elbow

Intensely dark, darkly intense. I don't get much mint or grape from this, just lightless resin-soaked vetiver with an edge of anise. It has a touch of sweetness, but even that is dark: more like molasses than sugar. My sweetheart says it reminds him of incense burned at Catholic funerals.

Truly creepy. The throw is overwhelmingly syrupy sweetness, but when I move my nose closer to my wrist, I get a sickly, musty smell. The syrup drains away on the drydown, leaving this dusty, sinister musk behind. I can't shake the feeling that it shares a basenote with Dracul... whatever it is, it lasts a very long time. A brilliant imbalance of nice smells that, in this combination, smell scary and wrong. Well done, Beth!

This was initially my least favorite of the 2014 Phoenixes (Phoenissae, technically) that I tried, but I must say it's aging very well. The sharp, near-astringent quality it once had has mellowed significantly. It still has a very bright, clean, almost lemony topnote, but it no longer makes me sneeze (yay!). I don't think it's on its way to "favorite" status for me, but my sweetheart really likes it on him, and I look forward to seeing how it continues to age.

This is very figgy on me, the sweetness grounded by just a touch of smokey vetiver. I adore BPAL's fig note, and the vetiver brings a depth and richness to it -- a very nice balance on me. I like the way it smells on my sweetheart, too, but he wrinkles up his nose at it, describing it as terrible and plasticky. Noses: they're weird.

Gleaming pomegranate seed and scarlet poppies. I expected this to be a bright red, juicy scent, but (on me at least) it's more subtle than that. The pomegranate and poppy are both present, but this is neither a fruity nor a floral scent. It's mildly sweet, a little sultry, almost spicy, very sensuous. It stays close to the skin and blooms as it dries, surprising me by getting stronger just as I think it's about to fade. Beautiful!

My experience of this SN was very similar to that of AirAmIJH above. I recognize the note from Amicitia, a more recent (Lilith) blend. It's clean without being soapy and pungent without being harsh. It sweetens as it dries down, increasing the impression of benevolent femininity. I can imagine it would make an absolutely lovely room spray, but I quite like it on my skin as well.

Agape (the essence of friendship: carnation, apple, sweet pea, vanilla cream, passionfruit, sugar cane, tonka, and guava). It's a forum-only LE, but there are a lot of bottles of it for sale/swap here!

I thought it was! I was expecting to love it, but I couldn't get past the burnt smell. Could be incredible on the right skin chemistry, though.

For what it's worth, my sweetheart (who also only wants to smell like a manly man) thought Black Forest was too feminine. Winners for him so far have been Dee, Havana, Jabberwocky, Jolly Roger, and Tezcatlipoca (neither of us can smell the flowers). Seems like Troll might also be a good one to try on your SO, though I haven't tested it on any dudes yet.

Good call, petrochorandleather. I think blends with fewer notes are a great way to train your nose; pile too many in there, and you have no idea which notes are the ones that turn you on/off. Once you've figured out what notes work for you and which you want to avoid, you can dip your toe back into the more complex mixes, selecting stuff you're more likely to enjoy by the notes listed. The entire RPG line is designed to be layered, which means each blend is relatively simple/one-dimensional (even if it does have a lot of notes listed). I second the Rappaccini's Garden recommendation, too. Also, every holiday release includes scents designed to smell like just one thing. A couple more "simple" scents from the GC for your shopping list: Bordello (Bawdy plum with amaretto, burgundy wine and black currant), Cathode (Ambergris, Spanish Moss, oakmoss and three electric mints), Jabberwocky (pine, eucalyptus and orange), Kurukulla (three lotus blooms and three roses), New Orleans (Sweet honeysuckle and jasmine with a hint of lemon and spice), Twilight (Lavender and jasmine, with a touch of glowing honeysuckle), Undertow (lotus and juniper with a hint of mint), and Vice (A deep chocolate scent, with black cherry and orange blossom). Strongly seconding: Obatala, Kill-Devil, The Lion, Miskatonic U.

Another vote for Desire. I also really enjoy Black Tower. Pumpkin II from 2008 was pretty great too!

Trying this out as a skin moisturizer. It's a very pink smell, fruity and floral -- I have strong "girly" associations with this type of odor. I'm not sure it's my kind of pretty, but pretty it definitely is, with just a suggestion of bubblegum sass. This is the first BPTP bath oil I've tried, a decant from 2008 (dunno if it's been re-released since then or not). I would expect a bath oil to go dull or rancid after a while, but no sign of that here! This is the good stuff.

sunqist, now I really want to have the experience of a frozen vial melting in my hand! I took a two-year road trip around the US, during which time my pared-down BPAL collection spent an awful lot of time in the trunk of my car. I tried to bring them indoors when I could, but it wasn't always practical/possible. They survived freezing weather in Chicago and 100+ degree temps in rural Texas with no problems. A couple of my imps faded a bit -- meaning, the scent became a little fainter -- but most everything was unchanged. Or, in the case of Snake Oil, improved. So don't worry, my fellow fans of good smells! This stuff is, for the most part, extremely durable.

I tried Egg Nog 2011 on one wrist and 2013 on the other. Both started out boozy, then settled into nutmeg and cream. Both were beautiful, but rather faint, and faded much quicker than most of the 200-odd BPAL's I've tried. 2013 was definitely spicier than 2011, except for when it occasionally wasn't.

Krampuslaufen started out on me as a chocolatey, boozy gourmand scent... and then BOOMF! It all went up in smoke -- rusty smoke, naturally -- and that's the way it stayed. This progression amused me so much that I was astonished to read these reviews and realize it probably wasn't what Beth intended all along. As annemathematics suggested, it may be a result of the scent's aging. ...Or maybe I've just been a bad girl. ETA: Krampuslaufen has a potent basenote (patchouli, I think) that's still with me over 12 24 hours later!

I didn't care for this one at first -- the cookie scent was strong and almost yeasty (maybe that was the butter?), and seemed to clash with the mint and pomegranate. As it dried down, the pomegranate upstaged the other notes, and I ended up with a smooth vanilla-y pom that I really enjoyed. Very interesting! I think I'm better off hunting down something with less cookie and more pom/'nilla, though.

The perfected winter rose, dew covered and freshly cut. Rose Red 2014: This is a remarkable scent experience. On applying it to my skin, I got a vivid mental picture of a freshly cut rose: the delicate flaring points of the sepals, the smooth curve of the hip, the glossy texture of the leaf, the purply color shift between stem and thorn. I never realized I'd paid that much attention to what a rose looks like before, but there it all was in my mind's eye. Magic! You might notice I'm focusing on the green parts here. This rose is not fully opened, so the smell is still very plant-y, and it never really did bloom for me. This isn't your grandmother's unkempt, sweet-smelling lazy summer rosebush; it's a crisp deep red, with flawless posture, on its way to a very good florist. (I'm actually turned off by this kind of rose. I like my flowers messy and riotous and capable of thriving without pesticides, so this scent is not for me. But don't let my odd tastes detract from the above review: Rose Red is genius.)

Gacela 2014: ...that child who longed to cut his heart open far out at sea. Pine tar! All these fancy pirate-themed scents are nice and all, but this is what you'd smell like after a day of tarring the rig. Pine tar is dark brown and gluey and takes forever to dry properly, so you get it all over yourself whenever you go aloft, and it stains your clothes and stays on your skin for days afterward. It smells somber and uncouth, but it reminds you of bonfires and pine forests, and the devil knows when you'll see those again, so you just might find yourself rubbing the stuff into your scalp when the bo'sun's not looking. Turns out it helps keep your shaggy hair out of your eyes.* This particular batch of pine tar has an odd touch of almost-living freshness to it, and it appears that someone has spilled a good bit of clove oil into the cask. That's definitely not standard; you almost feel pretty wearing it, which is... kind of a nice change. The scent doesn't last for days, either, more like six or seven hours. Come to think of it, maybe you'll just hide this contaminated batch away instead of wasting it on the ratlines. In a really... out-of-the-way corner of the hold. Yeah. Hell, the bo'sun would probably thank you if he knew. Not that you're gonna tell him. * Superfluous safety note: while historical sailors of wooden ships were known to put pine tar on both the rigging and their hair, modern rig tar contains harsher ingredients that aren't so good for you.** It still smells great, though! ** Clarification of superfluous safety note: I'm talking about literal rig tar, here. Gacela of the Dark Death is perfectly safe for your skin/hair. And also smells great. But may not be super-effective for weatherproofing hemp rope.

Waaugh, this is soooo good: a deep dark pool of resinous heaven. My nose is not super well educated, so I keep thinking "root beer?" when I smell it. This is nothing like a sugary canned soda, though; it's rich and smooth and complex and molasses-dark (both literally and... olfactorily?). The aspects that make me think of root beer -- a slight peppery fizz over an earthy sweetness -- are actually also reminiscent of a canned betel chew that a former co-worker of mine used to use. On me it stays close to the skin, and fades surprisingly quickly for a resin. But until it fades, I can't keep my nose off my wrist. I don't say this often, but: I think I might need a bottle. I think it will layer well with quite a few things, and I'm confident it will age beautifully.

Snow White 2014 (the only version I've tried): Alas, I'm one of those people Snow White just doesn't work for. It doesn't smell white to me, it smells sort of... off-white, or even yellowed. On me it's very almond-y, with a touch of sweetness that I guess could possibly be coconut in the background. I tried hard to get past the mental associations with Play-Doh, and failed. The scent lasted quite a while, and as it faded, a white musk that I didn't really care for became more prominent. I kind of suspected this might happen, but I'm glad I gave it a chance anyway. Like Snake Oil, this scent was too big a deal to not try.

I selected this scent with some trepidation, as the Lab's ginger note always goes to eleven on my skin. It does get a little more potent on me than I suspect it was intended to, but even so, this is a magnificent blend. Incense and gingerbread, it turns out, go very well together, the spicy sweetness bringing the yearning of incense a little more down to earth. Both voices in this duet are well-matched, neither overpowering the other. Quite a bit of throw, but didn't last all day on me.

This smells strongly and pleasantly of lemongrass to me when wet. (I've been trying to figure out what that note is; according to the first reviewer, it's the frankincense. Huh.) Then the other notes sneak up from behind and give that sharper note a long, warm, sweet embrace. The result is a jubilant, yellow-gold, fruity scent: the smell of being so happy you can't help but sing. I love it!

Yay! So glad you're finding some winners! Your description of Sudha Segara makes me wish I could wear it... but ginger gets out of control fast on my skin.

I think the myrrh in Laudanum is really lovely. This is a love-or-hate scent depending on your skin chemistry, though! See reviews for both ends of the spectrum.

And for your next order, false.azure: Galvanic Goggles is most definitely dudely.