Amoraexcena

This one's a big morpher on me, unfortunately not in the best of ways. In the bottle I get a lovely gentle lavender with just a touch of airy sweetness. Immediately on my skin, the caramelized tobacco and cognac amp up and almost completely smothers the lavender. I like those notes, though I mourn a little for the lavender, so if it stayed there I wouldn't be too sad - but unfortunately, soon after it dries, the smoke poofs into the forefront and stomps all over everything else. It reminds me a little of how the smoke note in Liz behaved on my skin. It's like the cognac was set on fire and left to burn a little too long. I'm pretty sure this is a skin chemistry fail, so I'll be sure to test it in a scent locket before letting it go.

Very pretty, reminiscent of De Vos Unicorn with the gentle mallow-vanilla combo. This one leans a little less floral, more sugary vanilla than DVU. I don't detect much resin or woods from this, maybe a touch in the far drydown. If the Unicorn wandered from its field of flowers, and into the little patch of vanilla orchids, lovingly cared for by elvish gardeners, this is what you'd get.

On my skin, this is the rain-soaked, adventure-loving half-sister to They Shut Me Up in Prose. Less demure and approachable but no less beautiful - hauntingly so, in fact. She has sirens or nymphs or mermaids in her blood. Maybe all three. As folks before have said, this is a gorgeous, gently sweet rain-and-vanilla that feels like a cross between Sea of Glass and They Shut Me Up in Prose, with a dash of Zorya P. I'm glad I got two bottles blind, and thank you to previous reviewers for convincing me to!

Another beautiful duet! I got this one mostly because I wanted to confirm that I can wear the BPAL beeswax note (I sadly can't wear most of their honey notes, they tend to go cloyingly sweet on my skin). As LavenderCoffee says, it's a warm, sophisticated-perfume-tobacco with a quite realistic, slightly earthy, gently sweet beeswax. Success! I can definitely wear beeswax 😍 I bought it together with Wanton Airs, Bodiless Airs, thinking they'd pair quite well together. They ABSOLUTELY do. They're both beautiful in their own right, but wonderful layered. I see a lot of fun layering experiments with this one in the near future - I can see this going well with some of my favourite Hair Glosses - IBT and Palo Santo and Patchouli, definitely. I'm so glad I got this, and might spring for another bottle before the Deer Moon Lunacy wanes.

I saw this on sale, and read doomsday_disco's review, and had to get it. I'm surprised it's not more popular (or maybe it is and I'm just out of the loop). The cognac makes it a bit like a Lace or Pediophobia. It's a golden lace - like golden hour sunbeams streaming through lace curtains, warming some ripe sweet citrus in a wooden bowl. Somehow nostalgic and classic in feel. The bergamot adds a lovely brightness but fades relatively quickly on my skin, so I think I'll try it in a scent locket as well. Really beautiful from start to finish. I'm really glad I was able to grab a bottle!

I'm on a bit of a lavender kick, and I'm really glad I got this one. A gently herbal-floral lavender paired with the old cool-toned Dorian with a bit of extra vanilla. This really makes me miss the Lilith updates. Just gorgeous and perfect as a sleep scent. Goodnight💜

I'm also getting more of a strawberry hard candy or strawberry syrup vibe from this, and only a smidge of milk or marshmallow - but, it layers really well with Stekk for a proper strawberry milkshake scent! So I'm quite happy. A sweet, youthful, cheerful strawberry milkshake. I won't need more than one bottle, but it's a fun occasional pick-me-up scent, maybe for when I'm hanging out with my neices/nephews.

I've been around for long enough that I generally know which BPAL notes work on me and which don't, so it's rare nowadays for me not to like something that I blind-bought (especially with HGs, I can't recall any HG I disliked). Unfortunately, this is one of those rare occurances. I was hoping for a lovely, floofy sweet puff of a scent like Stekk, but what I got was a similar experience to doomsday_disco - sickly-sweet and powdery children's vitamins in a chemical-y pink, vaguely cherries/berries flavour. I don't get much marshmallow at all except for maybe a barely-there vanillic undertone, this is really all about that artificial-flavouring pink sugar. I tried layering it with Pink Moon, but it's still definitely not my thing - the chemical-fruit-sweetness just becomes amplified. Definitely a bit bummed about this one. I'll let it sit and age for a bit, but likely will end up going to a new home.

This scent is a lightning bolt of memory for me. It smells like the Church of Santiago Tlatelolco in Mexico City. My partner at the time brought me to the Tlatelolco Archaeological Site with some friends, knowing my adoration for all things ruins and history and archaeology. I wasn't expecting the horrifying, sacreligious chimera of a Church - it was clearly made from stolen materials of the temples of the conquered indigenous people. I could practically hear the echoes of the wrath of the old gods and the screams of their worshippers. It was a stark, shocking reminder of the blasphemous destruction wrought by Spanish colonialist evangelism. It gave me chills, in the middle of a hot Mexican summer. When I cautiously entered the Church after exploring the rest of the ruins, I was struck with discordance - the imposing, supposed-to-inspire-awe, ostentacious high ceilings and detailed oil paintings and gold filigree of Catholic tastes, juxtaposed to the rather calming scent of frankincense and cracked stone and dust. I left the accursed place burning with rage, mad at myself for liking the scent of it, trying not to show my turmoil of emotions to my friends or partner, who I appreciated very much for bringing me there. I needed to see it. This is the scent of heavy church resins and colonial gold, failing to completely mask the desecrated dust of precious ancient relics.

Exactly as advertised! It's a sweet, gently spiced marron creme dessert with vanilla whip and caramel drizzle. Very pleasant and comforting, though I feel it suits an autumn or winter vibe more than spring. I want cool weather, a nice warm mug of black tea, a cozy throw blanket, a good book, and a candle with this. With raindrops pattering against the windowsill. In the far drydown, the cashmere part peeks through a bit more, making it a little less foody and a little more gourmand. It's raining and quite cool today in Vancouver so it's perfect.

Surprisingly, this is quite floral on my skin - I wonder if this memorial garland has some unlisted flowers in it? I echo the similarity with Paper Phoenix (though I do like that one better, it's sweeter, with that lovely relaxing lavendar and fun pink pepper) and Tea Leaves, Vanilla Bean, and Incense Smoke. My partner thought I had a rose scent on. I don't get rose from this, but if I was smelling this without a note list, I'd guess lily of the valley or something along those lines. Cat at the Table is also somewhat similar, but that one reads a little more citrus-fruity to me. I'm not sure where I'm getting that impression (that one has no listed fruit notes), but anyway - they're all scent-cousins. The cool-toned tea blend family. In the late drydown I get a bit more vanillic/benzoin sweetness, which I enjoy. I'm not getting any of the smokiness I was worried about from the lapsang souchong, which is a relief. I'm going to let this one age a bit and see where it goes!

Skin chemistry is so interesting! I get basically the opposite experience of Little Bird - it opens as spicy, sugary clove with a sweet golden amber that leans musky. On my skin, this smooths out as it dries, becoming a golden-brown haze of clove-infused syrup - no powder here! I love sweet amber, so I'm layering it with the recent IBT perfume and it's really pretty together. I like clove, but I'm finding I like it in small doses, and Constellation is almost sweet clove single note on me. Between this and Vampire Milk, I think I've satisfied the clove quota in my collection. While this isn't what I thought Constellations smell like, it's very nice. I would expect a green witch's kitchen to be scented like this!

It's so hard to follow up to ghoulnextdoor's beautiful, evocative reviews, but I'll do my best! On my skin, this scent is in the same family as the floral-dark incense blends I love so much, like Sugared Lace, Black Lace, and Midnight on the Midway - but a mature, dignified, powerful witch-queen version. It's less sweet than the others, more resin-forward, and the frankincense gives it a stateliness. This is the scent for the silver-crowned, midnight-robed witch-queen that not only has her own ritual altar, but many altars dedicated to her. This is going to age beautifully, just as the witch-queen does.

My experience with this one is quite different from other reviewers. On me, there is very little effervescence or sparkle - it's full-throated oak-barrel-aged cognac with a bit of sweet and tangy fruit notes and thick, sticky tobacco, with a hint of vanilla seeping through in the late drydown. Of course, this bottle is aged now, but I don't remember it ever having much fizzle on my skin. I'd say this is the most "gentlemen's salon" type of scent I own. It's quite lovely, but not really "me." Debating whether to keep my bottle or not... It's interesting, but I could count the number of times I've reached for this over the years, on one hand. I feel like I should let it free and go to someone who loves it, considering its rarity nowadays. OTOH, I'm a hoarder AND I have a soft spot for Laces... it's hard letting them go. Maybe I'll keep it for another ten years and see how I feel then 😅

I really love Banshee Beat, and this chewy, approachable patchouli is definitely reminiscent of it. However...the honey is the kind that amps on my skin. BPAL's quintessential honey note: an infernal honey with heat, made from hot pepper flowers grown in Purgatory, cared for by fire imps. It's got attitude, power, and adds a distinct edge to the scent, dangerously sweet, and quite sexy. It's wiping out any trace of vanilla for me. I'm a bigger fan of the more gentle honey dust or white honey notes - this one is a little too intimidating for me to get a full bottle of. BB stays as my favourite patch/vanilla, but I'm glad I finally got to try this one! I can see it work really well for folks who like that powerful honey note + patchouli.