benthic

When I first put this on, AGGGGHHH. Rosemary! All rosemary, astringent and herbal and just, ugh. It was awful. The story is, I had a bottle of a blend that did not work on me at all, and someone offered me Catherine for it, and I looked at the notes and went, "Rose! Orange blossom! I will love this!" So I agreed to the swap. Testing it for the first time, I regretted it pretty fast, because it was just as bad on me as the other blend. Just straight-up herbs, and not the kind I like. So disappointing. I didn't wash it off, though, and about half an hour later I happened to have my hand to my nose, and--! Lovely rose! Rose with a hint of herbal and orange to it. It's actually really nice--who knew? After that initial WHOA CHICO, it settles down into a rose blend I can handle and enjoy, as the rosemary fades into the background, sharpening the blend and giving it some depth. Not bad at all. The rose is very similar to the rose in Pride, and, ultimately, that's why I'll swap this away; I like this blend, but I have a bottle of Pride, and with Pride I don't have to wait half an hour to enjoy what I'm wearing. I am pleasantly surprised by how this turned out after leaving it on for a while, but rose is my favorite note, and as such I have enough rose in my repertoire to not really need to hang on to this one.

Honey-lemon-pine on me wet. I amp honey a lot, which means I often can't wear it, or rather I can wear it but every honey blend smells the same on me. This is probably why I'm getting more honey out of this than a lot of you. This is very nice with my chemistry. The strong honey note balances the pine/lemon-ness of it perfectly, making it a nice green herbal-smelling honey (not unlike Osun). I can see how this would be very astringent on someone else, but on me it's an awesome backdrop to the honey, something that makes it smell different on me than the typical BPAL honey blend. It has a very "things you would put in tea" feel without an actual tea note. As it stays on, my skin amps the honey even more and everything else fades into the background, which is disappointing but typical for me. As fairnymph said, though, this doesn't smell like the Lab's usual honey note. There is a very notable difference between this honey and the honey in, say, Jezebel. This smells fresher and less powdery, sweeter and lighter. It's very, very nice. I'm sad that it's become so dominant over the resin and the lemon, but it still manages to not smell exactly like every other honey blend ever. A lovely sticky-sweet blend with no trace of the baby powder that I usually get with BPAL's honey notes, tempered just slightly by citrus and resin/herbal. This is gorgeous on me and probably my new go-to honey blend when I'm in a honey mood. ETA my cat also likes this, amusingly. Usually he flinches away from my perfume when I'm testing it, but he tried to lick this one off my hand.

Wet on my skin, Serpents is very aquatic; it reminds me a lot of a greener Olokun, The Deep Ones, blends like that. I'm guessing that's because the aquatic blends tend to have that grapefruit note in them, and Serpents has that same sharp citrusness. As it dries it begins to lose the watery quality and becomes even sharper, more herbal and stronger. It's stronger the longer I have it on, which is a little weird for me. A previous reviewer mentioned that this blend is very unisex, and it is; it's a lot more masculine than I expected, like a very nice cologne. A very nice cologne indeed. I really like this, but I'm not sure it's something that works on me. I will have to retest it, because when I test a blend and get that "This is nice but it's just not my thing" feeling, half the time I swap it away and half the time it ends up one of my favorites ever after another test or two. But at the moment, I'm left going "This is absolutely gorgeous, but it's just not what I smell like." As it dries further it's becoming a little more red-fruity, just a bit, so it definitely needs another test. I wonder if my father would consider wearing BPAL?

Exactly what it says on the tin. Chamomile and vanilla. The chamomile is playing nicely on me, though, and not overpowering the vanilla of the blend. There's something very fresh about this, almost aquatic, in a strange way. The smokiness is just the barest hint, which I'm happy for, as I tend not to go for that. This is gorgeous. Sadly, its throw is basically nil, and it doesn't seem like it's going to last on me either. It's so beautiful but so subtle. I can't decide what to do with it; I usually don't keep blends that I can barely smell, but this is lovely and unlike anything else I have. Maybe I'll hang on to it to dab on before bed or something, because it has such a relaxing, soft smell. This would be a Holy Grail blend if I were at all convinced that anyone standing more than four inches away from me could smell it.

An itch that needs to be scratched: Snake Oil and three types of honey. Oh, I got a halfie of this to test--awesome! I'm so happy to see what all the fuss is about. . . . Sadly, it's wasted on me with my skin chemistry. I amp honey a whole lot, so much that almost every honey blend smells identical on me. Womb Furie is sadly no exception. It's a good smell, because I do like the Lab's honey note, but I might as well be wearing pure O, or Crib Girls, or Jezebel (my favorite honey), or Osun (this is what this blend reminds me of the most). Nice, but I have no reason to keep it. I can see this getting awesome when it ages and the Snake Oil thickens and starts to come out a bit more, but when I want Snake Oil, I'll stick to Asp Viper. Time to pass on the honeyed Snake Oil love to someone else!

Finally, I have my hands on some TKO, and I can see what all the rage is! As some background, I am not a lavender fan at all, and some of the Lab's lavender blends make me feel pretty sick (especially Paris). I thought I hated it across the board, but after testing Bat of Longevity, Bow and Crown, Quicksilver Phoenix, and Corazon, I've figured out that I do sometimes actually enjoy it. This blend usually gets mentioned to me as the best Lab lavender and something I need to try, and I've finally got my hands on a quarter decant to test out. In the imp: lavender and vanilla! The lavender keeps doing this weird thing where it seems really sharp and then seems really creamy and soft. Wet on my skin: . . . Hmm, not bad. It's not so sharp/strong I need to wash it off, which is what I get out of many lavenders. I usually find that when I can get through the wet stage of a lavender blend, I end up liking it a lot once it dries. I'm also getting . . . anise? I haven't read the other reviews yet, so I'm not sure if that's a common occurrence (I usually hear this blend described to me as lavender and vanilla marshmalllows). And that's mostly what it is as it dries, lavender plus vanilla plus marshmallow, but I get that little hint of black licorice in there too, adding some sweet spice to an otherwise smooth and mellow blend. I think people were right--this is very nice, my favorite lavender after Bat of Longevity (which ironically doesn't last on me). The other notes in it cut the lavender enough that it doesn't make me want to scrub, and then it dries down into a very nice smooth subtly spicy blend. I let my mother sniff my wrist without telling her what was on it--she dislikes lavender too--and she went "Mmmm!" So maybe this is the lavender-haters' lavender after all. I don't think I'd want to actually wear it as a perfume, and I'm not sure how much it would help me sleep, but it feels like something I'd like to dab on my pillow anyway and snuggle into after a hot shower. Or on my bathrobe . . . that's sounding pretty good right now. I like this better than the prototype, which I've also had the opportunity to sniff. I'd heard they were similar, but I think the released version is a lot nicer.

I have a confession to make, which is that after all this time sniffing and testing BPAL, I honestly still did not know what musk smells like. But I think I've finally pinned it down. This is musk and herbal, definitely. Green musk. The musk reminds me of my beloved Buck Moon (so I had an idea of what musk smelled like, yeah, but this is the confirmation!) and then there's added greenery on top. I like the musk, but the green/herbs/thingie sharpens it and makes it a stronger blend of this type than I'd like to wear; I prefer my musks to be really subtle and soft (again, like Buck Moon). This is like that smell/feeling amplified just a bit higher than I enjoy. The herbalness gives it almost a slight, vague medicinal quality. It reminds me of . . . lip balm? Weird. I notice that while my initial reaction was "hnnngh I dunno," though, I keep going back to sniff it some more, which is often what happens to me with blends that end up being favorites of mine; I'll dislike them for a few minutes and then feel compelled to sniff and retest again and again (Hod, Asp Viper, Buck Moon). Now I am noticing the vanilla that someone else mentioned, and it's cutting the herbal/balmness of this a bit in a way that's sort of nice. Now I'm undecided about this. I think I'll be retesting it again soon. Creamy vanilla, musty musk, and sharp herbal--it's a weird but not exactly unpleasant combination.

In the imp: holy crap, this is strong. I thought the imp had leaked, because as soon as I opened the package (which contained like, 10 imps) I could smell this blend. But I can find no signs of the imp having leaked. It's not wet or greasy and the label isn't saturated. All the same, I can smell the closed imp itself from two feet away--wow. It smells like lavender and . . . spice? I swear I'm getting lavender and cinnamon. Wet on my hand: the lavender immediately vanishes, bizarrely. All I can smell fresh is the sage. I'm not even getting amber yet, and I'm pretty sensitive to the smell of amber. I can tell that this is going to get really complex as it dries, though, because it keeps shifting a little--I can sense the musk behind the sage. Drying: The sage is getting tempered by a sweetness I can't really place; it's not lavender. Oh, I guess that'd be the mango! It's not foody at all or even strongly fruity, just . . . sweet. Mango plus sage sounds like a sharp combination, but it's not at all, probably because the amber and musk are hanging out in the background to soften it up without really screaming "amber and musk"! As for the lavender, it's very subtle. It's there, but it's almost like I can get it in the back of my throat when I sniff my hand rather than me actually being able to smell it. I'm getting the feeling I get when I smell lavender without actually smelling lavender, which is strange, but not in a bad way. It looks like this is how it's going to stay, with the lavender slowly peeping out a little more over time. Sage and some lavender tempered with mango-sweetness and smoothed out by very subtle amber and musk. I'm surprised that on my skin the blend is very understated, as opposed to how it smells in the imp. It's not disappearing, but it's close to the skin like a red haze. I like the smell of this quite a bit, but I don't think it's me; I tend not to go for herbal blends (or for lavender, tbh). I will probably pass it on to someone who will give it some more love. I enjoy the scent quite a lot but can't imagine when I would wear it. I'm so glad I got to try it! ETA I was wrong; after a while dry on my skin, the sage fades quite a lot, and now it's a lot more mango than it was. It's more of a dry, spicy fruit smell than a fresh fruit smell. Like dried mangoes being displayed alongside bundles of dried sage and lavender for cooking. The previous reviewer mentioned that it reminds her of an international market, and I can see exactly what she means.

I ended up with an imp of this in a swap--it's fantastic! I am a big fan of the Lab's metal note, but in many blends it has a tendency to amp up on me and get too masculine (I had this problem with Tin Phoenix and to a lesser extent with Phosphorus). This is the second blend after Metal Phoenix to dodge that bullet; in fact, it's very reminiscent of MP to me. A nice, subdued Lab-metal softened by--my nose is bad for this stuff but there's a slight creaminess tempering the metal-sharpness, possibly musk? A hint of floral behind that? It's very much like a less sweet Metal Phoenix, without being astringent. Lovely. There is possibly the tiniest hint of lemon/citrus/verbena in the creamy way that I also get out of Albedo v.5. The longer this stays on, actually, the more it reminds me of Albedo with added metallic, as it softens up. Overall, I do prefer MP a bit for the added sweetness and longevity, but this is another fantastic metal-ozone blend which is clean and fresh and just a tiny bit sweet without being masculine or astringent.

Someone frimped me a tester of this! Yep, it's violet. It's Asphodel only sweeter and warmer, more sugary-powdery, and I haven't had it on too long at this point (I've got a lot to test today!) but it seems stronger too. I'm a big violet fan, so this is very nice, but I prefer the cooler sharpness of Asphodel (and Queen Gertrude) over this, I think. I'm glad I got to try it!

I tested this not expecting to like it at all. I wasn't very familiar with gardenia, but I think of it as one of the "big, stinky white flowers" I dislike; I'm a floral fan, but I tend to go for rose and violet and peony and tulip. To my surprise, this is really, really nice, so I guess I like gardenia after all. It is a big stinky white flower, but it's muted by aquatic notes and sharpened by ginger (which I amp, and I'm very thankful that's not happening here). I get an almost banana smell out of it; that's what I would liken the gardenia to, a banana-y flower. If you like florals, it's a lovely blend, powerful without being cloying.

This is a dead ringer for Fig Newtons, if Fig Newtons had just a hint of orange. I get a dried, spicy fig note rather than a "fresh" one, which was unexpected but really nice; foody and spice usually don't work at all on me, but this does. It really does have a warm, earthy, spicy, figgy cookie smell, with some nice tart orange thrown into the mix. Absolutely gorgeous and unexpected. I'm so glad this is GC so I can slather it without guilt, because this really doesn't last on me. I usually don't keep blends that don't last on me, but this is GC and so nice that I definitely wouldn't mind just throwing an imp into my purse and reapplying every two hours. It's so rare for me to find ANYTHING warm and spicy that doesn't just smell like potpourri.

I didn't really expect to like this, but I do. It reminds me very strongly of Roadhouse; I guess the poppy note is similar to the dandelion note. The problem I had with Roadhouse was that it was so true to life that it made my throat close up a little when I'd wear it, but so far that's not happening with this one, and I hope it stays that way. It would be nice to have a substitute for Roadhouse, which I've been missing lately. It's a weedy, green, herbal floral with just a hint of red juice and honey. I usually amp honey, but that's not happening here, and I'm glad; I don't need yet another O. So far this is a keeper, which really surprised me! I love coming across new loves in unexpected places. It is fading quickly, though, which saddens me.

Ah! Now I know what mallow smells like. When I dabbed this on, I got "Metal Phoenix" right away without being able to identify why. That would be why; they both have a strong mallow note and a metallic sheen. This reminds me a lot of a less sweet Metal Phoenix (and a less masculine/sharp Tin Phoenix as well). It definitely does smell like silver, shiny and smooth and light. It's well-blended and beautiful. Strangely, though, it's just not doing much for me. It might be because I prefer Metal Phoenix; I've been generally disappointed in other metallic blends since I tried it (Tin and Silver Phoenixes, Phosphorus v.5). There is something about this one that's just barely on the wrong side of cloying, while MP manages to fall just barely on the right side. I'm thrilled I got to try this (unexpectedly; it was a frimp) but I don't think it's something I'll wear, even though I can appreciate the beauty of it and how well it fits the theme.

I am really, really bad at picking out florals. I managed to pick up an imp of this, though, and I love it. It actually reminds me of my very favorite blend, Rubedo v.4. That one doesn't list notes, of course, so I can't tell what note it has in common, but one of these florals is also in that; the similarity is uncanny. I am getting a lemongrass note, which amps on me, but not as much in this as usual. The cedar is definitely there underneath. Overall, I can see why some people get "bathroom cleaner" out of it, because I can see that association, but . . . in a very pleasant way, if such a thing is possible. I get citrus and wood and floral and juicy fruit, and it's nice on me.

This sounded like a can't-miss blend for me, but now that I'm trying it, I'm so disappointed. On me, it's potpourri and grape. I have no idea what note is making it into potpurri on my skin, but all I get is cheap fruity cinnamon. Very strong, too. Even if it settles down a little when it dries further--it hasn't so far--I don't think this is something I'd want to wear through the potpourri stage. I'm guessing the plum and pomegranate is what's giving me this strong fruit, but carnation is usually a never miss on me, so I'm surprised and sad that it's giving me the entirely wrong kind of spice in this blend. No vanilla or honey or booze or sandalwood at all, woe.

I managed to score a bottle of this, and when I put it on--it's Queen Gertrude! A purer form of Queen Gertrude, almost a single note. Queen Gertrude is one of my very favorite floral blends, so I'm pleased with this one. I don't know which flower it is in QG that is the flower of Asphodel, but it's the major one (or at least the one I amp most), so I'm assuming it's violet. Earlier in this thread people mentioned wisteria too, another note in Queen Gertrude, so I wouldn't be surprised. But either way, this is gorgeous, soft and sweet without being fake or cloying.

CAT PEE. Well, now I know blackberry doesn't work on me. Oh wow. (Though I don't have this issue with Glasgow.)

I've been culling my stash lately, and I hadn't retested this blend in a while. I was waffling on whether or not to sell it off, but I decided to try it again first. I generally have bad luck with cake/cookie/baked goods blends because I amp the butter note; I usually just end up smelling like margarine. Huesos de Santo is by far the best cake blend on me. I do amp the butter, but only for a minute, and then it settles down into sweet cakey vanilla and a very light orange. After a while the anise comes out, pleasantly sharp, and then ultimately it fades again and I end up with a delicious foody vanilla blend. The throw is pretty light, but it's decently long-lasting on me (I tested it on my wrist and can still smell it after 3-4 handwashings, unlike the other blends I was testing at the same time). This one's a keeper after all!

I REALLY dislike lavender. I'm fine with it when it's very light and even enjoy it, but I amp it a lot, and my nose is very sensitive to it. The only BPAL lavender I'd ever found that worked on me was Quicksilver Phoenix, and even that made me slightly queasy. A kind forum member sent me a set of six or so sniffies of lavender blends (including TKO), and of all of them, the only one I could stomach at all was Bat of Longevity. Then, unexpectedly, I lucked into a bottle. Finally, a lavender I can stand and even adore! I think it's because I amp verbena so much; on me, this Bat smells like lemon with a light lavender component and a whiff of peach. It's absolutely gorgeous, exactly the kind of light, barely-there-but-still-THERE lavender that I can handle and love. I am so happy to have fulfilled my lavender needs forever. The only downside is that it doesn't last on me at all. I love it, but my skin eats it after a couple of hours tops. I will have to slather this, and I would probably sell or swap it if it weren't the ONLY lavender I can handle, because it makes me sad when my smellies stop being smelly that quickly. But I am hanging on to it, because I love it and was lucky to get it.

Augh, nono. I was so looking forward to this blend because of the reviews describing it as sweet and creamy and juicy with a hint of spice. I don't get any of that out of this at all. All I get is the death note that I've always thought of as "black pepper" (because it's the same death note that's in War and Hand of Glory, and that's the only note they have in common). It might not actually be black pepper (it could be dragon's blood, although I didn't think I disliked that so much), but whatever it is, it's in there and I amp it and it's all I smell. No sweetness, no cream or floral. I am so sad about this one. ETA that looking at it again, War doesn't actually list black pepper, just "black spices." It has red musk too, but Hand of Glory doesn't. So I have no idea what is in all three blends that is so offensive to my nose.

The story: I made the mistake of asking for Lead Phoenix in a decant circle, not realizing that tobacco is a death note on me, and when I did I asked my decanter to swap me to Quicksilver Phoenix. I am in general not a fan of lavender, but I wasn't sure what else to ask for that was still available, so I figured I'd take a chance on it and see if I could make an exception. After getting the opportunity to test several lavender blends, though, and not liking any of them, I switched again, to Hod--but when my package came, QP was in it anyway along with Hod, presumably as a frimp (or a mistake ). Very surprisingly for a lavender blend, I like it so far, although it's incredibly strong. I dabbed on just a tiny bit on my hand, and I can smell it from two feet away. But it's not offending my nose the way most lavender does (including stuff like TKO). The lavender is dampened by the other notes; I have to confess that I have no idea what cinnabar, mastic, or elemi smell like, but what I'm getting is "something spicy and white and floral that manages to temper the lavender." There's some resin coming out as well, something that manages to ground a mostly bright blend. I like it, which is nothing short of shocking, seeing as I've disliked Paris, TKO, Lilith Victoria, Bat of Longevity, and two or three other lavender blends, and thus I'd entirely given up on lavender as a note. But the lavender here, while noticeable and definitely the star of the show, is effectively balanced by these mysterious other notes, and I end up with a resinous, spicy floral which I don't dislike. I won't be going for a bottle, because I still don't like lavender that much, but I'll hang on to this decant for sure, and when I need some lavender in my life this is where I'll reach.

When I picked out this blend to try, I'm not sure what I was expecting--something more floral and sandalwoody, I think, with some resin. Instead, citrus! I was not expecting a very nice orange blend out of this, but well, there it is. The rose is there, but it's very subtle at first, which is a feat on me (as I both love rose and tend to amp it, so in any rose blend it's what I end up focused on). The patchouli is also very subtle, which is good, as some patchouli blends are just awful on me. And shockingly, I'm not amping the honey either; all honey blends tend to smell alike on me, but this is not one of them. As it dries, the orange fades and the rose comes out to play, but it's rose with the sweet tang of citrus. Everything else is in the background. I actually don't get the honey at all. This one also has the weird property of fading almost entirely and then suddenly resurrecting itself, in true phoenix style. The stage between the orange-heavy and the rose-heavy phases is very light, and I was disappointed that the oil had faded so quickly into nothing on my skin, but minutes later the rose amped it up again with a vengeance. Orange, rose, and spice is what I get out of this, and I'm very happy with it. Not sure yet about a bottle, but I'm keeping it in mind, because I do love a good citrus blend.

Wow, this one is stronger than I expected. Others are right that just dab'll do ya. I'm really torn on this blend. I like carnation, and I like masculine blends, but there's something very powerful about this; while it's not offensive to my nose or anything and is in fact very nice, I can't tell yet if it's something I want to wear. It's aggressive but also sexy, which isn't really my thing; I prefer my sexy blends to stay close to the skin and subtle, which Hod does not do. I throw it quite a lot. It's a nice spicy heady musky floral, but it's the sort of blend I wouldn't want someone to smell from ten feet away, and when my nose is pressed to my hand it's too strong to be enjoyable. But the scent itself is really nice, full of spice and sex. I just can't decide. I'll hang on to the decant for now, but I'm not sure about getting more. Edit, later on, after testing again: I can't stop smelling my hand, which I think says something, as strong as this blend is and as dubious as I was at first. Very, very sexy.

I was really excited for this scent, as the description reminded me of Metal Phoenix, but when I noticed lemongrass in the notes I was sort of wary. I have this tendency to amp lemongrass like crazy. Thankfully, testing Tin Phoenix, it looks like I've dodged that bullet. The lemongrass is noticeable as a lemony tang, but it's not at all overwhelming or cloying on me, as it often is in blends (like Namaste). Tin Phoenix reminds me of a more masculine/citrusy and less sweet Metal Phoenix. The metallic note is exactly the same, but the undernotes are very different. It does smell very tinny to me, exactly what I'd expect of a tin-themed blend, and almost like a nice men's cologne. It is more masculine than I expected. I like masculine blends myself, so I have no qualms about wearing it (and I will wear it, it's really lovely), but if you're not into that kind of thing, it might not be for you. There's nothing girly at all about this one. Overall it's a winner, and I'm so glad the lemongrass didn't crazily amp on me!