doomsday_disco

I got a bottle of this when I asked for BPAL for Christmas. I knew I needed it in my life since I already own the perfume oil and the hair gloss. The atmo starts off heavier than the coffee than the 2013 perfume oil and the hair gloss, but it quickly settles down into that amazing hot cocoa swirled with brown sugar, a tame cinnamon, and a splash of dark coffee. It smells delicious, and it is my favorite atmo from the 2024 Yules. I am very happy to have a bottle.

On me, this is mostly about the dragon's blood (the incense-y variety, not the spicy floral one that hates me), backed by some sassafras (which has a slight effervescence to it). The sassafras in this is not as strong as it is in Financial Stability. I wasn't able to pick out the other notes (certainly not the citrus ones, which surprises me!), but I did think this scent managed to get earthier with wear, so that's probably due to at least one, if not multiple of, the root notes. I didn't get lots of licorice root from this, which I'm glad about since I don't like black licorice in any capacity. I don't really have to much to say about its intent, as I was wearing and reviewing the scent last night, but I will say that I felt more focused and like I had more will-power while wearing this. I like the scent, but I'll definitely be keeping the decant around to use for its intent.

How does this one have no reviews!? My bitch ass thought I ordered this last year, but it turns out I didn't when I went looking for it when wearing some cucumber scents last month -- apparently, I was holding off until I would definitely start using it during the warmer months, and then forgot. Anyway, this is the perfect cucumber hair gloss. It really does smell like fresh cucumber, and it has good staying power. I can smell it in my wet hair (a lot of hair glosses quickly disappear when I apply it to wet hair) and still smell it in my dry hair after a full day of wear. When it is freshly applied, I can smell it without holding my hair up to my nose, but after that, I have to hold my hair up to my nose in order to smell it. I've paired it with cucumber scents like Rendezvous at the Bath (which I'm almost out of ) and Squirting Cucumber, but it also pairs well with melon scents. This one is a keeper for sure, and I'm glad it is in the general catalog.

I tried this on wet hair, dry hair, and also on a paper towel. This is a mix of both candy-like raspberry and tart raspberry, with it being more like raspberry candy in my hair, but I get more of the tart, fresh fruit raspberry nuances from the sprays I did on a paper towel. There's something incense-y that I can smell in the bottle and when this is freshly sprayed on a paper towel, like there might be some champaca representing those thorns, but fortunately, I never detected that in my hair at all. On me, this isn't a strong hair gloss -- I could only smell it whenever I held my hair up to my nose, and the scent usually lasted half the day. I'll be keeping this around to pair with all of my raspberry scents.

Levatio is definitely an effective calming scent, although I would say that it is better at making you calm enough to lie down and rest, but I'm not sure I would use it as a sleep scent since the tangerine in this is such a powerhouse. It's the strongest note throughout wear, and it is pith-y. This is a TAL, so its scent shouldn't really be judged anyway, but don't let the scent in the bottle deter you from using this. It smells a little scary, and I think it's the way the ylang ylang shouts over the other notes, but fortunately, it is not a main player on my skin. The fennel note is somewhat black licorice-y without being full-on black licorice-y like anise is, and it also calms down after the wet stage of the scent. The tangerine and lavender end up being stars of the show early on, but this morphs and is more about the tangerine and patchouli by the end of the day. I didn't get the cedar on my skin, and could not pick out any of the wild carrot. Wearing this immediately put me at ease, so I definitely recommend this TAL for its purpose. And if you're a fan of tangerine, you will probably like this, too.

I received a tester of this with my decant order. On Buying and Selling starts off with the golden apple being the strongest note on me (huzzah!), with touches of the other fruits. I don't generally like fig (the only scent I love featuring a fig note is A Moment in Time), but it is pretty well-behaved here and never takes over even though it's normally a force to be reckoned with on my skin. I get a little waxy sweetness from the dates, just a tiny bit of pomegranate, and once the apple calms down, it's actually the apricot that ends up being the dominant note by the end of the day. I never get any of the frankincense smoke from this... just the fruits. I like this more than I thought I would based off of the notes! I think those yearning for an autumnal scent that doesn't involve pumpkin or spices should give this one a try. It would be perfect to wear during late summer/early fall.

Note: I have not tried the original released scent. This one is hella boozy. I was immediately reminded of the tequila shot my family made me do at a birthday party a few weeks ago. I do think it gets more wine-like as it settles, but it does still smell very boozy to me. At the end of the day, I get something that smells like jello behind the booze (I'm guessing that's the jelly, but it smells so jello-like that it immediately made me think of the jiggly texture of jello). I am glad I am not getting any peanut butter like some reviewers, or the dread artificial grape! While this isn't something I could see myself reaching for, it was fun to get to try it.

This one has great staying power and hella throw! At first, it is mostly about the wonderful black clove backed by some goat's milk that doesn't go funky on me (woot), but over time, the milk overtakes the clove, so that it winds up being a creamy goat's milk-dominant scent with just a hint of clove in the background. I could still smell this on my hand the next morning when I went to take a shower, but by then it was all milk. I have been weary of milky scents as of late, but this one is pretty nice! I think I'll hang onto my decant.

I grabbed a decant of this after the rave reviews from those who tried it at Dragoncon. I'm not familiar with the scent of the actual flower and don't generally wear straight-up florals. I've tested this a few times, and it's just not for me. I do think it smells white and purple, and is heady, sweet, and somehow sharp as well. There's a grape-like undertone to this that became evident to me after I layered it with 13 March 2020 (the 13 containing ALL THE SUGARS), because then it reminded me of the awful grape-like sugar I get whenever I've happened to order a drink from what ends up being a bad boba tea place. And then I could smell it in the single note itself. The single note ends up being somewhat powdery on me by the end of the day, but it still retains that undertone to it. I always tell myself that if I don't like a floral single note layered with 13 March 2020, it is not for me, so this decant is headed to the destash pile.

An oil of energy, power, authority, and inner strength geared to help you keep the fight going with passion, alacrity, and infectious fervor. Contains: sweet orange, dragon’s blood resin, master root, and High John the Conqueror root.

Your soul is oftentimes a battlefield, upon which your reason and your judgment wage war against your passion and your appetite. Would that I could be the peacemaker in your soul, that I might turn the discord and the rivalry of your elements into oneness and melody. But how shall I, unless you yourselves be also the peacemakers, nay, the lovers of all your elements? Your reason and your passion are the rudder and the sails of your seafaring soul. If either your sails or your rudder be broken, you can but toss and drift, or else be held at a standstill in mid-seas. For reason, ruling alone, is a force confining; and passion, unattended, is a flame that burns to its own destruction. Therefore let your soul exalt your reason to the height of passion, that it may sing; And let it direct your passion with reason, that your passion may live through its own daily resurrection, and like the phoenix rise above its own ashes. I would have you consider your judgment and your appetite even as you would two loved guests in your house. Surely you would not honour one guest above the other; for he who is more mindful of one loses the love and the faith of both Among the hills, when you sit in the cool shade of the white poplars, sharing the peace and serenity of distant fields and meadows—then let your heart say in silence, “God rests in reason.” And when the storm comes, and the mighty wind shakes the forest, and thunder and lightning proclaim the majesty of the sky,—then let your heart say in awe, “God moves in passion.” And since you are a breath in God’s sphere, and a leaf in God’s forest, you too should rest in reason and move in passion. Rest in reason and move in passion: smoked rose attar, honeyed saffron, red sandalwood, red tea, clove bud, and frankincense.

Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding. Even as the stone of the fruit must break, that its heart may stand in the sun, so must you know pain. And could you keep your heart in wonder at the daily miracles of your life, your pain would not seem less wondrous than your joy; And you would accept the seasons of your heart, even as you have always accepted the seasons that pass over your fields. And you would watch with serenity through the winters of your grief. Much of your pain is self-chosen. It is the bitter potion by which the physician within you heals your sick self. Therefore trust the physician, and drink his remedy in silence and tranquillity: For his hand, though heavy and hard, is guided by the tender hand of the Unseen, And the cup he brings, though it burn your lips, has been fashioned of the clay which the Potter has moistened with His own sacred tears. Violet water and plum juice with wormwood accord, pungent tagetes, and dry, bitter, wholesome green tea.

Hubris shattered: roiling incense clouds of divine fury, scorched leather, smears of labdanum and golden pitch, bitter almond, smoldering black amber, and naiad’s tears. Peter Paul Rubens

Speed and light translated through divine geometry: quicksilver and chrome musk blaze through bergamot, French lavender, white frankincense, blood orange, blue lilac, tangerine, yuzu, and cubeb. Giacomo Balla

Beams of citrus, apricot, raspberry musk, and neroli herald daybreak, illuminating ambergris and myrrh shadows. Felix Edouard Vallotton