splendidissima

A thick fudgy brownie, rich and decadent and delicious! Mmm. The coffee is there, but just a hint - the way that, if you make a chocolate cake using coffee as part of the liquid ingredients, it just adds a depth of flavor and a little darkness. After a few minutes little wafts of amber and cardamom appear, adding some complexity, but it stays primarily a big soft gooey fudge brownie on me - which I like!

Vanilla sugar and fizzy champagne! Bright and sparkling. It's actually reminding me of...I think it was Gingerbread Invisible Man, from the Yules - that same champagne note, but without the ginger/gingerbread. I like it!

This one's all about the cheesecake! Sweet cream cheese, with a little waft of lemon in the distance. Mmm. I really like this, but I wish the throw was stronger - it's still there a couple hours later, but very skin-close: I have to get my nose right up to my wrist and sniff. The lemon's very, very faint, so much so that I almost wonder if I'm just imagining it because I know it's supposed to be there! My mom also tested this one, and she said it smelled good but too foody for her - she wanted to eat it, not wear it! But she likes bright big florals and also tropical scents - she loved Sunyashniki, out of the Ukraine scents, so I gave her my bottle and ordered a new one. 😄

I really wanted to like this - I like sage, tonka, cinnamon, vanilla, myrrh - and in the bottle it's a sort of soft smoky spice mix, which is promising... ...somehow, on my skin, this turns to soap. A very nice, luxurious, clean-smelling sort of spa soap, and I wouldn't be mad at it if, y'know, this was a soap scent in my bathroom! But, yep, it's definitely soap. The husband concurs. Maybe I'll try it in a scent locket or oil warmer and see if any of the soft spice from the bottle sticks around...

This is very pretty and summery: ripe red strawberries, a sprinkle of sugar-crystals, and a warm grass-green backdrop. It reminds me a lot of Eat the Strawberries - no surprise, I suppose! - but this Moon doesn't seem to be as loud on my skin in terms of throw; I think the sap and grasses and benzoin are softening it a bit? I haven't tried another Strawberry Moon to compare, but I'm also testing Frogberry Moon on the other arm, and that one has a stronger throw. No real change as it dries, still sweet ripe strawberries, sugar, and - in the back - that soft summer-grass green. I really like this, but it might need slathering - it's fading fast, too!

Berries + clean watery greenness! Lightly berry-sweet, but not overly sweet - the crisp grapefruit and water lily are adding citrus and that water-plant note. The blue lotus is the same note from Vaginal Tales of the Nocturnal Palace - a creamy delicate floral that isn't overly floral, if that makes sense. It's very light and pretty here. I'm not getting much musk or ti leaf, but that's okay - I was mostly here for the intriguing berry-lotus-grapefruit combo! Not soapy at all. Light, pretty, decent throw so far - it's staying basically what it went on as, all red berries + lightly sweet green + a watery note that's more like greenhouses or dew on ferns, not like ozone or anything! Awesome Husband: "...this reminds me of...an old Bath & Body Works scent...not in a bad way! It's nice. But like something I remember." 😄

Am I first? Eep! Okay, let's see. In the bottle and wet on my arm (mind you, I got it two days ago), it's honestly more coconut + cream than fig? Which I'm not complaining about, I like those things, but I feel like they're trampling the fig. That also makes it a heavier scent - kind of similar to the White Chocolate, Carnation, Coconut Cream, Clove Luper, but minus the clove-and-carnation spice. As it dries I think I'm starting to get the fig a little more, or at least there's *something else* in there that's a darker richer note (I'd almost say dates? is that weird?). Not fruity in the way of, like, peaches and such, but like...okay, maybe a fig jam, like Fig Newton filling but better, like, the freshly made homemade kind, spread over the coconut cream. Still not overly sweet, but sweeter, like, well, that fig spread! About 15 minutes in, it's still very coconut cream with that fig jam note bringing some darker complexity. Low throw, but I did only put a couple drops on that arm, since I was also testing another scent on the other arm. (But for comparison, the other scent - White Honey, Lemon Peel, Salt - got put on right before, on the other arm, and is *much* louder. This one I have to put my nose right up to my arm to smell!)

I hesitated about this one, because normally I like sweeter lemon scents - loved Penis Bound with Gold Ribbon! - and honey doesn't always work on me, but I ended up really liking Lollipop Sea from the Yules, with that berry + salt note, so I went for it! And, you know what, I really do like it! It's very very different from Gold Ribbon, which is much more lemon cream and warmth. *This* one is tart and beachy - the salt gives it that seaspray/aquatic-but-not-watery/ocean-air note, but the honey sweetens it again, with a delicate sweetness, and then the lemon brings a sparkling citrus. A couple people have mentioned cocktails, and yes! - it's like a margarita, or something with that sweet-sour note and a salt rim, being sipped outside in the sun by the beach. Good throw and longevity so far, too! I can see this getting a lot of wear as a summer scent.

In order of intensity: cool wintry mint, sweet pale florals, soft white chocolate! All of those are present and distinct - I keep wanting to sniff my wrist more, over and over! There is something misty and magical and ethereal about it, and also - not quite sad, but like, yes, a unicorn who's learned about regret and love and loss, pensive and cool and wise.

Sugared herbal lemon! Oh, this is fun; I'm so glad I snagged a bottle on Etsy. I don't really get red currant or anise or even the iris - which I was a little worried about, since I'm not big on florals! But this is a cool, pale, lightly sweet (not overly sweet) lemon, with whispers of tea-like herbs in the background. It'll be a great summer scent, I think!

I got this with fingers crossed, because I love sweet lemon and lemon-cake type scents, so I was really hoping for that - and, lo and behold, that's what it is on me! It really is a sweet lemon cream - all the lemon frosting or creme filling reviews are spot on. As it dries, it gets a little warmer + more golden, which I think is the amber. It's lovely and strong for quite a while - good staying power. I'm definitely happy I got this one!

Given the cause, I had to grab this one, even though it's not in my usual scent wheelhouse! It goes on as a tangle of florals - I can't pick out anything specific. It is very springtime-y, and maybe just a little spicy. Under that, there's the BPAL soil note, which smells exactly like rich dark soil, as expected! It's still not my usual as far as something I'd wear, but I think it might be a pretty springtime room scent, in an oil warmer, perhaps.

Completely unexpectedly, this is one of my absolute favorites from this order! I'm considering a backup, which I rarely do. I got this because I like red currant (I love Eat Me) and I like sweet, but I was unsure about "poppy tar" or simply "sugar" - Sugar Cookie (and its variants), for instance, always goes dark and caramelized on me, and I've got enough of those! But...oh, my. This. This, yes. This doesn't change at all, as far as I can tell, in bottle - wet - dry on me. Several people above have said hummingbird water, sugar water, nectar - yes! A white sugar, spun-sugar, light & bright & sparkling - but with a juicy dark red layer underneath, like a shimmering crimson, if a scent could be a color. Red berries, with something that darkens it up and makes it more sensual - but no tar or smoke notes at all, if anyone's worried! Just that sense of dark shimmer, if that makes any sense. My gosh, this is glorious. Like Casablanca said - that's a perfect metaphor - it's sweet glittering sugar except it's put on a slinky red dress and is singing in a dimly lit bar somewhere and will seduce someone by the end of the night.

My bottle says 2007, so it's nicely aged! This is fascinating, and not quite like anything else I've got! It's fruity in the way that good olive oil can be fruity, with some grapes and resins giving it a little more wine + warm spice. It's not boozy - these are grapes, not wine, unless it's a sweet herbal sort of wine, which - maybe that's it! As it dries I get a little more of the cakes, not overly sweet, but like an olive oil cake, kind of golden and balanced between sweet and, like, a sweeter type of...almost bread? (What I mean is, it's not like a super-dessert-y cake at all, but like something warm and golden made with honey and olive oil.) All the notes are blending together really nicely now. It reads as fairly androgynous to me - I like it on me, and I feel like I would love it on a partner of any gender! I'd want to keep inhaling their fascinating scent! This is actually really lovely - I keep breathing it in for the experience! Very evocative of ancient Greece, perhaps in the midst of celebratory revels!

Goes on as a big billow of coconut cream and white chocolate, which is lovely! As it dries a swirl of spices comes up - peppery carnation and clove! And then the spices pull back, and the whole thing settles into a soft sweet cream with, like...if it were a pie it would have a crust with some spices in it, cinnamon, pepper, things like that. Started with large throw, but has settled down, though I didn't put too much on because it's very loud initially! But when I move my arm I notice it wafting up - nice for today's gloomy weather!

A frottle from the Lab, with the 2013 label! In the bottle and wet, this is very nope for me - so much vetiver, dark and smoky! I do like lemon and lemongrass notes, though, so even though they're being drowned by dankness at present, I have tried it. Dry: better? More herbal, and there's a little hint of the lemon. Still, it's not really my thing - though it does encapsulate the feeling of "lichened earth" in the description, and a sense of something heavy and dark, looming.

This is very pretty, and I think it'll be a good sleep scent! It goes on very lavender-floral - which made me skeptical for a minute or two, because I'm not a huge floral person, though I do like sweet lavender-vanilla! But then the vanilla comes out, and it becomes a gently warm, very cozy and inviting lavender-vanilla-powder (it is a little powdery) scent. Low throw (so far), but it's a nice skin scent!

Sweet lemon cakes! This is really lovely - I'm so glad I got this one. Like many of the Lupers on me, it's very light - low throw, quick to fade - but it's exactly up my alley: sweet citrus sugar, like lemon bars or, yes, iced lemon cakes! I don't really get the florals, which I'm fine with. Like candied springtime, like treats at a tea party in a lemon grove, it's a delight. Awesome Husband comment: ...you smell like cake. 😄

Sweet creamy vanilla bean, like melted vanilla ice cream - the good kind, with vanilla bean flecks! Not really getting the benzoin at all, but I was mostly here for the vanilla-marshmallow, so that's fine. Very low throw, and fades quickly (caveat: it is the first day of That Time Of Month for me, so, maybe a skin chemistry thing?), but it's absolutely lovely while it lasts - sweet creamy vanilla! Would probably be great for layering, though on me it might be too short-lived for that. But maybe if I slather...or retest next week, perhaps!

I don't do florals much, but I am a medievalist and I love the idea of this series - and the kindness of it! So I might have to try all of them... First off, my skin just EATS this. This was the last one I put on of the three I tried tonight, and after about 20 minutes, I couldn't find it at all on my arm. Like, knowing exactly where I'd put it, and putting my nose right on my skin, I got...a barest thin whisper of cool flowers, or maybe that was wishful thinking because I knew it ought to be there! Having reapplied, so, freshly wet: chilly pale florals! I agree with wendy above about the snow note (which reads a little minty to me?), and that's the loudest aspect to start, and I agree that it feels like a Yule in some ways - or maybe the balance right on the edge of winter and spring, when flowers might be thinking about waking up, but the world's still crystalline and ice-white. I can't identify any specific flowers (might just be me, not an expert in florals!), but they combine into a general 'white pale flowers' to my nose, behind the snow. I don't really get amber - ETA; maybe just a little, warming it up, as it dries? *sniffs very closely* So basically I get "the Lab's snow note + some white chilly flowers" - which I like more than I was expecting to, but then I do like the snow note (I liked Marshmallow Snow, from a couple of Yules ago), so if you like those things, this might be your jam! (But, again: boom, my skin just drinks this up. In the course of my typing this review - it's almost gone. Still there, but barely. That might be the fastest I've had any scent disappear on me. And Marshmallow Snow *didn't* do that, so I don't know what's happening here!)

Sandalwood! And vanilla! This is a very loud scent on me - the loudest of all three I'm testing right now! It's very well balanced; I get...well, exactly what it says, in equal proportion: a lightly spicy sandalwood, and a warm vanilla. Simple, uncomplicated, very pretty. I used to have a big carved sandalwood fan that was a present from a world-traveler great-aunt, and I'm having a billow of scent memory: wafting that around and smelling the spiced breeze of it, softened by being carried around in luggage and wrapped up in cloths and then hung on my wall in California warmth. Awesome Husband thinks it's a little too sandalwood for his taste, but he's also picky about scents!

Soft, warm, vanilla cream, with a little hint of toastiness and spice - not cinnamon spice, but the warm kitchen-spice of cardamom. It's primarily the soft snuggly vanilla, though, if you're worried about cardamom - that isn't loud at all. On me, this is just...purely nice, honestly. Not dramatic, not flamboyant, but it's not meant to be: it's a big soft warm cozy hug, the kind that gives you buttery shortbread cookies and pats you on the shoulder and tells you it's all going to be okay. I think it would also be nice for layering, but I really do like it by itself; I feel like it'll be a good one to wear while teaching. Low throw on me, close to the skin, but it's sticking around well, so far!

Oh, gosh, am I first? I'm surprised! My overall impression, honestly, is: Gingerbread Witch and Gingerbread Invisible Man (Invisible Gingerbread Man?) had a baby! A sweet-sharp, apple-ginger fizzy champagne baby! This basically stays the same from bottle, to wet on my arm, to dry-down. It has that black apple note - a dark autumnal sort of apple, maybe with some dark spice that's contributing to the ginger impression, since I know ginger's not a listed note! The apple-sweetness (not SWEET sweet, but like biting into a very ripe apple) meets and gets swept up into the BPAL fizzy champagne note, which is light and bright and sparkling and a little sharp (not in a bad way - more like bubbles tickling your nose). It's not grape-y, for those worried about that! But some combo of all this really does read as ginger-y (not gingerbread-y, but actual ginger) to my nose. It's not too sweet, but the apple-sweet-tart helps balance out the champagne glittery edges, and it's really nice. Big initial throw, and seems to have good staying power! I think this might get a lot of summer/autumn use.

Bordello has been one of my BPAL loves for years...over a decade now?...so, after the reviews, I had to try one of the Sugar Plums! Snake Oil rarely works well on me, tragically, so I opted for Black Phoenix. On me, SPBP starts off utterly beautiful - it's that plum! that bright candy plum! sweet, juicy, purple! Plus an almond/cherry type note that's playing really nicely with it. Just gorgeous. And then...then...a couple hours in...soapiness! Loud soapiness! 😥 I think it's the rose note in Black Phoenix that's the culprit; rose does that on me, except in very very rare cases. I was hoping this would be an exception, because sometimes sugar/sweet notes help, but sadly, no luck. I'm still glad I've got it, because the opening is so, so lovely. I'll try it in my scent locket and hope that works!

It's a nice bright sunny floral! I don't do a lot of florals, but this was a good cause, and it didn't have any of my Death Notes, so I wanted to try. It really does smell golden - warm and bright and well-blended. I can't pick out many of the individual notes, but, again, I also don't do a lot of florals! It's very pretty, though. Like being outside in a springtime flower meadow. Very low throw so far, though - after about an hour - I can still smell it if I put my nose right next to my arm. eta: my mom (who loves BPAL scents and all the charity work the Lab does, but is still kind of a BPAL newbie - she's been trying all of mine!) loves this one. (She likes big happy florals and especially tropical notes, so far.) This was her fav of all the Ukraine scents - I actually gave her my bottle to take home and then ordered a new one for me!