galahad
-
Content Count
1,846 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Everything posted by galahad
-
In the bottle: Sour berries/fruit? On the skin: more of the same but sweeter. I get vinegar, cucumber and pine to start with, which is concerning. As this develops it quickly morphs to a sweet plum still with a pine/balsam cedar note in the back. I actually enjoy the drydown and hope this smooths out as it ages. It has a lot of promise.
-
In the bottle: very reminiscent of my beloved Black Lace On the skin: on the skin is where this veers away from Black Lace. The caramel is obvious but doesn't clobber you in the nose; it's present but subtly part of the whole. Leather is there in the drydown but its a refined leather rather than rugged. It's definitely a Lace but I'm on the fence on whether I love it or not.
-
In the bottle: Back in 2008 I ordered Pancake Breakfast, which I love and I still have half a bottle of as I don't reach for it often. This smells like that without the blueberry syrup in the bottle. It's coffee and syrupy pancakes. On the skin: OMG sooo good as soon as it hits the skin - coffee and pancakes and very, very sweet. I don't think the pancakes are as realistic as Pancake Breakfast and there is something in this that shifts it from purely gourmand to more perfumey. The doughnutty cruller note creeps in giving it more of a 2am Diner Coffee vibe the the actual 2am Diner Coffee. Fascinating.
-
In the bottle: totally unexpected. I get strong lime? It's astringently dark green On the skin: I'm seriously confused. I think I can make out a little Snake Oil. As this wears it becomes so much more agreeable and interesting. The astringent note possibly the metal.of the shovel and the mud. Like most of this delivery, I have beena bit stumped for words but everything has been joyously beautiful. This one even more so. It's odd, well blended and really entrancing. I love the drydown. I still don't really get Dorian or Snake Oil. Glad I got a bottle. I am almost certain I will be frustrated that I didn't get a backup. ETA: I am almost certain this is actually Lime Green Hearse.
-
In the bottle: mostly vanilla with a coconut undercurrent On the skin: the coconut note is very prevalent on the skin and, as has been mentioned above, it's not especially gourmand. To my nose the coconut has two aspects, one is a perfumey coconut interpretation and the other is light coconut milk, or even coconut water. Always the vanilla sweetness is there and it is super sweet. I thought I'd like this more but I'm sure it will grow on me.
-
In the bottle: Hello jasmine. I understand the yellow as this jasmine is not white but definitely stained. On the skin: absolutely gorgeous and genius. While it's jasmine heavy, again, it isn't white and I don't know how to truly describe it other than the description - it is heavily stained with yellow. As it dries down the lace aspect provides a buffer against the intense floral, making it warm, dry and parchment-like. Haunting but not gauzy
-
I've been meaning to grab one of these for years and now I have. In the bottle: resins with a slight sharpness. Nothing really jumps out and the resins are unburnt. In the skin: this blooms on the skin but not quickly and not assertively and it becomes sweeter. Again, this isn't burning incense but an accumulation of resins over time and gently releasing their scent in the air. Glorious, warm, radiant and unassuming. Love it. This would pair spectacularly with a beeswax scent (The Writing on the Slate?).
-
Lick It always makes its way into my cart and is always culled out to bring my cart total down but this time I decided to stick with it and I am glad I did. It's pretty simple but effective. I like it and will consider future variants more seriously.
-
I have been a BPAL junkie since 2008 and, while I have plenty of tweenies in my stash, I have never tried any of the duets or any of the dead leaves duets. In the bottle: another unexpected but delightful surprise. A fine musky perfume. On the skin: I definitely get dead leaves right off the bat, a fuzziness and that perfume, lingering on the wool. This settles into a cohesive scent quickly, to leave a gorgeous scent that actually feels like body heat warming a woolen sweater imbued with perfume. Out of this world beautiful. It gives me goosebumps.
-
The Dregs of a Bottle of Vanilla Extract (Discovered in the Mud)
galahad replied to doomsday_disco's topic in The Edward Gorey House
In the bottle: this is not what I was expecting. Less dirt and more pine with a vanilla undercurrent. While unexpected it is lovely and delicate. On the skin: elusive and ghostly. Definitely more mud and balsam or pine, giving it a coolness. The vanilla emerges pretty quickly. It's almost a minty chocolate vibe. Strange and utterly gorgeous. I just hope a full wear and some times gives it some oomph. -
In the bottle: yep, that's red apple and beeswax alright. There is a simmering humidity to it. On the skin: waxy, sweet and tart apple with bitter skin. The beeswax is a supporting player in the early stages, not overly evident. There is a bit of spice drifting around in there. On the drydown: the beeswax has more influence making the crisp sweet/tart of the apple more rounded, deeper and "meatier". This is a cooler weather apple scent and I am all for it. I almost culled this from my cart but so glad I didn't.
-
In the bottle: toast, butter and a subtly sweet perfumeyness. On the skin: such a realistic toast note. It's definitely toast and not just bread with fatty butter smoothing it out. I don't really get honey but a general sweet underlying note. So far this doesn't really develop any further. It stays a lovely, warm cuddly savoury gourmand with a subtle sweet thread. Really beautiful but understated.
-
You come to a building that seems to have been hastily erected from splintered wood, stone, and plaster. Flickering light from within sparkles out through blood-tinged chunks of glass that have been wedged into the arch entrance. You push open the thick velvet curtain that covers the mouth of the building and look inside. The chapel is small and cramped, and the air is thick with heavy incense, bitter wine, sulphur, and the coppery scent of blood. A massive stained glass window is set against the back wall, glowing brightly. In the center of the room, a groveling figure is crouched before a woman draped in purple-black clerical robes. The woman's eyes are filled with righteous hellfire, and she extends a hand in benediction to the man who has fallen prostrate at her feet. He murmurs, "Libera Te Ex Caelum", and she gestures for him to rise. As he gets to his knees he winces in pain and moans in a strange expression of ecstasy, and you see small horns growing from his skull. Black incense, bitter wine, brimstone, bile, and blood. In the Vial: Intense sticky sweet wine, incense and the Lab blood note. Gives me chills just smelling it from the vial On the Skin: Insanely intense wine and acrid incense with vetiver. Luciously rich and evocative. Thankfully the wine is not grapey. The sweetness tones down over time (and it is initially very thickly sweet) On the Drydown: I stayed away from this during the last iteration of Carnival Diabolique and I am so sad that I did. This is gorgeous, multilayered and wearable. A new love for me
-
It freezes - all across a soundless sky The birds go home. The governing dark's begun: The steadfast dark that waits not for a sun; The ultimate dark wherein the race shall die. Death, with his evil finger to his lip, Leers in at human windows, turning spy To learn the country where his rule shall lie When he assumes perpetual generalship. The undefeated enemy, the chill That shall benumb the voiceful earth at last, Is master of our moment, and has bound The viewless wind it-self. There is no sound. It freezes. Every friendly stream is fast. It freezes; and the graven twigs are still. - Hilaire Belloc The steadfast dark that waits not for a sun: opoponax and myrrh, gum Arabic and frankincense, blackened juniper and bitter agarwood. In the Bottle: Juniper, resins and a tinge of agarwood On the Skin: The juniper is forward but pleasant. Eventally the frank and opoponax come forward to merge with the juniper and tame it somewhat On the Drydown: The agarwood adds a rich resinous woodiness. This dries down to a golden resin with a juniper overlay. If juniper isn't your jam you might want to reconsider purchasing this one but I quite like it and some age would benefit
-
A tribute to Lajos Pap, a spiritualist medium whose specialty was apporting snakes, lizards, rats, and frogs – live and dead – during séance. A pattering of night-creatures: indigo musk and patchouli croaking with oakmoss and a skittering of gleaming black olibanum. In the Bottle: Inky and dry in the bottle. Very intriguing. The oakmoss is apparent On the Skin: That indigo musk is stunning - slinky and velvety dark. Quite resinous, initially but the musk adds a gorgeous elegance. I like the use of the word "skittering" in the description because this is slick, dark and dry reminiscent of an insect carapace. On the Drydown: I almost get a dark purple (indigo?) floral from this. It is truly magnificent and dark as night.
-
"So. I got to say it, because nobody else here will. We are at the center of this place: a land that has no time for gods, and here at the center it has less time for us than anywhere. It is a no-man's-land, a place of truce, and we observe our truces, here. We have no choice. So. You give us the body of our friend. We accept it. You will pay for this, murder for murder, blood for blood." Black oudh, patchouli, opoponax, black pepper, and blackened cacao. In the Bottle: Rich, dark oudh with a pepper kick On the Skin: Intense oudh and rich resins with an almost fruity sweetness. This does have a bloody quality without going into red musk territory. The black pepper gives a spicy kick. On the Drydown: A somewhat linear drydown, just getting drier as it settles into the skin. I could almost swear that there was jasmine in this. This is a decadent and powerful scent which will be spectacular with some aging.
-
My most remarkable experience has been with Dr. H. Slade of New York, for whom I have formed a high regard. I first met him at his residence last November, when, without announcing my name, in three consecutive sittings, at eleven o’clock in the morning, seated at a small, bare table in the centre of a light room, there written on the under side of a slate placed on the table, several communications addressed to me, purporting to come from my deceased friends. I pass over the other manifestations – such as the movement of heavy articles of furniture in plain view, without visible contact – and confine myself to the writing on the slate, which I regarded with most interest… – Thos. W. Waterman, Binghamton, NY, July 14, 1873 The result of a physical law which is not yet understood, and the existence of which has hitherto scarcely been suspected: beeswax candles, chalk, and dust. In the Bottle: Rich beewax and a little bit of a dusty background On the Skin: The beautiful lab beeswax note, rich and sweet. The dry chalky note and dust emerges quite quickly to dry out the blend and tone down the sweetness of the beeswax. I am loving the chalkiness. On the Drydown: Stays fairly consistent through the drydown as a dusty beeswax but the beeswax amps up every now and then. I love it.
-
In the Bottle: Sweet coconut and champaca On the Skin: The champaca is actually quite strong with a backing of coconut and quite sweet, I assume from the sugar cane note. The initial blast softens quite quickly On the Drydown: The champaca is a little overbearing for a while but once it settles into the rest of the blend this is sweet and bone dry. The extreme drydown is really nice. Age will serve this one well.
-
In the Bottle: Very sweet vanilla marshmallow and pulpy strawberry On the Skin: Juicy strawberry to start, backed by vanilla. The strawberry is tart and realistic. The strawberry backs off a little, becomes jammy and then candyish. The references to strawberry icecream in other reviews is appropriate On the Drydown: Creamy strawberry candy. I actually really like this especially since I am all out of Sticky Pillowcase.
-
In the Bottle: Cream, amber and lotus. Definitely a cool pink On the Skin: Creamy pink. Sweet and a little musky. All of the vulvas I have tried work on me and they all have the same vibe. This one is just as elegant and refined but is a little more playful. On the Drydown: This dries down to a sparkly, powdery pink. The ambers give depth and lasting power. This is really special.
-
In the Bottle: Salt and sappy greenery On the Skin: A salty aquatic and green leaves. As it warms, the lotus sweetens the blend up slightly (blue or white lotus, not pink). It doesn't take long for this to smooth out and become a light floral aquatic. Perfect for summer. On the Drydown: On the drydown, this goes through a stage of pure salty aquatic and then onto blue lotus with the briny water in the background. There remains a fairly robust greenness. Nice
-
In the Bottle: A creamy very nice tobacco On the Skin: The rice milk is immediately evident, slightly creamy and sweet. The tobacco is a very fine one adding to the sweetness. On the Drydown: A simple blend but this has depth and sophistication. The edges of the frankincense can be detected but it is a subtle supporting note. Overall, a lovely scent.
-
In the Bottle: Musky with hay absolute and vanilla On the Skin: Another quite green scent at the start and quite a rough green. The floral quickly come to the surface to sweeten up the blend, making the whole more like a fresh water aquatic. On the Drydown: As this dries down, the jonquil and carnation take hold to give a gentle but persistent floral note underpinned by the greenness and the spiciness of the clove.
-
In the Bottle: A little green, slightly floral and cassia On the Skin: Definitely some cardamom in there but restrained. After a little warming, a dry dustiness creeps in and the herbal note of the southernwood. More herbal and resinous than floral but the lily is there. On the Drydown: The lily amps up in drydown, but isn't too high pitched, controlled by the resins and cardamom giving a background spiciness. Still quite green
-
In the Bottle: Very floral, most noticeable is the lilac, with a juicy and fruity background. On the Skin: Jammy strawberry and lilac with a little vanilla to keep it smooth. The other florals keep it from being too lilac-centric. Pretty but heavier than expected. On the Drydown: This is less a spring floral and more summer. As it dries it becomes greener under the blanket of pretty floral notes with the strawberry not really asserting much more than a subtle fruitiness. Nice