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This one has some SILLAGE! My partner said he could smell it across the apartment. It opens with BIG, bold narcissus, like the sensation of sticking my face directly into the center of a flower, bringing to mind gobs of blindingly bright, aggressively scented yellow-orange pollen. The next aspect I pick up on is a waxy smoothness, like big waxy petals, that almost reminds me of smelling candlewax. Apparently ambrette has "exceptional power and tenacity", so I'm thinking it's contributing to the BIGness of this blend, in concert with the narcissus. It's musky, slightly animalic, velvety, with a fruity facet that reminds me of osmanthus. I amp indoles to a truly absurd degree, but if I strain my ear, I swear I can hear the other notes underneath. The narcissus feels almost hedonistically thick, honey-like, but still somehow fresh and floral; the vanilla adds a rich, creamy texture. Saffron is a little hard for me to place in perfume, but I think it's adding to the honey nuance, maybe some aspects of hay and tobacco? Not totally sure about that one. It doesn't come across as either earthy or spicy on me. I'm not totally sure what tobacco flower smells like. Projection and sillage stay powerful for the first couple of hours, but it dies down and recedes closer to the skin after that. It stays quite intense for awhile. I'm really digging On Beauty in all its dizzying intensity, but I'm thinking I won't be wearing this often enough to need a full bottle. @theseagrows is spot-on that this feels like something I'd only want to wear in early spring or late winter. This is spring fever in a bottle, that delirious time of year when it seems that everything's blooming all at once, an inescapable rush of scent an color, and spring finally reigns triumphant over winter. It's a glorious feeling, but wearing it in hot weather would be borderline antisocial behavior, and I'm not really sure I can get away with wearing it to work. Recommended for spring days spent mostly outside & reveling!
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We've been seeing news reports about how the current ube trend that's sweeping America is causing big problems for farmers in the Philippines. Terrible! I figured it might be worth mentioning that Beth's ube accord, which has been popping up in more scents over the past years, is NOT derived from actual ube, and is therefore safe and ethical for you to enjoy. Or not enjoy! But fortunately we're not contributing to this particular issue. While researching our post about this, I compiled the following list of current ube scents, which I may as well share here also: ✤ ARAW NG MGA PATAY (Halloween 2025) A cheerful, raucous celebration of life and death: bouquets overflowing with gerbera daisies, waling waling, sampaguita, ylang ylang, hibiscus, night-blooming dama de noche, santan, and everlasting flower with piles upon piles of bibingka, ube halaya, rice muffins, champorado, purple yam cake, and turon, and plates of gooey kalabasa leche flan. ✤ LAVENDER UBE MOCHI DONUT (Yule 2025) A chewy delight made from a blend of rice flour and purple yam, fried in lavender-infused oil and dusted with granulated sugar. ✤ LILAC-DRAPED VULVA (Shunga 2026) Lilac-soaked amber cream, orris root, blue lotus absolute, white sandalwood, and purple yam. ✤ NANGGIGIGIL AKO SAYO (Lupercalia 2026 A scent for all of us who have been exploded by someone else’s cuteness: ube candyfloss and rice paper-wrapped red bean custard candy. ✤ TRIUMPH IN VERMILLION SILK (Shunga 2026) Scarlet silk, sweetened rice milk, ube, peony petals, candied ginger, persimmon, red dates, red carnation, lavender, and red amber. ✤ UBE PUMPKIN CHEESECAKE (Halloween 2025) Piles of ube pumpkin cheesecake batter blorped into a brown sugar graham cracker crust. ✤ WATER BEARER (Shunga 2026) French lavender, Thai coconut, cherimoya, and ube.
- Today
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In the bottle: Sour berries/fruit? On the skin: more of the same but sweeter. I get vinegar, cucumber and pine to start with, which is concerning. As this develops it quickly morphs to a sweet plum still with a pine/balsam cedar note in the back. I actually enjoy the drydown and hope this smooths out as it ages. It has a lot of promise.
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In the bottle: very reminiscent of my beloved Black Lace On the skin: on the skin is where this veers away from Black Lace. The caramel is obvious but doesn't clobber you in the nose; it's present but subtly part of the whole. Leather is there in the drydown but its a refined leather rather than rugged. It's definitely a Lace but I'm on the fence on whether I love it or not.
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In the bottle: Back in 2008 I ordered Pancake Breakfast, which I love and I still have half a bottle of as I don't reach for it often. This smells like that without the blueberry syrup in the bottle. It's coffee and syrupy pancakes. On the skin: OMG sooo good as soon as it hits the skin - coffee and pancakes and very, very sweet. I don't think the pancakes are as realistic as Pancake Breakfast and there is something in this that shifts it from purely gourmand to more perfumey. The doughnutty cruller note creeps in giving it more of a 2am Diner Coffee vibe the the actual 2am Diner Coffee. Fascinating.
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In the bottle: totally unexpected. I get strong lime? It's astringently dark green On the skin: I'm seriously confused. I think I can make out a little Snake Oil. As this wears it becomes so much more agreeable and interesting. The astringent note possibly the metal.of the shovel and the mud. Like most of this delivery, I have beena bit stumped for words but everything has been joyously beautiful. This one even more so. It's odd, well blended and really entrancing. I love the drydown. I still don't really get Dorian or Snake Oil. Glad I got a bottle. I am almost certain I will be frustrated that I didn't get a backup.
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In the bottle: mostly vanilla with a coconut undercurrent On the skin: the coconut note is very prevalent on the skin and, as has been mentioned above, it's not especially gourmand. To my nose the coconut has two aspects, one is a perfumey coconut interpretation and the other is light coconut milk, or even coconut water. Always the vanilla sweetness is there and it is super sweet. I thought I'd like this more but I'm sure it will grow on me.
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In the bottle: Hello jasmine. I understand the yellow as this jasmine is not white but definitely stained. On the skin: absolutely gorgeous and genius. While it's jasmine heavy, again, it isn't white and I don't know how to truly describe it other than the description - it is heavily stained with yellow. As it dries down the lace aspect provides a buffer against the intense floral, making it warm, dry and parchment-like. Haunting but not gauzy
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In the imp, the sweetest honey I've ever encountered with a hint of fizz. Wet it turns to gummy bears. Eventually settles into a very sweet marmalade. You'd think I'm getting my bears confused but I think my skins does something wonky to this one.
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I've been meaning to grab one of these for years and now I have. In the bottle: resins with a slight sharpness. Nothing really jumps out and the resins are unburnt. In the skin: this blooms on the skin but not quickly and not assertively and it becomes sweeter. Again, this isn't burning incense but an accumulation of resins over time and gently releasing their scent in the air. Glorious, warm, radiant and unassuming. Love it. This would pair spectacularly with a beeswax scent (The Writing on the Slate?).
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Sweet florals and ozone-y rain in the imp. Enchanting. On my skin it's mistier, more humid with a light fruity element I can't quite place. Nothing leaps out in particular, it's very atmospheric. A strange, beautiful tropical scene.
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Lick It always makes its way into my cart and is always culled out to bring my cart total down but this time I decided to stick with it and I am glad I did. It's pretty simple but effective. I like it and will consider future variants more seriously.
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I have been a BPAL junkie since 2008 and, while I have plenty of tweenies in my stash, I have never tried any of the duets or any of the dead leaves duets. In the bottle: another unexpected but delightful surprise. A fine musky perfume. On the skin: I definitely get dead leaves right off the bat, a fuzziness and that perfume, lingering on the wool. This settles into a cohesive scent quickly, to leave a gorgeous scent that actually feels like body heat warming a woolen sweater imbued with perfume. Out of this world beautiful. It gives me goosebumps.
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The Dregs of a Bottle of Vanilla Extract (Discovered in the Mud)
galahad replied to doomsday_disco's topic in The Edward Gorey House
In the bottle: this is not what I was expecting. Less dirt and more pine with a vanilla undercurrent. While unexpected it is lovely and delicate. On the skin: elusive and ghostly. Definitely more mud and balsam or pine, giving it a coolness. The vanilla emerges pretty quickly. It's almost a minty chocolate vibe. Strange and utterly gorgeous. I just hope a full wear and some times gives it some oomph. -
In the bottle: yep, that's red apple and beeswax alright. There is a simmering humidity to it. On the skin: waxy, sweet and tart apple with bitter skin. The beeswax is a supporting player in the early stages, not overly evident. There is a bit of spice drifting around in there. On the drydown: the beeswax has more influence making the crisp sweet/tart of the apple more rounded, deeper and "meatier". This is a cooler weather apple scent and I am all for it. I almost culled this from my cart but so glad I didn't.
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In the bottle: toast, butter and a subtly sweet perfumeyness. On the skin: such a realistic toast note. It's definitely toast and not just bread with fatty butter smoothing it out. I don't really get honey but a general sweet underlying note. So far this doesn't really develop any further. It stays a lovely, warm cuddly savoury gourmand with a subtle sweet thread. Really beautiful but understated.
- Yesterday
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Snowy Circus Peanut
LavenderCoffee replied to doomsday_disco's topic in Gifts with Donation or Purchase
Yep, this definitely has Snow White snow in it, because my skin trashes it in exactly the same way. If Snow White works for you tho it might be a fun one to try! -
Oh this is sooo yummy! I wasn't sure what ruby chocolate is but figured, S.O and chocolate is always a win, and this IS! Sniffing in the bottle is a blast of S.O and the sweet berry like chocolate. I am not sure what kind of berry, it is sweet and tart. But all notes are strong and amazing! On, it is the same. This is a strong one with great throw and the berry like chocolate and S.O. is such an amazing blend. I like how strong this is. If you are a fan of any of these notes, be sure to grab some.
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Coyote Moon is mostly about the amber fur on me, which reads as an amber-infused brown musk to my nose. I get touches of the desert notes in the background, with the sage notes being the most prominent among them, and a hint of the pepper. However, none of these notes can ever compete with the amber fur, and that's mostly what I'm left with by the end of the day. I layered the duets I grabbed decants of with the moon, and these were the results on my skin: Layered with Cacao Dust and Ashes -- This amps up the cacao dust in the duet, smooths over the ash, and makes the moon gourmand-adjacent. Layered with Palo Santo and White Amber -- I get lots of cool palo santo and white amber throughout wear, hovering above the amber fur of the lunacy scent. Layered with Vanilla Incense and Roasted Tonka Bean -- The vanilla incense and tonka combine with the amber fur in a way that remind me of the Lab's hay note. This was my favorite of the layering experiments. I enjoy this scent, but it is the desert elements I enjoy most about it, and I wish that they got to shine more on my skin. Still, I need more desert-y scents in my collection, and I do like layering this with its duets, so I'll spend more time with it and see if I need more before it goes away.
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Coyote Moon: Vanilla Incense and Roasted Tonka Bean
doomsday_disco replied to doomsday_disco's topic in Duets & Menage A Trois
I like this one! There's no champaca incense or any strong headshop-y incense to this, nor is it particularly resinous. It's like a lightly smoked non-gourmand vanilla and warm tonka that's somehow a bit brighter than one would expect when sniffing it. When layered with Coyote Moon, it sweetens up the lunacy scent and combines with the fur in a way that reminds me of the Lab's hay note. I need to spend more time with this to see if I need more than my decant, but in any case, the decant is definitely a keeper! (And if you have both scents, definitely try layering them!) -
VERY coffee, hard to smell anything else, but if I sniff carefully I can get some brown leather and maybe yellowed pages. I was hoping for more leather with a hint of coffee, but it's the opposite at first After a couple hours it's more vanilla and foam, yellow pages and something velvety with the barest hint of coffee. Very sweet and creamy
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In the bottle, ooh! Fruity! Sweet! Tart! Smells like fruity candy. On the skin, the intensity of the fruit gets to settle down immediately. I smell the sweet strawberry nectar and the tart lychee individually. There is a definite sugary element from the rock candy and all of that is really crowding over the sandalwood, so I'll have to give it a minute... Something... kinda... peeking... through... Okay once the sandalwood starts coming out, this turns into such a gorgeous, fun, fruity incense. Truly the life of the party!
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Raspberry coulis? How American Psycho. In the bottle, sweet, yummy, slightly syrupy raspberry heaven. On the skin, rich raspberry and cassis, the powdered sugar really pops, the rose syrup isn't too overpowering, just accompanies the fruit notes well. This sugary, boozy berry concoction crashes head on into a haze of crumbly, soft incense and musk. It's absolute magic. Sweet and heady!
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Blushing ruby chocolate swirling with vanilla, spices, and the dark, silky sweetness of Snake Oil.
