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So on one hand I feel really bad for the above Claire, but I totally agree with Muffin's response here. I was afraid the cacao and clove would dominate as in the bottle, but they are actually playing really nice on skin with all the written notes (and I do get the tea). But it's not overbearing, because it's playing well with all the papery and wood notes that are combined in it. To my perspective, it's beautifully smooth and dry with this aged paper and ink in the notes, and this dare I say, lingering nostalgia of a book space lost to time. A bookstore that was quirky that you went into and now you can't find anymore. It's finding out that one of the most beautiful libraries in the U.S.A., the old Main Cincinnati Library, existed from 1874-1955 and yet was totally demolished (America, please save your darn aesthetically pleasing architecture). It's reading Connie Willis's book, I Met a Traveller in an Antique Land and going through its bookstore facade cover to a secret library's catacomb levels in New York City to see forgotten books. It's not quite ancient, it's not quite refined, but it is something entirely in between and its own thing. If you can see it, that is one of the photos of the old Main Cincinnati Library with its stacks upon stacks of shelving and books. It was intended at first to be an opera house, but finances turned its finished product into an elaborate library. *I tried to post on the actual Black Phoenix website. But for some reason, it just gave me the runaround of saying, I was supposed to log in when I was already logged in. And then it wouldn't let me leave a review there, unlike if I went to another scent's listing.😅
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Glambie changed their profile photo
- Today
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I absolutely love this. In the bottle, this is all juicy, almost bubblegum-y pear, but it changes pretty quickly on the skin. The pear is definitely still present, but I'm finding the white tea to be the dominant note, and the floral notes of both that and the eucalyptus blossom give the vibe of that bath product that you adore but is prohibitively expensive, so you ration it only for the most special of occasions. Perfect for a "bathhouse" perfume. My only complaint is that I don't get much cedar, which is a shame, as it's one of my favorite notes, but I suspect it's hanging around with the white tea, lending a sort of "dryness" to the scent.
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Iris Root, White Amber, and Blackberry
Assimbya replied to Silvertree's topic in Duets & Menage A Trois
I was given a decant of this as a frimp by a lovely fellow member of the forum, and I'm so glad that I was, though I would never have thought to buy it for myself. It starts out with sweet, cheerful blackberry, slightly tart but not overwhelmingly so, grounded by the orris; as it dries I get more orris and the lab's distinctive white amber note, familiar from Tomie among other places, which draws it out of the realm of fruit into something that feels quite elegant, sheer, and pulled together, more complex than a three note perfume seems like it should be. This is confirming my guess that blackberry was one of the bpal fruit notes which works best on me, and I am glad to have a decant of it. -
Mostly paper in the bottle with a touch of sweet peony and black amber. The black amber has that polished, lacquered vibe to it (not that it smells like lacquer!). Wet the peony takes center stage. Pink, airy, sweet. Always makes me think of spun sugar. The amber grounds the sweetness, and it gets a little deeper as it settles. The paper is just a flutter, adding a bit of texture.
- Yesterday
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Smells like candied cherries to me, with a marshmallow finish & a hint of spice (but I wouldn't have labelled it cinnamon).
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Terrible Moon: Steamed Milk and Marzipan
roseus replied to doomsday_disco's topic in Duets & Menage A Trois
Okay I love this. I agree it is very reminiscent of Snowcake with a strong evaporated milk note. A lot milk notes are a light and sweet creaminess to my nose, but this one has some heft to it, a bit buttery. I find it very pleasant! ETA: my wife hates this on me -
Terrible Moon: Pistachio and Vanilla Buttercream
roseus replied to doomsday_disco's topic in Duets & Menage A Trois
Gorgeous vanilla-almond buttercream (this smells like when I add the tiniest bit of almond extract to vanilla buttercream for just a little pizzazz) with a delicious nutty haze of pistachio. On my skin the pistachio note is stronger. Delectable. -
This one is very booky, very much a secondhand bookshop than the scent of fresh paperbacks. Getting quite a bit of leather in the imp and nervous it might be the kind that goes screechy on me. Roasty coffee envelopes it all. On my skin it is more coffee forward, the leather behaves thankfully. I get a bit of papery-ness and creaminess underneath.
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This is a very warm and spiritual blend. Frankincense and cedar mostly, with amber and vanillaish from the heliotrope preventing it from becoming wood chip cedar. I don’t get the citrus. It’s nice if you like churchy blends, and I like it. Throws a lot of frankincense, other notes stay closer.
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2026 Smut Hell, yes! Last year I thought it was a little boozier than other versions I have (only circa 2021, I think) and extra good. But this year?! I am smelling my beloved BPAL black musk in this year's. It's almost got a little Streets of Detroit quality going on in that boozy, woozy bottle. I cannot WAIT to slather the hell outta this one. Sorry, not sorry, everyone around me!
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Strawberry Moon: Wild Strawberries and Inky Musk
elissamay replied to doomsday_disco's topic in Duets & Menage A Trois
If you liked Wild Strawberries & Patchouli from last year, just THINK about how good these two would layer together! This is that same realistic strawberry with a lovely black musk, but a black musk that isn't completely intense and over-the-top potent BLACK MUSK like it can sometimes be (which I do actually love). Maybe imagine if it was 50% black musk and 50% BPAL's ink note plus that realistic tangy strawberry. This will be so fun in summer with the Wild Strawberries & Patchouli to layer or with a little spritz of the Feuilles de Patchouli hair gloss. Just call me a filthy, fruity hippy. - Last week
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I'm going to need several bottles of this one. I've been having some nightmares lately after the passing of my eldest cat, and I haven't had any nightmares on the nights I've slathered this oil on my arms. It's a really comforting lavender scent. I definitely get the lavender, vanilla, lemon verbena, and the star anise. Although I typically detest star anise or anything licorice-adjacent, the other notes in this blend really help smooth it over to the point that I am not bothered by the anise in this. And the lemon verbena isn't too much at all -- it just adds a bit of brightness and lifts the scent a little. This is definitely among my favorite TAL oils, and I'm so thankful to have it. Now, to upgrade my decant to 3-4 bottles with the next Lunacy drop...
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We've crafted two new scents for Century Guild, as rewards for supporting their latest book Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/centuryguild/binding-the-devil-vintage-witchcraft-occult-1960s-1970s-art?ref=creator_tab ✤ BINDING THE DEVIL A psychedelic evocation: electric lime rind and green tea absolute explode, sharp and strange, into a heart of violet-tinged wild plum while poppy smoke and ancient amber twist through black cherry incense, infernal red musk, and sugared nag champa. ✤ MEPHISTO WALZ Lightly-honeyed skin musk bathed in pale incense smoke, a dusting of ritual chalk, black fig, clove bud, ambrette seed, and tobacco flower.
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This is like if you took Idle Moon: Coconut Milk and Rice and added a mango note. The coconut milk is creamy and realistic, not very sweet. The rice is starchy-hazy. A bit sweet from the honey but not overly so. The mango is realistic but not super juicy, nectar-dribbling down your chin. It hangs around the sides of the creamy notes, lifting them slightly and adding brightness. It makes for a more layered and complex scent which is what I prefer in a home scent. Mango sticky rice but somehow not super foodie.
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Yesterday we put glow-in-the-dark stars all over the house, marveling in the magic of their soft light when darkness fell. So, when I spied this bottle in the morning, I knew it was the one! White petals boldly shine, tropical with a slightly bitter edge (tobacco flower?). There is a fattiness & slight sweetness from the coconut that does not overwhelm, just bolsters the effect of the blooms. Some perfumey white amber radiates out of the bouquet and makes the starry connection, while vanilla brings the mood of a gauzy veil lowered over coquettish eyes. A lover’s scent, a nighttime plea to the Goddess of Summer scent, a sit by the pool and feel pretty scent.
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I totally adore this, and have been delaying writing a review because I don't think I have much to add to what previous reviewers have described so splendidly, but I thought I might as well add a voice of agreement. Shadowed, fruitlike jasmine (I love @ShadowEtienne's description of it as like nectar, that's perfect), in humid nighttime air. The citrus is most prominent at the start, as one might imagine, and I think I would identify it as a kind of orange, but it's gentle and doesn't go sour or artificial on me the way orange notes sometimes do. The jasmine feels very alive and full in all its facets. I am so happy to have this, and think it will be especially lovely to wear in the summer.
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Very light, sweet and fruity red musk with a jammy rose. The berries and red musk are very sweet but not cloying. It makes me think of a picnic with jars of gingham covered jam jars. Sweeter and fruitier than I like my rose scents in general but very pretty and fun.
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Nutty, warm, spicy and a just a touch sweet. Deep brown nutty sweetness, the caramel stays pretty understated on me. The spices are low and rumbly as well. It is so cozy and so nostalgic. This smells like The Perfect Christmas if there ever could be such a thing.
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Wow in the bottle... this shit is BANANAS. RIPE BANANAS. I agree that it dries down more figgy and floral. It doesn't go particularly tropical on me but is a sweet, creamy, and mild floral. I guess the creaminess is from the rice and almond milk. It faded really fast on me and low throw, which was unexpected because the bottle scent is very strong.
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Oh yes this is the lavender of coconut lavender cream pie free imp!!!! And it’s foodie and gorgeous. Off to layer this with Cat Sleeping on an Armchair and see how closely I can recreate that imp. Soooo glad I ordered this.
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Very light and dainty and clean (like soap on skin clean), very low throw also green ....yes, becomes very green as it wears, plant-like soft, clean, green. ...not what I was expecting
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Idle Moon: Coconut Milk and Rice
VioletChaos replied to doomsday_disco's topic in Duets & Menage A Trois
I can't believe I never reviewed this. I pulled this gem out of figurative mothball storage and put it on today based on the whim of sniff from the bottle. A LOT was happening in my life last summer so I forgive myself for not paying close enough attention to this gorgeous scent last year, but I am SO glad to rectify the situation now. This goes back to the Dark Ages of BPAL but honestly what this scent reminds me of most is my cherished Tarot: The Star. The only element that differentiates the two is that the lime note from that one is not present here. But the rice and the coconut bring the same qualities of calm delight and quiet joy. The coconut is indeed a "cool" variety, not sunbaked or suntan-lotion-y in the least. The rice note is understated as well, not foodie- more like rice paper than milky or even grainy. The collaboration of the two makes for a scent that stays close to the skin but lasts, melding with my natural skin musk and smoothing out all the rough edges of a regular day. I am really, really happy to have rediscovered this lovely little scent. ❤️ -
Orange blossom, not orange. Two completely different scents... I love orange and hate orange blossom (smells like dirty rags to my nose). Only reviewing so those expecting orange can take note 💙
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This goes into Lemon Scented Sticky Bat territory, but not as sweet. It's still fairly lemony sweet but with the black tea and cucumber cutting through and making it more light and airy.
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When I first wore this, it was all about the teak. It's been a couple of weeks and has blossomed into such a lovely creamy scent, soft and mellow. It reminds me a bit of yogurt (Yakult) but with a much milder lactonic tartness. The teak has calmed down a lot and lends a light woodiness. This is gorgeous! I wouldn't have expected the teak to step back in such a way, it really benefited from resting.
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