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- Today
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Cosmic Criquet is an INTENSE floral on me, with some impressive projection. It smells like I am standing in a greenhouse, surrounded by humid air, giant tropical blooms, and rich black soil. I wish I could identify which florals I'm smelling, but alas, I am too unschooled in florals to be able to differentiate. I can probably safely assume there's some orchid, based on the scent notes and @patina's review. I cannot overemphasize what intense tropical-greenhouse smells I'm getting from this blend. I'm getting that almost uncomfortably musky intensity of hundreds of tropical flowers in full bloom soaking the air around me. It's so intense it's almost melon-like, bringing to mind juicy, sweet-but-musky overripe melons splitting on wet soil. It's honey-thick, almost syrupy. If it isn't clear, I am so into this. I feel like it would be an absolutely insane scent to wear on a hot summer day, and I kind of want to. It lasts a good 5-6 hours before it calms down a lot and recedes quite close to skin, but once it does it's still a really beautiful floral, just more like flower clippings sitting in a vase in your house than a whole dizzying greenhouse experience. I feel like I don't have enough experience with BPAL's moss note to know whether I'm getting the moss; it's hard to pick out from everything else going on in Cosmic Criquet. I definitely never got leather though.
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Beaver Moon: Lime Blossom & Amber Sugar
Miyabi replied to doomsday_disco's topic in Duets & Menage A Trois
This went from "ah, maybe this has the tartness I was looking for in the Yuzu/Honey duet" to "overpowering cologne/bathroom cleaner" on my skin. Pass. -
Beaver Moon: Yuzu & Warm Honey Drizzle
Miyabi replied to doomsday_disco's topic in Duets & Menage A Trois
Wet, it almost smells like green apples and honey, no yuzu. Dry, the honey takes over completely. I was hoping for something like the Korea yuzu tea in jars, which is a perfect balance between the two, but oh well. -
I assumed the vanilla chiffon wouldn't work for me so I wasn't going to even try Dahlia at first, but then I saw amoray's review. I am a cardamomhoe. So I decided to give it a chance. And I'm really glad I did, because the cardamom is stunning. It grounds and tempers the lightness and sweetness of the other notes. I do find it just a little too sweet to wear indoors, but I've been wearing it outdoors where I only smell it in delicious wafts.
- Yesterday
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2025 Version! (I've never tried the earlier one) Fresh out of the mail, this one kind of confused me - I couldn't really pick out any notes, except the honey seemed a tad "screechy", as honey tends to do on me sometimes. But last night, after having it for about a month, I put this on before bed, and suddenly, I *got it: Like others, I don't really get much pumpkin at first, but it's lurking in the background, grounding the sweet vanilla-amber experience. I imagine this will only age beautifully.
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I loved the sound of this one but had mild concerns about the lilac since I don't care for the note. I can handle it in some blends but I steer away from scents where it is dominant. Though the boozy warmth of the other notes is very nice, I can't help but notice the lilac accent in here and it just doesn't work for me. YMMV - the lilac isn't even that strong but I can't ignore it. Quel dommage!
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I'm teasing this now so it doesn't get lost in the shuffle this Friday! As most probably figured, we'll be dropping the Coyote Moon Lunacy, 13, and the rest of our Wuthering Heights series all at once... and THEN on to Lupers. Since there are THREE 13s slated for 2026, we've decided to build a little charm bracelet for all you 13 collectors: a bonus frimp for each release, inspired by various lucky omens and signs we've observed in our real life wanderings. The first one is SNOWY CIRCUS PEANUT. Who will end up with all three?
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I've never tried the original, but I decided to grab a decant of the hair gloss since the original was so beloved. This is mostly about the red rose and musk on me, backed by the tobacco, with just touches of the other notes. I don't know how to describe the musk except to say that it's the same one from Aperotos Eros and Galvanic Goggles in the GC, so if you are wondering if this musk will be up your alley, dig through your imps and see if you have one of those around to sniff to get a feel for the musk. Red Rose is noticeable on both wet hair and dry, but of course, was much stronger when applied to dry hair. The hair gloss has great staying power and can still be smelled in the hair the next morning. I have a decant in the original bottle and will definitely be hanging on to it, but since I already have full bottles of Rose Red and Peacock Queen hair glosses in addition to decants of other rose hair glosses, I don't think I need more of this one.
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Sanguinem Menstruum
skyturtles replied to TrailerTrashPrincess's topic in Gifts with Donation or Purchase
This is great! How lucky I was to find this on the BPAL Etsy site. Though sometimes the lab's Blood note throws me off, I had previously had an imp of the Marshmallow Chick variation of this blend, so I knew I was probably going to like this. I'm almost always a big fan of red musk, anyway. The color of the oils is a dried old blood color, perfect for the theme. Wet, it's rusty and musky and just a little bit sweet. As it dries, so does the honey, and what I assume is the poppies come out more. The metallic overture stays throughout. I'm quite glad that I snagged this bottle, and look forward to it's monthly use. 😉 -
Hungry Ghost Moon: Honey and Summer Herbs Hair Gloss
doomsday_disco replied to doomsday_disco's topic in Hair
This goes on smelling like floral honey infused with orange peel on me, but the orange peel is quick to fade, leaving only floral honey, although I sometimes wonder if there's a touch of champaca in it. I'm not able to pick out any herbs. The hair gloss has decent staying power and is noticeable in both wet and dry hair (of course, it's more prominent in dry). I'll be keeping my decant in the original bottle around to pair with my wildflower or honeyed floral scents, but that's all I need. Hair Loosened and Soiled in Mid Orgies and The White Bees Swarming (I regret only getting a decant of that!) remain my favorite honey hair glosses. -
Sich Aufstützender Weiblicher Akt Mit Langem Haar
KarenWalker replied to doomsday_disco's topic in Limited Editions
I have no clue what happened because I got 0% of these beautiful notes. It's 100% strong soap on me. Kind of a fancier dove bar. -
I like floral cream, but the battle between rose and jasmine is just too much for me.
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I get a milky musk and that’s largely it. I can also compare this to the bone note in Yorick. Fairly light and quick to vanish on me.
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Liberty: In the Form of the Goddess of Youth, Giving Support to the Bald Eagle
MoonRayne replied to doomsday_disco's topic in Limited Editions
Gorgeous. This is one of those glowing, resinous scents that stays close to the skin. All the notes are balanced and behaved. The neroli and vanilla add a floral sweetness that enhances the amber without going soapy or screechy or too floral. Liberty may be one of my favorite BPALs. -
An aldehydic peach, kissed by incense and slightly sweetened by amber, sits cheerfully in the bottle. On skin, the bergamot joins the chorus. I like the fact that the peach is very light, and that the floral notes aren't really that flowery at all. For me the predominant note is the frankincense, which I really enjoy. Very low throw and only about 3.5 hours of ephemeral, lilting wear. Pretty for summer time, day or night.
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Lines Written by a Bear of Very Little Brain
SmellsPrettyGood2Me replied to doomsday_disco's topic in Yules
Spicy raw, green cardamom and milk laden rice pudding wet in the bottle. I could swear I am getting a touch of cinnamon in there as well? On skin, the rice gets a chewy, stewed quality and sits beneath the cardamom that surrenders much of its sharpness about 15 minutes in. This is about when I get my first whiff of honey and amber starting to rise to the surface. The snow note is soft and forms a general impression of cool fuzziness rather than bone cold chill; it reminds me of the smell of powdery sweetness on a white Tic Tac right before you pop it in your mouth. It's the one element that keeps this from being another breakfast-y scent for me like Edward Bear was. Thankfully, it does not go lactonic at any point in time. Projection settles down into a low thrum after drydown and gets progressively more and more delicate over the next 4 hours. Very enjoyable to wear - cozy and comforting. I do wish it lasted a bit longer! -
I tried about a zillion dead-leaves variations this past Halloween, and while I enjoyed them for what they were, none of them were truly redolent of that sweet, vegetal decay I associate with piles of actual autumn leaves, and is one of my favorite smells in nature. Fallendes Laub is the closest approximation to what I had been hoping for all autumn long; it really smells like taking a stroll through the woods on a late October afternoon, so much so that putting it on made me a little melancholy when I opened my curtains this morning and still saw snow. A little melancholy, but also joyful to get to experience a sweet rush of autumn in the dead of winter. The other dead-leaves blends I tried were a bit sharper than what I'd been hoping for, but Fallendes Laub is a wonderfully complex incarnation of autumn leaves. It actually has that quiet, soft spice-sweetness (I agree with @patina that there's almost a hint of anise) of an autumn wood. There's something almost nutty here, in a way I'm finding hard to describe. A few hours in, most of the wonderful leafy complexity fades and I'm left with a lovely soft, clean, "perfumey" musk, that very much smells like the Lab's dead leaves accord does as it fades. There's something just a touch powdery too, which is making me wonder if there's an amber in this? Or perhaps orris? Not sure where the powder is coming from (I feel like probably not orris), but I'm fascinated. Its last stages are not as beautiful as its opening, but if you enjoy the Lab's dead leaves accord, it's still quite lovely. I am delighted to have found that platonic ideal of autumn leaves I'd given up on finding from BPAL, even if it took me till February, and will 100% be snagging a bottle. The Lab absolutely nailed it with this one. Fallendes Laub the perfume oil smells *exactly* the way the painting looks! 🍂
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I'm surprised nobody has reviewed this one months after its release! This is rugged scent that's heavy on the well-worn leather and pine that is somewhat earthy and smoothed over by some sweetness from the apple. I get some moss and bark, and I feel like there might be some pine pitch in here along with the boughs. I don't know what bloodroot smells like (but I will when I get around to testing my decant of Wolf Moon: Bloodroot and Evergreens this week). The steel in this is pretty tame and does not add any sharp metallic quality to the scent whatsoever. While I don't feel the need to have more than a decant of this, I would like to try layering this with Snow White and see how that turns out.
- Last week
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“I lingered round them, under that benign sky; watched the moths fluttering among the heath and hare-bells; listened to the soft wind breathing through the grass; and wondered how anyone could ever imagine unquiet slumbers for the sleepers in that quiet earth.” Under an ambivalent sun that knows neither grief nor passion, the moor exhales over slate and stone. Heather and moss whisper against cold earth, entwined in creeping ivy; a soft lament, an uneasy stirring of agonized longing.
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“The intense horror of nightmare came over me: I tried to draw back my arm, but the hand clung to it, and a most melancholy voice sobbed, ‘Let me in – let me in!’ ‘Who are you?’ I asked, struggling, meanwhile, to disengage myself. ‘Catherine Linton,’ it replied, shiveringly (why did I think of LINTON? I had read EARNSHAW twenty times for Linton) – ‘I’m come home: I’d lost my way on the moor!’ As it spoke, I discerned, obscurely, a child’s face looking through the window.” A ghostly feminine perfume rising from the stiff binding of old diaries. Violet leaf and antique rose curl through the air, smeared with ink.
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“I have no pity! I have no pity! The more worms writhe, the more I yearn to crush out their entrails! It is a moral teething, and I grind with greater energy, in proportion to the increase of pain.” A feral and unrepentant animalic musk slick with heat, tangled with smoked birch tar that clings to skin like soot and desire. Refined cologne masks a deep, grinding base of dark resins, cracked leather, and vetiver root; earth torn open, roots exposed. An elemental fury, a wild, fanatical embrace terribly alive in its darkness. Formulated to be layered with CATHERINE, or worn as a standalone scent.
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“Oh, I’m burning! I wish I were out of doors! I wish I were a girl again, half savage and hardy, and free; and laughing at injuries, not maddening under them! Why am I so changed? Why does my blood rush into a hell of tumult at a few words? I’m sure I should be myself were I once among the heather on those hills. Open the window again wide: fasten it open!” An incandescent amber storm. Strata of glowing ambers piled deep and restless, molten and honeyed, threaded with dark, resinous veins that pulse like blood under skin. Free, wild, elemental: the storm at her heart, beating against the glass until it shatters. Formulated to be layered with HEATHCLIFF, or worn as a standalone scent.
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I thought this might be close to Aureus the GC, though that's heavier than this is if memory serves. Medium weight, golden, reminiscent of a sunlit meadow. I do smell cedar in the vial but not so much on my skin. I rate this one just plain good.
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Leaf mold! But a very soft, sweet leaf mold. Not crisp or merely decaying, there seems to be the start of new life here. This is hard because I think I have enough dirt, but this is soft, fresh and lovely. I'm almost getting an anise.
