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- Today
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Oud (I think…?)with a hazelnut latte, incense, and a trace of singed nutshell. (It’s bitter but not very smoky.) This seems like a Yule to me. I keep thinking there should be a candy cane in this picture. This is a close relative of The Shadowed Veil and The Empty House, I think. A balanced, cozy, near-foody oud scent.
- Yesterday
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It was a thrill to narrate “Dread and Faith” by Ash Vale for Episode 1016 of the Pseudopod podcast!
eldritchhobbit posted a blog entry in Eldritchhobbit's Blog
PseudoPod 1016: Flash on the Borderlands LXXVI (76): Illume the Kingdom of the Drowned It was a thrill to narrate “Dread and Faith” by Ash Vale for Episode 1016 of the Pseudopod podcast! View the full post. -
Beaver Moon: Lime Blossom & Amber Sugar
KarenWalker replied to doomsday_disco's topic in Duets & Menage A Trois
Really really pretty. My experience is most in line with @doomsday_disco with candied lime and deep amber. Strangely addicting and has that little something special that makes me realize I don't have anything like it. Very likely full bottle candidate. -
Beaver Moon: Green Tea & Cookie Dough
KarenWalker replied to doomsday_disco's topic in Duets & Menage A Trois
I wish I got what either of the other reviews did. I really am perplexed sniffing this one. I can't actually name what I'm smelling. It smells nice but if I didn't know it was green tea and cookie dough, I'd never pick either of those notes. Ok mayyybe I'd eventually get to a jasmine green tea but even then it's a watercolor of that tea. I'm not turned off by this and didn't feel the need to scrub, I just couldn't say what it was doing for me in any which way. -
London Fog Cream Pie
KarenWalker replied to doomsday_disco's topic in Gifts with Donation or Purchase
With the announcement that this is joining the Activism scents, now's the perfect time to review this... because it's so dang good and everyone can snatch it up. It's bergamot cream, Earl grey floof filling, a drizzle of vanilla syrup. It's perfect. However - I get no pie-ness. But that might be a me problem, I never get any pie quality from the Lab's pie scents. It's also quite strong with only a light slather with my little imp wand. -
2015 version! Very apothecary-like in the bottle, smelling of something medicinal with light aldehydes. There is an element of clean and soapy that presents immediately on skin; I think I can detect some sweet orange oil in there. The violet note comes across as more leaf than flower, and I cannot really detect any element of rose. As it dries down it smells more and more like an herbal cough drop, a little lemony but getting sweeter as the bitterness fades. Projection is low moderate, lasting about 7 hours total. I can't recall how this came to be in my collection, as none of the notes in the description really entice me when reading them, but I'm glad it is. Once the initial weirdness fades it's a really fresh and sweet scent, well suited to warmer weather wear.
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Hark! Another Lunacy has landed, coinciding with our traditional 13 release. Here's everything included in today's launch: https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/product-tag/february-2026-friday-the-13th/ • COYOTE MOON and friends: Duets, hair gloss, lotion • 13, which comes with the first of three Friday the 13th frimps in 2026, SNOWY CIRCUS PEANUT • Last fall's LONDON FOG CREAM PIE has been added to our World Central Kitchen fundraiser series "Nourishment Wherever Needed" • Wuthering Heights has expanded to include a NELLY'S TALE Atmosphere Spray, HEATHCLIFF Beard Oil, and CATHERINE Hair Gloss • Two new Ars Anni classical painting scents • The next installment of 2026's monthly fundraiser series "At The Root" is ANGELICA ROOT, benefiting https://www.vamosjuntos.org
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Tart rosehip clinging to the skirts of orchid and poppies. Orris slinks around the outskirts creating a plush atmosphere for them to reign. Flecks of resins litter the space, only a suggestion of rituals that have been held there. The seduction of wealth and comfort only slightly marred by the teeth that gleam from the languorous smiles of the florals.
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Fig fans rejoice! Freshly applied, I get the fig first, then the pomegranate, but throughout wear, the fig is the dominant note.
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Sich Aufstützender Weiblicher Akt Mit Langem Haar
Assimbya replied to doomsday_disco's topic in Limited Editions
Agreed that this one feels very clean. It goes on quite soapy on me, in line with @KarenWalker's experience; as it dries I can pick out the notes a little more. There's a woody smoothness which I think is the sandalwood and tonka, a slight sweet fruitiness which is probably the mimosa, and this almost mentholated fresh quality which I think is responsible for the impression of soap, though I can't identify it for sure with any particular notes (a combination of the iris and mimosa?). It's pleasant and very well-blended; the cleanness gives an inoffensive quality which reminds me of Embalming Fluid (though the actual scents are not particularly similar), but the ambiguous complexity of it makes it feel more sophisticated and adult than it otherwise might. But at the same time, it's not grabbing me. I'd like it to be more something - more distinctly floral, more leaning into the skin sent quality which a musk, I'm not sure. I can see it being very lovely on someone, perhaps someone who wears a lot of beige silk and their hair in a French twist (this got very specific suddenly, not sure where that came from, sorry everyone!). But I don't think that someone is me. I want to spend some more time with this scent to understand it better; I also imagine aging might make this one more exciting, perhaps bringing out the vanilla which right now is undetectable. But I'm, to tell the truth, all that let down by not falling in love with this one - I wanted to try it because the note combination sounded intriguing (and I don't have a mimosa scent and am obliged to ravenously go after all florals), but I am not a Schiele fan and that idea of ending up with a bottle with his art on it made me a little uneasy. So perhaps it just was not meant to be! I think there will be people for whom this is the perfect scent, and I hope that it makes its way to them. -
Beaver Moon: Green Tea & Cookie Dough
Leah703 replied to doomsday_disco's topic in Duets & Menage A Trois
This is definitely a jasmine green tea. When wet, I get the sharpness of the tea and the jasmine goes awry and does an indolic cat pee thing. Fortunately, once it begins to dry down, the jasmine moves into the background and the cookie dough comes out. This is a plain cookie dough - no chocolate and no spices. It’s subtly sweet, but it’s tempered by the acidity of the tea. I get only the slightest hint of floral at this point. This is very light scent that wears close to the skin and is quite lovely after you get past the initial phase. -
This was on my wishlist forever until I opened my purse just now and found a bottle I don’t remember buying. What a great surprise! Sweet golden amber, with the barest whisper of orange peel (as in a spiced tea) and an elusive “outdoors” aspect that resembles or mirrors a riverside masculine in Benitoite Phoenix. Stately, cozy, calm, and gracious. Candleglow, yes, from a handmade beeswax taper. I don’t usually associate scents with whatever I’m watching or reading, but am presently watching Outlander and this scent suits it absolutely perfectly.
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I thought this would be a dry, colder scent, but I'm glad that this wasn't what I had imagined. This strongly reminds me of 2013's Go to Sleep, Darlings (Kiss-soft clouds of spun-sugar snow), which means it is a sweet snow note infused with a soft mint and no florals, menthol, ozone, or evergreens. In other words, it's amazing and one little sample pot decant will not be enough. I could not stop smelling my hand after I applied this. Add this to the 'I should have just blind bottled it' pile because of all of the lotions I have tried so far, there have been only two that I didn't think were bottle-worthy.😅
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It's official. Purple sage is my favorite sage. I knew I enjoyed it in scents like Colemanite Phoenix, Thirteen (13): January 2023, and No Man is an Island, but it is really the star of this duet. It's so relaxing and herbaceous in a way that reminds me of lavender. The piñon lurks behind it and complements it perfectly. I tested this in wet hair one day and dry the next. I could smell the scent in my hair on both days, but it was far more prominent in dry hair. Whenever I would have my hair up in a bun and took it down, I would always get a nice whiff of the hair gloss, which made me feel really relaxed. I have a decant in the original bottle, and although I have very few desert-y scents to pair with this, I don't think a decant's worth will be enough. I just feel like this is one of those scents that will be hard to obtain more of once it is gone, and I can't bear the thought of running out when it is so comforting, so I am going to have to get a bottle.
- Last week
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Okay, so Funnel of Love is tied with Banshee Beat/Revenant Rhythm as my favorite BPAL of all time. It was a really big go-to for many years, especially my first few years living in LA and starting to work for the company. That was like, my "signature scent" and for the longest time, I couldn't pick apart any particular notes in it (now I know it's the patchouli and champaca that I'm really drawn to). It has always been a synesthesia thing for me of seeing this amorphous hot pink cloud on black velvet. That is Funnel of Love to me. Snake Oil variants I'm used to, but a Funnel of Love variant might break my brain. I'm going to try on both so I have the original to compare it to. In the bottle, they're drastically different from each other. Funnel of Love is sweet and incense-y and heady, Funnel of Herbs has a very fresh spiciness. On the skin... After letting the -GREEN- of it all settle down a bit, I begin to find crossover with Funnel of Love. The leather and soft, aged patchouli... the vegetal musk... the champaca and night-blooming jasmine begin to creep out... It's almost like that very clean, green from Foolish & Vacuous. It softens very nicely. I think this'll be fun in the summer.
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I know key lime isn't the limiest lime to ever lime, it's a sweet little guy, and I think that comes through in this year's Beaver Moon. it's wrapped up nicely in the usual superb tangy cheesecake that we know and love with a nice big dose of gourmand vanilla, and I am getting a good bit of graham cracker crust in there as well. interestingly the lime blossom and amber sugar duet seems to feature a citrusy lime note more prominently, and it almost contrasts with the "parent" blend rather than accentuating or complementing it.
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fresh on this is all bracing fir and damp soil, like a megaphone in your face saying "yep you are really IN the woods!" but of course the wet phase gives way to more nuance. there's a pleasant chill to the composition, a gorgeous boreal chorus of greeny blue black tones with silver accents. the amber and grey musk duet smells positively soft and sweet by comparison, and serves to round off the spiky edges of evergreen boughs very nicely.
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Well, this is a Creamsicle in perfume form and it's absolutely divine. Lots of bright, juicy mandarin at first that slow fades into a creamy vanilla cloud. I'm going to wear this all summer.
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Pale, peppery, powdery sandalwood in the bottle. On the skin, the chalk is very apparent, but not in a dusty blackboard kinda way, just very soft and crumbly. It's got an air of gentle sophistication. Wears close to the skin and fades into a dreamy whisper of a ghostly cologne.
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Beaver Moon: Coconut Cream & Guava
doomsday_disco replied to doomsday_disco's topic in Duets & Menage A Trois
This duet is mostly about the coconut cream throughout wear. The guava is most noticeable during the wet phase of the scent and for an hour or so afterward, bright pink and pairing perfectly with the coconut cream. Sadly, the guava does not stick around on me and it becomes all about the coconut cream after a while. The coconut cream is not buttery whatsoever and is somewhat reminiscent of the coconut pulp found in Son of biggerCritter. I'm generally not big on coconut scents, but this is one of the better ones that I have tried. I don't think I need a full bottle of it, but I think I'll keep my decant around to try layering with its moon (which I will be ordering in my next order)! -
Beaver Moon: Yuzu & Warm Honey Drizzle
doomsday_disco replied to doomsday_disco's topic in Duets & Menage A Trois
This goes on smelling predominantly of yuzu on me. I believe it's the same yuzu found in Lightning Storm Hair Gloss and Grapefruit, Yuzu, and White Musk, as smelling it reminds me of those scents, which I love. The honey emerges after a while and eventually overtakes the yuzu in prominence, and it really is a thin honey drizzle as opposed to a thick, goopy honey. There's only a hint of yuzu in the background by that point, and the scent itself is very light and stays close to the skin. I really enjoy this one and will have to give it a full-day slather to determine if I need more of this. My only gripe is the throw, but maybe this just needs to be slathered! -
Beaver Moon: Lime Blossom & Amber Sugar
doomsday_disco replied to doomsday_disco's topic in Duets & Menage A Trois
This is really pretty. I didn't think I'd like it as much as I do as I generally prefer my citrus not to be unadulterated with things like florals and resins. This reads as a candied lime with some deep amber on me, with the amber overtaking the lime after a while, but the lime never fading away. There's nothing about this that really screams blossom to me like the somewhat soapy lemon blossom of Fleur de Citronnier Hair Gloss. I'm going to have to give this a full day of wear to determine if I need more than my decant, but I think there's a definite possibility that the decant will not be enough. I also want to try layering it with its moon (which I still need to blind bottle in my next order). -
Since I never reviewed this and I'm wearing it today, here's a quick assessment: This is a pretty light and refreshing Luper, mostly fizzy champagne and bright citrus. Vanilla is definitely the dry variety and quite soft in the background, just sweetening everything up a bit. The floral isn't overwhelming and is quite smooth over the bergamot. This is a nice cheery scent for when winter is lingering just a bit too long.
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I am bad at nails and nail care (and nail polish pics!) but I love goofing around with polish. Pink and Green Lovebat are like a sweet easter basket pair of colors even tho they were dressed up for weenie season. This green feels very spring to me, fun for various holiday color schemes. Or maybe a playful poison ivy mood. The numbers indicate number of coats over the base coat, and all of them have a clear quick dry topper over them.
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I am bad at nails and nail care (and nail polish pics!) but I love goofing around with polish. Pink and Green Lovebat are like a sweet easter basket pair of colors even tho they were dressed up for weenie season. I like putting an iridescent flakie topper on this pretty pink but I did not include that in the photo to avoid confusion. The numbers indicate number of coats over the base coat, and all of them have a clear quick dry topper over them.
