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- Today
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Pomegranate, Pink Pepper, and Black Apple
SmellsPrettyGood2Me replied to Seajewel's topic in Halloweenie
A very juicy fresh red apple with a hint of scorch or cooked skin that must be the "black" part of that note. The pomegranate isn't terribly prominent, but gives a slightly deeper sweetness and tone to the scent. The pink pepper only emerges on skin after a few minutes, smelling like whole peppercorns, papery and piquant in ways that aren't entirely pleasing. I'm in an uneasy truce with it for an hour or so, until the apple and pepper both fade away and a faint hint of dried pomegranate juice is all that is left behind. By the end of the second hour, it's 90% gone. At the four hour mark, it was as if nothing had ever been there at all. This trio is inoffensive if you like peppercorns (and even if you don't, it won't torment you for very long). -
I'm so happy to have this. Mrs. Fuchi is a favorite of mine. This smells sweet, & a little waxy. I can smell the lipstick note, & it reminds me of the smell of doing my drag makeup! It also smells like a sweet dollar store cherry flavored candy. & Another impression I get is the smell of hospital linens, & soap. 💖🖤
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This one is by far the strongest & furthest throw of all BPAL I have collected. The scent is heavy heavy! A slight musk, some sweetness, airy, & has a sharpness too. It is oppressive, but in a wonderful way. By that I mean it has been on me for about 3 hours now & it's all I can smell! 💖🖤
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Big, fat, wet lemon peel that smells juicy in the bottle but gets a little pom skin pithy once it is applied on skin. As it wears, the scent softens barely 15 minutes post application into something a lot more airy and ephemeral. The white musk has a touch of vanilla to it that emerges around 35 minutes in and brings a subtle sweetness. I wish the pomegranate rind wasn't so enduring; it's a little too bitter and intermittently throws the balance of the scent off a bit for me. By hour 2, the musk is all that is left. HUGE open, moderate dry down and soft wear for a total of about 5 hours before it fades away. Work and small space safe after the first 15 minutes. This scent is Sally Struthers on All In The Family, sitting cross legged on a yellow shag carpet, playing a guitar.
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Juicy, fruity, mandarin and pear in the bottle. There aren't any other dominant notes, but a deep sniff gives me just a faint hint of ink lurking and swirling below the surface. These fruit top notes continue their domination when applied to skin. Finally, a citrus that doesn't turn my stomach when it hits my skin! Cursed with a citrustank microbiome, I've generally learned to avoid anything grapefruit, orange, lemon, or lime. But mandarin, by some anomaly, seems to be not only ok, but actually enjoyable. The benzoin and tar come in next around 40 minutes later and give the scent some depth. Surprisingly, the mandarin sticks around for quite awhile, defying my usual experience with top notes. I don't get much incense until about 2 hours in, and it's more of a waft than a plume. The ink remains very indistinct through dry down and ongoing wear. The scent projection overall is pretty strong, and lasts almost 9 hours. By the notes description, I would have passed this over without thinking twice. Having tried it, I really like it a lot. It's a hidden gem for people who don't like many fruity scents but want something a little brighter sometimes. Wearable for all seasons!
- Yesterday
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carrioncupid changed their profile photo
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I get a bitter espresso steam and leather bound books with the emphasis on the leather. It's somewhat dry and rugged. I expected more warmth and vanilic white paper notes.
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I hoped for a more sinister fruity resiny musk concoction. My skin brings out the sugar spun cherries which gradually fade away making way for the pomegranate, surprisingly for me.Later on the pom becomes stronger and more tart, reminding me of the long discontinued Swank.
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The florals start off with a very clean vibe, but as this dries on me I get some dark earthiness coming in. The florals soften a bit dry, a dark amber and the herbs support. Mysterious and intoxicating.
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In the imp this smells like a citrus-y bubblegum, I think it is something about the combination of acai and neroli. On my skin it is much the same, but even fruitier. Unfortunately I don't get any of the other notes as the acai just sort of takes over on my skin.
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Eshe, A Vision of Life-In-Death (2006)
SmellsPrettyGood2Me replied to Heretic's topic in Carnaval Diabolique
I'm genuinely surprised not to see more comparisons to the GC gem Morocco here, as to my nose this shares at least 50% of the same DNA both wet and in drydown. The two differentiating notes feel like the olive blossom and the orchid, which give a more green floral vibe to this by comparison. Although a bit sharp around the edges on the wet open when applied to skin, it dries down to something pleasantly fragrant. Moderate to strong sillage, with good staying power as I can still smell it 8 hours later. Most people seem to not like this, but I do! -
i’ve been slowly (torturously) enjoying this scent once in a while trying to let it rest and maybe deepen before i cement my feelings on it. the amber is exactly what i was hoping for based off the legendary status of this yule for amber people but the high pitched smell of flower that’s in there brings it down for me sadly. my boring nose wants the perfect linear and indulgent amber this would be without its rockrose! still the oil sticks on me for a long time and has a deep decadent resin smell that blooms on my skin. no powder (luckily for me, maybe not for thee) i’m thinking an aged bottle will be much better and less sharply floral…… will be on the lookout for older versions
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In the imp I get the incense and a dry, reedy note with a hint of green that smells like papyrus in other scents. On my skin it is drier, more papery with that slight vanillic edge. The tea comes out on my skin as well, sweet and slightly woody. The whole scent feels sheer but with a depth. Gorgeous and definitely bottle worthy for me.
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Delicious honeyed vanilla cream, with the pumpkin coming out a bit more as it wears.
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So, I tried Dorian for the first time last year, I bought it (straight from the lab) as a Christmas gift for my husband. I couldn’t believe that I’d never tried it before, it was the perfect vanilla of my dreams and at the next possible moment I could afford it bought 3 bottles (also straight from the lab) that July for my birthday. The three new bottles though did not smell anything like the Christmas bottle the new bottles were super masculine, so cologney and a bit lemony. I don’t really get what happened I know there’s some difference in batches but it smells completely different, I’ve re-upped lots of bottles over the years and there’s never been such a drastic difference for me before. My husband said it’s probably just because the Christmas bottle is 6 months older so after 6 months the july bottles will smell more like the older one but I just retried it right next to each other and there’s still so different it’s very wild. But that being said the Christmas version was the most amazing perfume I’ve ever smelled in my life and would recommend it to every woman on the planet. The July one isn’t bad but it’s very masculine smelling to me and I don’t like to wear it because I personally like to wear perfume to feel feminine.
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Okay, I know I said in my Hiss and Hearse review a few months back that that was the one of the best Snake Oil-heavy Snake Oil variants in a while -- but here I am reviewing Snakes in the Coffee Beans and feeling the same way. In a lot of the Snake Oil variants from the past few years, it might be heavy on the musk, or the patchouli, but I rarely get all of the components of the Snake Oil with whatever has been added in a particular variant. But in Snakes in the Coffee Beans, I totally get the aged vanilla absolute from the Snake Oil (which, in my opinion, is more sheer than the vanilla of the OG Snake Oil -- but it's still good), along with the spices, musk, and patch, all swirling with the coffee beans. So it gets points not only for being very Snake Oil-y, but also for its super realistic coffee bean note, and the fact that this goes strong for hours on end. I like this way better than the other coffee Snake Oil variant that is PSL: Pumpkin Snake Latte. I'm definitely going to have to upgrade my decant to a bottle.
- Last week
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It Was But the Wild Blast As It Sung Thro’ the Trees
doomsday_disco replied to doomsday_disco's topic in Yules
This is a really cozy scent. It was unexpectedly somewhat like a sweet, creamy, lemon-like scent on me during the first few hours -- I think it's the honey mingling with the hay note, which was also somewhat lemon-y in the Vanilla, Nutmeg, and Hay Absolute trio. Then it becomes a sweet and toasty oat scent -- kind of similar to One Has to be Careful -- but with a bit of added spice from the clove and a comforting, non-laundry!!! wool note. Of the two scents I tried from the Erlkönig collection, this was the one I enjoyed most. I will have to give it a full-day slather to see if I need more of it, but for now, I'll definitely be keeping my decant. -
This is a very fruit-forward suf. It mostly smells like jammy blackberry filling to me. I don't get a ton of cream cheese or pastry from this -- both notes are there, but they are buried beneath the blackberry note for a really long time, and then when I do smell those notes, they still can't hold a candle to the strength of the blackberry. I would say there is far less cream cheese in this than you'd find in a danish, and the pastry is most noticeable in the long drydown after the scent has been on the skin for several hours, but I only get it when sniffing my arm up close -- never in the throw. It smells delicious, but I'm not sure that I need more than my decant (although I'll probably retest it before it goes away just to be sure!).
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When I tried this just on the front of my wrist one day, the coffee disappeared pretty quickly on me, and I was left with just the rose. When I gave this a full-day slather (slathering it on wrists, down my forearm, in the crooks of my elbows, and on my neck), I could smell the coffee beans with the rose throughout the day, although the rose note definitely was the dominant note after the wet phase and got stronger over time. It has great throw, too, and I could smell both notes in the throw. Originally, I was going to pass on this, but then I decided I had to try it since Bulgarian rose is usually my favorite rose note, and I thought, what if this smells like a bouquet of roses in a coffee shop? It doesn't really give me that vibe, since the rose is stronger than the coffee, but it is still really nice. I'm going to have to slather it on again to decide if the decant will suffice, or if I need a bottle -- I think it would be a great Yule to wear in January when you're getting antsy for the Lupercalia update.
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This smells like the thick, goopy, toffee-like honey of Harlow's Lace on top of a buttery milk note. It's very rich. I was hoping that this would be more like the milk and honey and Alice, but alas. Great throw and staying power, though!
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I originally debated a bottle of this, but went the decant route instead in case it ended up being too sweet. Well, I would have been happy with a bottle. This smells like caramelized banana deliciousness -- perfect for pairing with all of my BPAL banana scents. The only downside to this hair gloss is that it doesn't seem to have a lot of longevity or throw. When I tried this last weekend, the test was all for naught because my hair still somehow smelled like Hunter's Moon: Coffee Bean & Incense Hair Gloss despite me washing my hair before testing out this hair gloss. (That one's a strong one with serious staying power!) So I tried it again yesterday in wet hair, and today in dry hair. I couldn't smell it in my wet hair for more than a few minutes after application. In my dry hair, even though I applied this very liberally, I could only smell a light caramelized sweetness whenever I held my hair up to my nose. I never got a whiff of it throughout the day despite applying a ton of it and having really long hair down to my ass. 😅 Although I wish this had some throw and better longevity, I'm still debating upgrading my decant, not only to pair with my banana scents, but also to potentially spray all over my arms as a scent of the day -- maybe if I got some on the sleeves of my shirt, I could actually smell it throughout the day. I'm going to try it out!
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Very pretty! As an only-sometimes-under-the-perfect-conditions violet wearer, this was an unexpected hit. I think I recognize at least a couple of the elements here; the violet is the same as in Bruised Violet Compound, and the "sugared" note has also appeared in other scents (the sugared amber in Dahlia, for example). There is a dry, powdery element to the scent that keeps it from being too sweet. After 2 hours it started to get a little woody, which means there is also a touch of vanilla in there as I've gotten this undertone a few times before (but can't seem to pinpoint exactly which vanilla it is). I appreciate that there is nothing that gives "artificially flavored candy" at any point in time. Medium throw and very good longevity at about 7 hours at nearly full strength.
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The cardamom is beautiful going on, and very prominent! I'm getting BPAL's rice note quite prominently as well, which I find hard to describe other than...it smells like rice! Like steamed Basmati rice, which is a smell I've always loved. (I find BPAL's rice note to be extremely realistic.) The honey is there too, a little sweet but not too sweet. It really just smells wonderful, definitely gourmand-leaning but not a pure gourmand. It's oddly very nostalgic for me, although I couldn't tell you why. The amber is a very light amber, barely detectable if I didn't recognize it from other BPALs, but I think it's anchoring this scent and keeping it from crossing into pure gourmand territory. It's light and subtle under the cardamom and rice, and very pretty. It's verrrry lightly resinous in an almost-but-not-quite fruity way. It's a very delicate amber, feels almost...floaty? I am having a hard time describing things today! Around 2 hours in, Lines Written by a Bear of Very Little Brain gets a bit sweeter (still not too sweet for me!), the cardamom recedes a bit, and I get more of the milky musk, which is truly a milk-scented musk instead of pure milk, and it's very gentle. This blend felt very warm and cozy; there is something about it that feels very charming, like if it were a person, I would be delighted to be in their company. Average-to-short longevity for BPAL, the top notes were decidedly my favorite part but I enjoyed this very much the whole time. I don't think it's quite interesting enough to me to want a full bottle, but I'm really happy to have my decant, and it makes me excited to look for other cardamom-forward blends. Not sure if I ever got anything I could identify as "snowy slush", but I'm still not very familiar with BPAL's snow accord (yet!).
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Wow, I'm not sure I can even try this one on. First sniff of it in the imp is...stinky. Like, you know the smell of Bradford pear blossoms? Sort of rotting meat/fecal matter? I'm getting something like that. It's going to take me a while to get past that.
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Got a frimp of this today. A lot of the rosy blends from BPAL don't work terribly well for me, but I like this one very much in the bottle. It starts off smelling very much like a bottle of the culinary rose water I use in baking sometimes, which to me is fresh and clean and perfect for late spring. It starts turning into a slightly dustier, dried-rose scent as time goes on, but still more purely rosy than anything else. It's actually very nice. I can see adding a drop of this to unscented lotion.
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**Warning: Anne of Green Gables spoiler** "Wan" is the perfect descriptor here. Barely perceptible, orris forward scent in the imp that makes a half-hearted attempt to perk up on skin but then collapses into a velvet chaise while weakly fanning itself. I'm reminded of Ruby Gillis in the Anne of Green Gables series; this is the perfume of her dried funeral flowers after she tragically dies of consumption. Delicate, subdued, and a little bit haunting, with very low projection and only about 4 hours of wear.
