theseagrows

this smells bright, green and effervescent at first. not what i was expecting. i think i am getting galangal root (looked it up and it's like a more citrussy ginger), cashmere and green velvet with a cologne that does not read as lilac (yet.) later on i think i get some frankincense and a tiny hint of rosewater. then the fig takes over and this goes plasticky, as bpal's fig can do. in a nutshell, effervescent green fig with cashmere. it's ok but that effervescence is just a bit too high pitched for me and the fig too sweet. i wish i got more velvet, leather and lilac but alas my skin is displaying most of the other notes of course.

for me, this one starts with ambrette, terebinth and cacao primarily. i find it to be cacao heavy at first. i think there's a hint of honey as well. after about 10 minutes i get some rose and cardamom and then it gets fairly sour. i love rose, in fact i love a lot of these notes, but this one is going strange on me...it might be due to the terebinth, which i have less familiarity with. it's like toasty and sour, i don't know. later on it dries down to a honey-myrrh thing. it morphs a lot and not all stages are great with my skin chemistry.

this starts with blood musk and saffron for me. a few minutes later i get amber and honey, sweetening things up a bit. however, i wouldn't call this too sweet overall. something in here is going a bit wonky on me, not sure what but adds a bit of sour sharpness (but not too strong.) I think maybe the saffron isn't playing nice with the other notes? although  i am not sure what is meant by 'red' amber either...overall it's a slightly smoky less sweet red musk on me.

this one starts with a lot of myrrh and black musk. the rose and labdanum bloom over time. this is a dry, smoky, resinous rose. smells very vintage to me. love it.

this starts as a very smoky jasmine with the other notes mixed in the background. it stays pretty linear on me...it's quite smoky, but not in an incense way, it's more like true smoke. i think it's the vetiver that adds that element to the incense. i get more patchouli and oud in the beginning than in the drydown. this is a like but not a love...the jasmine gets kind of soapy on me.

this definitely smells vintage to me-i get a lot of rosewater and powder with hint of gardenia. i think the gardenia adds a tiny whisper of greenness but overall this is a very rosy/powdery scent. not too sweet or dry. 

this starts with strong soapy orange blossom. i prefer the woodier/greener ones but this one is still ok. later i get frankincense, amber and hints of honey and pink peppercorn. it remains soapy on me but a bit more balanced after the drydown. a solid like but not a love for me.

not my 'usual' kind of scent but lately i've been dipping my toe into these types as i am lacking warm weather perfumes. this one is perfect-it's cool, green and bright. i get the musk, bamboo and grasses the most at first.  it's grassy, cool and wet. very refreshing and perfect for spring/summer.

fresh realistic lilacs. sometimes i just want a pure lilac scent and this seems to be it. after the drydown i get a hint of amber and vanilla, but this is primarily lilac on me. perfect for spring!

i get the gardenia and moonflower at first. this is a creamy gardenia. quite voluptuous and pretty. i get more vanilla flower over time, which just adds to the creaminess of the gardenia. this is SO pretty, if you love white florals especially. later on i get a hint of rose and the deeper notes along with moss, but the moonflower and gardenia dominate the florals. this smells like a sophisticated vintage perfume to me. it dries down to moss and white florals primarily, with a hint of amber. very pretty, and i may have to get a bottle of this!

this starts with a tea and narcissus note for me, with a hint of vetiver in the background. the narcissus note gets stronger over time, it's like flowers pushing through earth. the flowers are more realistic, not sweet at all. this is an earthy narcissus. later on the narcissus takes on an almost leathery quality. after the drydown this is SO pretty-it smells like a vintage perfume to me, and now i've decided i need a bottle of this.

this one starts as a honeyed cacao and red musk with a hint of patchouli. very chocolaty at first, but that dissipates some after awhile. after being on the skin about 10-20 minutes i get the vanilla and a small hint of leather. the tobacco comes out more later, but it's subtle. this is primarily a honeyed red musk with chocolate on me. the red musk is balanced, and does not overwhelm as it can sometimes. i like this one a lot-it's cozy.

i get rose soap with hints of spices and oud. no honey or amber per se. it's a refreshing rose with spice mostly. it has a vintage vibe, then after awhile the rose just gets stronger and stronger-it's almost sour. i love rose but sometimes it goes sour and it's happening here to an extent. i was sure i'd love this one as i love all these notes, but no, it's just turning to a soapy rose without much else-my skin chemistry is just not having this one.

this starts with the 'blue silk', oud, chamomile and sea salt i believe. it's kind of aquatic but not in the typical way. i am finding it difficult to describe, but must say that this oud is one of the better i've tried in bpal scents-not as barnyard as some others have been on me. i find this cool but also earthy. i get more woods, patchouli and florals as time goes on. it's very unique, and i can't recall smelling anything quite like this. it has a bit of a vintage vibe and i also think it's fairly unisex. once it dries down it's like florals and woods and somehow reminds me of dior's poison without the tuberose but jasmine--it has that similar feel. very opulent and vintage smelling. this one is a unique stunner if you ask me.

this starts with a creamy lemon, reminiscent of a lemon cake i recently had with creme fraiche frosting. so good. a minute or so later i get a hint of the amber, warming things up more. then unfortunately i get something sour and not lemony-sour but more like when i have perfumes that have a sour floral note, that smells like dying flowers. very weird and i am not sure what could be doing that here unless the cream decided to go wonky on me. sometimes gourmand/milk/cream notes do and sometimes they don't. before that i really liked this one-it was simple and joyful. i will have to give it another try later.

i get a lot of chocolate, and something that smells like burning rubber...i think it's chalk and tobacco. primarily chocolate and tire rubber. i am trying to reconcile this with the description and i am sort of getting it. wafting from afar it's somewhat reminiscent of pediophobia. that rubber quality calms down after awhile and i get a lot of white chocolate and tobacco in the drydown. this one is interesting but not something i think i'd want to wear that often.

2 notes i happen to love in 1. at first i get a creamy and somewhat indolic ylang with the bpal honey note that goes a bit sharp and the YY is amping it up in the beginning. the YY note is the strongest. i do love YY but think i prefer it paired with vanilla...like this YY ice cream i had once. however i love the honey note so i am still enjoying this a lot. it's a beautiful voluptuous tropical floral...get this if you like that sort of thing. 

a sweet floral vanilla scent. it's pretty but might be too sweet for me. i get lotus, cream, vanilla and almond blossom at first. then lotus and tea rose? first it smells like cherry blossom to me. then i get something that smells like dryer sheets in the background. this one is ok but too sweet and the dryer sheet thing is not working for me. maybe some kind of white musk? i am not sure what's doing that but it adds a sharpness i do not like.

i read it as musk but i guess it's actually incense? i get incense and greenery. green but earthy and then there is a warmth from the incense. a nice scent, which leans traditionally masculine. 

as the other reviewers have said, this does smell kind of peachy. maybe because the sweetness of the honey overwhelms the neroli? i'm not sure. i was really excited to try this but honestly i wanted more neroli...i am trying to find a scent like that trader joe's hand soap that is honey/orange blossom and thought this might be it. it's not bad, but is sweeter than i anticipated. 

this is a really interesting combination. the gardenia is lush and gorgeous. the labdanum is resiny and goes a bit sharp at first. later on the notes become fairly equally balanced, but gardenia wafts off the skin the most. i really like this one, as i was almost certain i would.

this starts with a sweetness from the honey with some ginger. it smells like some type of food but i dunno what. then i get the carnation. my skin seems to eat this up-i can barely detect it. it's a softly spiced, softly sweet scent. it's not bad but not great on me either-something goes bit plasticky here. a shame, as i love all these notes and am always seeking interesting carnation scents.

at first, i get mostly lilac and the beeswax is subtler (i recently tested second sight which has lilac and honey, and the lilac is stronger in this perfume than second sight.) the broom adds a coolness and amps up the lilac, i think as this is most prominently lilac. i do get more beeswax later but the lilac remains strong. later on it changes, i guess the bone and broomcorn are becoming stronger here- and it's hard to describe what it smells like but it's sort of herbal and green but there is a weirdness to it, at least on my skin. i enjoyed this more in the beginning when it was primarily lilac. the bone/broom does something strange on my skin.

this starts with orange blossom/neroli and candied ginger. it's a thicker orange blossom note, not so light and springlike as it often is. i really like this one a lot -it's a spicy, smoky orange blossom on me. this is a unique take on orange blossom and i love it.

this smells more like roses than rosehip, which i thought was more herbal (?) but maybe i'm wrong. i get a slightly watery rose with greenery along with ambrette at first. it  brings to mind rain on fresh flowers. the scent gets more and more earthy and bitter-this must be the mushroom note. however, in the past the mushroom note smelled different on me-more soft and almost musky. then the leather comes through last, tempering the sourness of the earthy notes. however, this is still overwhelmingly rosy on me. it's like a watery, clean rose, very springlike.