BPAL joy!
Yes! My lovely BPAL finally arrived! (Note: Post Office package tracking sucks. It's only updated once a day, no matter how much your stuff travels.) I opened it up and squeed over my riches for a moment, enjoying the faint collective scent. Then started sniffing. And sniffing. And... I promise you, I spent over an hour just sniffing seven little vials and contemplating them. It was a happy hour indeed.
I ordered a six-pack of imps: Bess, Rosalind, Casanova, Tempest, Calliope and Polyhymnia. They threw in an imp of Whip too, which was a nice gesture to the newbie. I like them all, though in varying degrees for various reasons. I think I'll test out one scent per day and review it here. Though I may stick to weekends while I'm trying these on the first time around, lest I wander around the library with my wrists stuffed up my nose all day. ;) Today, I'll start with...
Polyhymnia grants fame and glory to writers, brings inspiration and immortality through one's written work. Orris root, white sage, rowan bark and red sandalwood, with myrrh, rosemary, lemon balm and honeysuckle.
I really do like this scent. In the vial it is warm and rich, a little bit spicy and exotic (the myrrh I suppose), and quite inviting. On me it kept all those qualities, the sharpness softening a bit after a while.
To steal from Holly Golightly, I think it would be perfectly divine on an older woman, just not for me, you understand. miladygrey's mom or my boss, maybe (though I doubt either would really be the BPAL type). This "mature" feeling gets stronger as the sharper, more immediately arresting tones soften on my skin. Not that I can't wear it at all, though. Some scents that are nice in the bottle (B&BW Japanese Cherry Blossom, I'm looking at you.) really do turn into Old Lady Perfume on me. Polyhymnia I can enjoy without smelling like I just hugged all the nice old grannies at church, even if the scent isn't quite "me" in the long run.
I'll probably use this up happily, if I don't trade it for something else or give it to someone who seems to appreciate it more, but don't know that I'll buy it again. Which is slightly sad because "Polyhymnia" is such a cool name.
And I just found out that BPAL is now doing bath bombs, so I'll probably be broke for some time to come.
ETA: Since BPAL states that most of their scents are intended to be for either gender, I'm adding a "Would it work on a guy?" review, as best I can without an actual guy to test it on. (This is probably a good thing, as some of these could easily cause *ahem* untoward behavior.)
Oh my, yes! I don't know why I didn't think of this before. In spite of the pretty, feminine name, I think this would work very well on a man. The spiciness is just right, and overall it gives a sense of someone warm, strong, and interesting - not quite enigmatic, but with layers and facets that would be fun to explore. As good or probably better than any chat-up line you may have.
I ordered a six-pack of imps: Bess, Rosalind, Casanova, Tempest, Calliope and Polyhymnia. They threw in an imp of Whip too, which was a nice gesture to the newbie. I like them all, though in varying degrees for various reasons. I think I'll test out one scent per day and review it here. Though I may stick to weekends while I'm trying these on the first time around, lest I wander around the library with my wrists stuffed up my nose all day. ;) Today, I'll start with...
Polyhymnia grants fame and glory to writers, brings inspiration and immortality through one's written work. Orris root, white sage, rowan bark and red sandalwood, with myrrh, rosemary, lemon balm and honeysuckle.
I really do like this scent. In the vial it is warm and rich, a little bit spicy and exotic (the myrrh I suppose), and quite inviting. On me it kept all those qualities, the sharpness softening a bit after a while.
To steal from Holly Golightly, I think it would be perfectly divine on an older woman, just not for me, you understand. miladygrey's mom or my boss, maybe (though I doubt either would really be the BPAL type). This "mature" feeling gets stronger as the sharper, more immediately arresting tones soften on my skin. Not that I can't wear it at all, though. Some scents that are nice in the bottle (B&BW Japanese Cherry Blossom, I'm looking at you.) really do turn into Old Lady Perfume on me. Polyhymnia I can enjoy without smelling like I just hugged all the nice old grannies at church, even if the scent isn't quite "me" in the long run.
I'll probably use this up happily, if I don't trade it for something else or give it to someone who seems to appreciate it more, but don't know that I'll buy it again. Which is slightly sad because "Polyhymnia" is such a cool name.
And I just found out that BPAL is now doing bath bombs, so I'll probably be broke for some time to come.
ETA: Since BPAL states that most of their scents are intended to be for either gender, I'm adding a "Would it work on a guy?" review, as best I can without an actual guy to test it on. (This is probably a good thing, as some of these could easily cause *ahem* untoward behavior.)
Oh my, yes! I don't know why I didn't think of this before. In spite of the pretty, feminine name, I think this would work very well on a man. The spiciness is just right, and overall it gives a sense of someone warm, strong, and interesting - not quite enigmatic, but with layers and facets that would be fun to explore. As good or probably better than any chat-up line you may have.