Larinessa

In the bottle: The scent of a just opened pack of thin mint cookies. On my skin: faintly mint and chocolate plastic. Drat. I'll hang on to it to see if it smooths out and the plastic goes away, but right now it seems like this one is destined to not like my skin chemistry. 😞

I like this a lot. Probably a top 10 spot. In the bottle it was a strong, almost caramel molasses, strong, sweet and in your face. The cinnamon was giving it an almost burnt edge to it. On the skin, it transforms. The molasses is still there, but it recedes to the back as a rich, dark base, and the stunning amber and gorgeous cinnamon move to the fore. The cinnamon is very much similar to the cinnamon in Playful Wooden Mallets, like a dusty, ground cinnamon stick versus a burning red hots cinnamon. It's warm and spicy, and blends beautifully with the amber note in here. This definitely reads cool weather to me. It's cozy, comforting, and at the same time sensual and inviting. (My husband sure liked it). I also see interesting layering possibilities with this. Like with Sugar Skull, or maybe even The Black Apple of Saturn, Definately could pair with a chocolate base. Another intriguing possibility is with Waltz of the Snowflakes. Will need another bottle (or 3!) of this before it disappears, as I expect this to age magnificently.

Blackberry on initial application, and then that moves to the background and the rose and violet move forward and I'm left with expensive soap. Rose is always a tricky note for me, and I was hoping for something similar to Black Butterfly Moon, Bakunawa, or O Daughter of Death and Priapus but unfortunately the notes I was hoping to be forward are not what I'm getting from this. I'll retest after it settles, but I'm suspecting this one is a miss for me. Edit- tried it again last night, unfortunately the rose and violet took over, along with some opium tar. The opium alone would have been welcome, but the violet and rose induced a headache. I'll need to re-home this bottle. *Sigh*

I was most excited about this one as a cherry lover, but it's not quite what I was expecting. The cherry isn't the maraschino cherry of Ghoulish, nor is it the medicinal one of Bite Me. It's somewhere in between, dark, and the incense is far stronger then expected. I agree it reminds you of a burnt cherry incense stick. I like it, but I'm not sure it's the home run I was expecting it to be. I'll need to test again after it settles Given it a couple of days to settle, and dried I'm left with a faint scent of having stood in an incense shop and I picked up the smoke on my body. Faintly scented, very smokey. No spun sugar detected. I'm not sure I want to smell like this straight up, but I may use this as a layering note to add a bit of oomf to scents like Ghoulish, or even Bordello (which actually seems like a fantastic idea come to think of it. I'll have to try that layering and see what happens).

I did a brief testing yesterday when my bottles arrived, but my first impression of this is it's very similar in feel to Drag on a Slime. Fruity watermelon and Sugar, sugar sugar. I'll do a full test later, but this is very fresh, summer like, and sweet. Great one for summer days. Edit- first full day run, once the dry down happens, the sugar gets more prominent and it's slightly smokey, like powdered sugar? Low throw, but loooonnnggg longevity, 8+ hours I can still faintly smell it on my wrist. It's really very pretty, and I may layer with Cherry Incense and Spun Sugar to see how they mesh.

I kept hearing whispers of the fabled plum of my beloved Bordello, so I had to spring for this along with Sugar Plum Snake Oil. Bordello has been the #1 of my favorites the entire tenure of my 15 years of BPAL, nothing knocking it out in the tourney, and I was heartbroken when it went away. I still have 2 bottles but I rarely dip into them knowing how difficult it is to locate them in the second hand market. So here goes. In the bottle, my eyes rolled with absolute pleasure. It is, indeed, Bordellos plum. That bright, candy like purple plum. On the skin, the plum recedes a bit, allowing the other notes to come forward, but never disappears. This is bright, beautiful plum with a touch of almond, and on me, rose. It's lovely, feminine, and uplifting. I've only been wearing it an hour and recieved 2 compliments. Verdict: I'll need a back up of this. While not Bordello's clone, it is definitely a sibling, and will definitely help with keeping me in the happy spot. I'm delighted in this gorgeous plum variant, and so happy I sprung for this.

Sweet, subtle, understated. A quiet moment indeed. This blends beautifully between the sandalwood and amber to create a warm, cozy, creamy scent on me. A winner!

Ohhh.... This is my beloved Mirror of Spring Pleasures on Kites blackberry wine 🥰. It's almost a single note of it on me, though the plum is present. No lavender, or white musk detected (lavender gives me a headache, so that's fine with me). A shade of the sandalwood peeks through the delicious berries on the dry down. Keeper ❤️

The Soul of La Traviata, Sidney Sime. Black plum, black musk, black currant, iridescent pink grapefruit, neroli, and jungle orchid. I am the first?! Well, I had best get on with this! There was no way, NO WAY, I could let this one get away from me. Black Plum, black current, black musk AND jungle orchid in one blend?! Hello?! Holy grail making here! In the bottle- BAM! In your face black plum and black current. This is like WOAH strong! Wet in skin- yup, the black plum is roaring to the front, with the bitterness of the black current in a close second. Not detecting the musk, but there is a sparkling, shimmery aspect that I think is the grapefruit. I can detect some floral underneath, if not pick them out individually. Dry- in a way this is the dark evil twin of sugar plum fairy. Or its black swan to SPF's white swan. The plum is the star player here, no doubt about it, but whereas SPF has bright sweet complementing notes, this is darker. This is a heady, sexual quality to this. Black plum, currant and grapefruit making this the rich star it is. I am not getting the orchid I was hoping for, but its all right with me. After an hour- There's the orchid! Lurking under the bolder notes, but it is present. WIN.

It's like Sugar Skull decided to splat itself down in the middle of Blackberry filling and roll around in it. It's yummy rich blackberry with caramel brown sugar that's been toasted. Rich, delicious, and definately edible. Like baking blackberry cobbler. Definately a keeper, a great fall scent that would keep your nose delighted as you take a walk in the autumn woods.

Wet, this is stronger on the sugar note, and it's the same sugar as in Gypsy Moth from like 2010, very powder sugar like. Dry, the amber blooms, and this becomes very amber forward and it's a rich, deep amber, the sugar receding as a minor player. This is probably my favorite amber scent, as I love amber straight up, and this reminds me strongly of a amber scent necklace I have. Gorgeous in it's simplicity, I can see myself wearing this alone, or layering with scents like Great Vampire Bat, and Playful Wooden Mallets. My only regret is I only got one bottle. But I'm going to treasure it! By coincidence, I accidentally layered this with Blackberry and Burnt Sugar the other day when I was testing straight out of the box, and they were great together.

Flickering Lantern, a Luper from 2016. Beeswax, purple rose, tobacco and incense

In the vein (GET IT) of Boo, Suck It, and Spooky, this is a gushing font of sweet bloody black cherry cream and crushed dried blackberries. First review for this.... I am a cherry fiend, so this was a must buy for me. In the bottle: strong cherry cream. Very similar to the cherry in Ghoulish and Gothabilly. Wet on the skin: Same as the bottle. Very strong. No blackberry detected. Dry: this quieted down very quickly on my skin, becoming a skin scent within moments. Nearly a dead ringer for Ghoulish and Gothabilly, a soft cherry cream scent. No blackberry. I'm a bit disappointed in this. I have 4 bottles of Ghoulish, and I've a decant of Gothabilly, and so far this is nearly identical to them. I'm going to let this age in the hopes the blackberry comes out, and the strength increases. I won't sell it as I can always use more soft cherry fluff, but I was hoping for something different in this.

O DAUGHTER OF DEATH AND PRIAPUS They were purple of raiment and golden, Filled full of thee, fiery with wine, Thy lovers, in haunts unbeholden, In marvellous chambers of thine. They are fled, and their footprints escape us, Who appraise thee, adore, and abstain, O daughter of Death and Priapus, Our Lady of Pain. Black opium, wild plum, cypress tar, Bulgarian rose, olibanum, black orchid, and tobacco. Yay! I am the first! This is straight out of the box, so I may come back and edit after this settles.... In the bottle this is straight up Opium and Orchid, very similar to Black Orchid v3 to my nose, strong and heady. Wet on skin- still very strong opium and orchid, with something lurking underneath, I think its the cypress and plum..... mmmm.... I like this. No rose detectable yet, but as rose isn't always my friend just fine by me. Dry- this softens up considerably. The rose does start coming out slightly, but its still behind the orchid and opium. Not much plum detected, which is slightly disappointing, but I am such an orchid fan I don't really care I would definitely categorize this in the same vein as Black Orchid v3, or if your a fan of Great Vampire Bat. Smokey Orchid fans rejoice! This will be used quite a bit this summer on steamy evenings as I see this being a beautiful wafter.

I was super excited to see amaretto return to a scent, as I have literally every amaretto blend BPAL has made, and they are all in my top favorites. Sadly, they are all discontinued, and I am hoping the amaretto in this heralds a return of some favorites. Sadly, this won't be one. I can smell the sweet amaretto, and the almond, with a hint of anise which I also love. But over laying all of that wonderfulness is what can only be described as heavily buttered wonder bread, and it's almost making me gag. From previous reviews, this one has a place in the hearts of some, it's just not mine. Sorry.

Smokey, dark and a deep bloody burgundy purple color is how this reads. I wish I could get into notes and how they play in this, but for the first time ever, I can't pick any one in it. Rich, goth and would be great for clubbing. This is definately along my vein, I'm just kinda befuddled by it, and not sure if I will upgrade. I will for sure keep the imp for those times I want to radiate a certain aura. Ok, I let it settle for a few days, and I'm doing a full test run today. I've decided this is definately bottle worthy. I'm better able to pick up the notes, the smokey rose, musk and fruits are a fabulous combo, but what's really knocking my socks off is buried under all that is the blackened vanilla bean. I swear I have no idea how Beth did that, but I can discern it. I was just going to keep this imp, and purchase 2 of the new duets, but it looks like this will be riding along with Sugar Cane and Black Amber, and Cinnamon Leather is getting moved aside. (That's ok, I have Spanked for that urge).

Aged imp I had sitting around. On me this seems pretty equal parts leather, plum and lilac. It's pretty and straightforward, and I quite enjoy it. I'll give it a test run as a wear soon, but I'll definately make use of this imp.

Found a long forgotten imp, and decided to try it. The creamy peach called to me. Wet, this seemed like similar cousin to Water Dragon. Ripe juicy fruit and florals. I didn't check the florals out before testing, but they were pleasant. Dry, the peach receded, though still noticable, and the florals pushed forward, notably the rose turning this to a rose forward scent with a vague peachy undertone that becomes kinda soapy. Like you washed with a bar of rose scented soap and then put on some lotion. It's ok, I would definitely prefer the wet stage, might use a locket for the remainder of this, or swap off to someone hunting for it. It's not for me, but as it's long discontinued, that's a relief.

Started off as Andes Mints, dried down to pencil shavings (even my husband agreed). Total fail.

Wet: Guava heaven. Dry: faintly scented band-aids. 0/2 on Lillith's for me 😒

I had super high hopes for this, as a long time ago I posted in the 'whats your dream scent' thread, and I had put down blackberry, black musk, leather, and ceylon cinnamon. So I was super excited to see something that so closely resembled that. Wet: Blackberry musk. Luscious, rich, with just a hint of black leather underneath. Am thrilled. Dry: it went to a weird combo of piney smelling leather with the blackberry and musk and current booking it out of there without so much as a goodbye. Just *POOF* they were gone. With my nose pressed right against the spot, it faintly reminds me of Jareth. 😭😭😭😭 I'm heartbroken. Update: I broke this out again on 1/21/21, because I so badly did not want to give up on this one. The Cade has gone less piney, to a more smokey quality. The blackberry is coming forward more now that the Cade isn't so smothering. It's the same goopy, thick blackberry as Blackberry Jam and Scones, and it's now noticable on the throw, although still faint if I press my nose to my skin. I think I may either buy a bottle or several more decants to age out.

I have a bottle of Black Orchid v5, so I was super curious of this version. In the imp: RICH orchid with a slightly dirty note backing it. On my skin: Hot house orchid, with earthy/dirty undertone. v5 has a lot of patchouli/vetivier in it, this is definately a dirt note. But I'm kinda digging it. We have a Conservatory near where I live, and in their tropical dome there are a LOT of orchids. This smells like what sitting on one of the benches surrounded by the orchids is like. That place is one of my favorite, special spots, and because of the pandemic it's had extremely limited visitors. This waxes very nostalgic of happier times. Another orchid win for me. It's different enough from both v5, and Great Vampire Bat to stand alone.

In the imp: Ripe strawberry. Yummy On the skin: a 'cool' feeling strawberry with something faintly green underneath. The strawberry isn't as high pitched, it blends beautifully with the other notes, the vanilla adding a slight creamy tone, backed by the lush floral. All of my previous strawberry scents are paired with sweet notes, and while the vanilla is present, this doesn't read 'foodie' to me. This is more like sitting picking ripe, juicy red strawberries in a field on a fresh spring day. Lovely. 💗

In the imp: smelled like a fresh baked sugar cookie. Yum. On me: smells like I rolled in wood shavings with a touch of vanilla in the background. 😭 Not for me, but the hubby loves it and says it smells like a masculine vanilla soap for men, so I passed it on to him.

I've had this imp sitting around forever, when I first got it, the leaves note was a sharp chemical smell, so I put it aside and forgot about it. Today the temps in Minnesota have plunged more then 20 degrees, and there is a distinct coolness outside, so I decided to give it another shot. The chemical smell has smoothed out considerably, lending a underlying 'cool' feeling at the bottom. The top notes are a warm, spicy cardamom, with the almost tangible crunchy note of dried leaves. It's making me think of being on a porch swing, wrapped in an oversized sweater watching the leaves fall on a chill, gray day, the parts of your body enveloped in the cozy sweater warm and comfy, your skin on your face feeling the crisp fall air. The hubby thinks this is delightful.