sprout

This could be the resin blend of my dreams. Galangal starts strong with a gingery punch. The olibanum adds the airy mystery of incense. Drying, the myrrh is in evidence with the barest hint of DBR. The resins here are cuddly and comforting, not too Smoky.

Low sillage at the present time, although this will likely strengthen with age. For now it's more of a skin scent. Myrrh is subdued here, glowing and warm rather than cloying. This is spicy incense with a hint of blood and sweet. It's full bottle worthy indubitably.

Add me to the list of reviewers who get oakmoss like whoa! from this. Like Keanu Reeves in the Matrix whoa. Maybe like Keanu Reeves as Ted whoa!

I can detect the vanilla, leather, clove combination, like a distant radio station Riding in and fading in and out on the main Channel playing the song oakmoss night and day.

I enjoy Fougere perfumes, however, this is very different than I expected. Wonder if there are batch variations here or we've discovered a new amping ability super power?

I will retest, but I doubt that I'll want a bottle. I'm keeping the imp. I like my oakmoss with flowers or Grass and the faint amounts of the other notes means there are other vanilla, clove, leather scents to hoard instead. To be fair, the whole Dead Leaves series are mostly unpleasant for me, must be a skin chemistry thing. I still have October and Samhain to love though and the Dead Leaves with Tobacco and Currant worked out, so I keep trying these. Considering how expensive the Weenies updates can be, I should be grateful for a proverbial death note.

Layer of White Rabbit plus Saw Scaled Viper?

This was mainly moist soil and moss at the start with a hint of beeswax.

Drying, a hint of pine. Ivy is missing in action for me, a shame, as I love it.

Later, an hour or more into the drydown, the wax assumes prominence.

This is the most realistic "dirt " scent I own. The only problem for me is that the scent is turning my stomach a little. I'm not certain if this is a primal scent association that is preconscious for me, or a true, visceral reaction to the moist, fecund material that so accurately depicts dirt.

Frequently, the presence of benzoin component in fresh state gives me a similar nausea but ages into a grand, sweet smelling, vanillic base note.

I will need to retest this. I may wish to acquire a bottle, as I love the beeswax from the Lab, and it's glorious here, but my tummy has issues with the dirt. Odd, considering I was that weird little girl who actually ate (well, tasted) the mud pies I made in my back yard.

Take the red musk from Snake Oil add Tricksy and incense, and we have third charm. I can definitely appreciate the popularity of this Weenie.

Drying, the wood base is more prominent, and sets this apart from a simple layer of Snake Oil and Tricksy. It keeps getting better. Every time I think I have enough Red musk perfumes, Beth creates a masterpiece like 3rd Charm. So, to recap, we have Snake Oil Red musk plus smooth as that proverbial baby butt patchouli, sweet honey, wood support, and champaca incense.

I was really hoping this was a duplicate of something else that I already own so that I would be content with my half bottle but I see the error in my thinking and will add a full bottle to my last 2016 Weenies order.

Worth. The. Hype.

For me, this was 50/50 Sugary bonfire with grapey Red musk (2016 version).

Maybe something like blackberry wine but that accord is subtle, bonfires in the distance, and Smut type Musk coated with sugar.

If Devils Night, Smut, and Samhain have a 3 way orgy with a sexy Witch baby as the result, this is what she will smell like. Quintessential BPAL Halloween, yet not a duplicate of anything else I have, this does incorporate elements of many favorites, Smut, Devil's Night and Samhain primarily.

In the imp, the opoponox is forward with more than a hint of the "black " wine.

Wet, opoponax is perfumey and almost like hairspray. The Black wine is dominating the scent, however, and strikes a chord between Black currant and blackberry. There's a herbal component beneath, like Baneberry but it's subtle.

Dry, the wine recedes a bit, the opoponox is more resiny and maybe there's something like Blood Musk. The herbal component is more evident, it reminds me of sleek, shiny, deep purple berries.

For shits and giggles, I goggled spindle tree sap. I've no idea what it smells like, but it is a plant associated with the Furies and is poisonous in excess, consumption of the berries is fatal to sheep, goats, and horses (and children!). In small doses, the berries are medicinal as a purgative.

So this blend really grew on me after 3 tests. The Black wine is like nothing else in my huge bottle collection. So I will seek out a full bottle, although I almost blind bought this just because of the mythology association with Furies and Clytemnestra. So I really wanted to like it. Opoponox can make or break a blend for me and I wanted to be sure that the drop of blood wasn't overpowering DBR, is the chief reason I tried a decant first. I really love the black wine aspect here. This reminds me of Insects from the Crimson Peak series, minus the citrus chypre.

In the imp, Jasmine is in evidence, with a sweet, indistinct backdrop.

Wet, this is quite floral forward, but the oleander and jasmine share equal footing. I agree with above reviews which described the floral component as Southern and humid. Having lived in the deep South, this certainly evokes memories of moist, warm nights. The beauty of these White florals is that they aren't high pitched or headache induction type.

The rockrose provides a comforting support of sweet fuzziness, like whispy White feather down. It reminds me somewhat of orris, but more woody and no Violet. The scent of baby powder but not powdery. This lasted about 4 hours for me with modest throw. I am anticipating it will wear well in the summer where I can't take anything too potent or heavy.

Drying, the ambrette lends support but doesn't eclipse the rockrose. The florals last but fade away slowly in potency.

This is a sweet, soft floral reminiscent of warm, humid nights with soft, warmth coming from the resins. You have to appreciate jasmine to enjoy this, it is present but balanced by the oleander. I love this, but that's not surprising given the notes. I am hoping to score a full bottle. There are so few perfumes with Oleander that I think I need this and something about ambrette and rockrose is very comforting. I did not appreciate any smoke like notes here, just soft and sweet resins, which seem to glow like the art.

In the imp: fruity apple

Wet: Honey and apples

Drying: juicy apples paired with honeyed carnation and a musky, nutty support which is the ambrette.

Another full bottle worthy creation. The carnation makes this different enough from straight honeyed apple. This is a lovely carnation scent with the apple balancing the spice of the carnation and sweetened with a hint of honey. Love this, it's going into heavy rotation in the Springtime and Summer. Like a more mature Alice tasting an apple.

In the imp, Honeyed florals

Wet: creamy florals, Orange Blossom Honey and a hint of mallow (more floral, not foodie)

Dry: magnolia petals, waxy and dripping with honey. So, a creamier The Bride with honey instead of sugar and orange blossom bringing an orange Creamsicle impression, from a distance, the wild Musk is apparent and it's glorious,

I have to qualify my review to state that orange blossom tends to be sweet on me.

Wow, I was worried about the neroli but it isn't sharp at all.

If Muse of Fire and The Bride had a Honey covered Creamsicle baby, this is what that baby smells like.

Must. have. full bottle.

Edit to add, late drydown is Honey covered marshmallows. Love this!

I was anticipating a skin reaction to the cinnamon but fortunately that didn't happen. In the vial, this was mostly cassia.

Wet on skin the cassia is the most dominant note but the musk is present as is the myrrh. Unaged myrrh is unpleasant to my nose or maybe it's just my skin. Coffee makes this a little bitter. This phase oddly evokes a red egg. It's almost like flan with coffee liquor and cinnamon (my nose reads the cassia as cinnamon). In a way this phase reminds me of the Trading Post scent Great London Spaghetti Hunt. It is not unlike a creamy egg based dessert sprinkled with cinnamon.

Drying there is a phase where the myrrh becomes quite powdery and amps. My skin does this fairly consistently and YMMV.

Drydown phase revealed the musk. I love the egg shell Musk. It is delicate and light as an egg shell and seems fragile. It is different from white musk. It is a bit reminiscent of the musk from the Monster bait series.

I really like the imp and will be pursuing a full bottle because I enjoy Musk based scents and this Musk is Heavenly. The Red Egg nailed the concept for me. The unpleasant myrrh powder phase should improve with a little age. Brava!

I would suggest Lady of Shallotte

Are there any Persimmon + Tea combinations? Aizen Myoo is one of my favorites already, but persimmon tea is definitely one of my favorites teas! Smell wise especially.

 

Persimmon Tea or Pomegranate Tea?

 

Tart fruits in general with a tea note.

Lady Una with blackberry leaf, but is a sweet blend due to the addition of honey

Firethorn Berry Tea, very tart Black tea with mystery fruit (or perhaps Beth really distilled Firethorn berries, they smell similar to tart red fruits to me)

Yurei, white tea with hibiscus

The East, Tea Leaf and red currant

Apothecary, Tea and fig

FBT is probably closest to what you're looking for

Searches for Pomegranate didn't find any Tea notes

Search for persimmon turned up no results!

For snow plus berry:

Midwinter's Eve!

Perchta

Snow Maiden

I hate to mention Rares but Ice Queen too

For Snow plus sweet:

Snow White

Snow Flakes

Winter-Time

Night Guant

Mother Ginger

Flesh Eating Reindeer from Uranus

Shub Niggurath (3rding the suggestion)

Gingerbread Poppet (hard to find but not impossible)

Gingerbread Sin

Ginger Skulls

Vespertilio Proterus (seconding)

Saw-scaled Viper

I have a thing for ginger myself , these are the sweeter, foody gingers that I like, I can go off on other categories if you like

Quintessential cupcakes blend. The only way to hate this is if you dislike buttercream, Vanilla, or Cardamom.

This blend be truth in advertising, my hearties. Truth with a capital "T"

It smells like delicious, freshly baked but cooled, Yellow cupcakes with vanilla buttercream icing then dusted with Cardamom. I am not sure if there are spice ampers, batch variations, or my skin turns things sweet (probably that), but I am getting 30/30/30 Yellow Cake/buttercream/Cardamom.

Full bottle acquired, hoard mode activated!!! Throw is average, dry down a little better (longer) than average. I think I can actually let go of things like Cake Smash and Sprinkle cake...

Okay I have a few holy grails to suggest.

I am searching for the perfect

Leather scent (please not Loviatar, I can't afford it).

Jammy Rose

Ambergris

Petrichor

Night air

Vanilla with Amber

Carnation (I'm on a carnation quest at the moment with leather a close second)

Wine

I'm looking for the ultimate "smokey forest" scent. I love tree sap, fir/pine, and smoke. I don't care for wood. I have Black Forest and love it but it doesn't have the smoke or sap and a tad bit too much wood for me. I have high hopes for the new 'weenie Przeczucie but the reviews so far are worrying me. Anybody out there with a recommendation? Thanks!

Also, it's old, so possibly tricky to find, but there was a BPAL perfume called Wildfire. Also, I can't miss an opportunity to plug The Ifrit and Agnes Nutter. (You'd have to layer to get the forest)

[No additional description provided.]

Okay, I hate going first, but in case anyone needs this review to make a purchase decision, here we go.

In the bottle, this smells of hibiscus tea. But on skin, it is undoubtedly rock rose, the resin.

If you aren't familiar with rock rose, it's a resin distilled from the sap of an evergreen bush that grows in Mediterranean areas. The sap is collected as tears from the shrubs, similar to harvesting frankincense.

Reading more about how it's made, I learned it can also be steam distilled from the leaves of the plant and the flowers. The sap is sticky and can be brushed from the wool of sheep after they rub against the sap during grazing.

As a resin, the odor is similar to frankincense or myrrh, but it is sweeter and less airy than frankincense and less powdery or sweet as myrrh. It did have a slightly floral, almost rosy hint initially but drying down, it's a sweet, slightly woody, musky and amber like resin. It isn't smoky or metallic like DBR.

Interestingly, this oil is used for calming the nerves during terror states and it's evidently present in Bach's flower remedy.

I love this and I am considering a backup.

The sillage is modest at this point but I expect that will improve with age. This is quite fresh from the mailbox, arriving yesterday and only giving it overnight to settle. I will report back later with how long it lasts.

ETA, lasted approximately 3.5 hours, fresh. I predict aging will improve the longevity. The throw/sillage was fairly mild, close to the skin.

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.

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.

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

Would anyone happen to have a suggestion for a similar GC blend to 'The Temptation?'

 

I love this one, and it's pretty much my go-to...and I'm on my last bottle.

 

Thanks much!

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.

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.