rayvn1

For the folksy FBI agent in your life. Reminiscent of a classic 1950’s men’s cologne with a shuffle of paper, a briefcase-snap of black leather, and yesterday’s cold coffee. I just slathered on Lordy, and holy god, it is glorious! This reminds me of The Magician from the Crimson Peak line - one of my favorite cologne blends. As it is drying down the coffee starts to come through. I was hoping for something that could make me think of Agent Dale Cooper from Twin Peaks - and this does it just right. No paper or leather on me, but it may change over time after it's had a little time to mellow on my skin.

Our applesauce is decidedly impure: mashed apples with sugar and honey, slivered with tobacco tar and black tea. I know people are waiting for a review of this one, so I'm testing it straight out of the mail. In the bottle, I get pure, sweet apples somewhat similar to Snow, Glass, Apples (although that's one of the only apple scents I own, so the similarity may be negligible for others.) Once on my skin, this is exactly sugar and bright apples! Once it starts to dry, things become more complex. It stops smelling only of fresh green apples and sugar. There's a twinge in the background of the tobacco tar or the tea. Just a twinge, mind you. With that, it begins to smell much more of cooked, tart apples. Decent throw. The more it dries, the more the honey note begins to peek its head out. It smells so good. Really, really good - and I'm not normally a foodie-scent person. This is perfect for summer or fall weather, and I can see myself reaching for it often

A shadow? Oh, darling, all that lives in this house are shadows and reflections and creaks and groans. The scent of menace, an inexplicable dread: Somalian myrrh, black poppy, gloom-shrouded musk, and wispy sandalwood. I snapped this one up because I love the lab's black poppy note, and I wasn't disappointed! I'm amping the poppy at the moment, but the musk and myrrh are definitely players in the mix. It's dark and decadent with a dusty tinge to it. Just fabulous. As soon as it went on I knew this was one of the winners for me. There's a hint of sweetness to it that cuts through all that rich scent. Yep, lots and lots of poppy on my skin which is just what I was hoping for - like a more menacing On Darkness.

I absolutely adore this beard oil! Even though the scent is light, it’s too strong for my husband’s allergies for him to wear it. But I use a little to tame my hair, and it smells divine. That sweet and musky scent of Dorian is everything!

I know it’s meant for beards, but I use a small amount of the oil to tame the many flyaways in my hair. Dee smells very true to the perfume, which is one of my absolute favorites. A bit lighter on the scent, of course, but it’s definitely Dee!

The laws of the physical world. Soft golden taupe shimmer: the pale brown hum of a locust swarm; the crunch of autumn leaves; the dusty wing of a Pseudosphinx tetrio. Just as advertised - a lovely taupe with a bit of shimmer to it. I only had to use one coat (which was amazing in itself.) I'm not sure how often I'll wear it, because it's a very understated color, but I'm so glad I have it Swatch linked below. http://www.bpal.org/gallery/image/4522-natural-science-claw-polish/

Omg. Where have you been all my life?!? This is like a sweeter version of Bah! It's beautiful, rich and sweet coffee on me with great throw. Doesn't last long on my skin, but this is totally bottle-worthy. Wow!

Hm. I could have sworn this had poppy in it, but it must be the jasmine going powdery on me. Lovely scent. I think it will age well!

Omgggggg. This isn't foody, really, which is perfect because that's what scares me off of a lot of blends. The coconut is light, and the musk is oh so sweet with the cacao note dominating. Perfect with amazing throw.

These are usually notes of win for me, but for some reason the whole combination doesn't really work on my skin. Very overbearing scent on me. Ah well, money well spent for a good cause, and I'll keep retrying it!

Metal and a little menthol with a tinge of incense. I'm digging it. Very evocative scent.

This is weird, but I got...pickles? Almost all of the notes should have been a win for me, (I blame the lily) but this doesn't stay on my skin long and is exceptionally strange while it's on there.

I let this one age, but I'm still getting prominent bubblegum from it. Dries down several hours later to a delicate musk with a pinch of floral. Not the one for me, it turns out.

Yummy, sweet, boozy apple with a hint of smoke. This has little to no throw, and I'm hoping it acquires some with age, because it is gorgeous in the bottle and while wet. It lasts about an hour on my skin, but it's very pleasant while it hangs around!

2009: "This was a long shot scent for me, though I tend to really like vanilla lately, having it as the main component is a bit much on me." Oh 2009 Erin, you should have held onto that Antique Lace. At least for comparison to the 2017 Antique Lace which is amazing The throw on this is negligible, but better than Solstice Lace or Tattered Lace on me by far. And now I LOVE vanilla, so I will be holding onto this decant with tight, grabby hands. Mmmmm. I agree with dementia_divine above - warm, sugary vanilla musk with just a hint of flowers on me.

Agreed with porcelina about the Penny Dreadful and Graveyard Dirt associations, which is great because I love those two. It goes on almost slightly sour before turning into a vegetal, dusty scent with a clay/dirt note coming to the fore as it warms up on my skin. Throw is pretty good on me. I really really like this one. My partial bottle is probably enough, because it's more an atmospheric than an "omg must wear every day" scent, but I'm so glad I tried this one out. ETA: After a few hours, it's turned into a dusty-musky-almost-incense scent. Delightful, but the throw is now minimal.

"This reminds me of big, celebrity designed perfume from the nineties: Specifically, Elizabeth Arden Provocative Woman." [respectfully snipped from Sprout's review] I knew this reminded me of something! Provocative Woman was my wedding scent (because that was several years before I discovered the glories of bpal) and it evaporated in the bottle a few months ago when the sprayer somehow came off. I was heartbroken, but now I have this to remind me of that day Anyways, on to the review! It's sweeeeeet. Those purple fruits really come through in the drydown, and the dusty patchouli grounds it. This makes for a supremely rich scent with unbelievable throw. I'm in love

Agreed with Haltija that this could easily belong to the Steamworks line. I get primarily copper while wet and in the early drydown, but an hour later it's turned into much more of the gentleman's cologne, thank god I like it! There's nothing quite like it in my collection, and I'm happy to own a bottle.

Slightly effervescent - I like the comparison to an upscale drink! Cotton candy meets orange creamsicle. Very yummy.

Body, Remember is not especially new, but is really coconutty. Ivory Vulva is from this year and also fits the bill. Pouring Strains of Sacred Song is from last December, and I get tons of coconut milk from it! I hope you get to try Eden and Goblin soon. They're two of my go-to scents. I second Body, Remember as a yummy blend as well.

Just wanted to swing by and give a huge thank you to izile and sunlitgarden for taking on spreadsheet stuff way back when. I'm embarrassed that I fell off the face of the earth when I had a major depressive episode. I'm so glad to be able to come here and get back into things (and with izile's updated spreadsheet to help me out after all the updates over the last few years!)

I like the comparison to Nocnitsa (one of my favs). There's a chilly quality to this one for me, with sweet sweet booze in there as well. Booze on a cold night underneath a pine tree is what I get from this, and it's fabulous!

On wet, it's a lot of juniper with the leather muscling its way to the front almost immediately. I like juniper, and was worried the amber would go powdery or the honey would go too cloying, but none of that is happening. I'm getting a very pleasant, soft herbal leather scent. Very nice. Not quite my thing, but glad I got to try it.

I love red musk and amp it like nobody's business. This was a blast of red musk at first, then morphed into a rich, jammy sweetness I'm not sure what components are interacting with the red musk like this, but it is a winner!

Finally tracked down a decant of this one. I too was worried about the clove, but this is a soft cloud of musk and rich leather on me. Delicious, with decent throw!