All Activity
This stream auto-updates
- Today
-
Without reviewing the notes, I had guessed that Chimera was vanilla, amber, feisty cinnamon, and something resinous to give it a smoky edge. Reading up on this, the sweetness that I thought was vanilla and amber must be the honeysuckle, and the resinous element must be the myrrh. It is gourmand, dark, and supremely sexy. Good throw and longevity, and the scent stayed consistent from wet on skin to hours later. I definitely need a bottle of this as it's absolutely delicious; one of my favorite BPAL scents so far. I keep thinking of FKA Twigs singing "Smoke on your skin to get those pretty eyes rolling" when I wear this. I'm not big on smoky scents, but all these notes together are to die for. Bear in mind that I am testing an aged version of Chimera. I'll update this if my experience of a new bottle differs.
- Yesterday
-
This one starts off with a burst of the fruity notes, especially the dried blueberries, which definitely aren't as juicy and seem more concentrated than fresh blueberries, but the fruit notes quickly make way for the lilac to come through. The lilac then becomes the dominant note on me throughout wear, backed by the dried blueberries and blackcurrant notes, and over time, the scent gradually becomes more resinous, so that it settles into a lilac and resin scent brushed with the fruits. I'd love to see this blueberry note featured in another scent where it can be the star (I just haven't really been feeling lilac lately). But if you're a lilac fan and are looking for a lilac scent that's darker and not as spring-like, give this one a try.
-
Wow I love this. I’m not sure what’s brick and what’s the rest, but the overall effect is clay, fizz and something summery - I assume the tequila sunrise ingredients. I worried this might smell like Tequila! but that’s not the case at all. I think I’ll be reaching for this a lot during warm weather.
-
This is a weed-tinged blackberry pie scent. The blackberry note is the star of the show throughout wear. The weed note is not skunky and is the same one featured in Honeyed Weed and Dandelions. It's most prevalent during the wet phase of the scent, but it's not a main player on me. This is the pie scent with the most noticeable pie crust note that I've tried from the Lab. Most of the Lab's pies, while I love them and look forward to more of them, tend to be more about the filling than the crust, so I'm happy both pie components are present here! The crust starts off more like a freshly baked, warm, buttery crust, but then I get more rye from it after a while. The decant is definitely a keeper. I'm going to need to a full day slather to see if I need more of this. I might need to get more just for that pie crust note.
-
This is a dewy floral blend throughout wear, with the rose hips being the strongest of the floral notes on me. The jasmine isn't indolic or heady, and while I wanted waaaaay more lavender from this, it's definitely there -- just not a dominant note like I was hoping it would be. I bet the moonflower is there, contributing to this misty nighttime floral vibe, but I can't isolate it (maybe because my skin really seems to want to showcase the rose hips). I'm going to have to spend more time with this one to see if I need more of it, and I think I'll start by trying this as a sleep scent soon to see how that goes.
-
I received a tester of this in a decant order. The toffee-like honey dust note is the dominant note on me throughout wear. I get more sandalwood than amber lurking in the background, on a bed of musk. It's not a soft scent at all on me, but that's probably because I tend to amp the Lab's honey dust note. I'm not big on the Lab's honey dust note and prefer other honey notes from the Lab, but if you are a fan of honey dust note, this scent has it in spades.
-
Agree with the above: Ira is very vetiver-heavy. The blood orange is like a fresh-cut slice, but it's only really a factor in the bottle and on application (presumably it'd also hang around in bathwater, if I were to use it in a bath rather than as a body oil); it burns off quickly. The patchouli is detectable and quite dark, but playing second fiddle to the vetiver, especially after the fist couple hours. And that's not even all that long -- this stuff lasts. "Take a shower, moisturize, go to bed, smell it on your sheets all week" type lasts. It's a dark vetiver-patch with citrus elements. It's also a scent where I actually feel that vetiver, the plant, is related to lemongrass; even though the blood orange fades out the citrus doesn't truly go away.
-
Lush, velvety red rose and amber with a deep, rich red musk. Makes me think of a lavish parlor, gilded and full of velvet and brocade.
-
My “The Hunger Games” module with SPACE (Signum Portals for Adult Continuing Education) online via Signum University is currently a candidate for September 2025. This is a proposed first module of five, one for each of the five Hunger Games novels by Suzanne Collins. Each week will include one recorded lecture and one live discussion section. Voting runs through August 1. I hope you will join us as we explore the lessons we may learn from Panem. May the odds be ever in our favor! More information is here. View the full post.
-
I've tried a lot of strawberry scents, but this is one of my favorites so far. It starts out heavy on the strawberry cream and vanilla, similar to the strawberry milk Pink Moon, but as it dries I get interesting depth from the florals, amber, and sandalwood. Vasilissa is one of my favorite GC's and this is kind of a dolled up, sweeter version of it, to my nose. Cheerful and pretty.
-
Idle Moon: Vanilla Husk and a Bundle of Twigs
feyofthefellwood replied to doomsday_disco's topic in Duets & Menage A Trois
In the bottle, I smell a light vanilla husk with a bright green scent like a freshly snapped twig. Unfortunately my skin turns that note into lemon pledge. I'll try it again once it ages a bit and see if it smooths out. -
Monster changed their profile photo
-
I mostly wanted to try this because of the linden blossom and the art. This isn't as earthy as one might expect based off the notes. It starts off being a mostly green scent (probably thanks to the moss and the creeping jenny) and then becomes more of a floral scent after several hours of wear. The vetiver in this lends a light smokiness to the scent that's most noticeable during the scent's green phase, but it's pretty subdued for vetiver. I'm not getting the soil note, nor the delicate mushroom note (I was looking for it after trying the hair gloss). The honeywort isn't something I would have been able to pick out were it not for the duet, but that adds a touch of something akin to a lemony cough drop when the scent is morphing from the green phase to the floral one. I do get the linden blossom I was here for after a few hours, but it is also accompanied by iris, which is high-pitched on me. While this isn't something I feel the need to upgrade to a bottle of, I do think that this scent befits our sad frog friend from the art, and I'm glad that it isn't wet/swampy in any way.
-
A rose scent for those who want the note to play nicely with other deeper, more powerful elements that can put it in it's proper place. I like that it is a bit sugar-sweet, rather than floral-sweet. The musk is not subtle here; it's bold, and a small dab goes a long way. Definitely full bottle worthy, and the bottle will last you a good amount of time.
-
SamuelMor joined the community
-
I get more sweet breezy clover freshly on, and it gets more grassy as it settles. A gorgeous vibrant green meadow (definitely a Ghibli meadow!) with an undercurrent of Snake Oil. If you are a fan of Green Tree Viper I would say this is a second cousin. Fresh green SO, but obviously no mint.
-
In the bottle, extremely frankincense forward. The cardamom is not as sharp and bracing as I expected, and largely takes a backseat. Amber is faint, powdery, and carries the barest whiff of smoke that doesn't stick around. After about 30 minutes on skin it warms up, and I could finally pick up each of the notes on their own. This definitely shares some scent DNA with my beloved Dahlia! Low sillage and longevity - I really have to get up in my wrist to catch it at all after a couple of hours. Pleasant, wearable, and likely to get even better with a few months rest.
-
Idle Moon: Vanilla Husk and a Bundle of Twigs
SmellsPrettyGood2Me replied to doomsday_disco's topic in Duets & Menage A Trois
This surprised me! I expected the twigs to be dry and dusty, but they're still a bit green. There is a light humidity under the surface as a result. The vanilla comes off plastic-y, almost like the head of a doll, with a drop maybe of cinnamon in the background. Although this is just two notes, it feels more complex. I agree with others who think this will get even more interesting as it ages. -
Perfection, and I think it's the sandalwood that really ties this scent together. Sugared, airy flowers are bound with a small hint of coolness from the white silk ribbon. Not at all melancholy to me! I can see this being a wonderful wedding scent as it is more quietly pretty than most of the other Snake Oil variants. Glinda The Good Witch's signature scent, most likely. Very much hope this becomes a permanent member of the catalog.
-
This is really terrific, and perfectly fits the bill for a "summer Snake Oil". Taking a deep breath in from the bottle, fresh cut grass dominates. Wet on skin, it's a newly manicured lawn with what I could swear is a tiny dewy lily hiding amongst the other lighter flowers. As the Snake Oil begins to emerge and the scent deepens a bit, it evokes the feeling of dusk coming. Truly a journey from the punchy first morning dew on a newly mown permaculture lawn to the lingering scent of a lightly vanilla earth below a setting sun. A home-run from the creative team at BPAL!
-
More pomegranate than fig? Any brightness or sweetness fades very quickly. Agree with @Little Bird that the pastry note here is very dusty, like something that was leftover from last year's festivities and kept in a dark cabinet where it started to cobweb. No discernible lavender, either, somehow.
- Last week
-
I received a tester of this in a regular decant vial and tested it on my skin instead of in my hair. So think of this more of an impression than a review? I get both notes, but the moss is stronger on my skin (I tend to amp the note, so maybe it would be more evenly balanced in the hair?). The mushroom note doesn't really smell super earthy and has a sweet, but pleasant powderiness to it that I also get from Death Cap. I don't need a bottle of this, but it was fun to get to try it! I actually enjoyed it more than Frog Moon itself.
-
I've tried this three times (a test, a full-day slather, and then another test in which I deathmatched it with a few other scents containing vanilla, amber, and cardamom notes). Dahlia is stunning. This weekend, I deathmatched her with Aasimar from the RPG line and Nocturne Alchemy's Sky Amber. To me, Dahlia is the clear winner. Each scent featured a different amber, but I like Dahlia's amber most of all, since it is sugared and deeper. Each scent contains cardamom, but it is far prominent and sticks around in Dahlia. This cardamom has a bite to it. The cardamom in the other two scents is much lighter and quick to fade away. Each scent contains vanilla, and both Dahlia and NAVA's Sky Amber feature a floofy, billowy vanilla (in the same vein as Antique Lace 2017's vanilla and Nocturne Alchemy's Moonstone, for those who would like a non-BPAL frame of reference). That said, the amber and vanilla are more balanced in Dahlia, while Sky Amber ends up becoming more about the vanilla than amber on me. And Dahlia has decent throw and longevity, too. Dahlia is worth the hype! I've already used up over half of my decant, so a bottle will be in my future.
-
Pepper, sandalwood, and smoke sounded great, and ambergris + silk are hit or miss, so I gave this veil a shot. Most of the throw comes in the form of that charred/peppery sandalwood, which I found really enjoyable -- though when I gave it a more concentrated, up-close sniff I found some "soapy" or "sharp" dimensions, maybe from the ambergris + silk. It's a fairly soft scent, work-appropriate and inoffensive, though it does give the impression that there's something "more" under that carapace. Feels like something I would grab if I wasn't sure whether or not to wear perfume. I like it, but wasn't sure when I'd take it over spicier/stronger/more masc options (personal preference). Then it came to me: summer-appropriate incense. By being less strong and "warm" it becomes a sandalwood option that isn't stifling in warm weather, which is nice to have. Partner's take: "Good. Like a mainstream perfume, but less pretentious?" (not surprising given the ambergris + sandalwood)
-
I received a super-aged half imp in a destash purchase, I'm not sure what year it is. Tried it on the inside of my wrists. Sweet, hint of sweet red wine, myrrh (lemony-ish). I would say there's an underlying honey-like note, but I can't pick out specifically "honey" or "flowers". Kind of reminds me of Opium or some other classical sweetly seductive perfume, except without the cologne note. I like it, but I predict my guy will say it smells like old lady because that's his default response to anything that smells vintage. Considering he'll be 60 this year, and I'm not far behind, that cracks me up. I think he has scent memories of women's perfume from when he was a kid, and he considered all adult women "old". Not much throw -- have to put my wrists to my nose to smell it -- but that's par for the perfume course on me, I rarely project scents. Someone has a 2023 bottle in a destash and I'm seriously tempted. Hm. ETA: Tracked my guy down and had him sniff. Him: I used to do repair work at this one hotel in town, and that smells like the hotel scent. Me: You mean the shampoo and soap they use? Him: No, hotels actually use a scent, and this smells like that hotel's scent. Tbh, that's better than I expected, at least he didn't say "ew". He has such specific scent memories! Ah, well, think I'll frimp the rest of the imp and hope the next lucky player on the Price is Right has better luck.
-
I received a tester of this with a decant circle and finally got around to trying it the other day. This is predominantly a lilac scent on me, with it almost being a lilac single note, except there's a bit of powdery orris lingering in the background. That said, I'm not that familiar with the scent of magnolia, and I don't think I've isolated it in the few scents I've tried that feature it, so it's possible that it's there, but not registering to me. The lilac is so very loud on me, though, that I would recommend this to lilac lovers. Since I don't seem to love lilac lately, this isn't for me, but if you enjoy the note, you should give this one a try.
-
This one is a fruity floral scent on me that morphs into a mostly floral scent touched by strawberry at the end of the day. I believe the strawberry (not really getting the cream on my skin, which I don't mind) and star jasmine are the dominant notes on me throughout wear, although the star jasmine wins out by the end of the day and is somewhat high-pitched, but it isn't heady or indolic like actual jasmine. I sadly don't get any of the mallow blossom or vanilla sugar on my skin, although perhaps those would be more prominent with rest/age. The pink sandalwood might also be contributing to the high-pitched quality this has on my skin (as I think it's the same one from Easter Egging, but there's no white chocolate in this one to smooth it over). I didn't deathmatch the two, but I believe Vasilissa, which also contains star jasmine and sandalwood notes (albeit a different sandalwood), is smoother. I'd also say this could be a cousin to some of the Pink Moon scents... not the strawberry milk one, but the ones that are full of floral notes with a smattering of strawberry. Only, this one starts off stronger on the strawberry than most of those, and the floral notes in Pink Moon 2019 seem to jive better with my skin chemistry. This is definitely a very pink that goes perfectly with the art, but I think I'll stick with Pink Moon 2019 and 2023.
