All Activity
This stream auto-updates
- Yesterday
-
Assimbya joined the community
-
Of the July 2024 releases, I admit, this was the one I was MOST excited for! In The Bottle: All coconut aspects accounted for! I definitely can individually pull out the husk from the meat from the milk, even at this early stage, and it is SO good! Wet On Skin: Milk and Meat are coming out to the fore. I hope this is transitional, cause that husk smelled *really* good in the bottle. Dry Down: The husk *does* come back! Hooray! If the frond is meant to be a bit of a "green" note, I don't get it here. But I'm not at all mad about it, because this is so beautiful as is with the coconut milk, meat and husk. It's got a bit of that "cool" coconut note I remember from Obatala, but this is definitely its own thing. It's NOT suntan lotion and it's *also* NOT candy coconut. This is the scent of sitting under a coconut tree surrounded by fallen, dry fronds, basking in the gentle warmth, protected from the direct sunlight by the tree's shadow. It's ridiculously beautiful and may, in fact, require at least one backup bottle.
-
Deer Moon: Golden Tobacco and Beeswax
VioletChaos replied to doomsday_disco's topic in Duets & Menage A Trois
In The Bottle: There is something surprisingly...watery...about this combination. 😳 I'm really surprised, because neither of these notes has EVER given me even a hint of such a thing! I think there's something about these two together that lends itself toward a whisper of petrichor somehow, and I definitely don't mind. Wet On Skin: As with this month's Deer Moon itself, it starts to shift fairly dramatically shortly after it begins to warm up. The notes are separating themselves out into the very recognizable beeswax note I've known and loved in other BPAL blends and a less-prominent tobacco that smells more like the soil note in Penny Dreadful than any tobacco notes I've encountered from The Lab previously. For me, it works, cause I usually love earth and dirt notes. Dry Down: It stays largely the same from first touch to dry down, so not much morphing. It's a warm "skin" scent, definitely stays close, not alot of throw. Always test carefully, but don't be surprised if you have to slather a little Layered with Deer Moon, as intended: I get it. If Deer Moon didn't have such forward Blackberry, adding in this Duet might be overkill. But these two notes add some warmth with the sweetness making the layering a really beautiful cuddly scent. In All: F or the remainder of this hot, hot summer, I'll likely keep this Duet for separate use from the Deer it's paired with. The *moment* we get a cool, autumnal day, though, the layering will be ON -
In The Bottle: A surprisingly light combination of the cacao and musk, with a little blackberry and oak bark bitten off at the end. Wet On Skin: It warms up and starts to shift quickly, becoming more rich and strong- basically more in line what I'd expect from the scent profile for this. The musk is warm but not super dark, like a brown or black musk. I'm frankly relieved as those both tend to go wet cardboard with my chemistry suuuuuper fast. The blackberry continues its upward climb, becoming a near-predominant note. It's fascinating because I've generally experienced it in blends that are foodie-forward and really support a fruit as the star of the show. But this is an instant where the note plays against type and it's really working at this stage. Dry Down:The blackberry, oak bark musk and a hint of the cacao all come together in the blend at this point where it's a bit harder to pull out the individual notes. (given the density for most of them, I anticipate this will only get stronger with age). That said, I want to make clear that in spite of a few prominent notes, I would *not* call this a foodie or gourmand scent. If anything the combination, once settled and released by the skin, becomes a little reminiscent of a high-end masculine cologne. Alas, I get no blood or sandalwood at any point in the process, but it's a really interesting scent that I think will come into its own with a little bit of aging.
-
First impressions: I'm struggling with how to describe this one. It's bubbly like soda, but only slightly. It's tart and fruity, yet herbal. It's light and bright, but with a resinous rich base. Light against the dark indeed. This is utterly addictive and I am deeply inhaling my wrists constantly. If I have to identify it, I get lemon, bergamot, apple, soda, lavender, and I think I can detect a deep dark soft patchouli. This is a scent to wake you up, but it still has an element of comfort. Beth is absolutely killing these monthly paintings.
-
Smoked Caramel, Himalayan Cedar, and Patchouli
DiZZysTARdust replied to Silvertree's topic in Duets & Menage A Trois
this is very caramel forward on me. while i don't seem to get patchouli or cedar as distinct notes, they are definitely making themselves known because this is a really unique non-gourmand caramel. it's delicious and more like a caramel musk than foodie-leaning. i can only guess this is the patchouli and cedar notes making themselves known but definitely not present for me as their usual selves. this is somewhat vaguely sweetish in the bottle and actually seems very similar to the in the bottle scent as it dries, with a pretty decent throw. i wondered if the patch/cedar would outlast the caramel but they never became more detectable. this lasted like 6+ hours on me, with the throw decreasing but still there up close. -
“You think you just fell out of a coconut tree? You exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you.” Everything is in context, including this scent: coconut meat, coconut milk, coconut frond, and coconut husk. Proceeds from this perfume will be contributed to Emily’s List, an organization dedicated to helping pro-choice women win elections. Learn more here!
-
Mineralic Amber.
-
Concombre (cucumber).
-
Fleur de Citronnier (lemon blossom -- the site also has this tagged with lemon).
-
A light, pure scent: white musk, green tea, aloe and lemon.
-
Summer Fig and Wildflower Honey.
-
Honey Dust and Oudh.
-
Golden Tobacco and Beeswax.
-
Caramel and Dark Musk.
-
Blackberry and Wild Lilac.
-
Moonstruck with music and madness: warm russet musk, toasted sandalwood, cacao, blood-tipped blackberry thorns, and oak bark. Out of the mid-wood’s twilight Into the meadow’s dawn, Ivory limbed and brown-eyed, Flashes my Faun! He skips through the copses singing, And his shadow dances along, And I know not which I should follow, Shadow or song! O Hunter, snare me his shadow! O Nightingale, catch me his strain! Else moonstruck with music and madness I track him in vain! – Oscar Wilde
-
Lots of sweet, fruity coconut at first. Like the way coconut oil sometimes smells a bit fruitier than like coconut milk. I think the white amber is adding to the sweetness, and I can start picking it out more as it dries. Fully dry I get a halo of frankincense around the coconut-amber, adding a bit of grounding resin-woodiness and checking the sweetness a bit. It's still sweet and coconutty, but much more balanced as it dries.
- Last week
-
this one honestly smelled like mothballs on me
-
Surprisingly, this is quite floral on my skin - I wonder if this memorial garland has some unlisted flowers in it? I echo the similarity with Paper Phoenix (though I do like that one better, it's sweeter, with that lovely relaxing lavendar and fun pink pepper) and Tea Leaves, Vanilla Bean, and Incense Smoke. My partner thought I had a rose scent on. I don't get rose from this, but if I was smelling this without a note list, I'd guess lily of the valley or something along those lines. Cat at the Table is also somewhat similar, but that one reads a little more citrus-fruity to me. I'm not sure where I'm getting that impression (that one has no listed fruit notes), but anyway - they're all scent-cousins. The cool-toned tea blend family. In the late drydown I get a bit more vanillic/benzoin sweetness, which I enjoy. I'm not getting any of the smokiness I was worried about from the lapsang souchong, which is a relief. I'm going to let this one age a bit and see where it goes!
-
Hello
I was wondering if you would like to sell/swap rainbow swirl if you are detashing! Just thought I’d ask
-
This is one I've had my eye on forever but couldn't see how the mint was going to work with the rich spiciness of Snake Oil - but it does! First on it is nearly all mint, there's a soft sweet mintiness as well as a bracing cool mint. There is a bit of green tea and the rich vanilla of SO just peaking out. As it settles it is less 'cold' minty, more fresh and green. The vanilla and spice just sort of grounds all the freshness. Vanilla mint tea.
-
I have three imps of Bastet: newish from BPAL (with the new sticker that doesn't go all the way around), and 2 frimped through the forum (thank you to doomsday_disco and fiam). The oil color varies considerably -- the newest is a pale gold color, and the other two are 1) light orange, and 2) deep, red orange. (Here's a side-by-side comparison pic of the new one from BPAL and the darkest red-orange.) I skin tested (on my index and middle fingers) the dark red orange with the light gold to check for differences. 1) Light gold: amber, coconut, milk, and cardamom. Neither coconut nor milk are listed notes so that's pretty interesting. Milk doesn't smell good on me, heads toward baby formula, but the coconut, amber and cardamom are doing their best to stop it. Can still smell it faintly half an hour later. Considering the tiny amount of oil used on a tiny spot and my skin's tendency to swallow all scent, that's impressive. This would smell fantastic on someone whose skin doesn't curdle milk! 2) Red-orange: amber, almond/cherry, and... hello, is that you, jasmine? Almond/cherry is the dominant note when it first goes on, then the floral comes out to play and they have a little party. Faded after 15 minutes (again, used a tiny amount on a tiny spot). Reminds me of the cherry almond lotion my guy uses, which he uses because his mother has used it for years and he finds the scent comforting. I do not. If you don't have that scent association, you'll probably find Bastet amazing. I'm really glad I got to try them in imps before full-sizing. Because my Bastet hair gloss experience has been completely different, and I almost full-sized based on that. Bastet HG is divine. No coconut or milk or jasmine. Instead, I get amber, almond blossom, a teensy hint of sweet cherry, and a peaceful spice (maybe cardamom? I dunno, but it makes me sigh with contentment).
-
It is fascinating to read all the reviews and see how differently people experience Brisingament. BPAL frimped me on an order last year and I've tried it twice. This should work on me -- amber loves me. Apple blossom, myrtle, all good. But unfortunately, it doesn't suit me. Smells like a very traditional, expensive perfume, heady florals with an undertone of high-end powder, the amber slowly peeks out on drydown -- I agree with the "golden" description. Asked my guy to sniff my wrist. He leaned in for a big snootful and leaned back, coughed, and said, "That's some insane old lady perfume." So, yeah. Doesn't work with my skin chemistry, even though allll the notes should work on me. I appreciate being able to try it in a sample!
-
I love vanilla aquatics and gourmand aquatics (my favorite is Solstice Scents' Sea of Gray, followed by Molinard's Vanille Marine, 4160 Tuesdays' What I Did On My Holidays, and Reminiscence's Etoile de Rem). The touch of salt and freshness mixed with something like sweet vanilla or caramel is just so attractive to me. I wore The Storm to my massage therapy appointment a few days ago, and I laid here for about a half hour into my massage just wondering what essential oil my therapist was using that smelled so wonderful and relaxing. After a while, I realized that it was The Storm wafting from me that smelled so dreamy and spa-like. I like Lyonesse and Sea of Glass, but The Storm is better than both of those blends to me. Lots of creamy, sweet yet not sugary vanilla, a touch of salt, and an impression of serene, cold water. I'm surprised that there's no blue musk in this. It's so calming and lovely.
-
The Mummies of Mexico City brings up images of walking into an old wood and cobblestone building with decades of resins that have soaked into every part of the structure, standing in a large room with wooden rafters, flickering candles, gold, and dust floating lazily through a beam of sunlight from a stained glass window. I think this smells like sweet frankincense and slightly lemony, slightly pine-y, slightly smoky copal (very slightly smoky), a golden and lightly powdery amber that conjures up sunshine and dust, old books that have that aged vanillic scent to them, and a hint of beeswax candles. Very pretty. I'm happy to have this in my resin/incense collection.
