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Ebisu is much more green to my nose and on my skin than I had expected. The nectarine is none of the fully ripe dripping juicy sweet orange nectarines that come from Italy around August to September. Maybe it is a white nectarine, or it's just not ripe.

 

The fruitiness in Ebisu reminds me of Tweedledum which I think has a similar fruity green feeling.

 

The oakmoss, which usually is a big promoter of throw on me, seems to be held back by what I guess is the skin musk. I can't really make out the skin musk, but the whole scent sticks really close to the spot where I put the oil.

 

I, too, have the impression that the ingredients are fighting against and surpressing each other. The nectarine doesn't fully develop before it's toned down immensely by the skin musk, the oakmoss is held back, too. And the skin musk itself looses some of the roundness I love about it by the tart and the mossy of the other two.

 

I keep sniffing the spot where I put it, and sometimes I get a light whiff of something deliciously fruity, but I really have to search for it and it's embedded in a rather weird mishmash of competing notes.

 

So, I think Ebisu doesn't really work for me. I'm a bit sad as it sounded so interesting. I love to eat nectarines, and I usually love skin musk and like oakmoss depending on the dosage.

When I had first tested Aziraphale, it didn't really make much of an impression to me. I recorded it as a pleasant, woodsy blend, not unlike one of the better (not overley cologne-y) masculine commercial scents out there. Dry, woodsy with a sweet musky base. I liked it but hadn't considered even the idea of getting a bottle.

 

That said, any time I have a job interview, I reach for it. First of all, it complements Gainful Employment which on it's own is just not smelling "nice" enough. Second, it's a gender-neutral, leaning to masculine, blend that is not too strong, neither too weak, and I suppose hasn't much potential to annoy people with different tastes than mine. It makes me feel at ease and helps me to behave naturally in the interview situation.

 

The longer Aziraphale is on my skin, the sweeter the musk base gets. The woods are never lost and it really is such a great, snuggly, warm scent that still works as a work blend. I think it's a signature one for leaving the impression of being competent in a relaxed way.

I had very high hopes for this, maybe that's why I was slightly disappointed when I had just applied it.

 

I get the apple blossom first. It's very loud in a weird soapy, almost papery/dusty way. I also smell honey, a note that I don't usually wear well, but it's not heavily unpleasant as for example the honey in Queen or Skuld. It kinda reminds me of Bilquis, the way the apple and honey mix, but only slightly so. I can see how this peach is a white peach. It lacks juiciness somehow. The whole scent comes across very dusty/papery, and I had the same issue with Les Bijoux, so my guess is that this is a property of white peach on my skin.

 

I can't smell the fig in the beginning, and later I can only assume that it is adding to the scent this develops into.

 

As this dries, the single notes meld together and at one point remind of the scent of plastic toys in the 80es. I never had a My Little Pony myself, but is it possible that they smelled like this? I'm probably mixing things up, maybe it's a scented shoe lace or rubber that CCTV reminds me of.

 

It smells sweet in an artificial way, and a bit kitschy/tacky now, but it's not entirely unpleasant. I'm not sure, I'd like to wear it on my skin during daytime in public, but I might try to use it in my hair, or to scent things with it.

 

I somehow don't like it but I can't stop sniffing the spot where I put it on.

 

I might change my opinion about this one later on.

I've never reviewed Arcana, but it's one of my very favourite blends of all time.

 

It's frankincense-verbena-rosemary heaven! Despite being so herbal and not having any headier notes, it's got excellent (read: strong) throw and wearlength, you don't need to slather this one at all. It's totally gender-neutral not tending towards neither the feminine nor the masculine, IMO. It's perfect for ANY occasion: job interview, evening out, wearing to bed, writing an essay, painting a picture, looking at a new flat, doing nothing at home, having a walk in the park,...

 

I coud go on listing the multitude of goodness that is Arcana forever.

 

It does indeed transmit a feeling of power and ancient magic, and I love it.

 

ETA: This review is a bit old. In the meantime, Arcana seems to have become too sharp for me. Somehow the verbena hits me stronger and somehow I have started to dislike its lemoniness. I haven't worn it in a while, though. Maybe I should test it again.

I haven't smelled the Smiling Spider, but Wild Men of Jezirat Al Tennyn (Carnaval Diabolique) and Mad Meg (Salon) are both very clovey, too. I prefer Mad Meg as it's more earthy and unisex where Wild Men has a slight masculine edge from the ambergris. To me, ambergris, black musk and leather notes are related, so both Smiling Spider and Wild Men could add the hint of leather jacket you initially mentioned.

 

Thanks for the suggestions!

 

Hrm... I really like The Wild Men of Jezirat al Tennyn, but it didn't smell anything like a clove cigarette to me. It was mostly a gentle musk... the clove was subdued, and there was no tobacco. I haven't tried Mad Meg, but the prospect of vetiver combined with cinnamon makes my stomach lurch. Is either of those notes very pronounced? And is there a tobacco note? I don't see one listed, but I know that doesn't mean it isn't there.

 

Unfortunately, black musk turns into baby powder on my skin and as a result, it smells nothing like leather or ambergris to me. I'm hoping the black musk in The Smiling Spider will behave itself; it ruined Iago and Haunted for me. Fingers crossed!

 

Oh, sorry about not having read about you disliking cinnamon. And yes, I think the vetiver in Mad Meg is quite pronounced. Couldn't tell about the cinnamon, it's a note that I don't detect well when it's mixed with other spices. Clove is my favourite spice scent. It also amps on me apparently because Wild Men is very clovey (which I love about it). However, ambergris translates as leathery men's cologne to my nose, and since I found Mad Meg, which is earthy clove heaven on me, it has taken Wild Men's place.

 

I wish you good luck with Smiling Spider! I'm hoping to test that one, as well.

I really enjoyed test-wearing Hi'iaka today. Who would've thought? I usually don't like to wear heady tropical florals, but this is amazingly soft and sweet in a fruity way. Also, the ginger gives it a nice smoky fresh touch. And I can't wear ginger in a lot of other blends neither!

 

So much for my incredibly helpful reviews, lol.

 

Whatever, Hi'iaka is lovely. I might even consider getting a bottle in the near future, as it feels just like the perfect summer perfume. Fresh, fruity-sweet and lushly floral. It keeps that delicious roundness that often gets lost with heady florals because they turn to soap or become unbarably sharp.

 

Great wear length and good throw, too.

 

I haven't smelled the Smiling Spider, but Wild Men of Jezirat Al Tennyn (Carnaval Diabolique) and Mad Meg (Salon) are both very clovey, too. I prefer Mad Meg as it's more earthy and unisex where Wild Men has a slight masculine edge from the ambergris. To me, ambergris, black musk and leather notes are related, so both Smiling Spider and Wild Men could add the hint of leather jacket you initially mentioned.

This'll be another review with far-fetched comparisons (It seems like I'm writing a lot of these lately.).

 

Longing to my nose and on my skin when fresh is a family member to Black Lace, that kind of smooth, elegant unisex incense blend with a Victorian vibe. It's spicy and warm yet keeps a refined aura that accounts for the notion of elegance. However, when it has settled for an hour, it goes a bit powdery and for whatever reason reminds me of White Phoenix.

 

Of course it doesn't really smell like White Phoenix but the combination of notes comes across as some note in WP to my nose.

 

When I sniff closely I can smell cinnamon and bay rum, rosewood and what must be the musk.

 

The rose geranium is either not very strong on my skin or I don't know what it smells like, as I can't detect any obvious floral in Longing. The whole scent has a slight rose-ish tint (colour-association-wise). Like a beige-brown-rosé with vanilla-coloured highlights.

 

I like this very much and am considering a bottle purchase.

 

ETA: Doing a side-by-side comparison with Black Lace and - of course - they don't smell similar at all, albeit both represent a similar type of scent (see above) for me, when not sniffed next to each other. Just thought I'd add that to prevent others from rushing to buy their bottle of Longing and then being cross with me when they don't see any resemblance.

 

Where BL is the Snake Oil of smooth, elegant unisex incense blends with a Victorian vibe, Longing is the herbal-spicy-woody-and-rosé one of the same class to my nose.

 

I do get more of the mintiness that's supposed to be the geranium now.

Huh? Am I in the right review thread? :

 

I tested this on my right arm while having Love's Philosophy on the other, and it wasn't sweet and warm at all on me/to my nose. I rather got a really pungent men's cologne-tobacco-y thing from Anactoria. It was way to sharp and biting for my tastes. No honey, no amber, no dragon's blood. Ashy and sharp, like yesterday's half smoked cigar. Definitely not a scent I'd wear. (Thank goodness with regard to my wallet! )

I, too, see a close resemblance to Snake Charmer when Sapphics is on my skin.

 

I don't know how to account for it since I don't see any shared notes, except maybe if SC's vanilla actually is a tonka-vanilla mix.

 

Sapphics is a bit softer and a lot less musky than SC. It almost seems to vanish because the scent is so skin-like and soft, but when I get moving, turn around a corner or open a door, I get the loveliest warm and slightly sweet whiffs of it.

 

Mostly I get the tonka with a bit of brownish-green oakmoss and a dribble of myrrh. I'm happy that I cannot make out the grey amber and muguet, since one smells like men's cologne to me and the other one turns incredibly soapy on my skin.

 

If I sniff closely there's a very faint hint of soapiness but as I said: very faint, and way in the background.

 

Basically, it really comes down to a daytime version of Snake Charmer. Obviously, I never would have suspected that from reading the notes.

 

I'll definitely get a bottle. If I was rich, I'd probably get at least three.

Sniffing the decant I get mostly sweet heather, which I had been hoping for.

 

Once on my skin, it turns a lot greener with the ivy and possibly the clover. I yet have to learn how to identify clover. It stays a crisp green scent. It might be that ivy is amping on my skin because it reminds me a bit of The Twisted Oak-Tree, albeit sweeter, softer and more rounded. The moss and carnation are lying underneath and feel almost like a white musk in here.

 

It's a lovely scent, but I'm not a big fan of green scents. I'll test wear it a couple of times more, though. It does have something intriguing about it and might be great to wear in summer.

 

It seems to be a perfect present for either my best friend or my mother. Both don't enjoy perfume much, but if they'd wear something it would be something like this.

Avowash soap reminds me of TAL's Middle Pillar.

Mad Meg is a very dry-dark-woodsy-earthy-spicy one and not sweet as far as my experience goes.

I'll report back in this thread if I should find it!

BROWN OAKMOSS: A deep, earthy, burnt campfire-like note with a powdery sweetness in the dry down. (Masculine)

 

I might go and order some of that dsh oil now.

 

Background: I keep smelling that gorgeous burnt woods covered with oakmoss scent when I go for a walk with my friends' kids in her area. It's driving me nuts to always be sniffing the air up there and trying to locate the source of the scent.

 

I can't imagine it being anything else than a fire from dried woods covered with oakmoss. I this smell so much, and I recognize the oakmoss from my bpal 'education', but I wouldn't know one blend that captures that same scent that fills the air during those walks.

 

I had bottles of Greed and Danse Macabre which would come closest to that smell among all the BPAL blends I've tested, but both had components that I started to dislike after a while.

 

A perfume capturing that scent would probably have that brown oakmoss from the dsh description plus a bit of woodsmoke and nothing else, especially nothing aquatic.

 

I'm pretty sure there's nothing at this time in the GC, but maybe I've missed something.

Lately, I thought that Lucifer smelled a bit like Karma, Mad Meg a little like Middle Earth and Three Gorgons a very little bit like The Olive Branch.

Wow, this will need a couple of more test wearings...

 

First off: Lavender has turned out to be one of my favourite notes of all time. It has been a love affair, that evolved very slowly but seems to be built on a firm basement, and will probably last forever now that I know it's love.

 

Black musk, however, has always been a problem note on my skin. Most of the time it just smells really unpleasant. Kind of stale and a bit like cheap spicy drugstore men's cologne.

 

That said, I had better experiences with black musk in Salon blends, so this might go either way, I guess.

 

Sniffing from the bottle this is lavender with something murky underneath.

 

On my skin it's still predominantly a lavender, and a gorgeous lavender.

 

Then there's the tobacco, which to me always feels a bit sparkly, don't know why. It's the same lovely texture I like so much in Parliament of Monsters.

 

The black musk really behaves in Love and Pain. There's that underlying grounding murkiness, but it never overpowers.

 

Something suddenly smells of citrus, and I'm wondering if I am now experiencing the black musk-citrus skin chemistry changes that I've seen other forumites describe.

 

I don't know what copaifera smells like, and I didn't notice the vanilla neither. However, I didn't have them in mind when testing this. I only remembered lavender, tobacco and black musk from the note listing.

 

I'm not quite sure this'll be a bottle. The Salon's are so expensive. But I need more different lavender blends, and this one has potential of turning into an everyday favourite.

Mad Meg on me is dry, earthy and fiery, too.

 

It's quite lovely actually. I like the vetiver in it. It seems not to be the motor-oily variant but a subtler more grassy one, and it combines beautifully with the cinnamon bark and the scorched earth note.

 

When I put it on I was reminded of Lush's Middle Earth Turns Into Rock/Waylander Rhassoul soap. That kind of dry, earthy, yet soft scent. METIR had always been a favourite of mine, so I immediately 'ed Mad Meg.

 

It is a bit similar to Priala, too, but rather earthy where Priala is more incensey.

 

I would love a bottle come autumn!

I had a Black Lace moment when testing Desire from a sniffie imp that I received with a swap package. Desire doesn't have the incense, but something about the teak, vanilla and musk in it combined for a similar feel as what I got from Black Lace. I don't know how aged the sniffie was, but I guess since there wasn't much left that it was a bit older. I didn't smell any rose or neroli in it at all.

This was a gorgeous surprise by ways of a frimp from the lovely Ahania!

 

I had always been curious about Three Gorgons but was a bit wary about the Egyptian Amber due to previous encounters with scents that shared that note and didn't work for me at all (Pumpkin Queen, I'm looking at you! )

 

This one took me so much by surprise, when I opened the lid and sniffed and it smelled just like Kweku Anansi! Or a lot like it, although I never really smelled citrus in Anansi, and this is definitely citrussy. As I didn't have the note listings for neither one of the two scents, I thought I might have overlooked a citrus note in Anansi.

 

In the end, I think it's the vetiver/pepper combination. The vetiver in this and Anansi must be a different one from the vetiver used in Death Adder or Lenore or other scents. This is a grassy, almost sparkly vetiver. Light and effervescent, if the term makes sense at all for a grassy scent.

 

But yes, Three Gorgons is sparkly, maybe even more so because of the citrus notes. It glitters.

 

On the drydown, the amber becomes stronger and the citrus notes become a bit weaker. This makes the scent quite a bit rounder and a tad more feminine than Anansi. It's golden-orange with light green inlays and a few brown-greyish shades.

 

I love it and will get a bottle as soon as I can!

Received a sniffie of this with a swap and am happy about it as I always had been curious about Desire. However, I backed away from ordering an imp as my experience with black musk hasn't been all that pleasant so far.

 

Freshly applied this is black musk with something that I mistook for rice flower... I think I had it mixed up with The Temptation in my memory of notes listings. I guess it really is the vanilla.

 

Fortunately the black musk doesn't stay as strong as right after application. After a while, this becomes a lot softer. I don't really get anything fruity or floral. Much in the same way that I don't really smell the apple in Midway.

 

It's kind of a round, slightly smoky and woody musk scent, and actually reminds me a bit of the feel of Black Lace. I'd love to get another imp as the one I got had only the tiniest amount left, and I'd need a couple more testings before I'd be able to decide on the bottle-worthiness of Desire.

I first didn't like this, agreed on a swap, tested it again and now regret to be swapping it. But that's the BPAL life, as we know it, don't we.

 

White Phoenix really is quite perfumey on first sniff and first wearing. I had been hoping for some sweetness from the frangipani, something more luminous in a juicy-wet way. But this is all powdery sandalwood and crystal musk. However, something about the fragrance sticking to my clothes kept making me want to sniff them close. I think I felt analytically challenged by it, lol.

 

It definitely smells white. The night after the first testing, it was still on my clothes when I went to bed and on falling asleep I kept seeing 'white'. An incredibly pure and deep white. Kind of chalky-creamy, very dense, yet soft. Like humid chalk maybe.

 

It bears some similarity with White Light, but if anything is even whiter than that. White Light opposed to White Phoenix has a bit of yellow while this is so white it's almost blue, but never really gets there.

 

If I had kept it, it would have been a scent for occasions. Like when I wanted to feel pure and ethical, or to use during my so far fruitless attempts to meditate. This should really help to imagine a white wall.

 

I'm not too sad to be swapping it, though, as it really wasn't my type of scent perfume-wise, and I still have Meditation, White Light and Snow White to use on the occasions I'd have kept White Phoenix for.

 

Whatever, it is an incredible rendition of the concept and the color, so if you get a chance to try a decant, don't let it pass by.

I bought a bottle of Black Lace and didn't like it much at first, so I put it at the back of the smellies box and let it age. Now, as I take my settled-down bottle and sniff it, I deeply, deeply regret not getting a second bottle while I had the chance! I've been scouring the Sale forums and eBay but to be honest I don't have much hope; it's a much-loved scent by those who have it and I can understand them not wanting to give it to me

 

So, I'm looking for recommendations about GCs (or CD etc.) that are Black-Lace-esque. In BL I particularly like the "smokey, incensy vanila" about it; however the obvious one, Snake Oil, is all smoke and nothing else on me.

 

Any ideas, ladies?

 

It's not quite as incensey, but I was reminded of the Black Lace vanilla when test wearing Haloes. A lot more femine, obviously, but the vanilla felt a bit similar. Other than that I wouldn't know. I thought Ivanushka was along the same line of scent, its fur felt similar to Black Lace's cotton. But it's without vanilla or incense, and an LE... Hopefully somebody else will come up with better suggestions.

 

Maybe if you could find a soft unobtrusive vanilla-cotton and layer it with a soft incense and musk blend. Possibly layering a French vanilla with Dee, or Heavenly Love and Earthly Love or something similar.

Lucifer was a bit of a surprise hit for me. From the decant vial it smelled like a very sharp patchouli and as I didn't have the note listing at hand, I didn't remember well which fruit note it contained and was afraid of a fruity patchouli as in Imp which was horrible on me.

But this soon lost that sharpness and was nicely grounded by the vetiver, amber and woods. The fig only lends a tad of round sweetness to the otherwise almost dusty scent.

What I thought was most amazing when wearing Lucifer is that whenever I got a whiff of it, I thought, Hey, that's a nice warm and inviting, cozy scent. Then, when I sniffed it more close to get a better grasp of it, I'd notice how it wasn't warm and cozy at all, but rather burning hot, with a kind of emptiness within the heat, I can't really describe it. Definitely not cozy.

Other than that, I noticed a bit of a similarity with Lush's Karma on my skin at a certain point after drydown. Not a dupe, but a very similar feeling about the patchouli in both.

Both throw and wearlength were really good. I'm not sure, since I didn't watch the clock, but it seemed to be going strong for way more than 5 hours, maybe 8 or so.

I'm not sure if I like it enough to want a bottle. Also, I'm a bit uncomfortable wearing a Lucifer oil. It IS very nice, very intriguing. I can sense some seduction there, lol. I'll keep my decant and see how much I'll be wearing it.

ETA: Today I'm wearing Lucifer again after quite some time, and the whole day I've been wondering about a note I get from its throw and what it reminded me of. I just managed to analyze it as something I smell in Glowing V, it must share the same amber note. Also, there might be teak hidden in Lucifer's deep woods?

This is very lovely but awfully light. I can hardly smell it unless I stick my nose right to where I dabbed it on. No throw whatsoever, or if there is, this scent must be within my olfactory blind spot.

 

When sniffing close, I get the most beautiful natural incense scent, especially after it has dried down a bit. Freshly applied the ambergris is very strong and gives off that 'a guy's perfume'-vibe.

Later on, the ambergris is less prominent and I get more of the woods and resins. It's kind of soft, almost fluffy. Not dark at all.

 

I'd love it big time if it was a bit stronger on my skin. I need my scents to waft over every once in a while while I move to remind me that I smell awsome.