bheansidhe
-
Content Count
888 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Recent Profile Visitors
14,118 profile views
.thumb.jpg.4a1f8a767142108ae6df1b7028772d5a.jpg)
-
Record of Women’s Treasures of the Way of Elegance Day and Night
bheansidhe replied to doomsday_disco's topic in Lupercalia
This becomes a kissin' cousin to Snake Oil on my skin: nutty, a little peppery, pleasantly dusty, ending in a faint waft of incense smoke. I'd say the balsam and labdanum dominate overall. The coffee note is perceptible at first, but only for a few minutes. -
Coziness in a bottle - the sweet bread pudding studded with dark cherries, a touch of whisky or cherry liquor blended into the butter- and confectioner's sugar-laden bread pudding glaze (just a touch) balanced by the gently steaming herbal tea. The tea note is distinct and the blue chamomile reads almost like an Earl Grey bergamot, but milder, snuggly like a sweater. I'd say the blend was dominated by blue chamomile tea, then cherry, and then bread pudding as a note in the background, making it more of a sweet afternoon pause than a sugary gourmand.
-
My experience is not gourmand, but sugar crystals and sweet vanilla crusted over a distinct woodsy note that reminds me of the current mainstream mania for basso cedar/oudh blends (e.g. Dior Sauvage, although I would NOT call Slippery Elm Root a cologne). The longer it wears, the more SER separates into two layers: one woody and dry, one sweet and also dry. It's an interesting experience, and I'm keen to read other reviews now.
-
While not overtly evergreen-y, the best impression I get from wearing this blend all day is "evil Christmas trees."
-
For some reason, this is primarily a creamy floral on me - not jasmine tea, but jasmine with some tea in the background. I can't really make out the resin notes, though the jasmine is well-grounded and not shrill or soapy. I also don't get any lemon. Chemistry is weird.
-
Unlike the other reviewers, I'm getting almost no lavender; it's creamy coconut and muted earthy-sweet ube, with a bit of pineapple-ish brightness that must be the cherimoya. I have to hunt for the lavender.
-
This falls squarely into the "can the Lab release this atmo as a perfume, please?" category for me. It smells SO much like Thai mango sticky rice, which is one of my favorite desserts - not too sweet, a little salty, silky with coconut cream and rice starch, gently ripe and fruity. The honey has the "black honey" resin-like complexity, giving the scent more dimensions than a simple foody spray. I love this, but I wish it lasted longer on my skin.
-
Another of Beth's magical bread perfumes, hooray! This one baked on the same tray as my venerable favorites, Lavender Rosemary Baguette and Lavender Avocado Toast, and shares the same warm yeasty crumb and hints of buttered crust. However, something about the lavender and rosemary combination grew a little too piney and floral in a way that sadly overtook the warm nuttiness on my skin. I'll stick with my bottles from the previous years, but I still recommend you try this one.
-
Maybe this is a blending accident. I smell something minty or birch-y or wintergreen-y, but in a warm way. Nothing fruity or resiny - just a weirdly warm-toned, astringent mint. Gradually, though, that becomes ... candied dates? Dates do smell interesting and complex down at their pith, sure, so I could see dates from this fume. And now, okay, now I'm getting fruitcake, riotously fruit-studded fruitcake with a scorched-sugar edge to the crust - something like black treacle or extra-dark cane syrup. .... no. No? No. Yes? No? Still astringent. Is the astringency the red currant? Yes. Is there patchouli in here? Slowly, slowly, creeping forward .... yes? ... still dragging that complex medicinal MINT with it, tho? Yes. I'm stumped. Baffled. Flusterical. I don't know what I'm smelling, or if I like it. I want to love it, but it's currently acting like fruitcake-flavored cough syrup, even though I can SEE the chewy patchouli wanting to come through. I'm going to come back and edit this review when I've figured it out. Sorry for liveblogging my confusion.
-
Beaver Moon: Lime Blossom & Amber Sugar
bheansidhe replied to doomsday_disco's topic in Duets & Menage A Trois
Sniffed: crisp, slightly pithy lime rind, sugar, lime candy, and amber in distinct bands, no blending. There's an initial moment where I can't see how it's going to work together, but I take the plunge. First swipe: wow. This is a deliriously perfumed petit-four straight from the confectioner's case, with glossy white fondant topped with delicate curl of crystallized lime. It smells too pretty to eat and nothing like a resin. Wearing: the cake note gradually softens, deepens, melts into a rich amber puddle. It's a perfect ombré fade from lime to sugar to dark, treacle-y amber. Damnit, damnit. I didn't need yet another bottle of an amber duet (looking at Amber and Grey Musk), but apparently I do. -
Wet: rooty, pugnacious, herb-y, and peppery; the jostle of many leather boots stomping down a 19th-century street lined with sun-warmed brick and broomstraw (neither of which is a listed note, but nonetheless crowd into my nose's olfactory auditorium with the rest of the jostling crowd). But while the notes roar, the volume is bearable. The clove, surprisingly, is muted, and the green patchouli (maybe?) reads more as a dried ground ginger root. With wear: the tobacco and leather notes emerge, giving the blend a surprising brash but charming bad-boy vibe twinned with sorcerous patchouli root. Honestly, if I were blind sniffing, I'd think it was a Walpurgisnacht-themed collab. It's got quiet oomph. The drydown is smoky and muted: a little earthy; and grounding. Both a resolute and a supportive vibe.
-
The mulling spices are definitely there, but paired with the dead leaves base, this reads both as spiced holiday punch AND ALSO as a murky yet vivid landscape in oil, probably from the Hudson River school - something along the lines of Twilight in the Wilderness by Frederic Edwin Church, or On the Hudson River by Jasper Cropsey. The spice notes flame out like a vivid New England autumn awash in scarlets, golds, oranges, browns, and russets.
-
Dead Leaves, Green Tea, and Tahitian Ginger
bheansidhe replied to doomsday_disco's topic in Halloweenie
A gentle offering; a grassy-sweet, realistic green tea beautifully wedded to a dewy white ginger blossom. Here, the role of dead leaves is played by fermented black jasmine tea, merely added to the fresher notes to give them depth and cradle them like a cup. A lovely autumn Shunga offering a breath, a pause, and a palate cleanser to balance the heady excesses of the season. -
There is a LOT going on here that isn't teased in the title. I didn't even peg it as a dead leaves blend at first, second, or fourth sniff. Fresh from the drawer, this is a highly perfumed wool and cashmere jumper -- who knew wool could smell so rich and sweet? In fact, it strongly evoked the vanilla and undyed wool components of Greige Dragon. I skin-tested them side by side as I type this, and they're unmistakable perfume cousins on my skin at first swipe (YMMV!). The drydowns veer in opposite directions, though. DL & WJ is fuzzier, more muted, more overcast autumn sky tones than eggshell. You'll be tromping along for quite a while in cuddly warmth before you notice the leaves piling up on your path. After a long and meandering walk, you'll find yourself on that familiar path through the woods, where oakmoss grows on damp twigs and the stream pushes the fallen leaves into wet ropes. By the end of your stroll you'll be wearing a sweater that's half wool, half wet leaves, half lonely man in an Irish tweed jumper gazing over the mist-shrouded cliffs, and half warm café that serves almond biscotti on sandalwood trays. This is a RIDE.
-
Hungry Ghost Moon: Oven-Warm Pizza Crust and Oregano
bheansidhe replied to doomsday_disco's topic in Duets & Menage A Trois
I love this so much that I bought two bottles, and am strongly contemplating a third. I love this so much that I put a tester of it in every package I mailed out in August and September, just so I could spread the word to those who might otherwise overlook it. The first time I opened my decant of Oven-Warm Pizza Crust and Oregano, I put it on my wrist, left my office, got in my car, braved midtown Atlanta during rush hour, and drove to Antico Pizza Napoletana -- one of the few pizzerias in the USA that is a rated as a notable destination BY ITALIAN FOOD CRITICS -- and wolfed down half a Margherita D.O.P. I smelled exactly like the yeasty dough - sea salt, yeast, and imported San Felice flour - slathered in Peitro Coricelli EVOO, not so much baking as effervescing in the custom stone ovens (built from actual volcanic rock sourced from Mt. Vesuvius). My friends, THAT was the exact impression conveyed by this perfume. I have never had such a strong Pavlovian response to any scent, ever. Lavender Rosemary Baguette taught me to love bread perfumes, but I figured I could never use a whole bottle. Lavender Avocado Toast expanded my savory bread perfume repertoire, but remained an amusing spin-off to my collection. Now Oven-Warm Pizza Crust and Oregano has confirmed that bread is a key vowel in my personal perfume syllabary.