BetteNoire

Seconding everything mentioned so far, and I'll add Mr. Croup and the Marquis de Carabas from the Neverwhere collection.

*Look at this trove, treasures untold How many backups can one cabinet hold?* Oh, review the scent? Sorry, right. It's everything. The post office lost my package for a minute, so this bottle got to age 3 weeks and it is EVERYTHING. Are you a slut for cardamom? Because I am, and I didn't realize Snake Oil would benefit from some. I like red musk but never vibes with Smut, but this is indeed a treat. I only do backups for real mindblowers, this might need 2 backups.

I adore the beach, but can't do aquatic perfumes and often dislike "beachy" scents. I also love jasmine but not on me, you know? This isn't beachy, this is The Beach, bottled. I get a very distinct sand note, with this gorgeous jasmine floral breeze ( this jasmine and I can be friends!) and an incensy haze of champaca and sandalwood (just a touch, that conveys a sense of heat, like the sand is hot). I am so happy I stepped out of my comfort zone for this - this is the kind of summer scent I can actually wear!

You might also try Melisande the Puppet Mistress. It's got a good boy of similarity to Fallen

Deep purple with a breathtaking iridescent sparkle to it. I love all these notes, so it shouldn't be surprising, but still....wow. This is that literally intoxicating lilac smell, made cool (not icy cold though) instead of warm. The plum and tobacco flower seem to be supporting the lilac and adding back in whatever it is that often gets lost between a real lilac bush and the distilled flower oil. Unf. And as it dries down the opium comes in. I'm iffy with musks but clearly I need more of the indigo variety. And possibly a backup bottle of this.

Good lord, this should come with a warning. Scent wise it's a used bookstore, where maybe the owner's got a diffuser running in a corner with lavender oil in. What this really is, is one of those long hugs from someone who loves you where suddenly you're crying because it's been too long since you felt safe enough to feel all your feelings and they all come up at once. Yikes, that was oddly specific. But this is one of those that bypasses everything and smacks you straight in the limbic system. There's a reason all the reviews mention a memory. I'll probably need a backup bottle, it's cheaper than therapy.

Does what it says on the tin. But, if you are like me and insane for cardamom but not big on foodies, know that without notes of vanilla or cake or whatever the cardamom can really expand into a beautiful complexity. The amber supports it and ties it to the skin. So very lovely.

I love all these notes, save for massoia bark which I have no experience with. Should be nice! On skin: interesting, nice galbanum note at first. 5 minutes into dry down: this.....smells exactly like balsamic vinegar. What the everlasting fuck? A skin chemistry fail for the ages that had to be scrubbed off with Dawn. I gotta find that Tree of Disappointment people keep talking about....

Roses? Candy? Bubblegum? Mayhap some citrus? All adds up to the olfactory equivalent of Judy Garland singing "Come On Get Happy" I actually love it, feels like bottled happy and we all need that right now. I usually got for comfort in a bottle, but clearly I need to seek out joy as well.

Holy shirtballs, Beth. I've been dreaming of a perfect smoky lavender blend, but this is better than that. In the bottle and on the skin it smells like a perfect blend of the listed notes, everything in is supporting the lavender but it all blends so well that it becomes it's own entity. This truly is a tranquil mask over a vast expanse of sadness. It is heart clenching, it creates a very clear image of mourning not allowed to show outwardly. And at the same time is that smoky lavender with a touch of wisteria to keep it out of the skincare realm. A masterpiece, I have no choice but to bow down. And buy a full bottle.

#Tournament of Underdogs Black Lily smells classic. It's almost just a perfect lily soliflore, but there is something compelling and DARK that comes out when you wear it. It's stealth goth, for when you want something light that still feels natural and a little spooky. I always need it in rotation.

This is one of BPAL'S underrated masterpieces. Medea is dark with a sense of vast space and air, like being outside at dusk surrounded by oddly menacing flowers. There is an almost wine-like aspect, but it isn't a wine note at all. The cypress and myrrh ground the florals so beautifully, and I much prefer them to any musk. This is so perfect for it's inspiration, it smells like Medea's garden, and has a vague aura of menace that's really fun to carry around in the world. For all that it draws compliments regularly from non-witchy folks, and is one of the few scents I can wear in the hottest days of summer when I don't usually want to wear my skin, much less a perfume. Love love love.

My HG lilac scent has been found at long last! Normally lilac is made more "chilly" which doesn't smell authentic to me - lilacs are warm and heavy. The other notes are swirling around keeping the lilac warm and earthy and not at all soapy, but you don't pick them out in the waft. Smelled "at a glance" it's a really beautiful complex lilac soliflore, like encountering a lilac bush in a garden, real and still growing. Trying to convince myself not to buy a backup, might be failing.

Oh. Expletives. This one is awesome. I'm not getting much dead leaf. I'm not complaining. The combo of tea roses and cognac is heavenly, and I think the leaves are they're just grounding it so that neither of those notes goes powdery like they sometimes can. This is a very film noir floral but just fresh enough to wear literally any time, and even any time of year. Absolutely a blind bottle jackpot.

Some scents really love up to that "alchemy" part of the BPAL name, and this is one. I can smell the dead leaves, tea, cake, currant, and the barest whiff of smoke, if I really try to hone in. But the effect is more than the sum of it's parts. It's sweet but not overly foodie (thank goodness, I can't stand smelling like food or too sweet) and very atmospheric. Fall outside at dusk. I wish I got more prominent smoke, but this is fresh out the mailbox so that may come with time.