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- Today
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I really adore this; it's my favorite cardamom BPAL scent so far, and, though I've been being indecisive about it for the past few months, I will likely end up getting a bottle, maybe when I finish my imp and start to miss it. I definitely get a lot of cardamom from this one, and it feels like cardamom in all its facets; dry, powdery, just a touch earthy, and then into the almost floral sheer, airy quality which makes one remember why it goes so spectacularly with rose in desserts and teas (I'd love a rose and cardamom bpal...). The white amber and orris are very present but not obtrusive, smoothing this out and bring a liquid elegance which keeps this firmly in the realm of perfume rather than the impression that I've just spilled a bunch of cardamom on my skin while baking. On me the vanilla is pretty subtle, but it's a nice floral breath underneath, and I imagine it would show up more in an aged bottle. I get pretty good throw and great longevity from this, and it feels complete in itself to me; I don't seem myself particularly wanting to layer it (even with rose). I have a decant of Dahlia hair gloss, though I haven't tried it in perfume oil form yet, and I prefer Aasimar and get the cardamom more clearly from it; Dahlia for me is significantly smokier, and the amber is heavier and takes up more attention. I like Dahlia too and want to spend more time with it, but I'm glad I went for an imp of Aasimar first rather than blind bottling Dahlia as I was tempted to from reviews.
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I've tested this both with a small amount directly on skin and in the bath. I'd say it is pretty similar in both but in hot water the throw feels slightly different. The coconut is on the sweeter, fruitier side of coconut though not sweet enough to veer into sunscreen territory. White tea often feels very bright and citrusy to me and cannot often steal the show. Here it is still adding brightness, but softer and more vegetal than I usually encounter. Overall a fairly subdued and relaxing scent, not likely to overwhelm with a full body application I think.
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Okay, this one fascinates me but also makes something in my mind cross and tangle up a little bit, I can't make sense of it! The combination of the realistic dirt note with the clean coldness of the musk and metal (which I'd agree doesn't feel blackened to me, it's gleaming bright steel) has a severe kind of beauty to it, but it's also sparks strangely in my brain. The musk, which I'd agree with @leptonpyr is the same one from The Erl-King's Pale Daughter (though fortunately for me that musk likes my skin more than it does hers!) has a sweetness to it and softens the atmospheric qualities enough to make this surprisingly easy to wear for a dirt perfume; I wouldn't be concerned about wearing this in mixed company, though I would be curious what impressions others picked up of it. Reflecting on it, I feel like many of The Erl King collection scents (especially those concerned with the titular figure himself) are walking this line between atmospheric and wearability, conveying hints of the menace of the story while also making perfumes that people will feel comfortable wearing. In Doubt and In Dread was one that I felt too much sacrificed the menace for wearability, particularly given the point in the story in represents, while His Grasp Is So Cold leaned further in the atmospheric direction. His Crown and His Shroud stands right in the middle, and it almost feels like a trompe-l'oiel - if you don't know the origin it could pass as unthreatening but slightly odd; a clean, musky perfume with a dirt note that would probably be confusing if you didn't know the notes list. With the knowledge of the inspiration, the elements rearrange themselves and you can imagine the ice and earth and steel, the tensile energy between them as the Erl King draws his strength from both; the whole is much more chilling. I like this. I don't know how much I'm going to wear it, but it feels like a special thing to me, and I'm glad to have my decant and for the ways it makes me think.
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This is a very well-blended scent, and with the vast array of notes I have some difficulty picking them out and distinguishing them; it also shifted quite a bit over the course of wear for me. It starts as a floaty, indistinct floral + musk; I would agree that iris is probably the central note at this point, as confidently as I can get it, and a vanilla-adjacent sweetness which I think is the heliotrope (or maybe benzoin?). Color palette matching to the artwork, very silver-gray-blue, delicate and pretty; it's very lovely at this stage, but wasn't winning my heart. However, after a few hours of wear it develops a different depth and complexity, with the dry, resinous facets of the scent coming forward as well as a different floral note with which I am less familiar and which I have to assume is tobacco flower. After ~6 hours the throw was low, but I quite distinctly got the honeyed beeswax and it was beautiful; I kept wanting to smell it again right before I had to wash it off in the shower! My first couple tests of this I wrote it off as a simply pretty and nothing else, but I'm glad I gave it another try with more attention to how it developed over time; this one really rewards that attention, and like @amoray says I suspect this might benefit from aging. I'm considering a bottle of this one, though I'm not sure and it may depend on how many of my Lupercalia decants get upgraded; I didn't think I needed another delicate iris scent after Gloomily and Equivalent No. 314, but the dry down stage of this is different and special, and if what I'm identifying there is indeed tobacco flower then it's the best showcase for it I've experienced from bpal thus far. If these floral notes appeal to you I'd recommend trying it.
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Starts off almost pure lemon, bright and lightly sweet with a slight fuzziness from the sandalwood underneath. As it settles on my skin I get more grapefruit and a touch of bitter, heady neroli. The amber gives a round, wholesome sweetness and really grounds the brightness of the citrus. A really pretty happy, glowing scent.
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AcidBath_224 changed their profile photo
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I don't have the time or energy for a super detailed review right not, but I felt obligated to hop on and express how good this is before it goes down. In the bottle it's all marzipan and hazelnut, but once it's on skin it's got so much lovely depth. The marzipan and hazelnut are there, yes, topped with just a touch of cherry, but the patchouli, smoke, and wood ground the gourmand elements and add a masculine edge that make me genuinely feel I can pull it off as a guy despite the intense sweetness. I love this so much. If you're on the fence, I fully endorse pulling that wooden, questionably shaped trigger.
- Yesterday
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This is exactly coffee and pancakes with syrup, and somehow so addictively wearable that I keep coming back to this one over and over. I'm so glad I picked this up, because I didn't know I needed to smell like this.
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Such a beautiful blend! I can see how some might detect mint, but I think it's closer to rose or hibiscus. The patchouli comes out for me right away, though I do amp it somewhat. It find it a less haughty, not-so in-your face version of Crypt Queen, and very well balanced among the notes.
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Absolutely agree with Roseus. Classic S.W with a really good throw. That sweet floral snow lingers well! Buttery lotion without being greasy. Can not get enough of this one!
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Well this is a beauty! I expected a punchy almost bitter passion fruit, maybe even sinthetic. But what i got was a true passion fruit, sweet but not sugary. (More like an over ripe fruit) With a soft creamy custardy layer. I worried about the 'burned sugar' and if it would come across like caramel or brown sugar. It did not! It's nessled in the background. Peeking round the corner of the passion fruit. This truely is a zingy, bright, creamy fruity treat! Quite a nice throw and wear time too! I'd back up bottle this.
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Strawberry Moon: Kyphi and Sweet Cream
Nagi Mahe replied to doomsday_disco's topic in Duets & Menage A Trois
Ok, in the bottle... heavy cream begging to go sour. Not getting any of my beloved Kyphi, just a very faint golden smell. On the skin, oh no... sour cream. It's making me wrinkle my nose. I still don't get any straight up kyphi. Just a light golden sweet smell, trying to fight its way through. Dry down, still sour. There is still a vague golden incense trying, but failing. If you do well with the Labs cream note, you'll love this. And i do occasionally get a thread of incense, but i'm not loving this one. -
Oh hello bright pink juicy bubble gum. Second out of the gate... ruby red mushrooms! And then comes the musk. I don't get any distinct plum or strawberry, i think this is hidden in the background of the bubble gum! So is the candy floss and marshmallow! I do get a hit of fruity brandy! This has masses of throw and super long lasting. There is a morphing background to this. But the bubble gum stays strong. Anyone a fan of jail bait etc... may well love this.
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S.O lotion, ok don't kill me lol.. but i find this misses the mark. The scent is so light that unless my nose is directly on my arm, i can barely smell anything. I was expecting a punch of S.O. How ever this makes a good base for layering. The lotion itself, thick and creamy. Soaks in well.
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Single note white hot chocolate! A beautiful light, straight foward sweet scent! As expected med/low throw and lasting power. There is no 'sour' turning cream to this. (I have issues with creamy milky lab notes) but this stays true! The lotion itself, is very buttery, but not greasy.
- Last week
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2025 version I've also tried the hair gloss. Wow wow wow the throw on this is VAST. One tiny little drop and I smell a mile away. And my god I smell like creamed honey. I think I get a bit more vanilla than I get in the hair gloss. There is also the smoked aspect in the background. I don't get any pumpkin. This might be one of the strongest scents I have. I do really well with the lab's honey notes though so this gonna get some wear.
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Mergekat changed their profile photo
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Yes, this has a lot of moonflower, iris and musk as @theseagrowsstated. It is a bit floral for my tastes. However, something absolutely stunning happened. I went to wash it off and only the top notes came off...and what remained...was Zorya P. I kid you not. I sniffed my arm and was astounded. I was ready to sell this one off as I am not much into florals these days, but it may need to sit and stew in my resting box to see if some of those deeper notes blossom over time. I think the honeyed beeswax may be reading as Amber? This was quite a journey.
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So on one hand I feel really bad for the above Claire, but I totally agree with Muffin's response here. I was afraid the cacao and clove would dominate as in the bottle, but they are actually playing really nice on skin with all the written notes (and I do get the tea). But it's not overbearing, because it's playing well with all the papery and wood notes that are combined in it. To my perspective, it's beautifully smooth and dry with this aged paper and ink in the notes, and this dare I say, lingering nostalgia of a book space lost to time. A bookstore that was quirky that you went into and now you can't find anymore. It's finding out that one of the most beautiful libraries in the U.S.A., the old Main Cincinnati Library, existed from 1874-1955 and yet was totally demolished (America, please save your darn aesthetically pleasing architecture). It's reading Connie Willis's book, I Met a Traveller in an Antique Land and going through its bookstore facade cover to a secret library's catacomb levels in New York City to see forgotten books. It's not quite ancient, it's not quite refined, but it is something entirely in between and its own thing. If you can see it, that is one of the photos of the old Main Cincinnati Library with its stacks upon stacks of shelving and books. It was intended at first to be an opera house, but finances turned its finished product into an elaborate library. *I tried to post on the actual Black Phoenix website. But for some reason, it just gave me the runaround of saying, I was supposed to log in when I was already logged in. And then it wouldn't let me leave a review there, unlike if I went to another scent's listing.😅
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I absolutely love this. In the bottle, this is all juicy, almost bubblegum-y pear, but it changes pretty quickly on the skin. The pear is definitely still present, but I'm finding the white tea to be the dominant note, and the floral notes of both that and the eucalyptus blossom give the vibe of that bath product that you adore but is prohibitively expensive, so you ration it only for the most special of occasions. Perfect for a "bathhouse" perfume. My only complaint is that I don't get much cedar, which is a shame, as it's one of my favorite notes, but I suspect it's hanging around with the white tea, lending a sort of "dryness" to the scent.
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Iris Root, White Amber, and Blackberry
Assimbya replied to Silvertree's topic in Duets & Menage A Trois
I was given a decant of this as a frimp by a lovely fellow member of the forum, and I'm so glad that I was, though I would never have thought to buy it for myself. It starts out with sweet, cheerful blackberry, slightly tart but not overwhelmingly so, grounded by the orris; as it dries I get more orris and the lab's distinctive white amber note, familiar from Tomie among other places, which draws it out of the realm of fruit into something that feels quite elegant, sheer, and pulled together, more complex than a three note perfume seems like it should be. This is confirming my guess that blackberry was one of the bpal fruit notes which works best on me, and I am glad to have a decant of it. -
Mostly paper in the bottle with a touch of sweet peony and black amber. The black amber has that polished, lacquered vibe to it (not that it smells like lacquer!). Wet the peony takes center stage. Pink, airy, sweet. Always makes me think of spun sugar. The amber grounds the sweetness, and it gets a little deeper as it settles. The paper is just a flutter, adding a bit of texture.
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Smells like candied cherries to me, with a marshmallow finish & a hint of spice (but I wouldn't have labelled it cinnamon).
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Terrible Moon: Steamed Milk and Marzipan
roseus replied to doomsday_disco's topic in Duets & Menage A Trois
Okay I love this. I agree it is very reminiscent of Snowcake with a strong evaporated milk note. A lot milk notes are a light and sweet creaminess to my nose, but this one has some heft to it, a bit buttery. I find it very pleasant! ETA: my wife hates this on me -
Terrible Moon: Pistachio and Vanilla Buttercream
roseus replied to doomsday_disco's topic in Duets & Menage A Trois
Gorgeous vanilla-almond buttercream (this smells like when I add the tiniest bit of almond extract to vanilla buttercream for just a little pizzazz) with a delicious nutty haze of pistachio. On my skin the pistachio note is stronger. Delectable. -
This one is very booky, very much a secondhand bookshop than the scent of fresh paperbacks. Getting quite a bit of leather in the imp and nervous it might be the kind that goes screechy on me. Roasty coffee envelopes it all. On my skin it is more coffee forward, the leather behaves thankfully. I get a bit of papery-ness and creaminess underneath.
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This is a very warm and spiritual blend. Frankincense and cedar mostly, with amber and vanillaish from the heliotrope preventing it from becoming wood chip cedar. I don’t get the citrus. It’s nice if you like churchy blends, and I like it. Throws a lot of frankincense, other notes stay closer.
