VioletChaos
-
Content Count
4,083 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Everything posted by VioletChaos
-
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
-
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!
-
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. ❄️
-
I passed on the original incarnation of this scent as I've never been a big floral person. However, after all the long years of BPALing, when I saw the note list for it this time around, I decided to take a chance- and I'm SO glad I did! This sexy, aromatic beast features a jammy rose with spice for days. I can see why folks that tried it years ago were so excited to get their hands on some more. I don't know that the perfume would have been a good fit for me, but as a hair gloss, I anticipate using this a bunch, and it will pair nicely with the many resins, woods and spice-heavy scents that exist in my collection. ❤️
-
This is mostly brown sugar and a spicy hint of rum for me. The bottle arrived several days ago, so I thought there was adequate time to rest it, but maybe not. I'd been hoping for a whole lot of banana, but it's only present when I unscrew the top and sniff it in the bottle. I don't mind the coziness of the rum and sugar, but I was really wanting that banana. Hopefully with some additional rest / aging, it'll come more to the fore for my thirsty locks!
-
In the bottle, a heady mix of gardenia and cacao- not the powder but something straight from the plant, pre-processing. Decadent, but not at all foodie. Wet on skin, a fresh, green note interjects itself, but it's not jarring, it's like smelling jasmine or honeysuckle on the vine, and then realizing the vine itself it adding to the aroma. Dry Down, the perfume fully blooms. And I mean BLOOMS - this scent has a high throw, so definitely apply sparingly until you know how it'll behave with your particular skin chemistry. The fragrance is hard to place- a rich and fleshy tropical bloom as others mentioned, but also defying exact description. It's some intersection of gardenia and honeysuckle and night blooming jasmine, greenery included, plus the specificity of flower nectar and yes, that chocolatey note- the way rich vanilla bean reads as almost chocolate- and it all comes together to give a vibe like being in an enclosed space- a greenhouse, perhaps, absolutely abundant in blooms, and being completely enveloped in the scent. It's ridiculously beautiful and beguiling, even for someone like me who is typically not such a fan of florals. In all: do NOT pass this Bellflower up, she is worth the hype. ❤️❤️❤️
-
Given my handle, it will come as a shock to no one that violet scents are my jam. I'm quite picky about florals overall, but Violet, my dear Violet, she will always have a place in my collection, and this scent is no exception. Unlike many of the other Gorey scents, this one is a bit stronger. In the bottle, it's deceptively mild, a bit of Lace here, a bit of Aldehyde there, the violet a powdery whisper. Once on the skin, though, the real show begins, as the violet starts to show up as soon as she's warmed, and that continues all the way through dry down. This scent, because of the floral and aldehyde mix, might come across as more "perfume-y" than some other scents in the catalogue, even for a floral-forward scent. That said, it still does so with a special flare that only the Lab can pull off, and the poetic prose of the previous poster is apt for the vibes this scent provides, the notes painting a scene that is out of time but also of a very specific one- somewhere between the Victoriana feel of, say, Lady Lilith and the winking macabre of Arsenic and Old Lace. I am delighted to add this to my violet collection. The only question remaining is how many backups to obtain! 💜
-
In the bottle, I get a sweet, confectionary cinnamon and a creamy almond (I assume it's 'creamy' because of the vanilla bean paste). As with the other Gorey fragrances, even in the bottle this scent is low-key and more "quiet" than many other fragrances at this stage of the sniffing process. Once applied, the cinnamon blooms some, becoming a bit stronger, and the vanilla becomes less creamy and more like the paste I would expect. The almond shifts as a result , becomes more of a supporting player, but also, now there's something that reads like the almond is roasted? There's nothing in the notes that would indicate it, though if I had to take a guess I'd say maybe it's the influence of the allspice and casting sugar. 🤷♀️ The scent doesn't shift much between warming and full drydown, but this is also something I've noticed seems to happen with the Gorey scents typically. In all, a nice little cinnamon-forward scent. Much lighter than typical cinnamon scents, so if you've been looking for something that isn't overly spiced, this might be a good one for you. I'll definitely wear it around the holidays, and I can see utilizing it as a layering fragrance if I want to add some spice to another scent without overpowering it.
-
I love me some blackberry scents and this is no exception. In the bottle and when first applied the blackberry is very tangy and combines well with the thick creamy cream cheese. There is a bit of morphing as it settles then finishes drying down in the skin, and I agree with the poster that mentioned Four and Twenty Blackbirds as a cousin to this Sufganiyot. Where that one had a thick brown pastry crust, this has the trademark Sufganiyot fried dough experience I love. For me, there's room for both in my collection. Some of the tang returns after drydown has come to pass and the end result is a tasty blackberry jelly donut situation that I am pleased to have in my collection.
-
In the bottle, this is indeed a milky caramel. Caramel notes sometimes go flat on me, if they're too much about the sugar and not enough something to balance that. If this one holds, it'll become an instant favorite. 🤞 As it warms up, the milk is indeed still present, but shifts toward being a warm-milk-with-sugar situation instead of an integrated caramel as it was in the bottle. It's still good, but not this "oh man I'm going to gnaw my own arm" kind of good. In full drydown that whisper of coconut reveals itself to be similar to the Coconut Tree single note- not suntan lotion and not foodie but more of a dried coconut husk. It's not gourmand, but frankly, I think it's more interesting, providing more gravitas for the other notes. To my astonishment, the fried-dough note that puts the "Suf" in nearly all Sufganiyot blends, is entirely absent here! I don't know if the other notes, being so rich, are somehow shrouding the dough or if it's just not so present in this blend, regardless, it's not really accounted for. In all, a low throw daytime scent that is right at home in any nice gourmand collection and an interesting addition to the Sufganiyot universe.
-
In the bottle, I get the sweet fried dough aspect that is a hallmark of all the Sufganiyots, and with that a very candy-ish strawberry. This is not the tart, fresh strawberry of the original Strawberry Suf, nor the fluffy strawberry of the Buttercream variant. This is strawberry licorice whips or Twizzlers. I don't dislike it- in fact I'm impressed, as usual, with Beth's artistry. Who else can create so many variations on a theme and have each one be really distinct?!? She never ceases to amaze me. Once it's warmed and come to its drydown, some (but not all) of the licorice aspect dissipates, replaced with a strawberry lipgloss, reminding me intensely of the sort my friends and I wore in 7th grade, obsessively licking it off so that we could reapply some more. The dough is still present, and while they could seem to be strange bedfellows given my account, they work very nicely together. In all, a low throw daytime scent that is a fine addition to the Sufganiyot family. ❤️
-
This scent is such a treat! If Faith and Hope had a visiting cousin whose older sister was TKO...Donkey's Tail would be that scent. Its delicate sugared French lavender after full dry down has been reached, and yet somehow more complicated than that. I agree with the prior review that there's something akin to a touch of peony in the mix and yes, that decidedly *pink* silk as well. It's really a lovely, delicate thing. I of course layered it with its cohort, and I'll copy below what I had to say about it in my other review: LAYERED WITH GLOOMILY, GLOOMILY: The French lavender and vanilla when added to Gloomily, create some additional punch for sure, transforming that scent from something extremely ethereal into a more grounded iteration of itself. The combo also brings out something that, to my nose, smells like a hint of fresh garden rose? 🤷♀️ which is baffling as that's not in the notes. I suspect some magic combination of the rain and thistles remind me of a very fresh cut bloom. Regardless, I'm not mad about it. ❤️ 🌧️
-
Moss, musk, tea, iris. This is what I get sniffing in the bottle. But it's more than that - and, bizarrely, also less. This is, indeed, a "grey" scent, a thing I've not personally encountered before. And as with all the different depths and hues of that complex color, so too is there a complicated, shifting, ephemeral nature to this scent. As it warms up and blooms on my skin, other aspects come to the fore- the thistle adding a delicacy to the blend, the lavender ash adding a strange gravity. "Strange" because this is NOT a heavy scent. So it's heavy not in the traditional sense but the way a thick mist might settle in on an already dim afternoon. The drydown settles things in but the theme of grey-delicate remains eternal. On me, there's something vaguely soapy after drydown. Not like sniffing a bar of lavender soap, but more like having washed with said soap and then cuddled up on the couch to read a sleepy little book. LAYERED WITH DONKEY'S TAIL: The French lavender and vanilla add some additional punch for sure, transforming this scent from something extremely ethereal into a more grounded iteration of itself. The combo also brings out something that, to my nose, smells like a hint of fresh garden rose? 🤷♀️ which is baffling as that's not in the notes. I suspect some magic combination of the rain and thistles remind me of a very fresh cut bloom. Regardless, I'm not mad about it. ❤️ 🌧️
-
For many years my White Whale of the BPAL world was the 2005 Yule scent Mitzvah. The notes sounded like a dream. Alas, it didn't work out with my skin chemistry, but the ache for something that would fill that hole in my heart remained. I think I have at last found it in Edward Bear. In the bottle, I get nothing but milk, butter and delicious vanilla. The butter note reminds me strongly of another longtime favorite, Shill (am I the only one that hoards that buttery popcorn scent?!?!) but without the salt in the butter. Wet on skin and beginning to warm, that sweet-cream butter remains a front runner with the "warm" part of the "warmed milk" note really beginning to shine. The vanilla is a long, dark bean, cooked gently in a bot with the other two: quite present and adding depth, but in no way at the lead. After drydown, the scent stays mostly true from the bottle, with tiny, tiny hints of the toast and amber adding additional complexity. I. Am. In. Love. This may require not just ONE backup, but several.
-
This is for the 2025 Release. I have a very long history with Diwali. It was part of my very first Yule order in late 2007, and I went back and read my old take on the scent from then, creeping up on almost 20 years ago! Some of my tastes have changed and my skin chemistry has as well- at a certain point, after loving Diwali for years, I gave the last of my 2007 bottles away. But I felt a pull and decided to get a fresh bottle now to see how it compares. In the bottle, it's immediately not as I remember- this is more complex but also more gourmand than my old review would have me believe. The lotus and mogra are lending a floral aspect that I definitely didn't pick up on all those years ago. As it warms and melds with my skin, those gorgeous layers of spice emerge and mix with the almond milk and rice flour to create something truly special. This isn't an incense blend OR a floral OR a gourmand scent: it's all of the above, and I am allllll over it. Medium throw with a complexity that has me huffing my wrist repeatedly, I welcome Diwali back into my life with open arms. I am SO glad I have
-
In the bottle, I get all melty lavender ice cream all the time. I was expecting it to be similar to TKO but that's not the case for me, even at this early stage. TKO is straight up sugared lavender to me, in the same camp as the sugared violet and sugared rose of Faith and Hope respectively. This Sundae, at least for now, is not sugary, it's cream in its sweetness. Soft and fluffy. Once applied and started to warm up on the skin, I am immediately reminded of an old Lilith blend I loved, Daybreak, which was also heavy on the lavender-vanilla coupling, and I like it here, too. Upon full drydown, the kissing-cousins vibe of this scent to Daybreak continues, only instead of the third guest at the party being a cupcake coconut, here it's the lightly baked-sugar-cookie vibes of the waffle cone. In all, a lovely low-medium throw lavender-vanilla confection, nice for a calm and gentle daytime scent, but also a new one to have in the rotation of bedtime perfumes. 💜
-
I love the Lavender Kitchen as an ongoing series, and I *adore* the Lab's bread notes, so this was an insta-buy for me- the first thing to drop into my cart for my Yule order! In the bottle and during the warm-up period on the skin, it's all warm, fresh-baked bread, all the time. The throw is quite strong for what I've typically had from prior bread-heavy scents, so apply frugally until you know how it'll react with your personal chemistry. As it gets further into the warm up, those aromatic notes start to bloom, with hints of the flax and sesame coming into the m ix and bringing a nuttiness with them. The rosemary starts to peep out too, reading more generally for its evergreen qualities than as rosemary specifically. But if you're worried at all about that, don't be- it's just lending a little atmosphere to the proceedings. By Dry Down, the various notes have reconfigured themselves one final time, with the bread note still being the star of the show, but the various other components being a louder chorus than they were initially. In all, a fine addition to any bread note lover's collection, and a nice introduction to low-key foodie scents that might feel too overwhelmed to try something more sweets-forward. A lovely, cozy daytime scent. 🥖 🥖 🥖 ❤️❤️❤️
-
As a longtime fan of Bah!, I purchased this within seconds of its release and have periodically worn and treasured it ever since. I cannot believe, therefore, that I never reviewed it! As is true of a good portion of single notes, one of the nice aspects of this scent is that it stays pretty close to form from first bottle sniff, all the way through to dry down, and long passed that point. And for me, that means a flawless coffee candy scent. I agree with the prior poster that it's more brewed than bean, but I don't think that hurts it in the least. It's also lightly sweet, which I welcome, as it removes the sometimes-present edge of acridity (not acidity) that can occur with coffee notes in perfumery. It's a wonderful, comforting daytime scent on its own, but can definitely be used to enhance other fragrances that might be spruced up with a bit of layering. In all: while I wound up getting rid of the majority of my SN's over the years, this one will always be a keeper
-
I got this last year when it came out but for some reason forgot to review it! I'm happy to do so now as I've just broken this out again in anticipation of this year's Luper drop! I'll start by saying I've actually never tried the original Red Rider, as I'm not much of a leather fan owing to the fact that leather notes, except under extremely rare occasion, tend to amp so intensely with my chemistry that it blocks out whatever else might be happening with the scent in question. That said, I blind-bottled this because so many of the other notes were deeply compelling and I am especially find of the Lab's gorgeously tangy / creamy ruby chocolate note! I don't recall what this smelled like fresh, but in classic BPAL fashion, this scent has aged beautifully. I don't get leather at all, at any point- at least not directly. It's possible it's there in the background, but if so, it's doing some deep undercover work. I get a big-throated melange of the red musk, red mosses and balsam for the first solid hour or hour and a half. During that time it's consistent from first sniff all the way through dry down. As I get deeper into the second hour, the red berries come into the mix and the other notes start to mellow considerably. For the long haul, there's a medium-low throw where that tart-creamy ruby chocolate is like the Sun, and the other notes are the planets orbiting around, sometimes more in the mix, sometimes less. Knowing myself, I probably didn't think much of this scent when I first tested it, because I remembered precious little about that experience. But past VioletChaos knew enough to hang on to the bottle to retest later and today VioletChaos sure is pleased about the sagacity of that decision!
-
Each order placed on Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Filler Whatever Sunday, or Cyber Monday will receive two 1/32 oz. imps of INCOLUMITAS, one to keep and one to share. It’s been a very challenging year for so many, and this little imp is our gesture of bottled kindness. INCOLUMITAS is a scent of safety and security, of peace of mind and freedom from harm: warm honeyed patchouli, bourbon vanilla, sweet sage, and lavender. In The Imp: A good, pure lavender. This isn't a sugared or cologne-y lavender, this is more like clean essential oil lavender. Wet On Skin: The vanilla comes into play, sweetening the lavender quite a bit, and it goes from being that almost-medicinal to a little more of the sugary lavender encountered in True Love or Day Break- two lavender scents I adore, so I'm happy with the direction this is taking! Dry Down: The scent stays mostly true from wet to dry down, with the exception that I'm getting the *slightest* edge of sage in the mix now, giving this scent something that feels bittersweet, somehow, like cherishing joy in the midst of acknowledging the hard time all around us. Which seems perfectly apt for what this scent is all about ❤️
-
Jean Veber Pumpkin cream, honey, vanilla sugar, and smoked vanilla bean. In The Bottle: sweet, creamy vanilla and scratchy vanilla bean, with a breath of pumpkin. Yum! Wet On Skin: the pumpkin comes out a bit more and the honey with it, warming the scent up a bit. Dry Down: A beautiful, light pumpkin ice cream! In All: low throw, a sweet, gentle scent. Not too foodie. Perfect for daytime wear throughout the fall. Total keeper!
-
It funny I never reviewed this, as it's been a perennial favorite of mine since it came out. I'm a long-time fan of all the various bread-and-baked-good notes the Lab creates, and the warm, crusty baguette of this scent is definitely one of my favorite. The bread note is strong in the bottle and lasts for several hours as the dominant note before it steps aside and the cream takes center stage. On me, this aspect is reminiscent of some of the Lab's more milky iterations as opposed to a heavy cream. I am reminded especially of My Baby and a Baby Goat, Milk Moon and Obatala. Medium throw (more than typical given the notes, but still pretty low-key as one would expect), this is a nice daytime scent for maximum coziness during the coldest and darkest part of the year. It's definitely cozy enough that I'd consider wearing it even to bed 😊
-
Late at night, as you walk through a dark and creepy cemetery, all is quiet except for the giggling of two kids: one is eight and one is fifty-eight. They are standing in the middle of the tombstones; the bigger kid is spinning the little kid around by her arms. They spin and spin and then fall down laughing. What could be more fun than falling down on people’s graves? Dorian and lavender mist, crushed grass, cypress leaf, and a drop of clove. In The Bottle: I get a faint whiff of mint, and a subtle note of fresh cut grass. It's all very light, even in the bottle. Wet On Skin: The lavender in this "mist" form has something vaguely lemony about it. It reminds me overall more of Alice than Dorian. That said, they feel in a similar niche, a soft and lovely gender-neutral scent. Dry Down: THERE'S the Dorian! He's definitely there, though obviously mixed with other things. The clove is also out now, but softly, in the background. Considering the notes, this fragrance has a very low throw and is overall very soft, like a whisper of Dorian whilst drinking a bit of black lemony tea on a warm day in a field of grass. So much more than I anticipated, so glad I got a bottle!
-
I reviewed the 2016 version shortly after it came out but earlier this year I won a bottle of the 2007 version from the Lab in one of their eBay auctions, so I feel like there's reason enough to do a second, separate review. I'll start off by saying I am absolutely one of the BPAListas that favors well-aged Snake Oil over the fresh stuff. And I truly mean the older, the better: I've got several bottles that have been quietly aging for years while I verrrrry slowly make my way through my precious 2006 10mL bottle - at this point, closing in on 20 years? It's like liquid GOLD. So it should be unsurprising that I am quite enthusiastic about having snagged this 2007 bottle of Saw Scaled Viper, because of COURSE, the SO is a big part of the equation. As with the 2016 iteration, the dominate of the other notes is cassia here, too- and I'm just as pleased about it. I sometimes feel like cassia is an unsung hero of spice notes, sometimes overshadowed by the familiarity we all have with clove and cinnamon. But whereas those notes can often be so strong as to have a ring of acridity in them, cassia is all smooth, rounded edges, and it's really beautiful. If you've ever spent anytime in the deep South (of the US) and had the pleasure of smelling the pods of white magnolia trees in autumn, you'll be familiar with the scent, as the two are incredibly similar, even though they come from completely different plant species. There is cinnamon here, too- sure- and wisps of the ginger as well, in the deep, deep background. But the dance between that cassia and the Snake really are the main love story of this scent, no matter what year / formula you're talking about. I keep both the 2007 and 2016 versions side by side as I find they have qualities different enough that I prefer one over the other during any given mood. What they have in common though, is being favorites of the Snake Pit for me. ❤️
-
And truly I was afraid, I was most afraid, But even so, honoured still more That he should seek my hospitality From out the dark door of the secret earth. Snake Oil with sugar, honeycomb, and thick vanilla cream. This was the scent I was hands-down most excited about, so I have very high hopes indeed! In The Bottle: I get the clean, crisp, almost-lemony scent of the Lab's sugar note right out of the gate. This is the same sugar that was in Sugar Moon from...2008, I think? It still stands out, because I like the almost-citrus aspect of the note, which is a delightful surprise. There's also a touch of the honeycomb bringing up the rear. Not a heavy honey like "O", this is lighter- certainly more "comb" than not. Wet On Skin: THERE'S the vanilla cream! Hello there! The Snake Oil is emerging as well, making this scent a true delight. Dry Down: I am *smitten*. I had frankly been hoping for something similar to my beloved Kwamie Cotton, and here it is! If you missed out on Kwamie or adore its sweet comfort, this is for you. An, knowing how well SO ages, I am certain this is going to go from "smitten" to "passionate love affair"- it's merely a matter of time. Hoard-worthy!!!
