Reviews of BPAL Products
Mar. 11th, 2006 09:58 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
beetigerMy imps arrived late Thursday night, and I've been working through them. Definitely interesting stuff. I decided to go ahead and try them straight, since most of their clients apparrently do, and since they provided little applicator wands in the bottles so I'm assuming that is the perfumer's inent as well. I still think several of them would benefit from dilution to be more balanced before they fade, though.
HAMADRYAD
BPAL desc: Nature spirits and protectors of the world's groves and forests that appear as breathtakingly beautiful women. Hamadryads are born into a tree that serves as both a home and an anchor for the creature's soul. They are sometimes tricksters, sometimes seducers, sometimes helpful and benign, but they are always fierce and furious protectors of the natural world. Seven dry woods with mossy lichen and a gentle breeze of forest flowers.
Series: Bewitching Brews
In the bottle: Freshly broken branches of sarsparilla trees, the ones with all the different shaped leaves, and moss. A little too rootbeer/wintergreenish in the bottle. I think it's going to be a lot better worn/diluted.
On the skin: Much better as it develops -- the woods start to come through, though I still don't get any florals at all. It reminds me of walking through a West Coast forest with a bottle of rootbeer in my hand. Still, wintergreen really isn't the primary note I was hoping for in this. Very disappointed.
OK, after half an hour it's got more of a balanced men's woody scent without any underlying musk notes, though it's also moderately weak at this point. Should do this in an alcohol dilution and see if I can get it to the balanced state more directly.
ZEPHYR
BPAL desc: A gentle white scent, breezes laced with the scent of springtime blooms and citrus. Lemon, lemon verbena, neroli, white musk, white florals, white sandalwood, China musk, bergamot and a drop of vanilla.
Series: Bewitching Brews
In the bottle: Candied flowers and lemon peels.
On the skin: This reads like teenager perfume to me, though without too much of a baby powder note. I'm too old for this one. After about half an hour of wearing this, I feel like I'm depressed because the boy I like doesn't like me back. Which is odd because I'm mostly not very into boys anymore.
HETAIRAE
BPAL desc:The sublimely beautiful, fiercely independent, impeccably cultured, fascinatingly worldly and witty courtesans of ancient Greece. A seductive and dazzling blend of golden honey, fiery patchouli, sweet fig and clove, and a blushing touch of ylang ylang
Series: Love Potions
In the bottle: Brown fruits and spiced earth. Very dark femme sexy.
On the skin: A picnic of spiced honeyed figs, eaten right after a rain on a late summer's day when it's really too muddy to sit on the ground. Wow. I wore this all morning, and it was really enjoyable. I think it'd be even more fabulous on Julia, though.
SNAKE OIL
BPAL desc: By far, our most popular scent! Magnetic, mysterious, and exceedingly sexual in nature. A blend of exotic Indonesian oils sugared with vanilla.
Series: Love Potions
In the bottle: Sweet brown and vanilla. Very attractive to me. Going to wear it to bed.
On the skin: This keeps getting sweeter and sweeter as it sits. I'm still finding this really compelling, but it's wrong for my chemistry, I think. I keep hoping to turn around and find an Indian woman that I can barely resist kissing. I think I'd be intensely attracted to the woman who could wear this successfully, but I think she's not me. I should ask someone else how it projects from me, though. Maybe I can get away with it better than I think. Still vanillaish in the am --good staying power.
BENGAL
BPAL desc: A sultry and unruly blend that emulates the ambient scent of the markets in ancient Bengal: skin musk with honey, peppers, clove, cinnamon bark and ginger.
Series: Wanderlust
In the bottle: At this concentration, I'm mostly getting cinnamon oil, with hints of ginger and musk. I like cinnamon as a base, but not this much. May be more balanced at the right concenrations.
On the skin: Initially, this is really just reading like a complex cinnamon.Not skin-burning though. After a while other spice notes come through, but still basically cinnamon. Pleasant, but not that interesting. Should try to wok with this one diluted to see if it will balance quicker.
SHANGHAI
BPAL desc: The crisp, clean scent of green tea touched with lemon verbena and honeysuckle.
Series: Wanderlust
In the bottle: Green lemon and honeysuckle, indeed. Very straightforward. May be a better spring scent for me than Zephyr.
On the skin: Herbal and lemony. Fresh-clean. Very summery. Elemental water. A little reminiscent of a cleaing product. After a little while, dries down to much more of a watery floral. Pleasant. Mostly gone in about an hour and a half. Could definitely use this in summertime.
THE COILED SERPENT (bonus freebie)
BPAL desc: A potent yogic oil that stimulates the kundalini, provokes spiritual awakening, and releases the energy seated in your root chakra.
Series: Bewitching Brews
In the bottle: Masculine, heady, patchouli, gentle musk, and sandalwood.
On the skin: Nice simple patchouli/sandalwood, with a bit of a resinous undertone. Earthy. Reads more like a magical oil than a perfume to me, but I like it. After a while on the skin, it's growing on me. Kind of a dancing hippie vibe. BPAL boards say that the yogic energy of this one makes you want to get up and move. I could use that.
yunatwilight was kind enough to send over her own package of imps for the weekend, so I'll be looking at those too. Fun!
HAMADRYAD
BPAL desc: Nature spirits and protectors of the world's groves and forests that appear as breathtakingly beautiful women. Hamadryads are born into a tree that serves as both a home and an anchor for the creature's soul. They are sometimes tricksters, sometimes seducers, sometimes helpful and benign, but they are always fierce and furious protectors of the natural world. Seven dry woods with mossy lichen and a gentle breeze of forest flowers.
Series: Bewitching Brews
In the bottle: Freshly broken branches of sarsparilla trees, the ones with all the different shaped leaves, and moss. A little too rootbeer/wintergreenish in the bottle. I think it's going to be a lot better worn/diluted.
On the skin: Much better as it develops -- the woods start to come through, though I still don't get any florals at all. It reminds me of walking through a West Coast forest with a bottle of rootbeer in my hand. Still, wintergreen really isn't the primary note I was hoping for in this. Very disappointed.
OK, after half an hour it's got more of a balanced men's woody scent without any underlying musk notes, though it's also moderately weak at this point. Should do this in an alcohol dilution and see if I can get it to the balanced state more directly.
ZEPHYR
BPAL desc: A gentle white scent, breezes laced with the scent of springtime blooms and citrus. Lemon, lemon verbena, neroli, white musk, white florals, white sandalwood, China musk, bergamot and a drop of vanilla.
Series: Bewitching Brews
In the bottle: Candied flowers and lemon peels.
On the skin: This reads like teenager perfume to me, though without too much of a baby powder note. I'm too old for this one. After about half an hour of wearing this, I feel like I'm depressed because the boy I like doesn't like me back. Which is odd because I'm mostly not very into boys anymore.
HETAIRAE
BPAL desc:The sublimely beautiful, fiercely independent, impeccably cultured, fascinatingly worldly and witty courtesans of ancient Greece. A seductive and dazzling blend of golden honey, fiery patchouli, sweet fig and clove, and a blushing touch of ylang ylang
Series: Love Potions
In the bottle: Brown fruits and spiced earth. Very dark femme sexy.
On the skin: A picnic of spiced honeyed figs, eaten right after a rain on a late summer's day when it's really too muddy to sit on the ground. Wow. I wore this all morning, and it was really enjoyable. I think it'd be even more fabulous on Julia, though.
SNAKE OIL
BPAL desc: By far, our most popular scent! Magnetic, mysterious, and exceedingly sexual in nature. A blend of exotic Indonesian oils sugared with vanilla.
Series: Love Potions
In the bottle: Sweet brown and vanilla. Very attractive to me. Going to wear it to bed.
On the skin: This keeps getting sweeter and sweeter as it sits. I'm still finding this really compelling, but it's wrong for my chemistry, I think. I keep hoping to turn around and find an Indian woman that I can barely resist kissing. I think I'd be intensely attracted to the woman who could wear this successfully, but I think she's not me. I should ask someone else how it projects from me, though. Maybe I can get away with it better than I think. Still vanillaish in the am --good staying power.
BENGAL
BPAL desc: A sultry and unruly blend that emulates the ambient scent of the markets in ancient Bengal: skin musk with honey, peppers, clove, cinnamon bark and ginger.
Series: Wanderlust
In the bottle: At this concentration, I'm mostly getting cinnamon oil, with hints of ginger and musk. I like cinnamon as a base, but not this much. May be more balanced at the right concenrations.
On the skin: Initially, this is really just reading like a complex cinnamon.Not skin-burning though. After a while other spice notes come through, but still basically cinnamon. Pleasant, but not that interesting. Should try to wok with this one diluted to see if it will balance quicker.
SHANGHAI
BPAL desc: The crisp, clean scent of green tea touched with lemon verbena and honeysuckle.
Series: Wanderlust
In the bottle: Green lemon and honeysuckle, indeed. Very straightforward. May be a better spring scent for me than Zephyr.
On the skin: Herbal and lemony. Fresh-clean. Very summery. Elemental water. A little reminiscent of a cleaing product. After a little while, dries down to much more of a watery floral. Pleasant. Mostly gone in about an hour and a half. Could definitely use this in summertime.
THE COILED SERPENT (bonus freebie)
BPAL desc: A potent yogic oil that stimulates the kundalini, provokes spiritual awakening, and releases the energy seated in your root chakra.
Series: Bewitching Brews
In the bottle: Masculine, heady, patchouli, gentle musk, and sandalwood.
On the skin: Nice simple patchouli/sandalwood, with a bit of a resinous undertone. Earthy. Reads more like a magical oil than a perfume to me, but I like it. After a while on the skin, it's growing on me. Kind of a dancing hippie vibe. BPAL boards say that the yogic energy of this one makes you want to get up and move. I could use that.
yunatwilight was kind enough to send over her own package of imps for the weekend, so I'll be looking at those too. Fun!
