I am loving swapping. New smellies, no monies! And, wicked author that I am, I've been slipping my business cards in with my swap packages in hopes of luring unsuspecting BPALlers into the serial. I'd feel bad about it, but seriously, this thing is right up the average BPAL fan's alley if I can only get them to try it. (Present BPALlers, back me up here.)

Today a package arrived from the gal with whom I swapped my Glowing Vulva at Ryogoku Bridge, the only vanilla in the world that is too sweet for me, for bottles of Daiyu and Tiki Queen. She felt the Tiki Queen had less than she'd said it did, so she very generous gifted me: A sniffie (empty imp bottle that still has enough of some rare perfume so you can at least know what everyone is babbling about) of Monsterbait: Underpants (you can't make this stuff up, folks); a decant of Yvaine, a Gaiman "Stardust" scent I've wanted to try; La Belle Dame Sans Merci, a GC imp I've wanted; and a decant of...

SNOW, GLASS, APPLES.

For those of you just joining us, SGA is rather my holy grail of BPALs. I've been wanting it since before it was released, since it was Gaiman's description of it as making you smell like a "sexy vampire apple" that finally made me go check out this perfume company I'd been hearing about. (The rest is history insanity.) When it finally was released, it was out of my price range--$50 for a bottle along with a special illustrated chapbook of the incredibly hair-raising story, $75 for the set with Gaiman's autograph. Fundraiser for the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, very worthy, but I don't have that kind of cash sitting around for a smelly, even a devoutly wished-for smelly.

I finally broke down two days ago and bought a decant, but to have another one appear as if by magic? Which if Gaiman is involved even peripherally is the case?

So I'm sitting here in my big ugly bathrobe with the imp and I'm going to tell you all about it whether you like it or not.

In the imp: (Damn I had better not spill this thing or I will be PISSED.) Apples. Clear, sharp, not at all sweet. Cold. Apples in snow. The cold effect is a mint, I think.

Wet: Apples still, sweeter but still sharp. The mint is not aggressive at all--not even very minty, just adding a cold note to it. Menthol, perhaps? The apple fades as it dries.

Dry: The apple comes back, with little sweetness. The cold note is still there but not as aggressive. And there is now a darkness to it, a dark young musk. The apple has more stay than most BPAL apple blends, which is nice because I love that note. This is the girl from "Snow, Glass, Apples," all right. *shiver*

This is very, very different. It's not for every day; it is one of those "storytelling" blends that Beth and co. do so very well, to be worn when one is in the mood to feel like that story. Verdict: Awesome. I'm almost deflated, though, now that I have it. Sometimes the wanting is better than the having--nah! I'm liking the having!

And if you haven't read "Snow, Glass, Appples" itself, I highly recommend it; it's in Gaiman's collection Smoke and Mirrors. If your hair doesn't stand on end when you've finished it, you're bald.