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BPAL Reviews
May. 23rd, 2007 10:40 pmI've finished going through my latest imp pack:
Catherine:
This was my freebie. Lucky for me, it was on my (embarrassingly long) wish list. Unluckily, it was not a success. The rosemary just kind of ruined it for me. I really like the rose aspect (bpal's rose note has been such a pleasant surprise for me), but I'm pretty sure that I can find many other rose scents that will work much better on me.
Clio:
This is an impressive scent, although not one I want to wear as a perfume. There's a smell I've always associated with the age and antiquity of medieval manuscripts and artifacts carefully preserved in museums and libraries: dusty, dry, warm, elusive, and enigmatic. BPAL has managed to bottle this scent - Clio is exactly it. Unfortunately, while I like to smell this scent, I don't want to wear it.
Dublin:
I've already had a sniffie from ladybird97, so I know this is gorgeous. It's the woodsy scent I'd been hoping I would find with bpal.
Envy:
This one was a longshot, but I'm really glad I ordered it because it's wonderful. Envy is the perfect green herbal scent, fresh and outdoorsy. Other Kenjari was quite impressed with it, too.
Florence:
This is so pretty. Amber, iris, berries, and spice perfectly balanced. Amber seems to really love me: almost everything I've tried that has it has been lovely.
House of Night:
A complex floral with a dark green quality. I was tired when I tried it, though, so I don't yet have a final verdict. I will have to test again.
Morgause:
Everything I was hoping it would be: deep, dark, mysterious, heady. It's gorgeous.
Now I just have to wait patiently until my Salon I imp pack arrives. It was my "I didn't get into grad school so I deserve a treat" purchase.
Catherine:
This was my freebie. Lucky for me, it was on my (embarrassingly long) wish list. Unluckily, it was not a success. The rosemary just kind of ruined it for me. I really like the rose aspect (bpal's rose note has been such a pleasant surprise for me), but I'm pretty sure that I can find many other rose scents that will work much better on me.
Clio:
This is an impressive scent, although not one I want to wear as a perfume. There's a smell I've always associated with the age and antiquity of medieval manuscripts and artifacts carefully preserved in museums and libraries: dusty, dry, warm, elusive, and enigmatic. BPAL has managed to bottle this scent - Clio is exactly it. Unfortunately, while I like to smell this scent, I don't want to wear it.
Dublin:
I've already had a sniffie from ladybird97, so I know this is gorgeous. It's the woodsy scent I'd been hoping I would find with bpal.
Envy:
This one was a longshot, but I'm really glad I ordered it because it's wonderful. Envy is the perfect green herbal scent, fresh and outdoorsy. Other Kenjari was quite impressed with it, too.
Florence:
This is so pretty. Amber, iris, berries, and spice perfectly balanced. Amber seems to really love me: almost everything I've tried that has it has been lovely.
House of Night:
A complex floral with a dark green quality. I was tired when I tried it, though, so I don't yet have a final verdict. I will have to test again.
Morgause:
Everything I was hoping it would be: deep, dark, mysterious, heady. It's gorgeous.
Now I just have to wait patiently until my Salon I imp pack arrives. It was my "I didn't get into grad school so I deserve a treat" purchase.
BPAL Update
May. 4th, 2007 10:02 pmWhile waiting for my next lab order to arrive, I engaged in some swapping.
Alas, I had to give up Euterpe. It smells lovely, a musky floral, for the first 30-45 minutes. Then, it smells absolutely exactly like my godmother, who passed away seven years ago. Wearing it at work was like having her standing over my shoulder all day. I like remembering my godmother, but this was really creepy.
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ladybird97 sent me Delirium, along with sniffies of Jack and Dublin.
I wasn't sure about Delirium (rose, apple, and lemon), because it's way too common to get overwhelmed by cloying rose perfume on the T or when out shopping. But Delirium is nothing like that. On me, it's like fresh roses, still attached to the bush, out in the garden on a clear spring morning. I love it, and it's inspired me to try more rose-based scents.
Jack is the first BPAL scent that I've actively hated and the first one I've washed off right away. Its main note is pumpkin. But on me it's not the pumpkin of pie or bread. It's raw pumpkin, all vegetable-y. I could just barely detect something nice and spicy underneath, but the raw sticky pumpkin drowned it out.
Dublin, however, was a complete success. It's like being in the woods on a clear day after the rain. It's what I wanted Hamadryad to smell like. I have an imp coming in my lab order, and I can't wait to be able to wear it out and about.
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sinandsalvation community. I'm not sure what to think of it yet - I need to test it further. It's green and sharp, with an undercurrent of warmth and sweetness. I'm still not sure whether the overall effect is pleasantly herbal or too astringent and medicinal.
Alas, I had to give up Euterpe. It smells lovely, a musky floral, for the first 30-45 minutes. Then, it smells absolutely exactly like my godmother, who passed away seven years ago. Wearing it at work was like having her standing over my shoulder all day. I like remembering my godmother, but this was really creepy.
ladybird97 sent me Delirium, along with sniffies of Jack and Dublin. I wasn't sure about Delirium (rose, apple, and lemon), because it's way too common to get overwhelmed by cloying rose perfume on the T or when out shopping. But Delirium is nothing like that. On me, it's like fresh roses, still attached to the bush, out in the garden on a clear spring morning. I love it, and it's inspired me to try more rose-based scents.
Jack is the first BPAL scent that I've actively hated and the first one I've washed off right away. Its main note is pumpkin. But on me it's not the pumpkin of pie or bread. It's raw pumpkin, all vegetable-y. I could just barely detect something nice and spicy underneath, but the raw sticky pumpkin drowned it out.
Dublin, however, was a complete success. It's like being in the woods on a clear day after the rain. It's what I wanted Hamadryad to smell like. I have an imp coming in my lab order, and I can't wait to be able to wear it out and about.
I swapped for The Apothecary on the
sinandsalvation community. I'm not sure what to think of it yet - I need to test it further. It's green and sharp, with an undercurrent of warmth and sweetness. I'm still not sure whether the overall effect is pleasantly herbal or too astringent and medicinal.
epilimnion and I had a successful testing session yesterday. For some reason, I seem to have better luck with scents than she does, so far. Surprisingly, musk works quite well on me - it gets all warm, rich, and deep. I'm still not sure that I'd want to wear soemthing that was all musk, but it combines beautifully with florals. I traded Veil (which I was right about being perfect for her) for Euterpe, which is a great combination of flowers and musk. We also helped each other pick out scents for our next orders. I will be getting imps ofMorgause
Envy
Dublin
House of Night
Clio
Florence
Blood Pearl and La Petite Mort are still up for grabs.
BPAL, Part the Last (for now)
Apr. 20th, 2007 10:48 pmI have now tested the last three of my imps.
Blood Pearl was a freebie. It's nice and works well on my skin. It's a lot like a much lighter version of Forest Rain. Unfortunately, it fades quickly and lacks "body" on me.
Tempest is great. It's very fresh and clean, and it really does smell like a rainstorm. It's got just the right amount of sharpness and sticks around for a long time. It's a wonderful scent without being the least bit "perfumey". I'm seriously considering getting a bottle at some point.
Phantom is quite close to Forest Rain, and thus just the sort of thing I was hoping to find when I made my selections for this first order. It's a little "cleaner", but just as warm and rich. This may well be my replacement for Forest Rain.
It looks like Veil, La Petit Mort, Hamadryad, and Blood Pearl will be going up for swap.ladybird97 and epilimnion get first dibs, but if anyone else is interested in any of these four imps, just say the word. My wish list is embarrassingly huge, but a few highlights are Hymn, Blood Amber, Zombi, The Red Queen, Nephilim, and Fallen. Being new to bpal, I'm also very open to suggestion.
Blood Pearl was a freebie. It's nice and works well on my skin. It's a lot like a much lighter version of Forest Rain. Unfortunately, it fades quickly and lacks "body" on me.
Tempest is great. It's very fresh and clean, and it really does smell like a rainstorm. It's got just the right amount of sharpness and sticks around for a long time. It's a wonderful scent without being the least bit "perfumey". I'm seriously considering getting a bottle at some point.
Phantom is quite close to Forest Rain, and thus just the sort of thing I was hoping to find when I made my selections for this first order. It's a little "cleaner", but just as warm and rich. This may well be my replacement for Forest Rain.
It looks like Veil, La Petit Mort, Hamadryad, and Blood Pearl will be going up for swap.
ladybird97 and epilimnion get first dibs, but if anyone else is interested in any of these four imps, just say the word. My wish list is embarrassingly huge, but a few highlights are Hymn, Blood Amber, Zombi, The Red Queen, Nephilim, and Fallen. Being new to bpal, I'm also very open to suggestion.BPAL, Part 2
Apr. 18th, 2007 10:48 pmTonight's selections were Veil and Hamadryad.
Veil is very nice - soft and floral, with a hint of green. It reminds me a bit of this daisy perfume I had as a little girl. I liked it, but I'm not quite sure it's really "me". I thinkepilimnion might like it.
Hamadryad is turning out to be a bit of a disappointment. I really, really wanted to like it, but I don't think it quite works. In the bottle, it smelled a lot like birch beer. And when I first put it on, it continued to smell a lot like birch beer. I don't want to smell like a soda! Over time, it's lost a lot of the birch beer, but I'm not sure I can get past that initial impression. It's turning into something nice, but not overly distinctive. I may have to give it another test in a few days.
Veil is very nice - soft and floral, with a hint of green. It reminds me a bit of this daisy perfume I had as a little girl. I liked it, but I'm not quite sure it's really "me". I think
epilimnion might like it.Hamadryad is turning out to be a bit of a disappointment. I really, really wanted to like it, but I don't think it quite works. In the bottle, it smelled a lot like birch beer. And when I first put it on, it continued to smell a lot like birch beer. I don't want to smell like a soda! Over time, it's lost a lot of the birch beer, but I'm not sure I can get past that initial impression. It's turning into something nice, but not overly distinctive. I may have to give it another test in a few days.
And now, on a happier note, I've tested three out of my 8 imps (6 I ordered + 1 free one and 1 from ladybird).
I tried La Petit Mort first, and it was a disappointment. It smelled nice in the vial, but quickly went to baby powder on my skin. Not what I was expecting or wanting out of something named after a synonym for orgasm.
With my first test being a failure, I was afraid I'd have a hard time finding anything I liked, and that my first order would not yield any positive results. I should really be more optimistic.
Next up was Burial, and it worked quite well. It's very piney, but not in a cleaning product sort of way. There's a bit of rose in there, and an earthy note. It's like being in a thick pine forest, but it's the smell of the ground where the dirt and dry needles are. As it dried it took on a clean, fresh, almost sharp quality, like a stiff breeze. I like it a lot, but I'm reserving judgement on whether or not I want a bottle of it until I've tried all my imps.
Right now I'm trying out Lyonesse, and I think I'm in love. This stuff is gorgeous! It's warm and creamy, all sunshine and vanilla. It practically glows. I am pretty sure I will get a bottle.
I tried La Petit Mort first, and it was a disappointment. It smelled nice in the vial, but quickly went to baby powder on my skin. Not what I was expecting or wanting out of something named after a synonym for orgasm.
With my first test being a failure, I was afraid I'd have a hard time finding anything I liked, and that my first order would not yield any positive results. I should really be more optimistic.
Next up was Burial, and it worked quite well. It's very piney, but not in a cleaning product sort of way. There's a bit of rose in there, and an earthy note. It's like being in a thick pine forest, but it's the smell of the ground where the dirt and dry needles are. As it dried it took on a clean, fresh, almost sharp quality, like a stiff breeze. I like it a lot, but I'm reserving judgement on whether or not I want a bottle of it until I've tried all my imps.
Right now I'm trying out Lyonesse, and I think I'm in love. This stuff is gorgeous! It's warm and creamy, all sunshine and vanilla. It practically glows. I am pretty sure I will get a bottle.
Finally roped into BPAL
Mar. 29th, 2007 09:34 pmAfter epilimnion's post today, I was moved to check on the availability of my beloved Forest Rain scent. Alas, Kuumba has discontinued this one as well. So I spent some time in front of my computer with my vial of Forest Rain and the BPAL site and review forum to see if they had anything that sounded close. Of course they did. I think I'm going to order imps of the following:
Burial
Hamadryad
Phantom
La Petite Mort
Tempest
Lyonesse
I don't think the last two will be much at all like Forest Rain, but they sounded really good. Anyone tried any of these?
I also eyed Fallen, Nuit, Envy, and Skuld, but I'll save those for later.
epilimnion's post today, I was moved to check on the availability of my beloved Forest Rain scent. Alas, Kuumba has discontinued this one as well. So I spent some time in front of my computer with my vial of Forest Rain and the BPAL site and review forum to see if they had anything that sounded close. Of course they did. I think I'm going to order imps of the following:Burial
Hamadryad
Phantom
La Petite Mort
Tempest
Lyonesse
I don't think the last two will be much at all like Forest Rain, but they sounded really good. Anyone tried any of these?
I also eyed Fallen, Nuit, Envy, and Skuld, but I'll save those for later.
