BPAL - Gingerbread Poppet 2010

So close to Christmas we need more BPAL Yules!

Freshly applied this is for 2 seconds sweet cream (hate those 2 minutes, it's just far too sweet) and after those 2 seconds it's warm gingerbread fresh from the oven! Love it!

Dry: ... ?!

I tested this scent already a few times and always loved it! It lost a bit of the spicyness and turned into a sort vanillary gingerbread which was delightful. Today something is utterly wrong. It smells like plastic on me! It never did before! I guess that it's best to stop the testing today - my skin seems to be in a funny mood - or my nose. Will come back for this one!

Later: Okay, now it's back to normal! :o) Plastic gone, cookie back. Spicy, sweet and gives an overall good feeling.

It seems to have some throw - but I can only catch it when I attach my nose to my skin ... but a coworker told me "you smell sooooo good" - and was standing 1m away from me.

Verdict for me: A bottle please!!

Oh, but let's have a look at the lab's description!

Warm, cozy gingerbread spiced with nutmeg, clove and cinnamon.

Yes, can confirm that :o)

BPAL - The Waltz of the Snowflakes 2010

And the next Yule - this time from The Nutcracker.

Wet: The first second this is heavy and creamy - but right after that it turns into a mint scent with vanilla and some woods in the background.

I'm not a real big fan of mints ...

After a few minutes the mint blends in with the creamy-woody vanilla and it's just intriguing and wonderful. Comfy but not boring.

And now the lab's words:

The Snow Queen and Snow King greet Klara and the Nutcracker Prince as they journey through the Enchanted Forest: vanilla-laced snow, graceful and sweet, with fir needle and black pine bark.

Yes, fits :o) Vanilla + snow = mint, a bit wood from the bark and I guess the fir needle makes it so special.

After several hours this gets a chocolate note - I like the morphing of this one and it's so unique to me - definitely a bottle of this one!

BPAL - Jolasveinar 2010

It's Christmastime, right? So lets have a sniff at the BPAL Yules. BPAL Yules seem to work a lot better on me than the Weenies - so I guess it'll be difficult to figure out which ones are bottleworthy - or better: Which ones I can affort!

Let's start with Jolasveinar 2010!

Wet: Soap with some gingerbread!

Dry: The soap takes off more and more - the stage welcomes sweetmint and a light wood scent. The gingerbread have disappeared. After some minutes a light iced fruit scent blends into the woods and takes back the sweet mint.

This seems to be one of the few BPAL scents that does not turn sweet on me - quite nice! It's fresh and nice and cool. The more I sniff on it, the more it reminds me of a less sweet and less artificial but more herb "Cool Water" - strange!

Time to have a look at the description! The lab says:

The Jólasveinar are the seventy-some offspring of Grýla and Leppalúði, an ogre couple with a taste for chomping naughty children. This impish brood delights in causing discomfort, sowing confusion, and all-out raising hell during the Yule season. Their names are indicative of their malicious intentions -- Strap Loosener, Door Slammer, Window Peeper, Sausage Snatcher, Doorway Sniffer, Icebreaker -- and their creepy natures -- Lamp Shadow, Smoke Gulper, Crevice Imp. The devillish Jólasveinar finally cease their mischief and head for home at Þrettándinn.

Their scent is a mishmash of snow, dirt, Icelandic moss, marsh felwort, and the smushed petals of buttercups and moorland spotted orchids, with the barest hint of the scent of pilfered Christmas pastries.

Wow - somehow this doesn't match ... or does it? Snow = hint of mint ... no dirt in this one ... moss - yes, at least a little bit of it ... marsh - perhaps the soapy thing in the beginning? ... can buttercups and spotted orchids turn into something icy-fruity? The pastries have been there in the first seconds. Okay, perhaps this does add up after all! :o)

Anyway, this one is nice an different from my other BPALs and it's on my "would like to get a bottle" list!

And this one would be great on my dragon, will have to dab some on him.

BPAL - The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil

This was a frimp from the lab :o)

Wet: warm fruit with a hint of spice and a background of grass and hay

Dry: still fruity but without any tartness to it. Perhaps sweet pear + something floral. Good that the spicy feeling didn't stay, in the first moment it felt like one of whose "spice" scents that make me nauseous and my skin amps them like crazy - instead it turned into a kind of honey underneath the fruit.

Later. Whoa ... this is just getting sweeter and sweeter, the honey seems to grow on me. Time to have a look if there even is honey in this blend from Rappaccini's Garden:

Whiffs of cinnamon bark, almond, and spikenard surround a perfect fruit, whose scent is akin to a tamarind, with the grace of a fine grape, as warm and rich as a fresh fig, glistening red like pomegranate seeds, and as crisp as an apple.

No honey. But okay, something like tamarind! Yes, that explains the sweetness. I really can't get any apple nor pomegranate - there could be a hint of grape - but it's a really overripe grape.

No no no, this just is not the right scent for me, far too sweet! I'm not the fruity scent person anyway but if I wear a fruitscent I want it to be fresh.

Easy verdict: Absolutly no bottle ;o)

BPAL - Haunted

Wet: Sweet citrus

Dry: Still citrus - this is funny because I pretested this scent a few weeks ago and back then it was a amber-foody beauty I adored - but now it's ... just so different! I'm not a citrus-fan, so this one is really not my alley.

Lets have a look at the lab's description under Ars Moriendi:

A mournful, poignant scent, thick with foreboding. Soft golden amber darkened with a touch of murky black musk.

Well - obviously my skin is confused. Back at the first test I knew that this scent should not be foody. Now it's not foody but fruity and that's wrong too. I just don't get it.

Both scents don't fit the description at all - todays citrus is everything but not mournful - it is sunny and happy. And the warm amber scent is very comfortable and nice - perhaps hauted by a nice blanket to wrap myself in ;o)

A bit later: Now it's baby-powder ... dead on.

A lot later: Aah, now it's like the first time I used it - amber and a bit foody, really nice. I'll have to think about this one. My favorite amber scent is still Blood Amber - and I'm not sure if I want to wait more than one hour for this scent to become nice. Without Blood Amber I guess I'd go for this one. I'll have an eye on it while the imp ages a bit, perhaps it becomes better, otherwise this won't pop up my bottle wishlist.

BPAL - Halloween: Brooklyn 2010

I confess: I just ordered this decant because I loooove NYC - so I just had to have this one, even if the labs description did not call out for me:

Flowering dogwood, weeping cherry, Korean pine, camellia, moonflower, Alberta spruce, arborvitae, and crab apples.

Wet this is a sharp scent. Aquatic mixed with smashed floral stems and a hint of some sour fruit.

As it dries down it gets a lot more gentle. Now there are wet trees, and wet leaves on the gravel in a park.

My skin seems to eat this one - it has no trow at all - which is too bad because it is a very interesting scent. It's not a "perfumy" scent to me - it's just very beautiful, conjuring up a perfect park scene after a heavy rain, paired with some melancholic thoughts.

I can't pick out the scents listed in the labs description - but on the other hand I don't know most of these scents ;o)

Cotton-test: On my cotton piece it's the fresh and aquatic scent with some crushed stems but without the fruits. Pleasant and rainy.

Verdict: I'm torn about this one. I only want to buy bottles of scents I'll truly want to wear - and I don't want to wear this one. But it's so nice - on my skin and on the cotton, even - or perhaps because - those scents are so very different. I enjoy sniffing it every few minutes ... but I wouldn't want somebody else to sniff it on me. So perhaps I should just keep my imp and enjoy it ... but I'm not determined yet.

BPAL - Satyr

Wet this reminds me a bit of Lush Tramp - not that it's the same scent, it's only the same feeling.

It's really hard for me to pinpoint what this scent could be. Musk and something wooden? A dab patchouli? A hint of lavender?

As it dries it's a lot like Czernobog which I looooooove. It looses the disturbing complexity it had in the wet phase and becomes sweeter and softer but still a bit wild and extraordinary.

I'll have to do a comparison between Czernobog and Satyr. Wet I like Czernobog better - but dry I'm not sure.

But lets have a look at the BPAL homepage, Ars Amatoria. The lab doesn't reveal a lot about this one:

Unleash the bawdy, unrestrained passion of the satyr! A ferociously masculine scent: sexual, vigorous, and truly wild.

Sexual: yes. Masculine: perhaps. Wild: a bit. Anyway: Dry it makes me want to eat my hand! It's gorgeous and will go right to my "need a bottle" list - and I'd love to try it on my dragon!

But this won't be a typical "go to" scent for me like Blood Amber. Blood Amber feels like a blanket I can cuddle in or like a second skin. It just feels "me" - Satyr is more "what I'd like to be" or "that's my mood today".

edit: Several hours later this becomes powdery in the best way possible - still in love with this one!

BPAL - Punkie Night 2010

Another Halloweenie from this year! The lab description says:

Once upon a time, on a wild October night many years ago, a fair took place at Chiselborough. The men of the village of Hinton St. George made their way to the fair, and spent the night in revelry, drinking and carrying on, far into the darkest hours. Their wives grew concerned, and went looking for their unruly husbands. In order to see their way through the autumn gloom, they hollowed out mangel-wurzels and crafted them into makeshift lanterns. The drunken men, in their sloshy haze, saw the ghostly lights approaching, and believed them to be goolies -- the furious spirits of unbaptized children. In terror, they fled in panic from their bemused, bewildered wives.

To this day, that night of foolishness is still celebrated! This is a light-hearted scent: apple orchards, bright cranberries, and a touch of warm cider.

Wet this is fresh and crisp, green apple! Nice, authentic and crisp.

After a while it seems get a floral sidenote, but it's very discreet.

Dry: It gets warmer and I can get some cranberries, but they stay in the background. It's still mostly apple but the cider part adds something mellow to it and gives it a boozy feeling (still wearable in public without someone thinking you drank ;o) ) - it's not the fresh cut apple anymore.

I like this scent, but I'm not often in the mood for a warm, cozy fruit scent. I'll keep my decant but I won't need a bottle of this one.

Still in regard to the day I'll get my scent locket, I tested this one on a piece of cotton to see how it behaves without my skin altering it.

Comparing my wrist to the piece of cotton approx. 45min after application:
While my skin turned this one into a warm scent, the scent on the cotton is still fresh. It's all about freshly cut apple with a really tiny hint of cranberries, no cider noticeable at all. I prefere the cotton version because of it's authenticity and freshness but I'm not tempted to buy a bottle of this for scent-locket use. While it is a beautiful apple scent, it's "only" an apple scent. I wan't more from a perfume than the feeling of a single note. But I'd like this scent as a room scent ... perhaps placing the cotton piece on my heater will help me with that ;o)

Update: The cotton peice on the heater is more red apple scent, a bit warmer than before - nice roomscent!

BPAL - Halloween: San Francisco 2010

I was so waiting for this decant! The lab's description just sounds too great:

Salt air wafting in from the bay. Rain falling on rain-soaked leaves.

I love the idea behind these "Halloween memory" scents from Beth :o) Thank you for sharing your Halloweens with us!


Lets see what my skin does to it:

Wet this is salty + fresh sort of herbal. I don't associate this one with leaves - for me it is too sharp for leaves.

Dry: This is definitively playing in the "fresh" class! It really reminds me of taking a walk on a foggy autumn morning next to the sea.

But I don't get enough from the leaves in this one - it's only foggy and fresh, that's why it's not really what I was hoping for. It's drawing a nice picture and I really like the idea of it but I don't think that I'll need a bottle of this one. But I'll appreciate my decant.

I could imagine this one on my dragon - will have to ask if he'll finally give in and try his first BPAL! If he should like it, I consider one bottle as a gift for him - always wanted to enable him!

BPAL - Wanda

This was one of the lab's frimps in my last order. So without reading anything - here are my impressions:

Wet: booze!

Dry: First there is some cherry coming trough and the booze is not overpowering any more. This is nice and fresh and feminin on me! And there is a faint floral undertone coming to the surface.

After one hour or so there is mainly rose with a fruity-boozy background to it. No "old lady's rose", I'd say.

Well ... this is nice and I think I'm going to wear it again but it's not something I'll really crave for. Overall conclusion is: Feminin, subtle, an everyday scent for someone liking floral scents with this extra fruity stuff - but not in a foody way.

And what is in the lab's description from this Ars Amatoria blend?

Along with Loviatar, she has become something of a Patron Goddess of all Dominatrixes, Wanda is the breathtakingly beautiful sable-wrapped marble queen of Sacher-Masoch's fantasies. Her scent is a deep red merlot with a faint hint of leather, sexual musk and body heat over crushed roses, violets and myrtle.

Oh okay, so it really was booze in the wet phase! But I really don't get any leather nor musk - but yes, merlot and roses - perhaps with a hint of the myrtle!

But for a Patron Goddess of all Dominatrixes this is somehow demure ... ;o)

BPAL - Ghoulish 2010

I snatched myself some Halloweenie decants - hate to buy bottles unsniffed. And even if these are LE I still want some of them.

So today's scent will be Ghoulish 2010. The lab site says:

This season's Ridiculous Scent! Creepy like Creepy and as spooky as Spooky, this is the scent of a black cherry and coconut amaretto confection gently laced with saffron.

Wet: Gorgeous cherry! Rich and deep and great!

Dry: First this gets spicier. I guess it could be the saffron and the amaretto comes out to play while the cherry is almost gone which is too bad because I really liked it a lot. This is sweet, but not toothaching sweet due to the spicy background. This scent gives a warm feeling to me and reminds my of a fire cracling in the chimney while having a cup of tea and nibble a some gingerbread (even if there is no resemblance to fire or gingerbread in the scent, don't get me wrong here!).

While this is a nice scent I can't see myself wearing it a lot.

After 1h: Oh no :o( This is getting more and more spicy on me like usually only BPAL pumpkin and caramel does. Gnah. It's not that bad that I'd have to wash it away but it's just not good on me.

I'll have to try this one under scent locket conditions (I don't have one yet but I'll change that in the future) - if it should stay the way it's in the wet phase, I'd love it.

edit: I tried this one on a piece of cotton for a scent locket test: It is spicy cherry + amaretto cookies - it's true to the description but I don't really like the spicyness it has - so no, this one is truly not for me.

update: But after 1 day the cotton smells like some wonderful cake/cookie - and this scent stayed for 4 days *sigh* wonderful!

BPAL - Dorian

After several years of BPALing I finally ordered an imp of Dorian from Sin & Salvation. It's one of those legend BPALs that are loved from a lot of people - so it's just time to try it (even if my cold is still lingering).

So, the lab description says:

The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. Resist it, and your soul grows sick with longing for the things it has forbidden to itself. Inspired by and created for my beloved Tedwin: my eternal, beautiful, wicked Dorian Gray. Refined, elegant, and lovely, with a noble bearing and seemingly gentle air. This blend is an artful deception: a sweet gilded blossom lying over a twisted and corrupted core. A Victorian fougere with three pale musks and dark, sugared vanilla tea.

Wet: Tea, lemon and vanilla - a bit foody. This could be nice!

Dry: Gets more bitter and lemony, right like the black tea my dragon likes to drink.

After some minutes: Unfortunately this goes sour on my skin - very unpleasant. No musks and no vanilla left.

And again: One bestseller BPAL that does not work on me!

One of the rare occasions I had to wash the scent away ... but it reminds me that I still have the unread Dorian Gray book at home.

BPAL shopping

BPAL shopping is a ritual - and it requires a certain amount of patience ...

First I check which bottles I really need. Which is always 1 bottle of Blood Amber + some additional scents.

Then you go to the Lab site and search through the site, make a list with scents that sound good (typically way too many). Usually I stop searching the labs site after a while because I consider it to be too hard to narrow my wishlist later - so better not let it grow too big in the beginning.

After that I go to the forum and search for recommendations and reviews - which usually ends up in adding more and more scents to my wishlist, crossing out a few, reconsidering others.

Then comes the day when I finally allow myself to order - a lot of BPALers do that on lunacy updates (for 1-2 days you can order a special lunacy blend) - I try to avoid all lunacys and Limited Editions because I fear that I fall in love with a scent that might never come back again. So I usually stick to the GC (General Catalogue - which is huge and filled with wonderful blends). And then comes the waiting ... mostly it takes about 3 weeks for my orders to arrive.

And then - after a looooong time - I finally get this magical little parcel filled with beauties ...



4 bottles, 13 imps and a lot of frimps (free imps - I'm so glad the lab tosses them in! Somehow I often end up loving the frimps more than the imps I chosed! ... of course ending up in buying more bottles ... so thank you BPAL!!) and a card.

And then the testing beginns ... usually ending up in trying up to 4 different scents at the same time and asking the dragon "And this one?!" - and after that comes the careful testing, only one scent at the time and allowing it to morph over the hours.

This time the package just arrived at the wrong time - I'm having a cold and my nose is just unfair, depriving me of sniffing thoroughly through my new treasures - but I guess one day my cold has to go away ...

BPAL - Khephra

A random BPAL, this time a discontinued one (it was from The Stations of the Sun: The Midnight Sun):

Hail unto thee who art Khephra in Thy hiding, even unto Thee who art Khephra in Thy silence, who travellest over the heavens in Thy bark at the Midnight Hour of the Sun.
Tahuti standeth in His splendour at the prow, and Ra-Hoor abideth at the helm.
Hail unto Thee from the Abodes of Evening.

Wet: I can't pick out any specific note but some cardamom ... this is just something golden and warm to me (I usually write my own thoughts before I go to the lab and read their description - somehow I wouldn't have thought the Midnight Sun to be such a warm and golden scent!).

Dry: The cardamom fades a bit, some soap appears ... and something herbal comes out to play. Herbal-floral. Perhaps camomille?! Nice but light. Suits this rainy day. Despite the soapy undertone in this one it's a very nice and warm scent which gives me a comfortable feeling.

Verdict: It's okay, even nice - but nothing I need more of. Other BPALs suit me much better and give me a warmer feeling overall.

BPAL - Bon Vivant

Random BPAL from Bewitching Brews. The lab writes:

An effervescent blend of crystalline champagne notes and sweet strawberry.

Wet: Artifical boozy scent, sparkling and fresh. No strawberries yet.

Dry: Gets sweeter and looses the sparkling scent and becomes nicer - reminds me of a bodyscrub I once had. I still don't get strawberries which is too bad because I love strawberries ...

Becomes a fresh and fruity, light scent. Pleasant but just not the right thing for me.

BPAL - Jailbait

The next random BPAL comes from Sin & Salvation:

Innocence defiled. Sticky pink bubblegum and the thick, sweet scent of orange and cherry lollipops smeared over a breath of heady womanly perfume.

Wet: Bubblegum!

For german readers: Do you remember the pink "Fix und Foxy Kaugummi" that was sold in the 80s? This smells dead on like those bubblegums!

Dry: Something sweet, soft and fruity, candylike. Artifical - but not bad. I think this is a typical little girl scent - I know I'd have loved it when I was a little girl. But for now it's too ... well simple - I miss the "heady womanly perfume". Perhaps I should give this one to my niece (to be) - she is 6 and I think she would appreciate this one.

BPAL - Kill-Devil

Lets grab a new random BPAL! Again from Bewitching Brews:

"Rum punch is not improperly called Kill-Devil; for thousands lose their lives by its means. When newcomers use it to the least excess, they expose themselves to imminent peril, for it heats the blood and brings on fevers, which in a very few hours send them to their graves."

Sugar cane, molasses, oak wood, and honey.

Wet: Very sirupy.

Dry: Sweet, a bit mossy with a hint of wood. Not unpleasant but also not really my thing. And somehow this one is a very flat scent - I more fond of the complex BPALs. But this one could be nice for layering!

Still this one would be a good choice for a cold and sunny day, perhaps for a walk on a fair or something like that.

And while this is sweet, I'd still consider it to be unisex because it's sweet + masculine undertone.

BPAL - Black Forrest

Another random BPAL from Bewitching Brews.

This is the captured scent of a cold, moonless night, lost deep within the darkest wood. Haunting and desolate, this scent evokes images of fairy tale tragedy and half-remembered nightmares. Thick, viscous pine with ambergris, black musk, juniper and cypress.

Wet: Shower gel "Aqua". Cheap, soapy, blue with something sweet underneath (well, no wonder, I ruen everything sweet, right?!)

Dry: Still soapy, a bit piney - only the sweet note is a bit more prominent.

I don't really get the picture of a forrest from this one since there is a sweetness to it, I can't see any dark night or cold or desolate feeling in it.

After 1h: soap + shower gel seem to vanish and leave a nice sweet piney scent with something sour behind ...

My skin might spoil it - I think I'll try it once on my dragon, otherwise it gets a "no" from me.

BPAL - Bliss

A favorite of mine :o)

It's from Bewitching Brews and the lab description says

A shot of pure, self-indulgent euphoria! A scent that is very, very wicked in its own way: the serotonin-slathered scent of pure milk chocolate.

This is far from milk chocolate on me! It's the scent of my favorite chocolate cake the moment you take it from the oven and the whole room becomes one big yummy!

It's not too sweet and has a tart edge. I really love it!

My dragon and my mom think that it is masculine - and they don't get the chocolate at all - while my coworker agreed with the hot chocolate cake.

This scent is just perfect for cold and rainy days because it's like a blanket I can wrap around me. It definitively cheers me up and gives a warm feeling - and makes me crave for chocolate :o(

BPAL - Cathedral

The next random BPAL from Sin & Salvation:

Venerable and solemn: the scent of incense smoke wafting through an ancient church. A true ecclesiatical blend of pure resins.

Wet: Somehow soapy with a nice spicy background and a touch of eucalyptus.

5min: This reminds me of Aureus, I think ... it's somehow pleasant but the soapy note is distracting.

Dry: The soap is gone, the spice (guess it's the incense) is still there and is now accompanied by a very dry, wooden scent. Nice!

After 1h - either the scent almost gone or nose is stuck! There is only a light scent left, a bit spicy and somewhat nice but I really have to put my nose on my skin to smell it.

Verdict: A nice scent but somehow unsigificant on my skin and too faint. But I'll revisit it on another day to rule our that my nose is the culprit!

BPAL - Gluttony

I know when I ordered this one I was sooooo thrilled. Gluttony from Sin & Salvation:

Thick, sugared and bloated with sweetness. Dark chocolate, vanilla, buttercream, and hops with pralines, hazelnut, toffee and caramel.

Sounds great, right? Foody, yummy ... but on me it is really ugly! No chocolate, no cream, nothing of the nice things that should be there! On me it is very powerfulf, very spicy a bit smokey and it makes me nauseous! I guess by now that it's my skin + BPALs caramel - they just don't go together.

I let the dragon sniff at this and he even claimed that the scent reminds him of a oddly sweet broth.

Definitively a scent I won't need ...

BPAL - Eclipse

Again a random BPAL: Eclipse from Bewitching Brews. The lab tells us

All the glory, warmth and majesty of the sun -- darkened. A delicious blend of bitter almond, vanilla, frankincense and heliotrope, with a drop of cinnamon.

Well, wet this is wonderful. It's cherry/almond, wonderful, not too sweet, just perfection.

Wet on my skin I almost went nuts: Perfect!! Still like in the imp!

Dry: Huh?! Where did all the cherries go ... ahm, almonds?! After 10 minutes I barely can pick up any scent at all! My skin ate Eclipse!!! And my skin is tingling a bit where I applied the oil. Strange. Everything left is a slight sugary note - absolutely nice, but nothing more or less, far too subtle for a perfume! I have to attach my nose to my skin to guess that there is something to smell!

2nd try: A bit of oil in my hair - perhaps the scent stays there! But again ... after some minutes there's only a faint sweet scent, not as sugary as on my skin - but no almonds, no vanilla.

This is sad - wet it's such a great scent!! Perhaps I should use it as roomscent in an oillamp - that could work.

Well, perhaps good for me: I escaped another "have to buy a bottle!"-trap.

Supplement: After one hour the scent came back. Well, not THE scent, more a scent. I'd say its a bit cinnamon and some vanilla ... it's nice but still not very intense. This is really a funny kind of morphing! From great to nice to nothing back to nice.

2nd supplement: And one hour later there is even some cherry in scent! (this time really cherry, no almond) - I'm not so sure anymore that I won't need a bottle of this ... damn! Make this a half favorite ;o)

3rd supplement: Okay, make this a favorite! I ordered a bottle! On most days it's a bit like Antique Lace + some almond - just beautiful!

BPAL - Miskatonic University

The next random BPAL is from A Picnic in Arkham and the lab discribes it as

A venerable New England university, whose vast library holds many rare, diabolical and obscure arcane works, including one of the few surviving legitimate copies of the Necronomicon. Home to innumerable scholars of the esoteric and the occult, and the notorious Dr. Herbert West.

The scent of Irish coffee, dusty tomes and polished oakwood halls.

In the first moment this ist pure coffee - and I'm not too fond of coffee, but this is sweet and kind of soft, not the harsh scent I know from our coffeemachine. No dust or wood to my nose.

After drydown: This pretty much stays soft, warm, sweet and creamy coffee - I can wear it, I even like it, but it is so not me. I'd consider this scent comforting and cozy - it smells like a rainy day on the couch with a great book - and well, coffee I guess ;o)

After a few hours: Now this is spicier and a bit woody - not so sweet anymore.

BPAL - Obatala

Again time for a random BPAL. Obatala from the Excolo Collection. The lab says:

The King of the White Cloth, King of the Orishas, the First Among Equals. He is the King of Power, and his weapon is wisdom. He is the essence of honored maturity, wisdom through age and experience, purity of intention, virtue, humility, tolerance, judicious use of power, the knowledge of what is truly right and wrong, the moral code, and the obligation to do what is right. Obatala is the Creator God, who first fashioned mankind from clay; thus, he is also the first sculptor and potter. The human head itself is Obatala’s creation, and it is through it that he grants us the ability to discern genuine morality as opposed to oppressive, mistaken and arrogant self-righteousness. His is not the falsehood of societal boundaries, His Truth is the understanding of one’s own character and the obligations that we all have to our world, our Gods, and one another. He is the Benevolent Judge, calm and lucid, and he governs rational deliberation. His color is white, as His spirit is free from any soil or stain, and His energy radiates sanctified purity, great wisdom, happiness and internal peace. He is associated with cloth, as that was one of His gifts to mankind. The aspects of Obatala are symbolized by the chameleon, boa constrictor, elephant, gorilla, and snail. Obatala is the Lord of Laughter, for it is through wisdom that one may see the joy in life, and through laughter we are able to see the follies of mankind not with cynicism and derision, but with humor, compassion and understanding. Obatala’s Laughter helps soothe the pain of life’s rigors, and takes the sting out of the harshest of life’s lessons. Obatala’s ofrenda is soft, white and pure: milk, coconut meat, shea butter and cool, refreshing water.

Whoa, this is sweet! I don't remember it beeing so sweet when I first tried it! But my imp is aged by now, so perhaps I got sweeter over the time.

Wet: very sweet and coconutty with somethig underneath I'm not too fond of. Almost like the milk in it turned sour ;o)

Later: It starts to behave ... it's not cavity giving sweet anymore - now it's just sweet and there is something similar to Lush Silky Underwear to it.

My verdict: Nice but too sweet on me - and I think my skin doesn't work well with the milk, so this won't become a favorite.

1. Co-workers verdict: Pure coconut! She's in love ;o)
2. Co-workers verdict: Something smells like coconut! - It's me - Never wear that again, it reminds my of those candys I like and I get hungry!

BPAL - Spellbound

A random BPAL - this time from Ars Amatoria:

Perfectly enchanting! An irresistibly sexual, utterly rapturous blend of three roses, radiant amber, and sensual red musk.

First I thought: Huh, how could I forget this scent?! It slept for a long time in my "try again" stash - and it is so nice! It's roses with a hint of Blood Amber and something earthy.

After a while the Blood Amber hint vanishes, the scent becomes more earthy and somehow masculine - not at all a romantic rose, but really a great scent.

Afer a few hours becomes sweeter - somehow with a hint of vanilla - and still some earthiness. The vanilla is not candylike, just perfect.

Overall an interesting scent with a lot of morphing. I think I should wear it more often!

Vacation!

Just to let you know: I'm on vacation! Without any internet - so don't wonder. By August I'm back with new polishes!

I wish you all a nice summer!

MNY - 109A

What a glorious name ... 109A! No really, bad marketing. BAD! I know a lot of polish lovers who reach out for a polish with a great name - just for the sake of the name (same with BPAL, by the way. It's just fun to wear something like "Eat me"). Creative names are important! So stop using only numbers! It's just no fun "Oh, your nails look nice, what kind of polish is that?" - "Oh, that's MNY 109A". Much better "Oh this is Catrice London's Weather Forecast" (to stay within the drugstore range).

But the polish is nice - it's a light turquoise/blue/pink duochrome shimmer. A bit on the sheer side, after 3 coats I still had VNL.



This is on the 3rd day - yes, there is some chipping ...



1 x Nubar Foundation Base Coat
2 x MNY 109A
1 x Nubar Diamont Seal & Shine Topcoat
1 x MNY 109A



I liked this polish a lot! It's a LE - so good that I got 2 bottles right away (will I ever finish one bottle?) And I have one shirt that is the same color (he he, no the shirt is not duochrome ;o)) and the combination was just wonderful!

Oh, by the way: I thought I mastered my peeling nail phase - but I didn't. Before I removed this polish I already saw it: Massive peeling on 3 nails :o(

Nubar - Petunia Sparkle (G186)

Hello out there!

Here comes another glitter: Nubar Petunia Sparkle! A pink glitter in clear base.

I almost didn't dare to wear this at work - and lets face it: The color is so not me!!

But actually I liked it and the female coworkers too! The male ones ... well they were baffled and started at it. Hm, a lot of people stared at it!



These are:
1 x Nubar Foundation Base Coat
3 x Nubar Petunia Sparkle
2 x Nubar Diamont Seal & Shine Topcoat

But even with 2 coats topcoat the surface was still bumpy and not really nice - but I was too lazy to add more topcoat.



And a closeup in the sun!

I already tried another Nubar sparkle and the first on did not chip - this one chipped after one day - I think the picture shows the 2nd or 3rd day.

Removing was nat that bad - I cut 2 makeup pads into nice little pieces that fit my nails, soak them with polishremover, place them on my nails and wait for 2-4 minutes - after that the polish comes off easily.

Make Up Store - SIW

Hello again!

So here comes the most expansive nail polish I own right now (14€ about 17$):
Make Up Store SIW
It's sitting for quite some time on my shelf - I showed a bottle picture here - I was afraid to try it out and to regret the money spent. But finally I dared to do it:



Isn't it a beauty?! I just love holos!



But of course: This beautiful light blue holo had to be a PITA to apply! Well at least when I tried it the "normal" way. I figured out that this one needs the following procedure: Base coat, 1 coat polish, topcoat, 1 coat polish and so on - 2 coats of polish on top of each other will cause bald spots. Unlike the China Glaze OMG holos this one really dulls down with a topcoat. But the good thing is: It dries really quick! You won't need a fastdrying topcoat with this one, a fact I love.

So this are
1 x Nubar Foundation Base Coat
3 x Make Up Store SIW
1 x Nubar Diamont Seal & Shine Topcoat
1 x Make Up Store SIW

So all in all this are 4 coats of SIW! Not because it's too sheer, no, because of the bald spots. Otherwise 2-3 coats would have been enough.


(had to make one picture in natural light but indoors because thats where the blue color is really beautiful)

Well, but it's not only a PITA to apply - it chips. These pictures are on the 3rd day of wear, but the chipping started on day 1 - I had to do minor touchups every day - but in the end I wore it for 7 days because it was just so nice.



So this is a very expansive polish which is terrible to apply and likes to chip but dries quickly. But somehow it is worth the trouble because it's just so - wow! I really like it and I'll have to check out the other holos from this brand - unfortunally they rised prices, now it's 15€ a bottle, at least the homepage tells so - so I'll only reach out for something really special - otherwise there would be a lot of nice colors to try, the color range was quite nice! And I love the bottles ...

I only wish for a personal lighting technician so that all holos always look adoreable!

Color Club - High Society (881)

I know I know - so many great and bright new polishes and I go for something like this ...



But be honest: It's really nice, isn't it? Well, I like it! :o)

So, this is:
1 x Nubar Foundation Base Coat
2 x Color Club High Society
1 x Nubar Diamont Seal & Shine Topcoat

Application was great (again, one coat would have been enough on most fingers), drytime was good to - there was some chipping after 24h - but that's due to my peeling and therefore weak nails. And the name High Society is a perfect one for this taupe creme - I always feel elegant and mature with these kind of colors.

I'm not sure if the Nubar Foundation might be the wrong way to go with peeling nails - it seems to stick too good to the nails and takes a bit nail with it when it chips.

The Nubar Diamont Topcoat seams to be a great alternative for Poshe! Perhaps I should try it with a P2 polish cause the Poshe caused shrinkage with them - it would be great if the Nubar wouldn't!

Bottle Spam

In the last month I got some new polishes I wasn't able to show - but better late then never ;o)


These are Catrice London's Weather Forecast (280) - love the name and I sea You (250)

These two are Nubar Foundation Base Coat and Diamont Seal & Shine Topcoat

Do you think I'm into glitters?! ...

These are (from left):

Nubar Gem (NPZ316), Prize (NPZ321), Petunia Sparkle (G186), Violet Sparkle (G185), Night Sparkle (G182)

And then ... I bought some nail polishes in NY (so don't wonder about the little stickers on the bottles). My NY haul:

The first ones (bought at Duane Reade near the Rockefeller Center):

Sally Hansen Rockstar Pink (05) and Lime Lights (25)

Sinful Colors (bought at Times Square/Walgreens and Duane Reade/Rockefeller Center and somewhere else I forgot) - again from left to right:

Pearl Harbor (142), San Francisco (802), See you soon (931), What's your name? (319), I love you (925), Ruby Ruby (369)

Sally Hansen HD's (CVS near Chrysler Building) l to r:

Wavelenght (11), DVD (15), Laser (16), Spectrum (14)

NYC Skin Tight Denim Creme (115A)

Essie (bought on the way to High Line Park ... Ricky Something ...)

Sag Harbor (683), Mint Candy Apple (702)

OPI - yes yes, I know ... I said I won't buy them anymore - well, but this one was not an online order ... just don't blame me, it was so nice! (same shop as above):

Catch me in your net (NL D33)

Orly (the blue one at Rickys from above the red one ... well from somewhere):

Star Spangled (40721) and Blue Suede (40241)

Claire's Mood Polish happy/earthy (from Jersey Gardens)


Milani (from CVS near Chrylser Building and some other stores):

Molten Rock (188), Totally Cool (119), Garnet Gems (27A), Ruby Jewels (23A)

Prevail (from Duane Reade in the Chrysler Building):

See you in Chelsea


And last but not least! Sephora by OPI (I don't consider those as OPI ... from a Sephora at times square, not 1500):

Mr. Right Now (210), Teal we meat again (007), 212-Sephora (016)

Well, a lot to try, I'd say!

I won a giveaway!

And here are the wonderful polishes I got from Scandalously Polished:



These beauties are:
OPI DS - Design
Finger Paints - Decked with Dazzle
Incing - Blackout
Finger Paints - Sparkling Snow

They are perfect, dear Scandalous! Blackout is my favorite (at least in the bottle) and they are all firsts to me: Never had Finger Paints or Icing or any OPI DS!

And thank you for sending me a second parcel, cause folks, the first one is somewhere in parcel-nirvana :o( It's almost 2 months ago that Scandalously Polished sent the first parcel - and I really appreciate that you went through the trouble of sending a second one! Thank you!

Catrice - I Sea You! (250) with China Glaze Atlantis (80406)

After 3 days of Catrice I Sea You! I just had to do some layering - and what a coincidence that I just received China Glaze Atlantis!

But I've to say: China Glaze Atlantis is not a all what I expected! I wonder why - I saw it so many times in blogs! But I didn't realize that it contains just silver holo glitter! Somehow I thought it would be multicolored! But well, it's still nice! It's just a turquoise jelly with silver holo glitter.

Here are 2 layers of Atlantis over Catrice:



1 x P2 Care and Basecoat
2 x Catrice I Sea You!
1 x Poshe super-fast drying topcoat
2 x China Glaze Atlantis

And a closeup:


The surface is really bumpy but I was too lazy to apply any additional topcoat - and since there is no sunshine in sight I can't even show the wonderfull bling this polish has! All I get is cold temperatures and big clouds!

Removing was a real PITA ... next time I'll try the aluminum foil method!

Catrice - I Sea You! (250)

Long time no see! I'm sorry for that - but my nails peeled too much and my nose was out of order ...

But now I'm back with a new polish - my first from the brand Catrice - cheap drugstore brand - and I've got to say: It won't be my last! Application was a dream! I did 2 coats but on some nails the first would have been enough (yeah, they don't come out consistent - I'm still in the learning phase). The brush is nice and wide - which I really love! Drytime was as always when I use Poshe.

So here it is, Catrice I Sea You!



1 x P2 Care and Basecoat
2 x Catrice I Sea You!
1 x Poshe super-fast drying topcoat

I saw some swatches and it seams to be closely to Misa Dirty Sexy Money, but not quite as greyed out or dusty - so I'll still buy the Misa if it should come my way but otherwise I'll be happy with I Sea You!

And I got a lot of comments on this one - especially my co-worker loved it a lot!


And to celebrate the "I won't buy OPI anymore" I bought some Nubars - they already arrived, I'm excited to try them out! And I try to fight the peeling with some new stuff: The Nubar basecoat and polish remover with acetone.

OPI

A little addition from me: The Swatchaholic wrote a wonderful post about OPIs price policy - check it out!

I totally agree with her - I got a mail from OPI once that I should not buy OPIs at US internet shops but over my local distributor - I couldn't refrain myself, I wrote them that with their absurd international price policy I surely won't buy them here.

It's funny, it almost seem that they don't want to boost their market ...

Sad news - where to get nailpolish?!

I'm bummed ... transdesign - my polish dealer - stopped shipping nailpolish in flat rate boxes outside US. How should I get my polishes now? They had good prices, especially on China Glaze. The prices on China Glaze, OPI or Essie are absurd around here! OPI polishes go from 14-20€ (18-26$)! And after my bad experiences with OPI I would not buy a polish at that price. The China Glazes I bought here were 7-8€ (10-11$). Even with shipping and taxes the polishes I bought at transdesign were less expensive.

Very very sad.

China Glaze - Bermuda Breakaway (674) with Gosh - Rainbow (546)

Sorry for the big break! After the massive nail-peeling I gave my nails a little break and afterwards I needed a China Glaze FYI treat. The peeling is still bad ...

But now I'm back with a picspam from something ... well ... colorful! Very colorful indeed:
China Glaze Bermuda Breakaway layered with Gosh Rainbow.



Is it too much? - Perhaps

Do I like it? - Yes

Does the dragon like it? - No way!



This time the coats are a bit different:
2 x P2 8in1 nailwonder
2 x China Glaze Bermuda Breakaway
1 x Poshe super-fast drying topcoat
1 x Gosh Rainbow
1 x Poshe super-fast drying topcoat

I think a bit less flakies would have been nice - but Gosh Rainbow is really packed with them!


(in the sun)

And guess what? I had bed linen stamping! But thanks to the flakies you won't see it, so I don't care that much.



So what do we have? China Glaze Bermuda Breakaway is a creme blue - ink blue. A least the ink I wrote with as a child - before we were allowed to use black or lilac or teal ink ;o) And Gosh Rainbow is a clear polish filled with transparent flakies - I love it layered over darker polishes but some days ago I saw it layered over a white polish - it was just wonderful!



This polish combination is nice, I think. But I got a whole lot of different opinions. Some loved it, some were very doubtful and others hated it. But it certainly got a lot of looks from everyone - so it's not for those days you wish to go unseen ;o)



I applied this one monday evening and was pretty sure I'd remove it tuesday evening because - well, let's be honest: I was too afraid to wear ist. Anyhow - I removed it on saturday morning. Somehow my boldness growed and I went into "I like it - so you have to live with it!"-mode.



Removing it was not the PITA I anticipated! But after I removed it I had to file my nails way back because the peeling is still so bad and I can't leave it alone.



After this flakie-week I think I really need Nfu Ohs ... well well well - perhaps next month!



I just love how much depth the flakies create while their surface is perfectly smooth!


And I have a giveaway I wanted to show:
Painted Lady Fingers Hard Candy Giveaway!



And another Giveaway!
This time from R3 Daily - a Rescue Beauty Lounge Giveaway!

BPAL - Strangler Fig

This time from Rappaccini's Garden

A glorious parasite! Once the seeds of the Strangler Fig find root in the bark of a tree, snakelike roots erupt and reach graspingly at the sky. The Strangler Fig then sprouts numerous epiphytic vines that strangles and surrounds its unwilling host, and finally snuffs the life from it. Rooty, woody, with deep green tones.

wet: sweet grass and wood
later: Still a bit woody but I'm surprised: They said nothing about vanilla! Why is this vanilla on me? Really nice vanilla! Grown up vanilla! I think I'll need a bottle of this for those days a crave the security vanilla gives me. This might become a BPAL favorite of mine!

Peeling Nails

Now I remember why I stopped polishing my nails a few years ago!

1. The polish wouldn't dry and I had always this nice bed linen stamping.
2. My nails started to peel like crazy.
   

For the first point I found a solution (hello Poshe!) but the peeling is still a problem! It would be nice to pinpoint the reason for the peeling. Is it the polish or the polish remover? And how to counteract the effects? I'll try adding oil to my polish remover - but I already put oil on my nails after removing the polish, so I'm not sure if that will work. I already use a base coat that is supposed to prevent the peeling but well - my nails haven't read the text on the box, so they don't know about that.

Do you have a solution to peeling nails?

Color Club - Ms. Socialite (886)

Oh, this one is nice! And the application was a dream in 2 coats:

1 x Poshe nail strengthening treatment basecoat
2 x Color Club - Ms. Socialite
1 x Poshe super-fast drying topcoat

After 2 Color Club polishes I have to say, that I really like their formular so far! The brush could be better - but still! No shrinkage like with P2 and no drying issues like with my OPIs.

I'll be wearing this one a lot because I have severaly shirts in this color (I simply call it berry-color) and one wonderful, long skirt with paisley pattern in which this color occurs (someone convinced me last summer that I should wear more colorful stuff - and I think that someone was right.)

Two thumbs up for this Color Club Ms. Socialite!

Color Club - Take me to your Chateau (878)

Time to show my easter mani! Color Club Take me to your Chateau



This one seemed to be too much for the people around me! I got a lot of critical looks and comments. And I'm not sure if I loved it that much. And yes: A very messy application from me! But still: It was fun!

1 x Poshe nail strengthening treatment basecoat
2 x Color Club - Take me to your Chateau
1 x Poshe super-fast drying topcoat

If you don't have ridges (or a good ridge filler) this one would be a one coater!

Wonderful polishes I won in a giveaway!

I won the giveaway from Kris Primps! Thank you again for these wonderful Color Club polishes and this great giveaway!

Here are the polishes that reached me:

These are from left to right: Take me to your Chateau, Gossip Column, Wild at Heart, Wild and Willing

These are: High Society, Best dressed List, Ms. Socialite

And once again Wild at Heart, Wild and Willing with flash:

My first Color Clubs! I'm so excited to try them out! Thank you Kris!

And happy easter to all my readers! I wish you all a blessed holiday!

P.S.: I think Take me to your Chateau would be a good easter polish choice, wouldn't it?

Lumene - Magic Night / Taikayö (51)

Hello fellow polishers!

Time to show you Lumene Magic Night / Taikayö - I showed you the bottle in my Polish-Shopping post and finally I was in the mood for wearing it. And in short: I'm in love with it!

It's a lilac base which contains pink glitter and small blue/pink flakies.

You want pictures?! Here you go!


(inside, daylight)

Dragon said "Whoooa! This one is cool - suits your skin!" (wait a second: since when he realizes that a color suits my skincolor?!)


(outside, natural light)

For the first time at work someone (besides the one co-worker who knows about my addiction) mentioned my polish! They wondered how I manage to apply it so neatly. Well they haven't seen Michèle from Lacquerized ... so I just enjoy their compliments.


(flash)

Later my cosmetician also told my how great this polish looks on me - and that the application was so wonderful (again: she did not read the blogs of the real application-artists!) and she even asked "Are those your real nails?" - "Yeah" - "Great!" (I think it's save to say that I'll never convert to acrylics and so on because I'm just too afraid about them, too economical and I don't like my nails much longer than they are now - so why I should try them out?)


(daylight)


(flash)

Okay, what else there is to say ... application was okay - nothing too great, nor too terrible. But it took 3 coats to get a perfect coverage - by now I get the feeling that I do very thin coats. Only downside: Shrinkage. Looks like my nails usually do after 3 days with tipwear. But I don't care - as long as it is even, I can live with it. And the good: I didn't get worst - on my 3rd day of wearing it it's pretty much like on the day I applied.

1 x Poshe nail strengthening treatment basecoat
3 x Lumene Magic Night / Taikayö
2 x Poshe super-fast drying topcoat

Lumene seems to like "Night / Yö" in their polishnames ;o)

I'm glad that I have a backup from this - and I hope that Lumene has nice summer polishes when I'm back in buying range in july and not only those "play it save" colors they had the last time I checked their polishes.

Oh, and you remember my brush comparison? This bottle had a really uneven brush :o( Didn't like it a all. It was so hard to get an even line at the cuticles! Too bad. But I wasn't in the mood for trimming it, but one day I'll do.

BPAL - The Hesperides

Another random BPAL! Today The Hesperides from the Bewitching Brews Collection. The Hesperides ...

are the Nymphs of the Evening who dwell in a verdant garden located in the Arcadian Mountains, guarded by the terrible three-headed dragon, Ladon. Within their garden lives the tree that bears Hera’s sacred Golden Apples. Their perfume is that of sturdy oak bark, dew-kissed leaves, twilight mist and crisp apple.

Morphing:
first - sweet apple and something woody
after 30 minutes: sweet, a bit like cotton candy, apple almost gone.
Later: subtle cotton candy with a hint of rose - nice! (don't ask where the rose came from!)

I really think that I should wear this one more often. It's such a nice candy-scent without being too sweet or childish! It's a possible new BPAL favorite for me! Something totally different from all my other favorites, I think.

I've been tagged!

I've been tagged by SeeingSunshine! Thank you very much! :o)

I hope I do it the right way ...



Okay, 7 things about me:

1. Right now I have 3 guinea pigs, hope to be able to get a 4th one soon again.
   


2. I have ants as pets. Camponotus ligniperda, guess the population ist something between 20-30.
   


3. I'm a vegetarian.
   


4. I'm singing in a gospel choir.
   


5. I usually wear my hair up into a bun, fixed with a ketylo stick - just love them. Some might consider it an "old style" - well, I don't ;o) It's easy, it's not bad for the hair and I think it looks nice.
   


6. I love knitting and painting/drawing but I don't find enough time to paint or knit frequently.
   


7. I'm a chocolate-addict. I don't want to know how much chocolate I have at home. It's quite a bit.
   

And 10 things that make me happy - in more or least random order:

1. My dragon (also known as my boyfriend)
   


2. My family
   


3. Sunshine
   


4. Rain
   


5. Food in general ... I love a good meal and I love to cook it and you can be sure that at least 80% of my cookings include chilli and my family considers it uneatable - while my dragon likes it, well me too.
   


6. The universe - I just love it and enjoy reading about astronomy and I get heartthrob when I watch the stars or the sun.
   


7. Books. I love my bookshelves and they always seem to be to small.
   


8. To sit by the sea and enjoy the sound of the waves.


9. Waking up in the middle of the night and realizing that I can still sleep for several hours.
   


10. The scent of freshly cut grass - the best scent in the world. Still searching for a matching perfume!
    

That's it from me - now I'd like to tag:
Nail of the Week
The Swatchaholic
Nail Addicts Anonymous
A Polish Problem
Charming Nails