would work best as a winter smell for me. For fun nights out when you want to feel sexy, but not Snake Oil sexy. and now I'm off to review Golden Champa. what a great day.

I like scents that have a mix of slightly sweet and dark. I thought I had found my HG to end all with the LE Frank and Honey. No. This. This is beyond what I could have hoped for. I may be locked up as unstable because I can not stop myself from saying "I smell so good" every few minutes after I put it on. Put my hair up during the day and take it down an hour later? Bouncy flouncy sweet spicy sexy rich red musk just tempered by honey. It feels sexier than Snake Oil makes me feel. Mind I did kind of go all out in a "treat yo self" kind of day and use my Snake Oil bath oil, this HG, and Thebe, which is an iced red musk with frank and opoponox, so I think I managed to experience what it's like to be Beyoncé. If bptp manage to top this one for me, I may just quit and bury myself in it because this is what the best levels of hell should smell like.

I have never gotten a BPAL single note before, not for lack of options, I just love the already layered ready made scents and I haven't come across one that I simply had to have. Until Golden Champa Attar. I saw that and immediately got myself an order together, and boy, it does not disappoint. It's a lot sharper in the bottle than on my wrist, but it's that sweet floral scent that really starts to shine through, and just hovering in the background is the incense, making sure you don't forget about it. It has a decent throw on me and it stays a really good strength for a good few hours, maybe more, I took a shower so I used that as an excuse to test Womb Furie. I love incense, and this is beyond what I could have hoped for in a Single Note. It's also quite powerful so I can see this being in my rotation for a very long time and I am excited to see what aging does to it.

I got this one as my first foray into Lupercalia (Long time listener, first time caller). My usual scents tend more toward the spice-y, musky, but the frank made me hopeful. The main reason I went for this is, even though I have never done floral before BPAL, I had a gardenia bush outside my home when I was growing up, and scent nostalgia rules all. Out of the bottle it's all gardenia. In your face. Wet, it's still a punch of gardenia for me. Like wow. Dry after an hour, still nothing but gardenia and really strong, maybe I've been avoiding florals because I amp them and subconsciously remember this. It does have a slightly different tint to it then from before, I think the frank is starting to show, or maybe the vanilla is trying to smooth it out. 2 hours later I am still throwing this really nicely, but now I am going to have to figure out how to do everything one handed because I want to keep my wrist under my nose. The gardenia finally softened to where I don't feel like I'm sitting in the middle of a bush, I just have a flower of it, and the vanilla orchid and the frankincense are combining really nicely into just a slightly sweet smooth tinge. **Edit**it is officially 11 hours after I first put it on and the scent is still clinging to my wrist. This is the longest wearing scent of any perfume/oil I have ever tried. I am most pleased. /edit This is really making me want to break out of my comfort zone and start trying new things because while the first hour is a bit punchy once it settles I am so very pleased. I think this might end up fighting Strawberry Moon '12 once Spring finally rolls around.