Penance

Origin: 5mL from StephanieLynn. Preconceived notions: I've really liked two of the Chocolates that I've tried so far (Dark Chocolate/Whiskey/Cognac and White Chocolate/Black Raspberry/Apricot) and thought the other was pretty decent (Dark Chocolate and Pepper-Smoked Caramel), so I'm hoping this one's another winner for me. To be more precise, I'm hoping this smells like milk chocolate covered vanilla buttercream candies. But I have a feeling that this is going to smell like milk chocolate covered chocolate buttercream, which could be good or could be chocolate overload for a selective foody scent wearer like me. First sniff: Chocolate frosting. I wouldn't say it's chocolate buttercream frosting, either, just plain old chocolate frosting. The kind that comes in a can, not homemade. It's not bad but it's not wowing me the way Dark Chocolate/Whiskey/Cognac and White Chocolate/Black Raspberry/Apricot did. I'm thinking this might end up being too one-dimensional for me, based on what I'm smelling here. I'm finding that I only really like foody scents that have something a little interesting added to the mix (chili pepper in Calaveras, bourbon and blackberries in Monster Bait: Closet, whiskey and cognac in DCWCT, the variety of Midway and CD023...you get the idea). But I'll try it. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Wet on skin: At first, this has a strange sort of almost plastic scent to it when it hits my skin and then it quickly morphs into something reminiscent of chocolate almond milk with canned chocolate frosting smeared on top. That might sound bad for someone like me who gets nauseous smelling almond oil, but it's not bothering me for two reasons: (1) I don't think there's actually any almond in here, there's just something giving it that vague, slightly creamy, almost nutty smell that chocolate almond milk has and (2) chocolate almond milk doesn't really smell like almond to me, either. It's not bad, but not great, either. A little one-dimensional, as I was afraid of, but that's kind of to be expected with a scent named Milk Chocolate Buttercream, no? Dry down: Stays pretty much the same as it dries. I get canned chocolate frosting, a hint of something both creamy and vaguely plastic-like (a scent I associate with chocolate almond milk) and just a general sweetness. It's definitely a chocolate scent, but it's not as cocoa-heavy as Dark Chocolate/Whiskey/Cognac and Calaveras are. This is more of a smooth, smearable chocolate, not a heavier, dry cocoa scent. The bottom line: Well, I've learned something here. I think I really like BPAL's dark chocolate scents (with some exceptions from the general catalog, Vice for example), but not the milk chocolate scents so much. I think that the difference is the foodiness. The milk chocolate scents are more foody and intensely sweet, while the dark chocolate scents are a little less foody and a little more wearable for someone like me. I like smelling like sexy, sophisticated cocoa with something a little unexpected mixed in (chilis or whiskey, even something like cinnamon to give it a little something extra), but smelling like plain old chocolate frosting? Not really. I'll probably wear this now and then, but I don't really see it being something I reach for regularly. If you like the smell of canned chocolate frosting, though, don't let me dissuade you. This is probably right up your alley.

they share patchouli and vanilla I think. Angel seems to be more of a gourmand bomb in the notes though. This makes me want to try Banshee Beat now... Yeah, but the funny part is I get no patchouli at all from either Angel or Banshee Beat and I love patchouli (I was hoping for an earthy scent with a touch of vanilla from BB, but it was a no go). They're both sweet, heady and slightly musky instead. Nice enough, but not for me.

Origin: Decant bought on LiveJournal. Preconceived notions: I bought this not remembering what the notes were, only that it was sought after and a bit of a cult classic. I was definitely curious, so I grabbed it. When I read the notes (after the fact), I was a little apprehensive. Normally, I would have avoided something like this because of the licorice (I hate the smell--and taste--of licorice), but I'm not giving up hope of this being a winner because I've been surprised by BPAL before and the other notes in this sound good. On another note, I read the story that inspired this and that alone makes me want to love Le Père Fouettard. Who knew Santa could create zombies?* Not me! Santa just got a lot more awesome. First sniff: Ooh, I like this! It's definitely a leather scent, more like Spanked than De Sade or Dead Man's Hand. That old, creaky, shiny-with-wear leather smell. But it's not just leather, there's something sweet here, too. The gaufrette, evidently. It smells almost like waffle cones. I don't normally care for the smell of waffle cones, but it's working here. I also smell something kind of non-descript and vaguely spicy. It has to be the licorice, but if I hadn't read the notes, I think I would have guessed sassafras or rootbeer. Wet on skin: This starts out very heavy on the leather and then almost immediately starts to sweeten. The leather is still there as a major player, but the sassafras/rootbeer/licorice note immediately makes itself known and gets stronger and stronger very quickly. Surprisingly, it's still a pleasant smell to me. I'm not getting that stomach-turning "yuck factor" I normally get from licorice. The gaufrettes are here, too, lending an almost creamy waffle cone sweetness in the background. No sign of the coal dust, which is kind of disappointing, but I'm liking the balance of things as they are, so I'm not too upset. Dry down: The longer this sets on my skin, the more the leather takes a backseat to the spicy/creamy/sweet sassafras/rootbeer/licorice and gaufrettes. I still get the leather in the background, but this becomes a not-quite-foody scent pretty quickly and that impression gets stronger and stronger as the drydown goes on. It's a little hard to categorize this one. It's foody in that it's sweet and spicy, but it's not like a bakery or candy. If there was such a thing as non-foody waffle cones and licorice-flavored rootbeer, then Le Père Fouettard is what it would smell like. The bottom line: I like this, amazingly, although it's not something I see myself needing more than my decant of, because it's definitely not an everyday scent. More of an "I'm in the mood for..." kind of scent. * Okay, so the kids weren't actually zombies. But they were reanimated dismembered corses, so I guess that makes Santa more like Jesus than a bokur. Still pretty awesome. I love a gory fairy tale more than is probably healthy.

Origin: 5mL from the Lab (fresh) and 5mL from a LJ purchase (aged 1 year or more). Preconceived notions: I love Snake Oil (only when it's aged, though, fresh has a strange sort of aftersmell, if there is such a thing, to it that I don't care for) and I'm learning to love cocoa if done right, so I'm thinking this is going to be a real winner. I have a feeling that the aged version is going to be a bigger winner than the fresh, considering my feelings about Snake Oil. First sniff: Fresh bottle: This smells strongly like Snake Oil with just a bit of cocoa. Not chocolate like candy, more like cocoa powder but not dry and dusty. If cocoa powder could be moist, this is what it would smell like. The notes are well-blended, but they don't seem to have completely melded together because they're distinct from one another. Aged bottle: Mmm, even better. It smells like the Snake Oil and cocoa have melded now. I don't smell cocoa and Snake Oil. I smell chocolatey, musky, spicy Snake Oil truffles. Which smell delicious, but probably taste terrible. Wet on skin: Fresh bottle: Where'd the chocolate go? This is almost entirely fresh Snake Oil on me. Musky, a little spicy, a little vanilla-ish and a little funky. I get the barest hint of chocolate here, but most of it seems to have disappeared somewhere along the way. Not a huge issue, since I can always use another bottle of Snake Oil to set aside for aging, even if that Snake Oil is Boomslang, but disappointing, since I was hoping for a new twist on an old favorite. Aged bottle: Aha! There's the chocolate! I guess it's another instance of the scents not melding completely when they're fresh, because the aged bottle yields a delicious musky, spicy chocolate scent that's a cousin of Calaveras and Dark Chocolate, Whiskey and Cognac Truffle on me. They're all in the same family of "grown up", naughty chocolate scents, and Boomslang is a welcome addition to the family. Dry down: Fresh bottle: Still nearly pure, fresh Snake Oil. It's still got that strange "offness" to it that I get from un-aged SO, with just a hint of very light cocoa. If I didn't know there was chocolate in this, I think I probably wouldn't notice the extra faint chocolatiness. Aged bottle: This gets muskier as it dries and ends up a perfect hybrid of aged Snake Oil and that delicious cocoa note from my favorite chocolates (Calaveras and Dark Chocolate, Whiskey and Cognac Truffle). It's got that almost fruity red musk warmth, with subtle spices, vanilla and a rich, moist cocoa (again, it's definitely cocoa and not, say, a chocolate bar, but the scent is somehow moist rather than dry and powdery). The bottom line: Fresh, I could take it or leave it. I like it about as well as I like fresh Snake Oil, which is to say it's fine, but it has the potential to turn into something much, much better. Aged? Beautiful stuff. And I can tell it's going to get even better, the older it gets, just like Snake Oil does. I'm really looking forward to letting both bottles mature even more, but I'll be using my pre-aged bottle immediately, since it's already at a point where it's delicious. Considering the amount of BPAL I own, it'll still have plenty of time to develop even more richness before I finish it off.

And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, "Come and see this list of scents. How the hell could one person have tried that many perfumes?" Purple = love this scent (these are my absolute favorites, the best of the best) Green = like this scent (there's a lot of variation here, I may like it--even like it a lot--but just don't absolutely love it or I might think it's nice enough but not the kind of scent I enjoy wearing) Orange = this scent is just okay (I try not to lump scents into this category if I think they're nice but not for me; these are mainly the scents that I don't hate, but can't see a lot of appeal in, on me or on someone else) Red = don't like this scent (I rarely actively hate a BPAL scent...these are the scents that provoke an immediate "Get it away from me!" reaction for some reason, often because they have almond or rose in them, but those two notes aren't automatic qualifiers for inclusion) Bold = I own at least one bottle (or at least a partial bottle in a couple cases) of this scent Italics = I own an empty/tester/very low level bottle Exclusives and limited editions: Limited Editions: 13 (original/white label) 13 (November 2009) 413 U.S. 15 / Miller v. California (tester) A Bachelor's Dog Ace of Hearts All Saints All Souls An Altar to Cold, Rigid, Dreadful Death The Arabian Dance The Arbor Atlas Badger Bad Luck Woman Blues Bakeneko Bitter Moon Beaver Moon 2005 Beaver Moon 2010 Beltane Black Temple Burlesque Group Blood Moon 2005 Blue Moon 2004 Bones Trombone Boo Brom Bones Brood XIX Buck Moon Budding Moon Burning Vulva But Men Loved Darkness Rather Than Light Calaveras Capricorn 2007 Carfax Abbey The Chained Phantoms The Changeling Chaste Moon 2005 Cold Moon Conical Beast Count Dracula The Cracked Bell Creepy Dancing Koi Dark Chocolate, Fig and Tamarind Dark Chocolate and Key Lime Truffle Dark Chocolate and Pepper-Smoked Caramel Dark Chocolate, Whiskey and Cognac Truffle The Darkling Thrush The Decrepit House Ded Moroz Devil's Night Diable en Boîte Dia de Los Muertos Dr. John Seward Egg Nog El Dia de Los Reyes Enkhespalos Enraged Bunny Musk Enraged Groundhog Musk Enraged Orangutan Musk F5 Fearful Pleasure The Feast for the Greatly Revered Ones The First Soft Snow Fledgling Raptor Moon Flower Moon 2005 The Forbidding Foyer Formula 54 Frederic Fruit Moon Ghoulish Giant Vulva (this one's an odd one; it's between "I like it, but it's not for me" and "meh"...a little too floral for my tastes, but I mostly like it, just not really as a scent for me) The Gilman House Hotel (sniffie) Gingerbread Poppet Gnome The Goblin Rider Graveyard Dirt Green Party Gunpowder Gypsy The Hag Halloween: Brooklyn Halloween: Las Vegas Harvest Moon 2004 Harvest Moon 2005 Havisham Hearth 2004 Hearth 2005 Hellhound on my Trail The Hell of Great Heat Herr Drosselmeyer Hexennacht 2005 Holiday Moon Honey Moon The Host of the Air Hungry Ghost Moon Hunter Moon 2005 Hunter Moon 2007 Hygeia Ice Queen The Ides of March 2005 Independent The Infernal Lover (both red musk versions) The Infernal Lover (no red musk version) Irrelevant and Disturbing Surreal Crawdad Dream Ivanushka Jacob's Ladder June Gloom 2004 Khajuraho King of Clubs King of Diamonds King of Spades Krampus (2006 and 2007) Kusunoki Tamonmaru Masatsura Surprising a Fox Ghost La Mano Del Destino Lambs' Wool Lead Phoenix La Pere Fouettard The Last of the Spirits Lawn Gnome Lick It The Living Flame Love in the Asylum Lughnasadh Lunar Eclipse Luperci The Lurid Library Lycaon (tester) Mabon 2004 Makhanitis Male Nude, Arms Upstretched Manilus Hurled from a Rock Manners Among Men and Women in the Red Light District Man with Phallus Head Michael Casts Out All the Fallen Angels Midnight Kiss Midnight Mass Midwinter's Eve Mi-Go Brain Canister Milk Chocolate Buttercream Milk Chocolate, Cassia and Bacon (smells okay one me once it dries, but it's super funky in the bottle and not in a good way) Milk Chocolate, Coconut, Cardamom, Rum and Ginger Truffle Milk Moon 2005 Minamoto No Yurimitsu Cuts at the Earth Spider Minotaur Mircalla, Countess Karnstein Mistletoe Mlle. Lilith, Fortune Teller Mole Monster Bait: Bloody Mary Monster Bait: Closet Monster Bait: Tokyo Stomp Monster Bait: Underbed Monster Bait: Underpants Monster Bait: Ventriloquist Dummy Moon of Horses Mother Ginger Mother Shub's Spiced Lait de Chèvre (tester) Mourning Cloak (my bottle says Mourning Shroud Night's Pavilion Nonae Caprotina Nuclear Winter Numb The Nutcracker #OCCUPYWALLSTREET One to Tie, Two to Win Orb Weaver Paduan Killer Swarm Pallas Athene Pancake Breakfast Pandemonium Panther Moon Parlement of Foules Peacock Queen Penumbra (tester) Perchta The Perfumed Garden The Perilous Parlor The Phoenix in Autumn Pinched with Four Aces Pink Moon 2005 Pink Phoenix Pirate Moon Plastic Pink Flamingo Prosperity of a Country Pumpkin I 2005 Pumpkin II 2005 Pumpkin III 2005 Pumpkin IV 2005 Pumpkin V 2005 Pumpkin IV 2009 Pumpkin Latte Pumpkin Queen Punkie Night Purple Spotted Swallowtail Pussy Queen of Clubs Queen of Diamonds Queen of Spades Quincy Morris Rat The Rat King (2005) Raven Moon Red Lantern Red Moon 2004 Red Phoenix Rhinotoros Riding the Goat The Ring Rose Red Roux-Ga-Roux Ruddy Daggerwing Salamander Samhain Samhainophobia Schwarzer Mond The School-House Scorpio 2007 The Sea Rat The Season of Ghosts Selkie Skadi Sleepy Moon Smut Snow Bunny Snow Moon Snow White The Soldier Spicebush Swallowtail Spooky Staged Moon Landing Standing Female Nude Stardust Storm Moon Stranger in Camp Strawberry Moon 2005 Sugar Cookie Sugar Plum Fairy Sugar Skull Sylph Talvikuu The Ta-Ta Teatime in Roswell Thunder and Blazes Tin Foil Hat (sniffie) The Traveller Trick or Treat The Twisted Oak Tree Undine The Unsavory Gravediggers Valentine of Rome Variety of Pleasing Amusements Velvet Bandito Velvet Cthulhu Velvet Dogs Playing Poker Velvet Tiger Werepuppy White Chocolate, Black Raspberry, and Apricot Cordial Truffle White Peacock Wildfire WILF Winter Solstice Lunar Eclipse Winter-Time Wolf Moon 2004 Wolf Moon 2011 Wolf Spider Womb Furie 2010 Wrestlers Yuletide BPTP Exclusives: Bauble (sniffie) Bogle (tester) Celeste Comforting Plush Companion The Ecstasy of Passion Egg'd Mailbox Fee Hellion La Fee Verte The Last Squished Jellybean (sniffie) Left His Nurse While in a Crowd Lump of Coal Marotte Marshmallow Poof Monsieur Petitbled's Frivolous Wheeled Footwear Mitzvah Ninon Overprotective Possessed Talking Doll Playing with Dangerous Toys Scattered Gloom Snow Angel Snowblind Spanked Spanked Revisited TP'd Trees Trick #2 Uncertain Horror Retail Exclusives: Autumn Banshee Beat Blackberry Jam & Scones Black Lace Creature Feature Crimson Christmas Heavenly Love & Earthly Love Invasion of the Flesh-Eating Reindeer from Uranus Lucifer Mutant Hot-Rodders from Hell High Mysterious Warning (sniffie) Psychological Horror Red Lace Silas Ruthyn Sue's Great Old Puppet Show Tattered Lace Ü Zombie Apocalypse Event Exclusives: The Anti-Saloon League (tester sniffie) Badgers Bat of Good Death Cat Allingham The Crumpet Rebellion Doc Buzzard Dungeon Crawl (tester) The Elephantine Colossus Fetish.Goth Fuwu Bansaku in Ruined Temple with Black Monster on Umbrella Gothabilly Ho Ho Ho India Ink In Reilig Oran (sniffie) Mitzvah Gororet Mitzvah (tester) Mount Misery and Sweet Hollow Roads Mule Skinner v1 Old Roswell Cemetery The Phantom Cow of Yerba Buena Island Pumpkin King Reindeer Poop [Rivet.Goth Romanti.goth Shanghai Tunnel Sky City (After) Storyville Voodoo Queen Carnaval Diabolique: Australian Copperhead Banded Sea Snake Bezoar The Blasphemare Reliquary Boomslang The Chapel (tester) Clemence The Contract of Theophilus of Adana Coral Snake Death Adder Dionysia Green Tree Viper Habu Hand of Glory The Illustrated Woman Inez King Cobra Marianne Meskhenet, the Vulture Maiden Mme. Moriarty, Misfortune Teller The Parliament of Monsters Pickled Imp Priala, the Human Phoenix Saw-Scaled Viper Shrunken Heads Temple Viper Thalassa, the Galapagos Mermaid Theodosius, the Legerdemain The Two-Headed Goat Western Diamondback The Wild Men of Jezirat Al Tennyn Carnaval Noir: Bearded Lady Bed of Nails Fire Eater Freak Show Geek Gypsy Queen House of Mirrors Kunstkammer Medicine Show Midway Shill Snake Charmer (original and resurrected) Torture King A Demon in My View: Al Araaf Alone The City in the Sea Dreamland Evening Star The Haunted Palace Lenore The Sleeper Spirits of the Dead A Descent Into the Maelstrom: Berenice Fortunato The Masque Montresor The Pit & The Pendulum The Premature Burial The Tell-Tale Heart Usher Springtime in Arkham: Al-Azif Arkham Revisted Shub-Niggurath Azathoth Cthulu Dunwich Kingsport Miskatonic University Tuzscha Whippoorwill Yog-Sothoth Unreleased & prototypes: 300F v1 Abedus Indentatus v5 Amaterasu v3 Antimony v9 Baba Yaga (unreleased version) Bedbug Beth's Experimental Blend (one of several) Beth's Experimental Blend (another of several) Black Widow Circus Boomslang v2 Cake Smash v6 Capela dos Osos v5 CBBOB1 CD023 CD: Alley of Games v6 CD: Misfortune Teller v3 CD: Tilt v4 (tester) Chaotic v3 Decadence Dorian v2 Dorian v3 Elf v4 Ennui v42 Fenris Wolf v2 The Fire Dancer Grand Guignol v4 Gun Moll Half-Elf (unrleased prototype version; tester) Half Elf v5 Hellion v2 Hexahedraon v3 IXHV4 IXHV37 (tester) Jingo-Kogo v6 (tester) KPX130 (tester) Kweku Anansi Lamia v3 (tester) LULU7 Lust v7 Mary Celeste v4 MB: Underbed v1 Miskatonic University v3 Morocco v2 MUV3 NGG023 (tester) Nigredo v7 Nine Mysteries Obeah Osiris v4 P013 Paladin v3 Peace PEXO Phyllocrania Paradoxa v1 Phyllocrania Paradoxa v3 PL176 (tester) PRC12 PX23 PX117 Quick Grope Under the Mistletoe Ranger v5 Sacrifice SAQQARA v2 Sol Niger v2 Taphophobia v2 Tetramorph v2 Trachelophorus Giraffe v3 Val Sans Retour XCDL13 Zombie Apocalypse v4 ---- Discontinued lines: The Atomic Luau Lounge: Aremata-Popoa Polynesian Pop (in between "like it but not my kind of scent" and OK) Rangoon Riptide Red Tide Screeching Parrot (sniffie) The Chakras: Anahata: The Heart Muladhara: The Root Svadhisthana: Sacral Illumination: A'Arab Zaraq Oblation: Chiroptera Corazon Oisin Thunderbird The Sephiroth: Binah Chesed Chokmah Geburah Malkuth Netzach Tiphareth Yesod Single Notes: Blue Lilac Carnation (tester) Cinnamon East African Black Patchouli Juniper Berry Pikaki Pink Grapefruit Red Mysor(e) Sandalwood Redwood Siberian Musk Sweet Clove White Cedarwood Tarot Oils: Ace of Cups Ace of Pentacles Ace of Swords Ace of Wands The Chariot Death The Devil The Emperor The Empress The Fool The Hanged Man The Heirophant The Hermit The High Priestess Judgement / Judgment Justice The Lovers The Magician The Moon The Star Strength The Sun Temperance The Tower The Wheel of Fortune The World Voodoo Blends: Bat's Blood Crucible of Courage Goona Goona India Bouquet Juju ---- General catalog (including discontinued scents that are part of current lines): Ars Amatoria: Aperotos Eros Ave Maria Gratia Plena Bien Loin d'Ici (I like it in the bottle, but it's just okay on me; definitely a scent locket blend) Bordello Brisingamen Carnal Casanova Debauchery Delight Depraved Desire Endymion Forbidden Fruit Golden Priapus Harlot Hetairae Ingenue Jezebel Kabuki La Belle Au Bois Dormant La Lethe La Petit Mort Le Serpent Qui Danse The Lady of Shallot Libertine Lolita Lorelei Lucy's Kiss Maiden Muse Nefertiti O Perversion Psyche Queen of Sheba Rapture Ravenous Salome Saturnalia Satyr Severin Siren Snake Oil Spellbound Succubus The Temptation Vicomte de Valmont Vixen Wanda Wanton Whip Ars Draconis: Dragon's Blood Dragon's Bone Dragon's Claw Dragon's Eye Dragon's Heart Dragon's Hide Dragon's Milk Dragon's Musk Dragon's Tears Ladon Ars Moriendi: Dance of Death Danse Macabre Darkness Embalming Fluid Eternal The Ghost Haunted House of Night Jazz Funeral Nocturne Shroud Silentium Amoris Tears Thanatos Twilight Wings of Azrael Zombi Bewitching Brews: #20 Love Oil Absinthe All Night Long Anne Bonny Antique Lace Arachne Aunt Caroline's Joy Mojo Aureus Belle Epoque Bess Black Cat Black Forest Black Opal Black Pearl The Black Tower Bliss Block Buster Blood Blood Amber Blood Kiss Blood Pearl Bon Vivant Brimstone Burial Carnivale Cathode Chimera Chuparosa The Coiled Serpent Come to Me Dana O'Shee Dee Delirium Dove's Heart Eclipse Eidolon Empyreal Mist Event Horizon Feu Follet Fae Fire of Love Follow Me Boy Grand Guignol Grog Hamadryad Has No Hanna The Hesperides High John the Conqueror Highwayman Horn of Plenty Hurricane Incantation Inferno Intrigue Jack (I and II) The Jersey Devil Jolly Roger Juke Joint La Bella Donna Della Mia Mente La Belle Dame Sans Merci Lampades Leanan Sidhe Lightning Love Me Lurid Magus Mata Hari Morgause Omen Ouija Ozymandias Penny Dreadful Phantasm Plunder Poisoned Apple Queen Rakshasa The Raven Red Devil Saint-Germain Scarecrow Scherezade Schrodinger's Cat Seance Shadow Storm Sudha Segara Swank Tempest Tushnamatay Twenty-One Ulalume Ultraviolet Umbra Undertow Van Van Velvet Voodoo Water of Notre Dame Wilde Wolf's Heart Zephyr Yggdrasil The remainder of the scents I've tried can be found here! I had to split it into two posts because it was getting cut off otherwise.

Water of Notre Dame is a lovely aquatic, too, although it falls more on the sweet side, rather than the salty side. I don't even care for aquatics and I really like WOND.

Origin: 5mL bought on LJ. Preconceived notions: This sounds like it could either be really great or really terrible for me. I love wood, patchouli and brown sugar and I like apricot and caramel, but butterscotch and hazelnut are iffy...plus, the combination sounds very strange. But I'm game and I've tried stranger BPAL blends before and loved them. Plus, the Monster Bait scents make me happy, so I'll give it a shot! First sniff: Pepper? Peppery wood? I don't smell anything sweet here. I get a strong blast of very intense, almost astringent wood (definitely not pine or balsam, which I usually associate with that astringency, but I can't say what kind of wood it is) mixed with something very peppery that makes my nose itchy. This makes me think of white pepper heaped on some sort of lumber. Not the sort of scent I associate with the Monster Bait series, since there's nothing sweet and sugary here. Wet on skin: About the same as in the bottle. No fruit, no caramel or sugar, no hazelnut. Just very strong, peppery, sharp wood. I prefer my wood notes to have smooth edges, but this is very raw and splintery. Now, I can do raw wood notes. I love a lot of them, even. I adore cedar, especially when it's strong and in-your-face, but something about this is a little off-putting for me. It's reminding me of another scent I was pretty "meh" about. Tombstone, maybe? It's been so long since I tried whatever this is reminding me of that I can't remember exactly. It's not unpleasant, it's just not really appealing to me. Dry down: As this dries, I get a very faint sweetness wafting up from under the (still very strong, sharp and peppery) wood. It smells almost like candied chestnuts (a sort of vague brown sugar/caramel coated creamy nut note). But there's still that pepper overlaying everything. It makes me nose itch and tickles my throat. This isn't bad once it dries, but I definitely wouldn't say this is one of my favorite BPAL's (or one of my favorites from the Monster Bait series). The bottom line: It's interesting, for sure, but I don't get any of the things I was hoping for here. Wood, patchouli, apricot and brown sugar had the potential to be a thing of beauty on me, but Ventriloquist Dummy goes an entirely different direction. I'll most likely keep my bottle of it, but I don't see it getting a ton of wear. ETA: After literally hours and hours (7+) of drydown time, this eventually turns into something smooth and woody/musky/earthy with just a hint of sweetness. This is what I wanted it to be like from the get go. Unfortunately, it takes way too long to reach this point for me to reach for this any more often than I would have already. What a shame that it couldn't get to this point sooner.

I wish I could easily find White Chocolate, Black Raspberry and Apricot Cordial Truffle. It's proving hard to track down. All I've managed is half a bottle and a decant that got smashed on its way to me. To me, it's a sort of gooey, candy center raspberry. It smells almost identical to Godiva's white chocolate raspberry starfish candies to my nose. I'm not sure I'd call it a true raspberry scent, but I would call it delicious.

Origin: 5mL from bloodysore (bought on eBay). Preconceived notions: I'm expecting a very dry, dark, smoky incense/resin blend from this. Which sounds ideal for me. Fingers crossed! First sniff: Dark, smokey, dry resins. Almost a bit acrid, but with something very slightly sweet deep down. I love the darkness I'm smelling here. I can't say that I get any particular visuals from this other than deep, dark shadows, curling smoke, dry, crumbling incense. This is a very moody scent and I like it. Wet on skin: Surprisingly sweet compared to the bottle scent. That's not to say that this is a sweet incense blend, because it's not (at least not for me), but it's sweeter than it was in the bottle. If you took the deepest, darkest, most crumbled incense you could get and added in just a dash of Midnight Mass, you might come up with something similar. I like this a lot. Dry down: The early dry down on Scattered Gloom is very, very smoky, almost ashen. The sweetness disappears and is replaced with something that I'm thinking is the opium pod. It's dark and crumbly and a bit harsh. Then, as it dries down more, the sweetness makes a slow comeback until I'm left with something fairly similar to Midnight Mass, but with a dark wood-like note (I'm not sure what that is, but I like it) and a dash of something dark and dirty (again, probably the opium). It's a very deep, moody scent. Perfect for my tastes, but I can see this being a little too intense or too dark for some people. The bottom line: Another beautiful, dark, foreboding incense scent for my collection. I really like this. The dry down is interesting because it's not as linear as most BPAL incense blends I've tried. And luckily, I like every step along the way and I'm particularly fond of the final product.

Origin: 5mL bought on LiveJournal. Preconceived notions: I've read the reviews, so I'm expecting a gamut of carnival treats (funnel cakes, cotton candy, marshmallow, candy) and incense/wood. I was never a foody fan (at all) until I tried Midway, so I'm hoping that this one will be another winner since it's in the same vein. First sniff: A very strong blast of combined buttercream and cream cheese frosting. There's something sweet and sugary (could be just sugar--white, not brown--or it could be cotton candy) in the background, but it's overwhelmed by the frosting I'm smelling here. It actually reminds me a bit of Monster Bait: Closet, but without the red velvet cake or fruit. Wet on skin: Hello, cream cheese frosting! It's even stronger on my skin than it was in the bottle, which is saying something. This is foody in the extreme, rich and buttery with that slight tang I associate with cream cheese frosting (rather than buttercream). Dry down: CD023 starts to morph almost as soon as it hits my skin. I get an intense cloud of cream cheese frosting for about 10 seconds and then I get a strong undercurrent of funnel cakes, heavy on the powdered sugar, and a little bit of cotton candy. The longer it sits, the stronger the funnel cake smell gets until (at about the 1 hour mark), I suddenly start getting salt water taffy mixed in. It's not any particular scent of salt water taffy. It just smells nearly identical to a store full of different flavors, melding together into a sweet haze, but layered over the smell of hot, fresh funnel cakes caked in powdered sugar. It's drier and less intensely, tooth-achingly sweet as Midway is, with a more pastry-like feel. I swear I can even smell a little bit of deep frying oil (in a good way) from the funnel cakes. The salt water taffy note is a nice touch, too, because it's sweet and yummy without being cloying. I don't get any of the incense smoke and wood that others have noted. They would have been welcome, since I'm a lover of both, but their absence doesn't make me love CD023 any less. This is a beautiful scent. Sweet and sugary and foody, but light and airy and not at all cloying. I've heard that a lot of people believe that this was an earlier prototype of The Confectionary (which I haven't tried), which makes me a bit sad, if true, because the reviews for The Confectionary mention fruity candy (which doesn't work for me at all, at least in principle; I'd still give it a shot if some came my way to test, just to see). I'd love to see CD023 released in the form that's in this little bottle. It's amazing and I'll be carefully rationing it since I know there's very little chance of the final product being more like CD023 than The Confectionary. The bottom line: Is this a replacement for Midway? No. It's better than Midway.

Origin: Partial 5mL from Glasspillars. Preconceived notions: This is one of those scents that didn't really get my attention when I first read the descriptions (possibly because I hadn't discovered the wonder that is BPAL's cocoa note and how good it smells on me). But then (as sometimes happens with BPAL for me), I suddenly developed a need to try it because it suddenly sounded really good to me. I am somewhat concerned that this is going to be too similar to Dia De Los Muertos (which I like and have a few bottles of) even though the notes aren't really too similar. First sniff: Cocoa! Not chocolate like in a candy bar. Cocoa. This smells similar to Dark Chocolate, Whiskey and Cognac Truffle in the bottle, but with something vaguely spicy and sweet underneath. There's also something very faintly resinous hanging out in the background, but it's very faint. The main impression I get here is somewhat like Mexican hot chocolate (in the form of cocoa powder and chili pepper, rather than the actual drink itself). Wet on skin: Mmm, this smells wonderful! Again, it's similar to Dark Chocolate, Whiskey and Cognac Truffle (which is a very good thing for me), but with some slight spiciness and a little bitty bit of resin. The tequila gives this a booziness without actually smelling specifically like tequila, as strange as that sounds. I'd say this smelled like a Mexican hot chocolate bonbon with a liquor-filled center and a heavy dusting of cocoa powder over top. It's deep and a bit musky, a little boozy, sort of spicy and almost earthy somehow. This is the kind of chocolate scent that I can do, not a super foody, sweetshop kind of chocolate scent that makes me nauseous. Dry down: As Calaveras dries, it gets a little bit sweeter and less dusty/earthy/musky. It ends up smelling (again) very much like DCWCT on me, which I'm happy about considering how much I love that one (and how I can't seem to track down much of it). They're not identical, but they've got a similar feel to them. They're chocolatey without being too sweet, boozy without smelling like a bar and sort of musky in a way that's hard to describe, except to say that it makes me think of a very deep, dark cocoa powder, the kind that's almost black and has such a rich, powdery roughness to it that it almost smells earthy. The jalapenos never really make themselves known except to add a subtle heat in the background. That's fine by me, although I would also have welcomed a more showy presentation. The bottom line: This is a gorgeous scent. I think it might be my favorite BPAL Halloween scent ever, actually. This is what I wanted Dia De Los Muertos to be (and while I like DDLM for what it is, I still missed the potential it had to be something else). This is also something I can (and will) wear all year. I ordered 2 bottles in addition to my partial and I'm considering getting more, since this has the makings of a long-term love affair for me. My only complaint is that it's not as strong as I'd like (which may be due to the fact that I was applying it with a wand cap from a bottle without much oil depth for me to coat the wand in).

Origin: 5mL from the Lab. Preconceived notions: I'm not normally a foody fan, but I do love the smell of bread, butter and sugar. So hopefully all three come together and make this a winner. First sniff: This is interesting. I'm getting toast (not regular, untoasted bread) and butter. But it's not the Lab's usual butter note to my nose. It doesn't have that heaviness to it. This is like melted butter rather than a big pat of solid butter. I'm also being reminded slightly of cinnamon toast, although there's no cinnamon to be found here. I think it may be because whenever I had cinnamon toast growing up, it was heavy on the margarine and always smelled more like sugar than cinnamon. That hit of nostalgia is a good start for this one. Wet on skin: Still that cinnamon(ish) toast smell. Lightly toasted bread, margarine and gentle sugar notes. I wasn't sure how it felt about wearing this as perfume at first (I think it would make an awesome room spray), but within minutes of putting it on, it won me over. I was expecting fresh bread and butter with a layer of sugar (a favorite snack of mine when I was little, even though I wasn't much of a sweets eater), but I think that Bread-and-Butterfly's actual smell is more wearable for me and more likely to be something I reach for on a fairly regular basis. Dry down: A nice, light (cinnamon) sugar toast smell. It smells rich and yummy, but it's not overpowering in the slightest and somehow doesn't come across as truly foody. It just smells warm and comforting with a gentle sweetness to it. The bottom line: Not what I imagined, but I think that may actually work to my advantage here. I really like this and it's definitely something I'll reach for on a fairly regular basis, although it's not my "usual" kind of scent. I'm finding that a lot of the Mad Tea Party scents really work for me in spite of not being the type of scents I usually go for (March Hare and White Rabbit, for example; both are favorites of mine and neither is what I normally like). Bread-and-Butterfly is officially another one to add to that list.

Cathedral (at least aged Cathedral, mine is over 5 years old) and Heavenly Love & Earthly Love are definitely similar for me. I still need multiples of both, though, because they're both amazing. Heavenly Love is lighter and a little creamier and muskier, thanks to the ambergris, while Cathedral has a bit of a cedar note to it (that mellows a lot with age), but they're definitely both in the scent family. Closer to siblings than cousins, I'd say.

Glad I could help, then. Go me!

Preconceived notions: I'm not a huge lavender fan (too herbal for me most of the time), but I keep hearing how amazing TKO smells, plus I've had some bad insomnia lately, so I'm hoping this is a winner in terms of scent and effectiveness. First sniff: Lavender-vanilla candy. Seriously, if you took violet pastilles and made them with lavender, you'd have TKO. It has a marshmallow vibe to it, too. Very sweet and poofy smelling and not herbal in the slightest. I can see why people love this, although I'm not sure this is going to do it for me, scent-wise. It's pretty, don't get me wrong, but it's a little too froo-froo, a little too pink petticoats and marshmallow unicorns for me in the bottle. Wet on skin: Exactly the same as in the bottle, only a tiny bit less sweet (which is a good thing, because I was getting that weird tickle in the back of my throat that I get from too-sweet scents; it's not quite a gag reflex, but it's pretty close). I don't know that I would necessarily peg this as lavender if I didn't know that it was. I'd say it smelled purple, which it does, as strange as that sounds. A very light, pale purple scent. With a sort of marshmallow-like pillowiness to it. I don't have synesthesia, but it almost feels like I do with this, because I get a very distinct visual and tactile impression of TKO. Dry down: Even more sugary and marshmallow-like. This scent makes me think of a little girl's imaginary dreamworld (not my dreamworld from when I was little, since mine involved pirates and cowboys and playing in the dirt). It's all marshmallow clouds and soft, white bunnies with pink noses and lavender unicorns with cotton candy manes. It's also making me incredibly sleepy. Granted, I was already tired from not sleeping well last night and getting up early on top of it, but I'd finally woken up and stopped feeling like a zombie around mid-afternoon. Put a bit of TKO on to test it out and now I'm back in a sleepy fog. Probably a dumb idea to test TKO at a time like this, but I was just trying to see what it smelled like. I wasn't planning on giving it a test run as a sleep aid until later, since I only have a tester bottle (waiting on a bottle from the Lab, but it won't be here for a while yet). This definitely works. Better than Somnus, which works relatively well if I let it (my brain has a tendency to fight off its effects these days). The bottom line: TKO does smell pretty (although not in a way that makes me want to wear this as perfume, at least not unless I'm feeling ultra-girly, which almost never happens) and it does what it claims to do.

Ahh, gotcha. I don't remember getting apple from Creepy, but (like I said), it's been quite a while. Sorry I couldn't be more helpful.

You could also try Grog. It's very butterscotch (or buttered rum Lifesavers) without much rum, IMO. ETA: It's been quite a while since I tried Creepy, but I remember it being a strong butterscotch scent for me. If I'm wrong, forgive me.

Origin: 5mL x 2 from Urban Outfitters. Preconceived notions: This sounds perfect for me. I adore patchouli and I love vanilla and hemp when they're done well and BPAL does most everything well. I'm expecting this to be a real winner, which is why I got 2 bottles right off the bat. First sniff: Huh. That's not what I was expecting at all. Sweet, but not candy-like, and a little bit musky. I couldn't place it at first, but this smells a lot like (Thierry Mugler) Angel to me. I believe Angel has patchouli in it (in small amounts) and I know it has vanilla, but there really isn't any note similarity other than that, so it's a bit baffling. I have to say that I'm disappointed at this point, since I was expecting something dirty but sweet. I'm getting something sweet (that tickles the back of my throat), but no earthiness/dirtiness at all. I'm hoping that this changes once I put it on. I've learned not to judge a BPAL scent before trying it, so there's still hope here. Wet on skin: Okay, now it really smells like Angel. Which would be wonderful if I actually liked Angel, because I'm sure the longevity is going to be better than Angel's. This is a hard scent to describe if you've never smelled Angel. It's sweet, but doesn't really smell like candy. It's got a muskiness to it, without being truly musky. It's feminine and floaty and, to me, a little bit cloying. Dry down: This just smells more and more like Angel the longer I wear it. I couldn't really say what this smells like aside from that comparison since I find it so difficult to describe Angel. This definitely isn't the sweet "dirty hippie" type scent I was hoping for. Not by a long shot. There are very few BPAL scents that differ so widely from what I expect from the description. Mystery and Banshee Beat are the only two I can come up with off the top of my head and both were big disappointments for me. The bottom line: Not at all what I was hoping for, but it could be a real winner for someone who's a fan of Angel-type scents. I'll be selling both my bottles, I think. ETA: I've finally figured out the note that I don't like here, thanks to The Antikythera Mechanism. Black vanilla. Banshee Beat has to have black vanilla in it because the vanilla note is identical to the one in Antikythera. And, unfortunately, it's the one thing I don't like about Antikythera and the reason I got rid of my bottle of it, too. At least I managed to figure out what I'm not liking so I can avoid it in the future, so it's not a total loss.

Detestable Putrescence dries down into something very similar to Snow White on me. They don't smell alike in the bottle or wet on my skin, but the dry down on DP is similar to both the bottle and dry down scent on Snow White. I'm not a huge fan of Snow White (although I like it), so it's not super exciting for me, but I thought I'd put it out there. Not sure if it would be true for anyone else or if it's strictly my skin chemistry doing something odd.

I was at the doctor the other day and a nurse walked down the hall, backtracked and said, "Oh, you are wearing my favorite perfume, Angel, right?" I was wearing Banshee Beat! Glad it's not just me. I couldn't figure out what it reminded me of at first and then it hit me. It smells even more like Angel the longer I have it on.

Banshee Beat smells nearly identical to Angel on me. Which is bizarre because they don't share many notes.

Origin: 5mL from LadyJC. Preconceived notions: All the notes in this are ones that I really like, so I'm expecting this to be a winner. First sniff: Masculine. I'm getting some leather, some tobacco, some wood and...some soap? Where's that coming from? Something here is a bit bitter and soapy and I have no idea what it is. I'm really hoping that whatever note is causing the soapiness disappears once it hits my skin. If there's one thing I've learned from BPAL, it's that scents can smell very different on the skin than on the bottle, so I'm not giving up hope. Wet on skin: Yay, no more soap! Fresh on my skin, I get a lot of wood, some mild tobacco and soft leather. This isn't brand new leather and it's not dry, dusty, cracked leather, either. It's well-worn and broken in. I don't particularly like the smell of real leather, but I do like a nicely blended, soft leather scent in perfume and Enkhespalos fits the bill. This is still a decidedly masculine scent at this point, which isn't necessarily a bad thing for me (I prefer unisex or masculine to girly, as long as it doesn't smell like men's cologne). Dry down: Now this is nice. I get a lot of dry wood from this once it dries (I don't think I've ever smelled elderwood before, but it smells like a cross between cedar and redwood or oak to me) combined with a touch of soft, broken-in leather and just a hint of very soft tobacco. It's musky and soft and comfortable smelling, somehow. This would smell amazing on a man, but it's very wearable for me. This is almost exactly what I'd been hoping for. The bottom line: A definite winner once it dries down. This is an "everyday" kind of scent for me, one of the ones that I can (and will) reach for on a regular basis, rather than just when I want a very specific sort of smell to suit my mood or an outfit (tell me I'm not the only one who coordinates scents to outfits...I know I've got a raging case of BPAL insanity, but I don't think the matching thing is abnormal).

Origin: 5mL from MidnightAeval. Preconceived notions: I already read the reviews here before buying a bottle of this, so I'm expecting maple doughnuts and jelly filling. Which doesn't really sound anything remotely like the kind of scent I normally love, but it's strangely enticing to me all the same. First sniff: Whoa! Are you sure this isn't Sugar Skull? Or maybe Sugar Skull's sibling? They're very similar in the bottle, although Sugar Skull is even sweeter than Zombie Apocalypse, which is saying something. Straight out of the bottle, this is straight up carmelized sugar with maybe a hint of some sort of red fruit in the background (could be strawberry or cherry...or even red plum, I guess). Luckily, I like Sugar Skull for reasons I still don't understand (because it's so completely backwards from everything I normally like), so I'm not put off by the intense sweetness here. Wet on skin: Still very burnt/caramelized sugar, but the fruit comes out more once it hits my skin. Maple doughnut (with glaze/frosting) and jelly filling is about right, I'd say. On me, Zombie Apocalypse is less intensely, cloyingly sweet than Sugar Skull is, but it's still a real sugar rush of a scent. This doesn't have quite as much "Wham!" throw as Sugar Skull does, either. It sticks closer to my skin instead of enveloping me in a cloud of caramelly sugar. At this stage, ZA reminds me vaguely of maple sugar candies, although the maple scent here is much less pronounced than it is in the candy. Dry down: This settles down into something that's, again, similar to Sugar Skull, but not quite the same. It still has more of a maple doughnut type scent than a true burnt sugar scent and the (jelly-like) fruit is definitely more prominent in this (and intensifies as the oil dries down). Sweet, definitely sweet. And rich. And sticky smelling. Yes, sticky. Zombie Apocalypse smells gooey. I don't know how that's possible, but it does. Sugar Skull smells crunchy to me, like caramelized sugar that's been left over the heat just a little too long. And Zombie Apocalypse smells sticky, like jelly doughnut filling, and maple glaze and liquid caramelized sugar, all rolled into one. The bottom line: I wasn't sure the first time I wore this whether I liked it or not. It's one of those scents that I really needed to think about and try more than once before I could decide whether it was interesting and nice enough but not something I'd wear or if it was one of those rare gourmand scents that manage to find a loophole in my "no foody scents" rule. There doesn't seem to be much rhyme or reason to which foody scents work on/for me and which don't, so it's a gamble every time I get brave enough to try a few foody scent (or get one sent my way as lagniappe). Some make me queasy (almost always because they're super rich, sweet and cloying; Hellcat for example) and most make me think "that smells exactly like brownies" in amazement, but don't appeal to me on any level as a scent I'd want to smell like (like Lump of Coal). But every now and then one makes me want to eat my arm. The cannibalism-inducing ones are the keepers. So in the end, while Zombie Apocalypse definitely isn't an everyday scent, it's still a keeper, because it does tempt me to take a little nibble of those sweet-smelling wrists.

Origin: Preconceived notions: This is another scent I bought mainly for the name and bottle art. While I like some of the Monster Bait scents (and a handful of other sweet scents), I'm not generally a foody fan and I don't really like the scent of cherries. But I'm hoping this might work at least somewhat because I've been pleasantly surprised before. If not, I'll keep it for the art and the name and be happy. First sniff: This smells like a mix of Luden's cherry cough drops (which taste and smell like candy, not medicine) and cherry cordial. Sweet but kind of tart at the same time and a bit syrupy. I don't smell anything but cherry here and it's a distinctly syrupy sweet cherry at that. This doesn't bode particularly well, but I'll try it. Wet on skin: Not much change from in the bottle. Cherry cordial (like chocolate covered cherries without the chocolate) and Luden's cherry coughdrops. Maybe some wild cherry Lifesaver thrown in, too, but there's something a little more "real fruit"-like, too. It's a little juicier now. There's also a small hint of something powdery and sweet coming up in the background. That's encouraging since I think the powdered sugar note could help temper the intense cherry scent of this for me. Dry down: As MB: Bloody Mary dries, the powdered sugar gets more and more prominent. It takes hours (literally), but the eventual result is that I get a very distinct powdered sugar scent with a background of powdered wild cherry Lifesavers or Luden's cough drops. In the time in between wet and totally dried down, it's very linear, with the cherry taking more and more of a background position and the powdered sugar overlaying it more and more. The bottom line: I could (and would now and then) wear the final dried down scent, but I'm not sure how likely I am to wait hours for a scent that's just okay (for me) in the end. I'm still happy I bought a bottle because I love the inspiration and the bottle art makes me smile (it's creepy but strangely cute), but I don't think this will get much wear from me. It definitely lives up to the description and concept. It's just not really a "me" scent, which I knew going into this.

Origin: 5mL from the lovely MidnightAeval. Preconceived notions: Honestly, I bought this one almost purely for the name. The notes sound interesting and it does have the potential to work, but my real reason for snagging this was because the name makes me laugh. Also, I love ghosts. And cows. So ghost cows are like a mega dose of awesome. True story. First sniff: Hmm...this isn't bad. It's actually kind of pretty. I'm not sure I would have pegged this as being a milk scent if I sniffed it blind. It has a sweet, grassy scent to it, like a field of clover and a hint of fresh mown grass. I like this so far (I wouldn't say I love it, but it's nice enough), but I'm not sure how good it's going to smell on me. Wet on skin: Oh, there's the milk! The sweet clover/grass scent sticks around, but there's something milky underneath. It's a little sour smelling, but milk scents often go through that stage on my skin. This is definitely unusual and not in a bad way. Dry down: Mostly milk now but with a soft layer of clover underneath. I actually really like this, although it's not one of my favorite BPAL scents. It smells like an old-fashioned dairy farm (which I'm familiar with), but without the more unpleasant barnyard smells. This is like the field where the cows are grazing. It's summery and milky and green and highly unusual. The bottom line: I would have kept this no matter how bad it smelled on me because I want it for the name, but the scent is a keeper, too. I don't think I'll wear it often, but I will wear it. I'm thankful I don't get oregano from this like some other reviewers have because that could have ruined the scent for me. Phantom Cow was a pleasant surprise all around.