torikitty

Having watched the BPAL channel on Youtube, Tom and Galen were so right, except I'm not getting "it smells like mummies". This is initially sharp. Like, the brine from green olives and pimentos. And, surprisingly, if you've had papyrus growing in a koi pond in your front yard, and had to trim it down during the summer, there's the fresh greeness from that. Like a spa "greeness" or "clean" mixed with grass? I wouldn't liken it to paper, but I guess the woody/green/dry combo fits that narrative.

Once it dries down, the sharpness has receded to the back, and the sweetness of the cardamom is now mixed with the brine water. Which sounds like it would be more aquatic, but it's more of the pickled sweetness of the pimientos, I think. And that sounds horrible, too, but it somehow has an air of money and "I spend a lot of time sipping on martinis". I'm guessing the cardamom and balsam bump it up into "expensive perfume" category, too. I guess leaning into the oriental category.

But, overall, clean and green on me.

I am the worst person to leave the first review, so please take this with a grain of salt. I don't know what I was thinking, considering I'm not usually a fan of green things. I think the green cardamom and tobacco flower were calling to me.

Initially: ew, this is so green. So helpful, I know. 😅

Then it becomes this smoky, husky, slightly green thing. Interesting!  A morpher on my skin, I wasn't expecting that. Then it starts to smell like the cool goth kids wearing a heavy leather jacket and smoking something herbal from afar. This is really surprising. I feel like I might be amping something, but I'm unsure which of these would smell like a green smokiness. First thought is the bay laurel, perhaps with the cinnamon husk. Or maybe the grassy vetiver. I'm really not sure. I'm not picking up any of the green cardamom, saffron, or tobacco flower. They are being drowned out by the smokiness. An interesting trip, that's for sure.

Spicy, sweet coffee. The pumpkin takes a little while to come forward. I really don't get much beyond that, but I don't have much experience with Misk U. It's somehow deeper than Irish Coffee Buttercream, and spicier. Pumpkin isn't quite as obvious as I'd expect. I'd go for Pumpkin Latte if I wanted coffee and pumpkin in equal measure. Overall, it's nice.

1 hour ago, Reina Blood said:

I'm looking for a smoky, rich coconut, maybe with a touch of amber and/or floral. If you met me in the flesh, you'd think I was the last person on earth who you'd expect to wear coconut well, and it was a real surprise for me. But I accidentally learned a few years back (in Bath & Body Works, of all places) that my skin chemistry and coconut just love each other, as long as the blend isn't too tropical or (non-coconut) fruity, and I've been on the hunt for the perfect blend ever since. I see a lot of coconut-containing BPAL blends about which reviewers complain that the coconut is either very subtle or absent, and I'm not sure where to turn. Help!

Blood Pearl!

This is strong! I feel like the sillage lasts 3-4 hours, but it's really in your face the whole time. I feel like it's got the pumpkin from Pumpkin Spice Silky Bat HG, with the black coconut from Young Man with Long Hair HG. I took a risk because I was unsure of the black oudh. This behaves rather normally, except for the shouting at the top of it's lungs, and getting into mine with a faintest sniff. If you want a dark, sweet pumpkin that is loud, this is for you.

This doesn't even have 2 pages of reviews yet?!? I also can't believe I haven't put in my review yet, so I'm not helping.

This is one of my favorite apple blends from this year's releases. It's so clean, fruity, and refreshing. These notes blend so well together, I wouldn't be able to pick out any particular notes. Maybe green apple. My skin chemistry does nice things with pink pepper, kinda like a musky, powdery thing that I really enjoy. I don't feel like cedar, juniper, or lemon are overpowering at all.

Sadly, it doesn't last very long on me. Maybe 2 hours. It becomes a close-to-skin scent after the initial blast. But this does feel like an apple that you could wear year-round.

On 4/10/2019 at 12:24 PM, Padparadscha said:

-this time for the 90's Bonne Bell Blueberry Lip Smacker. Seriously, this is exactly like that blueberry: sweet, sugary, blue, and slightly waxy. The sweet cream is starting to get stronger, but so far, it's just been a sweet and creamy backdrop to this sugary, fruity walk down memory lane. It might be where the waxiness is coming from actually.

I think this review nailed it. It's sweet, perfumey apples, berries, blue, and waxy. It gets a little less perfumey and the cream becomes more apparent. It's definitely elevated from a little kid scent, but I can see it being very evocative for a lot of people.

Reading the previous reviews, I feel like they all nail it from different perspectives. Like, I could point to parts of each one, and totally identify with what they notice; yet, at the same time, put all of them in a tornado, to get a different spin (ha, pun intended), and I get an upside down reflection. I don't even know how this is one of the more confusing Snake Oil blends. Cherries are usually so simple.

Wet: this feels like a black cherry on vacation. Like, visiting Morocco, sultry, slightly sweating from the heat, maybe sipping on some warm wine. That's mostly the evocative part. But it smells like a spicy cherry with a bit of sex in it. If you didn't tell me this had Snake Oil in it, there's no way I would have guessed. Weirdly enough, at the same time, this also kinda smells like a fruity wine or liqueur that has sat out too long and gone off. My nose is getting wires crossed with sexy vs. "something has gone off". Sexy is definitely towards the wet phase, and perhaps overly ripe fruit is more prevalent during drydown.

It finally settles into this bright cherry (hogtied) in the backseat of a weird Snake Oil taxi. This is definitely a weirdo on me, and I don't know if it's the cherry doing it's usual disappearing act, or perhaps simple syrup stealing the show, and I'm inexperienced with simple syrup on me.

@murqmaid I know that others will chime in with more detailed descriptions, so this is just a quick answer.

Most of them smell like snow, but even then it can vary. Either slushy snow or chilly, minty snow. Sometimes it might be mixed with some ozone to give it that freshly-fallen, nothing outside, in the middle of a forest vibe. And one year's frostbitten collection can be different from the next years. It really varies. And how your nose perceives the snow note could behave differently than your skin chemistry treats it. Experiment!

I, too, had a bar that barely smelled like anything. I was going to chalk it up to aging it for 2 years. I seemed to remember smelling it through the packaging when it initially arrived, so I was surprised when it hardly smelled like anything when I used it last month. But the quality of the soap actually impressed me. It lasted for quite a while, suds up nice, and didn't leave a residue.

I don't get nearly as much nuance as some of the other reviewers. It's sweet, caramel apple, leaning heavier on the apple. It briefly goes into the candle zone, but I think that's going to depend on people's chemistry. I think the caramel brings it back to more foodie smelling on me. There's a subtle hint of plasticky during drydown, which happens with my chemistry with some of the lab's vanillas, but luckily it goes away. Sweet apples, what else can I say?

I keep waffling between whether I enjoy this or not. While I'm not a honey fan, I know this is popular, so I wanted to retry it. I decided to try a fresh imp from the lab, instead of the aged one in my swap box. I think I enjoy fresher better. The amber is more apparent, and the honey hasn't gotten to the "spit" stage. The amber has a bit more of a fancy perfume feel, so it doesn't have that bawdy, dirty, sexy feel. But with the honey, it still is a bit sexy. I'd recommend that people who usually shy away from honey give a fresher imp another try.

I feel like this has the same peach as Obligatory Peach hair gloss. Surprisingly, the peach stands out more than pumpkin and spices. That is not necessarily a complaint, but tells me that the Pumpkin Patch is my go-to for pumpkin-heavy scents. I would even go so far as to say this is closer to peach pie sans crust. This definitely leans heavier on the dessert side of things.

Before I really understood the notes in Dorian, this is what I expected Dorian to smell like. It's fresh and herbal enough to be unisex, but i personally feel like it leans a bit more masculine with the lavender and bergamot taking the stage. It does end up smelling clean, and a bit of the clean side. I can see the connection made by previous posters about smelling similar to a particular brand. It does walk that line, but manages to stay away from being too "perfumey". I think I'd recommend this to just about everyone who wanted something clean, lavender, and unisex.

Strangely, this is so pretty, but not milky nor creamy, but perfumey enough to put me off. I think it's the honey and the white wood. I think this would smell fantastic on the right person, but that is not me.

Smoky and ethereal. Based on the reviews I read for Liz, this is what I was expecting. But I feel like that's giving the wrong impression. There's no smoke in this. I think the tobacco leaf is evocative of a smoky room with someone laid out on a chaise lounge with sweet, creamy skin musk that is really amped with desire.

Wow, everyone is saying foodie vanilla, and I don't get that at all. I immediately feel like it's floral. That initial floral note is putting me off. Luckily, the patch starts to cover up the floral note. There's something still funky around the edges. I'm not sure if it's the sandalwood or copal. It eventually goes away, and I feel like I'm left with a sweet patch laying next to some vanilla bean pods that have been scraped clean. But there's still an incense vibe to it. This will smell beautiful on the right person.

This smells like something I've smelled before. Not necessarily a previous bpal, but something else. Maybe a candle from somewhere like World Market. Mangoes and strawberry are not the first thing that come to mind. There's a fruitiness, but it's surrounded by the the spiciness of the ginger, star anise, and eucalyptus which really stand out to my nose. It's like spicy, fancy fruit? It kinda feels like a room freshener that you would smell being pumped around a nice hotel.

First thought when wet: Oversweet. Funnel cake that was left out in the sun, sitting next to some honey, for a few hours.

Drydown: The typical Snake Oil comes out and evens out the funnel cakeness. Somehow the vegetalness sticks out slightly higher than normal, but it's not overwhelming.

Dry: It mellows out to a slightly sweeter Snake Oil. I feel like the powdered sugar is easy to pick out. It's nice, I can see this aging nicely.

Wet: BANANA!!🍌🍌🍌

Drydown: Fig and ylang ylang start to show up. Fancy bananas! Actually, bananas recede to the background quickly. Amber and guava start dancing around the fig and ylang and ylang.

Dry: This has a nice spa-like quality to it. Sweet, fruity, and comforting. Not entirely heavy on any one note. Very well-balanced, and a close skin scent.

Starts out: Almond and clean? Like fresh linen? Wow, I would not get any of the notes listed, except, perhaps, the lily. It's like a white floral that is quickly pushing away any gourmand notes, and leaning heavier on the laundry detergent side. Not enjoyable for me.

Drydown: Still a clean, white floral with more a bit more depth. It's pretty, but it's definitely not for me.

This is all pumpkin and coconut on me. Like Halloween on the islands. So nice and comforting.

Most people see anise, and think of black licorice. This is not that. This leans closer to salty, nuanced European absinthe sans alcohol, and it's not overpowering. Kinda like a burnt sugar that leans on the musky side. It's so simple, yet so hard to describe. I don't feel like the cardamom is easy to pick out, but grounds this nicely. This would be comparing it to the cardamom in Blueberries, Cream, and Cardamom. And the amber doesn't make it feel perfumey, as I'm used to amber doing.

I haven't smelled star anise in a while, so I'm realizing that I wrote this for regular anise, and that's not even listed in the notes. Yet, somehow, some of the lighter European absinthes still come to mind.

It's not in your face at all, but hangs out for a while. It's a very comforting scent to me. I know this would get lumped into gourmand, but I guess the way that my body chemistry reacts with the star anise and the cardamom, it feels more musky. Like kitchen musk, is that a category? It doesn't make me think of food, but is very comforting while being a great skin smell.

Coffee and Halloween. This is so evocative, but because it's lighter, and somehow ethereal. Like, I have a pumpkin coffee, which is super in-your-face. This is not that. Wow, what a fantastic blend that I can pick up the individual notes if I read them, but it blends so well together, each doesn't scream by itself.

Clove and carnation. This reminds me of the smell of walking into a flower shop. Just a comforting, generic shop smell. This didn't really change on me. I think this would make a great room spray.