Aeval

[Cthulhuesque]

A raven-haired Fairy Queen of Ireland. One of her eternal duties dictates that she must hold a midnight court every season and hear the pleas of married Irishwomen. The court serves only to determine whether or not husbands are adequately serving their wife’s sexual needs. A judicious yet powerfully sensual blend, a mingling of justice and sexuality: sage, sweet pea, bold pale musk and warm tonka.

I ordered my imp of Aeval from the Lab and I was really excited to try it. Unfortunately, it just doesn't seem to work very well on my skin. Once it starts to dry, the sweet pea completely drowns out the other notes (especially the sage, which is what I had been looking forward to most). Honestly, it reminds me a little bit of bug spray.

I tried it in my scent locket, as well, where it worked significantly better, retaining the herbal notes that attracted me to this blend in the first place. Still, I'm not sure that I'll keep my imp.

Aeval is a pretty scent, I think it's just not for me. Bummer.

[lohengrin]

In the imp: Standard BPAL sweet floral.

 

On skin, wet: Sweet floral, and a maybe a touch of depth from the sage.

 

On skin, dry: It starts to go a little soapy, and the sage vanishes back into the ether.

 

After an hour: Soapy sweet floral.

[KittyHawk]

What in the world???

 

This smells like the early-mid nineties Coppertone Sport sunblock my grandparents used to slather on me as a kid when I'd fly down to Sarasota to visit them for Easter. It's a dead ringer for straight-up suntan lotion.

 

That said, I actually really like this. I don't understand why, but I do. When I bring my nose to my wrist, I can actually feel sunblock in the back of my throat. It's really uncanny. I was very close with my grandparents and I miss them a great deal, so this is very welcome nostalgia for me. After awhile, the sweet pea comes out and the sunblock fades away and is very reminiscent of Juliet. I'll probably upgrade to a bottle one of these days, purely for the wet phase.

Edited February 6, 2012 by KittyHawk

[frecklestars]

In the bottle: definitely sage and sweet pea, a combination I never would've thought of. They're so...opposite! I mean, sage is woodsy and a little masculine. Sweet pea is sweet and girlish and usually too sweet for me. The musk is just lurking underneath, giving a bit of an edge to the whole effect.

 

On my skin: on me, this becomes primarily about the sage, but not so strong as to incapacitate my nostrils. It's lightened just a bit by the sweet pea, which is what keeps it from being bitter. The musk is there, but not overpowering. And usually I hate tonka, but it really works for me in this blend. It ages to mostly sweet pea. I wish the safe stuck around more.

 

Last thoughts: it's unusual, and I appreciate the uniqueness of it. Sweet but not too sweet, a wonderful balance of sage and sweet pea, tempered by musk and a hint of tonka. This one isn't a traditional floral, but it's clearly in the floral category. It would be on my wishlist if it didn't fade only to sweet pea.

Edited February 26, 2012 by frecklestars

[GoddesShel]

Yum. I get lots of sweetpea (which I love), and something sweet to ground it, which is probably the tonka. I really like this for a springtime fragrance.

 

Chris says "soap" but I don't get that, I get a light, sweet, floral. Bottle? Maybe...

[becca_s]

Aeval is a soft floral on me. There is something in this which gives it a fresh, clean edge - perhaps the sage. Perfect for spring or a hot day. I'll be testing it again. I would consider getting a bottle because I like it quite alot.

[Maartje]

Received an imp of Aeval as a bonus in my first or second order, and instantly fell in love. It is floral but not too sweet, and made me feel very cool, composed and grown-up. I have since purchased a bottle and given the imp to one of my best friends (who had never heard of BPAL before, so maybe I made a convert.)

 

I am not really sure what the individual notes are that I smell. The tonka and musk seem to be very light on me, I guess I am mostly smelling the sweet pea. It's a cool, clean, white scent. It doesn't last as long as some more pronounced scents but the drop I put in my cleavage seems to be hanging on for dear life.

 

Aeval on me is chic yet suitable for daily wear. All in all a favourite.

[lavenderfrost]

As dumb and plebeian as this may sound, to me all of the phases of this oil were like the most awesome shampoo ever. I love clean just-showered scents, so it was pretty much an instant winner.

 

Predominant note was sweet pea, with sage giving it enough sharpness to make it clean instead of, well...sweet.

[mymymai]

ITI: I was expecting to like this much more with the notes hinted. There is something medicinal, almost aquatic about the scent. Sweet pea and sage are most evident.

 

Wet: Sweet pea is overpowering although sage supports it as almost an after scent. It still smells slightly aquatic and medicinal, though.

 

Dry: soapy sweet pea with a little sage. I get absolutely no tonka or musk in this stage, which is too bad.

[Vaudevillain]

I love this one! Floral and pretty and fresh- the sweet pea really brings it all together fantastically. Reminds me of water lilies.

[ianastar]

At first on me this smelled like fabric softener, laundry detergent, and dryer sheets. Very clean, flowery, powedery all in one.

 

On the dry down and after a few hours its pure sweet pea. I dont get the tonka at all, or even the sage. It's very floral smelling now.

[calivianya]

Whoa, sweet pea! It's all sweet pea all the time in the vial. My first impression is that it smells like something I could buy at Bath and Body Works. And... it just doesn't get any more interesting than that. Not my kind of thing.

[SweetBastet]

in the imp it smells light, bright and almost fruity! Fae indeed: it's lovely, but hard to pin down

 

on, a little more planty, a soft wet plant musk, like a petal, but not that floral-y quality that i dislike so.

 

drying down, where did it go? i catch hints and whiffs, but a moment later there it is again bright and happy and indefinably pleasant.

I like it how i like my peach scents, but without it smelling like peach... This one hurts my head to try and think about!

 

dry, it is pleasant. not herbal, not floral just nice and bright. Maybe it's the tonka? I know i like a lot of blends that its in...

 

Verdict is I like it and i don't know why. 4/5

[Mechanical Death]

This is outstanding!!!!

 

It's deceptively light and herbal in the vial, but on the skin it blooms into an incredibly complex scent, the creamy vanilla tonka as the base. I catch hints of the herbal sage that balance out the sweetpea, and something else warm and delicious underneath. Almost buttery and cotton like, a tiny bit musky and heady,

 

It's gorgeous. I hadn't expected it to be so profound and complex. I need 10000 bottles of this. I will wear this constantly. 5/5!!

[Saffrin]

Imp: Soaaappp. Sure, it's sweetpea tinged soap, but still soap.

 

 

Wet: Sweetpea pops out to the front, briefly, and then the sage comes through and takes centre stage, with the sweetpea's sweetness around the edges.

The tonka throws more than the other notes.

 

Still a little bit soapy up close.

 

 

Dry: Musk has definitely come out to the forefront, supported by the sage.

Can't pick out the sweetpea at all, which is weird since it usually hangs around forever in scents on me, and only the creamiest edges of the tonka.

 

Warm, herbal scent. I wish the sweetpea had stuck around for longer.

 

 

That said, I can think of plenty of florals I own that would layer wonderfully with this. <3

 

 

Edit: Hours later, all that remains is a nice musk/tonka scent.

Edited November 24, 2012 by Saffrin

[boomtownrat]

Wet on my skin, the sweet pea is the only thing I can smell. After it dries the sweet pea and sage fight for dominance, and during this stage it occasionally smells like plastic dolls that I had as a child. When it moves out of this stage I get lovely sweet pea with some sage (that I can identify as themselves) along with a faint warmth that is probably the musk. After it's been on me for about two hours, sage is a little stronger than sweet pea. Tonka isn't coming through for me as far as I can tell, but maybe I just don't know that note well enough yet.

 

Hormonal wonkiness might be causing me to interpret the sage and sweet pea combination as '70s-era plastic dolls at times. It's pretty when it doesn't smell like those dolls, but it isn't really my style. I probably will give this lab frimp to a friend.

[bellumed]

In the imp, Aeval is hugely reminiscent of my B&BW Sweet Pea shower gel: sweet pea and soap. On my skin, it's a completely different scent: the sage takes over and turns it into a nice, quiet blend. It's light but not flowery-delicate because the sage makes it earthier without being full-on herbal.

 

Aeval is a pretty modest perfume on me, but I'm happy to have the imp and will wear this occasionally.

Edited May 16, 2013 by bellumed

[sunlitgarden]

I received Aeval as a frimp in a recent lab order. In the imp, I'm mainly getting sweet pea and something herbal, I'm guessing the sage.

 

On my skin it's a nice mix of floral and fresh. I'm not sure I'd wear it much, because it's fairly light on me. It's a really nice sweet pea scent though.

[mermaidsdream]

In the imp: a little sultry, a little floral.

 

Wet, on skin: all I get is floral. The sweet pea overwhelms. I'm hoping it dies down a bit, and I get more of the musk & tonka.

 

Drydown: turns to baby powder.

 

I was so hoping to like this one, but baby powder is just not me.

[JazzieCazzie]

Received this as a generous lagniappe in a purchase and on face value had no issues with any of the notes. Working my way through the entire alphabet with my imps, old and new, my big bottles, same and same, and whatever I am getting via swaps and small forum purchases (along with a Lab purchase or two along the way). When I hit a letter that I've covered, I swing back and jump on it so ...

 

IN THE IMP: Honestly? This was the first and only, so far during this experiment, scent where I immediately recapped it and didn't even try to test-drive it. Though there is no fruit in the description, for some reason it smelled fruity to me. And aquatic. And perfumey floral. And basically, weirdly, every "note group" that doesn't work for me.

 

However, after finishing up L, I realized that I had tried every single other scent so far, even ones I didn't think I'd like, and it would seem incomplete if I didn't at least give this the old college try, so I went to the swap box where I had gently nestled it and uncapped it and dabbed a bit on my wrist.

 

WET: Fruity. Aquatic. Perfumey floral. Basically, it smells like every "note group" that doesn't work for me. And it's strong.

 

DRYDOWN: It still smelled exactly like it did in the imp and on my wrist. WYSIWYG -- what you smell is what you get. And for me, that wasn't a good thing. I washed it off but I can still smell it. Really strongly.

 

OVERALL: Sometimes I need to learn to just trust my gut. BUT, that said, my plan was to try every single scent I have/get (unless of course someone sends me Kitsune Tsuki or Masabakes or Maenad or Sacred Whore or something). So I am glad I did it. But this returns to its already selected spot in the swap box to rejoin its other fruity/aquatic/perfumey floral friends.

 

On a scale of 1-5, a 1. For me.

[ccelaya]

wet - sage and sweetpea

 

skin - very sweet. extremely floral.

 

Dry - the tonka bean comes out.

 

This scent is extremely feminine.

 

Too floral. Not my favorite

[Aveya]

Aeval is a bright, light, happy, fruit-like sweetness yet gently floral scent. Which is weird - I was expecting more musk and warmth. It's very feminine - If you're into unisex this wont cut it (there are some nice "clean floral" scents with lavender for example that are spectacular unisex or masculine scents). I personally got this scent because I went on a Tonka kick after discovering how incredible Dee is (mmm) and was in a search for anything with Tonka.

 

I'm fairly confident I amp most florals out the wazoo - and because I'm not super familiar with sweet pea, I think this scent may have become 90% sweet pea on me and overpowered the rest. But I guess I like Sweet Pea!

 

But that being said - I have a hard time wearing Aeval as my daily scent. However, I tossed an imp (I ended up with three eventually o_O) in a grapeseed & tamanu oil mix and it's a FANTASTIC after-bath moisturizer. The scent is just perfect for freshly-washed me. It lends itself to cleanliness. And as a bonus, since it gets slightly diluted it doesn't hang around all day (just in the "mmm I'm clean" phase) and I can easily add another BPAL later without clashing.

 

I was fairly surprised, because it's one of the few imps where I didn't really "get" the interpretation. I was assuming it would be somehow bold and sexy - instead it makes me think of sweet freckle-faced girl just out of water. I guess that works!

 

If you want a clean fresh feminine scent, this might be perfect for you.

Edited April 26, 2013 by Aveya

[lucycat]

This was a freebie from the Lab.

 

When it first arrived, two weeks ago, I could smell sage and sweet pea in the imp. However, when I sniffed the imp this morning before applying, I smelled no sage at all, only the sweet pea.

 

On: SWEET PEA and only sweet pea. No sage, no musk. I don't think of sweet pea as a strong-smelling flower; this was the strongest sweet pea I could imagine, without being at all overpowering or unpleasant.

 

After five or six hours, the tonka came through.

 

Aeval is a very pretty, feminine scent, and very well-suited to springtime. I don't think I need a bottle, but I will keep and use the imp.

[Alethia]

Thoughts before testing: Aeval has been on my wish list forever, so I was thrilled to see it as a frimp in a recent Post order! I love sweet pea and am hoping that this works!

 

Wet: Sweet, beautiful, soft sweet pea and just a hint of a beautiful musk. This is lovely.

 

Dry down: This is definitely the prettiest smelling sweet pea I've ever come across. The musk stays nicely in the background, centering it and making it more sophisticated and preventing it from smelling too sweet. I can't really detect any tonka or sage, but I'm definitely not complaining.

 

Dry: Four hours later, the sweet pea has faded just slightly and the musk is more prominent. This is so pretty!

 

Final thoughts: This is a beautiful perfume. It feels sweetly old-fashioned without being an "old lady" perfume (I hate that term by the way. Most of the elderly women I know smell fabulous). It's a lovely soft floral musk that lasts an insanely long time (six hours and counting now) and I'm in love with this.

 

Verdict: Upgrading to a big bottle

[hexnut]

AEVAL

 

Blind test of a yellow oil.

 

 

In Vitro Floral-y citrus, or citrus-y floral.

 

Wet Freshly applied this was a light, fresh floral with a "bright" throw. After a few minutes at mellowed and faded but was still very nice.

 

Drying This became a conventional floral perfume. About forty minutes on it was still sweet but slightly soapy, and faded entirely within two hours.

 

 

Aeval was my latest, and probably last, try for a BPAL sage scent. I was disappointed but not surprised.

 

 

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