ariosa

Holy, stop the presses! A rose blend that works on me, and that I LIKE! I think that's perhaps because it's not the foremost note on my skin -- if it were, I would surely hate it and wash it off my skin. Instead it's balanced most nicely by the orchid and the labdanum. I'm trying it on pre-bed, and it's actually a very soothing scent. I may have to get some of this just to prove I CAN wear some roses

Oh. I think... I think that I must order this. Because it's lovely and warm and creamy and rich! I am a huge fan of BPAL's pear -- and the Perilous Parlor does not disappoint. I smell something spicy there, on top of the vanilla, but I don't know what it is. At any rate, I want to eat my arm.

2007 version When I first tried this blend, I didn't like it at all -- I don't fare well with pine, and this was all candied pine on me, which was YUCK. Thankfully, it didn't last long on me. However, after reading some of the reviews, I decided to try it again, and I like it better this time. More of the apple and spices came out and the pine didn't amp to the nth degree -- but it still doesn't last very long on me, which is disappointing. I'll use up my imp for sure, though!

I got this imp off of one of the lovely forumites at the BC Meet and Sniff -- and I'm wondering if it is from the batch that was weak, because this is almost non-existent on me. It started off with excellent potential -- so I think I'm going to eventually have to order another imp from the lab to try it out again. It seems really nice... but I can't really be sure

This smells to me like fruity alcohol. Which is pretty much what I would expect Pruno to smell like on the way down, or back up, frankly! Smelling this makes my mind go to a yucky place. Very, very evocative... but it makes me feel ill, so it's not for me!

I never, in a million years, expected to like this blend -- but because it was Beth's creation, I purchased a decant of this, and one of Pruno to try, thinking I'd like Pruno the most. Boy, was I wrong! I LOVE IT. This is the second time I'm saying I love a floral tonight, and I think I might be coming down with something! It's very green and light, and in the end the vanilla amps just enough to temper the flowers, just giving me a green and sweet feeling. It's tuberose and vanilla and oakmoss and I freaking love it. Man, why do I have to be broke? I want to track down a bottle of this, too!

Damnit! Why did everything in this update (that I got decants for!) love me so much?! Initially, this is all amber, dragon's blood, heliotrope and orange for me. As it dries, it spices up, and the red musk comes out to play (I think red musk is my favorite musk so far). It's very warm -- but as someone mentioned, it's not daytime warm. It's a late summer evening-warm. It's beautiful and sweet, but not overly so; it's musky, but not enough to smell like B.O. And it seems like, on me, it's more of a skin scent, as it doesn't broadcast itself to me and the room while wearing it -- something to encourage others to get close to

I ordered this one hoping that all the other notes in it would completely beat the lily into submission. I really, really, really hoped it would. My heart sank in the wet stage, as it was almost all lily, all the time. Now I love lilies as a flower, but on my skin, it just becomes dryer sheet of doom. Thank GOD it mellows out, and the cucumber, moss and what I guess is moonflower comes to the fore. I am not really a floral girl, I don't think, but this? This scent to me is stunning. It's languid and gentle and something you just want to bury your nose into. It makes me feel peaceful and girly and pretty -- and now I'm hooped, because I want a bottle of this, too, if I can find it! Stunning.

I thought Leo 2007 was going to be my amber blend of choice in this batch of decants I got from the Red Moon update. I do love Leo 2007, but as many noted, it smells an awful lot like Pumpkin Queen without the pumpkin. I don't mind the pumpkin in PQ, so I finally decided to try my Sportive Sun imp to see if it was perhaps the amber scent I was seeking. And the first thing I realized, after trying this blend, is that I finally have a cedar note that doesn't amp to the nth degree on me. I LOVE cedar, but when I tried it in Lear, I actually had to scrub it off, as it was too much. But tempered with the amber, the heliotrope and the almond flower -- it's heavenly. My only complaint is that it doesn't last as long on me as I'd like, but then I'm taking care not to slather, as I don't know if I'll be successful finding a full bottle of this one. It's beautiful, and it is my perfect woodsy scent. (for now!)

Leo 2007 is love. I wore it last night, but went out, so didn't have time to review it. I picked up my discarded clothes off the floor this morning, and caught a whiff. And anyone who says Leo 2007 is Pumpkin Queen without the pumpkin note... I agree! I consider PQ to be my signature scent, but sometimes it's a bit heavy for what I want... so this would be perfect. It's mostly amber on me, and now I know I ADORE Egyptian amber. My only complaint is that it seems to fade on me more quickly than I'd like... I have a fair amount of Leo in my chart, so I'm glad this works for me. I must track down a bottle!

This goes on overpoweringly sweet. The maple syrup others mentioned here definitely applies. However, it rather quickly fades into something that smells very day at the beach, to me. I definitely smell sandalwood, but if I'm not paying attention, for some reason I'm smelling Hawaiian Tropic. I like it, though once it settles, its throw is next to nothing. I'll keep my imp, though.

It's very cinnamony, with a hint of something darker. I do smell cardamom and a bit of clove, too. It's spicy and sultry, but I really wish I knew what that 'something darker' was... I can't decide if I like it or not. After a while, it fades into almost a woodsy scent on me. I like it, but alas, have no one to try it on. So I'll keep this until the day I do!

I got this as a frimp in one of my decant circle orders, and was excited to give this one a try! Initially, it was very boozy and very herbal on me, and I found myself squinching up my nose. However, it soon settled into almost a pure lemon-mint scent, which I find quite lovely for summer. Leaving it on the skin a while longer brought the anise to the front, so it was lemon-licorice -- again, something I don't mind at all! It didn't last a whole long time on me, however, but for summer? I'll use up my imp in the remainder of summertime we have left!

Lemon and spices, lovely but it's just too much on my skin. It is nice, but just too much. Too sweet, too cloying and I'm afraid this isn't something I can wear. Off to swaps it goes.

I wasn't sure how I felt about this one when first putting it on. It smells like something that just won't work on me, since most of BPAL's orange blossom combinations don't seem to work on me. I love Tenochtitlan, however, so I knew I must try this. This actually works, though I feel that it smells kind of commercial on me. It's citrusy and smoky, and there's a hint of sweet vanilla like stuff on the drydown. I think I like this. It's not a WOW, the way Tenochtitlan smells on me, but I like it. It'll need a longer linger on my skin to determine for sure whether it's a keeper.

Awesome, thank you everyone! I have my imps packed in two film cannisters, but I'll just dump them out into the Ziploc baggie when I get to the airport. Though... they're going to O_o at how many I'm bringing with me, hahaha! I'm gone for a month though! Can't be without my smellies!!

Hi everyone -- I read through this whole thread, and have a question for those people who have traveled since the huge restriction was lifted to the point where everything has to be 100ml or less and in a ziploc baggie... Have people still brought their imps/bottles with them in their carry on, and just put it in the ziploc baggie for inspection at the airports? Or have people just been avoiding that altogether and putting your BPAL in your checked luggage?

GypsyRoseRed sent me a little sniffie/tester of this C13 scent, which I never imagined I'd ever get to try! I freaking love this. I freaking love Lydia, and wishing a bottle of this would be easy to find. Usually jasmine amps to the nth degree on me, but this one is restrained. It's definitely tropical, but balanced out by something fresh and soapy, so it never seems overpowering. It's feminine and light enough to wear on warmer nights without knocking the person next to you over. Ohhh man, so in love!

GypsyRoseRed sent me a little sniffie/tester of this C13 scent, which I never imagined I'd ever get to try! The Unheavenly City is lovely. It's everything everyone above me has said -- warm, rich, creamy, almost foody, but not quite. I almost get a lotus/dragon's blood feeling from this. It's incensy without being powdery, and sweetly floral without being zomg overpowering. It's very sexy, and I'll be saving it for special occasions, to make my wee bit last and last!

GypsyRoseRed sent me a little sniffie/tester of this C13 scent, which I never imagined I'd ever get to try! I was a little nervous, reading the reviews, fearing that Shanghai Tunnel would be too much. And it is, for the most part, though I do love it when it's wet. I get mostly pine from that, and it smells like a nice damp, dank forest after it's just been rained on. And then it starts to smell like BO :D The pine is there, but ugh, I just don't know what my skin chemistry is doing here, but I wanna smell good. I don't want to smell like an old man who hasn't bathed in weeks and weeks. And I just can't get over that. So this little sniffie will be passed on to someone else who will appreciate it more

The lovely GypsyRoseRed sent me an imp of this with a recent purchase of a TAL decant, and some Pumpkin Queen! Before applying to skin, it smelled like a cross between an orange creamsicle and 7Up, or Sprite. Bright, fruity and fizzy, and I was excited, because what a fun summer scent that would be! Unfortunately, I must have the same skin chemistry as yeahbutnobut and myoubi, because I also get the evil celery note of death. Now, I thought I was a hardcore gardenia fan, but I dunno... I think BPAL's gardenia is just not meant to be for me At least, not in this blend (if it is, in fact, gardenia!). The good thing about it is that the celery stage doesn't remain, but it does last long enough to make me wonder if I can tolerate it. The drydown is lovely and melony -- not ripe melons, but ones that are still a bit crisp. I definitely get a green smell, too. I do quite like this once it dries down, but it's going to take a few more tests to determine whether I keep it, or pass it on to someone else who will give it lots of love. Still, I am SO thankful to have been given a chance to test this!

This set of lunacies was my chance to try out aquatic scents, because I had no idea how my body would react to them. It turns out I handle them nicely, though Thunder Moon starts off insanely masculine and sporty with me. However, that stage doesn't last long, and it settles into what it smells like outside just after a thunderstorm. Crisp, cool, clear... we just had a thunderstorm yesterday, so the smell is clear in my mind, and Thunder Moon pays awesome tribute to the beauty of a storm, and the period shortly thereafter.

I got Selkie because I'm heading up to the Orkneys in a few weeks on my UK trip, and thought that this was a MUST HAVE! It's starts off quite bright and floral (I'm guessing it's the primrose?), and it's almost a bit too much for me -- but thankfully that doesn't last long, and it mellows into something cool and aquatic tempered by some gentle florals in the breeze off the coast. The honey note sweetens it up some. It's nice, and aquatics don't seem to be horrible on me at any rate. I don't love it, love it, but I will happily finish off my imp.

There's something in Cancer 2007 that reminds me of TKO -- I'm guessing that it's the mallow. At any rate, I wasn't sure how this would be on me, given that it has sweet pea on me, and sweet pea tends to be one of those florals that amp to the nth degree and that I don't like. BUT! Once again, Beth has worked her magic, because this is fluffy warm and comforting, but still manages to be light and cool and aquatic at the same time. The sweet pea is there for me, but I smell more of the chamomile and the mallow, which makes this scent a delight. I love it.

I had high hopes for this scent. Anything with gardenia has me hoping beyond all hope it will be my new favorite fragrance. This morphed a lot on me. Upon initial application, it was mostly pure vanilla, with something... off. It was kind of sour and smoky... the smokiness I attribute to the gardenia, and the sour I guess was the grapefruit. After a while, though, it settled, and is mostly smoky vanilla -- no grapefruit at all, which is okay, considering it was the sour note in the mix for me. I like this, and will be keeping my imp.