forspecial_plate

I love this, but I'm not sure how to describe it. Dark and incense-y with luscious apple component, and maybe some of the sweeter gourmand notes in the background. Apple is a risky note for me, I don't always like it, I've tried og Midway and didn't expect a lot of apple here, but I'm happy to report it works really well for me in this scent. Dark and swirling incense + gourmand. It comes off as sultry but also cozy on me. When I first got this, I didn't like it much at all, whether from travel shock or whatever, it was just really funky up close. Not sure what that was about but I did sense potential and it has definitely smoothed out a lot after some aging.

I agree this has a very oakmossy vibe - maybe it's something happening with the neroli and sage? I thought it was a pretty safe bet for me based on the notes, but it's doing the "70's/80's hairy chest aftershave" thing on me, which sometimes happens with oakmoss and that's why I started avoiding that note. Not sure what happened here but this isn't working for me. (It's ok though, I have lots of other citrus/neroli scents I like)

Spice-dominant, backed by the slightly creamy coconut milk, I can agree with the root-beer comparisons, but to me it's a little more spicy. I love the Lab's sassafras scents, especially Anti-Salloon League, this is more spicy and I think I'm amping the nutmeg. I don't really smell anise or honey here. Wouldn't really have guessed vanilla either, for that matter. But I think over time the background notes do come out more, they're just all blended together. I do like this and will wear it again, especially when fall rolls around again and there's a chilly breeze with falling leaves outside. Very cozy scent. And it has a nice lower level of sillage for me, not too strong, just right actually.

I get mainly strong bitter almond at first, for a few minutes. Then over the next couple hours, something really weird happens with the combination of notes and I smell labdanum. I would have sworn this has labdanum but it's not in the description. It's some combination of the musk with something else going on. Much later the musk comes out stronger but overall there's not a lot of morphing here. It's very smoothly blended and in the end it's mostly about the almond, it kind of holds on through the subtle changes. I don't think I ever smelled mint OR anise. I love almond scents, so this works for me! Fancy dark almond. My bottle is a few weeks old.

Hi! I never tried Black Light Reactive Poster, but I do like nag champa and patchouli. I think these are worth a try: Paramatman - Orange blossom, East Indian sandalwood, and champaca Urd - Muscadine, black and red patchouli, cereus and nag champa Gaueko - Blackened sandalwood and misty lavender, with curling wisps of smoky tobacco, nag champa, and labdanum Oblivion - Dark musk, wood spice, labdanum, patchouli, dark African woods, and saffron. [This one in my opinion is very accessible and might make a great intro scent for someone new to bpal] Goblin - Black coconut, gnarly patchouli, and sweet benzoin. [A lot of people name this as their favorite patchouli scent] I really like Snake Oil and also the Snake Pit scents in the Carnaval Diabolique section of the Lab's site. Snake Oil might possibly have patchouli but there's no official list of notes. Unfortunately it's out of stock right now but some of the Snake Pit are in stock. These stand out for me: Death Adder - Snake Oil with vetiver, black coconut, vanilla, and opoponax Western Diamondback - Snake Oil with leather, tonka bean, red sandalwood, and sage Boomslang - Snake Oil with cocoa, teakwood, and rice milk Temple Viper (out of stock but this one is my favorite so I had to mention it) - Snake Oil with sugar cane, frankincense, champaca, opoponax, labdanum, and hyssop ......these are just my first thoughts but I'm sure there will be more recs!

Dark ivy incense. It reminded me of Hallow-e'en 1914 except less leafy. I swear when I first tried this there was a really pretty incense coming through loud and clear, but every time since then it has been all about the ivy. This is close to being soapy in a way, so I get where others are coming from when they say it's fresh. I got this because I thought it sounded like maybe a new updated take on Meditation In Autumn, and it kind of is that. I'm pretty happy with it. PS, If you wanted more sandalwood from this you could try layering with Pyramid of Skulls, I would imagine that could work

This smells like sweet potato pie. The cinnamon and oakmoss are very soft.

I've tried this 3 days in a row after just getting it Monday. As you know it could still change over time but I feel like I have a pretty good idea of what it smells like and that is white musk. The lab's white musk note is showcased here above all else, although the rose and cacao are very much present. I don't really smell the other 2 notes. (Maybe the ambrette seed is there a little when I sniff up close, it's hard to tell). I was drawn to the word "wistful" and that is an appropriate description of this. It's perfumey and somewhat floral from the rose but I think the other notes help round it out. If you love white musk this might be your dream scent, if it behaves like it does on me. PS: I got headaches yesterday and today after putting this on, not sure if the perfumey floral aspect gave me a headache, or if it's justy my usual allergies.

I really haven't reviewed this?? Ok, I've worn it for the last 2 days and it's lovely. I remember not liking it as much when it was new. I guess it needed a bit of aging. It's airy poofy ginger vanilla marshmallows, with the softest spice. I think it has really settled and aged nicely. It lasts a good 5 hours or more. I'd like to layer this with a rose scent. I don't really get anything lemony like some other people did.

Pretty champaca dominant soft incense scent. I don't get any floral. I have a little shorty decant that ended up on my work desk and stayed there. I recognize the champaca from Wynter Wakeneth, and in fact this scent is similar to that one IMO. Love it.

Sugar Skull 2021 This year's Sugar Skull smells very different to me, it smells darker, and I am really undecided on whether there has been a complete reformulation this year. I have several decants of Sugar Skull from years past and this ain't it. It still smells sugary with fruit, and I'm going to take a guess that I could be smelling blackcurrant? I got out my decant of Blackcurrant Pie to compare them side-by-side and I think I could be onto something. "Darker" is really the only word I can think of. It's like something brighter is missing this year. I've been putting off getting a 5ml of Sugar Skull for quite a few years, so I have to admit I was disappointed in this. It's not actually a bad scent, it's just really not what I was expecting. Luckily I found a 2015 bottle in a forum sale and it is the Sugar Skull I know and love (they seem to have slight variations over the years but in my opinion have always been basically the same scent - until this year). I believe that some people will really like this year's version and I'm curious to read more reviews! I wonder if it's a skin chemistry thing? Edit: 2 yrs of aging has done a lot of good for this scent, it's a lot closer to what I thought of as Sugar Skull and I no longer feel like I could have got a mislabeled bottle. It's lighter than what I'm used to from SS but I do like it more than I did when it was new.

Blackberry candy in the forest. More piney in the first few minutes, then musk and a little oakmoss come out stronger, but the berry stays constant, just sweet enough to remind me of candy. The oakmoss is behaving and not taking over everything else. The berry note is a little medicinal and....kind of sickly for some reason, but there is a time and place for this. I just have to apply very lightly. Cool forest with a berry cough drop.

This smells kind of sweet and savory at the same time, it's just totally well-blended and nothing really stands out, although I can pick out aspects of rose musk and toffee. It kind of reminds me of a Yule cousin of Bad Luck Woman Blues, without any dirt note. For such an odd mix of notes, it's really smooth and well-behaved. It also reminds me a little of one of the Halloweenies scents from the last few years - I can't remember the name but it's some kind of rose scent. I'm glad to have this! Looks like not many people went for it. : )

I get the popcorn note too - but there is definitely more to this, I am picking up on the crystalline notes as well, and that part reminds me of the old school Lunacy scents I've had the good fortune to smell. I actually was able to compare this with all of the other Buck Moons (a good friend has the first one, and I have the rest), and I think they are cousins, different scents but you can tell they're related. It also reminds me of Wolf Moon from '04 or '05, that one has a crystalline feeling too. I love this! It's cozy and comforting.

This smells just like the name says. To me the rose is stronger than the dandelion sap, but there is definitely a balance going on. Very pretty rose scent. Basically if these notes sound good to you, I don't think you'll be disappointed (haven't read the previous reviews yet, though).

Sweet, creamy, fruity and a little tropical. IF the Lab's cream notes disagree with you (specifically, turn to plastic), you might find that happening here. For me it is borderline plasticky from the rice milk but overall it's a nice sweet creamy scent. This was a nice contrast to some of the slightly soapy or woody scents I've been testing this week. I agree that it's happy and cheery, might be great on a dreary winter day to transport you to warmer happier thoughts.

For about 30 seconds when I first put this on, it smells like some kind of lightly spiced holiday pastry or something - but this doesn't last long. The scorched oak comes in, and it smells more like what I expected from these 2 notes. Over the next couple of hours it smooths out a lot and I think the tobacco comes out more. Overall this is a medium-throw scent that smells pretty much what you would expect. In other words it smells great! The scorched oak reminds me of Dead Leaves On Fire, a little bit. I'm not good at picking out tobacco notes but I think the other reviews so far are pretty accurate, the tobacco comes close to being a gourmand-ish note.

The oakmoss smells soapy on me and also kind of peppery like white pepper almost, not in a bad way. Mostly I'm getting the fougere vibe others mentioned. The lavender is actually pretty quiet, doesn't stand out a lot. I got this specifically as a substitute for Antiheros by Etat Libre d'Orange which is a clean soapy lavender, woods and musk scent, but I think it's discontinued. As a substitute this duo is fine (it's close but not exact), but it's really just a nice scent on its own. Since I got this I have decided oakmoss is a note I should avoid, but the white oakmoss here is pretty well-behaved. It doesn't turn into overpowering 70's men's cologne, like oakmoss sometimes does on my skin. For that, I am happy.

Light fruity floral, I agree there's a hint of apricot, with a sheer wood backdrop. I had a very brief peep of something spicy like clove. I did want more of an incense note, I think of agarwood as an incensey wood. Still, this smells good. It's very light. Would be a good scent if you just want to smell yourself and there's a chance someone else around you might be sensitive. Can't imagine anyone being offended by it. There are definitely times I wear bpal just for myself. Edit: I wrote my review too soon, this does smoothly transition to something more incensey after a while. Still very light. The fruity part receded more into the background.

Clean, slightly fruity, a little salty and beachy (but not the Lab's famous "corn chip" salt note). Over time there is more orange blossom coming forward. This conjures up a very specific memory for me, it reminds me of the smell of gay men in 1992, when I turned 21 and started going to my first gay bar, The Dock in Cincinnati. I loved the newish cologne some of them wore and found out it was Eternity, and bought a bottle right away. This isn't an exact dupe but it's close enough that it takes me right back to that time and place, and it's such a nice memory, I'm grateful for it. Not much of a morpher on my skin. I'll be wearing this in the summer and thinking of drunken sweaty nights on the dance floor.

This doesn't stand out as "fruity" to me, kind of like the other reviews mentioned. I guess I mostly smell the pumpkin floss because it reminds me of Mischief hair gloss, except with pumpkin. Long into the dry-down it does something different - it's like dark sugar or something, lasts and lasts for hours on me. I expected a lot more fruit or berry, maybe that will come out stronger with age, but I do think this is a great fall scent and I'm happy with it.

I just got this yesterday, so it's possible it will change after resting longer. But in the interest of those waiting for reviews, here are my first impressions. This smells more like a Shunga scent to me than Halloweenie - in a good way! Yesterday the mushroom note stood out more, very realistic, the scent of cutting up fresh mushrooms. Today that's more in the background. Basically it's a soft ambery glow with a hint of rose, and the leather and mushroom are more supporting notes, stronger if I sniff up close. I don't think rosehips = rose but someone else mentioned it somewhere and I agree. It's a hint of rose, on my skin. I recognize the ambrette from the Ambrette Seed and Prune duo. Leather doesn't stand out here, but that could come out stronger with age. Again, "soft" is the word I keep thinking. I really like it. Edit: wore this again this evening, this time there's no rose, and the leather is stronger. Smells more like an expensive men's fragrance now, but still a quiet scent. I think it's a stunner.

What I'm smelling is pretty much what I expected, just a little bit more raspy and earthy, which could be the tobacco wrappers, coffee, or both. Might smooth out with age. It's the lab's familiar pumpkin, with coarse ground coffee, tobacco, sweet and a little spicy (I would agree the cinnamon is more subtle). I don't really pick out woods specifically. This reminds me of one of the Nutcracker 'Dance' scents, whichever one had coffee. I only had a decant of OG Pinched and it has now faded to almost no scent (decants age a lot faster than 5ml bottles in my experience). It's interesting to me that the reviewer before me noticed a creamy note. I used to get that from Pinched and it's what I loved most from that scent, but I'm not smelling it in Pinched w Four Pumpkins. I wonder if that will come out more with age. I still like this, though.

This is a soft, golden scent, beautiful for fall. When I first got it I thought it smelled like baby powder (which isn't necessarily a bad thing to me), and I thought it might need to rest for a little while. It's still borderline powdery but there is a hint of metallic gold about it also. I can't tell any of these notes apart and not one note stands out strongly. It does change a little after it's on the skin for a while, but I still couldn't tell you which notes I'm smelling. Maybe the vetiver comes out a little more. It's almost like Death of Autumn's ghost, just soft, soft, soft.

Smells like delightful fruit and spice, mostly apple at the beginning but then the apple note fades to the background after just a little while, and there's not any one note that stands out.. Not much else to say. Very nice spice scent, on the softer side (not harsh).