Nepthys

This was a lab freebie, and I'm glad they threw it in, for I never would have ordered this on my own. I tend to shy away from fruit scents, yet I'm realizing the lab makes them palatable for me. This went on wet as a spicy golden fruitiness, like a sweet tropical orchard topped by a trace of something mysterious and exotic. As it dried down, the fruit scents seemed to evaporate with only a spicy warmth remaining; after about two hours, it had faded almost completely, leaving just a warm clean skin smell. It's quite nice but I'll need to wear it a few times before deciidng on a big bottle.

Another new immediate favorite. It goes on smelling like O with a tinge of dragon's blood; then as it dries, the vetiver and cherry come to the fore and the honey recedes. After about an hour, it smells like a perfect blend of Dragon's Milk and O. Lovely.

In the vial, this had a horrid sharp Listerine smell. Then it completely transformed on my wrist with a perfect balance of rose and herbal. I was stunned by the difference- there was not even a ghost of that scent in the vial. It then morphed after about half an hour into a powdery green rose. It's quite feminine and delicate. Not a big bottle for me but I do like it.

Wet, this was absolutely repulsive on me - like stringent, floral-scented cleaning fluid. I waited it out and slowly the floral turned a little softer and more natural - I know everyone has mentioned gardenia but I also thought I smelled daffodil or lilies. And yet the loudness of it never really went away. Sorry to say, there was nothing sacred about this scent - on me it came through more like a cheap streetwalker perfume than a sacred whore.

This didn't work on me one bit. It went on like stale wood, then changed into root beer with an obnoxious medicine mixed into it.

This was a freebie from the lab. It's not offensive to me, but it's not something I really cotton to either; scent-wise, this is just a neutral woody smell to me. However, the emotional associations are just dreadful - that oppressive church smell of old carpeting, heavy incense, and too many people stuffed into the pews on a humid rainy Sunday morning. Yikes.

My reaction to this was similar to others posted - the scent was much sharper than I expected and not one I much cared for, but wowsa, did it work. This is an insomiac's magic potion. The scent is nothing I'd wear as perfume but it isn't awful - on me it's sort of a lavender apothecary smell, pleasant but medicinal.

Interesting scent. Wet the hyssop is very strong, and being that that's one of my favorite scents, I love it. But as it dries, the fig comes through and it turns into a sweet, sticky, herbal woodiness. I like this quite a bit, though I think my imp will be enough for me.

To me this is almost identical to Horn of Plenty, a very rich golden scent that practically glitters. This is perhaps a tad more exotic. On me the sassafras and almond come through the strongest and just a dab is more than enough, lasting for hours. Love it, could roll around in it.

This isn't too complex on me. Wet it smelled like a strong, dry, masculine lavender which I didn't much care for. But as it dried down the sandalwood came through and warmed it up. Somehow I expected this to have a more disturbing effect but in fact this is a very cool and calm scent and reminds me of a library. This is a good scent for someone who is very composed and reserved and has a dry, caustic wit. I like it quite a bit but I think ultimately I might prefer this as a summer scent.

I was slightly intimidated by the peach in this, but needlessly so. Wet this smelled on me exactly like licorice - then it mellowed into a soft sugary peach scent, then settled after about half an hour into a light fruity musk. This finalizes as a more sophisticated, prettier version of my favorite middle school perfume, Bonne Bell's Skin.

Wow -- this is just magical. By far it is my favorite so far of my BPAL earth scents. This goes on like deep, moist, rich earth mixed with spilled wine, and then dries out to a cooler, almost arid whiff of dry earth, dead leaves, with a faint blood red sweetness. This is intoxicating. What's odd about this is it fades fairly quickly from the application spot, yet seems to float around me. Kind of spooky, that. Big bottle, no question. One of my top five.

This was completely different from what I expected. I hoped that this would be something dark and somber and menacing - instead it's a beautiful aquatic grapefruit! Crisp and lovely and probably perfect for summer, but far from "brooding eternal evil." I don't mean this as a slur because I really like this scent, but this is the perfect thing to wear to the gym - bright, uplifting, energizing and fresh. It's long-wearing on me too and doesn't morph. A surprise, yes, but a welcome one.

On me this begins as a dead ringer for the smell of a New Age bookstore I used to go to in Massachusetts - it's uncanny. So to me this is the scent of descending deeper into credit card debt but the people around me just love it. My coworker told me this is the sexiest BPAL yet I've had her try. (To her this is the smell of an Indian goddess, Parvati maybe.) To me it's got the spice of Old Morocco so I can see that comparison but this is more sultry and womanly. This warms and deepens as time goes on, and winds up being almost a comforting scent like Velvet. This would be a good oil to wear when I'm feeling insecure.

A celebration of the Bone Church of Prague. Frankincense, rosewood, lily, and geranium rose. This was a freebie from the Lab; I've never have tried it on my own, given the frankincense, which just doesn't work on me. However this is quite pleasant on me - the frankincense, which did burst right out on my skin, subsides after a bit and mellows into a woody-herbal scent. Associatively, to me it would be a church on a spring day; the green smell of the day outside tempered with the dustier scent of the pews and the incense. This is a very interesting scent, solemn and fresh at the same time.

An epithet of the Morrigan, crow-winged Celtic goddess of war, strife and fertility. Adoration of this Goddess is expressed both through the ecstasy of battle lust and the ecstasy of sexual regeneration. Black orchid, apple blossom, meadowsweet, and rue over Irish moss, hawthorn and red clover. This is one of the most heavily feminine, floral BPAL oils I've tried. Very purple and powdery, like something the Dowager Empress might have worn. I don't at all get a Morrigan association with this, though not having worked with her, I suppose I really can't say that knowledgeably. This dries down just as it smells in the bottle - strong, commanding orchid. I find this very pretty, but I don't think it goes with who I am. But I'll definitely use up the imp.

A scent celebrating Sir Francis Dashwood's Order of the Knights of St. Francis of Wycombe, also known as the Hellfire Club. A swirl of pipe tobacco, hot leather, ambergris, dark musk and the lingering incense smoke from their Black Mass. I've heard comparisons between this and Perversion, one of my lab all-stars, so I was excited to try this. Unfortunately it just didn't work. I usually love "masculine" scents but this is definitely suited for a man, not me. None of the booze or cream came through on me - just a dark, murky, leathery smoke. My skin apparently sucked away all other elements that might have made it more complex. Oh well, them's the breaks.

More than any BPAL I've tried, this smells like an upscale cologne. Perhaps that's why it reminds me of shopping so much, the department store factor. I really like it but there's some indefinable assocation with a past boyfriend... not sure who but it's making me uneasy. This is a cheerful citrus/lavender scent, very clean, fresh and uplifting for winter.

I second the silk black nightie association. This is a very feminine, mysterious perfume, something a sea goddess would wear. On me it is black-violet and irridescent, with the iris dominating and the cocoanut faint in the background. It's not an aquatic scent to me as much as the way you might smell on a beach at night, a mixture of the leftover suntan lotion on your skin, the tropical drink in your hand, and the night breezes from the sea. Utterly gorgeous.

I admit that I got this for the name and barely looked at the ingredients. All the same, when I did look at them they sounded very enticing and I was thrilled to discover that Dracul is actually a very seductive perfume. This is dark and sweet and faintly sinister, with the tobacco and orange blossom blending perfectly. Wet it was almost pure tobacco, and then it dried down a little sweeter and blacker and stayed that way. What was also nice about Dracul was its consistent staying power - just a dab took me through the night, never overpowering, never fading. This is one of my immediate loves, an automatic big bottle.

After hearing about the magic of Samhain ever since I got here, I was afraid the real thing couldn't possibly live up to the hype. And when I first opened the bottle I was so sad - it smelled quite close to Jack, which absolutely didn't work on me. Then I put it on. That plastic-pumpkin smell came right through, muted by a smokiness. Then - thank god - that vanished within ten minutes and what came through was a smoky smell of apples; it smelled like a warm fall evening, like those September nights when the earth is still warm enough to really itensify the smell of pine needles and fallen apples... It was a very cozy scent, and then it turned suddenly spooky and almost sinister with a crisp dry scent of dead leaves. Then that went into a burning-leaf smell (which I love) and now after about 3 hours, it's all one cozy autumn-night blend. All in all, I adore this - but it is quite subtle, and if I hadn't monitored it with constant sniffing, I think I would have missed the above changes. This may be one I have to apply a lot of. ETA: I've realized that I don't love this quite as much as I originally thought. I have to sniff it closely to get all of complexities, and if I don't, the overall aura of it is a simpler dark buttery pumpkin that just isn't as nice.

I've never been to a true DDLM festival, but this arrived when a Mexican lady was in my office and she about swooned at how dead-on it was. In the bottle it smelled quite similar to Samhain. Wet, it was a completely different oil. On me this is a dry smoky-floral - like placing flowers in a cemetery on a chilly day while nearby someone is burning dead leaves. (note - I am not a florals girl but this is an understated, reserved floral.) There's very little chocolate/candy/food in this for me, just a faint and very dry sweetness. To me this is the bittersweet scent of remembering the dead - beautiful as a fragrance, stunningly accurate as an evocation. ETA: I am absolutely in love with this. It's just... incredible. It turns out that like Kali, this manifests differently on me from day to day - some days do have that candy-sweetness overlaid with the dry leaf and cold earth smell, and other days it's the smoky-floral I described above. I get TONS of compliments on this, and I am kicking myself for only ordering 1 bottle. I am already plowing through it way too fast. One thing I have noticed is that this is stronger than I gave it credit for - I apparently left a scent trail in a hall at work, which I try not to do, and it really lingered.

I've been holding off reviewing this because I can't tell the notes. To me this is a sharp, commanding floral with a bit of woodiness, and something with a bite - I've seen pepper and anise mentioned on here, but I can't tell what it is. What is certain is that this packs a punch! Very aptly named - this is a regal, imperious scent designed for someone who's more used to giving orders than following them. I've used my imp twice in rites and what I noticed it did, beyond just making me confident, was that it completely cut away all the dithering BS in my mind and pushed me in the right direction, no questions asked. And to my surprise, it smelled pretty decent on me as well - better than I'd have predicted in the bottle.

Like everyone else, I was really hoping to wear Samhain last night and Dia de los Muertos today - but - well, since that wasn't possible, I wore Hecate last night (and it was perfect for my Samhain ritual) and today I'm wearing Perversion.

Another surprise. I never would have thought I could wear this but it's delicious - a very ripe cherry-red scent that gives me the same blooming cherry trees in spring image others have gotten. Luckily no one note dominates on me and it stays as that initial fresh sweetness until it fades after a few hours. This is an odd mix of sultry womanhood and innocent girliness but it really works.