Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Perfume mini reviews - BPAL


These are some of the BPAL samples I got from Su a while back. (You can view the whole awesome package here.) I have chosen to only review those BPAL oils that I enjoyed.

Velvet - Notes are stated as sandalwood, cocoa vanilla and myrrh. On me it starts out as a large burst or dry cocoa powder with a sandalwood and vanilla background. On drydown a sweet and fruity note emerges for a while before it turnes into a lovely but rather generic sandalwood/vanilla. Neither sillage nor longevity are terribly good with this one. Lasts maybe three hours and is quite discrete.

Vixen - Notes are supposed to be orange blossom, ginger and patchouli. At first I strangely get a strong note of lavender. The patchouli is also quite sharp, definitely not very aged. I don't smell any ginger, but it is possible that it contributes to the sharpness of the patchouli. After a while this turns sweet. It is not quite floral but I will attribute this sweetness to the orange blossom for now. I confess that I don't quite know what orange blossom smells like. The drydown is still sweet but now with notes of vanilla and chocolate I believe. The patchouli is still going strong. This one is possibly full size worthy. It is interesting with good sillage and about an above average longevity.

The Dodo - Notes for this one are red musk, lemon peel, sugar cane, cassia, white sandalwood, mango, and agarwood. I have heard said that BPAL's red musk is something special but I don't know, to me it smells like quite ordinary musk with a cassia background and hints of the agarwood. The musk soon turns quite powdery and I can smell the sugar. After this the mango emerges for a while. The drydown is musky and woody with some lingering hints of mango. I like this a lot at times, but on the whole it leaves me unimpressed. It seems somehow disjointed... Sillage is good, longevity is about average.

Al Azif - This is a strange one! BPAL doesn´t provide me with any notes on this one apart from the vague term of incense. And I don't smell any incense. I get a dark smoky sweetness, it is resiny but a very creamy sweet resin. There is amber in here I think, and maybe honey. Something here smells like that deliciously fragrant kind of plastic and there are hints of sun tan lotion and makeup. This might actually be full size worthy! It is definitely interesting and smells beautiful on my skin. Sillage is about average, longevity slighly less than average.

Miskatonic University - Notes are stated as Irish coffee, dusty tomes and polished oakwood halls. This one is creamy and sweet from the start. I can't quite tell what it is I am smelling but on wet it does remind me a bit of Cake or Death. I will have to compare the two side by side. I can smell no coffee, no boozyness, no dusty books... Just that strange creamy sweetness, somehow nutty, together with a strong note of oakwood. There are hints of the same sun tan lotion as in Al Azif and some discrete spices. I swear I pick up some kind of while floral, a nice white floral, could be tuberose, but it is very faint. This one stays about the same on my skin the whole time. Slightly more woody on the drydown.  I am a bit disappointed that I can't smell those dusty tomes but the rest of this scent definitely makes up for that! When I read up on this scent I found lots of talk about the coffee, it is strange that I can't smell that at all! But I do have one other coffee scent, and I can's smell any coffee when I wear that one either, so maybe my skin just eats coffee notes. Anyhow, Miskatonic University is my absolute favorite of this lot! Definitely full bottle worthy! Both sillage and longevity are well above average.

On the whole my first meeting with the famed BPAL was positive. These are interesting, and rather unique, oils! Concentrated too, and long lasting! There were other BPAL imps in my package from Su, and some of them were absolutely terrible but I did end up liking five out of ten! :) I can't quite understand the BPAL hype but I'll probably end up ordering from there at some point!

8 comments:

  1. Great reviews! Miscatonic University is on my bottle wish list too. It's so comforting to wear.
    I haven't tried any of the others you mentioned but vixen and Velvet sound really interesting!

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    1. Thank you Amanda! I think that you would like Velvet! It is unlike any chocolate scent I have ever smelled! Vixen has the potential to be really horrible if it hates your skin but really wonderful if your skin chemistry suits it!

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  2. So nice to read your reviews! I need to try Vixen again but I tried Dodo once and it smelt like melons on me! I am glad you liked Miskatonic University. It is strange that it smells so different on you, that's what makes perfume interesting and personal :)

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    1. It really is strange how perfume can smell so differnet on different people! I got a short while of something fruity from The Dodo but much more of the wood and musk...

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  3. Never tried BPAL (gasp!). I wouldn't know where to begin, the website makes my head hurt.

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    1. I haven´t bought anything from the website either. There are soo many scents, I wouldn´t know where to start either. It is just impossible to get an overview... But I like the concepts, the aesthetics and quite a few of the scents I have tried. Their international shipping fees are what ultimately stops me from buying samples. So I delight in leftovers and decants from fellow bloggers!

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  4. Awesome! I wouldn't have been able to try BPAL if it weren't for Dee and Amanda... So much love around here <3 It was great to read your impressions!

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    1. Yeah, my enablers are Su and Dee and BPAL would definitely have been out of my reach without them! It is wonderful that there are so many generous people who are willing to share the love of scents!

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