tajana
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Ylang ylang and moonflower are a real match made in heaven, they're bringing out the best in each other, and the stargazer lily is a graceful addition. Overall, it's a nectarous nocturnal floral with a sweetly spicy edge to contrast with the lunar glow. These spice-like and skin-warm and eerie ghostly qualities mingle under a fine honeyed glaze that quietly meets the sun-baked earth, a bit dry and crumbly, a little bit reminiscent of some sun-dried desert plants. Flower Moon nimbly side-steps all the pitfalls some of the more controversial notes can bring - there's nothing over-ripe about the ylang, nothing funky going on with the honey, nothing mushroomy about the earth. The perfume is such a lovely match for the label art, a reminder about the hidden world of bats as pollinators, fuzzy velvety little fairies nuzzling into glamorous night-blooming flowers. The earth and balsamic dark amber merge into an enticing, complex incense accord that lingers long after the finely defined florals dissipate into an ambiguous moonlit glow. Somehow this is simultaneously very "natural" and very "perfumey," which I love. Gorgeous!
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Immediately dark pine and red wine set the scene, full of shadows. Glimmers of red rose in the dark as powdered sweetened resins emerge towards the dry down, with detours to rest among pleasingly cool damp stones and the warming fruity depth of red musk. Sometimes BPAL red musk is super bossy, but it's well balanced with the other notes. Unfortunately, I feel like the "silver chalice" accord might be a bit too realistic? Or maybe it's the sea salt in combination with the other notes. I don't know exactly, but it almost reminds me of the harsh smell of metal warmed on salty skin. With the right skin chemistry this might be a really beautiful atmospheric blend, but as dramatic and moody as this perfume is, there's some sharp chord that takes this out of my personal comfort zone.
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On my first encounter, I thought Drowsy Voyeur was just "ok." A dark plummy poppy + patchouli blend that felt a bit familiar after trying other darkly fruity patchoulis over the years. But then I kept going back for more... and the decant has rested a bit... and it really has gotten under my skin, to the point that now a bottle is an absolute must have! The guava is much more perceptible to me now, and it's not reading as overly tropical exactly, but it's twisting and warping the plum into something a little less familiar. The indigo musk, opium poppy, and patchouli all swirl together hypnotically and taking a deep whiff from the vial feels like the scent gets "stuck" and echoes of the scent reverberate and linger. On the skin, a black tea note comes out and makes it feel surprisingly clean and clear-eyed for such a nocturnal scent. Not getting much tobacco, but I wouldn't be surprised if this continues to come into its own as it ages.
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"On Freedom" starts off with a gleaming bright ti leaf and violet swirl. Rather than what I'd picture as violet "ash," it smells like fresh violet and violet leaf to me. The frankincense is the high, almost lemony sort, which keeps it quite clean and pleasant alongside the silvery ambergris musk. It's all very dewy and refreshing, you could wear this anywhere and even on a crowded elevator I don't think anyone would complain. The solemn bitterness of myrrh adds a nice shadow dimension further along in the base, but by the time that myrrh is noteworthy, it's faded to a skin scent despite a generous slather. I really enjoyed wearing this today, but since the lasting power isn't great on my skin, and my brain ends up classifying this as primary a violet scent (I have plenty of BPAL violets!) I won't seek more... at least. not right away. I'd love to have this as a shower gel or shampoo. I think this perfume will really shine when worn on warmer spring/summer days. I agree with monocainsheresy above that this somehow reminds me of some Possets fougeres. It's something about the ambiance, that might come down to the particular combo of elegant yet bright top notes with "perfumey" resins.
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Chilled milk, a soft peppermint, a bright green candy. The peppermint is most apparent for first 20 minutes of wear, and more noticeable at arm's length than when I huff my wrist directly, where the lactonic, distinctly dairy milk note exists side by side with a sugar-glazed, tart and vibrant green apple, rendered a bit more abstract by the zippy green currant. The long drydown loses the mint and smells more like... what if instead of chocolate milk or strawberry milk, you created green apple milk. A foamy green milk drink for someone who just can't vibe with a matcha latte. 😹 Or, I'm imagining eating apple flavored fun-dip candy and making the inexplicable choice to chase it with a glass of milk. Simple, odd, oddly charming.
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Yep, this is an orange glitter pumpkin - wilhelmscream's review is very accurate to my experience. This is a very fun fragrance because it's sparkly and refreshing enough for summer, but it also reminds me of picking out my favorite Halloween stickers as a little kid.... oh, to return to simpler times. I get sweet orange and fresh grated ginger up front, and then the bright grapey fizz of the champagne note, while the sweetened roasted pumpkin acts as the base. I don't think I can pick up on any gunpowder or "calcium chloride" unless I'm really looking for it. I'm very happy I got to try a sniffie decant for a bit of a mood booster today. I would really like this as a room spray and it makes me hope this year's weenies will have a citrusy pumpkin atmo spray.
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Smells like a fancy mocktail from a fancy bar that carefully restored and reconstructed historical fixtures when it renovated its Victorian-era building to bring it up to code for the modern day. So this does smell quite a bit like a brandy/cognac cocktail to my nose, but non-alcoholic. Warm, smooth, autumnal liquor.. woody-nutty undertones, reminiscent of dried fruits, tobacco, and earthy soft spice. A mixed drink with plenty zhuzhing it up... some lift from lemon peel, twisted over the glass to express the refreshing citrus oils. Lavender and lilac are present in a way that makes me think of floral-herbal syrups and cordials rather than fresh cut flowers. There is quite a lot of dried fig, but I have to work hard to pick out plum... it's more like it is in the background to make things more purple. I can envision a glowing golden-brown cocktail that used butterfly pea flower infusions to create a pretty purple gradient towards the bottom of the coupe glass. After it wears for a while in my hair, the main notes I can smell are brandy, fig, and lavender. This smells very festive, like an autumn/winter scent to me, especially Thanksgiving and Yuletide. Flame-of-Burnt-Brandy Dragon feels like a perfect pairing for winter holidays, but I will reach for this all throughout the cooler months when I want to indulge in a particularly fun hair gloss. I think the official description is a great indicator of the vibe of this particular dragon.
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Halfway between a classic gentleman's amber cologne and a holy church/temple frankincense smoke smell, Gamboge Dragon gives the impression that a hot but holy man or androgynous cloaked figure just passed through the room in which you sprayed it. The saffron reads as a leathery spice embedded in the ancient golden resins. Just a tad ominous and smoldering, it's got character despite being a mellow scent with no high or sharp edges. Would be an ideal atmo spray for an office/study/library if you wanted to create a dramatic backdrop for silent reading or hushed whispers.
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In the bottle, the aldehydes glitter true to the description of dazzling kleig lights. Applied, I get fizzy, sparkling bubbles, a syrupy golden amber soda. Sometimes frankincense and labdanum have a cola-like aspect so maybe they're part of the proprietary golden resin blend, helping extend the aldehydic glitter effect, pushing the effervescent special effects to the limit. I feel like there may also be benzoin folded into the formula because there's a vanillic creaminess turning this into a curiously NON-gourmand cream soda. Brown sugar is toasted until it melts and starts bubbling along the edges, it's not like a typical brown sugar scent. The soda-like ambery scent bubbles along for hours on end with above-average sillage... a little goes a long way here. In the drydown there is a waxy candle-like feeling that emerges on my skin, but it's not unwelcome. We're dimming the "lights, camera, action!!!" lights on the movie set and transitioning into candlelight after hours. I think this will age really well and I'm curious to see how it settles over the months and years to come, if I can make my bottle last all that long.
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I really enjoy the 13 blends that have kind of a kitchen witch feeling... a swirling mix of different herbs, spices, roots, resins, and powders that land the overall impression somewhere between tasty, medicinal, and magical. This one smells like a nugget of copal-infused caramel resin, melted and studded with bits of nutmeg, crushed hazelnuts, assorted little shreds of ingredients (zesty tea-like bergamot, bittersweet herbs, warm red carnation, a curiously gourmand cedar) and drizzled in creamy tonka and chocolatey patchouli. It is chewy-sweet and choco-hazelnut forward, but spicy and and herby and rooty enough that it never threatens to turn into a sickly nutella mess. I think the orris is doing some magical work in the background to make this smell "pretty," but any one of the ingredients could be pulled out from the mix if you are looking to find it. The overall effect is nutty, resinous, autumnal, and cuddly. Bonus: The little black cats on this label are extra cute. I feel luckier already.
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"Telling the Bees," to me, is primarily wildflower honey, anchored to soft black musk that keeps it going for hours. There is a clear, sweet, bright clover honey tone from the bottle, a sharper jab of crushed grass and flower stems that pops on my skin when I freshly apply, and then the meadow-fresh floral nature of the honey takes over. The roses are part of the perfume but they are in the background, indeed like a wild rosebush growing near the beehives you are visiting. I love the use of colors in the official description - red and white, the implication of green and yellow, and velvet black - and if I think of that as I wear it, I can picture an idyllic cottage garden on a sunny day. The bright, sunlit nature of the honey note contrasts and then melds nicely with the plush dark musk base. If you get your hands on Telling the Bees, please give it a moment to rest after getting it out of the mail. Even though I got my bottle secondhand, I wasn't so sure I liked it at all when I tried it on day 1, but when I revisited it a week later it was a keeper that made me nostalgic for a countryside life I've never lived. Bit of a throwback comparison so I'm not sure how useful it will be to you, dear reader, but the honey note reminds me of "Litha," the 2009 edition. I was inspired to review this now because of this year's Spiritus Arcanum scent "Dark Baptism," which is another pretty but unconventional spring floral married to BPAL's lovely black musk.
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A Rovin' deserves to rank up there with other BPAL icons. As a fan of The Bow & Crown of Conquest, I do love a good carnation-sandalwood-leather combination, and I do love the slap of leather in here. The red musk-leather also reminds me of Crowley, and the overall vibe of the A Rovin' is more femme and floral than either of those. The decadence reminds me of the old Mme. Moriarty, but A Rovin' is not nearly as fruity, and so it feels more wearable to me, with enough dryness to stop it from ever going cloying, even in hot weather. The jasmine is front and center from the get-go, it's a really fabulous example of how magnetic a big, unapologetic white floral can be, and the luscious jasmine stays true through a long portion of the wear time. This is also a great example of a BPAL where you can sniff closely to discover each note, or sit back and enjoy as all the parts converge into a harmonious blend. The honey-dipped jasmine petals are deeply inviting, the 'hay' of the hay sugar plays off the tobacco to weave it in artfully from the more textural top notes to the warm dry-down, the spicy clove-y quality of the carnation flower enhances jasmine's allure and playfully traces its fingers along the leather and sandalwood while it's all enveloped in the crimson glow of red musk.
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I love this perfume. It would have the depth and character to serve as a "signature scent." Thankfully I do not need to commit to a single perfume, but if for some reason I had to start over, Winter Night, Figure on the Bridge is one of the first bottles I would seek out. Through the combination of the chilly aquatic "snow" accord and the indigo musk, there's a gloomy, androgynous core, sleek and ozone-clean. It's tinted dark purple with lilacs and the tart taste of plum skin, moody and dark with opium and tobacco flower. Over time it melds together in a way that makes it challenging for me to pick out individual notes, and I do suspect that if you have issues with any of the notes, you might dismiss it an air freshener or laundry scent. But to me, it creates a twilight ambiance, like the first stars appearing in a cloud-streaked sky. It is really lovely.
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This is a vampy night-blooming fruity floral that opens up with a ghostly kiss of luminous bergamot and an opium-backed jasmine. Bittersweet berries, slightly currant-y and slightly wine-y, come in next to dye the scent a purplish, dark red color. The perfume settles into a floral incense, though in the end the berries hang on longer than the jasmine does. Based on the label art I was hoping for plenty of that sugared absinthe, but I don't get any hint of absinthe... any spooky glow is coming from the bergamot blossom and the 'white' of jasmine petals.
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If you are reading this in time to buy it, and you love lilac, you do NOT want to miss out on this one. This is a heady, slightly indolic and moody, timeless floral with enough mystery to entertain you all on its own, but with an elegant simplicity that plays well with many complimentary or contrasting perfumes. Secret garden vibes, with lush green moss creeping over the cool gray paving stones, branches of lilac heavy with morning dew on a cloudy spring morning. It's heady, true, heartbreakingly lovely lilac in abundance, with just enough moss to provide an atmospheric, outdoor garden sense of place. Creates a gorgeous fairytale cloud of lilac scent that lasts many hours when worn in your hair.