Leo 2007

[oedipa]

Fixed Fire: the essence of pride.
Egyptian amber, walnut bark, chamomile, frankincense, and saffron.

I purchased this bottle for my very own Leo (my boyfriend), who I have been trying to get into BPAL - no luck thus far.

I put it on him last night and it's far, far too froofy and sweet...and apparently his skin also amps amber like mine does (which is the reason I won't be wearing Leo). From application to the point where he washed it off (about half an hour) all I could smell was amber, with occasional resin-y undertones.

Alas, off the swap pile you go!

Edited to add lab description. Edited November 25, 2007 by Shollin

[ajcj213499]

This is really lovely! This is what would happen if The Lion and MB:Underpants had a baby.

 

I was a little worried about the walnut bark, but I hardly smell it- every note melds together perfectly. I'm so happy to have a bottle of this!

[gaai]

Well......that was unexpected

I got a decant of this because, while I was curious as to how it would smell, it didn't 'grab' me enough to go for a whole bottle.......glad I did....

 

On me this smells like......latex (like when you take off those latex gloves).....or balloons......or condoms......you know the smell, that rubbery plastic scent.....

 

I have never had a scent turn this rubbery on me before, so yeah......unexpected.

Needless to say I won't be wearing this as a perfume.......(I think I'll keep my decant though.....because I find it kind of funny )

[Blood onmy hands]

I snagged a decant of Leo 07 even though Egyptian Amber is one of my least favorite BPAL notes ever. I was hoping that my skin wouldn't amp it up like there's no tomorrow (yeah right, lol). BPAL's ambers are some of the only ones that I've come across that go so insanely powdery and dry on my skin. The Egyptian version also has a weird, dirty undertone to it that makes me think of soiled babies. It's almost a light undertone of sweat and rotten lemons and I have no idea why it does this on my skin. I'm probably the only person with this problem, but I'll tack on my review anyhow. I can't pick out any of the chamomile, frankincense, or saffron that I love, so they don't save this blend at all for me. I *do* get a weird, sickly sweet, nutty smell in the drydown, underneath the weird baby powder.

 

I really wish that I were someone who could wear BPAL's amber scents

[filigree_shadow]

Yay, the frankincense isn't messing this up for me! Just a lovely amber with some really pretty saffron. The chamomile and walnut bark give it a nice almost earthy grounding. It seems like there's something very slightly citrusy in there, but I'm not sure what that is. Yep, I sure do like this. Very pretty. Easily my favorite of the zodiac scents so far this year.

[medvssa]

I was not at all tempted to test any astrological blend based on concept... but I am so very glad I was by the notes in leo... this is excellent! I simply love it

 

The amber is the most gorgeous I have ever smelled (granted, only recently have I discovered that I love it and that it works great on me), I adore the nuttiness of it (it made me think of almonds at first, real almonds, since the almond note goes a little weird on me), and the light spiciness, and the background of golden incense, and something a little bit green that seems to stop it from going to sweet. The final balance is perfect for me. This is what I expected Jacob's Ladder to be! 24k gold in perfume form.

[harmonyfb]

Hmm. I can see where some might say it's near to P.umpkin Q.ueen in tone (same amber, I believe), but on my skin, it is all powdery frankinscense, and is giving me one hell of a headache.

 

Glad to know I won't be pining for it.

Edited July 28, 2007 by harmonyfb

[sookster]

straight sniff from imp is creamy root beer

 

once applied i get the frankincense and i think saffron; almost medicinal...

 

weird...i cannot understand the huge hype over this one...

 

only average for me

[bookofblues]

In the bottle: a very caramel-y amber. Sweet, rich, and sticky.

On the skin: the saffron really comes out. This is the same quality I adore in Baghdad. Think Baghdad mixed with The Lion. Sweet, warm amber and exotic spices. Almost edible.

Fades away slowly, becoming powdery at first. Gone in 2 hours. I am so glad I ordered a bottle of this. The perfect amber for me!

[Megara]

Ah! Why didn't I get two bottles?!

This apparently has the one amber I can wear in it. The amber isn't overpowering or obtrusive like it usually is on my skin. I also get a hint of what smells like carnation (but I know it isn't).

Now after it's been on for 12+ hours it's sweet, but not overly sweet. The tone I get from this is a sparkling warm orange (the color, not the fruit), like a summer day in the sun.

Beautiful.

[storme]

In the bottle: ooh, feisty and hot and slightly foody. I guess that foodiness is down to the amber and saffron.

 

On me, wet: acrid-sweet-spicy. I'm slightly surprised that this isn't a redder oil - it feels like it should be cinnamon-coloured.

 

On me, dry: Sweet, resinous foody-spicy scent. Quite nice, and much less acrid-hot than at first. I bet this will age beautifully.

 

Verdict: I mainly wanted this oil for the bottle, since I'm a Leo. But it turns out to smell fairly nice, too. Yay!

[chrisann]

I am entirely UNDERWHELEMED with Leo 2007.

 

It's weird, because Beth's Amber blends usually wax poetic on me! This however, smells chemically and fizzy on me. Fizzy.. dry food spice, but stinky food spice. Curious, but in the "gah! why does this smell like this?! Must wash off. " way... I am truely perplexed with all the rave reviews and wonderful scental experiance's people are having.

 

For me Sportive Sun rocked my socks and was the big amber winner last month. Lucky for me that I have had no problem stocking up on that one.

 

Leo, for me was a dissapointing dud

Edited August 3, 2007 by growwild

[alicia_stardust]

Leo is one of my favorite zodiac blends so far. It has almost a foody quality to it, and it almost reminds me of Pumpkin Queen even though the notes listed are not at all the same.

 

Leo has a definite golden, feisty, warm feel to it. I love the amber and the slightly sweet frankincense. The saffron gives it a golden, earthy quality. I don't get a lot of the walnut bark but I imagine that it's blending into things somehow.

 

This is a definite keeper! It is worth hoarding. Especially because yesterday I discovered that Leo makes an AMAZING room scent! If you like this, try it out.

[inurbanus]

A shop in Yellow Springs sells "Fizzy Pop" incense that smells exactly like the first 20 minutes of Leo 2007. Effervescent, bubbly, and delicious, it was not what I was expecting, but a fantastic surprise. After a half an hour, the "fizzy" part morphs into a beautiful amber shot with frankincense. It's not a terribly overbearing smell--regal but kind of relaxed too. I absolutely love it.

 

5/5

[supremegoddessofall]

In bottle: Spicy, almost foody.

 

On me: Still fairly spicy, almost cinnamon-like - maybe the saffron? Either way, I like it.

[kakiphony]

In the imp: Golden amber with saffron. As I sniff, I'm oddly reminded of Monsterbait: Underpants. It must be the saffron note.

 

Wet on skin: Golden and spicy with a hint of something light and floral which I think is probably the chamomile. I don't smell the walnut at all.

 

Early dry down: This goes a little powedery on me as ambers usually do, but I still smell the spice under it. It's turning a bit sweet. IT's very light, not at all heavy, and it still remind me of Underpants, just less foody.

 

Late dry down: This scent is subtle, golden and regal. This is not the in-your-face roaring lion, it's the seductive Leo actress who woos you with understated sensuality. A real summer winner for me.

 

Wish I'd bought a whole bottle rather than splitting...

[jade_starlight]

It starts off as mostly amber, but it quickly morphs into something almost sickly sweet. Sadly, this one doesn't work on me, either.

[funkmoppet]

With huge thanks to the awesome Blondiekins for this:

 

Just smelling this from the bottle is heavenly! Dear god, that is the most beautiful amber.

 

It's so gentle and warm and delicious. There's an orange touch to it that's just divine. The saffron lends a lovely compliment. I do see where folk are getting the "fizzy pop" from, but the sweetness is luscious and not overly foody. There's a warm vanilla feel to it, and the amber is well behaved, which makes me SO happy.

 

This is just magnificent! I utterly adore it, and am SO thrilled to have a bottle! Complete and utter for Leo.

[ariosa]

Leo 2007 is love. I wore it last night, but went out, so didn't have time to review it. I picked up my discarded clothes off the floor this morning, and caught a whiff. And anyone who says Leo 2007 is Pumpkin Queen without the pumpkin note... I agree! I consider PQ to be my signature scent, but sometimes it's a bit heavy for what I want... so this would be perfect. It's mostly amber on me, and now I know I ADORE Egyptian amber. My only complaint is that it seems to fade on me more quickly than I'd like... I have a fair amount of Leo in my chart, so I'm glad this works for me.

 

I must track down a bottle!

Edited August 19, 2007 by ariosa

[Miss Lynx]

When I first saw the notes listed for this one, I figured it could do no wrong on my skin. Anything with both amber and saffron in it would have to work pretty hard not be amazing on my skin. I only have one planet in Leo, but clearly I needed to have at least a decant.

 

But at first I was startled, because when I initially applied it, it smelled of lemon! Really strongly. I have no idea where the hell that came from -- I can't see anything in the listed notes that would account for it. But the dominant note was that really strong, bright, sharp, sweet lemon-drop scent that I associate with verbena. So I reluctantly thought maybe this was not a good scent for me after all...

 

However... After about a half an hour, I happened to catch a whiff of my wrist and I smelled amazing! A really rich, warm, almost vanilla-y amber with a touch of spice adding heat to it. Gorgeous! Like an improved version of The Lion (suitably enough). And in this phase, it lasted a long, long time.

 

So, initial random blast of lemoniness aside, this is every bit as nice as I thought it would have to be. But I'm still trying to figure out where the lemon came from...

 

Grade: B+/A-

[Delirium1009]

As soon as I put this on, I’m struck by how foody it is. I can almost smell vanilla, but the creaminess doesn’t last very long.

 

Quite quickly, this turns extremely sweet on me. It reminds me of cola syrup. I think it’s the sweetness of the amber mixed with more earthy scents like the walnut bark. I can smell the chamomile a little, but it’s not an obvious note.

 

As this fades, it just gets lighter… it really doesn’t morph any more. I’ll stick with Sportive Sun for my warm, spicy, nutty comforting scent.

[Browneyes]

(thank you delicate_fangs!)

 

Short review: Orange?

 

In depth: So I'm also one of the people that get a strong orange (as in, the fruit) note from this. I had not read any reviews nor the notes when I tried this on last night, and I distinctly got orange from it. Fizzy orange. That's what I get initially today too. I thought, how lovely, an orange scent that doesn't fade for when I'm in that mood, and then came on here, only to discover that there is no orange listed in the notes... Hmmm. Odd, but I am apparently not the only one.

After about half an hour, it's still quite orange-y, but a bit less so. I can now detect the Egyptian amber note behind, but nothing really screams "saffron", "chamomile" or "frankincense" to me. And I thought that I amped frankincense. I usually do. But the scent keeps mainly to this golden-ambery-orange fragrance. I like it. It doesn't sour, it's not too powdery, just golden, every so slightly spicy, orange, and warm.

It's just a very odd thing, this whole orange business

But I think it will layer excellently over Red Moon 2007 (where the orange peel is quite light and fades fast) or cinnamon-type blends. Mmmm.

[euterpe414]

This stuff smells amazing....it is slightly foody (and yes, I get a strong almost effervescent orange from this, too), yet grounded by the depth of the amber. I really love the walnut and hope that it will appear in more blends in the future . I knew from the moment that I put it on to test a few months ago that it reminded me of something, and last night while out at the bar I finally figured it out- Dorelei, one of my favorite French beers It smells almost exactly like it this stuff tastes. Yum.

 

Anyhow, this is a great scent and does exceptionally well in my scent locket, too, where it has an incredible amount of throw. I'm definitely glad that I got a bottle of this one!!

Edited September 13, 2007 by euterpe414

[Lunaratu]

Way too sticky sweet with something that makes my nose almost itch. It’s a weird combination and my skin is mucking this up into something sweet but spiky. I really thought this would be a hit with me and it’s not. It’s a shame really. However, I do recommend that people smell this next to Allison Gross—the two together for some odd reason smell really good and complement each other well.

Rating: 3/5

[greymatter]

I really enjoyed this - until about 10 minutes after I put it on and my throat started closing up. T_T

 

On me, it was more spicy than sweet, and the amber was amazing. But something in it, I am definitely allergic to. Sad, as I have 2 bottles. Oh well; I guess it's off to swaps with my poor Leo.