milo

Hmm, this is quite evergreen-like, clean and masculine. At first, it smells a lot like eucalyptus, which is great, as I'm feeling a bit under the weather today. This quickly fades away, though, and there is a touch of cedar or vetiver on drydown. This blend kind of reminds me of Christmas when wet, but dry, it's pretty cedar-y. A bit too masculine for me. Off to swaps.

This is a bit heavy on the sandalwood for me, and the myrrh is actually pretty strong too. The effect is too medicinal for my tastes, as the cocoa is barely there at all. I will see how this one ages, though and keep my imp. eta: The sweetness of the cocoa is coming out, and the sandalwood/cedar note is not as strong. This has turned into a gorgeous non-foody cocoa blend, just the kind I love. I just may spring for a bottle. This will be phenomenal aged.

This is a sophisticated violet. It really doesn't change much from wet to dry, just a beautiful violet mint. I can imagine a woman wearing this who knows what she wants and goes after it. It is 'mature', but not in an 'old lady' kind of way. Just an all round confident scent. I really like it, but it's pretty similar to Violet Ray, and I really do have enough violet blends right now.

Wet, this is a watery violet with a touch of curry and a bit of mint. I agree with the previous reviewer that this has a bit of curry in it. Along with this is a brown sugar sweetness that is translating to caramel for me. Quite unusual, but this phase doesn't last long for me. It gradually fades (very quickly), to a soft violet that I have to sniff right up to my wrist to get anything. Very pretty at this phase, but the whole scent disappears within half an hour for me, and therefore, don't think that this blend is a bottle worthy for me.

I find this one quite difficult to pick notes out of. Wet, it is kind of smells like jasmine, only fresher. Kind of like lily of the valley or daffodil. It dries to a soft powdery floral with a touch of mint (?). Quite pleasant, but I don't need more than the frimp.

Straight out of the imp, this is cocoa. As it dries, yes, I get the cherry with the chocolate, though it is pretty faint now even after only 5 minutes of applying. My skin does eat chocolate, pretty much a chip off the old block. However, I'm not a fan of cherry blends at all, and have never tried a cherry blend that works. This is no exception, though it is so faint it is no problem for me. Fan's of chocolate/cherry blends may like this. I really do not get any floral at all.

Musky berries and fig, from wet to dry. What's not to love? I like most all berry blends, and this one is no exception. It is not too cloying or sweet with the musk, and the berry I get is raspberry, a good thing, as blueberry is the only berry scent I don't like. The blueberry actually kept me from purchasing a bottle when it was live a couple of months ago. It kind of reminds of Miller vs. California a bit with the fig, and a Chaos Snake Oil that I have which was raspberry and Snake Oil. OK, just peeked, and I see there is orange blossom, another note I like, and can recognize it now that I know it's there. I love this, and very glad I have a couple of imps. I don't need a bottle, as I am pretty overloaded with berry blends.

At first, this smells like citronella bug spray. It morphs to something extremely unpleasant. I thought maybe something had gone 'bad' in the blend, it really was quite rank, like someone hadn't washed in awhile. This quickly disappeared, thankfully, and we're left with a light, citrussy blend. I'll probably used up the imp for moisturizing, as I love the lab oils for this purpose!

Why am I getting citrus here? This blend really smells like a sweet, fresh grapefruit to me, that does not go body spray on me at all. This is how Alien Invasion was wet on me, but went horribly wrong on dry. A beautiful, fresh, lush, clean blend with a touch of greenery. This blend is a nice surprise, as I don't like tropical florals as a rule, and this totally proves me wrong, which is what I love about Bpal, the great surprises! Kind of reminds me of Faiza, as well, only Faiza was too florally on me. This would be perfect for a hot summer day.

I HAD to try this, even for the name. Vanilla scents always call to me, some turn plasticy, and some are great. This one on me, is of the non-plastic variety. However, it is sickenly sweet. Really, only a dab will do with this one. I'll know better for next time. This one will layer well with blends that need a bit of sweetness, I'll be Snake Oil would be nice here. Glad I have the imp, but won't need a bottle.

Mmm, this is a warm, masculine blend, lots of patchouli at first, then it fades away. Dry, there is a bit of wood, and cozy vanilla sweetness which must be the heliotrope I'm guessing. I like this, but I don't wear masculine scents. I'll bet it will be great on my guy, though.

Wet, this is quite mentholated with red hots cinnamon. It dries to a "hot" scent, it kind of reminds me a lot of Sunbird at this stage with dust and the spices. After a bit, I detect evil jasmine, poking it's nose in there. The florals and hot dryness don't seem to mesh well here, even though the jasmine is faint. I don't mind this scent, and very glad to have tried it, but I don't need a bottle.

Croquembouche with almond silk and a drizzle of caramel. At first this is all almond with a touch of rose. The rose takes the forefront, and the almond disappears into nothing. This is pretty much a perfumey rose, very little foody. Not a rose fan, though rose appears to love me. Meh.

This is strong, boozy cherry at first. It kind of smells like Halls Cherry. This lasts for a minute or two, then it reminds me of the flouride wash you get at the dentist's office when you are stupid enough to say that you want another flavor rather than mint. Kind of a less boozy, more medicinal cherry. It then fades into practically nothing. Maybe a worn out old scratch and sniff cherry from a childs book. Oh well.

This is pretty much what I was expecting. A spicy apple blend, that really smells good enough to drink. Spicy apple blends are something I like to smell in a room, though and generally not on me. This is very similar to Coral Snake, Fearful Pleasure and l'Autunno, though there are subtle differences. I don't need a bottle, but will definitely use up my imp one way or another!

So as usual, the spices are amping on me, and eating the pumpkin and chocolate. Nevertheless, this is very nice, probably not to wear for me, but as a room scent. Every once in awhile, I get a creamy coffee scent a bit of a distance from me, but when I sniff up close, it's not there. It is a 'good' coffee, too, freshly ground, like walking past Starbucks. I really want a good Latte now!

I'm probably one of the few that is not Wowed by this blend. A soft, musk with a bit of dried flowers of the delicate kind. However, the musk or birch smells a bit like skin musk to me, a note that I do not like. This is quite 'cologney' on me, like most skin musks become, but not to the extreme, as in say, The Illustrated Woman. There is some caramel sweetness along for the ride here, with the musk that I'm not liking either. I've heard that there is such a thing as Birch Tree Syrup, and is extracted like Maple Syprup, so maybe this is what's causing the sweetness. Kind of translates into a vague acrid bitterness to this blend that I'm also not enjoying. Thankfully, it fades pretty fast on me. The decant is more than sufficient here.

I got an imp of this, as the notes reminded me of my beloved Pumpkin 2 from last year. As a side by side comparison, in the bottle and imp, they are pretty similar, only this years has more spice, less tobacco, and no leather. On, I get buttery pumpkin and spices, not at all like Pumpkin 2 from last yeaer. The pumpkin disappears (my skin literally eats pumpkin), and all we're left with is a mish mash of spices, very reminiscent of Gingerbread Poppet, actually. Glad to have tried this, and I do like it, but I have scents that are pretty close and won't need a bottle.

The description of this sounded lovely, so I was going to get a bottle unsniffed. Due to the awesomeness of the 'weenies this year, I had to pick and choose and decided to get a decant of this. On to the review. I get no cocoa, incense, or fruit (well, maybe a sickly sweet fruit when it's wet..). What I get is a cloying fake floral. If this is what cactus blossom smells like, I want nothing to do with it. Kind of jasminey, actually. I'll see how this ages, but I definitely don't need a bottle.

Wet, this reminds me of The Sportive Sun a bit, but with more citrus. Dry, it's all about the blood orange, and what a nice one it is! This is a bold, citrus blend, with maybe a touch of dried flowers, (marigold?). I'm very picky about citrus (especially orange), and this is quite amazing. I accidently purchased two imps, so I think that'll do me. I think this blend is perfect for this time of year, an early fall heat wave that summer just wants to assert before snuggling away for the winter.

This starts as a really gorgeous blend. A soft lavender and musk, along with a beautiful, creamy vanilla. Soon, it is still very nice, but not "OMG, this my HG scent", like when it's wet. Very difficult now to pick out the notes, but it is still a soft, white grape-like (huh? where did this come from?), delicate musk blend. Unfortuneately, the grape like note is translating to a white wine for me, probably the ONLY alcohol note I don't enjoy. The vanilla shyly peaks around the corner after an hour or so again, and man is it one beautiful vanilla. A diamond in the rough, if you will, the pretty girl hiding behind glasses. You get the picture. I like this blend as a whole, but LOVE it wet, and I probably will get a bottle just because it holds such promise. I'm hoping the winey note will disappear, the vanilla will get stronger with age, and crossing my fingers that the lavender holds it's own. Pretty much a win.

This one is really different on me. In the imp, I get a Bliss-like chocolate mint, and on for a brief time. It dries down to pretty much school pencil with a touch of mint. This reminds me of school, and sneaking gum and chewing on your pencil. A wet mess of woody pencil with a touch of mint. The chocolate is pretty much non-existent, though my skin tends to do that with cocoa blends. Not working for me, this croc.

Uggh, caramel. Must be the molasses. Along with this, is a very unpleasant sharpness with a touch of patchouli and moss. The caramel note kind of reminds me a bit of Red Lantern, so if you like that one, you may enjoy this. I cannot stand anything that remotely smells like caramel, and the sharpness, probably the currant, is a bit too much. A mish mash of scents that is all wrong on me. Oh well.

In the imp, this is very nice, an incensey blend with a touch of floral. On, the incense disappears, and the rose comes out. I'm thinking my skin loves rose, as I get nothing else. At least it's not a sour rose, kind of a "Hope" like one. Still, I don't need a bottle. Meh.

A frimp from a very generous forumite!! Thanks so much!! This kind of reminds me of June Gloom 09. It's got that 'wet', tropical floral feel, mainly gardenia. Though I can appreciate the blend, it is not really me. Aquatics and tropicals mostly don't work on me, and it does go a touch powdery. This definitely does capture the mood, though.