Lady_Ell

Each bottle of Chaos Theory is truly unique, a fragrant fractal, and exercise in the joy of chance and uncertainty! Each is a one-of-a-kind, utterly random combination of scents, the composition of which is based on whim, mood and gut instinct. Each bottle is numbered, and comes with a small parchment certificate. I have Chaos Theory XXI. It's COCONUT and maybe a little chocolate and maybe a little honey and something that's warm and wraps-you-up, like dulce de leche or something. It's similar to Perversion, but w/o the leather and tobacco. I looooooooove it! It's really perfect for me. I can't believe something so perfect for me would come out of such chaos, though. I think that my bottle really wanted to be with me and snuck it's way over to where my order was being packed and jumped right in.

Queen smells astringent and cherry-coconut-chocolate in the bottle, with something that I recognize but don't know the name of that's kind of metallic and herby. As it dries it's got an evergreen/holly berry background and a warm sweet sugary smell on top. Very Christmasy. It's got a high topnote thing that I recognize in the Tarot blends (High Priestess, Ace of Swords) that mostly fades on the drydown but still wafts off and keeps it from being a sweet smell. It's very complex. I'm not sure if it's the right thing for me, even though I like all the components I can recognize, but I'm really intrigued and will try it a couple more times to see.

India Bouquet smells just like coriander seeds and fennel seeds and other Indian food spices when wet - as it dries it goes all fennel seeds and smells like those teeny pink and white fennel seed candies that you eat after you have Indian food on your way out of the restaurant. After a while the coriander comes back and makes it a bit more bitter. A little unusual but I think it might become a favorite in time.

The other thing is, if it's just one oil and you can't figure it out, wait it out and try it again later. Sometimes it's just something new and you have to get used to it. I got the horridest rash when I put on single note coconut, and was pretty miserable and itchy and burning, but I rode it out and 20 minutes later I felt better (still a bit itchy, though). The next day I said 'screw it, I love how this smells, I can deal with the itch' and lo and behold, the itch was minimal. And a few weeks later I have no problems at all with it.

Wow. This one's a morpher! The first time I tried it, three weeks ago, I was on my period and it smelled completely different than how it smells today. Three weeks ago - a metallic ashy scent that settled into a metallic cinnamon scent which I really liked a lot. It reminded me of High Priestess but with cinnamon. Today - a metallic LEMON scent with an undercurrent of mint. No cinnamon at all. The metal goes away after a few hours I have a fresh, lemony, soapy smell. It's very pleasant and very clean smelling, but not too interesting. I like this, but it isn't something I'm going to reach for. Swap pile, I guess.

DeSade, DeSade, DeSade. Did I mention DeSade??? And Severin. Loviator comes in third.

Wet this smells "generic BPAL sweet" to me, which I assume is due to the fig. I'm getting very bad at picking out notes out of the bottle for some reason. Drying - the cedar makes a grand entrance with a chocolate chorus Dry - all cedar and chocolate. Dry 1+ hours - the chocolate is fading a bit, and something very sweet is peeping out from under a heady cedar fog. I asked Mr. L his opinion of my arm and the smell coming out of it, and he said that it smelled like Christmasy craft stores that old ladies go to... not in a bad way, but that's what he thought. I kind of agree with him - the cedar is SO strong on me and the cocoa has by now faded into general yet strong and a little bit spicy sweetness that I smell kind of like a holiday candle. I do like it, but it's not something I want my body to smell like.

... based on coconut-laden prototype... It's so awesome. SO awesome. Coconut and leather and tobacco and vanilla (I guess it's actually tonka bean). Morphing beautifully and becoming sweet yet sophistocated. The only sophisocated coconut scent, I think, because it is not beachy/tropical in any way. Even though I tried it on while I was about to make some sort of culinary mess in the dining room, and was wearing old dirty clothes, I felt glamorous and ready for a night on the town with cigarette holders and evening gowns... except I would be dressed in drag in a man's suit. This has very cross-dressy, 1930s Weimar associations for me, for some reason. I love it. The only thing is, something about it reminds me of a car air freshener thing that my uncle used to have hanging from the rearview mirror of his pickup truck. I can't get that vision out of my head when I smell this. But it's still very, very good. ETA: I just got my Chaos Theory which smells a lot like this but without the leather or tobacco. I realized the leather and tobacco in combination with the rest of everything is what was making me smell like the pickup truck air freshener.

I'm going to give this one a second try during a different time of the month, but for now there's something in here that's not working with me. I can't figure it out, because I looooove everything that's listed here. But there's a weird kaopectate-like undercurrent and a very sharp, high noseblast of something like galangal or ginger on top of the honey/almond base. Something about it is reminding me a lot of High Priestess, but not in a good way. In a sharp, astringent way. This really might just be due to hormones, though, and I'll be giving this another shot next week.

Other things similar to DeSade (to my mind, at least): Loviator, Severin, Hellfire Other heavy, non-foody things: Aureus, Haunted There's a ton. Hope that helps!

Hi aromatic ladies (and gents), I've been looking through the LUSH/BPAL similarity thread but didn't find what I was looking for. I'm looking for something that smells just like Skinny Dip, instead of just going well with it. I just tried Skinny Dip for the first time and I'm in love. So far I can't find a BPAL which seems to smell just like Skinny Dip, so I'm thinking of layering. Do you think that Velvet and Single Note Clove would smell like Skinny Dip? Do you think that layering clove with Snake Oil would be gross? How about clove with Sandalwood or Amber? I have enticing ideas about Clove and Carnal but want to see if anyone has done this kind of layering first... I also need to get some single note Clove, but for now I thought I thought I'd throw some questions out for y'all. Thanks!

This sounds so interesting, but the vetiver overwhelmed everything else and combined with the lemon, I just got a strong green and soapy smell - anyone remember Prell shampoo? That's what I thought I smelled like. Interestingly, Mr. L told me I smelled good, and he rarely says any such thing (except for Aureus, he likes that one). I think I'll have to swap this, unfortunately. It got really strong and soapy and sneezy as the day wore on. It didn't smell bad, but I didn't feel like I smelled like me.

This smelled very plastic-y on me, like Strawberry Shortcake dolls, fresh out of a warehouse or something. It burned the back of my throat a little bit, like when you have strawberry gum with real sugar in it instead of fake sweetener (Bubblicious vs. Trident). I'll try it again later in the month. It has promise, but maybe right now it's not the best time to try it. It also just seems a little too young for me.

Now, I don't know what orchids or stephanotis smell like, but I do know that this is beautiful. Let me just state for the record that aside from carnation, florals seem to DESPISE me and turn chemical and nasty. This is the only floral that didn't do so. It is a light powdery floral and vanilla mix that just seems so... pretty. I'm not usually a femmy girl but this makes me feel like wearing skirts with lace on them or something. Delightful!

I love this when it's wet, and within the first 20 minutes of wear. It's minty, bright, clean, and wakes you up, without smelling like air freshener - it's just like actual fresh air. Then something happens, I don't know what, that makes the mint disappear and a bitter, dusty, angry smell come out that's really upsetting to me. I remember thinking that "if bitterness and despair had a smell, this would be it." It isn't like anything I've ever smelled before and it made me really sad and creeped out. Mr. L tried it on and had a terrible reaction to it. His wrist is still red and bumpy.

Incense and cedar, with a hint of spice. Which fortunately are my skin's favorite things. I can't describe this very well in poetic terms... except to say that I LOVE IT. It seems to fade kinda fast, but I didn't put very much on, so I'll be more generous next time I wear it. It smells very similar to Aureus on me, which is my current favorite... this is the feminized version of Aureus, kind of like "Aureus-lite." Soooooo good.

Body chemistry strikes again! I am getting a dry, grassy scent when I put this on, but I'm ALSO getting something that smells like a dirty guinea pig's cage... something very herbivore-poop-like. The poopy smell goes away in about 15 minutes, but then it just smells like old lady drugstore perfume. I'll make Mr. L try it on, and see what it does for him, because everyone else's reviews sound so wonderful!

Glitter goes candy-sugar-bubblegum sweet on me and lasts for hours. Dragon's Milk is also very sweet. So does Hecate, although I get a soapy thing going on with that one, too... but I think that's just my chemistry because other people don't seem to have that happen. Bliss is pure chocolate sweetness on me. Dana O'Shee is the best marizpan ever.

ooh ooh ooh, this is something I want to shout to the world: Snake Oil and Loup Garou are damn amazing when layered. I have the same problem with Snake Oil as you do - I love it, but it's so bakery sweet unless it gets slapped down a bit by something else. Loup Garou is really woody (juniper and cedar) and for some reason, on me at least, it complements Snake Oil to form the perfect sophistocated blend. Lots of compliments from strangers when I rock this combination.

I got a bottle of this for my sister, unfortunately without consulting her first. I thought it smelled really deep and spicy and pretty (the clove and myrrh really stuck out to my nose) and thought it would be something she'd like. I even drizzled it onto a scarf I was knitting for her, because it smelled so spicy-Christmasy-woody to me and thought she'd be totally into it. But she took one whiff, backed away in horror, and said it smelled "like Grampy and a hippie." Note to everyone: my grandfather smells like motor oil (he likes to work on cars). My mom said "it's not so bad, I kinda like it" and from what I can tell it's been sitting on her dresser ever since, unworn. When I visit at the end of the month I'm going to have to do a search and rescue, and will bring it back where it will be appreciated. I might buy my mom her own bottle of Old Shanghai (which she loves) in exchange.

Why does the citrus not stay put on me? Oh well, here's what I thought: Wet, it has kind of a "generic BPAL" smell, although when you think hard about it it's citrusy and woody and very nice. Dry, it turns a warm and gold and dusty and a little powdery. It smells exactly like when a big, friendly, orange, fluffy male cat headbutts your face with cat kisses - you know the "cat forehead" smell? It's the best way I can describe this, and it is very comforting. After an hour or two, it just went straight baby powder and dust. Maybe because I'm a Libra and I was fucking around with the wrong sign? I'm going to try this again on a less humid day and see what happens, though. More later!

Yup. With Lightning. I couldn't stop coughing or sneezing and it felt like I'd been maced or something. My eyes were so watery.

Hmmm. This worked so well on everyone else, but to quote myself from a review posted elsewhere, this is what happened to me: "I tried on Akuma today and it was not a nice experience. Yet another body chemistry accident, where the cherry and whatever else was in there conspired to go from really pretty and light and nice in the bottle to hitting my skin with a bitter/rotting note that hits you in your sinuses (like dead swamp plants and that old Tussy deodorant) which later calmed down into a chemical cherry note on top of something like industrial solvent. I ended up smelling like the cherry-scented cleaner they use in the bathrooms on the NJ Turnpike." I must have been mistaking the raspberries for cherries. But whatever it is, it sure doesn't work with me.

Koumori and with coffee spoons descriptions combined are how I feel about Old Sybaris. When I smell it, I'm like "eh, kind of whatever, everyday, generic BPAL smell" - the violets stay in the background, the incense and tonka bean are forefront, and the clove sits primly in the back and waits to be noticed (and is appreciated when it is). It's not something that I ever THINK about wanting to smell like, and I can't say I love the specific notes in it or seek them out in general, but I reach for this imp constantly. It's got terrific staying power and the powdery feel on the drydown isn't offensive to me at all (usually I hate baby powder and find it acrid/cloyingly sweet at the same time). And yes, it's great for layering. It seems to work with anything, and the anythings round out the incensey waft. Right now I'm loving it with single note coconut.

OK, I must have really weird chemistry. This smelled like maraschino cherries in the bottle (apparently the almond) and something sickly-spicy underneath (the musk?). I figured it would change into something lovely on my skin because almonds and I get along well, and I haven't yet had a major problem with musk or myrrh. Well, instead it turned immediately to a mashup of Dial soap (the yellow kind) and cherry Life-savers. I was really looking forward to this one based on the ingredients, but no luck.