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This is a lovely lilac and violet cream in a cloud of ethereal musk. It blooms with purple petals and a pinkish glimpse of elemi, all of which eventually drift down and settle into the creamy and slightly vanillic backdrop, like a ghost that envelops you.
- Today
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Goose Moon: Nag Champa Smoke and White Gardenia
Invidiana replied to doomsday_disco's topic in Duets & Menage A Trois
This is both ethereal and intoxicating at the same time, like breathing in the heady perfume of gardenias entwined with tendrils of incense smoke. There is also subtle, slightly powdery and almost vanillic undertone that only makes it more enchanting. It conjures visions of a midsummer fae dance beneath gauzy clouds and a full moon. - Yesterday
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Be not afraid! You won't smell like an actual bundle of asparagus wearing this. It's a bright, happy, zesty lime, at first almost skittle-like when wet with a slight fizz, then drying down to a gorgeous green/plant-like memory. A perfect summer or warm-weather scent.
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Boney Moon: Spiced Chestnut and Honey
icecreamcone replied to doomsday_disco's topic in Duets & Menage A Trois
Bottle sniff and skin test: straight up powdered Tang in the container! Think orange gritty powder. I know some of you remember it from the 90s! -
On me, this starts as a fainter version of Snake Oil, with frustratingly little throw. A couple hours in, now it's a sweet, creamy honey with a smidge of Snake Oil. It's beautiful, but I still have to be inches away from my skin to smell it. I suppose my experience with this is the same as @Estamets unfortunately. 😭
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First, I have to say that I'm not familiar with heartsease or hellebore, so if those are conspicuously absent from my review, that's why. The poppies are the main feature of the bouquet throughout wear, backed by the peonies. I recognize the poppy note from The Serpent in the Opium Poppies, although I believe that one is much stronger on the opium tar than the poppy petals. I did not deathmatch the two, though. The peonies are not as strong as the poppies on my skin, but I can still smell them and can visualize the soft feel of the peony petals whenever I catch a whiff of that note beneath the poppies. I'm not getting much in the way of Snake Oil, sandalwood, or the vanilla silk, but the floral notes are so lovely together that I don't really mind. I wonder if this Snake Oil variant will stay like this and be like Cottonmouth (overtly floral with not much in the way of Snake Oil), or if the Snake Oil will emerge more with age. I am going to have to spend more time with this one, but I'm definitely keeping my decant, and further tests will decide if I need more before this goes away.
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This is lovely. It starts off with a burst of green -- I get more of the meadow grass and clover than any wildflowers -- with the Snake Oil as a backdrop. I feel like some of the grass smells like it has been crushed, but fortunately, there are no strong grass clippings to be found. Over time, it becomes less green as the Snake Oil gains strength and ends up being the dominant note after several hours. I get more of Snake Oil's spices and musks here than the other aspects of the Snake Oil (and it smells more like older Snake Oil than recent variants have to my nose). But this is definitely recognizable as a Snek variant (which Snake Bouquet, while also smelling lovely, doesn't have much of a Snake Oil aspect to it at the moment). I think I will end up needing to get more of this before it goes away. I think this Snek is idyllic and perfect for the spring and summer -- and I really appreciate it as someone who lives in the desert and misses seeing grass.
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Anything with SO is always a win with me. When I first put this on, it reminded me of Snakes in the Pumpkin Patch! Thick and heavy on the SO and other spices. Probably the molasses! But this is such a warm and yummy scent. Not really a summer scent, but I broke down and had to get a bottle. The dry down stays the same. I don't know if I am getting any rum from this, but I am ok with this. Really, if you loved Snakes in the PP, you will love this. Very close relative to it to my nose.
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Very disappointed! This isn't Revenant Rhythm. I don't know what this is, but I tested this and it was a green chemical smell. This is no where close to the RR HG I used to have. I was so excited to see this re-released but super sad it is something else. It faded quickly and then I was left with...nothing. I will see if it will do something better with age, but, not counting on it.
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This was a frimp, I do not think of myself as a gourmet/foodie enjoyer. But I'm glad I got to try this! It's my first perfume from BPAL that smells exactly the same in the imp as it does on my skin. I find the smell has a decent amount of throw too, especially at first. Oaty, nutty, a bit of pastry. It smells delicious! I'm less certain I want to smell like this all the time but once in a while is quite enjoyable. As I wear it longer it does play closer to my skin, and it's hard for me to say if any of them fade more quickly than the others, it stays pretty similar throughout just less prominent. It lasts a decent amount of time, four-ish hours or so, and after that I can still smell it okay but only closer up. I don't think I'll buy a bottle but it's done a lot to entice me to check out further foodie scents. Also I want to try layering this with some of the other RPG scents I have. I've got Fighter and Ranger and I'm not sure how it'll do with either but I'm curious to try!
- Last week
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I do not get lemon at all. It reminds me of a maltose fragrance note that I ordered from a perfume creating website. I do get the honey eventually but the super sweet maltose-y fragrance has to die down a little first.
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MischiefofRats changed their profile photo
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malayah joined the community
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mysticalmuddle joined the community
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Velvet Brick is mostly about the resins of Velvet (especially the sandalwood, which is indeed gentle) mixed with the warm clay of the brick and sweetened by the cocoa vanilla (although those notes play less of a role). This is nice, but I think just the decant will suffice.
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I love ambrette & I forgot there was any in this, so I wasn't expecting such a great musky base to the citrus notes. I thought it was maybe white amber or white musk. I can identify the neroli but it doesn't take over like in Fleur d'Oranger where it is the star of the show. This has a lot more complexity - I occasionally get a whiff of bay & myrrh, too. I'm a fan!
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Thank you so much @BetteNoire and @topazphoenix! I have an imp of Dirty, so I'll have to test for that, and now I would love to try Xiutecuhtli! For anyone who might be reading this thread in the future, I'll share that I have now tried Delight and unfortunately didn't get much plumeria from it, so the quest continues!
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My skin seems to have run away with the tequila. I get a smoky version of tequila with some of the effervescence of the soda water and the clay and sand of the brick note. The booze is the star of the show on me in this one, instead of the brick. I wish the fruity notes had showed up on me. Alas.
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Brick Snek is mostly about the warm, soft, clay-like brick note mingling with the aged vanilla absolute and musks of the Snake Oil. I actually don't get much in the way of Snake Oil's spices or patch in this one, so I don't really find this one to be earthier or hissing with rage as per the description. In my Brick Single Note review, I mentioned that I get some orange blossom or neroli in the brick accord, which reminds me of the sharp version of the dead leaves accord that I've encountered in some dead leaves scents, and I totally get that in Brick Snek, too, especially after the scent has been on for several hours of wear. Although I enjoyed this the most out of the Brick by Brick collection, I don't think I need a whole bottle of this one, but I'll keep the decant around to see how it ages.
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I can smell the single note Black Coffee in this. It's one of my favorite BPAL scents. I also like the lavender note in this. I was going to order a full bottle of this, but I'm low on funds at the moment, so when it comes right down to it, I decided that I prefer both of these notes separately. I doubled down on Blueberry Lavender Lemon Crepes instead.
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I've been looking for a good blueberry lavender scent for several years now, and this one is perfect. The lemon lifts the blueberry and keeps it from becoming too sweet or artificial, and the crepe base makes it gourmand without the intensity of a vanilla cake, which is what most of the blueberries in my scents are paired with. Sometimes the lavender will float above the blueberry note, but in this scent, they meld well together. I added a second bottle to my order after I read doomsday_disco's review. ✌️
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Both my partner and I didn't enjoy the smell of this in the decant; it reminded me of the dead leaves accord that either features neroli or orange blossom that's too sharp on me, and my partner described it as bitter. But on the skin, it immediately smooths over, which goes to show that you should always skin test things and not just judge by your first impression of a scent! This is mostly soft, smooth, warm, and clay-like. There's really only a hint of sand. I actually don't think this is very gritty at all. I wonder if there's some tonka in here, but I'm not great at picking out that note and can't say for sure. I just feel like there's some vanillic softness that's not quite due to vanilla. I still smell some of the sharp dead leaves accord in this, with some definite orange blossom or neroli that I detected in both this and Brick Snek, but the clay in this keeps that part of the scent in check so that it's not screechy and headache-inducing on me. So if you are a fan of the Lab's dead leaves scents, you should probably give this a try. I still have one more Brick scent to test, but I already think that Brick Snek is the winner as far as the brick blends go, because the vanilla and musk of the Snake Oil goes really well with the clay of the brick. While I don't think I need a whole bottle of this, I think I will keep the decant around to try different layering possibilities.
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Raspberry Punch with Cake Crumbs
doomsday_disco replied to doomsday_disco's topic in The Edward Gorey House
I can smell all of the notes in this, but the lemon is the lightest on me. It starts off being mostly about the raspberry punch (you can tell it's not straight-up raspberry and has been turned into a drink) and elderberry liqueur, accompanied by the Victoria sponge. The cake note isn't just the crumb: the creamy filling of the Victoria sponge is there as well. The gin note first emerges in the background but becomes stronger over time, eventually becoming the dominant note on me after several hours of wear. It's slightly effervescent and juniper-y and reminds me of 21, but with the addition of some fruitiness. The cake is but a memory by the end of the day. I'm going to hold onto my decant and see how this pairs with the new Framboise Hair Gloss. -
Sorry Beth, but you can't hold onto these forever! We're inviting everyone to go on a little crate-digging adventure in BPAL's catacombs, featuring a bunch of limited quantity prototypes, misfires, and lost souls which never ended up seeing the light of day. This is their moment! https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/product-category/rarities-and-b-sides/
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my first foray into bpal's shungas and it's one that i've finally decided that i liked enough to fs! in my little decant it at first reminded me of this specific body lotion? i think it might be nivea? and i was a little thrown off by it but it really grew on me since then. it's super well blended, and no one note really sticks out to me. but if i had to say, i think it's amber, lotus and cream heavy on my skin. on dry down the ink comes out to play and it really reminds me of the calligraphy ink i used to use for drawing a few years ago. i don't get any, i guess, sharp ink used for ballpoint pen or anything like that. the calligraphy ink was slightly sweet, a teensy bit herbal and it had a very distinct smell that i can't describe well (the last time i used it was well over 8 years ago) and it's present in here! over time on the dry down the toasted aspect of the almond blossom cream blooms (haha) on my skin too. it's lovely and fluffy and creamy, it's a golden ivory color in my mind and i'm glad that i have an FS on the way!
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I cant' believe this isn't getting more attention. I think this is quite lovely - nothing spectacular or mind blowing, but just a damn good perfume for everyday use. On my skin pomegranate milk is the most prominent from wet phase to completely dry. I've been noticing that on my skin scarlet musk usually is somehow... fizzy (I'm not finding the right word but that's the closest I can get), it's not at all as heavy as red musk usually is (on me). Golden musk is accurate description. After drying I can get the sandalwood,almond and maybe frankincense too, but they are all subtle and grounding. This smells something I'd like to drink, like a milky pomegranate milkshake with a twist.
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JellyfishTwilight changed their profile photo
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Ah, cigarette smoke ❤️ This is not your usual tobacco though. It smells stronger and wetter than what I have previously smoked. I don't smoke anymore but I still like the smell in a twisted way. This one is long-lasting on my skin. I can put it on at mid-day and still have it smelling sweetly smokey, obviously mellowed out, on my skin. It's quite lovely. I think I may have to read the story again to remind myself what bit of the story has a vibe like this.
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(note: i have tried to become a bpal person in the past and never quite gotten it to stick until now. this is the first oil i am trying, though ive been messing around with edps for about a month now) location: inside of elbows and forearms source: 5mL bottle from forums (thanks, ymmat!) season: summer outdoor temperature: 96 °F indoor temperature: 80 °F activity: work (clinic), relaxing after work wet: dabbed on sparingly with toothpicks. there's that characteristic "bpal smell" i remember from sampling imps in 2018. i can pick out the neroli if i try but otherwise it's just soft and golden with no one characteristic pushing forward. dry, 2-4 hours in: creamy and sweet, almost borderline gourmand. really well blended. very good projection, even better than any edp ive tried recently -- i have a pretty sunny-yellow cloud around me that i can smell even through my mask but isnt heavy or suffocating. i wouldnt call it "bright" in the sparkly/citrusy/aldehyde kind of way but it definitely lightens my mood. i still dont sense the lemon, but this is so pretty that i dont even really care. 8 hours in: intimate throw now with no projection, but dang thats a long time. has gone a little powdery but not in the vintage perfume baby powder way -- more dusty than powdery, actually, kind of like pollen? still warm and sweet. i really love it. 12 hours: i cant believe this is still here. it's a warm, dusty yellow skin-scent now, but it's still here and i dont even have to push my face into my arm to smell it. cedar is a note i can distinctly identify, but im not getting any cedar from this, just that soft polleny sweetness. im actually almost a little annoyed with the longevity -- i want to try something different now that im home but i also dont want to waste this!! overall: this is really wonderful and it lasts for-freaking-ever. if only i'd gotten lemon out of it, it would be absolutely perfect. im thinking about a backup bottle already but i should also try more than one bpal first before buying out the entire website ... scent: ★★★★½ projection: ★★★★★ longevity: ★★★★★ overall: ★★★★½
