Penance

Chaos Theory CCLIII (253)

Preconceived notions:

The notes I have from my preliminary Chaos sniffing say "Flowers???" with (literally) that many question marks, so I really don't know what to expect.

First sniff:

No wonder there's so many question marks; this one's a toughie. It definitely strikes me as floral, but not in a sweet/heady/powdery way...more like an...ever-so-slightly bitter floral. I'm absolutely incompetent at identifying most floral notes (aside from rose, lilac, honeysuckle and a handful of others), so I can't really nail this one.

Wet on skin:

Eww, flowers! I mean really strong, heady, girly florals. I think there's rose in here...oh, yeah, that's rose and a whole army of other headache inducing (for me, mind you) flower notes. I don't like florals, and especially not rose.

Dry down:

There's definitely heavy rose in this and probably amber because this is behaving (and smelling) very similarly to the other BPAL rose/amber (think Spellbound) blends I've tried. Unfortuantely, that's not a good thing for me. Definitely not a floral girl.

The bottom line:

Strike three. This is absolutely, without a doubt, not me.

Chaos Theory XVII (17)

 

Preconceived notions:

 

My notes I made when I got my Chaos blends and gave them a quick sniff say "Ricola coughdrops, but sweeter." I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing, to tell the truth.

 

First sniff:

 

This does remind me of Ricola coughdrops - sort of herbal/medicinal with something sweet in the background. This is really different than any of the other BPAL scents I've tried.

 

Wet on skin:

 

Whoa! Talk about quick change...now the Ricola note is gone and I get something rather foody smelling. Almost like caramel with an overtone of something sugary. This reminds me of another BPAL scent now, but I can't place it. This is so different on me than in the bottle. These new Chaos blends are real morphers. :icon_eek:

 

Dry down:

 

I wish I could pin this scent down. I know I recognize it, but I just can't put the name to it. On me, this is sweet and almost cookie-like with a dollop of caramel and a very faint herbal note in the background. I really don't like sweet scents, unfortunately, so I think this one's another swapper.

 

The bottom line:

 

This is a really surprising scent. I'm not sure if I really like it yet, but it takes the prize for the biggest about face I've encountered yet.

Preconceived notions:

 

I'm a bit nervous about QoC. I love earth notes, myrrh and incense and I like red currant and vanilla (and amber if it doesn't turn into sour milk on me), but the pomegranate and rose worry me. I'm not particularly fond of either one with the exception of the rose note in Rose Red.

 

First sniff:

 

Mmm, dirt! Specifically, loamy dirt with a bit of incense, currant and vanilla in the far background. It's like Graveyard Dirt with the moss replaced by incense smoke and crushed red berries. This is gorgeous! Now if only I could be sure that it won't morph on me.

 

Wet on skin:

 

No real change yet, which is a good sign. The only difference I note is that the earth note is less intense and the vanilla is showing some strong throw now. This really is beautiful and if it stays like this, then I've got nothing to worry about. I never would have thought dirt and vanilla would go together, but that just goes to show that I shouldn't doubt Beth (as if I ever really would).

 

Dry down:

 

Now QoC smells like Zombi with a bit of vanilla and berry. It's got Zombi's faint, faint rose note rather than the full-blown, in-your-face rose that I was worried about and the pomegranate seems to be non-existant on me since I don't smell like gummy bears. This is beautiful. I'm regretting only getting one bottle of it now.

 

The bottom line:

 

Love at first sniff. This is so perfect for me. Now if only I had another bottle so I could wear it with abandon.

 

ETA: After several hours of wear (4 or 5, probably), QoC suddenly turns into nothing but powdery rose on me, which is not a good thing. I think I jinxed myself by saying how much I liked it. Oh well, I guess one bottle will do me now.

Chaos Theory XXXII (32)

 

Preconceived notions:

 

When I first opened my CT2's, the impression I wrote down for this one was "burnt toffee" which doesn't sound particularly promising given my experiences with Gluttony and Hellcat (have I mentioned how much I hate those blends lately?), but I'm hoping it'll change for the better once I wear it.

 

First sniff:

 

Something in here is very similar to both Hellcat and Gluttony to my nose. "Burnt toffee" is absolutely right if I'm to judge. There's also a hint of something ever-so-slightly creamy in the far, far background that I can barely smell, even with my nose right up to the bottle.

 

Wet on skin:

 

Much less burnt smelling now, but still toffee. There's something slightly sharp in here, too, but I don't know what it is. Overall, this has the same effect as both Gluttony and Hellcat (for me, mind you): a sort of general ickiness that seems to be brought about my sticky sweet scents.

 

Dry down:

 

No real change from when it was wet, which is surprising. Burnt toffee and something slightly sharp and a tiny bit herbal, although I have a feeling that it's my skin chemistry bringing that note out since it only shows up once I put it on.

 

The bottom line:

 

Strike one. This is definitely not for me, unfortunately. This one's getting swapped.

Preconceived notions:

 

There's almost zero chance of my not loving this one. I love tobacco and rum (and sugar in conjunction with rum) and I'm pretty fond of coconut, so I fully expect to love Elegba.

 

First sniff:

 

Good God, is that gorgeous! I assumed I'd really like Elegba (hence my buying a 10mL unsniffed), but...wow. Just wow. Sweet rum reminiscent of Grog, but with coconut instead of butter. I don't smell any tobacco yet, so I'm hoping it shows up once I put this on, but even as is, it's gorgeous.

 

Wet on skin:

 

Oh. My. God. I'm in love, pure and simple. I thought I adored Grog, but Elegba...oh my. The first thing I smell (and the strongest note) is sweet, sweet rum but the tobacco is starting to put in an appearance, too. This is so beautiful and exactly what I'd envisioned when I first read the description of this one. Perfect!

 

Dry down:

 

The super sweetness has died away leaving a slightly sugary rum and tobacco scent with just a tiny hint of coconut. This has some similarities to both Grog and Spooky, but it's definitely its own scent. This smells so good. None of the notes are overpowering and even the coconut manages to be present without making me smell like I'm slathered in suntan lotion. Elegba is perfectly balanced and perfectly delicious.

 

The bottom line:

 

I'm in love, pure and simple. Elegba is gorgeous and just what I'd envisioned.

I'd like to cast my vote in for Hexennacht, even if it does honor a non-autumnal day.

 

Very similar to Samhain and so wonderfully "autumn" smelling.

If you ask me, Hurricane and Storm Moon couldn't be more different. Yes, they're both aquatics, but they're miles apart for me. I love Storm Moon, but Hurricane is really not my kind of scent anymore.

 

Storm Moon (as I'm sure you know) is almost pure ozone. Very metallic and crisp smelling, like the air after a thunderstorm. To me, there's none of the "aquatic" kind of note I get from a lot of BPAL's other aquatic type scents. It's just pure, zingy ozone and that's why I love it.

 

Hurricane is murky and smells of standing water and slightly rotting vegetation. That's not a bad thing, mind you, it's actually quite nice in its own way, but it's got none of Storm Moon's super-clean ozoney goodness. It's very much the smell of what a beach after a hurricane might smell like.

 

They really are night and day for me, but if you like a very humid, murky kind of aquatic smell, Hurricane is definitely a good choice.

Preconceived notions:

 

Wolf's Heart is one of a handful of voodoo blends that have been sitting around my armoire, collecting dust and waiting for the right moment to be used and it looks like Wolf's Heart is ready to be used. I don't remember a thing anyone has said about what it smells like, so this is going to be purely conjecture on my part, although I'm pretty confident in my nose lately.

 

First sniff:

 

Dragon's blood and jasmine? That's certainly what it smells like. It's got a strong jasmine component that's almost overtaking the dragon's blood and making it somewhat soapy and floral and very headache inducing for me (I'm sensitive to a lot of florals and soapy ones in particular). It's not what I would expect from something with a name like Wolf's Heart - I was thinking strong and fiery and powerful smelling, but I get something almost feminine and soft.

 

Wet on skin:

 

Whoa, jasmine! I don't particularly care for jasmine, but it looks like I'm going to have to deal with it if I intend to actually see if Wolf's Heart lives up to it's description. I put this on the back of my neck because I knew I wouldn't want to be smelling it very intensely during the day, but it's wafting around and definitely making itself known. This reminds me of one of the Tarot blends, but I'm drawing a blank on which one it is...The Tower, maybe? I can't remember, but it was something with a dragon's blood/jasmine kind of feel to it.

 

Dry down:

 

All I can smell is jasmine. The dragon's blood note seems to have completely disappeared, but I don't think that its being around would have actually made me really enjoy the smell of this anyway, so it's not that big of a deal. Scent wise, this is too girly and headache inducing for me, but efficacy wise it's another story. Wolf's Heart definitely works. I don't think I've ever gone into a stressful situation where I was scared half to death and come through it so well and so easily. I'm not a dominant person by nature and I tend to shrink from having to assert myself, which is where Wolf's Heart comes in for me. It seems to be giving me that extra boost of confidence and assertiveness that I need to be able to be effective as "the person in control."

 

The bottom line:

 

I don't care for the smell (but, then, that's true of most of the Voodoo Blends) but I love how well Wolf's Heart works. This one's a definite winner!

Oh my God, that Midway label is gorgeous!

 

I can't wait to see the others. I have a feeling that I'll keep my bottles even if the scent doesn't like me just because they're so beautiful.

You're very welcome!

It refers to the old-style imp tags made from parchment and sinew as opposed to the new sticky tags.

 

Try this thread for more info...

Tarted and other BPAL vocabulary!

I put this on the similarities page but just came across this. I actually just was noticing last night that White Rabbit on at least my skin smelled really similar to Milk Moon. Since I don't have my Milk Moon any more I am curious to smell someones milk moon next to White Rabbit to see if the bottles also smell similar.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

They are fairly similar. White Rabbit has some ginger, pepper and tea, but the base is that same heavy cream smell. The two really are very close, with White Rabbit being slightly more complex.

First sniff:

 

Mmm, this is the note I loved in Chaste Moon, the creamy, buttery note that I couldn't quite pin down (it smelled like butter mints, but I wasn't sure what it was since there was no butter listed in the notes). It's heavy cream and I recognize it now in Milk Moon.

 

I didn't expect to like this, but I ordered it after my surprise infatuation with Chaste Moon and it looks like I made a good choice. I'm not positive I'm in love with the honey note in here (I don't care for honey scents, generally speaking) but so far I like this quite a bit.

 

Wet on skin:

 

Now this smells more like milk rather than heavy cream. It's lost the buttery note that good cream has and smells weaker but still creamy. It actually has a bit of a powdered milk vibe to it rather than smelling like regular garden variety liquid milk. There's something else here, too, that has to be the lunar oils, even if I don't know what they are exactly. I can't even really say what they smell like aside from saying that there's more to this than milk and honey.

 

Dry down:

 

The heavy cream/butter note is back again and I'm loving this! This is like Chaste Moon only better, which makes me sad since I only bought one bottle thinking I wouldn't like it. The honey note doesn't even make an appearance on me once Milk Moon dries. This is pure heavy cream and it reminds me of growing up in the country and drinking warm milk fresh from the cow (hey, it may be disgusting to some people, but to me it's childhood in a bottle), complete with the layer of heavy cream floating on the top.

 

The bottom line:

 

Gorgeous! I didn't really expect to like this, but I'm glad I ordered this because it's love, pure and simple. I always thought I hated milky scents, but I'm really learning that I love scents with heavy cream as one of the notes.

I didn't realize until last night how much O and Lughnasadh smelled alike.  I held the bottled side by side and could  barely smell the difference.

 

I'm wearing O today and now all I can think of is my beloved Lughnasadh, and it's making me very, very happy.

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They don't smell alike *at all* to me what notes do they share in common?

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They don't smell alike to me either, but maybe it's the honey in O? Lughnasadh smelled honey-ish to me.

BPAL Wedding Headline: Penance wore Blue Lilac as her BPAL bridal scent. 

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Indeed and it was perfect!

 

I'm not a floral girl. At all. But I have to say it was a wonderful choice. It really went with the whole look and feel of the wedding, so I'm definitely happy with the choice. I also dabbed on some Fiery Wall of Protection to get me through the day without anyone killing anyone else and everything went off without a hitch.

 

The groom was going to wear Coyote but, umm...someone forgot to give it to him since she forgot it at home so he wore nothing...err, no scent I mean, not nothing although that would have been fun...

Origin:

 

I got an imp of this from the lovely pranashakti.

 

First sniff:

 

Spicy and hot and...metallic smelling, somehow, pranashakti's right. This reminds me of Uranus but nowhere near as cinnamony...it's more like a resiny cousin of Uranus. This smells damn good. I'm tempted to wear this for scent alone.

 

Wet on skin:

 

I put this on the back of my neck (getting married and don't want it mingling with the Blue Lilac that's my main scent), so it's hard to smell, but I'm getting whiffs of something akin to The Lion mixed with something fiery and slightly metallic but also slightly resiny. It's warm and comforting, but strong and powerful at the same time. Very hard to describe, but very pretty.

 

In terms of why I'm using this scent today, let me put it this way...there's been a lot of tension going on between my fiance's family and my family culiminating in a huge knock-down, drag-out fight between me and his mother yesterday that ended in me having a nasty asthma attack and wondering if I should call off the wedding. On top of that, my parents and his mother are polar opposites. They just clash in so many ways and I need some protection. And on top of that my sister-in-law who I've never really gotten along with is here and I need some protection from her, too. I'm in desperate need of a fiery wall of protection right about now, so I've got high hopes for this one.

 

Dry down:

 

Pleasantly spicy. Warm and resinous, but also spicy and metallic. It makes me feel strong and invincible, like none of the people who have been getting on my nerves can hurt me and, I can say without a moment's hesitation that this works. No fights, no hurt feelings, no awkward silences or culture clashes. Nothing. Just love and happiness from everyone.

 

The bottom line:

 

I couldn't be happier with the effects of this one, it's an absolute lifesaver. I'm 100% positive that this one saved my wedding day for me and my new husband.

Preconceived notions:

 

I'm not (generally speaking) a fruity kind of girl or a floral kind of girl, but I had to try this anyway because I do love pink pepper, ginger, white tea and lighter musks. And brains. I'm reasonably fond of pineapple and kiwi as fragrances, as well, so I may very well like this.

 

First sniff:

 

Ooh, nowhere near as in-your-face sweet and fruity as I'd feared. There's indeed fruit in here, but there's also ginger, pepper, tea and musk (and some sort of floral - jasmine, I think). I'd envisioned (and feared) some sort of fruit punch meets aromatherapy kind of scent, the kind that says "Hey, you're a brain in a jar, but it's not so bad. Sit back, relax, have a drink and listen to some new age synthesizer music," but this is definitely not that. More subdued and quite lovely.

 

Wet on skin:

 

For once all the fruit disappears once this hits my skin. Suddenly it's all florals and ginger with a hint of tea and musk. I'm not sure if I'd rather smell fruity or floral, since neither one really appeals to me, but I'm thinking that in this case, I'd prefer the fruit to the florals. This isn't bad at all, it's just not something I'd normally wear.

 

Dry down:

 

All the florals and fruit seem to have gone MIA and I'm left with a sort of peppery, ginger/tea/white musk scent with the tiniest hint of peony. This is much better than when it was wet and it's actually what I was hoping to get out of this. All the notes I don't like have disappeared and all the ones I do like are hanging around for once, so yay! Go Brains!

 

The bottom line:

 

I'm pretty happy with the way this one turned out. It's definitely a morpher on me, but I'm not sure if that's skin chemistry or just the nature of Braaaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiinnnnnnnsss. Sorry, can't help myself.

Thank you Ms. Penance! I'm an alzeheimer case waiting to happen, so even if i know i read something, i can rarely find it till someone bumps it with a new post!

 

Thank you thank you!

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You're very welcome!

Origin:

Lagniappe from the Lab.

Preconceived notions:

Truth be told, I have no clue what kaki or mikan smell like, so I'm not sure what to expect from this. It does have black tea, though, which is one of my favorite notes.

First sniff:


Clean, soapy, floral and a bit fruity/citrusy all at once. The cherry blossom is pretty prominent as is the yuzu. No black tea yet, but not bad even though it's not really me.

Wet on skin:

The same as in the imp. Normally there's at least a small change in scents once I put them on, but not Aizen-Myoo. While this is completely opposite of the scents I normally wear and enjoy, I like this. It's unexpected smelling, somehow...relaxing and clean and ever-so-slightly fruity.

Dry down:

Cherry blossoms. A lot of cherry blossoms. We had cherry trees in our backyard when I was growing up and I remember the smell of those little white flowers very well. Aizen-Myoo smells innocent to me, maybe because I'm associating it with my childhood.

The bottom line:

I actually like this even though I normally wouldn't go for something like this if I were picking out scents to try.

Origin:

 

Lagniappe from the Lab.

 

Preconceived notions:

 

I've waffled over trying La Belle au Bois Dormant since it was released (love the name, not so fond of florals), so I'm really glad I finally get to try it. Even if I hate the smell, I love it for the name alone, although it would be wonderful if I ended up loving the scent, too.

 

First sniff:

 

Ooh, pretty! Definitely not my normal kind of scent, but beautiful nonetheless and so perfect for a scent named after Sleeping Beauty. I smell pear (a note I'm learning to love), plumeria and a jumble of other florals. It's not too floral for me, though, which is a huge surprise and a very good thing.

 

Wet on skin:

 

More floral now (which isn't a surprise since my skin chemistry amps up florals_ but it still has that lovely pear note that keeps this from venturing into "flower shop" territory. There's also something in there that smells quite a bit like white musk and that gives this more depth and character.

 

Dry down:

 

I swear, this smells like there's white musk in here...maybe it's the "evening dew" I'm smelling. Either way, I smell white musk, a bit of pear and some sort of heady flowers that still manage not to be offensively (to my nose, I mean) floral. I actually really like this quite a bit, surprisingly.

 

The bottom line:

 

I really like this. It reminds me of Juliet only more "me." I may get a bottle of this.

I know some people have tried "airing" their oils.

 

Try this thread...I know there was a discussion about it not too long ago: Aging BPAL.

It doesn't bother me all that much, but I wish I knew what the fake Hemlock really was...

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I imagine they're just from different batches and you just happened to get them near the same time. Some scents seem to be prone to smelling (and sometimes looking) very different depending on the batch they came from.

 

Of course, I could be entirely wrong, but it seems to be the most logical explanation to me.

 

I know Morocco is one of those ones that seems to vary quite a bit and Scherezade was entirely different the last time I got it (didn't smell the same, didn't even look the same), so it's definitely not unheard of.

Try this thread: BPAL and pregnancy.

 

It might give you some of the information you're looking for.

First sniff:

 

Lime. Fresh-squeezed lime and maybe lavender, too. I was worried the smell of this might not appeal to me the way Somnus doesn't, but I really like this! It reminds me of a margarita, strangely enough...like lime and salt almost, but with lavender added.

 

Wet on skin:

 

The lime is a lot less intense now and the lavender is really coming out in full force. It's not too sharp and definitely not disagreeable smelling even though I'm not a big lavender fan. Maybe it's the power of suggestion, but I put this on and it was like all my tense muscles relaxed at once. I don't care what the reason is, I'm just glad I feel calm for the first time in far too long.

 

Dry down:

 

This isn't tolerable scent-wise the way Somnus is for me, it's downright beautiful. I'd wear this for the scent alone, to tell the truth, but I get the added bonus of feeling wonderful to boot. The lime has made a reappearance and is overpowering the lavender again, which is fine by me. I really like this and I think I'm going to need more.

 

The bottom line:

 

A winner on all fronts: looks good (love the label), smells good (never would have thought lime and lavender would go together) and works well (I feel wonderful).

Origin:

 

I got an imp of this from Diana.

 

Preconceived notions:

 

I highly doubt this will work for me. At all. I didn't order it for that very reason, but because I aim to try every BPAL LE there is, I'm giving Ides a go.

 

First sniff:

 

Confusing smelling. One sniff I get all fragrant herbs (a good thing), the next I get citrus and florals (a bad thing). This is definitely unusual and very complex smelling to my nose. I'm not familiar with a few notes in here, so I'm wondering if I'm smelling them, but I can't say because I don't know what to sniff for.

 

Wet on skin:

 

Rosemary really jumps out at me as soon as I put this on, which is a good thing, but all the notes I don't really care for are making themselves known, too. Almost immediately, the florals and lemon start overpowering the rosemary and taking over the scent, which is what I had a feeling might happen.

 

Dry down:

 

Not a bad scent, really. It's not aggressively floral or herbal now. It's more like expensive men's cologne, the type that makes me think of fireplaces and brandy snifters. I actually rather like this one once it has a chance to dry. I might try this on the boy next.

 

The bottom line:

 

A rather pleasant surprise, given time to dry. I doubt I'll need more than my imp, but not bad.