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- Yesterday
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22knocks joined the community
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I like this. It reminds me of Liz with a dark leather and soft, cool, vanilla tone. I find Liz more floral, Deathrock more resinous with the styrax and benzoin. It's a moody, slightly more traditionally masculine blend that doesn't smell like cigarette smoke to me. There is a tiny bit of hairspray, but perhaps with age, the resins have smoothed out the harshness that would come of those note and made this more like a soft leather to my nose. Overall, this is really nice and I'm happy Liz has a boyfriend to sit next to now.
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Levatio is definitely an effective calming scent, although I would say that it is better at making you calm enough to lie down and rest, but I'm not sure I would use it as a sleep scent since the tangerine in this is such a powerhouse. It's the strongest note throughout wear, and it is pith-y. This is a TAL, so its scent shouldn't really be judged anyway, but don't let the scent in the bottle deter you from using this. It smells a little scary, and I think it's the way the ylang ylang shouts over the other notes, but fortunately, it is not a main player on my skin. The fennel note is somewhat black licorice-y without being full-on black licorice-y like anise is, and it also calms down after the wet stage of the scent. The tangerine and lavender end up being stars of the show early on, but this morphs and is more about the tangerine and patchouli by the end of the day. I didn't get the cedar on my skin, and could not pick out any of the wild carrot. Wearing this immediately put me at ease, so I definitely recommend this TAL for its purpose. And if you're a fan of tangerine, you will probably like this, too.
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I received a tester of this with my decant order. On Buying and Selling starts off with the golden apple being the strongest note on me (huzzah!), with touches of the other fruits. I don't generally like fig (the only scent I love featuring a fig note is A Moment in Time), but it is pretty well-behaved here and never takes over even though it's normally a force to be reckoned with on my skin. I get a little waxy sweetness from the dates, just a tiny bit of pomegranate, and once the apple calms down, it's actually the apricot that ends up being the dominant note by the end of the day. I never get any of the frankincense smoke from this... just the fruits. I like this more than I thought I would based off of the notes! I think those yearning for an autumnal scent that doesn't involve pumpkin or spices should give this one a try. It would be perfect to wear during late summer/early fall.
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Note: I have not tried the original released scent. This one is hella boozy. I was immediately reminded of the tequila shot my family made me do at a birthday party a few weeks ago. I do think it gets more wine-like as it settles, but it does still smell very boozy to me. At the end of the day, I get something that smells like jello behind the booze (I'm guessing that's the jelly, but it smells so jello-like that it immediately made me think of the jiggly texture of jello). I am glad I am not getting any peanut butter like some reviewers, or the dread artificial grape! While this isn't something I could see myself reaching for, it was fun to get to try it.
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This one has great staying power and hella throw! At first, it is mostly about the wonderful black clove backed by some goat's milk that doesn't go funky on me (woot), but over time, the milk overtakes the clove, so that it winds up being a creamy goat's milk-dominant scent with just a hint of clove in the background. I could still smell this on my hand the next morning when I went to take a shower, but by then it was all milk. I have been weary of milky scents as of late, but this one is pretty nice! I think I'll hang onto my decant.
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I grabbed a decant of this after the rave reviews from those who tried it at Dragoncon. I'm not familiar with the scent of the actual flower and don't generally wear straight-up florals. I've tested this a few times, and it's just not for me. I do think it smells white and purple, and is heady, sweet, and somehow sharp as well. There's a grape-like undertone to this that became evident to me after I layered it with 13 March 2020 (the 13 containing ALL THE SUGARS), because then it reminded me of the awful grape-like sugar I get whenever I've happened to order a drink from what ends up being a bad boba tea place. And then I could smell it in the single note itself. The single note ends up being somewhat powdery on me by the end of the day, but it still retains that undertone to it. I always tell myself that if I don't like a floral single note layered with 13 March 2020, it is not for me, so this decant is headed to the destash pile.
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bboombboom changed their profile photo
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Did it turn out to be the batch, mis-labeling, or more aging required? I'm especially curious because I had this happen with the Cathouse Atmo spray years ago. I got a Goblin Squirt and it was SO magical, it literally influenced my dreams when I was sleeping. So of course I purchased a full size- only it didn't smell the same. And it did NOT sell the same as the Squirt until a full *year* later! I wound up buying a second bottle for backup before I was even halfway through the first just because of the exceptionally long age time required to get it how I wanted it to be.
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This was a frimp, but it's also been on one of my wishlists of things to try. It's the fougere and "gentleman's cologne" things that piqued my interest. In the vial, I smell something almost smoky, and the lavender. That might be the fougere in general? On my skin the lavender fougere blooms so lovely, but the lavender isn't super herbal like it can sometimes be. It's floral and woody/earthy and something a bit smoky. I think I smell the amber too? After 30-60min I can smell the tonka and amber more, tonka does smell a lot like vanilla but a bit different too, maybe a bit more dry. The amber and tonka are warming up the heavier herbal smelling lavender. There's still a woody smell which I've been thinking is from the fougere (possibly oakmoss?) but could be the rosewood too. Not really smelling patchouli yet, again, unless that "diabolical" is the smoky element I've been smelling. After a few hours the herbal lavender has faded in its intensity, I can still smell some lavender but moreso the amber and the tonka, and the woody smells, that smoky smell is largely gone, and I think maybe I'm getting a touch of patchouli? But it's hard for me to tell. It's really a hint of patchouli and not super strong like some of the other scents I've reviewed recently. I really, really, really love this. It's in my special selection of love-plus-star. I really really really want a bottle of this, and I might actually go grab one the next time I place an order.
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Frog Moon: Iris and Wild Patchouli
gentle-twig replied to doomsday_disco's topic in Duets & Menage A Trois
This is instant love for me. I have been dreaming of this scent perusing this year’s releases. Lace Lichen, Serpent in the Lilacs: both are lovely, but this delivers what I had hoped each would be before I tested them. The patchouli here is fully dimensional. I don’t get one or two aspects like I often do even in simple blends. Instead I am seeing a full picture of every patchouli I have known. There is that phantom mushroom that patchouli can conjure, that green hissy quality I get in the blends I most enjoy it in, an almost woody huskiness that I enjoy far less when that’s all I get from it, a dark chewiness I have read about but not experienced in the BPAL universe, and a confounding shimmering glow that I am starting to appreciate as an effect of patchouli that I love but never thought to credit it with. But the iris changes everything! The iris is more abstract than the patchouli. I don’t get powdery or earthy orris, but an abstract iris accord made up of cool, steely, and violet purple components. Ther is a definite resemblance to the lab’s paper accord. Somehow the iris makes this into an airy, glassy blend—I definitely understand the associations with the “crystal vase.” I would say the blend veers even a little bit into soap territory (but in the most delightful way) with those violet facets of the iris accord. I’m fascinated by the interplay between the iris and patchouli accords, the way the iris elevates and transforms its wonderfully earthy comrade into something airy, light, dazzling, and clean! - Last week
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bboombboom joined the community
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Straight up chocolate and cream. Others say they can detect more to it but wet, I can't. Dry though? Dry it's dusty books. Smells just like old books and a whiff of chocolate powder overtop. I loooove it.
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Soapy and powdery - like unlit incense
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Lesbian Maidservants Cavorting with a Tortoiseshell Dildo
bheansidhe replied to Jenjin's topic in Lupercalia
This one is beautiful, sultry, and bringing up some of my more ..... confusing .... scent connotations. My brain offers: this smells like the CONCEPT of CATS .... like ... not like an actual cat or (god forbid) cat-related accessory, but like if you were describing to an alien how amazing it was to pet a really plush, sleek cat's fur, but as a scent, it would be this one. Or: this smells like the sister blend to ***just*** the cushion component of the cushions in The Crimson from The Girth of Venus, so maybe it smells like silk feather-down-insert cushions and the idea of cats, as a concept overall. It smells close and secret and like something you'd go searching for in the crevices of something beautiful and warm and maybe a little (ahem) dirty. It smells ilke it could be the missing Eighth Veil. Also, a little bit like apples. Welp THANKS ANYWAY, BRAIN. -
The woods in this Wolf Moon are a bit two brawny for me, prowling out strongly, despite the musk. Yet, they thin out considerably in drydown and reveal such a gorgeous blend of the beeswax and Morocco-esque musk, I’m left with only the faintest memory of the danger and purring with pleasure. As much as I love the smell of beeswax, only a few perfumes featuring it really work for me. This combo is a banger.
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I really adore this one and am so so happy I decided on a somewhat profligate whim to blind bottle it. This is definitely a hair gloss for lilac lovers only, but for those of us in that category it's an absolute delight. The lilac scent here may be pale but it is also full and billowing and a little intense; I'd agree with @tajana's description of it as slightly indolic in their lovely review above; it's unabashed in that quality, heady and intoxicating. The moss is very much a grounding green undernote, sinuous under the waves of floral. Excellent longevity and strong throw, just barely on this side of being too much lilac for polite company. This has quickly become a very treasured hair gloss for me; I love wearing it with one of my lilac perfumes for a full lilac experience (it subtly contrasts beautifully with both Eusapia and Lorrainna, bringing out each of their nuances), and am enjoying starting to try pairing it with other perfumes (it was lovely matched with Datura Blossom last week).
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This is doing the exact thing that deters me from trying most "red" scents, something bitter and medicinal that lingers for hours - I first smelled it in Voluminous Red Blanket. I took a chance on a decant because the notes sounded so yummy and nice but alas, this isn't for me. For the first half hour I smell the good things I was hoping for, red fruit, candy and marshmallow, but it turns bitter on me over time. I'm blaming my skin chemistry on this phenomenon.
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An oil of energy, power, authority, and inner strength geared to help you keep the fight going with passion, alacrity, and infectious fervor. Contains: sweet orange, dragon’s blood resin, master root, and High John the Conqueror root.
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Your soul is oftentimes a battlefield, upon which your reason and your judgment wage war against your passion and your appetite. Would that I could be the peacemaker in your soul, that I might turn the discord and the rivalry of your elements into oneness and melody. But how shall I, unless you yourselves be also the peacemakers, nay, the lovers of all your elements? Your reason and your passion are the rudder and the sails of your seafaring soul. If either your sails or your rudder be broken, you can but toss and drift, or else be held at a standstill in mid-seas. For reason, ruling alone, is a force confining; and passion, unattended, is a flame that burns to its own destruction. Therefore let your soul exalt your reason to the height of passion, that it may sing; And let it direct your passion with reason, that your passion may live through its own daily resurrection, and like the phoenix rise above its own ashes. I would have you consider your judgment and your appetite even as you would two loved guests in your house. Surely you would not honour one guest above the other; for he who is more mindful of one loses the love and the faith of both Among the hills, when you sit in the cool shade of the white poplars, sharing the peace and serenity of distant fields and meadows—then let your heart say in silence, “God rests in reason.” And when the storm comes, and the mighty wind shakes the forest, and thunder and lightning proclaim the majesty of the sky,—then let your heart say in awe, “God moves in passion.” And since you are a breath in God’s sphere, and a leaf in God’s forest, you too should rest in reason and move in passion. Rest in reason and move in passion: smoked rose attar, honeyed saffron, red sandalwood, red tea, clove bud, and frankincense.
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Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding. Even as the stone of the fruit must break, that its heart may stand in the sun, so must you know pain. And could you keep your heart in wonder at the daily miracles of your life, your pain would not seem less wondrous than your joy; And you would accept the seasons of your heart, even as you have always accepted the seasons that pass over your fields. And you would watch with serenity through the winters of your grief. Much of your pain is self-chosen. It is the bitter potion by which the physician within you heals your sick self. Therefore trust the physician, and drink his remedy in silence and tranquillity: For his hand, though heavy and hard, is guided by the tender hand of the Unseen, And the cup he brings, though it burn your lips, has been fashioned of the clay which the Potter has moistened with His own sacred tears. Violet water and plum juice with wormwood accord, pungent tagetes, and dry, bitter, wholesome green tea.
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Hubris shattered: roiling incense clouds of divine fury, scorched leather, smears of labdanum and golden pitch, bitter almond, smoldering black amber, and naiad’s tears. Peter Paul Rubens
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Speed and light translated through divine geometry: quicksilver and chrome musk blaze through bergamot, French lavender, white frankincense, blood orange, blue lilac, tangerine, yuzu, and cubeb. Giacomo Balla
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Beams of citrus, apricot, raspberry musk, and neroli herald daybreak, illuminating ambergris and myrrh shadows. Felix Edouard Vallotton
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Light, motion, and divine radiance. A transcendent perfume, brilliant bursts of solar glory in a haze of celestial grace. Golden neroli and amber with heliotrope, osmanthus absolute, pink pepper, and white myrrh and a triumphant gallop of mallow and honey-tinged sandalwood. Odilon Redon
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in the decant it's... hard to discern what i'm smelling? i don't think i could individually pick out the notes besides some sort of creaminess and sweetness. i think it's mainly the ginger and vague black tea if i had to say? it doesn't quite smell like white chocolate to me. and it stays the same on skin like it does in the decant. but after like eight hours? (i think, i put it on before bed) it does turn into the most realistic, creamy and delicately sweet white chocolate note, like to a T white chocolate. while i adore the realistic drydown, i'm not completely in love with the wet scent or how long it takes to get there.
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This was posted on Instagram last week, wanted to make sure it was properly announced here. Exclusively from Haute Macabre: DRACONIS Once the guardian of the garden of Hesperides, the Dragon constellation Draco coils around the sky’s north pole. Never sleeping and never setting below the Northern Horizon, Draco and its Draconis stars within are now the celestial guardian, forever watching over us all. A protective blend of dragon’s blood, clove, and amber. https://hautemacabre.com/products/draconis-by-black-phoenix-alchemy-lab-1
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I’m always wary of buttercream, as it tends to be too much for me, yet took a chance on a secondhand bottle of Eros’ Valentine for the rose & suede. Risk paid off! It’s definitely sweet and rich, yet the combination of suede & musk tempers the buttercream overload effect perfectly. The rose tints the edges of the scent so beautifully. The drydown is dreamily cozy, and it’s a perfectly romantic scent experience.
