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Everything posted by sprout
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If you are a fan of Zombi, you're probably going to love this. The roses are somber and subdued, which is a new experience for me. The ivy and moss bring astringent balance to the sweetness of the roses. These smell like the flowers, very natural, not powdery or soapy. Some roses smell almost fruity to my nose but these don't, this is more of a white rose. Drying, the balanced rose and ivy maintain a presence as the moss and shadow musk join the dance. This is a nice Musk of the not quite Black variety, fairly androgynous. The moss is a fuzzy base without the sour I get from oakmoss. I'm guessing closer to Spanish moss. Overall, the composition is very balanced yet all the notes are well represented. The rose is a restrained floral, bringing sweetness and moisture to the dry ingredients, peppery ivy adding some astringency and likely keeping the rose in check, and moss and Musk providing a warm, fuzzy base. If you have wanted a Rose that behaves itself, this could be the perfume of your dreams. If you collect Rose scents, you probably already ordered this. I started my review comparing this to Zombi, and this lacks the dirt and arid quality of that scent, it's more moist, if you will, but this would be quite at home with the Ars Moratoria line. This may become a bottle purchase for me as I'm looking for behaved Rose scents and this is different from most of what I have, my previous Rose acquisitions tend to be the more fruity, jammy types and I like the ivy and moss here. This would be fantastic layered (I'd like layering with dirt or wood but incense or cake combinations would be interesting too) I'm wondering too how the musk will age, will this be like the loved Crypt Musk? Only time will tell.
- 8 replies
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- Edith Wharton
- All Souls
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Yes, there are some who will say this perfume suggests women of a certain age. I agree with nostalgic, vintage, classic, and even grandmotherly. But these are not bad connotations. This does evoke an earlier and more flower centric age of perfumery and an Era where make up products were scented with Rose water and violet. The rose is indeed divaesque initially, over a bed of what could be cosmetic cream, as in cold cream. This isn't Ponds purchased from your five and dime though, it's something exclusive and probably costs more than $100 per ounce. It does remind me of Clown White, but less vanilla. Drying the iris makes her appearance, upstaging the rose, which is teetering on the edge of powdery and soapy. Rose and Iris battle for a few minutes, but Rose is no match for Grand Dame Iris. No soil here, just regal iris, pale and almost violaceous, a watery rose water backing, in a bed of expensive cosmetic cream. This is beautiful. I am a stay at home wallflower type that rarely goes to parties so I'm not sure that I could use a full bottle of this but Lawd! it is beautiful. I love iris as a note and I'm quite tempted. I may get a full bottle yet. If you are looking for a Springtime floral that isn't high pitched or cloying, you have a match.
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Thunder Moon, Waiting, Poisson D'Avril for rainstorm Pool of Tears, Sea Foams Milk, Y'ha Nthlei, Windward Passage, Cristobal, Gold and Tears for salt water My favorite aquatic is Lady of Shallot, Sea of Glass gets honorable mention, as does Water of Notre Dame With respect to searching, I find the best ideas by going to the Directory on the Lab's website, and clicking on their categories, especially individual notes, but they have themes also like Rain, Rage, etc. It's time consuming to search this way, but worth it. Also, if I love a particular BPAL perfume, I search the review thread and hunt down samples or read reviews of what others consider to be similar scents
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When your favorite GC blends are discontinued
sprout replied to darklorelei's topic in Recommendations
I've never sniffed The Temptation but La Bella Donna Mia Mente has some notes in common, Peach blossom, Musk, Rose. -
And finally a Dead Leaves perfume that disproves my rule of not being able to wear these kinds of scents, yay! Dead Leaves note starts this off with peppery vegetable vibes (as in cutting Red Bell Peppers). Luckily this straightens out as the Tobacco comes into play. The tobacco note is earthy, dry, and toothsome. Interestingly, the tobacco note helps the Dead Leaves smell drier and more like actual leaves. Drying, the black currant joins the party and keeps the dry ingredients in check. Without smelling like fruity shisha, it brings a balance to the dry leaves and Tobacco, keeping things from blowing away, becoming too dry, bitter, or acrid. It adds a hint of sweetness without smelling fruity. This has medium sillage and better than average wear time. My love of tobacco perfumes compels me to add this as a full bottle to the ranks. Brava! Beth. Love this one. I am pleased as punch to have a dead leaves scent that I can wear and will be eagerly searching through my decants as this gives me hope that there could be other winners.
- 11 replies
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- Halloween 2016
- Pile of Leaves 2016
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Leads off with the frozen aldehydes, which smell to my nose like eucalyptus, the blossom. Benzoin takes this into sweet, vanillic baby oil territory. The iris is pearlescent and melds with the cold notes. Iris dominates the drydown and has quite the throw! My impression: chilled baby oil. I agree with the cold cream association. I like this especially as a chilling yet earthy floral that does not veer into screeching high notes. This would be a gorgeous perfume for those sweltering dog days of summer. But then, I'm an iris/orris fan. Interesting and evocative, this is the olfactory equivalent of insubstantial, dry lips that shimmer in the moonlight. I think I'm possibly talking myself into a bottle. Conceptually this is genius and it's certainly unique. I'd love to try layering this with a patchouli based scent.
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- Halloween 2016
- All Souls
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Wet, this starts off like fruity wine coolers, overly ripe fruit and cheap wine. Fortunately, it quickly rights itself to bubbly champagne with apple flavor dominant and melon just at the limit of detection. I only appreciate the melon note with my nose because my eye spied it reading the notes. This is lovely: fizzy, just sweet enough, and lasts much longer than I would have predicted. The throw is less than average but this isn't a skin scent only. Despite having many Apple scents, I'll be getting a bottle of this as I don't have anything like it. Tres magnifique!
- 7 replies
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- Halloween 2016
- Bobbing for Apples 2016
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The Actor Ichumura Meeting a Cat Ghost Atmosphere Spray
sprout replied to roseus's topic in Atmosphere
This is vanilla kissed lavender with a hint of clove for me. This differs from TKO in being more sweet, less herbal, and more ethereal (soft, fuzzy). I am hoping to hoard this as a sleep scent: definitely shooting to my top 5 favorites. -
Campfires, bonfires, fireplaces, burning wood and leaves...
sprout replied to thelaurenator's topic in Recommendations
Hearth 2005 for me is very smoky -
This is perfect! I wish I'd purchased a big bottle of this. It smells like Pumpkin Spice caramel popcorn! The creaminess of the butter or cream accord balanced the spice notes. As an atmosphere spray, my skin doesn't turn the cream into spoiled milk. Be warned, it made me crave popcorn and so I had to pop some right away. No egg note detected. This may be my favorite of the Weenies I've tried this year.
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Well, like the eponomymous Pumpkin Spice Latte, this was mostly Pumpkin Spice without the actual gourd itself at the start but all strawberry cream in the dry phase. The red currant helps the strawberry pop and contributed to the juicy quality at the heart. To be honest, I was hoping for more strawberry and more throw but I'm willing to cellar it to see if that helps. This smells more like strawberry cream hard candies (think Lifesavers brand) than cotton candy. No regrets, I'm keeping my bottle. This is my first Pumpkin Floss to try and I'm looking forward to acquiring more!
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This was predominantly cardamom for me although the orange and mango were more in evidence when I first sprayed it. If you are worried about the neroli taking this into masculine territory, it doesn't. For such a fruity sounding blend from the notes, it's surprisingly dry smelling. More spice than fruit. I really like this. The musk is delightful too. It isn't a red musk, it's more golden
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This starts with a strong Dead Leaves note, bell peppers is how my nose reads it but no matter it quickly settled into something resembling dead leaves. The leather gives it a pungent edge. For the record, my skin noms leather, so if there is any present, it never had a chance. Drying the balsam lends a hint of green and resin but orris is the star. This is Bone dry but sweet and ethereal, like a ghost hug. The Dead Leaves aren't too sharp or screeching. The balsam suggests evergreens were once present. This evokes dry bones rattled by ghostly drafts in an abandoned barn. I couldn't pick out the mums or leather but I think they add to the impression of high Plains. Concept nailed. If you enjoy orris, this will likely satisfy, but if you wanted leather, there isn't much here. I can layer, as I have more than a few cowboy leather scents so I'm okay with that. It takes a metric ton of leather to detect it on my skin so I'm not surprised but I do wish this had a touch more. I will be keeping my bottle and besides, the artwork is adorbs.
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Forest & Woods Scents (with and without evergreens)
sprout replied to omly's topic in Recommendations
I should have mentioned this earlier but Organ Grinder is actually my favorite sweet pine scent. I prefer the new one but try aged: it's a not quite gourmand but sweet pine with tobacco. Also, Doc Constantine is sweet foresty Musk, but it's fir not pine. And, I almost forgot about Jupiterian Phoenix. Other, wild card recs are Gacela of the Dark Death, Ronde du Sabbat, Voodoo, Blithe Hollow, Moons of Jupiter: Metis, Arkham, Thanatopsis, This is Your Wilderness. -
Forest & Woods Scents (with and without evergreens)
sprout replied to omly's topic in Recommendations
Jersey Devil or Golden Priapus are sweeter forest scents Troll is quite sweet on me, but you must be agreeable to the clove Prezeczuci is lovely sweet pine with a hint of smoke Ranger is quite foresty as well -
Looking for a BPAL that Resembles a Favorite Perfume
sprout replied to Ina Garten Davita's topic in Recommendations
Shares some notes but not all: Purple Spotted Swallowtail Purple Phoenix Red Phoenix Phoenix at Dawn Penumbra Hellion Fire Pig Lunar Eclipse Queen of Spades -
Disturbing and Irrelevant Crawdad Dream and April Fool both contain my favorite berry, a hint of it, huckleberry!
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Ganymede is a beautiful floral (noncamphor) lavender straight out of the gate. Sniffing from the bottle I detect a bit of a "icy metallic " too. Drying, the lavender leads and dominates but the ice note slowly comes forward. This is familiar Ice, colder and crisper than the Lab Snow note which signifies Yuletide at BPAL. It has a metallic edge but doesn't quite become man Cologne, as many metal blends have done. This remains androgynous or slightly femme, owing to the floral quality of the lavender. Late drydown the oudh shines and helps prolong the lavender as well. Lavender typically burns off and poofs after about 90 minutes for me but I think the oudh is lending it staying power. This never went dryer sheet or soapy for me, everything is balanced with a slow unfolding of the listed notes. The icy aspect was the only aquatic character. Not sharp or headache inducing like some aquatic blends can do. 8 hours later this is all oudh, the "butter" given off by a tree. This is perfect and I wish I'd had the foresight to purchase multiple bottles because this is a perfect, mellow, cooling sleep scent!
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Tiramisu and a pinch of coffee in the bottle and wet. The cream note is prominent, butter like. This goes sharp and bitter but the cake and coffee are still recognizable. I can make out the cake part, the cream, and hint of almond and even the powdered cinnamon of the topping. Early dry phase, say 20 minutes after application, it gets weird. I think this is supposed to be amaretto, but it smells chemical and almost floral. Something between the hairspray note of Stardust and the odd floral in Shill v1. The coffee disappears rather quickly. I am left with cake and odd synthetic notes. Still drying, about an hour or longer, it smells like baby powder. Late drydown it becomes a slightly sweet and powdery vanilla. I quite like the drydown. I am not sure about this one. It initially nails the concept accurately but the odd morph it does in the early drying phase is not something I want as personal fragrance. I have had this type of issue work itself out with a bit of aging so I plan to retest in a month or so. Maybe this is one for a scent locket because it's gorgeous in the bottle/wet phase. Then again, maybe someone else's skin would do it more justice? This experience prompts the search for a skin locket or bracelet with lava beads... This was a close to the wrist sniff for me, not much throw but it's relatively young and this also improves with age in my experience. It's lasting 4 to 5 hours for me, a light vanilla powder.
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Fruity top, as to be expected from the notes, predominantly citrus, lemony for me, but I can appreciate the red fruits and lime too. Drying this becomes woolly like the wool in Stekkastaurjar or Sticky Pillowcase or the more recent Unicorn and Ram. There's mallow in here too. A less sweet Stekkastaurjar with fruit! Later on the frankincense makes an appearance with the slight Lemon vibe recurring or maybe thats from the Frank itself. Vanilla husk is evident on the later drydown, it's sweet, woolly, with a meld of mallow, frankincense, Vanilla and the fabric note. Maybe a hint of musk? No spice for me, just soft and fluffy with sweet. The vanilla isn't foody or buttery/custard like, it's husk of the flower, dry. This is woolly and snuggly and a little bit sweet but nothing over the top. It's a close skin scent but I want to keep huffing it, it's compulsory. In summation, it nails the concept accurately and reminded me of a Sticky Pillowcase with fruits instead of candy. I'm hoping aging gives it some sillage but I will happily keep and utilize the bottle.
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Autumn Scents - recommend the ones you love
sprout replied to any_old_actress's topic in Recommendations
La Bella Donna Mia Mente 13 Hours Alice's Evidence Jersey Devil Voodoo Nosferatu Dracul Hellcat The Witch Queen Goblin Cider Brisingamen Bewitched Hoggle The Forest Reverie Santa Muerte Jack Verdandi Les Bijoux Coral Snake Pure Applesauce Ladon Poisoned Apple Agnes Nutter Scarecrow Blithe Hollow Troll The Old Goblin The Black Tower Old Demons of the First Class Blood Kiss -
Similarities Between BPAL Scents - GC and general discussion
sprout replied to Shollin's topic in Recommendations
Have you tried Lyonesse? Watery, Vanilla, ambergris. Seems in the same vein as Shadwell , but I haven't sniffed Shadwell yet, he's on my list to try. -
Limited editions equivalents in the general catalog?
sprout replied to Absinthe's topic in Recommendations
Maybe Nuclear Winter and layer with a cucumber note. Squinting Cucumber? -
BPTP (Hair Gloss, Atmo, Bath Oil) to BPAL Similarities/Reccs
sprout replied to Juushika's topic in Recommendations
cushing manor is so good! well, maybe puddin has more accidental perfume labels and can throw some bottles on etsy?? the woods and booze in that scent remind me of some of the event exclusives. warm boozy bottles: miss fanny phippany, bear in the cellar, brown thrasher (maybe dew drop inn and tammany free and easy but they are also atmos) sordid and unpleasant activities layered a carnation I love the carnation in cushing manor; bpals with carnation that I like: laura belle mcdaniel would layer nicely, but she won't cut it as a sub. season of forgiveness? nice and warmly masculine? leo 2016 is the warm desert garden of cushing manor (for the carnation and the warmth, no booze nor woods!) grooming scene is the a soft, silky and feminine scent. perhaps the version of femininity that edith rejects for herself. hudaskellir is a blast of christmas air at the manor do you have an imp or prurience? that came up in a lab site search for carnation. Thank you, I've been wanting to try Prurience. I need to find the right whiskey note to layer...