Pika

This reminds me of Theodosius in the beginning, kind of a pleasant, cologne-y scent. Nice, unobtrusive, safe, enjoyable. (Really? for The Nanny?) As it's drying on me, however, I'm getting a lovely mix of leather and wood. No more traditional perfume/cologne scent. (Yay!) For some reason, this isn't at all what I expected. I guess because anything that says berries tends to be just that on me, and honey amps as well. And I was kind of looking forward to the Middle Eastern flowers and honey, but they're not here at all! Yet, it really is quite beautiful. I find it "gentler" than I would expect, subtle but dominant. I'm reminded of mahogany, and I don't know if that's it I'm smelling, but I love it. It's not as in-your-face leather as Western Diamondback (one of the few other leather blends I've tried so far), very much more blended with the wood. And I can see some brilliant layering potential with this as well! Yes, I think it's decided. I really love this blend! It's a surprise winner!

I'm also getting generic perfume from this. I'm getting very strong vanilla-musk, and not a lot of the other wonderful spices or woods other people mention. I'm very sad, because many of the other spicy blends (Baghdad, Bengal, Scherezade, Seraglio) do nicely on me. This does remind me of Antique Lace, which was unfortunately another well-loved blend that didn't work for me.

Wow, a very unique scent. In the imp, it had a much sweeter scent than I expected. Herbal too. I can really pick out the lemon balm, which has me a little worried... Wet on skin, I find it very hard to place each of the notes. "Well blended" I guess you'd call it, and it definitely gives me an "oily" impression, as in mechanical lubricants. Neat! As it's drying, I get a more distinct sense of the balsam now, and the sage. An herbal, evergreen kind of scent. Resiny. The beeswax is a lovely complement to that, with a subtly sweet scent, not as strong as the honey note would be. And the lemon balm is lovely and faint, and not at all lemon pledge-y as was my fear. Dry, this wavers, like it can't decide if it wants to go powdery. I think it's going to hang in there though. The "mechanicity" is lost towards the end, but the rest mostly remains. It's a very cohesive and complex scent; some of the BPALs "boil down" to a few simple, lasting notes at the end, and this one has not. It's staying very lovely all the way through dry down. mmm. I have to say I'm not blown away by this scent as many others were, but it certainly is lovely. Definitely an imp-keeper. It seems more like an atmospheric scent to me, rather than a personal fragrance. But it is very nice. (sidenote - Carrickfergus swapped me this very imp! Isn't it crazy how BPAL reacts to chemistry? No foody/clove at all here!)

Any new suggestions on what's similar to Bakeneko? Just discovered it and I love it; my imp's not going to last that long! The previous suggestions in this thread were Bastet + Shub (I haven't tried Bastet yet, but I think what's missing there is the subtle orange-y/tangerine scent I like so much about Bakeneko) and also Alice + Katharina. I can't do Alice because the rose goes super-powdery on me, and I don't think that would cover for the tea. Anything new?

Oh, this is gorgeous!! I made kind of an impulse selection for this decant in a swap. It's a delicious mix of light citrus, amber, sweet, refined florals, and scrumptious spices. I feel like I can smell almost every note wet, and the drydown is still complex and lovely. The citrus stays juicy and sparkly sweet on me, rather than morphing to lemon pledge. And the cherry blossom is subtle, not smack in the face candy sweet. It does take on a bit of a muskier character as it dries, which I don't love as much as when it's wet, but it's still wonderful. That's the danger of swapping for LEs, because now how am I going to get more of this??

I can see why so many people like this. It's a very nice, lightly floral, lightly foody scent. Very unobtrusive and comforting. I put it on, and thought "this will be a nice addition to my daytime and work scent options".... Then the rose powder. Drat and double drat! It also faded really quickly. Now, a while later, I don't really smell the powder anymore, but I don't smell a lot of anything... just vaguely sweet. I may hang onto my imp, but I'm sad I can't share in the greater Alice love on this forum.

I love the way this smells in the imp and wet on my skin... very intriguing, I think is the best word. It's a dry, sweet, almost unisex smell with a darker, unsettling edge. I really, really like it. It wore really well for about 15-20 minutes, staying winey, dry and dark/dusty. But then it took a total death dive into powder!! I'm sooo sad. It is *ahem* not the best time of month for me to be testing oils on skin, so I'll definitely come back to this one. I don't hold much hope though. I'm afraid this must be one of the rose types that is instant powder on me. At least jasmine and patchouli didn't do any evil yet so far... here's hoping! ETA: I forgot to add that I agree this is a different wine note than the one BPAL usually uses, but I like it just as much. And the myrrh darkening things up, genius! At least for the first few minutes.

Pina coladas are possibly my favorite tropical drink, but I knew going in that the scent would never really be a standard perfume for me. But how could I resist trying a li'l decant? In the imp and on my skin I get a lot of butter from Upa Upa. Like a hot buttered rum with pineapple, kind of caramelized. I also get the cinnamon mentioned before. It's kind of a spicy pineapple upside-down-cake scent, with some booze. What it's lacking (at least on me) is the coconut, and that's a very important part! Drying, it fades to kind of a tropically pineapple, without a whole lot of other character. It's nice, and I'm still contemplating making a body spray from my imp and chilling it for cool, tropical, yummy misting this summer. And maybe the alcohol will bring out other notes more, but overall Upa Upa barely meets my low expectations for it. Oh well.

Wow, I'm questioning whether I got the right oil in my imp! I'm getting *citrus*. Wet on my skin, I'm getting something similar to grapefruit. And a little bit of violets. It's very bright, not dusky and violetty, like it smells in the vial. Drying, I can tell there's patchouli in there, but it's not the overpowering, dark kind. It's rather pleasant. The violets are gone, however, and I'm getting lemon pledge. No currants at all! Drydown, fading into lemony pledge. Sweeter patchouli lingers afterward, but nothing near what I expected. Seriously. What is up with my chemistry?? I know that I amp lemon terribly, but I've never amped it in a blend where it isn't even mentioned! And currants are hit or miss, and occasionally turn into jolly rancher. But they never just don't show up! This is bizarre enough I will like try again another day and come back and see if I need to change this entry. *does 50 double-takes on her imp label to make sure it says "Bruised Violet Compound"... which it does 50 times... shrug*

Mandarin orange is one of the only citrus notes I can wear. This scent was incredibly light on me. I didn't actually intend to wear it today, but dropped the wand on my arm while sniffing the imp, so decided to smear it on. I shouldn't have worried, though because it faded FAST. I really like the wet smell, bright orange with sweet mango and incensy sandalwood. But the fade is fast, and it became white musk with remembrances of fruit on me. Maybe it's a scent locket contender, because it doesn't smell like - and didn't turn into - tutti frutti gum or candy or anything like I was afraid it would.

This one didn't really work on me. I got primarily gardenia... a LOT of it. I didn't get any grounding incense, or even vanilla, so this became a very heavy, cloying floral on me. I smell something that reminds me of sweet pea (?). Actually, it reminds me a bit of Juliet, though not as balanced. It definitely has an aquatic dampness to it as well... I agree with the greenhouse feel mentioned above. That's a "good thing" for a tropical fragrance, but it's overall just too cloying and floral for me.

In the imp: A little apple, a little floral, and a little varnish! Strong, sharp smell with flowers. Wet on skin: I could almost swear I smell rose about to turn to soap on me... Very florally-perfumey type scent, also has an "aquatic" feel. Drying: This sharpens up a bit and I get a lot more lily of the valley, which I like, but it's still kind of overly florally. And I agree with the "traditional perfume" assessment. It does have a green edge to it, so it's not wholly lost to gushy florals, but I'm not really smelling the uniqueness I hoped for with fig and apple. Dry: Faded a lot. And went kind of bland, dry sandalwood and white floral (not-quite-soap) on me. Somewhat disappointing. Not really unpleasant at any phase of wearing (which is more than can be said for some!) but just not particularly noteworthy.

I agree that this is a truly lovely earth scent, and I like it a lot, though it is quite strong compared to what I'm used to in massage oil. The texture of the oil is fabulous as well. I usually use plain almond oil, but this is lighter and soaks in very nicely. Unfortunately, the Boy (who ordered this for me as a surprise gift and gives *great* massages) does not like the scent. I don't think he can handle the patchouli (he amped it when I made him try on some manly BPALs) and I'm guessing from his other attempts to describe, it's the clary sage he also doesn't like. (I happen to love the clary... too bad.) ETA: The Boy has come around! We both love this scent now, and find it great for "unwinding" times.

At first, this is all leather. Just straight leather, maybe with a hint of sandalwood. Still wet but drying, it actually goes a little sour, and makes me quite nervous. The drydown is really lovely, however. I finally get a sense of the Snake Oil, mixed with the leather and other smoky notes. This is the snake pit blend most unlike Snake Oil I've tried so far, and really nice. I don't know if I need a bottle of this, but I'm considering it, just because it's so evocative and empowering to smell sexy and leather-y at the same time.

A lovely, sweet, and slightly sparkly floral. It's actually better than I'd hoped. I don't get the same "girly" impression off it others have, although it's definitely feminine. It's got an edge to it that's almost spicy or fruity. I agree it shares similarities with "shampoo" scents, but so do many other BPALs I've tried, and I think you've just got to be in the right mood for them. It has faded quickly, however. This might be a good scent locket choice for me on easy-breezy-feminine days. I might look for another imp, although I don't think I need a whole bottle.

Hmm, one of the nicer aquatics I've tried so far. This and Tempest are the only ones that haven't gone to immediate air freshener on me. It's clean and lightly floral, very slightly citrusy, but not hijacked by lemon. It does remind me of linen fresheners and cleaning products a bit though. It's got an edge of "salt" as it's drying, which is intriguing. Though I've read it, I never really understood that salt could have a smell. I could see wearing this in very HOT weather, as a refreshing, cooling kind of scent when others would be too cloying. I guess I'll hang on to my imp for a bit, but it won't be a frequent wear.

(2008) Whew, this smelled all right in the imp, kind of dark and mysterious, but on my skin... uh, not so much. Read on... It's very strange... at first, like dirty, cheap incense in sketchy shops where they sell pipes and dead-head stuff. There's also a hint of icky citrus, like old, sticky, dried lemon pledge. And maybe I'm finally experiencing the cat pee phenomenon. There's something distinctly sweet and ammoniac about it. Ok, that's enough, I must not be worthy of TEH SMUT. Disgusting on me. ETA: OMG, a mere 10 minutes later (30 minutes of wear) it's full fledged, aged cat pee. I had no idea what that meant before. I do now. MUST WASH.

(2007 decant) I can see why so many people like this. It's very beautiful, in a kind of soft, floral-fresh way. I do get a sense of cold from it as well, so it's not all clingy in-your-face florals. And it's behaving on me, unlike so many snow/water/ozone/aquatic/etc. scents. No airfreshener...yay! It faded really fast on me, however. I don't know if it was just the day, and I might try it again either in or over lotion, but I'm not thrilled about the fast fade. And while I like it, I'm not sure I'm ready to hoard. I might pick up a bottle of '08 next year if it comes out, though!

Wow, this is a lovely scent. It's very light, very pear, and very vanilla, and if you're not interested in those things, I guess I wouldn't recommend it. At the same time, there's depth to it. There's something darker about the pear, something hiding behind it all that doesn't let it float off into burn-your-nose-with-sweet and innocent, girly play-perfume. This is a real scent, with some character. I agree with those who though maybe some incense. I like this a lot more than I thought I might. It's a good addition to my lighter scents collection.

I love BPAL's honey note, but in this scent, the sweetness is just too much. I would have guessed there were some other foody notes in this as sweet as it smells on me. Maybe it's the vanilla flower, I don't know. The ginger doesn't really step in to tone this down, nor does the musk, and it just plays as sweet, sweet, sweet plus <teeny floral>. I guess my habit of not buying bottles unsniffed is a good one sometimes, but I was really hoping to like this one.

In the imp, this was way more lavender than I thought it would be. On my skin though, it tamed down, and really was quite an interesting, nice balance of herbally lavender and the sweeter, foody notes. I really didn't get the depth from the birch tar and clary I was hoping for, though. After a while, it settled out to kind of a plain, musky smell. That makes me quite sad, as it was really nice for that first 20 minutes or so. I haven't decided what to do with this one yet.

Mmm, caramelly, coffee-y, Irish creamy goodness. I don't generally like foody scents, and I probably won't wear this one around much, but I have a weak spot for Irish cream, coffee, and books. And this smells yummy. As this is drying, it's getting much dustier and drier. Still yummy, but toned down. Very lovely. Matches its description perfectly. Definitely a keeper imp, and hopefully I can get a backup imp or two as well.

I'm with porcelina, very new to BPAL when this came out, and in fact I didn't even realize DPP was going to go away at some point, 'til I went to find it again and it was gone! This one's been on my wishlist for a long time now, and I'd pretty much given up on finding any until dpoulsen21 frimped me and made my day! It's sooo grassy. So much it smells of beautiful July afternoons, sweating in shorts and a tanktop, picking absently at the cool green grass (even though I know I shouldn't) and winding it into rings, or chaining dandelions. What could a "dandelion" note smell like? Well, dandelions! Really!! Dead on: fresh-green, slightly bitter, milk-sticky fingers, green-and-yellow stains on your clothes, DANDELION. This is not really a "perfume" for me, so much as an olfactory experience. A personal atmosphere adjuster that takes me to grassy lawns and summer days. I'm sad I'll have to hoard the amount I have, but I guess it's not something I would wear every day anyway, so no use mourning too much. I'm sure there'll be more grassy scents someday. Highly recommended to those who like grass and plants, though!

This is such a light scent, and I agree with arabella: unisex and inoffensive. Really, I find it very pleasant though! Yes, it's a bit traditionally cologne/perfume smelling, but I think the tea really livens it up a lot. And it doesn't have that gross, lingering drydown commercial colognes/sprays do. I'm also getting a subtle citrus that my body chemistry isn't destroying and amping. (for once!) I'm actually considering a bottle of this, just because it is so beautiful and "inoffensive" at the same time. Many of the BPALs I like are "nose-catching", if you will. This is so simply *pleasant* it might be nice to have around for days I don't need or want to attract attention with my aroma. I like Theodosius!

I'll add my vote for a Sugar Skull sibling here in Sugar Moon. Very much the sugary-sweet notes I get from Sugar Skull, kind of maply/caramelly/mocha-y, with a bit of flowers. Considerable throw, fairly "light" scent, maybe even a titch aquatic, and long lasting. I found it to be a bit cloying after a while though. I'm really sad I didn't get more of the interesting notes others did, like the berries, or the mahogany and teak. I think it's too similar to Sugar Skull for me to keep both, and I'll have to retest, but I think Sugar Skull wins the sugar battle.