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- Today
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In the bottle, through the dense cloud of fruits and incense, I absolutely smell Snake Oil! On the skin, the fig, pomegranate, blackcurrant and apple are pretty prominent. I keep picking up on the vanilla and musk from the Snake Oil. I'm sure you're wondering: what is this iridescent serpent scale accord? So am I! There is something in here that has almost a fizz or a shimmer to it? Maybe a bit of an aldehyde? Overall, very interesting and beautiful spin on Snake Oil. I always love the variants.
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This starts out as a nice mix of notes with the cacao as a solid base, but quickly dissolves into what I think is the yellowed paper note. Kind of sour, musty, bordering on moldy. Not great. I keep expecting the library-style scents to work for me, and they almost never do, so I should probably stay away from the more paper-y, incense-y notes from BPAL on the whole.
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In the bottle, I can't really make anything out! It smells rich, warm, dense. On the skin, I get the warm wool and leather, the wild honey and cedarwood. That deep, dark pomegranate. This is really sexy! Has a real rush of heat to it, wears a little closer to the skin but has some throw!
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In the bottle, super lush floral and rich, heady incenses! On the skin, a lot of rose and frankincense. A few minutes later, I can detect the iris, red saffron and warm, glowing amber. A bit of the beeswax. Oh, there's the myrrh! This is such a dramatic fragrance! High throw and guaranteed to turn heads.
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In the bottle, it smells like salty sand and warm metal. I like how summer-y this smells. Like a long day at the beach. And surprisingly soft, considering notes like armor and metallic blood! You'd think it would have more of that coppery tang, and instead I almost get the faintest hint of something soft and sweet, like incense, which makes me wonder if dragon's blood is a part of the blood note?
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In the bottle, I mostly get that clean skin musk, a bit of fig and that crisp apple skin, and a whiff of smokiness. On the skin, smoky and lightly musky, with a bit of sweetness from the fruit notes. Then I really began amping the smoke note and had to give it time to settle down. It did, but it just gives me this image of burnt apples. Ultimately, I don't think this one is working out well on me, but I do like it in the bottle!
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This is Millennial Pink and Snake Oil's love child and it's an instant favorite! I love the ruby chocolate note and I love Snake Oil. It's so beautiful and rich, has a high throw and really hangs out on the skin all day.
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PresterJoan joined the community
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In the bottle I'm German and I can confirm that, in the imp, this smells exactly like Vanillekipferl that somehow ended up in a pile of pine needles. And the question I have is: WHY did they end up there? Wet on Skin Unfortunately for me as a pine forest lover, those pine needles quickly fade away on my skin. (stays longer on hair, somehow). Dry on Skin I read it as hazelnut vanilla cookie now, slightly burned, and with some smoke somehow, no pine needles but --- ahhh, one of the bpal images emerges (cool, that does not happen every time, but this image is very specific): My mental image is that there has been some kind of town party where people first built a large pile of wooden branches, then they jump over it while they already start lighting it. The fire grows bigger, and only the sportiest younglings now still dare to do this jump. Meanwhile, a young teenager who somehow had a Vanillekipferl from his grandmother in his hands that he just wanted to take a bite off, gets slightly burned on his legs during the jump - and accidentally lets go of the Vanillekipferl, which drops into a half-burning pile of local town former Christmas trees and pine branches. He pretends a pokerface and pretends nothing has happened, but brushes the skin that, to his surprise, shows zero injury. He laughts and asks grandmother for a new Vanillekipferl, to which she replies: "Mind Krampus!" as if she understands the world better than he does. He frowns, he simply wants a Vanillekipferl! Being Grandmother, she smiles - and provides. No one sees her looking briefly into the darkness of the nearby town forest, where she had collected the pine branches, earlier that day. She smiles as if she thinks back to some memory. "Good that we burn the branches nowadays," she thinks and smiles softly, "when I was young, the boys used to hit the girls for fun with these branches - and we liked that - but nowadays, the youth is so much softer than we were..."
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In the bottle, this smells like a very soapy tea and myrrh scent. On the skin, it stays somewhat soapy, but becomes mostly a rain/aquatic note and tea. The wood notes are quite soft on my skin, and I don't get anything smoky or ozone/lightning from it. It's very fresh, and it sticks around for quite a while. Overall, if you're into fresh, clean scents that lean masculine of center, this is the one for you! My bottle will definitely see good use.
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My skin apparently possesses the legendary alchemical properties necessary to turn the dreaded Erl-King into... Sprite. Not, like, a faerie type of sprite, like the popular lemon-lime soda. I swear to god that's all I'm getting from this, and it's bizarre. No idea which mysterious elements are going Sprite on me, but I definitely get zero rain-soaked earth, zero blackened steel. On me this is a weird artificial-smelling lemon-lime soda, with some fizzy aldehydes definitely present. The scent is quite similar to The Erl-King's Pale Daughter (although that one seems slightly more wearable on me), so if that one worked for you, I think the musk is the same and this one likely will too. I appreciate the thematic consistency of the Erl-King's Pale Daughter inheriting her father's spectral musk, I just wish my skin didn't do... whatever the hell it's doing to it!
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Finally got around to trying this, thank you reviewers! This is lovely, and I haven't got much new to add. Heady/rich/full-bodied but somehow still rather polite jasmine cooled by an evening breeze carrying a gentle waft of citrus. How does she do it? It's magical.
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Another of Beth's magical bread perfumes, hooray! This one baked on the same tray as my venerable favorites, Lavender Rosemary Baguette and Lavender Avocado Toast, and shares the same warm yeasty crumb and hints of buttered crust. However, something about the lavender and rosemary combination grew a little too piney and floral in a way that sadly overtook the warm nuttiness on my skin. I'll stick with my bottles from the previous years, but I still recommend you try this one.
- Yesterday
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Oh dang this is good! Like above, sniffing, all chocolate, wine and amaretto!! This stays strong on as well and I get all these awesome notes. This does smell like a rich dessert. I might have to get a BU bottle of this. This is a must for gourmand/foodie/dessert lovers. Amazing! ❤️ 🍷🍫
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GG: Very soft and clean, without being a drier sheet. The lavender comes through as a solid base. I can't really pick out the other notes on top of it. The whole scent fades even more shortly after applying, though I think I can pick out a hint of moss at that point. DT: Also very soft and clean, like an air freshener. It's definitely a different (sweeter) lavender and the vanilla is very fresh as a nice compliment. Again, I can't pick out the other notes, though there is something more to it than lavender and vanilla. This is lighter and brighter than GG, with a stronger throw. As the often-token goth kid, I was looking forward to trying these two perfumes just for that nod (though I would argue Eeyore is just depressed and not goth). However, I was not expecting this to smell so freshly laundered, like my blacks are now a faded gray and very very clean.
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GG: Very soft and clean, without being a drier sheet. The lavender comes through as a solid base. I can't really pick out the other notes on top of it. The whole scent fades even more shortly after applying, though I think I can pick out a hint of moss at that point. DT: Also very soft and clean, like an air freshener. It's definitely a different (sweeter) lavender and the vanilla is very fresh as a nice compliment. Again, I can't pick out the other notes, though there is something more to it than lavender and vanilla. This is lighter and brighter than GG, with a stronger throw. As the often-token goth kid, I was looking forward to trying these two perfumes just for that nod (though I would argue Eeyore is just depressed and not goth). However, I was not expecting this to smell so freshly laundered, like my blacks are now a faded gray and very very clean.
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Oaty, roasted, and toasted. As it dries the milk note comes out strong, which bothers me on some level. And a touch of vanilla. It's a very comfort-warm / foodie / breakfast kind of scent. As it wears, I get more cotton, with a subtle sweetness from the vanilla. It does somehow fit the image of a stuffed bear sitting by a sunny window while breakfast is served. Though I can't say it's something I would want to smell like, I know some BPALers enjoy scents like this a lot.
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Going on wet it's a heavy head of honey, slight fizz and woodsmoke flitting through. As it dries it becomes very fizzy on close sniff, while staying very "honey" in general. "Fizz" isn't a scent directly, but it still comes through as that, very effervescent, with an almost citrus hint to it. The fizz does fit with bees buzzing. The main honey note lasts all day, through a shower, and into the next day, but does become cloying.
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In the bottle I get cardamom and rice. On my skin the throw is quite low. I can pick all the notes out while wet, but as it dries I just get rice. The intent seems to be to capture some of the bear (through foodie notes) along with his thoughts on winter turning into spring, but I'm confused by the rice.
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This scent is inspired by the scene when Pooh visits Rabbit, who pretends not to be home, and then they eat honey and condensed milk with bread (right before Pooh gets stuck in the hole). I like how it captures the smell of the all the things Rabbit would consider a "mouthful of something". The lemon verbena has a lot of punch at first but settles down. There's a very nice spice that is oat-y, a vegetal note that must have the carrot leaf if I had to guess, plus a lot of honey on closer sniff. The oats is really what makes this a "foodie" scent
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The Dregs of a Bottle of Vanilla Extract (Discovered in the Mud)
Roogna replied to doomsday_disco's topic in The Edward Gorey House
The mix of vanilla and ethanol is an interesting note on the skin. On my skin the ethanol is pretty strong, but the vanilla maintains a presence. Interestingly, the ethanol isn't alcohol-like; it's more astringent, with the vanilla keeping it from being "medical". And the vanilla doesn't have that alcohol quality that extract always does. I don't get any mud or dirt note. While I can't say this is a scent I would wear again, it does fit with that touch of sinister in many a Gorey tale -
Low throw but lovely. Raspberry and cake and ... gin or elderberry liqueur? It's sweet, but not overly so. It's a really nice balance of notes. I just wish it had a little more noticeable presence than the tease of missing the party, though it does linger on the skin for hours.
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I get lemon pound cake in the bottle and when wet on my skin. Somehow that does indeed turn into a bit more of a marshmallow scent when dry, though it still gives lemon pound cake at the same time (just more subdued). No grapefruit -- <i>maybe</i> a hint in the bottle, but definitely not on my skin. It's unusual, but interesting. Normally the Lab's marshmallow notes are spot-on, so it's weird that I get such a perfect lemon pound cake; I have no explanation, but it is delightful.
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Wow! Very interesting and complex. The name refers to the crime of Lady Violet at Gilravage Hall in <i>Neglected Murderesses</i>. Light purple florals within dark tea and tannins (decaying plants), hint of metal, pleasantly acrid with a soft side. Some Sweet Tart (candy) powder takes over, which is usually a skin chemistry thing for me, but it's softer and more subdued than normal, so perhaps it's more one of the purples in this scent and not a skin chemistry thing. This is probably the first BPAL perfume I've tried where I haven't amped the rose note to headache levels at all, let alone immediately. In fact, I can't say I get rose, which I'm not complaining about. Lasts all day with a low throw.
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Initially it's lots of lilies -- very soft, white, and perfumy while wet. This scent surprised me with its subtle complexity after it dries. It turns sweeter, which I can only attribute to the lilies. But there is something else to it, something I can't really place. It's not pine or "branches" or smoke or myrrh, so it must be the tulle and satin, which are not fabric scents really (though the Lab has done some other fabrics). It wears pleasantly all day with a medium throw. I wouldn't say this is a "me" scent -- I wouldn't have picked this up for any of the listed notes, but I'm a huge Gorey fan -- but it's quite enjoyable. The first wear was a test only on one wrist. I was so surprised by this one I wanted to give it a full wear, and it was even better; I might be convinced to get more than the decant I have. The Lab's website says this scene is " From Edward Gorey’s <i>Scènes de Ballet</i>, and I've included the image of the label art here. I would say this scent captures <i>her</i> -- La Sylphe -- in all her etherealness, but not the black forest or any of its shadows.
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Very soft, sugary lemonade at first. Then, the almond and cinnabar make it almost dirty-smelling -- not like dirt, just more like something that shouldn't be in lemonade. In fact, they don't really smell like almond and cinnabar notes, but rather like a corruption of lemonade. Like many of the Gorey-inspired scents, it's subtly complex, and I like that, even if it's not a scent I'll wear. The salts in question are mentioned in a line from <i>The Awdrey-Gore Legacy</i>, a murder mystery satire, as "not soluble in lemonade". It lasts all day with a low-to-medium throw, a lingering lemonade that's not quite right, but which clings to the skin with a pleasantly acrid bite.
