ellebelle

Sugared fruits? Definitely don't get any carnation or coconut from this. It is mostly a berry scent with a spicy backdrop given by the red musk.

This scent is as advertised - peony + vanilla. But I thought it would be more floral than it is. On me, there is a candy sweetness to this scent that reminds me vaguely of Agape. This is a pretty scent, but I would have preferred heavier florals I think. This also has extremely low throw and fades quickly.

Tobacco flower is one of my favorite notes, and this doesn't disappoint. It is heavy on the tobacco flower with a smooth backing of sandalwood. I don't get much of the dragons blood or the linen. This is a sophisticated scent to me and wordier than I thought it would be.

This has a different character than the other Chinese new year scents. It is very heavy on the peony and other florals, and lighter on the bright tangy fruits. I agree that it is heady, and probably too much so for me.

I thought I'd like this one best of all, but I'm not sure. The peach note is the same one from Agalea which reminds me of the Bath and Bodyworks peach scent from my youth. I think that this is not for me, but it is a lovely scent.

Me and dragon's blood, sometimes we get along and sometimes we don't and I'm not fond of the sticky sweetness in dragon's blood. IF this is dragon's blood (and I think that has to be at least one of the components), the champagne is keeping the sweetness in check. The wet stage does have almost a vanilla/amber feel to it and it dries down to a rich, fizzy scent with a hint of cola. Really pretty and I'm glad I took a chance here!

This is wonderful! On me, it is quite heavy on the champagne note (which I like!!) with rich fruitiness in the background. I read some reviews elsewhere that said this smelled "candy-like", but I honestly don't get that at all. On the far drydown, it does head into "sweet" territory, but not in a foody way. I would say that there is more lychee than mango in this blend, but I think it is lovely and will certainly be in heavy rotation, particularly in the summer months.

My review will not be nearly so eloquent, but thank you Invidiana for letting me try this! To me, this is a foodier version of the released Black Lace and the big thing that stood out to me is that I think this oil has a trace of some nut in the blend, as I got a touch of the rancid nut smell on my skin (it's like I'm allergic to the nut oils or something!) if I had to guess, I'd say almond. But this is very pretty and I'm glad I got to give it a whirl!

Mine smells like the BPAL snow note - it smells NOTHING like what you all are describing or the notes. It makes me wonder if my bottle is mislabelled.

This is a wonderful, chilly bright snow scent - definitely the best of the "ozone-y" ones I have tried. It smells like ozone, fruit and a light dusting of white florals. This is super pretty and I love it!

This is .... weird.

 

The wet stage is glorious, a swirling blend of opium and incense and some kind of musk. And then, as it dries, something else comes out to play. And that something else is evil. It mixes with the glorious scents and makes a really acrid smell. Pickles is about right.

 

Sad.

Thanks for the tester, you know who you are.

 

Smells like .... Cake Smash. Only cakier. That's as close as I can come to describing it. In fact, I could go so far as to say that it is the yellow cake note because that is the one that smells artificial to me on my skin. This is pretty, but not something I'll hunt for.

Was fairied a tester of this (you know who you are!)

 

I don't think this smells at all like Black Lily, other than having the same lily note in it.

 

If I had to pick out the notes, I would guess: lilies, some kind of fruit (I don't think it's melon, but it could be) and red/brown musk. I don't think this has amber as amber on my skin has a very distinct smell (that I LOVE). I really think the "sweet" smell comes from the musk, and I really think it's red musk, but only a drop. I would not be surprised if there was some cognac in there. Cognac is one of my very favorite notes in BPAL perfume - I don't know what it specifically smells like, perfume-wise, but it seems to round out and warm up scents that I love.

 

This is utterly beautiful and I will treasure my tester!

I agree with all of the above reviews. Mostly frankincense and its a relatively light scent, especially as compared to the honey which I find much heavier and longer lasting.

To me, this is all sandalwood and no fig. Gloss doesn't weigh my hair down and my hair feels soft.

This is the most glorious, sweetest, wonderful apple cider/autumnal scent. Its a little potpourri like, but with a sweeter edge. It smells mostly like cider to me, so people afraid of the smoke aspect, do not worry. This would be perfect on a cool, rainy day to make it smell warm and cozy inside!

I had actually hoped for more pomegranate in this, but it's not a major player. The first squirt smells heavy on the narcissus but as that fades, it leaves a rounded, refreshing whole. I like this because it's a scent you can spray that doesn't scream "ROOM SCENT" - it just freshens, and I think that's nice.

On me, this is almost all white musk, all the time with a touch of high white florals. I was hoping for that rich cognac smell, but I don't get any of that.

Lemon balm and herbs. Maybe some lavender? But mostly lemon, lemon, lemon.

Okay, I get ....

 

(1) Greenness - I agree, that it is reminiscent of dandelion, but I don't think it is dandelion. Some kind of bitter, sappy green. This is awesome because I love dandelion. Maybe it's some kind of leaf? According to wikipedia, this beetle lays a single egg in the roll of a particular leaf.

 

(2) Wet Stone - I get a hint of the scent of wet stone, a la Dungeon Crawl, in the wet stage. Dungeon Crawl is all wet stone, and this scent contains within it that smell, but mixed with other things. This is awesome because I kept trying to layer Dungeon Crawl with other things and couldn't find a combination I liked. This is Dungeon Crawl + ___________________. I suspect that the description would mention something about earth, since this is a beetle.

 

(3) Sweetness - I think the Sugar Plum Fairy comparison is good. As it dries, a very sweet, fruity/floral scent makes itself known. I would suspect sugar cane + some kind of fruit that is common in Madagascar.

 

I do not think there is any anise in here. I hate anise with the fiery hot passion of 10,000 burning suns. I don't like to taste it, and I don't like to smell it. I don't get that scent from this perfume.

 

Overall, this is really different and I like it very much!

If you can find them, both of the Black Orchid prototypes are heavy on the orchid. I personally prefer v5 (patchouli and orchid to my nose) over v3 (vetiver and orchid to my nose).

Thick flowers (but not all the jasmine-y on me) - maybe honeysuckle or magnolia?, some greenery (perhaps moss or balsam? but not grass or sap) and a hint of lemon. I like this better than the released version which caused me to violently scrub my skin. It is not an unpleasant scent, but it is slightly medicinal to my nose.

 

The drydown is almost all heady floral. I think this might be magnolia as it reminds me a bit of Josie.

I think this is sweeter than the released version - it has an almost sugary, candy like sweetness to it that could be a more prevalent sweet pea note. The pear is less present, but there is a fruit drink kind of scent that is present here. Overall, I'd say this is a fruit juice drink plus sweet pea. As it warms and dries, there is a slightly present sappy/grassy quality to this. It's quite girly, and would be a pretty scent in the summer time.

Yeeeessssssssssssssssssssssss! I would classify this as a "sandy resin", in the same general family as Ra, Cat Allingham and Hatshepsut v11. Please note that this doesn't smell the same but has a note and a feel in common. This is a gorgeous, sweet amber/incense blend that will be in heavy rotation in my collection.

I hope this is the right place for this?

 

I really like the release Last Unicorn Lilac Wood, so I thought I would take a chance on this blend (based on speculation that LU = Last Unicorn). This to me is the strong scent of broken stems and sap and a hint of lilac. In other words, not so different from the released version. I would say that the prototype is grassier than the released version and lacks the hint of sweetness that is present in the released version. But overall, this is quite pretty and does not stray too far from what is released. I like them equally.