Lucchesa

My skin loves lilies, so I had high hopes for Queen of Hearts, and she did not disappoint. In the imp I got a ripe cherry, but the lilies took over when it hit my skin (though I have no clue what stephanotis smells like). A nice bit of throw and reasonably long lasting, which for me is a couple of hours - I get so jealous when people complain something only lasts five hours for them. Gorgeous for a floral mood. I need to do a lily smack down but this definitely goes on the 5ml long list.

Warning! Something in this one may burn you! The only other oil I've had this problem with was Inferno, and it was much worse; I am fine with Wrath and Sin. Cinnamon is not listed here though it may be at fault. This was fruity in the imp and wet but, as another reviewer said, got weird and dusty as it started to dry. That review advised patience as it got lovely after ten minutes, so I slathered a bit more on my wrists and also dabbed my inner elbows, where the more sensitive skin immediately started to tingle. I washed it off shortly thereafter as the sensation became more burning. I think I could wear this on my wrists, cautiously, but I don't love it enough to bother.

Normally I avoid patchouli, but I was frimped a few patchouli blends by a forumite to see if I could overcome my aversion. Not with this one. Dirty remains of a campfire. Or, like the very first poster said, charcoal briquette. I don't get the sandalwood at all, which is a favorite note of mine. I'll keep it on another half hour to see if it morphs into something remotely pleasant, but I'm not sure the initial sensation would be worth it even if it does.

I tried Perversion this morning. I agree with the other reviewers who have commented on it smelling like pipe tobacco, which I loved and miss -- I mean, it's great that men are no longer getting cheek cancers but sad that the smell of good pipe smoke has largely gone from this world. I have no idea what tonka smells like, but I got a general warm unisex rum-tobacco-leather scent. On drydown, it reminded me a little of Follow Me Boy, but less strong on me. But at least two hours after application -- and I have dry skin that just sucks up fragrance -- I held out my wrist at brunch to a friend and her boyfriend, who were quite appreciative -- the scent was faint but still lovely. I couldn't remember what it was called at that moment, but after another mimosa it came to me that I was wearing Perversion, which made us all laugh. I think I have seduced a new BPALite into the fold.

Paladin is a very bright and feminine scent on me. I'm still not sure what frankincense smells like, but the bourbon vanilla stays sweet and clean and doesn't go all funky like some vanillas do on my skin. Not much throw but good staying power on me. I'm looking forward to experimenting with layering with some of the other RPG scents.

Edited a year later, when I have smelled a lot more and have a lot better idea of what works on me and what doesn't. Follow Me Boy is a long-lasting dirty floral on me. Jasmine, definitely jasmine, indolic when wet, and jasmine more often than not does not work on me. If jasmine is good on you, this is gorgeous, particularly on a hot humid summer night, when you're wearing as little as socially acceptable.

In the imp, this smells to me exactly like a gin and tonic. Which is a happy smell, but not necessarily what I want to smell like. But I know better than to trust the imp smell. There are too many notes here for me to pick out once it hits my skin, but I get the lime and lemon verbena and the coconut as well. Lemon verbena starts to take over but it's very changeable. But in a pleasant way -- I don't perceive it as muddled or muddy. Still, it fades very quickly on me. When I find myself reapplying it in 10 minutes, I know it won't be for me. Ok, I went back to my imp tonight after the word Shoggoth came up in dinner conversation with my teenaged boys. ("Why is anybody making Lovecraft-themed perfumes?" one of them asked when I brought out the imp, sparking an interesting discussion.) I applied more this time, and it is lasting much better. And I like it better now that I have learned more about Shoggoth and read the whole description, not just the notes. So it is saved from the swaps pile.

Somehow this smells just like the painting: https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/sadak-in-search-of-the-waters-of-oblivion-17850 I was generously frimped this by a fellow forumite -- thanks, Traubert! -- and it's gorgeous. Now I need to see about finding myself a bottle of it...

Weirdly, I barely get chocolate at all, even in the imp. Orange blossom is the main note for me, especially once it hits my skin. Vice is pleasant, but it doesn't even last an hour on me. Disappointing. Oh well, this is why we have imps.

Got this as a sniffie from a generous forumite -- thank you, Traubert! It is definitely interesting, the butterscotch immediately tempered with something more like machine oil than dirt on my skin, though never letting go of the sweetness entirely, but I don't absolutely adore it, which is a good thing because there's hardly any more and it must be hard to come by. But I'm thrilled that I got to try it out.

A glorious parasite! Once the seeds of the Strangler Fig find root in the bark of a tree, snakelike roots erupt and reach graspingly at the sky. The Strangler Fig then sprouts numerous epiphytic vines that strangles and surrounds its unwilling host, and finally snuffs the life from it. Rooty, woody, with deep green tones. In the imp: sweet and fruity (figgy? I love figs!) But when it hit my skin, a resinous note took over, like a snapped tree branch smell - very different from the bottle smell. On drydown I thought for a moment that it had faded away completely after about 30 minutes, but it was just regrouping. It came back with a complex mix of earthy green smells, with the sweetness there in the background. And it lasted longer than most oils do on me, so I could still get hints of it in yoga, and it made me feel flexible and strong. Definitely a keeper.

Funny how Mermaid-on-Land found this too faint for her. I had the opposite reaction. I liked the lovely floral tones in the imp so I dabbed some on my wrists before walking to a nearby cafe to meet a new client. Most BPAL oils are pretty private on my skin, and I thought it would be a nice confidence booster. Ironically, this was a lecture I would be giving at a local Catholic Church. And I quickly found out Water of Notre Dame is STRONG on me. I kept thinking this guy was going to think I was some kind of fallen woman, wearing too much perfume. For me the dominant note seemed to be lilies. I like Gloame's description: "spiritual lilies.". I have had this experience with one other oil I've tried recently: Imperious Tiger Lily. So it seems that my skin amps lilies. Hurray - I seem to damp down most everything else. Anyway, I often find real lilies cloying, but Beth works her magic with both these blends, and they are gorgeous. I just need to apply sparingly. Not sure about the calming effect -- I need to try again in a less nerve-wracking situation.

This is quite lovely, nicely balanced between fruit, floral and herbal. Wet the fruit and floral notes are strongest, and the herbs start to emerge on dry down. It doesn't last long on me, though. Very pleasant but not a home run.

I love Aizen-Myoo in the imp, and I remember being very pleased with it when I first tried it, but lately my skin chemistry is doing something very strange to it, changing the citrus tones into an unpleasant industrial cleanser smell. I noticed something similar though not so strong with the grapefruit in Cheshire Cat recently. Eventually it mellows down and the cherry blossom makes its presence felt, though I never got much tea, but the first half hour or so is not worth it on me.

Venice is my favorite city on earth, so I wanted to love this oil. But it's much too floral for me, which is odd given how few flowers are growing in Venice. I was really hoping the citrus, red currant and sandalwood would be more assertive, but instead I amped rose and jasmine to the exclusion of all else. Peccato.

Shanghai on me is pleasant but not a standout. For some reason the green tea just disappears on my skin, taking the verbena with it soon thereafter, and I'm just left with the faint sweetness of honeysuckle, which does not last long either. I seem to obliterate this scent within minutes. Shanghai, I have defeated you! So I won't be buying more.

This has really good throw on me, which I'm excited about, since my skin seems to damp down most of the bpal oils I really like, and sometimes I want to flaunt it. So I can apply Imperious Tiger Lily sparingly and still get a dramatic effect. The neroli and other notes keep this from being a cloying lily scent and turn it into a brassy, bossy lily, as the name suggests. I never got the ginger but I suspect it's part of what keeps this bright. I'm not into heavy florals but this one works for me. I will need to get more!

This reminds me of Eat Me but doesn't have whatever ingredient in Eat Me is disastrous with my chemistry. (Vanilla???) It's quite pleasant and I may pull out the imp on a chilly damp day when I'm craving comfort food, but I don't plan to buy a bottle.

This hit me with a really strong childhood sense memory. My father had a wood shop, so I thought maybe sawdust and machine oil. Wet it has a sharp resinous tang, but turns surprisingly honeyed on dry down. Definitely unisex, though. On my second application, I nailed it. I used to have a scratch and sniff Xmas book. The scents I remember were candy cane, hot cocoa, gingerbread, and pine tree. This smells exactly like the scratch and sniff pine tree of 40 years ago. Really, really nice and going on the short list for my next bottle purchase.

I don't think of myself as having particularly sensitive skin (though I am older than most of you all) and for personal reasons I am trying a range of anger-related scents, so I thought I would give this a go. Wet: if this is what eternal damnation smells like, sign me up! Beguilingly sweet with bitter almond as the dominant note. Dry: the cinnamon takes over - cinnamon sticks, childhood holidays. The neroli is still in the background. My wrists begin to feel warm. Five minutes later, oh damn, there are big red marks on my wrists, which are burning. I didn't react this way to the cinnamon in Wrath, but this is diabolical and I wash it off. Twice. This will have to be a room scent as apparently it hates me. Too bad!

As the name might well imply, this one is very fugitive on me, disappearing except for a hint of a grin within 30 minutes or so. I'll keep the imp as it's a nice wake up in the morning scent - grapefruit always is for me - but I won't be buying a bottle.

I've been wearing Wrath all day, reapplied twice, and at 9 pm my husband and 13-year-old son were screaming at each other. Hmm. Hopefully it's a coincidence because I really like it. It's a gorgeous orangy red, and wet it has a clean, powerful feeling, like righteous anger. As it dries down I get the Red Hots that Lunasariel and others have mentioned, but I always loved Red Hots. It's spicy and complex on me and lasts fairly well, which is rare with my chemistry.

Being a Lizzie Siddal fan, I wanted to love this, but for me it was horrible. Mentholatum, which I didn't expect from the ingredients. I was going to give it half an hour on my skin to morph into something bearable, but I don't think I lasted ten minutes before scrubbing it off. Not for me.

For me this was the weird heavy spice cake somebody brought to your holiday party and no one ate. It just didn't work on my skin. Neither does Eat Me, so I suspect there is some common ingredient that doesn't agree with me present in both.

This smells yummy in the imp, but something disastrous happens when it hits my skin. It turns weird, like vanilla patchouli, and I don't like patchouli. In an hour or so it's more pleasant, but sadly Eat Me is not for me.