tinyvulture

A lovely spiced coffee blend, reminiscent of Cafe Mille et Une Nuits.  Very heavy on the cardamom, sweetened by the vanilla, and then as for the fir needle…it's mild, I wouldn’t guess it was there if I didn’t see the notes list. But since I’m aware of it, it does pop up occasionally, adding depth. Basically this will be a perfect backup when I run out of the OLLA blend.

Like lavender candy. Sweet and soothing. I immediately ordered a bottle! There’s the cool lavender, the sparkling fruitiness of the sugar plums, and the vanilla coziness of marshmallow. This will be such a happy, cheerful yet calming addition to my army of lavender sleep blends in the triumph against insomnia!

Cafe de olla for me. Coffee with cinnamon and sugar. Not getting much in the way of creaminess or pumpkin. The cinnamon is just very spicy and strong. I would maybe try to layer it with Jack if I wanted more PSL vibe. Really I think I’ll swap it because my skin is just amping the cinnamon.

Clean grassy hay gives it a cologne vibe but then the rice milk and sugar are soft and sweet. Masculine and feminine coming together, balanced. Sometimes the hay note makes me sneeze but it seems all right here. A warm and fuzzy blend, stays close to the skin, like being wrapped up in a blanket

Not what I was expecting, with my skin chemistry there’s a clean, shampoo note. I’m getting the sweet cream and honey, yeah, but it’s like combined with green and herbal notes. Gonna have to swap this one sadly.

I thought I got "Vanilla Cream and Almond" by mistake when I first applied it.  It has that cherry vibe. As doomsday_disco said, even when you can recognize it as pistachio rather than almond, it’s still a pistachio that’s heavily cherry-accented! Pistachio extract rather than the experience of eating actual pistachios, you got me? The vanilla cream is heavy and super-sweet, while the macadamias’ presence is only felt in a very slight buttery richness.  Let’s call this cherry-vanilla ice cream studded with pistachios, that’s how it feels to me. Which is nice.

Honey cakes with a dab of butter. Not overly buttery. And custard, sweet and rich. And the lab’s wool note is also there. It’s a good one. Real wool is itchy so I have no idea if it’s true-to-life. But it adds depth to this otherwise foodie blend. I’m not picking up fennel or smoke. But I do love a good baked goods scent. They’re comforting and cozy. I’m especially partial to ones with oats and rice, but I can dig this bread-y vibe right here!

This patchouli is IN YOUR FACE as soon as I open the decant. Just the way I like it! The green unripeness of the fig is also present. If there’s butternut, it’s heavily cinnamon-and-cardamom-spiced. Not plain raw gourd, but a more “pumpkin spice squash” if you will. The cinnamon blast is really on par with the patchouli. They are fighting for dominance, man. With the “green growing thing” of the fig just shyly popping up from time to time. I wouldn’t wear something regularly with this much cinnamon so off to swaps.

This is a nice floral/fruit blend. The pineapple, strawberry, and rose are the strongest notes and this trifecta is actually really complementary. The sourness of the pineapple and strawb brings out the sharper aspects of the rose, but their sweetness also enhances the rose’s sweet floral essence.  I’m not really getting carnation or peony at all.  I had no clue what this would smell like or if I’d like it, and I’m pleased that’s a successful combining of notes that I never would have thought of as going together!

My favorite of the 2022 Liliths that I sampled! “Spoopy Kid” comes close because it’s also a patchouli blend and my nostalgic little hippie heart loves those. But here the combination of patchouli and strawberry is just incredible! Sticky and sweet and syrupy and so fantastic. These two notes just compliment each other so well. Are there carnations and labdanum as well? Maybe! I don’t know! I’m obsessed with PATCHOULI + STRAWBERRY 4-EVA!!

Gauguin, one of my favorite creeps from Art History! This ticks all the boxes of what I’d want in a tropical Tahitian scent! The raw coconut, the tropical flowers - plumeria, gardenia, hi! I love you! The green, clean palm fronds. I’m not getting any ginger or orchids but you know what, that’s cool. It’s complex, it’s not JUST a bouquet of florals because the coconut (pure coconut, not sweet desiccated kind) and palm are definitely just as present as the flowers. And yet the coconut isn’t overpowering so you just think “tanning oil” and move on. What I’m saying is it’s really well balanced and truly evocative of walking through a tropical garden, lovely.

Spicy pink carnation blended with a general “baked goods” background. Like I can’t really discern that it’s sugar cookies. Nor am I getting any rose. It’s perfectly nice but I have hoarded an old Pink Moon that’s sugared carnation (07?) that’s lasted me forever and is my One True Carnation. So this one’s off to swaps.

Unique and alluring. I’m definitely getting apple pulp, its tartness being amplified by the tart cubeb berries, which you find in gin. But there’s no fizziness, it’s not gin, it’s just the berries. As for the other notes - patchouli, cacao, vanilla, benzoin, rose – big ol’ nope! The apples and cubeb are strong and really overriding anything else that might be there. I think I get a hint of rose that comes and goes. I don’t usually do anything boozy but this is only booze-adjacent and it’s really cool and different. I’m finding I keep coming back for more!

I’m definitely getting glazed donuts and maple bars, no chocolate donuts however. Super sweet and foodie and maple-y. It kind of has that “Yankee Candle” vibe. Like it’s more of a candle than as if I’m smelling the actual food if you know what I mean. I’m making that note because a lot of foodie BPAL’s DO smell so much like the real deal and most other reviewers seem to feel that way about Secret Donuts but it’s not going that way on my skin. So I would love it for a room scent or candle but not sure if I’ll wear it. 

STRONG vanilla cream like one of my all time faves Love’s Philosophy, is what I notice first. Then we have the addition of honey and marshmallow sugar to make it even more sweet and candy-like, plus fruity sweetness from the red currant and blackberry. The only note I’m not finding is clove. I’m not noticing any mint but I see the likeness to Tokyo Stomp because they’re both pure vanilla overload. If you enjoy foodie blends in general or creamy sweet berry blends in particular, this is for you. I could definitely do with a bottle!

Classic headshop patchouli from my teens, with a general sweetness (sugar cane?) and syrupy honeysuckle. I’m not picking out distinct cotton candy or vanilla ice cream notes but suffice to say it’s a nostalgic, sweet, fun patchouli blend that I’m gonna want more of.

That sharp/sweet BPAL dead leaves note hits me first. It IS like bell pepper cologne as Casablanca noted, that’s the perfect description! As for “vanilla butter” I’m not getting like, dairy butter. More like cocoa butter. So dead leaves mixed with a honey-vanilla cocoa butter-based lotion. The dead leaves are really tempered by the honeyed creaminess and it’s really nice after a couple minutes. The sweetness of the leaves is accented,  rather than their bitterness.

 Furry animal musk, like in Ivanushka or Bear Prince.. Like burying your face in an animal’s coat, warm and a little dusty/stuffy. Here the animal musk is sweetened by a soft honey note. I’d say just honey, as I’m not really getting mead from this. As for the other notes mentioned - oak leaves, ash, fennel – I can’t really say I’m picking them out. Snuggly and sweet, not like Odin, unless Odin is a puppy.

Ahh I love this I wish it wasn’t sold out. That’s what I get for being slow to test my decants. The bourbon vanilla is so lovely and it brings out the sweet woody richness of the patchouli, and then there’s lush cream over everything. Now, I haven’t tried Banshee Beat or Revenant Rhythm so I can’t compare, but this is a gorgeous patchouli vanilla and I also think it will age amazingly.

I tested this a couple days ago and it was so sour. Like Milk Moon used to go all sour on my skin. Mixing milk and fruits, I can’t do it. Well today I’m testing it again and it’s WAY better. Like juicy peach plus sweetened condensed milk. The milk definitely has a syrupy buttery consistency like that. This ain’t skim. Anyway I’ll put it in the maybe pile until I test it a third time. Crazy morphing scents!

A mix of incense and cola notes, sweet and syrupy and sexy like Snake Oil but spicier from the addition of jasmine. I LOVE deep syrupy sticky incense, and I’m amazed I haven’t tried Love Me in all these years until now. Need a bottle for sure! Makes me feel aware of my hotness lol.  After a few minutes it's more like cinnamony baked goods, but not in a "makes your skin break out" cinnamon way. A nice sweet way. I think they say that's one of men's favorite scents, right? Cinnamon rolls? Hmmmm.

Rich chocolate buttercream frosting, Sweet but not cloying. Not overly buttery. Maybe it’s made with half butter and half shortening, lol.  And plenty of cocoa powder for sure! 

This is NOT a foodie/fruity strawberry blend. It’s subtle strawberry with floral and marble notes. The marble is mineral, salty, aquatic as doomsay_disco described perfectly. It actually feels similar to Cathedral like the marble is covered in a dusting of church incense.  And then dribbled with strawberry juice, I guess. And there’s also a clean, green (shampoo-like) note, the strawberry leaves? A complex, one-of-a-kind perfume for sure! Nice.

Black Phoenix Academy for Wayward Ghouls - Strawberry and coconut. It’s funny I don’t think I’ve ever seen those two notes combined before. It’s nice, very summery, think lounging by the pool drinking Kool-Aid and slathering on the coconut sunblock!

Soil-adjacent vetiver, with medicinal mint and lavender accents, and faint traces of a rather harsh bourbon. Vetiver is very hit or miss on me and it’s just a bit too graveyard-y for me here.