All Activity
This stream auto-updates
- Past hour
-
This is a surprisingly gentle scents in spite of the punchy notes--it's a supple, soft, smooth brown leather with some glowing warmth from the rum and tobacco, and a touch of airy cleanness from the soap and wool. The clean notes do not overtake the scent at all. Neither does the grass, which just provides a nice greenness in the background. I swear that I can smell some fragrant, warm hay in the sun, but maybe it's in my imagination. A beautiful blend!
-
This is a gloomy atmospheric that's also very pretty. The rain and earth are realistic and loamy, gentle and not sharp or too clean. I swear that the white musk is coconut-kissed--it's very pretty. The steel keeps this interesting and unisex. I love scents that paint a scene for me, and this one is evocative, interesting, and highly wearable.
-
That first deep sniff is all brown musk and spice, with a touch of sweet dark molasses lurking below. Applied to skin, cinnamon, clove and a bit of sugar surge to the forefront and dominate for the first 25 minutes, right about when the patchouli starts to make its first appearance. The booze note here is powerful and present, but the brown musk itself stays quiet until around an hour in when the spices start to burn off a bit. I am not getting as much of the molasses note on skin as I did from the bottle, but I expect it will emerge more as it deepens with time in storage. Medium to strong sillage (a bit potent for small workspaces and places), lasting just under 7 hours before fading away. Not blind buy safe if you are sensitive to cinnamon in particular, but otherwise very enjoyable to wear now, and likely to get even better as the spices mellow out with time. Perfect transition scent from pumpkin spices in Fall to gingerbread spices in Winter! I suspect that people who may not be paying close attention will sleep on this vs Gingerbread Snek, but I think it has standalone merit and will end up being a cult favorite.
-
VERY strong butterscotch rum wet in the bottle, cloying and synthetic. Coming in hard behind that is an oily hazelnut with just a touch of astringency from the white oak. First impression is overwhelming, and I am not optimistic. On skin, even with an electron sized dab, the butterscotch rum screams and the hazelnut wails. There is no subtlety here; the scent swells and expands with time, becoming more potent. I got 6 hours of nuclear wear, 2 hours of modest wear, and 4 more hours of faint wear, even though I considered scrubbing it off several times along the way. There is a cream note lurking in here somewhere that I've not really liked in other BPAL scents, and I'm getting hardcore Yankee Candle vibes from the butterscotch rum. Overall impression is that this is too potent and artificial smelling to be enjoyable for me. I will keep it to see if it smooths out as it ages, but can't imagine wearing it again anytime soon.
- Today
-
"On Freedom" starts off with a gleaming bright ti leaf and violet swirl. Rather than what I'd picture as violet "ash," it smells like fresh violet and violet leaf to me. The frankincense is the high, almost lemony sort, which keeps it quite clean and pleasant alongside the silvery ambergris musk. It's all very dewy and refreshing, you could wear this anywhere and even on a crowded elevator I don't think anyone would complain. The solemn bitterness of myrrh adds a nice shadow dimension further along in the base, but by the time that myrrh is noteworthy, it's faded to a skin scent despite a generous slather. I really enjoyed wearing this today, but since the lasting power isn't great on my skin, and my brain ends up classifying this as primary a violet scent (I have plenty of BPAL violets!) I won't seek more... at least. not right away. I'd love to have this as a shower gel or shampoo. I think this perfume will really shine when worn on warmer spring/summer days. I agree with monocainsheresy above that this somehow reminds me of some Possets fougeres. It's something about the ambiance, that might come down to the particular combo of elegant yet bright top notes with "perfumey" resins.
-
2025 version. Very sweet sugar and plummy. I like it alot
-
Gang, it's Saturday night and I'm feeling a little loony. So here's your TERRIBLE MOON and friends, your Fire Horse, and a new fundraiser series called At The Root, which we'll be continuing throughout all of 2026: https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/product-tag/january-2026-lunacy/
- Yesterday
-
Absolutely gorgeous, and my favorite of this year's Yules that I've tried so far. I love me a good carnation note, and this one glimmers at the very top of the bottle when you take that first, long sniff. The peony is a little sweet, the vanilla subdued, the orris restrained. All together, the effect is soft, familiar and familial. On skin, the red musk and leather finally show their faces, but instead of shoving their way to the front they linger mid-stage, present but not overpowering the softness in the lead. Eventually, the red musk moves forward and the other notes move to the back. I agree completely with other reviewers who said that this orris is not at all powdery. Overall, it is a very well balanced scent. This wears closer to the skin on initial application, but really blooms in strength when the red musk takes over post dry down - take care not to over slather and then become a bit overwhelmed when it gains strength as time goes by. I had a full 8 hours of wear and enjoyed them all. Will be buying a back up bottle as I expect this will age like a dream!
-
Wow! Three years aged, this scent has really deepened and evolved into something pretty fantastic. Wet in the imp is a dance between a cocoa-y chocolate, a tanned brown leather, and a hint of a fir needle that has dried out but remains fragrant. On skin, it's mostly chocolate and leather for a good half hour until the amber and vanilla start to emerge. I start to feel a little uneasy at this point, as I'm getting that woodiness that sometimes accompanies some vanilla scents; it lingers for about a half hour before mercifully fading away. The fir needle has also left the building. What remains for the next 3-4 hours is a dark vanilla chocolate. Projection is on the low end of moderate, with a total wear time of about 6 hours.
-
If you want to walk around your usual places but be mentally in a beautiful, powerful old-growth forest then this is for you. This blend brings to mind a movie scene where a knight is walking through giant trees past a circle of large stones covered in moss in unnatural patterns with their sword vibrating their side. At least, it does for me. I know that's not exactly a helpful description, but there you go. This was a huge win for me as I am not at all familiar with any of these notes on their own as I typically do not buy them--that is going to change now for sure! A new favorite.
-
This strongly reminds me of Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris (Lilith meets the Gargoyles of Paris: stone and ancient incense, beeswax and lavender smoke). I believe this hair gloss features the same incense and stone notes, although I'm not really getting any beeswax from the scent in my hair. The hair gloss has great longevity. Most hair glosses disappear not long after I apply it to wet hair, but I was still able to smell this one when I held my hair up to my nose by the end of the day. In dry hair, it was more noticeable and had even better longevity, but this isn't one of those hair glosses that hits you with a cloud of scent when you go to wash your hair, and it's not one that will linger after a wash. I'll definitely be hanging on to my decant of this, but I don't think I'd reach for it enough to warrant a full bottle -- mainly because I don't have a ton of church-y or resinous scents in my collection to pair it with. But if you enjoyed Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris, you should enjoy this, too.
-
I'm so sad, I just got caramelized dark honey. Why??
-
What @LavenderCoffee said! It's really pretty and does that fizzy thing that BPAL is so good at creating
- Last week
-
If you told me this was a single note frankincense, I'd believe you. It's balsamic, but it the way frankincense can be balsamic. It's a little bit in the direction of anise, in the same way frankincense can go in an anise-y direction. But I'm not trying to disparage the scent here. This is a really nice frankincense, standing perfectly well on its own. Beth never disappoints with incense. Because it's overwhelmingly just frankincense to my nose at all stages, I'd say this is totally unisex. I'll echo the comment that the longevity is unfortunately on the shorter side. It would be great for, say, a ceremony or religious service where you want to send subtle, formal vibes and don't need it to last all day.
-
If you're familiar with the Bath and Body Works Eucalyptus Spearmint stress relief line, I perceive this scent as being very close, including, yes, a bit of soapiness. The frankincense is very subtle and mostly disappears into the clean musk. Linnear, very clean, unisex leaning masculine. I'll be picking up a bottle in my next order, because it genuinely is a great stress relief scent for me and I'm not at all opposed to soap in a scent that's meant to be clean. Some may find it too simple on its own. The RPG scents were, after all, designed to be layered. I unfortunately don't have any others on hand to try it with.
-
ALT From The Oncoming Storm deck. View the full post.
-
This mostly smells like a cherry lollipop. It verges on cherry tootsiepop, but the cherry is not that dark -- it is lighter and brighter. The pink pepper in this is pretty subtle, and most like the pink pepper found in Red from the Fraggle Rock Line. It doesn't have a kick to it like it does in some blends, nor does it have a bubblegum-y quality to it like in High-Strung Daisies. I couldn't pick out anything ginger-y, and upon looking it up, I saw that white ginger is a flower -- but I'm not smelling anything floral here, either. I've tested this a few times and slathered it on as a scent of the day, and it always stayed close to my skin. I like this and will be hanging on to my decant, but I don't think I need a bottle. I just wish it had some more oomph!
-
I get a lot of candied pomegranate with Snake Oil's patchouli and spiciness. The pomegranate is exactly the same as in An Intriguing Observation (Shungas 2025), rich and juicy. Like said above, this reminds me of Sugar Plum Snake Oil but SPSO is dustier on my skin and SOaCP is more fruity and juicy. I'm happy I have full bottle because I am in love.
-
The Woman Clothed with the Sun and the War in Heaven
Myrrha replied to doomsday_disco's topic in Limited Editions
On me this opens with pomegranate wreathed in light incense. The singed frankincense and saffron are gorgeous together, at first smelling almost fizzy but settling into a beautiful emotional incense. The cherry is in the background adding richness and a little rounded sweetness. No one catching this scent on me would think “oh that’s cherry” but it is a beautiful part of the blend. I did not like this when it first arrived about six months ago, but now it is amazing and I’m so glad to have it. -
This frankincense is very dry and woody on my skin. The balsam adds a dark green freshness. As it dries I get more polished amber peeking out, and just a hint of cardamom. I agree this is a solemn and serious scent.
-
Smudgy, clean, and a bit sweet. Lavender and a pink sugary sort of note (peony?). Beth I would do anything for a bottle!
-
On my latest “Looking Back on Genre History” segment on the StarShipSofa podcast (Episode 774), I discuss four recent works about science fiction that are perfect for your 2026 “To Be Read” list. Listen here! View the full post.
-
This was a little intimidating from the bottle because there's a tang to it that makes me nervous (a tang that usually meant this could go sour on me), BUT thankfully the tang went away fast when applied! This is as advertised, candy strawberries and beeswax! Though the strawberries do lean a little wine-like at first (probably that opening tang). This ultimately dries down as a warm slightly sweetened beeswax and I'm very happy.
-
Lambent changed their profile photo
-
Bombastic Subtropical Turquoise Cream Pie
doomsday_disco replied to doomsday_disco's topic in Gifts with Donation or Purchase
I haven't actually had this soda, or its namesake pie, so I can't compare it to the actual thing, but this smells like a fizzy, tropical (maybe pineapple-y?) soda with something clean beneath it (not sure if it is an aldehyde or a musk), as well as some graham cracker crust and some whipped cream. I really wish that clean aspect weren't present in this, because it's the most pie-like of the 2025 pie frimps since it actually has a discernable crust note (which smells delicious!). I'm still going to hang on to my frimp, though. -
Strawberry Lemonade Pie
doomsday_disco replied to doomsday_disco's topic in Gifts with Donation or Purchase
This is definitely stronger on the lemonade than the strawberry, and it's a very tart lemonade. I'd say that there's more sweetness to be found from the lemonade in Grumblotch’s Salts, even though that scent has a mineralic quality to it and some salt. I'm also not getting any pie crust from this. It gets sweeter and improves after it has been on the skin for several hours, but the scent is pretty faint by that point. Of the 2025 pie frimps, this was the one I enjoyed the least.
