fairnymph

Light yellow oil. Clean, fresh, slightly herbal. Strongly cologney with maybe a metallic note - it reminds a lot of Torture Queen. Definitely white amber and white musk. One of the herbs is a tad sharp/bitter.

Sharper, with that herb amping. I do also think there is a metal note in here, iron I suspect - because it has that nutmeg quality that iron does on my skin. Something a bit citrusy, zesty - maybe bergamot? This reminds me now of Hunger Moon. There's a hint of fruity sweetness that I suspect comes from the citrus.

More metallic, and the nutmeg isn't coming out much, so I think there is actually a chrome note, but this is mostly about the white amber and amazingly, the citrus which has amped up a bit. I think it must be some sort of citrus peel/zest note, as that's the only type of citrus that holds on my skin.

The chrome has amped further but the iron is still there, too, and it's more spicy and warm now. The citrus is holding well while white amber remains in command. This is a very clean, bright scent without being too sharp or soapy.

Deep golden oil. Dry, spicy woods and cologne. Cedar, sandalwood and maybe some herbs. The spice could be coriander. Clean and masculine.

Same, perhaps a bit smoother, sweeter and less sharp, with a stronger cologne base to tie everything together. The cedar is very light, and so far not amping. Sandalwood reigns, and it strikes me that maybe there's two types - red and white.

Not a morpher. I also don't get any eucalyptus or oakmoss, although this is increasingly warm and sort of muddled smelling, which makes me suspect the bark note from Whoso List to Hunt and maybe some brown musk and amber, too. There is a definite warmth to this.

The spice has faded on me, but I know that there's some white pepper in this, because it's the same note from Tulzcha. I still think there is a hint of coriander though which gives that green/fresh, cologney feel (and I still suspect a light fougere base).

Dry woods, white pepper, tree bark, amber, musk and a faint hint of coriander. An oddly warm but still sort of bright, almost-refreshing scent. Definitely masculine. Good throw and great longevity.

Extremely pale yellow, virtually colourless oil. Clean cologne and fresh, bright gleaming chrome. Reminiscent of Torture Queen, but simpler.

Softer, much less bright and noticeably metallic. Almost powdery, and a distinct linen/cotton note has emerge. I can see where people get 'inside of a purse' and I'm not sure how Beth accomplished that! Still zingy metal if I search below, though.

This has sweetened up quite a bit - I think it's the effect of the cloth note, which is definitely cotton, very fluffy, and I get some skin musk in this too, with the light gleam of chrome in the distance. Very much a subtle skin scent on drydown - totally different in this regard from TQ.

Final drydown is amber, musk and dryer sheets. Really really delicious snuggly dryer sheets - not soapy, but plush. Still very cottony but the metallic tang is very faint. This is not like anything else I've tried in BPAL, but I like it. Very low throw but good longevity.

Colourless or virtually colourless oil. Honey, fizzy champagne, and that slightly soapy (diswasher detergent) 'soda' note. Smells like a delicious cocktail.

Boozier -now I get a little juniper-y gin. This is harsher (plastic/chemical?) and more powdery-soapy; more of a bite. The honey is very rich and syrupy, heavy, as in Thaleia. Perhaps too cloying for me.

Soapy boozy gin and honey. The latter is less cloyingly sweet now, but the powder/soap from the detergent note has amped. I sort of like it in that way that I love to sniff powder detergent, but I'm not sure about it as a perfume. The sweetness of the honey clashes with it.

The drydown reminds me a lot of Golden Wave's drydown, that same gin drydown, but sweetened by honey. The champagne and soda and soap/powder are long gone; that was just a short pahse, oddly. I really want to like this one, but it's just not working for me. Low throw but great longevity.

Golden oil. Honey, vanilla, amber - reminds me a lot of O, but much smoother and less powdery. Maybe more fruity? Very sweet and warm and golden.

AMBER, and yep it's that same amber note from O that goes plastic on my skin. The vanilla, too, is quite cloying here, 'fake' vanilla, and the honey syrupy and heavy. This is not quite as sweet as O, and still not as powdery, but more plastic (and O is pretty damn plastic on me).

The amber has amped even further, and some ginger (the dry spicy kind) and carnation have come out. This is now honeyed, spiced amber. The vanilla and honey have lost their cloying edge and are much smoother and more pleasant. I don't like the spicy turn this has taken, but it's now radically different from O. It reminds me now of Hod!

This amps up to have moderate throw and great longevity on me. It's a sexy, warm-sweet-spicy skin scent, but too warm and spicy for my tastes, alas (or thank god, considering its rarity).

I won this in an ebay auction from the lab.

Sniffed: Slightly soapy balsam and cologne with a bright floral (not tobacco flower I don't think) - it smells almost identical to the released version, except there is a dark slighty woody sweetness below - maybe frankincense, or vetiver? I find this a bit less metallic/sharp than the released version.

Wet: Sweeter and almost smoky - definitely some sort of woody dark resin, and I get something like maybe wormwood or sassafras, a slightly medicinal herbal thing, as well as what I'm quite sure is vetiver. Maybe some tobacco? A bit less soapy than the released.

Dry: This has a warmer feel than the released and it's more sharply floral in a way that verges on giving me a headache - narcissus maybe, or a type of gardenia? I don't get any metal notes at all now, if I ever really got them in the first place. Lots of rich sexy musk emerging, and it's the same Indian musk.

Later: Definitely vetiver (though a well-behaved one!) and I strongly suspect frankincense. Loads of rich Indian musk in the drydown with milder bright white floral that's become slightly sour - I do think it's gardenia, and it's not a bully, but it's also the type that makes my head hurt.

Summary: This is more intense than the released version and more distinct (though still clearly a relative) on drydown; it's muskier, has much less balsam, is much more floral, is sweet and woody, and is overall less-well blended and sophisticated in feel. The most noticeable differences are the vetiver, frankincense and gardenia notes, and the missing tobacco flower.

Insane throw and tremendous lasting power, many times the released which is itself a very potent oil.

I do prefer the released version (which is my all-time favourite perfume for men), but I like this one as well and think it would be fantastic on the right man. That Indian Musk is just an incredible note, and it's even stronger here. I also like the vetiver, which is very smooth, truly beautiful vetiver - not the bullying sort that many people dislike. I couldn't wear this personally because of the frankincense (not a note I enjoy), and the particular gardenia note, but this is not a GARDENIA SN sort of blend and is something that I'd bet many of the gardenia-wary would be able to enjoy.

This smells utterly DELICIOUS - it was my favourite in-the-bottle scent of all the scented products, perfume or bath oil or sprays, at the trunk show.

It is pure, fizzy, sparkling, bright, true-to-life, not too sweet and only lightly boozy, strong and realistic champagne. It's not sour or soapy and it's not wimpy and faint, either. I love dry champagne notes, as in the Champagne & ______ scents from a year ago, and this is that same note, but alone. Champagne SN.

If only I could wear/use bath oils! This is just incredible.

Damn mineral oil.

I scrub with soap (sometimes like, detergent, if needed), then rub vigorously with rubbing alcohol, then rub vigorously with vegetable oil a few times, then repeat the soapy scrubbing. That's for the ones that really won't come off, but usually unless a scent makes me feel really foul the soap wash will reduce it to tolerable levels. I have also learned to test VERY SPARINGLY so that in the case of something dreadful, I don't run into such a large problem.

I have the biggest problem with CLOVE and CHOCOLATE scents that nearly always turn into pure evil on my skin and have insanely strong throw. Oh and fucking WISTERIA and PENNYROYAL.

TwilightEyes, thanks for always putting these up!

A bit off topic, but I was browsing some fantasy art wallpapers my roommate sent me, and this one SO LOOKS LIKE IT SHOULD BE A BPAL BOTTLE LABEL:

http://wall.alphacoders.com/big.php?p=676386.jpg&i=74589

Don't you think? Maybe a creamy dark vanilla, chocolate, blood, metal & tobacco scent.

Sniffed: Slightly soapy/powdery/cologney incense, deep dark and surprisingly sweet woods, lovely, sweet & mild pipe smoke.

Wet: More incense; even darker and spicier, though still oddly soapy-powdery in a masculine cologney way. The woods are more individually distinct; the mahogany is a bit overly heavy (much like a dark oak note, but sort of sickly sweet), but the ebony is dark and rich and smooth, like good tobacco. The pipe smoke is lighter, but still very mild and very lovely.

Dry: Sweeter and sweeter, to the point of nausea - there is definitely some tonka in this, and I'm not liking it at all. The sweet-spicy-heavy woodiness with the smoke and incense is very intense, and this has amped on me to epic proportions. Also more soapy and powdery. I almost suspect leather, as well as a type of soapy cologney floral.

Sniffed: Golden oil. Rich coffee, tobacco (almost a foody tobacco note), light cinnamon. Almost-foody, very rich and deep and luscious.

Wet: Tobacco really blooms on my skin, and the dry woods come out - sandalwood and mahogony and teak. This is one of those foody-masculine scents. Almost buttery on my skin, and quite sweet - definitely some tonka. The coffee note is very light and like real coffee, not artificially flavoured stale coffee as the lab's note usually is. And the cinnamon doesn't amp like crazy on my skin!

Dry: Not a morpher, this one, although it does become more beautiful over time. The woods are dry, but not too dry, and they are deep and masculine - they cut the sweetness of the tonka and the almost-foody, super-rich tobacco. The coffee and cinnamon are very light notes on me - these are notes I can never ever wear and yet they are true on me here - no weird morphing, they just smell exactly as they should.

Summary: This is too rich, foody, and masculine for my tastes, but I absolutely understand its popularity. Tobacco, tonka and woods (with the teak really standing out on drydown) dominate with lighter touches of coffee and cinnamon. It is a very well-made, superbly blended scent with intense throw and fabulous longevity.

I love fizzy/sparkling blends. LOVE. Below are those I found to have that quality perceptibly.

GC:

Akuma

All in the Golden Afternoon

Bon Vivant

Czernobog

Eau de Ghoul (Graveyard Book)

The Great Sword of War

Kuang-Shi

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Bat

Snake Oil (when aged 1 year+, it's like sparkling cola on me)

LE:

Android v2

Aqua Vitae v2

Blue Fire

any of the 2008 NYE Champagne scents, obv

Delousing Powder

Glitter

Golden Wave

Hamadryad (discontinued GC)

Independent

King of Clubs

King of Diamonds

La Vita Nuova

Lovers with Rutting Cats

Love's Philosophy

Marianne (discontinued CD I think)

Mead Moon

Men Ringing Bells with Penises

Opuhi

Orange Phoenix

Phosphorous v5

Playing with a Loaded Gun

PW7

Rangoon Riptide

Sea of Tranquility

Spiked Punch

Spinning Metallic Mulitcolor Pinwheel

Te Po

Val San Retour

Vampire Tears

Vishpala

Pretty much any of the ones with ginger in them are 'ginger ale-ish', fyi. Others are like cream soda, or seltzer, or tonic, or sprite, or cola.

I have a great deal of trouble with 'snow/ice/winter' scents, and the only really WINTRY one I have found that I can wear is Talvikuu, although though that has trees, it's NOT piney at all - I hate pine. It has a lovely Birch note.

Snowballs isn't too piney, either, although it didn't work on my skin - it was too much like Snow White, too much of that almond-coconut creamy note. As noted, Archangel Winter is one to try - although I find it distinctly masculine, it's a very neutral yet very wintry scent, quite cologne-y. I really like it on men but don't wear it myself.

Also, I definitely agree re: The Macabray. I forgot about that one - definitely icy without being piney. I get a sort of cucumber-soft floral-ice, unisex-ish.

I ADORE Night-Gaunt but I don't find it to be an 'icy' scent at all, personally.

Cool watery green things, herbs, cucumber, bitter lime, something minty, and vodka. Very green, but also very light - not heavily boozy. Extremely faint throw in the bottle.

More herbal, sharper. Also stronger on my skin though it's still low throw. This smells a lot like fresh parsley to me, with maybe a little grass and some white sage (I get a bit of a Bat of Longevity feel). I do get the fresh, almost juicy cucumber, but it's a cucumber-peel note, not a melony-pulp note. The lime is the same note from Scurvy, which goes bitter and harsh on my skin. I think the minty note is hyssop. Very light sort of booziness, same vodka note from The Mock Turtle's Lessons - this is similar in feel to that blend, overall, too.

MUSK, whoa. Green musk, in particular. Cool, minty-herbal musk. The vodka wears of completely and this smooths out and deepens greatly over time. It also amps up and up throw-wise. This drydown reminds me a lot of Serpents with Glittering Eyes, but this is more herbal and less fruity, though there is a bit of fruitiness to this scent. Quite nice, but I have a lot of scents like this that I prefer more. Eventually good throw and great longevity.

I need to retest...I like this, but I'm not sure it's something that I totally need to keep.

Grass, cologne, skin musk galore, metal, leather and indeed, some rubber. Really just like it sounds! Light and masculine but with a faint almost candied/syrupy sweetness below.

Grassier, soapier, and almost floral, in that sort of 'spring wildflowers' soapy-fresh way. The metal really gleams - a lovely chrome note, just as in Torture Queen. The skin musk is less cologney and smoother, and the rubber and leather are light little touches, totally wearable and pleasant. This is quite green, and I'm getting some dandelion.

The soapiness calms down and the musk really comes out. That sweetness could be the leather or the musk - I'm not sure. The drydown of this is very soft, metal, cologne and musk mostly with a little bit of leather and fresh grass, dandelion and DAISY (I love daisy). I like it much more than I ever expected and will be getting a bottle or two for myself!

Sweet and foody for sure, definitely sugar-glazed butter cookies though not necessarily lemon ones. But there is a lot of oak and incense, a dark heavy base to this. I do get the leather and ink and the faint herbs, too. Very complex.

Lighter on my skin - I get the lemon, which is really delicious, a lot more of the leather and ink, and the parchament note which is sort of airy and dry and clean. I do also get some spice now, clove and nutmeg. It's still very very complex. The oak remains a strong, heavy presence but it's very nice, not overload.

This softens greatly as it dries down, though it doesn't fade much and it has fantastic throw. The parchament, leather and oak hold best but the light touches of lemon-foody and herbs and ink are there too, with a definite incense note grounding the whole blend. It's unlike any BPAL I've tried and I think would suit both sexes. Too spicy-incensey and not the right sort of leather for me, but this is a well-made scent.

Very dark red-brown oil, a bit viscous. Red musk! and something citrusy-fresh, either lemon blossom or lemon peel or lemongrass.

On my skin, some sandalwood emerges as well as clove and a slightly mentholic herbal note - could be an aspect of the lemongrass, if that's the lemony note in this. Also some fresh ginger gives this a little kick. I get some of the same lily note from Parker Lily, which lightens this others red musk-heavy blend - though this is not at all what I'd call a floral blend.

On later drydown, some leather coms out as well as some sweet orange. It really shows more layers over time on my skin, and the lemongrass (my best guess) and ginger amp over time, keeping this very fresh and bright. Very interesting and unlike anything else in BPAL. In feel, it does remind me of Parker Lily and there's the same lily/red musk base, but this is fresher and more unisex.

Deep golden oil. Very similar to NVP1 but spicier, drier, and with an additional sharp/medicinal/mentholic note. Also some coriander - so it's a little brighter, slightly citrusy. Maybe some clove, too? Quite complex.

Extremely pale yellow, nearly colourless oil. Dry spices and dusty wood. Cedar, black pepper, white pepper, dried ginger - and som sweeter, darker, dry wood - maybe mahogany or teak?

Golden oil. Wild grape candy! Smells a lot like the released version, but not boozy. No wine. Just straight up wild grape CANDY. Sweet & syrupy.

Golden oil. Bubblegum, yellow cake, lemon buttercream frosting (but pink coloured!). Sweet and foody. P013 meets bubblegummy lotus!

Deep golden oil. JASMINE and orris/violet. Lots and lots of jasmine.

Golden oil. Heavy florals, herbs, soil, and maybe some Spanish moss? Reminds me of Jazz Funeral.

Light peachy-pink oil. Dirt, dragon's blood, and loads of white mint. Not like any other BPAL I've smelled, but a rather outdoorsy take on DB - and definitely recommended for fans of Ars Draconis. A simple blend of notes that work well together - or as well as DB can ever work, considering it's a note I personally can't stand.

Pale yellow oil. WISTERIA! and orris with dry woods. Weirdly viscous oil, too - the pipette won't suck up more than a tiny bit at a time. Maybe a jasmine note in here, too? These are florals I simply cannot do, so no further testing for this one.