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!
