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- Today
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Spiced hay and cacao first on, a little on the sharp side. As it dries it softens, getting more herbal from the hops and chamomile. The sandalwood feels snuggly.
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Beautiful smudgy grey-lavender scent. Fresh on I get lavender and a soft aquatic note, with a hazy musk. As it dries so does the rain, and it gets slightly fuzzier and a bit creamy (but not milky). The lilac pokes out as well as the tea adding a faint freshness. So so pretty!
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I've been treasuring this as a winter scent for some years now, and have only just realized that I never properly reviewed it. It starts off wet & juicy, strong with the cherry and almost sweet. It quickly dries to something more earthy and almost metallic, like blood. The slight spice I'm picking up must be the currant, because I honestly don't associate fig with much of a scent at all. Unfortunately, my partner does not like this blend on me, so I don't pick it up as often. My only complaint is that the beautiful cherry opening doesn't last longer! Sounds like I need to keep an eye out for a good cherry scent, maybe.
- Yesterday
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2025 version. Well, for someone who doesn't really like gourmands, I sure did order myself a pile of gourmand decants! In my defense, I wanted to try this one because every note *except* sufganiyot sounded wonderful to me, but you'll never guess which note was all I could smell. A sweet cakey sufyanigot, and something that went weirdly fruity-but-plasticky (?? I don't even know what this could be. Is this what the olive notes did on me? I will be very sad if that turns out to be true). Later on in the day I got the butterly BPAL baked-goods note that reminds me of popcorn, which I really don't care for, and maybe a bit of soft, slightly powdery beeswax, or maybe amber, I honestly couldn't quite tell. I never got anything that smelled like fig or pomegranate at all. I will let it rest for a month or so to see if the sufganiyot calms down and makes room for literally anything else, but if it doesn't, this one will not be a keeper for me.
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2025 version. Well, I'm pretty bummed to say I seem to be someone for whom Snow White goes "Play-Doh." It was *very* faint, hardly any throw at all, and mainly smelled weirdly plasticky, with a bit of sweet vanilla and the faintest suggestion of indoles. Sadly it never improved. Whatever indoles there were faded very quickly, and the vanilla eventually went powdery (not in a nice way, more scented baby powder). The plastic note got...slightly less offensive, but I still sort of smelled like a vanilla-scented plastic doll. I did see a review of an older version of this mention that allowing it to rest brought out something a bit greener and made it wearable for them, so I'll keep this around and retest it in a month or two. If it doesn't improve, I'll move it straight to the sales/swap pile, where hopefully it can find a more appreciative home.
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I was very pleased with this one as someone who isn't into gourmands but wanted to give a pure gourmand a chance. It mainly smelled of a very beautiful lavender, and a touch of almond that faded pretty quickly. The cream isn't super heavy or sweet, on me it really just added a really enjoyable slight vanillic touch. I don't think I ever got sweet buns, or curiously any cardamom, but I enjoyed this one a lot! A very yummy vanillic lavender. This is weird, but towards the very end of the day I could've sworn it almost smelled like cocoa (?!). It was really more the suggestion of cocoa than anything that truly smelled like chocolate, so I don't know, maybe that was the buns. Or maybe it's some combination of notes doing something odd, but it was really nice without being sweet or overly gourmand. Average throw, super short longevity on me, MAYBE 4hrs, if that.
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This goes on all rich, dark, velvety coffee beans, extremely photorealistic. It reminds me more of espresso, actually, because it is just *so* rich and velvety. Yum! I was worried the coffee smell would be too intense for me (do I really want to smell like an espresso?), but fortunately about the moment it touched my skin, a surprisingly bright, citric rose started to fold itself in. The combination is just gorgeous! Before too long (maybe half an hour), the rose starts to dominate on me, and the coffee beans start doing more work backing the rose, adding a really lovely layer of dark, rich warmth, rather than standing out on their own, which I was very happy about as a lover of rose and someone who isn't particularly interested in gourmands. As the hours went on, the coffee faded more and more, but never entirely, although by the end of the wear it was so subtle I wouldn't have been able to pick it out if I hadn't known it was there. The last stage of rose for me was this absolutely gorgeous lush-powdery note that had the same lush-powdery texture as orris butter! (Except of course it smells like rose instead of orris.) The rose never went soapy on me at all, much to my delight, so I suppose Bulgarian rose will be another note for me to look out for! I genuinely wasn't sure if this blend was going to be as pretty as I'd hoped it would be; I knew there was a chance I'd find the coffee overpowering or off-putting, but it truly surpassed my expectations. Not 100% sure whether I'll be reaching for this quite often enough to warrant a bottle, but I am a bit tempted. Luckily I have a few months to think it over! I predict this will see some serious wear in February, it feels absolutely perfect for Valentine's Day. Had some throw at first but receded much closer within the first hour or two, pretty short longevity before it mostly faded (4-5hrs, probably more like 4).
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came home grumpy from my bad day at work to olisbokollike in my mailbox ^^ my review as a bpal bread hunter: in the imp is all cream to me. a very nice smelling sweet cream! on the body the bread starts to rise although not to the heights i was expecting. throughout wear this is a sweet perfume that has a bread note instead of a bread perfume with a sweet cream note. most unconcentrated offhanded sniffs will be of a sweet gourmand oil (which i realize is what most non-me people want). the bread note is crusty and pale like a warm knock-hard baguette and i get little to no butter or salt from it. it is still very delicious but not fulfilling the oven warm pizza crust and oregano shaped hole in my heart… next time
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I've tried this one a couple times now and it's a really good balance between earthy patchouli and tart fruitiness. It starts out mostly about the delicious smelling fruit, but the patch comes forward more upon dry down. Clings close to the skin but lasts a good few hours on me. Easy to wear out and about.
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This goes on with the dusty patch of the Snake Oil being the most prominent aspect of the scent on me. The pomegranate note is present, but it is rather understated. Over time, the Snake Oil spices join with the patch, so that it's mostly Snake Oil slinking through that little bit of candied pomegranate, which makes it seem like a slightly darker Snake Oil blend. I can't compare it to any other pomegranate GC variants as I haven't tried any of the others, but there's definitely way less pom here than other pomegranate grove scents I've tried. I no longer have any around (since I swapped my bottle away many years ago), but I would probably put this in the same family as Snake Charmer, due to them both containing spices and dark fruits, but this is not as complex, not as strong or as spiced, and the candied pom is way more subtle than Snake Charmer's plum. I think I'll hang onto my decant of this to see how it ages, but I have fortunately been spared from needing a bottle of this (which is good, because this Yule update has slain me). Snakes in the Coffee Beans is the Snake Oil variant of win from this year's Yule update.
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I was hoping that this would be pomegranate swirled an actual pistachio cream, whether that be the pistachio cream that's so trendy in desserts right now or the almond-esque pistachio cream in a pistachio cream pie. Unfortunately, it's that cherry/almond sort of pistachio that I got from Vanilla Cream, Pistachio, and Macadamia.... and the cherry aspect of that, combined with the pomegranate, just smells medicinal to me. The pomegranate ended up as the dominant note, but it still could not take it out of that territory, to my nose. And I never got any actual cream note.
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Was going back on forth on whether I *needed* this when I have plenty of Peacock Queen HG as well as Rose Red HG. Glad to say I think it is sufficiently different! Definitely a less fresh, more velvety rose like Peacock Queen but less jammy. The musk jumps out at first, spicy and rich and I get gorgeous wafts of tobacco and fir trailing behind.
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I like to believe this was for my birthday. It wasn't, but I like to believe it, especially because it's got cardamom and baked goods together, which is my favorite. I really enjoy this one!
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Knowing how beloved the perfume oil version of this scent is (by me, and so many others) I thought it would be best to give my impressions as a stand-alone product first, then compare it to the OG fragrance. Here we go! Although not explicitly stated anywhere, I like to shake my hair oils prior to application to ensure that everything is properly mixed. I have fine, untreated hair that is oily at the scalp and drier on the ends; I aim for the mid-back part of my head and brush down from there. Two sprays on mostly damp hair was enough to provide good coverage, and everything distributed evenly and nicely. First whiff is overwhelmingly green cardamom, very snappy and spicy, followed by the vanilla chiffon that almost smells marshmallow-esque. The orchid petals are there, but not very "floral" in tone. As it dries down, the sugared amber pops up from a nap in the back seat, looks around, and lays back down again. There is a light resinousness that accompanies the dry down which could be called incense smoke, but it isn't "smokey" like a campfire or woodstove at all. The cardamom abandoned ship pretty quickly and left the vanilla chiffon steering the way. Very pleasant, and lasted a good 8 hours before I either became anosmic to it or it largely just faded away. (The former is probably true, because I got a whiff of it the next morning when the water hit my hair in the shower.) This hair gloss formulation has cyclomethicone and botanisil, two synthetic silicone type molecules that coat the hair to give it shine. I noticed that this texture benefit seemed to persist even after shampooing my hair the next day, even though the fragrance itself washed away. How does this compare to the perfume version? Much chirpier, brighter cardamom leads the way in the hair gloss format, and fluffier, mallowy vanilla carries it the rest of the way, with much less amber and orchid. It smells exceptionally good, but not an exact note experience match to the perfume in real world wear. I like to think of them as fraternal twins, easy to tell apart although clearly sharing a lot of DNA.
- Last week
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The Donkey's Tail
SmellsPrettyGood2Me replied to doomsday_disco's topic in Gifts with Donation or Purchase
Incredibly fabric forward! In the imp, the silk note is the most prominent, followed by the cotton. The grey musk is also there, but surprisingly little lavender or vanilla. On skin, I feel like in the wet open the silk note has elements in common with the satin note in White Satin Hearse; there is the impression of a soft sheen. The French lavender appears, barely, in partnership with the grey cotton note, almost like a freshly laundered hand towel. The grey musk is more potent on skin, showing up as fast as 20 minutes post application. I couldn't tell you what silver thistle smells like, because there isn't anything particularly distinctive about it. Maybe there is a hint of a lace note in here too? The bourbon vanilla almost seems like dried baking extract remnants stuck to a measuring spoon that didn't get washed right away; no boozy, alcoholic or particularly dark undertones are present. The musk is a little sweatier than I had expected, and (to echo and affirm another reviewer) the whole scent gives post-warm up, lightly perspiring ballerina vibes. Delicate, low sillage and only about 5 hours of perceptible wear. Freebies are generous, much appreciated, and fun to try, but I don't think I'd be tempted to buy a full bottle of this if it was available. -
Em- changed their profile photo
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Did I review this already? I thought I did. Anyhooo. Oh. ooooooh yessssss. ssssssnake. Ok this seems to have more red musk than my bottles of Snake Oil. What is not to love about extra spicy snake oil? And then it begins to dry down into this cozy dredges of a pumpkin spice latte. There isn't much coffee but that suits this just fine.
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I mostly get jasmine and some powdery undertone. It smells like a mature scent
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I was doubtful that this one would work on me, since any and all bpal red fruit notes seem to do unpleasant things on my skin, but I was determined to try all of the Erl King scents and so gave it a shot! And I'm glad I did; it's a pleasant, lovely scent which I enjoyed. On me it starts strongly as apple, but a pretty soft, round-edged apple scent reminiscent to me of Sjöfn (so perhaps that the apple blossom-like apple peel @Saeva was identifying); I got some faint florals behind it, but little except the apple. As it dries, there's an almost haylike grassy floral sweetness which I think must be the meadowsweet (a new note for me! though I think I may have smelled them in the wild) and then the violet comes forward and becomes the center of the blend. There's still apple, and a more diffuse fruitiness in the background, but it neither takes over nor goes artificial as the red fruit notes historically have. My partner compared it on me to Black Butterfly Moon which I didn't get at first because the floral notes strike me so differently and this one does not have the gothy exuberance of that lunacy, but I can see it if I squint; something about the purple floral of the violet mingling with the fruit, but none of them being overly sweet. There's a softness to this blend, though it isn't overly sweet, and a sense of the florals as distinctly wildflowers, unexpected flashes of color or scent in the middle of the forest rather than something cultivated and showy. Possibly I'm just being suggestible because of the inspiration, but there's something of the Northern European woods to this one, which I also felt in The Woodland So Wild. I can make sense of this in the context of the accompany lyrics, an alluring trap meant for a child made of fruits and flowers in the natural environment. I liked this a lot more than I expected to, though it's not quite my style and I can't see myself wearing it often; I'll keep and probably use up my decant, but will not need a bottle. It also made me curious to try more scents with meadowsweet as a note!
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i was a little apprehensive about the chrome and gardenia note, but it was such a good deal in a destash that i chanced it anyway, and it paid off! i don’t smell any sort of chrome note, rather it’s like a lovely fruity and lush tea scent on me. it very much reminds me of “i sit and sew” but it lacks that distinct sour twang that threw me off. the tea is full bodied for being a white tea, and i think it’s supported by that gardenia– it’s slightly dewy and green and luscious. it's like a lovely fruity floral tea on me, something i can really get behind. sadly no vanilla musk, but i really can’t complain.
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2025 version. This scent lingers softly. It smells wet, clean, beautiful resins, I feel like I have something different comparing to others notes. Lol!
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The latest episode of the Strange New Worlds podcast features an interview with the brilliant Dr. Kristina Šekrst talking about the linguistics of the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Darmok,” the subject of her amazing essay in our book Star Trek: Essays Exploring the Final Frontier! Episode 193: The Linguistics of “Darmok” Star Trek: Essays Exploring the Final Frontier View the full post.
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I really love this—it’s warm and sweet, but not too sweet. It reminds me a little bit of a sweeter Dolly Kei maybe, but I haven’t compared them side by side so I may be off. It’s a little chewy, like there’s sweet tobacco here. All in all it’s a really lovely, warm, golden blend with some sweetness and chewy resins.
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Classic Snow White in a beautiful thick lotion. Sinks into the skin quickly, no residue. Of the few lotions I've tried this so far has the best throw - not as strong as the perfume, but a bit more detectable than the lotions I've tried thus far.
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Fizzy lavender snow, with a gorgeous soft musk that comes out on the skin. The fizz and musk are very prominent on me in the wet stage, with the lavender and snow returning as it dries. I would agree it is in the Snow White realm of snows, and a sweet TKO-type lavender. It has amazing throw!
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Blackberry syrup in the bottle, with a hint of violet leaf and tuberose. On my skin the blackberry fades way back, and gets less sweet. The tuberose and myrrh come forward, as well an ink note. The orchid and rose come out a bit more as it settles. It becomes a slightly fruity floral melange, with not one floral jumping out of the crowd. It is backed by the darkened incense. A shadowy scent but not heavy.
