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Much more coffee forward on skin than Pumpkin Spice Espresso Latte, the punkier latte cousin of this year's Yules. There is definitely some perky, frothed, high fat milk in here, along with a somewhat fruity, floral vanilla that smells a lot like the recently released Patchouli and Smoked Vanilla lotion (which smells nothing at all like vanilla or patchouli to me, RIP). There is a slight, acrid undertone to the coffee, like the oil in the beans went a bit rancid before they were ground up for brewing, that wafts up from time to time. I get more simple syrup than brown sugar from this until it is fully dried down. Do I enjoy this? Will I wear this? The answer is not so clear. The blessing and curse of such an expansive BPAL Scentverse is that, because there are so many things to love, it doesn't always feel like there is enough room to just LIKE something (or even sit with it long enough to find out, before the next thing comes along that also needs trying). To be continued...
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I think BPAL Nation is sleeping on this one. She's the perfect blend of sweetness and spice, leading with the toasty roasted chestnut and cardamom in the bottle, even though all notes can be teased out with the right sniff depth and concentration. Once my skin gets ahold of her, the allspice races to the front of the line for a few minutes before politely returning to the rest of the group. And then, poof! She dials her whole self back from a 9.5 on the intensity scale to a modest, demure 6.5-7 (depending on which way the air is blowing) after only 20 minutes in. The amber and caramel start to appear with cozy, almost powdery warmth, and they carry the scent alongside the chestnut for the next 5 hours or so. This is a November 18th to December 31st scent that you won't have to think twice about putting on when you want to feel snuggly and festive. Another Yule 2025 offering that begs for multiple backup bottles so that you never have to let these feelings go!
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Wolf Moon: Snow & Oak Bark
SmellsPrettyGood2Me replied to doomsday_disco's topic in Duets & Menage A Trois
This is a minty, mentholated snow in the bottle, cold, tingly and fresh. The oak bark has what seems like a touch of humidity to it, perhaps with some lichen growing on the surface that has been lightly covered by a dollop of freshly fallen white powder. On skin, the menthol snow REALLY kicks up in a pseudo-medicinal fashion. I feel like I can taste it in the back of my throat as I bring my nose up to my hand, and there is a bit of physical warming on my skin as it dries down as well. I spend the next 30 minutes patiently waiting for the scent to settle; it is bracingly atmospheric. The bark has a wet, heavy, almost dirty quality to it. As dry down is happening I feel like I get the smallest whiff of dried wildflowers and anise sweetening things up from underneath it all. Moderate projection that lasts around 6 hours total. It's not bad, but I don't want to smell like the first hour of this as a pre-requisite to enjoying the next 5 hours of it. A more patient soul than mine would likely delight in it. - Yesterday
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I agree that this is like a divine mashup of Woman Putting on Her Stocking + Snake Oil. Delicious coffee and snake oil! Can't go wrong.
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love love love love love!!! I am a BPAL champagne lover and this is such a good iteration. It's the fizzy champagne note I love, plus slushy lavender. Dries down to a nice snowy musk. Works as both a daytime and nighttime scent.
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It's perfect, it's beautiful, it smells like Linda Evangelista... In all seriousness, to me and when applied, this smells exactly like sitting in Cafe du Monde with a huge plate of warm beignets and a cup of hot chicory coffee. I love it.
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I feel like I hit the jackpot with this Day When Old Friends Meet. I’m getting primarily a floaty vanilla over a chewy bready confection, like bread pudding, or denser, and supporting all that is the myrrh smoke, which I adore! I think there was a bit of fig early on, but it got too cozy and submerged into the pudding. The spices are subtle, and were heavier on application. A really lovely blend for the winter. Glad I took a gamble on this bottle, and hope I can wear it to greet old friends sooner than later!
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In the bottle: I was expecting mostly coffee, but actually, I'm not getting any. In fact, NONE of the listed notes are present! Mostly I'm getting a fluffy cloud of...sweet cream? 😯 Don't get me wrong, I've no objections, cause it smells awesome. But I'm suuuuuper confused! Wet On Skin, the scent starts to bloom as it warms and now I'm getting the uncanny animal crackers-thing that doomsday mentioned! Not the lemony part of those crackers, but the rest. It's a bit odd, but I'm intrigued. Once full drydown is reached, I get the chicory coming on kinda strong. It reads as vaguely cinnamon-y, which could be a plus for this of you that can't wear actual cinnamon- this could be your work around! On me, the scent is largely a light snickerdoodle scent. I really miss NOLA, so I was hoping it would show up as intended on me, so while this is a perfectly nice winter time baked goods scent, I do wish it had the coffee and beignets in the mix. 😢 I DO have the Guatemalan Coffee Bean single note, and I shall try layering that with this- maybe it just needs a little help to pull it all together for my chemistry
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In the bottle, I get some of the thick, sweet honey I have long associated with O (a scent that I've long felt doesn't get the love it deserves). At this stage, it's just the honey. After application, there's quite a bit of shifting and projecting over the ensuing 5 minutes or so: the throw becomes insanely loud, very briefly, then begins to settle itself down. During that time there's a rapid succession of first the honey, then the amber, then the honey, then the incense...etc etc etc. The morph is dizzying in its speed. 👀 Upon drydown, it all settles into place, the honey pulling back some, the amber creeping forward, the incense grounding the two and preventing any of it from being powdery. Just lovely. In All, a surprisingly low throw given the intensity of the notes involved. Still, considering that brief, enormous burst forward during initial application, apply sparingly until you see how exactly she reacts with your particular chemistry It's funny that this scent has come through the Yules several times over the years but only now am I discovering it for myself. Glad to finally join the party, this is a really nice addition to my winter scent collection!
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In the bottle, this is pretty much all the effervescent champagne, all the time. After applied to my skin, it stays that way for a while, taking its time to warm and bloom. Eventually, some of the musk shows up, adding depth to the boozy note, which is some magic feat (since light musks are...light). I don't get any lavender at this point. Upon complete drydown, I'm left with a lightly sweet, balanced champagne/blush musk scent. No lavender or snow appear for me, alas. In all: A scent for softly snowy days. Low to medium throw, making it a good daytime scent. I'm not sure it's my thing, but for those that love a champagne note, don't miss out on this beauty. ❄️
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Despite the label imagery evoking a cavalry of sorts, this really isn't an overwhelmingly masculine scent. In the bottle, the tea is what presents most strongly, followed distantly by the coffee, then the cocoa. On skin, the tea note unfurls even further, with sight ferment and maybe even with a touch of cinnamon there in the background. The hay gets it's moment to shine as it dries down, sweet and airy, alongside a very toasted chestnut note and a dry tobacco. It takes a good hour for me to be able to pick the vetiver out of the lineup, but I never fully experience the cocoa absolute or the coffee as individual notes, once applied, even after dry down. Two hours in, there is a powdery, slightly furry musk that sits at the base and lingers on for another 4 hours more. Olfactorily, this is both pleasant and complex. I'm not sure exactly how to describe it, but there is almost a HAPPINESS to it. I found it very comforting, and even thought about wearing it again the next day after testing because I liked it so much. Very glad I let my love of BPAL's hay and tobacco notes lead me here.
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This is such a glorious, damp, green floral scent with a beautiful incense base. I don't get the rose at all, but I do get a hefty dose of incense smoke and lots of dewy ivy with some other fresh florals to lighten it up a bit. It's very fitting of its inspiration and is one of my BPAL holy grails along with being one of the very first BPAL scents I ever tried back in 2019. It's a shame it's not readily available anymore, since Pretty Indulgent is no longer operational.
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Opening the bottle and taking a whiff, it really does smell like winter sunshine warming a scene. There is nothing minty, but I do catch one of the traditional BPAL "cold" notes. There is a sense of your breathing being slightly arrested by the temperature of the air. I catch the tiniest, most fleeting sense of the beeswax, alongside the sweet, almost-but-not-quite-piney frankincense note that is generating much of the brightness. On skin, it's somehow both warm and cold at the same time. The beeswax really starts to liquefy, and I get a slightly astringent woodiness from the birch bark. The Peru balsam also comes into it's own about 25 minutes in. Much like in nature, this gets less "frozen" as time goes on, settling into a golden sweetness. Moderately strong projection, with the most scent force in the first 3 hours, followed by 4 more of light sweetness. I would call this a playful cold weather atmospheric, which, despite it's sweet bottom notes, never ends up feeling heavy or overbearing. I like it very much; a dribble of sandalwood would make it perfect, so I anticipate layering it with a sandalwood single note when I want to deepen it a bit.
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Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board
Geminirubyshoes replied to doomsday_disco's topic in Haute Macabre
This one is definitely out of my wheelhouse but I am really intrigued by it! When first applied I get almost an aquatic type note, like an aquatic cologne. ETA: OMFG I just realized that it reminds me of CK ONE! I knew there was familiarity here! There is a drydown of white musk/white florals into a dry (VERY dry) warm wood with plumes of smoky sweet incense resin. The throw is crazy, I can smell this for hours. Complete the vibe by dancing to How Soon Is Now after applying 🖤 - Last week
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Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board
ghoulnextdoor replied to doomsday_disco's topic in Haute Macabre
A lullaby sung backwards, an incantatory influorescence. Ephemeral floral and shadowed herbal, somehow both purified and unblessed, a conjuration of the unseelie court and a glory of seraphim. Cool, slightly medicinal, pale translucent blooms drifting like shawls woven of mist and moonlight, a frenzy of elf maidens at the feast, trapped in stained glass. The incense of suspended places, a liminal hush of resins, dusty echo of wood. Tarnished silver, clouded glass, filtered light, words illuminated in the margins, scattered like moths, humming and glowing. -
haunted is the most reliable and likeable gc imo. along with snake oil, haunted has been a staple imp that lives in my purse 24/7. the amber here is as warm and golden as the memory of a sunbeam with a slight pop of lemon brightness from the sun, the sweet warm spices are more like your ideal of spice instead of actual real Spices, and the sweetness level is perfectly in tandem with its richness. this is how i imagine it feels for a cat to lay and warm in a sunbeam. wishing there was a lotion/hair gloss of my sweet haunted 😫
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Ooooo, this is similar to the patchoulis in Goblin and Die Peste Auf Der Treppe, the almost sweet, gooey type I can get down with. The leather is similar to the soft brown leather in blends like Rogue, the Mountebank, and John Locke. The clove, pepper, and tobacco brighten in a nice way without smelling foody or smoky. Heckedy heck yeah.
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Sweet apple pie up front with my beloved dead leaves note somehow perfectly blended together. I have really been trying to avoid adding to my very large Halloweenie bottle collection, but darn it this one is too good to pass up! *Adds to cart*
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it could be my inexperience but i failed to pick out a single note from this before reading the description. still it’s hard for me to decipher what should be going on here! it’s dry, light, and a little sweet with just a poke of herbs. mostly what’s there for me is just dryness, a dry smell kind of like a less offensive witch hazel, but it really takes a close sniff to try and differentiate any notes at all because it’s just so faint. definitely not for me
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Delicious complex strawberry gourmand that unfortunately dries down a bit funky on my skin, though retains a pleasant wafting of sweet strawberry.
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Dark, dark cacao. The dominant impression is brown musk and plum colored musk. With the cacao still holding its own. The “plum” is probably the brandy.
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In vial, STRONG bitter coffee grounds mixed seamlessly with patchouli. On my arm the patchouli calms down and the vanilla and spices come out. This will no doubt be lovely after some aging. The coffee is giving me a little pause right now because it’s so bitter and a little sweaty (amber?)
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Big candy cane. Herbal anise. Like aftershave but not really aftershave at all, something more subtle and sweeter. Because of the description I get hoodie. Maybe also because of the anise=licorice=the color black thing? Also it seems like Justin draws on himself in magic marker.
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Because of the label art I can’t help seeing this series as characters. Retch reads young to me. They’re trying to be gross and shocking (that booze reads as a little too close to bile sometimes. The oud is a little grungy but not actually barnyard.) In reality they’re about as dangerous as breakfast cereal. Specifically Cocoa Puffs.
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I see this leather as a sophisticated older sister sort of scent. (Though it’s unisex.) Sophisticated except she has cinnamon bun frosting smeared all around her mouth. Really the smooshedness of the cinnamon bun is coming through.
