MCS4096

I wish I got a little more obvious yokan here.. it was really the reason I got this blend. But I do love it all the same-- it's a great sugared lemon now, and I have a feeling that as it ages the amber and sandalwood might come out more and make it a bit creamier and softer.

 

Edited for language fail

Yep.. chocolate. So weird! It's a sort of plasticy chocolate, which isnt unpleasant actually. I'm getting maybe some amber, and perhaps even a hint of cedar. Fascinating.. I may have to spring for a bottle so that I can investigate further.

I get pretty much nothing but jasmine here (not even my pal clove, where are you?!). It's the sort of stinky jasmine too-- like is in Melisade and Dia De Los Muertos, and that's coming from a jasmine lover. I was hoping for some musk and clove, but I cant find them. This could be a gorgeous and complex scent I think.. I dont know if it's my skin, or something lacking in its blending, that is making it fall short in my opinion.

There is a big, heady, white flower hiding in this blend somewhere. I havent been able to decide what flower it is yet, but I'm fairly sure it's whatever was acting as "bone"

 

Sniffed from the decant this is wet and green, not at all what I was expecting. There is a little edge of wood, and what I get overall is the impression of a young green tree branch, snapped. There is a tiny note of fishiness that I often associate with green tea (even the real stuff, I think, tastes slightly fishy) but may be present in the Lab's bamboo note too.

 

So then I put it on my skin and it begins to explode-- there is the spicy wood, and a little bit of "cashmere"-note type sweetness (silk?), and a whiteness that, to me, is distinctly floral, but must be code for "bone." And right now its gorgeous. Lush and green and spicy. Very spa-like.

 

But wait... those flowers are BLOWING UP. And this just amps to high heavens. Big white flowers and green leaves. Huge throw, heady, pretty overwhelming actually. I'm not really sure what to think of that. I was really looking forward to this one and it's nothing like I thought it'd be (dry, smokey, woody and a hint of green?), and frankly it's a little scary

 

Edited to add: now that I've also tried Diversions in the Chashitsu, which also has a bamboo note, I'm thinking that might what I'm amping.. I get a similar "big white flower" smell from that one.

The first sniff from the vial is sickly sweet vetiver. Be strong, you know it'll open up when it hits the skin!
Not going to lie, when it first hits the skin it smells like my local recycling center Old wine and garbage. BE STRONG!

This is a complex, layered blend-- Sweet myrrh and a moderately aggressive vetiver, here damp and smokey, form the base. Above them is a slightly sour and juicy purple fruit, the wine I suppose, but I don't find it boozy at all. And at the top an indistinct white-smelling floral mixed with bright frankincense. It's a little high-pitched. I got this decant for the 'grape flower," which I had never seen before, but I cant say I'm able to distinguish it here. I'm not sure if the floral aspect I smell also includes the currant bud, or if that note is contributing more to the fruitiness.

The vetiver is prominent but not dominating as time goes by. I would call this a wine and florals blend primarily, but the influence of the vetiver does give it a sort of decayed vibe. The florals become less and less obvious during dry down, allowing the blend to lose that high-pitched top note and mellow out.

Fully dried down it's got a medium throw and is fairly soft-- lightly floral purple fruit, with every now and then a whiff of well-behaved smokey vetiver. Quite a change from the bold opening upon first application.

I too get rootbeer. As soon as this hits my skin the coffee, which is quite strong in the vial, begins to soften out and blends beautifully with the champaca. I was excited for "nag champa in a coffee house". But very quickly the complexities start to disappear and I was trying to put my finger on what this was smelling like.... then it hit me. Rootbeer. Straight rootbeer. Dang

This was a real surprise... in how much it changed anyhow. On my skin it dried down to nothing but musky vanilla and spice. The mimosa up and disappeared completely.

My first impressions were "paint" and "paper." It smells familiar in a way you cant quite put your finger on. I dont get any negative associations from it, and actually quite enjoy it as an unusual sensory experience.

 

Based on the listed notes, I suspected it would open up a bit and be even nicer on my skin. It actually is staying relatively true on me, but there are a few more nuances-- it becomes a little sweeter, and yes now that someone else has said it I suppose it does have a watermelon candy kind of feel, although I didnt think that on my own! I'm definitely getting a parchment-like scent, which I think may be a shared note with U from the Mutter Museum. And the glorious mosses, which you'll recognize if you've smelled the recent SNs.. to me they have a spicy herbs and leather vibe.

 

As such I find this to be in the Book genre of blends, so if you're interested in those definitely check this one out! I think I may well get a bottle.

It's interesting how this seems both juicy and powdery dry at the same time. That's a nice juxtaposition between the plump purpleness of the currant and the strong astringent lavender. I was also smelling jasmine here, and Wikipedia informs me that mogra is indeed jasmine sambac, so 'yay' nose, way to go. It's a similar juicy lush realistic jasmine like the recent Sampaguita SN.

 

I enjoy it, but I have several lavender blends as I am a big fan, and I think I can live without a bottle of this one.

Currently available from the GC, I'm thinking The Red Rider (Red leather, red moss, and balsam), Fighter (Leather, musk, blood, and steel) and Iago ( sinuous black musk, wet leather and vetiver) Maybe the Black Rider (Black leather, oppoponax, tobacco, and black amber.) although to me that one is heavier on the black musk than the leather. Those are all heavier blends. A lighter blend, but sans flowers, that I love is Hunter (Leonine amber, tanned hides, clove, and clary sage)

 

There are really loads without too much feminine influence http://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/product-tag/leather/

I cant remember for the life of me when or from whom I got this bottle.. I've had it for a few years now and I'm sure I picked it up in passing because I like cats and big cats. I'm not a Leo and dont have much interest in astrology anyhow (how very stubborn and Taurus-like of me....)

 

The walnut is a true novelty- I've never seen it in another bpal blend. This is a nuanced, and special amber for you amber lovers (me) out there. The other notes serve to emphasize certain characteristics of this particular amber. It's spicy and a smidge floral, a tiny bit soapy (in a great, clean way). Nutty, candied, and warm and yes, a bit like oranges (but not really, I dont care much for the smell of orange).

 

There is some small similarity to the GC blend the Lion, there must be some of this amber in that one.

My bottle of Scappy Damsel, purchased in the last few days it was available, has waaay more cedar than my decant from a circle. I think it'll be ok, but I dont love it as much as my decant.

 

When this happens with GCs I can accept it a little easier-- given a long time some variation might occur and you have the chance to try again in the future. But given the nature of LEs, that we often only get one shot at a bottle straight from the lab, and that the run is so much shorter time wise, it makes me sad and anxious that this keeps happening-- decants from the beginning of the run not being indicative of the scents available at the end of the run.. perhaps a blend shouldnt be available as an LE if it's components are too difficult to keep consistent even over a couple months.

 

Granted, Hesiods Phoenix was wildly popular, so I'm betting they had to come up with more than they were expecting and that threw the component supply off... still, I dont get how people who are in the perfume business can smell two bottles, and either not think they're different, or not care..

Very heavy on the powdery myrrh. It reminds me a bit of Minotaur, they must share the same spicy myrrh note, which is awesome because I love that blend! But there is something else, I dont know which note it is (either musk or ambrette, which is also musky), that is almost cologne-like.. it comes across to me as either mens cologne or a traditional older woman's perfume... hmm..

 

If you're a big myrrh fan, you'll like this I'm sure. It's rich and spicy and would also be suitable for a dude's area (how apropos ) because I do think it leans a bit masculine

Very similar jasmine to the recent Sampaguita, which pleases me greatly! Sweet jasmine and nothing else.. the other notes just round it out. Very beautiful!

I agree that this is very much like Celeste. In fact, I think it's pretty much Celeste plus the lemony tea from blends like Severin or Dorian. I wasnt really expecting the lemony part.. I thought more of a dry spicy black tea, but it's impossible to not love this, especially since I love Celeste! Creamy, heady vanilla with a splash of lemon and tea

Wow.. this is like an Opium SN! I think it's the combination of the tobacco flower, the well behaved vetiver, and a little saltiness from the ambergris. The myrrh emerges over time for a touch of powdery sweetness but this still reads like straight opium to my nose.

This is TKO with cotton blossoms, which are white and a little high pitched. If you inhale deeply the hinoki wood is there at the very bottom, dry and soft. The bergamot is subtle, I think it's just around the edges of the cotton blossom, but I dont really get it as a distinct note.

 

Yes, there is a bit of a "drier sheet" vibe about this one because of those cotton blossoms. But it's really clean and soft and a nice alternative to TKO if you like that one but want something slightly different.

This dries down to a sweet gingery creaminess. It is a tad yellow cake-like upon application, but that doesnt stick around. I was really expecting more cherry, but I barely get any-- maybe a tiny bit of juiciness around the edges when it's wet. No anise seed at all.. Not exactly what I was expecting, which was more red fruitiness, but still quite pleasant. Gentle and spicy, foody but not TOO foody, for those of you that avoid that.

 

I don't really agree that this shares a vanilla with Antique Lace personally. I can see the comparison if I search, but I think it's an illusion of the ginger-vanilla combo. This vanilla goes a tad plasticy on me, and AL never did that.

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Is the difference due to using different sources for the components when the original sources run out? Do batches of the same oils from the same suppliers also vary? Or both? If so and they smell different, I thought that's when particular BPAL blends are discontinued temporarily or altogether.

 

snip

 

When I contacted them re: The Red Rider (my imp from it's initial release is beautiful leather, the bottle I bought last year was harsh red musk/vetiver, although those arent listed ingredients) the official response I got back was essentially: Because many components are natural products, there will be variation in their scents just as there are variations in the flavor of vegetables, fruits, scents of flowers, etc. This can depend on time of the year, or source (so like even location of that source). I'm guessing they attempt to find and keep sources that are as consistent as possible despite the chance for natural variation. And when variation does occur, I imagine it's at the Lab's discretion whether the variation is enough to warrant a discontinuation. I imagine most true discontinuations have more to do with a good source becoming impossible to find.

 

I have heard more and more stories though, it seems, regarding scent variations, even within LE runs. It makes me wonder if this is a result of the difficulty the market has seen in recent years (many component producers going under) ie: the Lab has had to keep less than perfect component sources rather than face massive discontinuations?

 

I've not seen an official, widespread answer by the Lab for these variations. I know our nose's arent crazy, so are they just ignoring inconsistencies? When I emailed them regarding Red Rider I was basically told that no, nothing had changed. Well, it's pretty easy to sniff my two bottles and know they're very different, so something obviously changed somewhere along the line.

 

I guess it's up to you to decide whether these natural variations are going to put you off the product or not. I'd imagine even smaller companies will have this issue to a degree unless they're quality control is so high they can afford to discard product or they only produce very limited amounts.

I have two bottles of this spray, and they are very different.

 

I have one with nary a hint of leather. It is straight spices-- cardamom that really comes across to my nose as cinnamon, no matter how hard I sniff. And this didnt really surprise me, because the bottle of Spanked Res perfume I have is the same way.

 

But the other bottle I have is heavy on the leather and bourbon, and it is glorious. I swear to you, they are like night and day. It makes me wonder if this explains why my perfume bottle seems at odds with most other reviews.... I wish it smelled like this!

Yes. This smells like a woman who has made herself up to the nines.. to go somewhere looking fierce in order to make someone regret leaving her perhaps? It's hairspray, musk perfume.. I swear I almost smell cosmetics, or waxy lipstick. It smells like my grandma's make up drawer in her bathroom when I went to visit her as a kid. She was always a pretty unpleasant woman, so the coincidence is amusing.

 

It's not my style personally, but I can see how some might enjoy it. It gives me a kind of retro, classy vibe. Sophisticated, a woman's boudoir scent.

Jasmine, mint, moss, a hint of dirt, maybe a tiny bit of musk. It actually smells like bath products to me, or high quality cleaning products. I dont personally get a "soapy" feel from it, just that it reminds me of those because it's so fresh and clean smelling. This would be great in a bathroom, like sprayed on the towels I think.

I was powerless against a blend containing both clove and leather.. and with the other notes, I knew this would be a vetiver I could enjoy.

 

This is the smell of clove ciggies, a dirty leather jacket, and skin with a splash of cologne. Even though the notes describe something quite masculine, for some reason I always find the warmth of clove to keep such blends from being too masculine for my wearing.

 

I really need to death-match all my "clove cigarette" type blends (Smiling Spider, Gacela of the Dark Death, Mourning Lace....) but I have a feeling this is the winner.

Huge lavender fan here! This is pretty much a perfect lavender.. it might be mistaken as JUST lavender, but that's what's amazing about the other two notes in the blend-- they just accentuate two great aspects of this lavender; a slightly dry woodiness and an underlying sweetness-- not too much of either, just enough to round this lavender out

Count me in too unfortunately.

 

It almost makes me want to either buy blind bottles instead of decants, or just buy decants and never try to upgrade to a bottle.

 

My Spanked Atmosphere Spray, that I totally almost skipped because leather is not one of my favorites, is incredibly heavy on the leather with hardly any of the other oils that I loved so much in my decant.

 

It is so disheartening.

 

That's funny. I get absolutely no leather from my Spanked atmo. But considering I thought the same about my Spanked Res perfume I thought that was just how it was....