BPAL: The good, the bad and the ugly.

I'm still obsessing over Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab perfume oils, and I have been working my way through testing my recent acquisitions. Overall, I am insanely in love with these, though I have hit one or two that are a bit out there even for me. I'm just going to do a brief summing up of a few, as I keep forgetting to write decent enough notes for a proper review. Besides, perfume is so personal - I could love something and someone else could hate it. All I can say is, check out the site, find things that sound good, and try them! And if, like me, you find about 876 things that sound good, we can bunk together in Debtor's Prison. Hey, we'll smell good!

Ile de la Tortue My friend Jodi, whom I sucked into this addiction, sent this to me because she thought it smelled like toilet spray. I suspect this is because she has vanilla toilet spray in her house, and the strongest base note in this one (for me, at least) is vanilla. The first thing I thought of when I sniffed it in the Imp was old lady hair salons. This sounds like a criticism, but I actually love that smell. I use Cedel hair spray because that too reminds me of old lady hair salons. There's something comforting and nostalgic about that smell. After a while it settled into something tropical and vanilla. I liked it but I didn't love it, and I probably wouldn't buy a full bottle.

Burial This was another one I got just because I loved the name, but I wasn't that keen on it. It smells like roses, but underneath is something hospital-y. Like olde worlde bandaids...? I can't quite put my finger on it. But no. Not for me. Jodi said it smelled like pot pourri on her.

The Lights Of Men's Lives This is super pretty. Vanilla beeswax with a dash of honey. At first it didn't seem to have any staying power, but about an hour after "disappearing" it was back, and then it stayed and stayed and stayed. I put it on late afternoon and I could still smell it when I got up the next morning! It was really quite strange. I loved this one - it's on my wishlist for a future full bottle.

Vice This is another foodie one - on me it was quite sweet, with notes of cream, sugar, chocolate and some kind of fruit. The reviewers in this link talk about cherry, and that could well be it. I couldn't really place it for sure. I'm not entirely sure whether I like this one or not. It's almost too sweet, but on the other hand, I did sniff myself a lot when I was wearing it. I think I need at least one more test before I decide once and for all.

Queen I'm almost wondering if I was sent something else by mistake with this label on it. The reviewers in the link talk about pepper and herbs and something metallic. The first thing I picked up was pipe tobacco. It made me think of my long-dead grandpa, who always smoked a pipe. That settled fairly quickly to something green and wet - almost like hay - and finally to a subtle, boozy vanilla bourbon. I really loved the complexity of this one. Definitely on the future buy list.

Black Lily Lily is one of my favourite kick-arse florals. It's one of those ones guaranteed to give half the population a headache, and those are the ones I love! This is a very pure lily scent, I can't pick up anything else at all. I loved it.

The Witch's Repast This smelled like the breath of a 60 year old alcoholic. And that's pretty much all I have to say about it. Yuk.

Oh, and I just have to add that on the weekend I bought some more BPALs from a girl online, and one of them (which I totally admit I bought for the name, although it does have notes that I like) is called Diary Of A Lovestruck Teenage Cannibal. Is that not the greatest name for anything EVER?