strahlend

Very appealing in the decant and when first applied to the skin. I love the champaca.

 

It's kind of starting to smell like vitamins. I think it's the vetiver.

 

Ah, the champaca comes back after a brief stint of vetiver. It's lightly incensy, in an airy, almost fruity way, but with a bit of dirty depth to it.

 

Dries down to... it's nice, but didn't make a strong impression on me either way. It's a pleasant scent, but I'm not in love.

Smells fantastically pine pitch and wonderful in the decant, on my skin after a while it just goes straight to oakmoss and stays there being loud and oakmossy.

This is the surprise hit of my Philharmonic decants.

 

In the decant it seems kind of jumbled and not too promising.

 

On my skin the red musk, myrrh and tobacco form a pleasant red musky-incense sort of smell which is pretty nice. When I stuck my wrist under my partners nose he says it smells like walking into a hippy occult shop, which is a nice association for both of us, I agree.

The red musk stays mellow and soft without going powdery and the geranium doesn't amp up crazy. Everything stays really nicely balanced and just smells incensy and wonderful. This is the bottle purchase out of the bunch.

In the decant, mostly incensey plum.

 

On the skin the pine really pops out first and is nicely backed up with some tart sweetness. I assume the tart floral counterpart is the geranium, but the tobacco absolute is playing a part in rounding it out, which makes it distinctive. The tobacco seems to be pushing forward, which is fine because I like it.

 

It ends up smelling very much like a sweet chewy tobacco with the feeling of opium, which I mean as a rich, hazy, musky sort of scent with a sharp edge to it.

The tobacco and hazy musk become so intense and sweet that the scent has become cloying and just too much for me after a little while.

Reading my own review I would buy this scent, but actually experiencing it, it was just too sweet and too loud. One of those scents I think I would rather get a whiff of off of someone else rather than be in the middle of it all day long.

I smell mostly cedar and sweet lavender with just a touch of pine at the start.

It has a fresh, natural, effortless sort of feel to it.

 

I'm not sure if my hair routine has changed or if it's this gloss, but it seems just a little heavier than the others I've tried. I wish my hair wasn't so fine and oily, this smells so fantastic I would love to load up my hair with Shiny Furball.

I agree with those who get a feeling of benzoin in this blend, there's a sweet bite to it that isn't the vanilla or the frankincense.

 

Generally I'm getting sweet vanilla with a sort of airy-light version of frankincense. It reminds me a bit of the atmosphere spray House of Unquenchable Fire due to the common notes. I love the spray and I love having a similar scent to wear.

 

I wish it lasted a little longer on my skin, but sometimes it's just like that. I'll try it in a scent locket to see if that keeps it around longer, but ultimately the scent is so lovely that I'm perfectly fine with just reapplying more often.

In the bottle I detect a thick and syrupy patchouli (not the rooty, bitter kind), more than a hint of almond, and just a hint of the frankincense and even less cumin.

On my skin the cumin charges straight to the front and center, backed up by a patchouli almond fusion.

Cumin is an interesting spice, with the other sweet and resinous notes behind it I get more of a spice shop feeling rather than a savory or animalistic vibe.

It takes about five minutes for the cumin to back down and for the patchouli almond resin hybrid to resume being the dominant notes in the blend. The cumin continues to maintain a presence, but the sweet patchouli mix does eventually beat it into submission.

The longer the scent has to settle in the more atmospheric it becomes. It's the kind of scent that swirls around you and it's hard to pinpoint exactly what or where it's coming from. Late in the dry down it has become a soft, incensy, sweet and resinous dominantly patchouli blend. Not for the faint of heart, but a marvelous masterpiece for those who enjoy unusual patchouli experiences.

I think I remember being not too interested when this first came out but then I got a decant from someone and fell in love.

 

It reminds me almost exactly of the Mlle Lilith Fortune Teller perfume. Very similar incense and pom. Mlle Lilith is one of my favorites and having this spray is simply fantastic. I'm just sad that I only have one bottle.

I'm really enjoying Liz.

 

Starts out with spring like flowers and sweet vanilla.

The flowers fade to the background and the vanilla and leather mix into a sweet feminine leather.

Then the smoke comes forward and mixes with the sweet leather and just hangs on being subtly girly and sexy at the same time.

 

Fantastic scent story and wonderful fragrance. I'm very happy to have this bottle.

My thanks to arsinoe9 and BoneBone24 for the great suggestions. I like the take on the inviting aspect of being a receptionist with the tea notes. I actually like and have all of those scents I think. I'm really comfortable in Dorian and I'm head over heels for Ambergris SN, it makes me feel like a classy lady. Hmmmmm.... thanks again for the ideas!

I will be interviewing at an environmental law firm for a receptionist position.

I wear BPAL every day and wouldn't quite feel right without it. I would like a scent that comes across as competent, confident, and professional. The kind of person you would trust to greet fancy guests at the door and to make sure all the lunch orders are correct. This isn't usually the kind of thing I'm thinking of when I'm sniffing, so I'm at somewhat at a loss. Help?

This is the decant I was most looking forward to. I love all of the listed notes and almost got a bottle unsniffed because I felt so confident it would work.

 

The initial pungent ginger doesn't throw me off because it's similar-ish to how other strong gingers start out, so I'm ok there. Unfortunately though the sharp ginger edges are only made sharper by the pepper and clove and given a sort of sour or spoiled aspect with the jasmine (I do often enjoy jasmine) and then charred by the vetiver. It is certainly thematic, but it is not pleasant for me to wear.

 

The scent remains charred, sharp, sour and pungent during the dry down and by the time it's fully dry I'm sick of smelling it. I love the idea of this combination of notes, the execution was just a bit too on the nose. Wear this to inflict your inner dragon on those around you.

I think this might be an unusual view, but for me Humpback Whale was the hit of this update. I love mint notes in the snow blends, the snowy minty floral of the (discontinued) Macabray, and the dirty minty pennyroyal in Mad Hatter but do not have as much love for some of the Lick It blends because I find them a bit too stark.

Humpback whale starts off bracingly minty with a bit of snow complexity and ends up a multi-dimensional ambergris. It's a fascinatingly beautiful and complex blend that is gorgeous from top to bottom. It will certainly be in heavy rotation this summer.

In the bottle I get a rich, sweet mix of patchouli, vanilla, and almond.

 

On my skin it is the same as above with a hint of a nutty sweetness. It develops into a lovely sweet patchouli leather.

 

In the scent locket it goes pretty much directly to leather and stays there. It's the smell of a broken in leather jacket, not chemical new but not the supple suede kind either, somewhere in between. There is still a hint of sweetness, but it's the leather that prominently wafts up from my scent locket.

 

This is pretty much amazing and I'm sure it will age really well too.

 

ETA

I slathered this on the other night and when my son wandered into the room he said it smelled like cherries and my partner agreed. A little disappointing that the almond reads that way, but I remember encountering that response in reviews before.

Starts out a bit too grape-y for my taste and reminds me that I overlooked Syrah in the notes (how?)

 

However, this scent quickly morphs into a very sensuous, spiced, musky, softly clove and wine kind of scent.

 

It clearly reminds me of my earlier days going dancing, drinking wine and smoking cloves in incensy rooms. After a while it mellows out to a sweet round resin. It is distinct. This particular combination of notes functions like a time machine for me, so it's harder than usual to be objective. I'll just say that it is absolutely fantastic and if any of this rings a bell for you, take the leap and try it. Incredible!

This scent works really well on me.

On my skin I get mostly a base of dragon's blood with an edge of spice (black pepper) and a musky depth (opoponax, galangal & cumin). The subtle minty counterpoint is fascinating and rounded out with a hint of sweetness (tobacco & fig). It's a beautifully complex blend of notes from different points on the scent wheel, all the more interesting because each is pronounced individually and also blends seamlessly into the whole. The overall impression is dragon's blood with a very unexpected twist.

I like this one well enough to have secured a couple backup bottles.

I just tried Lysander recently on a whim.

 

(blind testing) There's a softness to this scent that makes me think of sweet lavender, violet, lilac - but without the cloying or powdery elements I usually associate with those notes. There's just a touch of a green sliver that keeps the soft fuzzy feeling notes from being monotonous and keeps the scent interesting and fresh. There's also a gorgeous noticeable spice that almost reminds me of carnation.

 

(looking at notes) Vanilla, violet, lilac, a touch of musk... a balance of lime, leaf, and resin... perfect balance of sweet, floral, herbal, and just musky enough to make it feel like your skin is an awesome place instead of that you're wearing a coating of awesomeness.

 

This is a beautifully complex scent that has swept me off my feet.

 

To me this scent feels beautiful, feminine, dreamy, but not fussy, trite, or boring. I wish I had come across Lysander sooner, I love it so much.

 

If I had a signature scent, this could quite possibly be it. There's a versatility to Lysander that would work in a wide variety of moods and situations and remain gorgeous day after day to my nose and through the seasons.

Sniff – leaning further toward the geranium than I had hoped, it smells sharp (geranium, rosemary, ginger) but sometimes these things mellow out.

 

Skin testing – nope, too much geranium. It's sour and unpleasant. Late in the drydown the ginger and dragon's blood comes up to warm and sweeten the geranium, but there's still too much geranium, it smells kind of sour and sharp.

 

Late, late drydown it's now lovely – the dragon's blood seems almost tinged with opium and soft spicy ginger. Quite nice, but not pleasant for me until this point.

Sniff – mainly patchouli and vanilla. Not as sweet as banshee beat, more toward the dark end of patchouli, but very nice and certainly worth a test.

 

Skin testing – goes on reminding me of banshee beat, reviews mentioning antikeytheria mechanism and occupy wallstreet are ringing bells for me. It quickly turns into a vetiver sort of sharp patchouli and then proceeds to fade fast into a vetiver tinged honey subtlety. It's nice, but not something I would reach for regularly I don't think.

 

Dries down to a really soft and likable patchouli with a very mild honey in the background. Womb Fury lite, I might say.

Sniff – VERY NICE. I smell the red musk, the amber, a little dry wood the bark and cedar I suppose and a thick, rich, vanilla patchouli that reminds me of snake oil with just a bit of that bourbon geranium. If the skin test goes well, this would be a bottle for sure.

 

Skin testing – seems maybe like a snakepit/snake oil – lite. It's a more tame version of red musk and patchouli. Which is not to say that it isn't nice. The amber does pop in and make things sort of vanillic and slightly resinously sweet.

 

Skin testing further – vitamins? Benzoin, geranium and oak bark I think. The geranium is making this seem kind of high pitched. In a different mood though, I can also see how it could seem very 'sophisticated lady in an occult shop.'

Sniff – not really registering with me at all. It has a tartness to it that I guess is the tangerine? I can't quite get a fix on it.

 

Skin testing – fruit, sugar, musk. Gritty burnt caramel sugar. The tangerine + red musk, smells like a red fruit for some reason. Sickly sweet in a variety of ways. I'm not getting any of the mint I'd hoped to smell. I'm a fan of red musk, tangerine, and mint, but this is not for me.

Sniffing the decant – this reminds me of a softer, smoother Odin. Warm, woody, musky with a hint of the juniper and leather. I'm really liking it.

 

Skin testing – it's almost striking me as having a turpentine vibe to it. Like paint products... stain, thinner, chemicals. It's sharp. I think it's the juniper and leather.

 

OH CRAZY. … now it's totally different. This has a really sensual warmth to it and the juniper is just a teeny-tiny little spark of interestingness in the background. Someone upthread compared it to Tombstone, and I can relate to that. This has turned out to be fantastic. It's a little bit wild, a little bit polished, a little bit wood, a little bit leather. I guess this would usually be described as a sort of manly smell.... but I'm really enjoying it.

 

After testing last night I have a bottle on the way. Testing again today, I'm so glad. It reminds me now of a cross between Antikeytheria Mechanism and Tombstone... there's a rich woodiness and leather that reminds me of AM (but minus the almost syrupy sweetness) but an almost airy cedar that reminds me of Tombstone.

I didn't realize that I had left a review for this before! Sorry for the double post!

 

Sniff – lavender, somewhat sharp, lotus, bubblegum, spice, it's there. I was hoping this might be a softer, sweeter lavender.

 

Skin testing – Starts off mega-bubblegum lotus. Then hits an interesting spice phase, then goes back to bubblegum. Ends up soft bubblegum spice musk with what seems to smell like violets, but might be the lotus and mellowed lavender together.

 

Sadly, I'm not a fan. I like the idea of lotus, I just can't get myself to really like it though, and there's a lot of lotus going on here.

I'm kind of confused by this scent. It seems like I'm not smelling what I should be smelling from the listed notes.

 

On my skin this is a (pleasantly) soapy aquaitc along the lines of Jolly Roger. There's a hint of irish spring, a bit of wood, fresh sea air, and a sort of musky base. None of which I would expect.

I feel like I'm familiar with what neroli, sandalwood, and ylang ylang smell like, and I don't specifically detect any of those notes. I've never had that happen before.

 

Regardless, this is a clean, refreshing, pirate ship - but clean - sort of smell. It's very pleasant, and if I didn't already have that niche filled I would be all about this scent.

The forum ate my review.... but the gist of it is this, the patchouli in here is absolutely the best I've ever had the pleasure of smelling. It is somehow both earthy and almost syrupy sweet. The lavender floral counterpoint seems like it would clash, but in fact seems to emphasize the sexy aspect.

I can't quite put into words how much I love this scent, but suffice it to say I did place a Lab order for a small stockpile today.

I kept thinking it reminded me of Obsession for Men, and it turns out that there are some notes in common - I would much rather buy Our Lady of Pain and revel in its glorious nuances than buy that stuff though.