Penance

Got this as a freebie from the Lab in my last order. First sniff: I know this is a floral blend, but I smell something almost fruity smelling which must be the osmanthus. I don't know how to decribe this scent other than to say that it smells...purple. I don't normally describe scents by color, but this one stands out as purple in my mind's eye. Wet on skin: Floral, sweet and fruity all at the same time. It almost smells like plums for some reason. So far, I actually really like this one, which comes as a surprise since I don't generally care for floral scents or fruit. Dry down: Queen Mab has settled down into a vaguely fruity floral/green scent that reminds me somewhat of King of Spades for some reason, I think because this smells vaguely like purple berries to me. It's almost more of a similar feel than a similar smell. The bottom line: Another surprise winner from the Lab. I'm always amazed by the oils the Lab gifts me with that end up being wonderful in spite of the fact that I never would have picked them out myself.

I got an imp of this as a present of ChupaChup and have since ended up with a few others...I think it's a sign. First sniff: I smell pine and vanilla. It reminds me of Snake Oil made with pine instead of spices for some reason. I love pine and I like vanilla when it's done well (Beth always does vanilla well) so this is looking very promising. I'm a little leary of the amber because of the dreaded "sour milk effect," but this smells too good to pass up. Wet on skin: Mmm, sweet pine wood. I can't smell the vanilla distinctly...it's more like pine drizzled with aged vanilla oil. I can smell the amber beginning to make an appearance, too, which is wonderful as long as it doesn't turn into sour milk like it has a tendency to do on me. I love amber but amber doesn't love me back. Dry down: The amber is coming out strongly and mingling with the vanilla. The pine's retreated to the background now, which makes me sad since I love pine so much. But the good news is that so far I don't smell like an unplugged fridge, which makes me very happy. The bottom line: This is nice. I wish the pine were more prominent on me, but just the fact that I don't smell like a bottle of milk that's been left out on the counter for a week more than makes up for it.

Malediction is almost pure patchouli on me and I love it. The Coiled Serpent is also good; on me it smells like pure black patchouli, but I'm pretty sure there's some frankincense or myrrh or something in there, too. Anne Bonny wasn't patchouli-like at all on me, it was pure sandalwood, but it's still gorgeous.

Got an imp of this from ladymeshel. First sniff: Wow, this is the first BPAL scent I've tried that I can't even begin to describe. I have absolutely no idea what's in this, to tell the truth. It smells...green to me, although I can't tell if it's green in an herbal way or in a woodsy way straight out of the bottle. It smells nagginly familiar in some way, but I just can't put my finger on it. Wet on skin: This reminds me of something...another BPAL scent, but I can't remember what it is. Hemlock, maybe? It's almost an herbal smell but somewhat soapy. Short of going through my entire imp collection, I don't know exactly what this reminds me of, but it's so familiar! Dry down: Almost woodsy smelling now and simultaneously herbal and almost musky smelling. I'd really love to know what's in this one because I really have no clue whatsoever. Whatever it is, I like it. A lot. The bottom line: Somewhere between woodsy and herbal and a complete mystery to me. It's familiar, but I can't place it. Maybe if I'd smelled more single notes I could narrow it down, but as it is I really have no clue what's in this blend. Whatever is in it, I really like it and it likes me. ETA: I finally think I figured out what Peace smells like to me...lavender! I'm getting better and better at identifying lavender and that's what this smells like to me now.

All I can say is one word: Somnus. For me, it's eliminated all the old tossing and turning and crazy dreams and made me feel rested when I wake up (something I have a huge problem with). I'm not only the spokesperson, I'm a customer.

I have to admit that I got this one for the name, but it was a wise choice apparently. First sniff: Lilac and some other floral I don't recognize. Lilac is one fo the few flowers I love the smell of and this is really quite beautiful even though it's not my usual kind of scent. It reminds me of climbing our lilac trees when I was little and spying on people from behind the clumps of flowers. Wet on skin: The violet is coming out now that it's hit my skin and it's competing with the lilac. It smells very familiar to me for some reason. I don't know what tuberose smells like, but maybe that's what's reminding me of something I can't quite put my finger on. I feel like I know this scent from somewhere. I'm mainly getting soft lilac and powdery violet. This blend smells almost like violet pastilles dipped in lilac. Dry down: As Nocturne dries, the violet becomes more prominent, drowning out the lilac, which makes me sad because I actually really like the smell of lilac. I don't normally wear it, but I do love the smell of it. I can also smell something almost rosey smelling int he background which must be the tuberose. The bottom line: I'll be keeping this blend for when I feel particularly girly. I don't normally wear florals, but this is nice.

First sniff: Warm and spicy and very inviting smelling, oddly enough. I smell dragon's blood and cinnamon most prominently followed by a peppery undertone that reminds me of Three Witches and makes my nose tingle like I'm about to sneeze. This is beautiful! Wet on skin: This reminds me almost exactly of a clove candle I have that's never quite smelled like pure cloves, more like cinnamon and ground cloves with a hint of sweetness. This is a very warm smelling scent and, in spite of the name, it feels very welcoming to me, like a kitchen where someone's grandmother (certainly not mine; she doesn't know how to cook) is baking some sort of cinnamon pastries. Dry down: The dragon's blood is coming out strongly now, followed closely by the cinnamon...real cinnamon, not cinnamon red-hots. The peppery smell is still there in the background if I concentrate hard enough and it adds even more depth and spice to an already deep and spicy blend. The bottom line: I love this one. I feel very warm and content wearing this blend for some reason. I'm going to be seriously considering ordering a bottle of this one. It's the perfect spicy scent for me.

Got a 5mL of this from lorajc. First sniff: This is very clean smelling and aquatic in a way that doesn't bother me the way most aquatic scents do. I'd liken it to a pond rather than the ocean. It's very green smelling and quite beautiful, even to me, hater of almost all aquatic scents. I recognize something in here, but I can't put my finger on it. It smells very green and reminds me of something I smelled in Bayou although I don't know what it is. Wet on skin: No change from in the bottle, it's a lovely, calm green aquatic scent that reminds me of a tranquil pond with willow boughs trailing across the surface. I already feel calmer wearing this. Placid would be a good word for my current emotional state. While I don't normally wear this kind of scent, I can easily see this being one of my favorites. I didn't get it for the way it smelled, but rather for its effects, but the smell is beautiful! Dry down: Slightly more herbal than when it was wet, but still mainly a green aquatic scent. I feel much calmer wearing this than I did when I got up this morning. I've been having a lot of panic attacks lately and was feeling very stressed out by the amount of schoolwork I have waiting to be finished and desperately needed a destressor and Water of Notre Dame seems to have been the perfect choice. The bottom line: Wonderful, absolutely wonderful. I feel calm and tranquil wearing this and I smell good to boot. A definite winner.

Got an imp of this from Omly. First sniff: Berry wine and something slightly astringent smelling that I can't place. It's fruity without being overly sweet; more rich and deep like good wine. There's also an underlying woodsiness about this blend that I love. Wet on skin: I smell blackberries and ivy and a hint of apple cider. This is so gorgeous. It just screams autumn to me. I don't normally do fruity scents and especially not berry scents, but this is gorgeous. The image it brings to mind is sipping a glass of wine in the middle of the forest. Lovely. Dry down: It's settled down into a soft, light berry and apple cider scent that I just love. I actually found myself thinking "What smells so good?" every time I moved today and I don't normally do that, even when I'm wearing someting I really love. This one's really won me over in spite of my reservations. The bottom line: Gorgeous, no question about it. This, to me, is the perfect fall/winter scent. It's rich and dark and beautiful and makes me feel warm and content.

First sniff: Peach and amber and a hint of patchouli. It's simultaneously sweet and fruity, rich and golden and earthy. I really like this, but I don't know if I'll be able to wear it since amber tends to turn into sour milk on me. Wet on skin: Whoa, that's odd. When I put this on, it turns into Sin! This (on me, anyway) could be Sin's long-lost twin in spite of the differing notes. That's really odd, but I'm not complaining because I love it...mainly because I love Sin, but, regardless of te reason, I love this blend. Dry down: Imp still smells exactly like Sin, but the amber doesn't seem to be turning into sour milk with this one. Either my losing streak with amber has ended or I just got lucky with this one. Either way, I'm a happy camper, this is gorgeous. The bottom line: I love this even if I am mystified as to how it managed to turn from the peach/amber/patchouli combination in the vial into Sin's doppelganger. Very odd to say the least, but it makes me very happy.

Got this as a freebie from the Lab in my last order. First sniff: An almost soapy smelling floral. I'm no good at picking out flower notes, so that's all I can really say about what exactly it is I'm smelling. Occasionally I get a whiff of am almost smoky smelling floral, which I'm guessing must be the rose. Wet on skin: The soapy smell has disappeared and I'm left with something that smells almost like lilacs now. It's a very pretty soft floral scent that I actually quite like in spite of my dislike of floral perfumes. For some reason, this makes me feel like a little girl playing dress up in her mommy's clothes. Dry down: Now Black Dahlia reminds me of Has No Hanna for some reason. I'm thinking there's some common notes between the two. I can smell florals and something else that I can't place that smells almost like myrrh. It's also become smokier now that it's dried down and it feels much more grown up. Unfortunately, it's also making my nose burn and itch. I think I'm allergic to something in this blend. The bottom line: Pretty, to be sure, but it doesn't look like I can wear it witout having my nose burn from smelling it. Off to swaps with it.

I got an imp of this as a gift from Red_Hot Mama. First sniff: It smells very clean, like cucumber and melon and some sort of light forals. I think I can also smell some aloe in here. I don't know what most of the notes in this smell like on their own, but the result is very light and fresh and clean smelling. It smells like springtime to me. Wet on skin: Cucumber and aloe are the most prominent when this blend is wet. It reminds me of cutting fresh cucumbers in the summertime and although it's not something I have much experience with, I feel like it's bringing back happy memories of childhood regardless of whether or not it really happened. There's just that feeling of calm and contentment that you get when you've got absolutely nothing else you need to be doing and nowhere else you need to be. Dry down: Cucumber is still the most prominent note, but there's something vaguely fruity behind it...maybe it's the orchid? I tend to think of orchid as fruity smelling for some reason. There's also a light background of florals that are so well blended with the cucumber and aloe that they don't really stand out as being flowers. This is a really happy smelling scent for me, even though it doesn't have a direct link to any specific happy memories for me. I just feel good wearing it. The bottom line: I was worried about whether I would like this one with all the floral notes in it, but it's gorgeous - clean and light and fresh smelling. It makes me feel like I'm remembering something wonderful that happened in my past even though I'm not if that makes sense...

First sniff: Berries. Sweet red berries and not much else. I really don't think this is going to work on me, but I'll give it a shot since sometimes there's a huge change from imp to skin. Wet on skin: Berries, berries and more berries. This reminds me of those "mixed berry" candies you sometimes get, the ones with raspberry and blueberry and strawberry and all that. This is definitely not my thing, but I can see it working beautifully on someone else. Berries just aren't my thing. Dry down: Pretty much the same as when it was wet. This one's basically the same through all its stages from imp to wet on the skin to the dry down. It's a sweet berry scent that, while lovely in its own way, is definitely not for me. The bottom line: Definitely not for me. It'll be going up for swap.

Preconceived notions: I would imagine this scent to be woodsy with a hint of apples. Not overhwhelmingly fruity, more like walking through a forest eating a fresh picked apple. First sniff: Very strong apple but with a hint of something I can't place...it smells almost dusty in a way. Maybe it's the oak bark? Other than that, I have no idea what it could be. Wet on skin: Oh my God, this is gorgeous! I don't normally do fruity scents, but this is fantastic! It smells like a fresh cut Golden Delicious apple with the slightest hint of bark and leaves behind it. This is a complete surprise for me and I love it. Dry down: Pure juicy Golden Delicious apple. This is nothing like I expected but absolutely amazingly gorgeous. I can see this being a perfect year-round scent. I know I would wear it all year-round. I feel happy wearing this scent. The bottom line: An almost total surprise but absolutely gorgeous, even for a non-fruit perfume lover like me. Definitely a keeper.

I get horribly sick if I wear (or even smell) anything with almonds in it and carnation is starting to do the same thing. Luckily I have yet to break out in a rash from any BPAL oil, I just have to avoid anything with almond or carnation in it or anything that smells like almonds, regardless of whether there's actually almond oil in it or not.

If you end up liking Cathedral, I'd try Anne Bonny. I personally love it, it's a very confidence-inspiring scent. At least for me. Plus it smells great to boot.

I was going to say I just tried my imp of Xiutecuhtli for the first time and it does smell exactly like Angel. At least to me. I got out my Angel and compared them side by side and it was almost a dead on match, but then everyone experiences scents differently, so I guess it's not true for everyone.

I also don't think Snake Oil has amber in it. Amber turns to sour milk on me and I haven't had a problem with it at all. That being said, I have no idea what's causing it for you.

I had high hopes for this one...until I read the reviews and, unfortunately, they turned out to be right. First sniff: Oh, man, I was afraid of this. I smells like lemon Pledge mixed with stale cigarette butts. I don't normally have this bad of a reaction to scents, but this is just bad. I'm sorry, Beth, I wanted to like it, but I don't think it likes me back. Wet on skin: Lemon dishwashing soap and nothing else. It manages to be both lemony and soapy at the same time, two things I don't like. At all. Maybe it's just bad skin chemistry, but I feel like I've been doused in Joy or something. Dry down: No real change from when it was wet. It smells lemony and soapy and altogether not me. Maybe on someone else this would work beautifully, but on me it's just bad. The bottom line: I wanted to like this one. I really did. Unfortunately it wasn't the incense scent I was hoping for. Instead it's attack of the lemon dishwashing liquid. Off to swaps. Hopefully someone else can put it to some use.

Okay, I'm looking for some very strong cedar scents. So far, the ones I've tried that either have cedar in them for sure or smelled cedary have been... Capricorn (loved it) Magus (wished it was drier smelling, but nice) Tombstone (liked it) Umbra (loved it) Alecto (liked it) Damnation (my all time favorite) Lex Talionis (bordering between liking it and thinking it's just okay) Kathmandu (loved it) Lust (for some reason it smelled cedary on me and I loved it) Now, I can't wear scents with any of the following in them: amber (turns to sour milk on me), almonds (make me sick as a dog), civet (just plain old don't like it), carnation (makes me sick) and I just plain old don't care for florals or citrus (except grapefruit). So far, the Lab has the following (that I haven't tried) listed as having cedar in them and I need advice on them (and any others that I might not know about, like the Tarot oils which don't have descriptions): Allegory (has civet in it, so it's probably out) Eidolon (has bergamot in it and I don't do citrus) Namaste (has lemon verbena and I don't do citrus) Shadow (this would be perfect apart from the lemon, which has scared me off entirely) Cordelia (lemon again) Goneril (don't like florals) Lear (this one's a possibility) The only one that seems to be a real possibility is Lear. All the others either have something in them I'm allergic to or that I just plain old hate. If the citrus or florals aren't prominent, I could probably pull them off, but that's where the advice part comes in...I need to know if I'm going to be able to smell those notes as well as the cedar. I don't do lemon at all, so anything that I can even remotely smell lemon in is out. Other things I love are patchouli, sandalwood and other earthy/woodsy scents. If anyone has any suggestions apart from the ones I've listed or has comments on the ones that I haven't tried yet, especially Lear, in terms of cedar content and the other notes, I'd love to hear them. I'd especially be interested in finding out if there are any tarot or astrological oils that smell like cedar apart from Capricorn. Thanks, guys!

I wanted this because I'm head over heels in love with Yankee Candles' Witches Brew which is a combination of patchouli, cinnamon and cedarwood and while it's not a Yankee clone, or even a close cousin, it's absolutely gorgeous. First sniff: I smell patchouli and cedar and the barest hint of cinnamon, three of my absolute favorite scents. It doesn't smell like Witches Brew, but it's gorgeous all the same. Wet on skin: This reminds me of Typhon with cinnamon added even though there's a lot of differnence between their notes. The patchouli, cedar and vetiver are most prominent and the cinnamon is just barely there, creeping around in the background. Oh my God, why did I wait so long to try this?! Dry down: Patchouli is the strongest note now (I'm guessing it's black patchouli since I'm doing this without the scent description) with the cedar drying it out and making it less earthy and more like dry wood sprinkled with loamy soil. This is the kind of scent that I absolutely adore. The bottom line: Since I can't wear Sin anymore due to my skin chemistry's bad reaction to amber, I think I just found a new everyday scent. This is absolutely gorgeous and absolutely me.

It's amazing how different people's perceptions of scents are sometimes. I know for a fact that a lot of scents smell very different on me than they do everyone else, so it's probably a matter of skin chemistry that would determine whether Bayou was sweetly floral or not.

Just a minor point, but Bayou's just Bayou and always has been. I didn't find Bayou to be sweet, but it might be me. To me, it was aquatic notes and some hothouse florals, but skin chemistry is a many faceted thing.

Sorry it took me so long to get back to you on this, I've been busy and forgot. Snake Oil on me is lovely. I don't think it's terribly sweet. On me it's vanilla beans and spice, sort of rich and heavy instead of that artificial vanilla sweetness you normally get in perfume. I think Snake Oil is probably one of those love it or hate it kind of scents, but I, personally, adore it. And I agree with you on Hellfire, it is lovely, isn't it? I love the smell of pipe tobacco.

This was another freebie from the Lab in my latest order. First sniff: Juniper, musk and the slightest hints of patchouli and bergamot. This one seems to be pretty promising so far, although I have a bad history with scents like this going all wonky on me as soon as I try them. Wet on skin: The bergamot is very strong, but there's also a hint of juniper here. It's both powdery and citrusy at the same time and the musk and patchouli seem to have disappeared. Dry down: No real change from when it was wet. I can smell both the juniper (which is turning into baby powder on me again) and bergamot strongly and not a whole lot else. This would probably make a nice, clean men's scent but it's definitely not for me since I don't like powdery scents or citrus. The bottom line: Too much like citrus scented baby powder on me. This is definitely not my kind of scent.