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I met someone back in November, we became friends, we kept in touch after he went back home over MSN and Skype, and I'm finally meeting him again in about a week and a half because we live pretty far away from each other (NYC-Canada!). We've had feelings for one another since around Christmastime and we're sort of, well, together now. Just thinking of him makes my heart jump into my throat and my voice cracks when I try to speak to him about awkward subjects and it's been this way for several months now. It's the butterflies in my stomach, it's the feeling of crushing on someone, which I haven't done in the longest time. It's the unexplained attraction and innocent longing. Is there a scent that could embody this feeling? I know that if I get it now, it won't come in time for his visit, but I tend to pick up scents to embody every memory and the feelings they evoke.

In the bottle, it seemed very fresh. I was worried it might be TOO aquatic, more on the marine side and less on the green side, but it's very fresh, green, and light. On, it stays the same pretty much. Maybe the cucumber comes out to play a little more, but it's a very sparkling, cheerful, light green scent on me-- Wait, where'd it go? After maybe an hour, it's faded. Dammit.

I'm not good at discerning certain notes when I'm not sure what they are, but in the bottle I was reminded of the times when I was just a wee lass and would go out at night and walk around in the woods just to scare myself. You know that feeling. You work yourself up into a fright just because there's something bizarrely thrilling about the adrenaline rush it gives you. When I slather it on, it no longer possesses the deciduous quality that I associate with the forests around my hometown in Massachussettes. It's still woody, but more on the coniferous side of things, particularly pine. And there's something chilling about it. *sniffs again* Yes! It's a lone Monterey Pine tree festooned with icicles. Not something I'll be reaching for often, but it's still good to have a nice, clean go-to evergreen scent around, even thought I don't think it was originally intended to smell like that.

When I smelled this puppy in the bottle, I thought "Uh oh." The rum was very overpowering and there was some sort of really tart, sharp fruity smell that I can only assume was the raspberry coming out to play, but it reminded me of lime. Huh. On my skin, it stayed like that--limes and booze--for maybe thirty seconds to a minute before dying down to a really soft scent of raspberry and... Rose. Rose, WTF? I like it though. It's a good scent to wear to work or somewhere that I shouldn't wear a loud, sexy fragrance because it's gentle and pretty and it lasts all day. But seriously, WTF? Rose!?

Being in love with O and Alice, I started drooling over this one as soon as I saw it on the CD page. Well, it arrived yesterday and as soon as I opened the bottle, I thought "HOLY HONEY BATMAN!" I was concerned that it may be too sickeningly sweet. But I tried it anyway. Wet, the patchouli and the cocoa absolute danced in the foreground, drowning out anything else. Then when it dried down, it smelled faintly of honey and white peach. After 45, minutes it's gone but I occasionally catch wafsts of honey. Huh. I honestly need to see what it does around September or October when it's a little cooler out because weather can change a scent drastically and I REALLY want to love this one, but in the midst of the heat, it just doesn't stick around long enough.

If you are like me and love metallic/ozone notes, but don't always want something that smells masculine, then pick this up while it's still available! In the bottle, I did not smell anything sharp, I smelled metal made soft by flowers. When I put it on, the brassy, sharp edge of the metallic notes came out to say hello, but it died down within a minute or two, leaving my wrists and neck to smell like a gentle floral perfume with a metallic/ozone underbelly that lurks beneath it--For seven hours. I was a little skeptical about this one because I amp some floral blends to a disgusting degree (like gardenia). It's a keeper.

In the bottle, I was able to detect the pine, dragon's blood, and melon, which were the main reasons I picked this up. But on my skin, it smells like fruit salad--PRECISELY like how my mother-in-law made a fruit salad once earlier this summer: Oranges, apples, blueberries, cherries, watermelon, honeydew, cantaloupe, and a bit of orange juice. Normally, I'd pass it off as being way too heavy on the fruit for my tastes, but I have such fond memories of that day so I'm keeping this one. It doesn't morph at all and after two hours, it's gone. But luckily, BPAL bottles are small and portable so I can reapply.

And how could I forget? The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife. Seaweed, honey, white mint, and ambergris. It's aquatic, green, and very sexual.

I have Red Lantern '08! It hasn't occured to me that it might work on a guy though.

I find Thalassa to be a feminine marine scent with something oddly seductive about it, and by marine I mean a salty, oceanic aquatic.Seaweed, kelp, salty ocean spray, bitter almond, night-blooming jasmine, frankincense, and benzoin. Also try Green Tree Viper. It's got the sensual foody side of Snake Oil and, although it's not an aquatic, it's extremely green. Snake Oil with four mints, bergamot, and green tea. And I never tried it, personally, but it sounds like what you're looking for: Belladonna. The devil's herb, which he cultivates with skill and pleasure. According to lore, the spirit of this plant may take the form of a breathtaking, achingly beautiful woman, deadly to behold. This scent is a tribute to such a dark and magnificent plant: a rich green and floral blend, earthy and haunting.

Delirium, but when I think Batman movie, the silly, campy ones I grew up with in the 90's come to mind. Batman in the comics would wear the same. I think The Black Tower or Umbra would be fitting for the new, reinvented Batman. However, I already saw The Dark Knight. The Joker would wear The Mock Turtle's Lessons. EDIT to add more. Poison Ivy--Only one comes to mind: BELLADONNA! The devil's herb, which he cultivates with skill and pleasure. According to lore, the spirit of this plant may take the form of a breathtaking, achingly beautiful woman, deadly to behold. This scent is a tribute to such a dark and magnificent plant: a rich green and floral blend, earthy and haunting. Never tried it, nor does it really appeal to me because the floral part scares me, but that's so totally her. As for Catwoman, of course Hellcat! She's not evil, nor is she good. She just teams up with whoever it makes sense for her to team up with at the time, which is why I like her so much. And she stands up for women. However, I did not like how she was done in both Batman Returns and Catwoman. A soft, sensual, luxuriant blend with a wicked bite: hazelnut, buttercream, honey mead, rum and sweet almond.

My husband was not much of a fragrance wearer until I introduced him to the world of perfumery. Think borrowing his brother's can of Axe when he was going somewhere nice with me. I got him Il Profumi di Firenze's Tabacco, which he wears a lot and it smells divine on him, and he sometimes steals my bottle of Isaac The Living Skeleton (also works really well for him). I made him try The Parliament of Monsters, and although it smells really good, it does something a little bit feminine when it hits his skin. What else should I get for him to try? He amps tobacco in a really delicious, sexy way it seems.

I am going to second Regan. It smells like baby powder on me but it's gorgeous and "sweetly floral" in the bottle. I wish it worked on me. Also check out Melisande while the Carnaval Diabolique is still going. My skin tends to amp the vanilla, mimosa, and what I think is the violet water so it becomes a "sweet floral" with a sort of dark, sinister, complex side to it.

I know you don't want a "generic rose blend" but hear me out for a moment here--I don't find these scents to be "generic rose blends" at all. Check out London and, if you can get a hold of it, Rose Red. The one grandmother I had who was alive long enough for me to remember her well always wore rosy scents. Or maybe it was the same one she always wore. In any case, I came to find the smell of roses very comforting. London smells very similar to what she used to wear--classy, subtle, and very timelessly sophisticated. That's one of the reasons I adore London; it brings back fond memories of my grandma as well as making me smell really elegant. Rose Red is a slightly more playful, hip, and flirtatious take on the rose scent. I also adore it as well.

My family has a house in the Berkshires, so I spend a lot of time there. It's the western portion of Massachussettes and it is absolutely beautiful all year-round, as is Upstate New York. Summer So I was thinking to myself, since I'm going to spend a large portion of my summer there, that I should get a green, grassy scent for "Summer in the Berkshires". I was thinking Squirting Cucumber, or One to Tie Two to Win (I placed an order for the whole Dogs set on the 10th so it should be on its way next week.) Any other suggestions for the summer in the Berkshires? Then I thought to myself: Wouldn't it be nifty if I had a scent for each season in the Berkshires? Autumn That area of the country has excellent apples. I used to always go apple-picking with my family there in the autumn. We'd fill up big sacks of apples and the car would smell amazing all the way home. So something appley, preferably (I'm thinking Poisoned Apple), though I'd be open to other kinds of autumny scents (pumpkin? honey?) to embody this season in the Berkshires. The foliage is amazing, so the autumn also attracts tourists. We also go to the Harvest Festival there. Winter Ski season. I used to snowboard in the Berkshires, but then I broke my wrist and never tried again. I'm a coward, I know. If I had to think of a smell for winter in the Berkshires right now, I'd imagine a fire in a fire place and the smell of hot cocoa. The only wintery scents I've noticed would be for a lonely, desolate winter. In the winter, the Berkshires is bustling. I'm looking at Cloister Graveyard in the Snow, but even that has something sad about it. I want a scent for a happy winter. (Stardust 2006?) Spring The "off-season" of the Berkshires. And Spring doesn't really exist anymore in the Northeast because of fucked up weather patterns. The Berkshires used to stay cold through April and then only start to really warm up in May. It's a time for the area to relax and take a breath. Nobody's around but the people who live there and the occasional vacation-homer like me. A cool tea scent, preferably. Baobhan Sith, perhaps? Note: I don't do megaflorals well.

... I still have not heard anything from the lab yet about it, and 5/3 orders are going out. This always happens to me and I get worried that one of the scents I ordered had a component issue like Tokyo Stomp and Poisson did last month. Come on, Lab, get your #$%& together! Tokyo Stomp was *nasty* on me, I swapped it away for Peony Moon, which I tried in decant form--it is lovely. It should be here soon, along with a bottle of Ventriloquist Dummy I purchased, so these should hold me over until I get my CnS for Tamamo-No-Mae, Gemini 2007, White Rabbit, and Meskhenet. Mood: Wearing now: Bloody Mary

Kelly Pool, in the bottle, is the weakest of the Dogs, in my opinion. That's why I wore it to dinner tonight, because I can hardly smell anything in the bottle and I wanted to see what it did on. I think that it's next to undetectable even though I marinated myself in it. It got a little stonger as the night went on, but by the end of dinner, I decided it was not a keeper despite the fact that I rather like the sparkle it has going for it--I passed it off as simply too subtle for me, a scent that would better suit somebody with a more meek personality, perhaps? Though "meek" is certainly not a word I'd use to describe the painting. But then, as we were walking out of the restaurant, John told me I smelled good. He had put his arm around me so his face was kind of close to my hair. Kelly Pool will need further testing, and I want to see if it gets a bit more pungent with a little aging. I'll set it aside for a few weeks.

My research paper is due at noon today and I'm almost done. My Dogs arrived yesterday. I've only gotten a chance to wear Kelly Pool, but I sniffed at all of them in the bottles. Kelly Pool, in the bottle, is the weakest, in my opinion. That's why I wore it to dinner tonight, because I can hardly smell anything in the bottle and I wanted to see what it did on. I think that it's next to undetectable even though I marinated myself in it. It got a little stonger as the night went on, but by the end of dinner, I decided it was not a keeper despite the fact that I rather like the sparkle it has going for it--I passed it off as simply too subtle for me, a scent that would better suit somebody with a more meek personality, perhaps? Though "meek" is certainly not a word I'd use to describe the painting. But then, as we were walking out of the restaurant, John told me I smelled good. He had put his arm around me so his face was kind of close to my hair. Kelly Pool will need further testing, and I want to see if it gets a bit more pungent with a little aging. I'll set it aside for a few weeks. *runs off to rescue her footnotes for her research paper* Mood: Wearing now: Kelly Pool

I would have been skeptical about a milky scent and probably would have passed on Milk Moon 2007 if I had not been in love with comptoir Sud Pacifique Matin Calin, a milky scent with vanilla and honey notes. I had a large bottle since ages ago of it but it ran out last year. And I would have shunned Matin Calin as something I would never wear had I not recieved a random sample of it with a purchase at C.O. Bigelow. I love how this happens. There are BPAL scents I'd never think of trying until I get a frimp of it. Milk Moon 2007 works on me, though it seems like it won't work on a lot of people. I ripped open the package upon getting it in the mail because I was excited about Milk Moon 07, and as soon as I opened the bottle and took a whiff, I was hit in the face with a milky pomegranate scent. How lovely. On my skin, it's unchanging but after fifteen minutes, I begin to detect a hint of honey. This is a keeper. I'll save it for special occasions as I only have one bottle of it.

I may take a leave next semester, but it's completely dependent on my ability to get a job over the summer for this--that's the condition my parents gave me. Plus, I think I'd rather just get it over with quickly... No use in prolonging the pain, right? I'm hoping this summer will be adequate time for reflection. Anyway, I never saw Interviews with a Vampire, but I did see the last half of Queen of the Damned. It was a laugh-fest. I think the guy who played Lestat (not Tom Cruise in this one) was lip-synching to the wonderfully cheesy music of Korn.

Thank you for the kind words in my previous entry. I have been neglectful about updating over the past week due to a massive amount of schoolwork, but I'm back--at least for the time being. I'll talk about my BPAL life now, like I'm supposed to do in this blog. This month is a record for me. I've placed Four orders: 4/1 Milk Moon 2007 Taurus 2007 Kataniya the Clockwork Woman Mad Sweeney (already swapped it away, I didn't like it--yet I still purchase bottles unsniffed.) Jailbait 4/10 After much agonizing about it, A Royal Flush (I got my CnS for this order on Friday.) I promised myself this was IT until the end of the month, when I'd possibly place an order for the Monsterbaits--I wanted to wait until a fair amount of reviews came out before choosing which ones to buy. But then Beth concocted 13 and Bad Luck Woman Blues. 4/13 13 Bad Luck Woman Blues Parliament of Monsters Succubus Sacred Whore of Babylon 4/20 Tokyo Stomp Bloody Mary The Candy Butcher Juke Joint Bengal It wouldn't be SO bad if I didn't throw in items I want from the GC into every order I place. I need to remind myself that they're GC, they're not going anywhere. I promised myself that I'll only place one order next month--I'll limit myself to only one or two LEs that come out and purchase them and NO MORE... Well, maybe White Rabbit. Mood: Wearing now: Bitter Moon 2006

I went to Hawaii last August--Honolulu and Maui. I took my bottle of Ananas Fizz (L'Artisan) with me and wore it almost every day I was there, this was before I discovered BPAL but I still love my L'Artisans. I love the smell of pineapple, and I wish there was more than one BPAL perfume that contains it (Shango does look yummy for this purpose though). Maybe the search function is just being mean though. Fruity, floral, green--I don't care, suggest it if you can think of it and it evokes images of palm trees in the South Pacific, tropical greenery, exotic fruits, and interesting drinks. I don't care for marine scents.

Jailbait makes the spots where I apply it itch for about 30 minutes, but I love it so much that I don't care!

First of all, congrats! As for suggestions: Succubus, though from the description and name it seems like it would be horrible at a wedding, but the notes seem right up your ally and it doesn't have a lot of throw on me so it's rather understated. So, yeah, ignore the parts that are not in bold... Bat-winged, flame-eyed, and possessed of an unearthly, perfect beauty: the Daughters of Lilith, the Succubi, invade the dreams of men and lie with them in rapturous, unholy sexual union. The scent of their skin is bittersweet, dusky and terminally seductive. Mimosa, orange blossom, neroli and bergamot with a drop of sweet clove. Mantis also seems like something you may like for your wedding. Crushed herbs and sweet amber resin with a streak of patchouli, neroli and golden musk.

I would not have placed an order for this if I were not a Taurus. And it defies logic, nothing with this many flowers should work on me. Florals usually turn plastic or powdery (not in a good way) on me, and they threatened to do so while I was wearing Taurus 07, but they didn't because of the mint and thyme notes, I believe.