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annwfynToday I am wearing Clio, which is a mostly rather nice BPAL scent. I wore it all day yesterday and loved it. It smelled, to me, of books and sandalwood, and mellow sunny afternoons in a shadowy quad, with the scent of oranges drifing in from outside. It smelled like the library of Alexandria smelled like in my mind, and I liked it.
pierot got home and I waved my wrist excitedly at him.
"Smell that!" I said.
He sniffed.
"You smell like potpourri," he said.
And now I keep smelling sodding potpourri every single time I sniff my wrist. This vexes me. I may keep going for another couple of days, to see whether the scent re-adjusts in my brain, or whether it is now stuck as 'potpourri'. It's an odd thing how other people's perceptions affect our views of things, isn't it?
I am also suspecting that Jeremiah and I have some slightly different views of how scent works. His other comment on my BPAL experiments has been that I seem to be very fond of trying to make myself smell like food, or potpourri, or incense, or any one of a number of things which he doesn't associate with people, which I think he may be finding rather disconcerting.
Anyway, while I'm writing on this subject have some more reviews...
BPAL Dublin
The site says: The scent of misty forests, damp alder leaf, and the gentlest touch of white rose.
In the bottle: Very very sweet! The rose is the strongest perfume, I think, although there’s something else…something slightly citrus-like I think.
On the wrist: Definitely floral, but a lighter floral than anything else I’ve tried from BPAL so far. I can smell the roses and the greenery now, and it is actually light enough for me to be OK with the flowers in it. It smells like the eau de toilette I used occasionally when I was about 13 and quite liked, or maybe like potpourri of some kind. It definitely reminds me of my bedroom at home, which was full of potpourri, and dried flowers and the like when I was a kid.
One hour later: Very very delicate and very soft. If this was a fabric it would be some kind of pastel coloured muslin. It has lingered, which surprises me. I thought it would fade, but instead there’s this whisp of roses around my arm. It’s a very very girlie scent, but I think I quite like it.
Final verdict: 8/10. I think I will wear this to my cousin’s wedding in June. It smells like a wedding day in a floaty dress to me!
BPAL Red Lantern
The site says: A tribute to the opium den cum bawdyhouses of Shanghai in the 1930’s. Golden amber, blonde tobacco, Sudanese black coconut, rich caramel, black currant, white opium and delphinium laced with a sensual blend of Asian spice.
In the bottle: I can really smell the caramel in that! Quite a rich, sweet scent, but not unpleasant.
On the wrist: Oh that’s nice! The amber and tobacco have come out, making it a much drier scent. The only thing I’m wondering is whether this is a tiny bit masculine. I’d like to smear this on Jeremiah and see what it smells like there. It does really get across the mood thought – there is a definite smell of dubious late nights out, and bad behaviour here.
One hour later: Quite nice – it lingers pleasantly enough. I can definitely smell the tobacco still. It’s less masculine after a while – the delphinium has come out, because there are floral undercurrents. It does smell a tad like I imagine an opium den to smell like actually. I feel quite decadent wearing this!
Final verdict: 8/10. I feel rather sensual in this.
pierot got home and I waved my wrist excitedly at him."Smell that!" I said.
He sniffed.
"You smell like potpourri," he said.
And now I keep smelling sodding potpourri every single time I sniff my wrist. This vexes me. I may keep going for another couple of days, to see whether the scent re-adjusts in my brain, or whether it is now stuck as 'potpourri'. It's an odd thing how other people's perceptions affect our views of things, isn't it?
I am also suspecting that Jeremiah and I have some slightly different views of how scent works. His other comment on my BPAL experiments has been that I seem to be very fond of trying to make myself smell like food, or potpourri, or incense, or any one of a number of things which he doesn't associate with people, which I think he may be finding rather disconcerting.
Anyway, while I'm writing on this subject have some more reviews...
BPAL Dublin
The site says: The scent of misty forests, damp alder leaf, and the gentlest touch of white rose.
In the bottle: Very very sweet! The rose is the strongest perfume, I think, although there’s something else…something slightly citrus-like I think.
On the wrist: Definitely floral, but a lighter floral than anything else I’ve tried from BPAL so far. I can smell the roses and the greenery now, and it is actually light enough for me to be OK with the flowers in it. It smells like the eau de toilette I used occasionally when I was about 13 and quite liked, or maybe like potpourri of some kind. It definitely reminds me of my bedroom at home, which was full of potpourri, and dried flowers and the like when I was a kid.
One hour later: Very very delicate and very soft. If this was a fabric it would be some kind of pastel coloured muslin. It has lingered, which surprises me. I thought it would fade, but instead there’s this whisp of roses around my arm. It’s a very very girlie scent, but I think I quite like it.
Final verdict: 8/10. I think I will wear this to my cousin’s wedding in June. It smells like a wedding day in a floaty dress to me!
BPAL Red Lantern
The site says: A tribute to the opium den cum bawdyhouses of Shanghai in the 1930’s. Golden amber, blonde tobacco, Sudanese black coconut, rich caramel, black currant, white opium and delphinium laced with a sensual blend of Asian spice.
In the bottle: I can really smell the caramel in that! Quite a rich, sweet scent, but not unpleasant.
On the wrist: Oh that’s nice! The amber and tobacco have come out, making it a much drier scent. The only thing I’m wondering is whether this is a tiny bit masculine. I’d like to smear this on Jeremiah and see what it smells like there. It does really get across the mood thought – there is a definite smell of dubious late nights out, and bad behaviour here.
One hour later: Quite nice – it lingers pleasantly enough. I can definitely smell the tobacco still. It’s less masculine after a while – the delphinium has come out, because there are floral undercurrents. It does smell a tad like I imagine an opium den to smell like actually. I feel quite decadent wearing this!
Final verdict: 8/10. I feel rather sensual in this.
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no subject
Date: 2007-04-27 02:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-04-27 02:54 pm (UTC)Just you wait. You're marrying a role playing woman. She'll fall too, and then sniffing the little vials of perfume will become your life too!
no subject
Date: 2007-04-27 03:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-04-27 03:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-04-27 03:28 pm (UTC)Amused
Date: 2007-04-27 04:02 pm (UTC)The site says: The scent of misty forests, damp alder leaf, and the gentlest touch of white rose."
They've clearly never been to Dublin...
Re: Amused
Date: 2007-04-27 04:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-04-27 04:43 pm (UTC)Why not just buy something like CK, Vera Wang, D&G, Gucci etc.
If I meet someone wearing Armani Code, I notice and think that it's cool. If I meet someone smelling like potpourri I'm more likely to think they can't afford Chanel!
So please explain what's all the fuss about??
PS - We must meet up soon :)
no subject
Date: 2007-04-27 07:02 pm (UTC)BPAL is mostly appealing to me because it makes perfume which doesn't smell like normal perfume, which make my nose sting. Chanel makes me smell like my Mum. BPAL makes me smell like a dozen different things - some make me think of a summer day, some make me think of some kind of seductive opium den, some make me think of LUSH products. They are also a little more subtle than most normal perfumes - they leave me with these nice lingering scents which I'm quite fond of.
Well, that and they have the best website which offers all these fantasic and purple prose-y descriptions, and I'm a sucker for such stuff.
no subject
Date: 2007-04-30 10:06 pm (UTC)Because I don't like it?
There's some ingredient in all commercial perfumes - I don't know what, it's been suggested that it's the alcohol, but it may be something else - that I can smell, and really don't like. Whatever it is, you don't get it in most of the BPAL scents.
People have tried shoving various different perfumes under my nose, but in all cases I've been able to smell the whatever-it-is that I don't like, and it would be rather silly to shell out thirty quid on something I don't like, just because of what other people think of the label!
Instead, I get to spend a tenner on something I do like. Win :)
no subject
Date: 2007-04-30 10:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-05-01 10:54 am (UTC)