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- Today
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I love this Hair Gloss. I bought a decant of it from a while ago and now it is the ONLY hair gloss I will wear. It's very French Tobacco smokey, with a hint of sweetness from a figgy vanilla. The cardamom gives this a very slightly spiced scent, and my hair feels amazing and tangle free afterwards. BPAL's tonka can turn plastic on me, but not when it's in my hair! The honey is also a complement with the hair gloss base rather than a strong note, which works for me as I don't normally love BPAL's honey (can give headaches). TLDR: Test of Strength is delicious. Please send me bottles if you are not wanting yours ❤️
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Dana Stanfield Bayiates changed their profile photo
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jennifer kates joined the community
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O Love and Time and Sin, a befitting name for such a heavy, sexy blend. This conjures an image of a darkened room, smoky with incense. The bed is in shambles, sheets soaked in sweat, with rose petals withered, crushed, and smeared all around. The atmosphere is weighty with sorrow, as if a realization of pleasure’s impermanence has set in and the responsibilities of life crowd the mind. Deeply sexy, yet deeply severe. Saturnian indeed. The scent becomes slightly powdery in the late drydown, perhaps this is the tone of one’s acceptance of fate.
- Yesterday
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JoSloan360 joined the community
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In the bottle, this is perfectly balanced- on me, the incense comes forward more. Its light though, not an overpowering or cloying incense.
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More peppery than expected. Not in a bad way- more like a spicey peach with champagne spritzed in the background on me. Very little throw, stayed a long time though.
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Like a freshly bitten into gummy- fruity, sugary- I'm not getting the honey when I wear. Decent staying power.
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First sniff is mainly foody spice, heavy cinnamon sugar. On, the pastry smell and chaparral dust start to come through. Interesting, but not an everyday for me.
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Gorgeous scent. This is another scent wheee the amber and beeswax combine to strongly remind me of cave of treasures. Except in this scent, instead of turning up at the end and becoming a light, white floral, feminine perfume, this sort of turns down and becomes instead a sort of darker scent, definitely appropriate for midnight gambols a la the description. Almost a bit woody from the olive blossom in fact. I wouldn't classify this as a masculine scent though, just not overly floral. Definitely unisex at the very least. The violet leaf takes a few minutes to come out, and when the powderiness finally comes out there's something almost metallic about it. Not in a cool or sharp way. Literally as if this amber is like the gold coin variety, rather than the warm molten gold, toothsome caramel variety. It kind of lightens everything up and brings it more in the cologne direction without making this a cologne. Still very much a spicy amber blend. Good throw on me.
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Got this as a frimp, yay lab! ❤️ I thought this would be quite a strong fruity/berry floral, with emphasis on the rose and didn't buy it, because that didn't stood out as much to me, as some of the other blends - but both in the imp and on me at first, this is something licorice-ish, coffee (maybe even those coffee and cream sweets?), something a bit salty and maybe even doughy and buttery. Maybe even some brown sugar or molasses or something caramelly, but not quite caramel? There is some kind of deep rich sweet tartyness to is as well, the blackcurrants probably. After a while, the roses start peeking through - not too overwhelmingly rose, but just a nice, red rose behind it all. The true licoricelike smell and also the coffeelike smell faints a bit at this point too, but it still has a slight note of it. The licorice comes back a bit at drydown and it is more licorice then, than anything else. This is darkly sweet, like a blackcurrant tart would be. Even sticky. And very strong and rich and deep. I kinda enjoy it, but it is also a bit much to me, I feel too sweet in a too sticky kinda way, but because the sweetness has a depth to it as well and is complemented very well by the tartyness, the coffee, the licorice, and the fattyness of the buttery/creamy notes, it is indeed very interesting. There is something gothic, or dark, about this kind of sweetness. It is a mix between a very summery, but also a very wintery scent to me. I don't think I will buy a bottle of this and I don't think I will wear it often - I normally like my sweet scents very "youthfull", where this is more "mature", and I like my dark scents not sweet at all, but this has both - and more. Which I like and am very intrigued about, but not sure how to wear. Maybe, I will find a way, I could see it becoming an unexpected fave with time somehow! But for now, it is 5/5 for uniqueness and intriguement, but 3/5 for wearability for me personally.
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Kelthara changed their profile photo
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This was a frimp from the lab, yay thanks! ❤️ The description sounds very interesting to me, but not much like a bandit. But what this smells like on me, is not much of the description and more like what I would think this kind of scent would really smell like. At first this is all very strong leather, maybe something salty, without being really salty - like salty skin maybe? My first thought was that it smells a lot like the room, where you keep stuff like leather briddles and saddles for horses. And maybe a bit greasy too, like when you clean this stuff with soap, greas and oil ... The greasy - and dirty - scents gets stronger and it starts smelling a bit like metal and rubber. Like my dads work when I was little. He was working with heavy metal cutting machinery and everything had that metally, greasy, dirty smell to it - his work clothes too. The leather is still there though. It ends up really embodieng the concept, smelling like a highwayman and his gun and leather. After a while, some white flowery crispyness comes in and mixes with the leather to make it a little spicy too. It still smells like rubber, grease and metal too. It does not smell anything like roses or cinnamon or the like sadly, which I would have loved! In the last stages, it becomes more wearable for me. At first, it is very MANLY - not wanting to gender this, but this smell so old school masculine, that I don't really know, what else to call it. I am trying out scents that puts me out of my comfort zone and this really does at first. But later on, it become more wearable, more highwayman with no gender, than just male highwayman-ish, if that makes sence. I am not sure, I will wear this for everyday use, I am not really sure how I really like it, but it does intrigue me a lot. It is the second frimp to try today, that smells like my childhoos (the other one - 51 - smelled like our laundry softner) and that was not a particularly happy time for me. This smells like my dad and my horse riding, which is both filled with ambivalent feelings, but I do not feel sad while wearing these scents though, maybe because I've put in the work and these scents happened to land at my doorstep, when I was ready for this nostalgia?
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Got this as a frimp, thanks lab ❤️ Have looked at the description a couple of times, thinking it sounded nice, but didn't get the area 51/alien reference until I got it in my last order - which made me very exited! Always wanting to smell like an alien here! To me, this smells like fresh laundry, after using a flowery fabric softner - or maybe just specificly the fabric softner in it self ... So more like childhood laundry, since I don't use that kind of stuff anymore. I don't know if this is the smell of aliens and state secrets to me, but maybe it is. I sure felt like an alien as a child, even though I was "wearing human disguise/clothes"-ish - and if one were an alien, who were wanting to disguise oneself, maybe a good housewife or so would be ideal?! I don't know! I like the scent, it is pretty and calm and nostalgic, but atm it is more like a 3,5-4/5, since it doesn't stand out to me that much and is not what I thought this scent would smell like. Maybe I will change my mind though. But I will definitely use the imp up, it is good for when you want to smell "just nice and fresh", with a more "normal" kind of scent.
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A strong, clean and fresh, lavender fougere cologne for the first hour or so. Then that took a backseat to the dark resins, a touch of motor oil, a sprinkle of sawdust, and some metal, which got stronger with time. Unisex. I am a little heartbroken because I picked this up because I love lavenders, Schwarzer Mond, light woods, Streets of Detroit, and sometimes a bit of metal. What I didn't expect was the fougere note, which reminds me of one of those CK colognes that was popular in my youth which I didn't like.
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This one was an instant favorite for me. First whiff smells a bit like S+S Lord of the Sacred Eye, but it turns into magic when I put it on and the woodsy base notes last for hours. I'm regretting that I didn't grab a second bottle before it sold out. I'm not sure about increasing productivity, though. I put it on before taking a test in my online class today, and ended up taking a lot of random breaks to sniff my wrist .
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ACK! GET IT OFF ME! I apparently amp clove. The clove note stomped all over everything else. All I could smell was CLOVE, some red roses, and the barest hint of black musk. It smelled great in the imp, so if you love clove you'll probably adore this.
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A sharp blast of lavender eventually mellows into a lavender-vanilla cake with banana buttercream! I love this!
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Wet: Tart apple and burnt sugar. No Snake Oil... yet! Dry: Okay, so... I've now tested this multiple times, and keep getting the same outcome. This doesn't work for me. It all but disappears on my skin during the dry down. There's a very, VERY faint trace of apple left on my skin.. and that's it. Nothing else. Virtually no throw. This flat out doesn't work on my skin. Amazing in theory, and I'm almost tempted to grab a bottle just to let it age just in case it turns out to be amazing in a year. OI.
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Wet: OH HELLO! Strong lemon and verbena. Need help waking up? Smell this! Fresh, clean, and citrus-y. Dry: Super pretty lemon and verbena scent with a bit of amber in the background to add a little depth. It's like a golden lemon scent. If you're a fan of bright, cheery citrus scents, this won't disappoint you. Potential bottle upgrade!
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Dead Leaves, Lime Rind, Guava, and White Musk Hair Gloss
donkehpoo replied to zankoku_zen's topic in Hair
Oh, this is probably my favorite Dead Leaves hair gloss! First spray, I'm getting some of the dead leaves note, but also a blast of lime. When this dries in my hair, I'm getting a little bit of everything; the important thing I want to note is if the dead leaves scent has been too much for you previously(or just scares you in general), it's NOT overwhelming here. At all. It adds a very "autumn" vibe to an otherwise bright, citrus scent. This is an unexpected winner! - Last week
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cosmicvalkyrie joined the community
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Got this as a frimp, thanks lab ❤️ Have been thinking about purchasing it, but not gotten around to it, since I was afraid it would be "to masculine" (don't want to use gender, but don't know what else to call it - cologny maybe?) or depressive in a way or something like this. But this is so beautiful. It is dark, calm, and instead of ancient (which is a way many bpals make me feel - in a good way!), this is outside time. It is not depressive and is totally androgynos. But it IS dark. In a very comforting kind of way. It reminds me a lot of Der Tod und Das Mädchen by Schubert (or what it is called ... ). The pine, juniper and musk mixes perfectly and it just kind of exists ... I really enjoy it and think it is very beautiful and unique! I will probably buy a big bottle of this someday and I can see this being a fave, since it really taps into a want and need for feeling more in tune with what this evokes.
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I love this! I'm enjoying the syrupy spiciness & will probably upgrade to a bottle. The fruit note in Sugar Skull, which always reads as pear to me, is holding its own against the spice/pumpkin & I find this version as comforting as the original.
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This is one of the standouts from my 2019 Weenies collection. In the bottle, I get the pumpkin, bourbon, and leather. I don't really get pomegranate, but there is an underlying sweetness which may be attributed to it. I guess there is a vague incense-y feel. The patchouli note here is a very soft one. When I put it on, the pumpkin and bourbon are most prominent, and the leather takes some time to emerge. When it does, it adds a bit of a cooler tone to the warmer notes. Lovely combination. Really, it's just beautifully blended, and I can't wait to see how it ages. It does remind me quite a bit of Resistance. Which I also love, so that's not a terrible thing at all.
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Got this a frimp in my last order. Yay for freebees, thanks lab! ❤️ I am so happy for this one. I really feel like a sexy shripwreck or something, while wearing this. It smells very oceanic, with something woodsy and a little sweet to it, but very fresh and crisp. I am normally not much for aquatic scents on me, although I like the idea, but often they smell fresh in a too strong or heavy way, even sometimes giving me a headache. But this is perfect! I did not expect to enjoy it THIS much! I am a person that can get quite stuck in "having to smell a certain way" either due to the narrative I see myself as part of, or what I hope for others to perceive me as. I have been quite stuck in looking like a forever 12 year old, while being a grown ass woman, and leaning somewhat into this role, because of things like daddy issues and the like ... And not being comfortable smelling too "mature and womanly" or even worse ... Like af dude! (not trying to gender scents here, this was just my scarred angsty feelings that is formed by the discurse that have been about these kind of things). But I have used scents to help me get out of this headspace and it finally seems to start working. I would very much enjoy smelling like this "manly mature not even human kind of shripwreck on a rainy stormy beach" anyday, not even caring about what others might think, being busy sniffing myself in this kind of scent (still not trying to gender og put ageappropriateness on stuff, just listing all my anxieties)! ❤️ Thanks bpal for helping me change my narrative!!! Not that there is anything wrong with being a forever 12 year old (or 12 year olds in general), with identyfing with gender specifics or anything the like. I just want for MYSELF to not be stuck in this headspace anymore - being able to choose by myself and true wants and feelings, if I want to smell like a "girly youth", "mature woman", "like a dude" or even "like a shripwreck" or something else non human and out of this world. Might buy this, or something else that makes me feel the same way, someday, but will have to experiment more with these kind of scents beforehand. But it is deffinetly 5/5!
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I bought an imp of this over the summer and was in love! (it's this lovely cherry/clove/red wine on me as it dries throughout the day; super sexy!) I purchased a full bottle when it came up for sale in a destash group because I knew it would be amazing. The scent is however, different from the imp which I thought was rather interesting. In bottle: CLOVES and vetiver (the vanilla and cherry are hiding behind everything; they're there but it's very subtle). I also adore cloves so this overpowering aroma really isn't an issue for me Wet on skin: CLOVES but now the wine/cherry/vanilla and touch of honey are coming through a bit more prominently. It's rather powdery at present but I hope it deepens as it did when I wore it last in September Dry on skin: This is after 30mins: Clove/honey and cherry red wine. Juicy, dark and sexy! Just like I was hoping it would be.
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I was so thrilled to get a decant of this because I adore Crimson Peak and Lucille's character; she's such an interesting tragic figure. I was incredibly wary of this scnet though because I normally hate floral scents; they're always too powdery. In bottle: Smokey plum cushioned by red roses. The amber comes through rather prominently making it a very, (as multiple people have stated above) sinister. It's divine in the bottle. Wet: The garnet/lily come through to cut the scent very sharply. I'm not great at identifying ylang ylang but I suspect it's there too contributing to the sharp(e)ness. I find the amber and musk very prominent right now. It's a like a stabbing dark scent (Ah, Lucille!) Dry: This dries down to the most AMAZING rose/plum musk/amber on me. It smells wet and rich, and so dark. I'm in love and hope I can find a backup bottle of this *I have to use this scent VERY sparingly, if I use too much it's incredibly cloying and almost suffocating (which I think is rather appropriate, given how Lucille's presence is so smothering as she is an extension of the House and it's madness/rage) This is such a beautiful and sinister floral scent
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I have been debating purchasing an imp of this for a while, but havn't, but got this as a frimp in my last order! Yay, thanks lab! <3' In the bottle and at first on my skin, this smells like pumpkin chai latte or something like that, probably because of the nutmeg, but the peach comes through fast and gives it another dimension, with some spices underneath as to not becoming too too sweet either. But still quite chai-ish in the end. But I really like it. It is not a dark and gloomy autumnal scent, but very happy, comfy and glowing and really a good scent for both autumn and winter (and I wouldn't mind wearing it in spring and summer too, maybe layering it up with something that makes the peach stand out even more - thinking about Croquet or something like that)! I liked this from the moment I opened the bottle - sometimes some scents takes some getting used to, before they become faves, but this one is straight on awesome from the get go! I will probably get a bottle of this someday, it is really. I really adore it! I don't know if it's a top fave, but it deffinetly is a 5/5!
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In the imp this smells very powdery and floral and clean. Going on fresh it still smells a little soapy and i swear i smell roses. On my skin the rosiness mostly disappears but i feel like it's still present in the sillage and i am wondering if it may be one of the unlisted ingredients. I mean how can you have a victorian nocturnal reverie without roses? This is a very lovely scent on the skin, with the violet musk and amber giving it a powderiness while the fig and blackcurrant lend some sweetness without making it fruity. Actually, i just tested emathides and i feel like these two scents have much in common. This is also a dark, smooth, well blended scent. If i had to call a difference, it would be that while emathides was pretty unisex to my nose, nocturnal reverie is definitely tipping the scales into the more feminine, perfumey category. As it's drying i can detect more lavender in the throw, which is really not that strong. The lavender is pretty muted tho, definitely not screaming at me, and closer to the skin it's def a more musky, powdery scent without lavender coming out individually.
