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- Today
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It has similar vibes weirdly to another one of my favorites, Four Penises, because they're both cool-toned invocations of luxurious vacations. This one is closer to a vacation in a very lovely Pennsylvanian bed and breakfast with 80's pink Laura Ashley duvets. You went with your mom when you were 14 and spent the whole weekend doing fun grown up "woman" things together, like painting your nails, shopping in the upscale downtown boutiques practically frothing with frills and lace, and doing those fancy green facials every girl dreamed of doing when they saw them in the movies. Sorry for getting so descriptive and metaphorical, but the faint tea rose, bubblegummy lotus, cold vanilla amber and what I think may be white musk under the almond just really invoke a soft femininity that makes me think of a girlhood from times past, something so soft and luxurious and unhurried and unfolding. powdery tea rose, softly crumbling amber over a base of vanilla and creamy almond. 9/10 fancy vanities
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This may be one of my first bottles to be used up. It's hard to pinpoint what the notes are. The sap, okay I get. The dried leaves, somehow, are here. And there's that hint of smoke. But how?? What is this magic?? It's a very interesting blend. Green but...not. Smoky but...not. Also, it's no fun to think about, but with climate change and all, this in all actuality is November in a bottle, not October. But let's be honest, this scent is properly good in February, too.
- Yesterday
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(2013 bottle from the lab through Etsy) If this is wintery, and by that I mean a U.S. Midwest winter... This is powdery soft snow, not wet, not icy. However, I think it's actually the very end of winter, when it's not quite spring because there are no buds on the trees, and you're just hoping it doesn't snow again. Hope for growth is on the horizon. That's the sunshine coming through. It is not exactly a floral, despite the jasmine and iris being nice. It is slightly aquatic, as others have noted, due probably to the sea buckthorn berry. The earthiness of the carrot seed intertwines with the frankincense for the base. Sometimes soft, sometimes sharp, sometimes salty. Each sniff is slightly different. Interesting enough for me to keep the bottle!
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Sich Aufstützender Weiblicher Akt Mit Langem Haar
valpal replied to doomsday_disco's topic in Limited Editions
This wears like a clean, fluffy comforter, like a big blanket you can sink into. It’s a “your-skin-but-better” scent that stays soft and close to the skin. It reminds me of Gloomily Gloomily, but without the lavender: the same calming, smooth, lightly clean, comforting profile. Although it wears close, I've been getting lovely wafts of warm skin and freshly laundered fabric with a gentle sweetness. Clean fabric scents don’t typically work on me, but this one does. The sweetness is balanced, so it never turns into dryer sheets -
Lines Written by a Bear of Very Little Brain
feyofthefellwood replied to doomsday_disco's topic in Yules
I love all these notes and sometimes this smells so wonderful to me . . . but sometimes I catch a whiff and it smells like minty toothpaste. I'm very sad my nose/brain is making that association. It must be something about the cardamom and slush combination. -
So for a while now, I haven't been enjoying the Lab's honey scents as much as I did the older ones (maybe it's just my nose or else the understandable change to vegan components), but all the honey scents I've tried for the Hundred Acre Wood collection have had that same deep, golden honey scent I adore. Edward Bear has the closest honey-vanilla scent to O that I've smelled since Feed Me and Fill Me With Pleasure (I put them on each arm and compared them). However, it's heavy on the cuddly vanilla and gourmand elements instead of musky-sexy. It's also not as strong on the honey or throw as O, so I caution that it's certainly a different scent. I still think I'll need a bottle, and I think aging will probably be wonderful for the vanilla.
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I love reading when a scent really hits for other people; it makes me happy for them and excited to try it for myself. I went into this wearing experience with high expectations, but I did not have the same love-at-first-sniff as everyone else. What I got, mostly, was Honey Nut Cheerios in a bowl of vanilla almond milk. Tasty smelling, more oats than toasted bread, with a bit of sweetness from the amber and the vanilla. Projection was strong and it lasted over 8 hours on my skin. I like it, but it has to be kept aside for days when I want to smell like breakfast.
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I was sure I would looooove this, and it was PERFECT for all of five minutes on me, but then an evil and ancient demon known as skin chemistry snuck up & bit me by the neck, dragging me down to the depths of weird plastic and burnt coconut girlscout cookies hell it smelled lovely on a friend when I tried it on her but she found it too sweet so I sold it. I want to track down an older version someday and see if I have a different experience. Sometimes certain blend years jive with me when others didn't (looking at you luperci!) 3/10 girlscouts moonlighting as firefighters
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Unusual, spicy but refreshing, creamy and sweet and floral.... Clean but sexy. Harkens to a really high end niche perfume (which BPAL is in my opinion, they just don't charge eye-popping prices for it...) that someone's rich aunt might wear. She took french at her London university but only because she was already fluent and needed the credits. Sometimes she smokes weed and watches the sunrise on the balcony of her beachfront apartment and is quoted as saying "the morning seasalt styles my hair better than any products I put in it!". She visits Japan three times a year, but not Kyoto, no, she goes to Okayama because she "prefers the food and culture". She eats oysters raw for dinner, washed down with three dirtyyyyy martinis every Friday. She wears a lot of 80's cream, baby blue, angelic pink and pale orange silks from vintage reclaim stores, paired with chunky silver jewelry from small and upcoming designers. Sometimes she favours linen but usually for weekend errands. I hope to be her someday. Glamorous in a weird way. AS FOR THE ACTUAL SMELL OF THE PERFUME white rabbit & Alice went on a long cavort through a strange psychedelic waterworld. I know that sounds insane but this has the same clean, sweet and herbal scent as white rabbit, but ALSO the ginger and the "ivory rosettes" read similarly to alice's warm and spicy floral thing-and of course the blue musk notes make for this weird watercolour filmreel experience.. like you're watching this strange, sordid adventure on a fuzzy projection screen. Sillage: Arms-length scent bubble, that ginger really anchors it to my skin for some reason. Wear Time: Pretty good, 6 hours full strength with a lovely creamy late drydown that lasts for 3 more hours. fab. 10/10 I'm Better Than You's.
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At 16 years aged, there's no nutmeg here anymore; both in the bottle and on skin is just the quietly creamy black sandalwood, the sweet benzoin and vanilla adjacent tonka. Throw is low, and soft, but beautiful. Like others, I only got two hours wear, but it was really nice. If you are like me and love getting to experience a piece of BPAL history, this is worth a grab if and when you see it.
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I've been very much feeling like curling up the freshly dug graves of the local cemetery lately; I'm desperately craving the sweet, cool stillness of moist coastal dirt and moss, cloistered against the responsibilities breathing down my neck and the real world. Thankfully for my clothes (and job) this potion gets me about 95% of the way to that experience. My bottle is rather old, say about 2008, and I notice that when compared to my more recent imps, it's a wetter, cooler formula, with a richer, bolder rose geranium. It tickles the nose a little when sniffed straight from the bottle. On skin the oil blossoms, and the dirt takes center stage. Earthy, so damp, so chilled, it's as if the hands of death themselves graced this soil. The rose geranium is not a delicate floral, it's a little complex and sharp, which prevents the rich, earthworm-tilled loam from skewing too dank or "Nosferatu" (indeed not, as that is Cicuta layered with Silenti.). No this reads as a little fresher, more youthful, less dank-crypt. Perhaps you're just lingering near the ajar door of the mausoleum, not quite inside. I wear this version as often as I feel I can get away with smelling like I legitimately just crawled out of a grave, which is unfortunately not as frequent as I'd like....the customer base of my job prefers women who smell like cupcakes. The newer iteration of this perfume has a different floral component (watery-er, less sharp, more rounded and perhaps a little sweeter) but the dirt remains as faithfully earthy, if not just a little bit dryer overall, giving the impression of a warmer graveyard experience. It feels more "Above ground". Perhaps the sun is shining and a black cat keeps you company while you read poetry to your lost love. More of a bittersweet, wistful impression than the older version, but they're so similar I doubt many people would be unsatisfied with the current iteration as the vintage one is actually a little more difficult to wear. The newer version also lasts less time on me which again, for many would be a pro because it fades into this gorgeous earthy herbal thing that I love. I only have imps of this for now but would genuinely consider upgrading to a full bottle. Overall a stunning perfume and one so unique in profile that I've never smelled anything that holds a candle to it in terms of realistic graveyard silt. Sillage is rather aggressive so if you track down a vintage version be aware of that. Wear time: A stunning 10 hours for the vtg, about 6 for the newer. 10/10 Wistful Yearnings
- Last week
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mainly got a sample of this one for giggles, because BPAL cookie scents have not traditionally worked well on my skin, but holy cream-soaked shortbread, batman! this cookie is the JAM! smoked vanilla not super smoky and pairs beautifully with the cardamom, while cocoa and pink pepper seem to be mostly light accent notes. the sillage is all cookie for me and it's really great.
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I cant believe I’m the first to review this one! I absolutely love it. To me, it’s the perfect balance of cozy and sexy. Nuts Cracker goes on with a blast of.. well, nuts. It’s like inhaling a bottle of almond extract. Once that burns off a little, you still have the creamy hazelnut/ almond forefront with a background of smoke and wood. There is something in here that my brain first interpreted as leather or leather polish, but that’s maybe gunpowder. Over time, the smokey woodiness comes to the front. The patch isn’t sharp like, say, Revenant Rhythm, but more of an accent to the other notes. My only complaint is that it doesn’t seem to last as long as similar scents have on my skin, but I’m hoping that improves with aging. Another winner from the Girth of Venus collection ❤️
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I’m crying. It must have the same bronzing in common with Bronze Dildo, as @LavenderCoffee perceived, because I’m getting a healthy dose of cumin. It’s like someone reviewing BD said, I can tell there’s gorgeous notes and totally up my alley, but they are overlaid with cumin that reminds me too much of sweat or cooking or both 🥲 With a little wear, it does tone down, but doesn’t go away totally. It also brings to mind The Shimmering Mirror, which I have a bottle of, so maybe I’m alright with the miss this time.
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This is a very pretty lily of the valley scent, with some citric tea rose in the background and a depth and sophistication from the orris and ambergris. I don't get a lot of the plumeria, which disappoints me a little - I'm still searching for a plumeria-forward scent! - but it's really lovely for what it is and would be great for a setting in which I want something understated and pulled together. I enjoy wearing this with a sweeter, more sensuous hair gloss (Glowing Vulva today, or Hair Loosened & Soiled) to complicate the primness of the lily of the valley. I have a low partial of this, and feel okay with that quantity, I don't think I need to desperately search out a full bottle, but I'm glad to have what I have.
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After the lavender has died down a little is it gorgeous champagne and snow on a musky background.
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recklesslysober changed their profile photo
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Big honey cream, the woodiness of the mahogany, and the crinkle of red silk are present in the initial wet sniff from the bottle. Upon application, the earthiness of the lotus root and a the smallest whiff of a lightly tanned leather emerge. The red sandalwood here reads like the "red" in red musk, but doesn't otherwise leave much of an impression. Moderate projection and a good 6+ hours of wear. My favorite parts of this scent are the red silk note (I bow once more to BPAL's fabric accords) and the mahogany. Unfortunately, the honey cream somewhat curdles on my skin and just doesn't hit right, giving "who has cheese in their pocket" vibes that refused to quit me.
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Black Butterfly Moon: Black Orchid and Crushed Berries Hair Gloss
Assimbya replied to doomsday_disco's topic in Hair
I had been wary of this one, since BPAL's red fruit notes do not tend to do well on my skin and the type of berries aren't specified here! But my partner wanted a decant and I'm very glad that we ended up with it - while I suspect this one probably wouldn't work as a perfume on me due to my skin chemistry, it's truly beautiful as a hair gloss. I can't manage to pick out what type of berries these might be after all, but they are complex and beautiful - there's a sharp, dry quality which melds with the orchid into a sort of dark richness, almost creamy without being at all lactonic. At the same time, it has a vividly atmospheric quality, with an edge that makes me think of a forest floor, some kind of quality of woodiness and greenness behind the berries. I definitely agree with @VioletChaos that this far more complex than its two notes makes it sound. I've been wearing this all day alongside the main Black Butterly Moon perfume oil, and they complement one another beautifully; while Black Butterfly Moon on its own will always feel like goth girl to me, with the hair gloss its suddenly a dark forest nymph or fairy, powerful and ever so slightly ominous. It doesn't match with most of my usual perfumes, so I feel reluctantly okay with just having my decant, but it's beautiful and special and I'm glad to have it for the right moments. -
Holy wow, this is RED, you guys! The REDDEST! A deliciously (red)candied, (red!)fruity (RED!!!)musk in the neighborhood of Blood Kiss and Madame Moriarty but REDDER and sweeter. If you do well with sweet red scents you really can’t miss with this one. It actually made my mouth water! 😋
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Jammy blackberry filling only, sadly no pastry
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Beaver Moon: Lime Blossom & Amber Sugar
lithie replied to doomsday_disco's topic in Duets & Menage A Trois
Well. This is gorgeous. The amber is deep and smooth and reminiscent of the black amber in the black amber and sugar cane duet from a couple years ago. the lime blossom gives it just a touch of something extra - a hint of lime and the sweetest of a citrus blossom. 10/10 -
Almost a decade aged, the lavender leaps out of the bottle, less a thread and more like a ball that rolls up into your nose with a big smack. On skin, it amps up quickly like a flash round before fading just as fast, largely gone about 35 minutes later. The ambergris is briny-sweet instead of briny-stank, and the amber is indeed present with a very light hand. My experience is similar to others in that it doesn't last long (about 2.5 hours for me) but it's very pretty and airy while it's around. Perfect ethereal summer bedtime scent, despite being one of the Yules!
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Thrilled to announce that we've partnered with The British Library on a series of fragrances inspired by Wuthering Heights, drawing from artwork and other material in their archive. https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/product-category/wuthering-heights/ Launching with perfume oils to start with! And more coming soon...
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I am familiar with a couple bpal marshmallow scents but not an expert. This scent seems a little deeper, although there is definitely a fluffy sugary note standing out. I'm getting some spicy incensey extra goodness and there is something almost a little fruity about it. The recent marshmallow + grapefruit scent (La Dame Aux Pamplemousses) smells great to me but it's extremely light on my skin and fades fast. In contrast, So Devilish Hard is pretty potent on me and lasts a good few hours. I am reminded a lot of Mischief hair gloss, and a little bit of Midnight On the Midway. And I would venture to say the cinnamon is not really strong or harsh but ymmv. I might need a full 5ml of this!
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Matcha Latte Cream Pie
melandie replied to doomsday_disco's topic in Gifts with Donation or Purchase
Super realistic matcha note, with some creaminess to temper the grassy/herbiness, and a tiny hint of pastry backing it up. The pastry note comes on stronger at first, and then fades away. I wish that would stay longer, but this is a total winner of a creamy green scent. And now I want to find a recipe for a matcha cream pie.
