LizziesLuck

I feel like this is one of those frimps I have received a million times, and kept thinking I must have already tried it, and passing it on...but eventually I realized I never did try it. And then of course I didn't get one for ages. LOL. Wet: Some kind of familiar candy...or maybe fruit punch? It's just on the tip of my tongue, exactly what it reminds me of...that's frustrating. Sweet, fruity, slightly herbal undertones. Interesting! Maybe a hint of spice too. Dry: Powdery fruit candy! Like make sweet tarts? It has gone back and forth between that and fruit punch. Sweet, fruity and fun! I like it but it's not something I would wear. Unless I all of a sudden come into some money tomorrow, and then I will slather it daily forever! LOL

Wet: The paper note is really strong in this on me, and I really like it! I was expecting cologne, but this is really nice. It's somehow warm and clean at the same time, and has an ineffable quality I am having a hard time describing. I can't really pick up the leather or coffee. It's mostly just paper with hints of an almost green or herbal sort of cologne. It does smell kind of like an office, the more I sniff at it. It's different, and interesting. Not completely masculine so far, I would say more unisex leaning a bit masculine. I don't think it would be particularly wearable on me. but I am enjoying it all the same. Dry: Dries to a skin scent, still mostly paper but now a hint of smoky leather comes through too. It's actually kind of great. I can't see myself wearing it, at this point I just have too many amazing perfumes to choose from, but I am really glad I tried this, it was not what I expected. Lovers of paper/book scents should give it a shot!

I always love catching up on testing some GC imps while on vacation! I know I have tried this years ago, but forgot to review it. My tastes have changed a lot, so I like retrying things occasionally, and I do adore the combo of rose and Myrrh. Wet: Jasmine - heady and sweet, but NOT indolic like it usually is on me. No cat pee! Instead I get popcorn and the plastic bowl it was served in....whaaa? This smells slightly like popcorn and burning plastic, and I don't know why. No idea the age of this imp, and I wonder if it has gone off. Dry: The throw is lots of jasmine, somewhat nice since it's not indolic, but still not a fave note of mine. Nose to skin, smells like burnt plastic and popcorn. SO. WEIRD. Not for me!

Catching up on some imp testing while on vacation! Wet: A soft, woody, salty aquatic that I actually instantly enjoy! Reminds me a bit of Snake Can with the salt mixed with lovely musk (Just in the same vein, not a dupe or anything). I LOVE sarsaparilla, and it comes through nicely here. I don't like aquatics, and was not expecting to like this, but it's not a typical aquatic at all, and I am really digging it. It actually feels perfect for vacation! It's slightly beachy, slighty "hot tropical night", a bit sexy-gritty. It's kind of a bit of everything! I am loving it more and more. Dry: This is really great. Sea salt, warm woody patchouli, a hint of sarsaparilla and musk. I think if the musk and sarsaparilla came through more once dried this would be an instant bottle buy for me, but as it is there is just a touch more patchouli than I want, and the whole scent is just a bit drier and not as sweet as I would want. I may try a whole day full slather - maybe to the beach! I sometimes wish for a beachy scent that isn't coconut, despite how much I love coconut.

The subject of our latest #BPAL7wordstory contest was Greed. The winning entry was submitted by Melanie C: Killed the last rhino for its horn. Ambergris accord, orris root, and carrot seed. Wow, no one has reviewed this yet?? I ADORE carrot seed and I love ambergris, so I had to give this a go, despite orris almost always smelling terrible on me. Wet: Gorgeous glittering carrot seed (Don't ask me why it smells glittery, I don't know). With musky, slightly watery ambergris and powdery orris. The orris isn't too terrible here yet, somehow the powderiness kind of works? But really I would much prefer it without it. I want a carrot seed single note. Dry: This settles and comes together beautifully and is really pretty stunning. The carrot seed is dominant but backed nicely by the ambergris, which becomes really smooth and mellow. The orris just adds some vague slightly powdery, slightly creamy sweetness. I only got a decant in a bottle of this, and will likely want more, so I am glad these seem to be GC for the meantime! LOVE that carrot seed!

Not gonna lie, I wanted to try this mainly because of the name, because neither oudh nor jasmine typically work for me. Wet: OMG so much jasmine and oudh, aka cat pee and feces. This was a stupid stupid idea for my skin chem. I have much regret. I smell like a perfumey outhouse. Dry: The oudh settles and fades out, but the jasmine is still somewhat "pissy". That's just how it rolls on my skin....Anyway, the perfumey part of this scent that I can smell past the outhouse is lovely, so if you don't have my skin chem issues, give this a go!

I had been on a BPAL hiatus and came back shortly after the OLLA's were released - the really popular ones had already sold out. I tried to track most of them down to try, but there were a few I missed, so I was really stoked when they came back (and of course to snag back-ups of all my faves!) Wet: Immediately that gorgeous teak note comes to the forefront - like the teak from Antikythera. But then the cedar comes and stomps all over it. I was hoping a few months would be enough aging to take the edge of the cedar - it wasn't. I do like cedar, but I have learned the hard way it's gotta age quite a while before it's good on me. I can't even smell the rose in this at all, and the teak is only barely detectable beneath all that cedar. Maybe it will dry better? Dry: It does settle a bit, and some syrupy rose comes out, which is nice. The teak is there, and it's gorgeous. But that cedar...it really just needs to age. It's hovering somewhere between pencil shavings and BO and the wonderful warm woody scent it wants to be. I'll keep the decant and age it and see what happens!

I wasn't able to try this before it got discon'd. I bought a bottle of it once (aftermarket) and received a bottle of fractionated coconut oil and was super mad and stopped looking for it. So I was excited that it made a comeback! Not sure why I think I will like it, these are not typical notes I go for.... Wet: Lots of warm brown sugar. I know it says white in the description, but I swear this is caramelly brown sugar! It's yummy. Some lemony tea is coming out a bit too. Overall this is a warm, comforting, snugly scent so far. It makes me want a cup of tea and some sort of baked good, and I feel like it'll be super comforting in the winter. Dry: This doesn't morph much. I never get the bread, the butter, much of the tea, or anything much really other than sugar. A bit of cream. But mostly brown sugar. It's cozy and comforting. I don't love it, but I think it has a place in my collection. I don't own many scents like this anymore, as I have moved away from gourmands, but I still get nostalgic for one once in a while.

Blackberry and lilac are two of my favourite notes, and two notes that seem to get swallowed in most of the scents that I hope they will be prominent in. I don't want to have high hopes for this.....but I do! Wet: This is stunning the instant it touches my skin - gorgeous realistic lilac, greenery and sweet blackberry. As it settles on my skin, I do find myself looking for the tartness of the blackberry that's not here, but otherwise this is lovely. Sweet, delicate, a bit heady. I have a lilac bush beside my driveway. When it's in bloom, I make sure all the windows and the roof of my car are open as I back into my driveway and I get the heady smell of lilacs as I come home. My home is my sanctuary and lilacs have always reminded me of home. We had them all over the property I grew up on as well, from when I was about 2 to 17. So lilacs mean the world to me, and are easily my favourite flower. It makes me happy beyond words that Beth does such a spectacular job of getting that totally realistic lilac note. I just need to find the perfect blend where it sticks around and is not overpowered by all the other notes! Will this be it? (Sorry about the "story hour" here friends, apparently I am a wee bit nostalgic today!) Dry: Sadly this doesn't have longevity on me. I didn't slather it, but had put a fair amount in the crook of my elbow, and it's gone now. Before it faded fully, it was a sweet scent, kind of hard to describe because the blackberry somehow really didn't smell like blackberry to me and it kept confusing my nose. I guess it was meant to smell more like the bush? But I kept missing that berry tartness. The lilac note is lovely. I will likely give this a full day wear before I make any decisions, but I am STILL feeling like I will never find my perfect lilac scent.

When I read the description for this, I thought of Tarantula Fascinator, which has this amazing combo of hay and chocolate that I just ADORE. So I blind bottled it! Really I love hay scents in general, so I am hoping this was a safe choice for me. Wet: Nose to skin I get lots of cacao and Tonka, which is cool because I feel like I can never pick Tonka out of a blend. I get a bit of nose tickly hay, and it makes me smile. The throw has a LOT of grass in it - not the dried grass I was expecting, but a slightly greener note. It's quite lovely. This is a very unique sort of scent, and I am really digging it! Dry: This is so lovely! Hay always has this dry, sort of spicy, perfumey quality on me, and I love it. It's gorgeous here with the subtle cacao, and a good dose of vanillic tonka. I really like it, it's quite different, and I am glad I blind bottled it! It feels like a late summer/early fall kind of scent. It's cooler here today, and I can feel the faintest beginnings of fall in the air, so I slathered this.

Wet: This is a lovely musk on me - sweet, clean, almost-but-not-quite powdery. It somewhat reminds me of the musk from Zorya P or maybe even The Girl, but without the floral notes. As it dries though, it gets "darker" in feel, and grows a bit incensey, which I was not expecting. It's also a tiny bit "woody" (that's not really the right word, but I am not sure what other word would suffice). I wonder if that's the "husk" aspect of the vanilla? This is definitely a scent that I would describe as "more than the sum of it's parts". Dry: This dries totally different than it opens, and it's not what I expected at all. It actually reminds me of a sort of warm woolly sort of musk, like the one in Unicorn and Ram or Hochelaga. I get no vanilla or benzoin anymore. There's an almost leather or suede sort of feel to it....hmmm. I'm not sure what to make of this, it's not at all what I ad hoped for or expected. I will likely let it age a while before trying again, though I got this when it first came out, so it's not settled for quite a bit... ETA: A few hours later I noticed that this was back to being a much sweeter vanilla musk, so.....I don't know. Needs more testing!

I blind bottled this on a whim, as I am obsessed with red sandalwood, and I love coconut and blackcurrant...strawberry is really iffy on me though. Wet: Ooooh this is gorgeous immediately. The red sandalwood is warm and glowing and gorgeous - the same red sandalwood of Sinus Amoris, which is what I hoped. It's actually amazing with the bright, tart fruits. This isn't too sweet at all, as the strawberry is of the fresh variety and not candy like, like I often find it. I don't get any coconut, however I think it adds to the overall warmth of the red sandalwood. This is really unique, and so so good so far. Dry: This doesn't really morph, it remains a glorious combination of warm glowing red sandalwood and woody coconut, with tart juicy fruit. It's an unexpectedly amazing combination. I immediately slathered this all over me. This is an instant stand out - I have nothing like this in my collection. I should likely grab a backup. So glad I tried this, it's so unique. I love that Beth can still surprise me after all this time. <3

I totally forgot I snagged a decant in a bottle of this, and then had a kicking myself "why didn't I try that?" moment, and then was super stoked when I found it! I am not sure if this is the result of having too much on my mind, or too much BPAL...both, lol. Wet: Upon cold sniff from the bottle, it smells like eggnog and I am a mixture of freaked out and delighted, but once it hits my skin it's all about that gorgeous hay note. This smells, to me, like there is cardamom mixed in with the clove. It's spicy and tickles my nose the same way cardamom does, making me smile. This is wonderful - fellow lovers of Hay Moon take note! Dry: I take it back, and say instead that clove lovers should take note! This dries to a sweet, grassy (dried grass) sort of clove. It's a bit earthy. Not sharp or harsh or overly spicy like clove can get, but it's for sure all about the clove now, not the hay. Which I am somewhat sad about, as I have many clove scents I seldom reach for, and only a couple of hay scents that I slather all through late summer and early fall. I hoped this would be another, but alas.

Wet: I couldn't resist dandelion sap plus white musk (both of which I am slightly obsessed with). Dandelion comes out strongest, with fresh sweetness from the pear (but I wouldn't be able to pick out pear if I hadn't been told it was there). There's depth to this, but I can't really pick out the musk or champaca yet either. Dry: Mild, slightly clean, green dandelion. I don't want to call it soapy, because really it's not, but for sure it's clean. I like it, but it's so light and has almost zero throw on me. I will likely use my decant in a bottle, but can't see getting more.

Wet: WOW this is immediately way better than I expected. The skin musk and vanilla combine seamlessly, so this presents like a vanilla musk on me, which I ADORE. The sandalwood and Frank give it an incensey, sophisticated vibe that keep it from dipping into vanilla cupcake territory. This manages to be girly and womanly at the same time, which I love. Love!! It's quite light on me, but I am wondering if that means I can pull off wearing it to work. Dry: This is very much a skin scent, those who like perfumes with tons of throw - this isn't it. But I feel like it's perfect for when you need a pretty, feminine, but unobtrusive scent. It's a faint but rich resinous vanilla musk on me, and I am really happy to have it. I only got a partial, and may need more. Hope it's available for a long time, both so everyone can try it, and also to keep supporting Angel City Junior Derby!