Soupy Twist

A rich cocoa with cinnamon in the bottle. Goes on as that thick, rich, adult cocoa. This soon fades to cinnamon, and then... wait, what the hell, where did it go?! I had to re-slather on both wrists. My skin ate this faster than Embalming Fluid or Plunder. Seriously, five minutes. Two hours later there's a wee bit of that lovely cinnamon left. I'll try it in a locket. To compare to El Dia de los Reyes, there's less sugar and no coffee, and more cinnamon. Still delicious for the five minutes it lasted. ETA yes, this fellow does much better in a scent locket.

Chamomile in the bottle. Goes on as a surprisingly not-harsh grapefruit, almost like you've inhaled grapefruit and you're just getting the smell on the back of your palate. Then a wee musky note comes in, and slowly strengthens. The delphinium and lavender crowd out the grapefruit, and it finishes as a lavender.

Almond in the bottle. Not getting my hopes up. Goes on as a delicious almond-cherry. Continues creamy and soft. Oh, almond, please stay! A little medicinal as it dries. Turns to woodsmoke briefly, but this dissipates and the food note returns in a dusty way, maybe more vanilla. Finishes as a slightly plastic vanilla. I have to try this in a scent locket, but I may have finally found my almond!

Brings peace to the spirit, a sense of calm and fulfillment, and attracts the aid of beneficial spirits. Our Lady needs to calm down. Starts as a watery green, which is nice, but it quickly becomes too sweet, and then too green. It's like I'm drowning in cucumber juice.

You know those crumbly white mints you get in a bowl at the door of some restaurants? The ones which almost look like a tooth or a rough piece of gum with a mint center? Exactly that. It's a good vanilla, with nice longevity, and the mint stays around the edges. Very foody.

I posted this on another thread and people seemed to find it helpful, so I'll repost it here, since this seems to be a good general thread: Re Decant circles: BPAL sells perfume in bottles and samples, called imps. The Limited Editions (LEs), which are seasonal or event-specific, don't come in imps. But not everyone wants to jump in and buy a $23 bottle.... or five or ten... without sampling first. So some kind souls create a decant circle. What this means is that they take orders for bottles, and they will pour out, or decant, samples of each oil into 1ml vials (the standard sample size) so you can test a scent without committing to a whole bottle. The way it works is that you go into the forum http://www.bpal.org/forum/79-decant-circles-group-orders/and find someone who is doing a circle for the set of scents you want to try (like Yules, Weenies, Liliths, etc.). The person will post the bottles she is willing to purchase, and the number of slots available. (I think it's five per bottle.) You post usually in that thread asking for decants of the scents you want. The person confirms your request, and tells you (in a PM) how much it will cost. You send that amount via Paypal. When the bottles arrive, the decanter makes up the samples and sends out packages. Check out the various FAQs throughout the forum for more explanations, and PM the mods with specific questions. They are lovely people.

Pepper and linen in the bottle. Goes on as a sweet peppery tea. A honey note comes in, which changes to a citrus note, and for a few minutes it's Baobhan Sith's younger cousin. Then the honey comes back and dominates everything. And, of course, because it's a BPAL tea and citrus, my skin eats it all in half an hour.

Citrus and musk in the bottle. Goes on as lemony cleaning fluid. This shortly dries to lavender, which then calms down to a powdery mint. Hated the opening, but the mint is okay. Kind of like I got toothpaste on my shirt and didn't clean it off. Way to capture the Mad Hatter, though. This is absolutely him.

Wow, what a morpher. Patchouli and musk in the bottle. I then get, in series, each note lasting about five seconds: Patchouli with vanilla Sweet musk Apple A weird apple juice Teak Powdery rose Musk again Rose again And it settles on the rose. Other than the apple, these are all no-no-notes for me, but I must commend the Lab on the roller-coaster ride.

A sweet floral in the bottle, but it goes downhill from there. It smells like the stamen part of a lily: dusty and a little sour. There's some sickly sweet lemon candy going on, but the whole thing is a disappointment. (2014 decant)

Mint and lime in the bottle. Goes on as bruised and torn "catnip" mint leaves — those fuzzy round ones which grow wild. This develops a lavender or lavender-leaf note; it definitely smells like the actual plant and not "chemically created lavender." Alas, it dries as a boring floral. Definite points for creating something so realistic.

Sea spray and Bay Rum in the bottle. Goes on as Bay Rum with salt water. There's a leather note which somehow manages not to turn horrific on me, and then some sweetness? But the overall effect is ugh. True to the description, just not for me.

Get the one bottle you can't live without, the one you've been dreaming of, and then a few imps of "man, I've been meaning to try that."

A perfect rendition of a spicy beeswax candle. I'm not getting the "too sweet" honey note which sometimes makes me gag. I like it the more it stays.

Hazelnut coffee from beginning to end. Nice, but not enough for a bottle. I have several coffee-plus scents more complex than this. However, it suits my mood perfectly today, so I'm glad I'm wearing it.

Rum and some tobacco in the bottle and on first application, but eventually it just becomes this burnt smoke note. No tonka. Disappointing. It must be the Lab's leather note; my skin just hates it.

This is such a realistic lemon ice pop that I keep thinking my wrists are sticky and I should wash them. Utterly delicious. Like every other lemon BPAL, my skin devours it whole, so it's a locket scent, but this might be worth a bottle.

This is... dustier? drier? Much less sharp than Lick It Again (the only other version I've tried). It doesn't burn my wrists, and quite shockingly, it's gone in an hour or two. Looks like I'll have to try this year's version for comparison, but against Lick It Again, this was a real letdown.

Hmm, this starts really well but totally blows the dismount. Sweet apple...ish in the bottle — apple notes, but not truly apple juice. Goes on as oh YEAH pepper cedar juniper WOW that'll clear your sinuses! Then there's a wonderful lemon note which lingers and combines with apple — a sweet Granny Smith, not a pure tart juice; it's a beautiful variant on that note. As it dries, the cedar comes out more strongly and the lovely lemon and apple fade, until it's just a cedar. Considering how much I liked the foodie notes in the open, it's a disappointment.

Pumpkin and coffee-smoky-vanilla and cream and mmmmmmmm BOTTLE NAOW

Someday I will give up hope that the Lab's almond note will work with my skin, but today is not that day. (Which just guarantees more heartbreak. ) Cherry almond in the bottle. It goes on as suede with cherry almond, but the almond note vanishes almost instantly, leaving behind suede, which quickly turns harsh and chemical. After 10 minutes or so some vanilla creeps in, which slowly morphs into amber, and dries as powder. Very sad.

On me this is almost a duplicate of the fabulous Twenty-One. Fizz and gin. Positively delicious, but I already have a bottle of Twenty-One. I get no flowers or fruit, which is a little sad, because "plumeria and pear" sounded really interesting.

This might have sludge, but I shook the imp up pretty well before testing it. This offers neither delight nor consternation; it's boring. Mostly sweet musk with a touch of dry cocoa, which quickly dries to a generic powder. I really love bourbon vanilla and I was disappointed not to get any.

Neroli with some citrus (kumquat?) in the bottle. Goes on as neroli with white tea. This is very pretty! There's no pepper, but it dries into a wonderful lemon candy with a little tea underneath, similar to Possets' Vim or Arcana's Ambrosia. Another delightful scent with a silly name. Might need a bottle.

Pine-Sol and verbena. I guess this is the stuff the maintenance staff uses to clean the steamworks. Yuck.