forspecial_plate

Agreed, Soupy Twist.......the opening is really kind of funky and I thought I made a mistake here......orange blossom is really iffy with me (even though I want to love it and pretty much refuse to give up)......sometimes it's ok, sometimes I don't like it. After a short while, maybe 10 minutes, this calms down a lot and turns into this delightful herbal somewhat fruity blend that will smell really good when the weather starts to warm up (which I am so ready for...). This might be one of those scents that I dislike at first and grow to LOVE (I think I already do love it). I put on some more so I can experience that weird opening again, and transformation into....I'm not sure how to describe, but it's just herbal fruity loveliness. I'm not detecting individual notes here. That funky opening phase kind of provides a weird undercurrent that is just so intriguing, kind of a raspy feeling? It keeps me wanting to sniff this up close. I do have a Chaos Theory IV that I've always thought of as orange blossom spice marshmallow, and I like it but it's a little too strong sometimes. This is kind of close to that but even more wearable. I'm not sure I need both? Bottle upgrade possibly? It also kind of reminds me of Habit Rouge, which I only just realized. Edit to add: I don't detect much bergamot, but I do pick up a hint of white floral which makes sense since orange blossom is a white floral I think? Some of you might amp that part

Cross-posted in Bpal Chatter.. Fortuna Annonaria smells just like Comme des Garcons Black, from memory.

A coworker used to use that and it always reminded me of Plunder, or possibly Baron Samedi.

Is there any room at your head, Willy? Or any room at your feet? Or any room at your side, Willy, wherein that I may creep? A scent of unendurable grief and longing: pale orris root and honeyed white lily chilled by wild carrot and cognac, pulled into a winding sheet of white jasmine, tobacco flower, tuberose, and patchouli. First impression: strong white floral, reminds me of the little bathroom soaps that are for decoration only (soapy, but really nice soap). I didn't like it at first. After a couple minutes, when I bring my wrist up to my nose, I can smell a very strong booze note, the cognac I suppose, that worried me at first. After a while, the booze faded back a lot, and I get a balanced floral/booze/patchouli combo. I don't think the patchouli is super strong, but I like patchouli and sometimes don't even notice it. It's here but just giving an earthy base to the powdery floral and chilly booze notes. If you amp patchouli and don't like it, there might be enough here to turn you off. I was hoping for a little more sweetness from the tuberose and jasmine, but it's mostly austere orris and lily to me. I think the tobacco flower is contributing to the soapiness. Summary: chilly white floral with booze, soapy and a little powdery, with an earthy patchouli base. I wish it was just a little sweeter but it is very ghostly, reminds me of something else from bpal - maybe Sepulcher? But I couldn't wear that, it was just too high-pitched and soapy. This is more balanced, I like it.

If anyone loves Kingsport, I recommend you at least try The Wood-Pile from the current 2017 Yules. While they're not exactly alike, they sure are alike in character. The Wood-Pile doesn't have as much of a hazy incensey vibe but the sweet aquatic part is very similar to my nose.

I agree this is chic and elegant, I just wanted to add I smell the ghost of a flower in this scent. I grabbed my decant and couldn't remember anything about it, put it on, and thought there was rose in it. Then I looked up the review and thought it was strange, there aren't any floral notes listed. Now I can still smell kind of an airy white floral floating around at the edges of the scent. Maybe it's the cashmeran playing tricks. I do remember there was something borderline sour about it when I first got it, that aspect has smoothed out somewhat and I don't know what was doing that. I like it now.

Not much to add, and I don't have much experience with different massage oils, but this does work well as far as smoothness on the skin and lasts a long time (I tried on the bf). The scent is really nice, I get mostly warm orange with sandalwood and myrrh (the myrrh comes out stronger after a while, yes I basically used this as a perfume today). I love patchouli and many times for me it just fades into a low hum in the background, and that is what's happening here. Overall I enjoy this.

This is strongly herbal, almost too herbal, but the patchouli makes it very nice. I am a big patchouli fan and this is a nice and different bpal patchouli. It definitely has some age going on and I really have barely worn it, I'm glad I dug it out today - very grey and cold outside with snow flurries, and this is a nice kind of dreary but warm scent to fit the mood. I get the slight metallic aspect that others noted. And yes, also rooty.

Finally, I got to try this! Decant of the 2017 version. Spice and sugar! Warm and toasty, a little raspy and dry. Dries down to something like a spicy Sugar Skull. Pretty much just what I expected and wanted from this!

I get it now....at first I was mostly picking up on the 'oil' aspect that some other people mentioned above, and I couldn't identify anything 'ambery' about this. I came back to it today after resting for a few weeks. Now I'm getting mostly labdanum, which to me has a really strange scent, like a deep wine resin scent, but it's definitely ambery. This smells great and I'm glad I kept trying it until it worked! It's like a stripped down amber scent profile without any vanilla or any of the 'sweet' parts. I think that people who can't wear amber because it turns to powder, might have better luck with this because it's like the parts of amber that aren't powdery (I could be wrong about that).

This smells to me like apple + water + a big tin tub. It's all apple at first but after it dries, this metallic note comes out that reminds me a little of The Blockhead. But this is clean new metal, not rusted. The water part reminds me a little of Sea of Glass. This is very clean and refreshing. A great apple scent!

This is beautiful, I love it so much. Rose doesn't always work well for me but in this scent it's very balanced with all the other notes. I love everything about this. The familiar bpal pumpkin note is stronger at first but then it fades a bit and the other notes all come out. There's a hint of lemon which I don't know where is coming from but it is so lovely. I love rosewood and I think it helps balance the rose note. Altogether one of my favorite pumpkin patch scents.

I recommend Djinn

I didn't like this at first. I thought it was too high-pitched, and too much like a couple other aquatics I've worn. But after giving it another full wear I discovered I love it. There's some kind of chic smokiness underneath the sea spray. I love sarsaparilla and patchouli, but they are just part of the overall blend here. I love this, and also I got a compliment for it.

Hi, welcome back! Long time no see! I second Alice, that scent came to mind immediately. For me, it's more floral at first, and the creamy part comes out after a little while. Welcome back : )

Both previous reviews used the word "bitter" and I agree - there is a bitter aspect to this scent. The dead leaves note is sharp and strong at first, but the sharpness backs off a lot after a few minutes. All the notes are here, but so well-blended it's hard to pick apart individual notes. I agree that it's outdoorsy. This isn't aquatic, but something about it smells salty somehow - like salt encrusted dead leaves. And the bitter, medicinal quality - that could be blackcurrant, tobacco tar, or both notes combined. For me this wasn't easy to like, I had to grow to like it. It's very appropriate for fall and I'll be keeping it and wearing it again. I have a feeling I'll grow to like it even more as it ages. Today I layered it over a non-bpal amber scent (Amber 114), and it went really nicely with the amber, and almost starts to remind me of Death of Autumn. But on its own, DLBC&TT is much less complex.

Patchouli-lovers take note. This is a beautiful, golden autumn patchouli scent. It's just the right earthy/warm/sweet with a hint of spice. Lovely!

I keep a bottle of F5 at my desk. I don't have any windows and I'm basically underground at the hospital where I work. F5 is a really nice mood lifter for me. But I also bring something different every day to put on after lunch, depending on my mood and what my morning scent was.

Oooh, thank you....I think I have an imp of Jester, didn't realize it's d/c.

Unearthing this discussion because, for some reason, I've been "craving" berry scents a lot in the past 2-3 weeks. I skimmed through this thread, and I'm pretty sure I have imps of Lampades and Lady Una....and a couple others mentioned, like Bewitched and Prunella. Now I can't wait to get home from work, so I can have my own berry sniffing party! : ) Since the thread has been inactive for a few years....anything newer I should have on my radar? Any other berry-lovers out there?

I can't remember much about Philtre d'Amour, I only had a little sample of it. BUT..... I would recommend The Caterpillar, it always makes me think of 'old-school' Guerlain, specifically L'Heure Bleue. Might be worth a shot since it does have jasmine and patchouli (from memory), and does have a powdery feel, in my opinion.

I agree with the Shalimar comparison. The Caterpillar always reminds me of L'Heure Bleue, especially after it has dried down for a while

DCCXCIX (799) Previous review by stellans: http://www.bpal.org/topic/47311-chaos-theory-iv-edge-of-chaos/?p=1212571 My review: Clean musk with a hint of vanilla, a hint of citrus. I get the ozone vibe stellans mentions. She was reminded of Twisted Oak Tree, but I am reminded of November, lighter and sweeter. It's really nice and I like it a lot. Very clean and sometimes too close to soapy but there are times I'm in the mood for this kind of thing.

Premature Burial - which is an older Limited Edition oil, and maybe hard to find (sorry).

Here are the notes for those 2 sub-series...... Visions of Autumn I - White cedar, black pepper, golden amber, bay leaf, and 4-year aged oudh Visions of Autumn II - Gurjum balsam, rose geranium, opoponax, violet leaf, brown leather accord, and patchouli Visions of Autumn III - Bourbon vanilla, aged patchouli, honey, and Ceylon cinnamon Visions of Autumn IV - Somalian myrrh, orange blossom, champaca flower, and verbena Visions of Autumn V - Haitian vetiver, tea leaf, Himalayan cedar, and apricot rind Visions of Autumn VI - Oakmoss, lavender absolute, petitgrain, rockrose, white patchouli, and sage Visions of Autumn VII - Tobacco absolute, myrrh, opoponax, black sandalwood, and black pepper and the Dead Leaves series: Dead Leaves and Tobacco Dead Leaves, Black Pepper, and Sandalwood Dead Leaves, Bourbon Vanilla, and Myrrh Dead Leaves, Frankincense, and Copal Dead Leaves, Honey, and Oudh Dead Leaves, Red Musk, and Neroli .....again, I didn't try any of these, but they all sounded pretty good and I think they were variously popular