HerbGirl

This smelled so scary in the bottle, I've been working up the courage to test it.

🫣

It smelled awful for a bit, then it reminded me of two very different oils in different ways: Totality and Gaueko. I love them both. I get the frankincense from Totality and the lavender from Gaueko but I like Totality and Gaueko much better than Traum. Dried down to Gaueko + frankincense on me, which is fine but not what I had expected. Nothing special here.

Estamets nailed it: peppery butter.

I was looking forward to a good frankincense but I think the skin musk is doing something bizarre with it. The vanilla is nice but the sweetness is strange and works against the frankinmusk. It smells nice, I guess? Just disjointed. I've had this for quite a while and finally felt it had rested enough to try. If you're looking for a true frankincense experience, look elsewhere. 

I bought this last year because it sounded amazing despite being pretty out of character for me. I loved it from first sniff. Wearing it today, I am enjoying the moonflower and sweet pea melding with the salty sea spray and blue musk. I get why folks smell 'laundry' but it, thankfully, doesn't come across that way for me. Lovely. 

I've been wearing and loving this oil since it came out and am wearing it today in honor of Luna being in Cancer. I am surprised at the lack of reviews for the Sphere + Sundry perfume oils here! This is one of my favorite oils to wear to sleep while the Moon is in Cancer. I know I can use it anytime (and I do) but it feels special to look forward to this treat a few days each moonth.

This oil works wonderfully for amplifying anything and everything I've wanted to accomplish for divination, inner work, shadow work and magical workings.

The scent is ridiculous- it's a creamy pineapple but not coconut (which I hate smelling almost as much as smelling pineapple and coconut together!) despite coconut being listed in the ingredients and I absolutely love it. It smells like nothing else I have and is just lovely. 

As for scent, the rose, neroli and lemon verbena are what I smell most. I'm wearing this in honor of Venus being in Pisces and honestly, I've been in need of extra comfort this year as it has been especially difficult so far. It smells spicy, floral and comforting and I love knowing there's lotus in here. I only put some on about 30 minutes ago, but I've worn it before and I know it works for its intended purpose. 

This is another scent based on art that shouldn't be picked apart. I've been wearing this since December and love it. The 'leather' was so strong I could smell it with the cap on. !!  As soon as I was brave enough to test it, that 'leather' smoothed out and was enveloped in the dark coolness of the rest of the perfume. I love the first review of this scent, and agree with most of what was written. Honestly, 'moonmilk' had my attention and, although I never smell the notes, I feel the cave. This is intensely beautiful. I wanted to review scents still fresh in my memory before I forget to review them at all, and might wear this one later today.

Lavender, champaca, labdanum and patchouli with a hint of opoponax. Very nice. Similar to The School of Silence. Different enough to have both.

Lavender and champaca loveliness. This is very similar to Oblivion Railroad, to me, but softer and without labdanum and patchouli.

After reading these reviews, I don't have much to add, but wanted to write my thoughts. 

This perfume oil is just so lovely. Yes, I love the listed notes. Do I get them? Nope. Not at all. Do I care? Not a bit. Why? Because it smells like the painting looks. This isn't amber and tea, it's 'amber light' and a 'tea stained sky'. And yes, it absolutely lives up to the description if you're not trying to isolate notes. I did that at first and it was confusing, but I loved the scent so much that it didn't matter. If the art appeals to you- don't look at the notes- just enjoy the scent inspired by the art. Lovely.

I've been wearing this since it arrived in August 2022. This is one of my favorite perfumes. I reach for it most when I feel like curling up with a book. The scent is overwhelming in the best possible way. I want this to overwhelm me with its scent! I can smell the listed notes but refuse to try to isolate them because I don't want to analyze this, I just want to enjoy it. Looking at the notes, I expected a powdery element but this is all velvet. So much love for this strong, comforting scent.

This is so awesome. The first disappointed review convinced me I needed a bottle, and I'm thrilled to have one. This doesn't smell like butterscotch. This smells like Ghost Milk with a hint of toffee and vanilla sparkles. I love it. It would be cool to smell the rose, but I don't. Maybe it will develop later. Wearing this brings an immediate, long lasting smile to my face and brightens my day. Also, the scent lasts forever on me- lingering into 12 hour longevity. 

This is beautiful. I can smell each of the listed notes and they are blended beautifully. It goes on fairly strong, mostly plum and opium tar, and softens a bit when I start to smell the lavender. Glad to have a bottle.

I wrote this review under the original and copied and pasted it here.

My bottles arrived two days ago. The original became my favorite, tied with The Mysterious Warning, from the first moment I tried it, fresh out of the mail, in 2013. I was so excited to be able to wear it again! 

This isn't it. 😪 This is nice, but only vaguely similar to the original because of the notes. The original slaps me in the face with patchouli and opium tar, some lavender and black orchid and dried down to a strong, beautifully blended version of those notes: it was a virtuoso. This? The notes are there, but in a different formula. The patchouli is barely there, there's a hint of lavender and maybe orchid if I try really hard to find it. The dry down is a hint of patchouli with a really light, but beautiful opium tar note. I would love any combination of these notes (and do), but for the folks who remember, loved and were hoping for the original: this is not even close to the same. I will compare this to the disappointment of the Dorian reformulation- it's very nice, but a completely different scent.

Eta April 15- there's a mildly honeyed soapy quality to this now. I don't like where this is going. Nothing like the original and yes, I remember what it smelled like the day I first put it on, and many wears after that. The aging has nothing to do with the differences here, this is just a completely different scent.

I was so excited to be able to wear a perfume oil version of this!!! The white ginger note was so fantastic and made this, which was originally a hair gloss, what it was. It made me nostalgiac for the days I wore Bvlgari Blv and the amazing White Tea and Ginger from BBW...and I enjoyed the scent of that hair gloss sooo much but the glosses were just too heavy for my hair.

When this first arrived two days ago, I could barely smell anything in the bottle. I put some on about an hour ago and there is barely any scent to this. ?! What scent there is reminds me of a dirty diaper. I don't understand. There's no ginger. None. I wonder if my bottle is a dud or if this is the intended scent? I am curious to read other reviews as they come in. In any case, my bottle smells nothing like the original scent, and honestly that's disappointing enough without the diaper hint. Good grief. I will hold onto this for a bit, but I have no hope that this will suddenly turn into something it's not. 

My bottles arrived two days ago. The original became my favorite, tied with The Mysterious Warning, from the first moment I tried it, fresh out of the mail, in 2013. I was so excited to be able to wear it again! 

This isn't it. 😪 This is really really nice, but only vaguely similar to the original because of the notes. The original slaps me in the face with patchouli and opium tar, some lavender and black orchid and dried down to a strong, beautifully blended version of those notes: it was a virtuoso. This? The notes are there, but in a different formula. The patchouli is barely there, there's a hint of lavender and maybe orchid if I try really hard to find it. The dry down is a hint of patchouli with a really light, but beautiful opium tar note. I would love any combination of these notes (and do), but for the folks who remember, loved and were hoping for the original: this is not even close to the same. I will compare this to the disappointment of the Dorian reformulation- it's very nice, but a completely different scent. 

This was a worrisome whoosh of neroli at first and settled into more of what I remember from the original scent (this was an atmo spray and I know I went through at least a bottle of it) which is more of a light handed amber with some champaca and silken vanilla. Very light. Just arrived two days ago. I'm guessing the scent strength (extremely light) will remain the same and the neroli in the beginning will calm down after a while. All in all this is nice but not wowing me. 

This is gorgeous...until that honey becomes detectable, which takes about 3 minutes. I kept hoping and hoping that I wouldn't smell it, that it wouldn't stomp all over the blend and ruin it but, for me it did. ☹️ 

I always jump at an opium tar scent! And with black musk this should have been amazing. The clove ruins this for me. Aside from smoking djarums years ago, I have never really enjoyed clove. I certainly didn't enjoy it in this oil. Myrrh is ok most of the time but felt out of place here. This was a complete miss for me.

This is much deeper than its notes. I'vd had my bottle since its release and have been wearing it lately.

The depth must be coming from the tobacco and vetiver, but I'm not smelling them: they don't stand out to me. I do smell the amber, red musk, wisteria and rose hips, and they make the scent what it is for me. I believe this is orange blossom doing what it does so well in Vixen. It makes it deeper with a floral tinge but it doesn't scream 'orange blossom!' like it does in so many other oils. Conjure is gorgeous, especially for folks who avoid patchouli (which I don't, lol).

I've been wondering when the right manifestation oil would present itself - yesterday Conjure made it clear that I had found one. This isn't just a perfume. If you're magically inclined, this might be a great oil to work with. I certainly will.

I have been wearing Aureus for more than a decade and am finally getting around to randomly reviewing my loves.

I love this. It truly glows. Maybe more like smolders. Amber and copal are obvious, possibly a touch of white oakmoss, maybe a bit of patchouli. I see many reviews mention 'church', 'incense', sandalwood and/or cedar but I don't feel or smell any of that. I do love Viiinylflowers' review mentioning FFVII...and am in total agreement because of the feels (nothing to do with typical 'church' though)! 

There is a definite older BPAL vibe that exists in the older GCs that is completely absent in the collaberations and trademarked series oils that I love but can't pinpoint. It's a shame there's so much more focus on the LEs and the ginormous releases than the fabulous GC that showcases the true gloriousness behind the brand, but that's an unpopular opinion, and my own. 

The combination of the first seven notes is a recipe for dark, mysterious beauty. I am a huge fan of opium tar in perfume so I am thrilled it is the star for me here, supported by the black musk, patchouli, cypress, frankincense and vanillaic oils. I feel like the frankincense and patchouli almost cancel each other out. I can tell they're both here, but neither dominates. It's more of a feeling but that's hard to explain. Beautiful.

This is it. Head shop. Dragon's Blood incense. Yup. No weird. Just the good. 

Also- yes, separate layers in the bottle. I haven't played with the nuance of the wearing shaken or unstirred (lol), but I put just a dab on after I gave it a good swirl and it was wonderful. Just a bit sticky. Very enjoyable.

It's a shame the bottle was only full to between the label and the shoulder though. 

Editing to add a comparison between this and Garnet, since there isn't a review thread up yet...

Garnet and Dragon's Blood Incense are very similar. In fact, the only difference to me so far is that Garnet is sweet and DBI is amber/champa-y. Yikes. Also worth noting is that my bottle of Garnet was also filled to below the shoulder and, for $35, that's crap. Garnet is extremely similar to Nocturne Alchemy's Kashmir. I would say Kashmir is inbetween Garnet and DBI. Nothing revolutionary going on with DBI or Garnet.

Well, I have no idea what this has to do with London or smoke but I love it. This tea is actually black tea (!!!) with no anise/licorice leanings. The tobacco flower (which, I believe, is also called nicotiana) is gorgeous and melds so well with the tea. I was looking forward to the grey amber (Grey Columns is one of my favorites!) but I don't smell any here. That's ok...it is lovely. I don't smell any lemon mentioned above, and I don't find the tabac flower to be overwhelming at all. This was my first true wear but I have had it since early January. I love it.

I am curious to see how this ages- the drydown is beautiful but it takes a while to get there. 

Oddly enough, I'm not getting anything I expected from this. It does remind me of Marshmallow Snow (I haven't tried this year's version), but starts off as a semi indolic floral fruit punch. ??? Interesting. Settles into the evergreen version of bpal snow with a hint of berry. Not sure how I feel about it but I am upset that my bottle arrived filled to well below the shoulder of the bottle. 

As it wears, the 'indolic fruit punch' does fade into a really nice scent. I'm trying to pick the scent apart for notes but just can't. And that's ok. This is turning into a beauty. The waft is gorgeous. 

I am pleased to report that this is quite an amazing mash up of Snake Oil and Snow White. No red musk weirdness, no minty slush. This is gorgeous and exactly what I hoped for!