puellacaerulea

In the decant and on first applying, this is strong cedar and fig -- the strong evergreen note I'm getting from the cedar almost makes this seem like a winter scent at first. As it dries down, the honey, oakmoss, and tobacco notes get a lot more prominent, overtaking the cedar and giving the scent an almost powdery character. After some time, the cedar is mostly hanging out in the background, giving a subtle woodsy undertone to what's mainly a soft fig & honey scent. I'm reminded a little bit of Lilium Inter Spinas.

In the decant, I mainly just get the Lab's dead leaf note. Once it's on, the cedar and vetiver come out and play remarkably well with the dead leaf note. The nutmeg's in the background, giving a subtle spicy-sweetness to the scent. If you're curious about the dead leaf scents but are scared off by the "cologne-y" descriptions, this is potentially a good one to try -- here, the DL note blends with the cedar and vetiver to produce something smooth, dry, and woodsy, without the cologne-y bite you can sometimes get from the DL note. This one lasts long on me, but stays very close to the skin -- a plus if you want something subtle. I'd also say the vibe on this one is very unisex. I need to test this a few more times before I decide if I need a 5ml, but I'm glad I snagged a decant.

In the decant: Thick, sweet amber, mandarin, and ginger. I think the patch might be giving it that thick quality, but it's not gnarly or dirty-smelling. Once it's on: The amber and ginger take center stage, with the apricot and mandarin brightening things up. The ginger stays strong throughout. This is like a deeper, more complex version of Carnal -- bold, fruity, and spicy, with the amber grounding everything. Definitely evocative of shades of bright, autumnal orange. If you like ginger, definitely give this one a go. Medium-to-high throw. Not 100% sure if I need a full bottle, but definitely hanging onto my decant.

2014 version, because I apparently never reviewed it back when I first got it: In the bottle: The Lab's dead leaf note, extra strong and sharp, with maple and something darker and green in the background (the cypress?). After applying: The dirt note gets more noticeable, while the dead leaves amp up almost to the point of sourness. On drydown, the sour note calms down, and the whole scent softens into a deeper, darker, more complex version of the Dead Leaves & X scents. When I first purchased this during its original run, I found the dead leaves too high-pitched and sour, but it seems to have mellowed out with age. Very autumnal in a non-foodie way, and I'm glad I pulled the aged bottle out of my stash.

In the bottle: Limes! Freshly squeezed lime juice; the musk is barely detectable. Once I put it on, my skin starts amping the white musk like whoa. After a brief vaguely-like-cleaning-product stage, this settles down to a soft white musk with just a bit of lime giving it a more tart undertone. I imagined something like Villain, but the end result leans a lot more traditionally feminine. Light-to-medium throw. Glad I took a chance on this and want more Duets now.

In the bottle, this comes across as lavender-dominant with other herbal notes, with the resins giving it depth. Upon application, my skin really amps the resins, but the lavender doesn't completely go away. After drydown, the heavy resins soften a bit. Despite the strong resins, this is relatively low throw, and it takes an effort to detect it on my skin after about four hours. Lavender and frankincense are the notes that stand out most to me, both in the bottle and while it's morphing on my skin. If you're not a fan of frankincense (or generally resinous scents), you might want to skip this one, but otherwise this scent definitely captures the grounding, peaceful vibe mentioned in the description.

This one's soft leather with a slightly powdery note from the amber. The opoponax makes the scent a bit intense, but not overpowering. Much like Villain, I really love this, but it definitely leans traditionally masculine, possibly too much for me to pull off. Still going to hang on to my imp and keep testing it, though.

This one morphs in some surprising ways. In the imp, I don't really get the honey or lemon, but mostly dark musks and something that reads like myrrh to me, even though I know myrrh's not in the listed notes -- the in-the-imp and wet stages remind me a lot of Wicked. As it dries down, the honey and lemon peel come out in a big way -- the end result is a sticky-sweet lemon, with some background vetiver murkiness. Alas, this one's not for me.

In the imp: intense, varnished wood. Once applied, it softens considerably, and the rose and amber notes amp up a lot. The end result is a very soft rose/amber scent with the wood adding some depth in the background. Unfortunately, rose tends to turn to baby powder on me, so I eventually wind up with a very powdery sandalwood.

Was frimped this in a recent decant circle order. In the imp and at first sniff, it's very sweet, heavy on the vanilla, and has something that reads to my nose as slightly boozy, despite that not being listed in the notes. As it dries and warms up, the sweetness mellows out a bit and becomes more recognizably cake-like -- more of a slightly dry than a cloying sweetness, with a very faint fruitiness from the currants. Overall, the impression is full-on vanilla cake. Definitely one to try if you like vanilla or gourmand scents, but this one doesn't wow me as much as other food-y scents like Cockaigne or Miskatonic University.

This scent went through two very different stages on me, which seems appropriate! In the frimp and for the first couple hours on, I mostly get bright, fresh citrus with maybe a hint of lavender -- otherwise, I have a hard time detecting the other notes. After a couple hours, the citrus has almost completely faded, leaving me with an earthy herbal scent. I find the drydown stage kind of meh, but I'm curious to see if/how the notes change with age, so I'll be hanging onto my frimp.

In my frimp and during the wet stage, I get primarily lavender with something sharp, dark, and almost medicinal -- possibly the labdanum note, as it's not the sandalwood or tobacco note I'd expect. After a while on, the nag champa amps up and balances out the sharpness I noticed during the wet stage. It does have a bit of a head-shop vibe, so maybe skip this one if that's not your thing, but otherwise it's a dark, rich take on lavender. It's a little heavier than what I'd normally wear, but I agree with other reviewers that this makes a good night/sleep scent, so I'll definitely be holding onto my frimp.

Pretty much exactly what it says on the tin -- fresh grass notes and a sweet vanilla that doesn't morph too much on me. It's actually sweeter than what I imagined, but not overpoweringly so. If you enjoy green/grassy scents, definitely give this one a try.

[No additional description given.] In the bottle: Mainly the leather accord and bourbon vanilla; the dead leaf note and clove are barely noticeable. Right after applying: CLOOOOOOOOOOVES. All of the cloves. They're overwhelming everything else. On drydown: The clove note stays really strong, but the scent balances out more, with the leather and dead leaf notes becoming more prominent. The bourbon vanilla note ends up really subtle compared to how the oil smells in the bottle. Overall: It's like a sexy, spicy pile of leaves. (It reminds me of Leather Phoenix, except clovier. Seeing as I dread the day that I run out of Leather Phoenix, I welcome anything similar.) For me, this is definitely a keeper, but you should probably bypass this one if you're at all on the fence about clove.

2018 version: This one morphs a lot! In the decant, I get leaves -- not quite as sharp as the dead leaf note I've gotten used to, but green and vegetal. Once it's on, I start getting a slightly sweet, creamy, and vaguely minty note that plays better with the green notes than I would have expected. The effect really is that of fall and winter scents in one place. After a few hours, I mostly get that sweet and creamy note and have a hard time detecting the leaves. I like it, but the end stage on me is similar enough to other BPAL snow-type scents that I'm not sure if I need a full bottle.

I picked up a decant of this because BPAL's leather note tends to work well on me, but this one was unusual -- intense iris at first, with the leather coming out to balance it, but then a sour note emerging after drydown. I picked my decant up again after letting it sit for a couple of weeks, and settling may have been a good thing -- on more recent tests, I'm no longer getting the sour note, but more a blend of cognac, soft leather, and leaves with the iris adding a slight floral sweetness.

In the decant, I get sweet-ish pumpkin along with the musk and oudh -- unusual, but really nice and well-balanced. After I apply it, I get something that smells like cinnamon to me, which I'm less jazzed about, but it does fade after about an hour. After drydown, the pumpkin fades into the background, and I mostly get dark musk and oudh with a subtle sweetness to it. I may try this one in a scent locket, as I like the more pumpkin-forward scent from the decant. I probably don't need a full bottle of this, but will definitely hold onto my decant.

This is a very soft, clean, and subtle floral. The lavender and honeysuckle stand out most to me in the decant, with a bit of white musk. Once it dries down on me, it smells like that ambient scent you get in a Lush shop (and I don't mean that in a bad way!). Wear time isn't bad, but it stays really close to the skin on me. If you want a low-key, work-appropriate floral, give this one a try.

In the decant, I get mostly dandelion and honeysuckle. Once it's on, the dandelion and honeysuckle stay most prominent, with something sweeter and warm (but not foody) in the background, which I'm guessing is either the fur or the carrot note. Overall, it's a light, sweet, and green floral with good wear length and medium-to-low throw. I can see wearing this in warm weather as well as the fall, and might get a bottle to replace my soon-to-run-out bottle of Flor de Muerto, which has been my go-to when I want a fresh, non-overwhelming floral.

In the decant, it's the strong, green, bitter version of the dead leaf note. After applying, the leaves calm down as the incense note amps up. The end result is surprisingly subtle and balanced compared to the impression you'd get from the bottle -- mostly dusty, dry, non-overwhelming vanilla and incense notes with a hint of dead leaves in the background. Throw and wear length are fairly low on me. I can see this one being a crowd-pleaser. Right now I'm not sure if I'm wowed enough to need a full bottle, but will probably keep reaching for my decant through the fall.

I get mostly vetiver with this one, but it blends with the vanilla and dead leaves in a way that makes it woody with just a hint of sweetness. I was also picking up something a little off-puttingly ozone-like at first, but it seems to go away on drydown. This is a little more classically perfumey than some of the other dead leaf blends, but I think in a good way.

The maple note is definitely dominant in this one, both in my decant and on my skin. It plays really well with the dead leaf note, though -- the notes balance out to something warm, dry, and sweet without being cloying (as opposed to the bitter, green scent people sometimes get with the dead leaves). If maple sounds even a little bit appealing to you, this is one to try.

In the decant, I get all the tobacco. Lots of warm, rich, slightly spicy pipe tobacco. Can't really make out the black tea or dead leaves as yet. Right after applying, the tobacco stays front and center, and the slightly spicy note dies down some. After drydown, the dead leaf note comes out a little more, giving the tobacco a slightly green bite. I have a hard time differentiating the black tea note from the leaves and tobacco, but there is something to the combination of those notes that reminds me of freshly brewed black tea. If you like tobacco but tend to find the dead leaf note too strong in other Pile of Leaves blends, this might be one to try -- the dead leaf note is detectable on drydown, but tobacco is definitely the dominant note here. Overall: very warm and rich; fall-friendly; definitely unisex; medium-ish throw and good wear length. Definitely getting a full bottle of this.

In the frimp: Mostly heady, sticky-sweet honey, plus red wine. Not picking up any other notes yet. Once it's on: The myrrh amps up right away and takes the scent out of cloying territory. The honey is still a dominant note, but the myrrh and wine balance it out nicely, adding a spicy/resinous depth. Good wear length, without significant morphing after the myrrh initially amps up. I like this a lot more than I thought I would on first sniff. Not totally sure I'd wear this often enough to warrant a bottle, but we'll see how fast I go through the frimp.

In the imp: sweet coconut and rum, immediately followed up with strong, smoky, sharp tobacco. It's like a less obviously gourmand version of the October 2017 version of 13. This doesn't morph significantly on me, though the tobacco mellows out a bit and gets similar to pipe smoke (that sharp edge never quite goes away, though). This is primarily a sweet scent, but reads very unisex (almost leaning more conventionally masculine) to me -- the tobacco keeps this from going into full "girly" sweetness. I'm still undecided on whether the tobacco is too much for me -- going to hang onto my frimp and test a few more times.