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- Past hour
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I love what this scent stands for, and I would wear it proudly if not for the fact that the almond cream note is a double whammy of no for me. It's all I can smell in the bottle, and dominates on skin for the first 10 minutes, at which point the fig and jasmine take over. I don't get a lot of honey, but what is there is smooth, sweet, and quiet - not dusty or sneezy. Very tropical, and great for those who love florals. Moderate to low projection post dry down. This scent will work for you if these notes work for you, but they're not for me. My personal interpretation of the groundbreaking lawsuit would be a bit different: the cold granite stone steps on which protests are launched, the silk ties of the lawyers on both sides, a deeply warm, golden amber of universal love and the paper on which the official documentation of said love is printed.
- Yesterday
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This takes me right to a library where I'm warming my cold hands, breathing in the warm and bitter steam of espresso, poring over the pages of an old book whose cracked bindings and yellowed pages smell like centuries of history. The vanillic undertone of the paper adds another aromatic element to the espresso. I could get lost in those pages for hours. Of course libraries don't allow coffee, but bear with my fantasy here.
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Vampire Milk has aged in a lovely way. The milk is less sour and creamier, and the clove has more sweetness to its spice. I didn't reach for this much when I first purchased it new, as it was just a little weird for me (what I was expecting, I cannot say). The carmelization has directed it towards gourmand, and it's something warm for cold winter days and nights. It's a keeper!
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Beaver Moon: Coconut Cream & Guava
KarenWalker replied to doomsday_disco's topic in Duets & Menage A Trois
Same experience as @doomsday_disco. Really yummy juicy guava during the wet phase but it eventually concedes to the coconut cream. Which is pretty but ideally if I'm going to FS, I want it in equal measure for the whole wear. -
I got this because I love lemons and frankincense, but unfortunately that "fresh cotton" scent from the laundry room is really killing it for me. I wish one of the other two scents would overshadow it (though the lemon is certainly trying). I let this age for over a year, hoping that it would change enough for me to like it. I do think it changed, but just not enough. I think I will be selling/passing this along, because I'm sure it will make someone who likes clean scents very happy.
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She Perishes That She May Live
SmellsPrettyGood2Me replied to annemathematics's topic in BPAL Anniversary
Came for the cassia and frankincense, and hoped the cinnamon had aged long enough to settle down a bit. In the bottle, I also get a weird unwashed feet smell (maybe the spikenard?) that makes me wonder if perhaps it has spoiled or been contaminated over the years. But, being the brave little toaster that I am, I dab it on anyway. The cinnamon smells only moderately strong, but leaves a very light, mild pink patch of topical irritation, as for me it often does. The toe stank is there, too, but it fades down around 35 minutes in, by which time the olfactory heat of the cinnamon is also long gone. I'm not sure how to interpret the 3 balsams here, other than to acknowledge they are present but without being able to precisely suss out what they are (other than resinous). The cassia is a bit powdery and pairs very nicely with the slightly creamy frankincense for the duration of the wear. No noticeable contribution at any point from the acanthus, which may have been lost to time. Medium strong projection for the first hour, settling into solidly medium territory for the next 6 hours. This scent definitely has paternal lineage elements seen in other BPAL fragrances that came thereafter. Although I have liked spikenard in some of them, here it was just a bit too much for me to get very excited about. I may see if I can combine this with another scent to bring it down a couple of ticks. -
Terrible Moon: Cardamom and Black Amber
Madame Mew replied to doomsday_disco's topic in Duets & Menage A Trois
Spicy! Obviously, cardamom is a spice lol. It’s really nice and has not had any time to rest so I can already tell it’s going to be a good one! I look forward to seeing how this smells on my husband, too. -
As a fig obsessed human, can confirm with the review above! Yum. Barely ripened fig and tart pomegranate. It smells lovely and will be a great base for so many of my figgy BPAL oil blends. I also love this formula. Not sticky at all.
- Last week
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This goes on as a fresh, tart apple. It's quite nice! Then 10 minutes later, it's still mostly the same except a very very tiny bit of pastry and maybe coffee. It overall ends up like apple pie, I'd say. Anyway, it's mostly apple on me, which I don't hate. I'll be finishing my decant, but won't be purchasing a full bottle.
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On application, a delicious blast of black coffee with something like leather. Soft clove. After 5-10 minutes, it smells like cloves mixed with the kind of cigarette smoke that I've smelled on my friend's clothes. I'm not sure what brand he smokes. I don't love it because it's a bit bitter. There's some sweet maple syrup in the background that gradually appears faintly. However, I think it's mostly clove on me.
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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.
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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.
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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.
