BPAL review: New Orleans

[rushthatspeaks]

To expand: I hadn't much hope, because so far every scent that has worked on me has failed absolutely and totally during my period. So today I was just rummaging among the ones I hadn't tried at all, and I figured what the hell, and I'm going to have to test again to see if this one works when I *haven't* got my period, but even if it doesn't I don't care.

Wanderlust: New Orleans

Lab Description: Reminiscent of hothouse blooms on a humid night, ripe, but touched with decay. Sweet honeysuckle and jasmine with a hint of lemon and spice.

Vial: Spice. Very dry, and not very sharp. An old-books kind of smell, not terribly promising, which is why I haven't tried it before. No florals at all, and no fruit.

Wet: Spice laced with CRACK. I have no idea why this smells so good, because it ought to be giving an impression of mustiness, but it isn't. It is, however, the one spicy sort of scent I've ever tried that is neither too sharp in an attacking-my-sinuses-with-rocks sort of way nor too sweet in an I-smell-like-the-bakery-I-used-to-work-in sort of way. Still no floral. Still no fruit. I DON'T CARE. AT ALL. I cannot keep my wrist away from my nose.

Drydown: There's the lemon. But it isn't overpowering everything else and turning violently sweet the way all fruit almost always does on me: it's a pure, clear top note, like a cold breath of air. In fact, it isn't sweet at all. It's lemon without sugar. Yay.

Five minutes later: And the floral just hit: OMG honeysuckle, and the very best jasmine like you get from a really good pot of jasmine tea. But the other stuff hasn't gone away, so it's STILL NOT TOO SWEET and I don't smell like anybody's grandmother.

In fact, I smell like the very best glass of secret-ingredient iced tea with a slice of lemon and no sugar that I've never had, drunk out on a porch next to a muddy but not swampy river and a luxuriant flowering of honeysuckle. So if they want to call this New Orleans? FINE BY ME.

I still can't keep my wrist away from my nose.

If this still works on me when I haven't got my period, and if the throw lasts any time at all and doesn't vanish in the next half hour, I want a bottle. I didn't expect to love this, but it's totally the best I've found since White Rabbit, and White Rabbit is my all-time favorite wear-everywhere. Cool.

I should totally look around for a perfume icon.

Comments

[copperwise.livejournal.com]

Oooo, let me?

[rushthatspeaks.livejournal.com]

Would you? That would be so cool!

[copperwise.livejournal.com]

Your wish is my command, my darling. Let me know if any of these will work.

[copperwise.livejournal.com]

Ah, the quotes are Milton, Paradise Lost. Though I expect you know that already. :)

[rushthatspeaks.livejournal.com]

Oh, these are lovely! I'm taking the 'odors of Araby', and I wish I had enough icon space for all of them.

Thanks, hon.

[sovay]

In fact, I smell like the very best glass of secret-ingredient iced tea with a slice of lemon and no sugar that I've never had, drunk out on a porch next to a muddy but not swampy river and a luxuriant flowering of honeysuckle. So if they want to call this New Orleans? FINE BY ME.

I think I may throw my habitual (allergy-ingrained) wariness of perfume to the winds and demand—or beg; whatever it takes—to try some of these the next time I am actually over at your place. Either that, or you should start writing copy for BPAL. Maybe both.

[rushthatspeaks.livejournal.com]

You can totally try some of them-- the most likely suspect in your perfume allergy is any one of the several different chemicals that most perfume companies use to make their smells last longer and go more strongly into the air, and BPAL makes a point of not using them, so you probably won't be automatically allergic to their stuff. Individual allergies, like 'lavender' or 'citrus', would still apply, but the generalized perfume allergy doesn't seem to (Thrud is allergic to perfume generally and seems to be able to be around these fine).

And the people who write copy for BPAL are better at it than I am. By far. That's how I got sucked into this hobby: these are people who have a scent named after the Four Hundred Divine Rabbits of the Aztec pantheon. I've gotten several perfumes from them that turn out not to smell good on me, or not to smell that good in general, but I kind of find myself reluctant to get rid of some of those, because *I have perfume called Yggdrasil*. Now that's marketing.

[sovay]

So far as I know, I am not allergic to any specific scents; I just have massive, eyes-itching, trouble-breathing reactions to people who wear perfume, especially in large quantities. yuki_onna has pointed out that I didn't seem allergic to her at Wiscon, however, so this may be a good sign for BPAL.

I've gotten several perfumes from them that turn out not to smell good on me, or not to smell that good in general, but I kind of find myself reluctant to get rid of some of those, because *I have perfume called Yggdrasil*. Now that's marketing.

Oh, there are any number of perfumes I want based solely on their mythological or literary associations. For example, I dearly covet Old Scratch, despite the fact that I have no idea how "a lavender fougere with tonka, amber, rosewood and a whiff of diabolical patchouli" would smell (let alone on me), and you have no idea how much I want Olokun.

[rushthatspeaks.livejournal.com]

Based solely on the three notes I've actually smelled from Old Scratch, I would summarize it as 'like a head shop, only sweeter'. I tend to avoid patchouli on general principle, though. But it is a great name.

I want all the orishas, despite the fact that they mostly have fruit and fruit smells hellish on me.

[sovay]

'like a head shop, only sweeter'

You always knew the Devil was a hippie . . .

[oracne.livejournal.com]

Hey, I'm wearing this today!

Except on me, the honeysuckle and jasmine dominate.