RoseThornAndOak

Oh wow does this take me for a ride! In the vial is a soft, almost sugary sweet pink rose musk/amber. It doesn't really read as jasmine to me, which can be a good thing. The sweetness kind of reminds me of pixie sticks as opposed to cloying sugar, so that's good. Somewhere in the middle of wear, the myrrh threatens to sully this up, but it mostly behaves, just kinda turning the scent "meh" for a bit. Closer up, the creamy sandalwood is apparent. I think those two notes are making this go just a little wonky and unsettling. Not my favorite stage at all. Interestingly, myrrh and sandalwood serve more as mid notes here as opposed to base notes, which are more musky, which brings me to: the final drydown is *gorgeous*, soft, musky, and very very princessy. It reminds me a lot of the rose + musk blends Deep Midnight Perfumes does so well, namely the scents Rosabelle and Deep Midnight. Those will be incredibly hard to beat for me as I adore those so much, however that dryown is so gorgeous in this I might still spring for a full and try to dab off the murky midnotes or just wait them out. They're not altogether unpleasant, just kinda 'wahh?' for a while. Also, the beautiful fiinal drydown stayed on throughout the night and was highly comforting. Not that I needed it in this god awful insane world or anything, lol. Tempting, tempting, temptress is Vasilissa.

Sweet fluffy florals, like my brain right now, lol. Mallowy but fresh florals I guess but not cloying. A bit powdery with the rose, frank, violet and all but it's pleasant. I'm glad I have a sample but probably don't need more.

Trying two different rose-franks today: Cicuta and Hierophant & The Empress. To my nose, Empress is much sweeter and not highly comparable. Cicuta, in the imp and wet on the skin has a Rose Cross vibe but a touch sweeter, less of a sharp powdery rose, and more of a candle/ritual incense atmosphere. Drying down there is a note reminiscent of honey, possibly the saffron dancing with the rose. Also what the heck, I don't find cicuta that gnarly to look at. The least hot of the VILFs for sure but still cute in an undead sort of way, plus he smells good. I could see a vampire that creeps around in a musty old castle smelling like this. Crumbling walls, dusty antiques, incense from his travels. Timeless, like the dude hasn't changed his M.O. the past 2 thousand years: wake up, light candles, burn incense, bite necks, take rose bath, arooo at odd wolf, read, sleep. During drydown, I get the metallic bit others mentioned. Maybe dude dropped the soap in the sink he had installed 121 years ago or his skin musk literally reeks that much of blood and iron. There are prettier rose blends, but this is still a bottle contender. Try if you like Rose Cross, Eve, The Empty Coffin, or Deep Midnight Perfumes Ishtar Gate, Chartres Rose, or The Lost Lady. Try If dry, dusty, incensy rose w/ a bloodlike, metallic twang is appealing.

The Lab frottled this one in my most recent order and I was thrilled! Starts out with sweet florals, with a lavender similar to Yvaine's on top. Freakin Yvaine lavender yeahhhh boi! On the skin it is a slightly darkened lavender floral blend with depth but no other notes are really popping out at me. Little Bird is right, it does go a bit powdery as it goes, but in a pleasantly clean, soft, your skin but better way. I do like the opening better but this is nice. No cloying honey, just a soft fluffiness of powder around the edges, a brief whiff of play-doh but not enough to be an issue like orris or violet sometimes is wont to do. The carnation is there but I didn't recognize it as such, just flowers. No ginger or herbs really. I'm really liking this and would probably have never picked this up due to the honey. It really is soft, comforting, and sweet. Maybe pick up if you like Lullaby, Yvaine, or Ode on Melancholy but don't expect it to be a substitute or anything. I like those much better (It's gonna be really hard to top those lavenders!), but try it if soft, bedtime, floofy, powdery lavender floral sounds appealing. For reference honey usually goes weird and wonky but I'm really enjoying this and it's a definite keeper. ❤️ Lab, thank you thank you thank you for this one, the lanyard, frimps and spooky swag!

Fresh from the Lab I'm getting pretty much the same as @doomsday_disco. Rose is there but it's being stomped out by the sharp oakmoss mostly. There's maybe a tad of vanilla or lace in there, but I do pick up some patch with the moss, too. I'll keep it around but dang is it sharp. Shoulda respected the oakmoss in the description lol because I think I amp it, too. It's a hard note to mix with because it's so prominent in a blend. Tiny bit of tobacco in there. Kinda similar to O Spirit of Love, softer but still sharp.

Yes, very bright and clean. Fresh from the Lab the chypre ("family of frags built on a base consisting of bergamot, oakmoss, and labdanum") is pretty strong, mostly the mossy part. Chypre kinda reads like the mossy cousin to fougere (which is more fern). This reminds me a lot of the fancy fougere soap by Roger & Gallet, which I like quite a bit. This perfume has a stronger waft, of course, but it does have a fancy soap vibe. I definitely get more fougere soap than rose soap. There's maybe some vanilla back there, but it is almost discordant with the mossy soap vibe. I feel like my grandfather had a cologne that was similar to this because it reminds me of him. I can see a gentile type man wearing this or a forest maiden. Actually yeah! This kind of reminds me of Moss Maiden by Alkemia, but I like this better. I can't really think of a BPAL to compare it to, maybe Bayou? I 'unno. It feels like it transports you to a different day and age, almost like opening a vintage bottle of cologne but when it was fresh and brand new like 'ahh, so that's what it's supposed to smelled like'. You kinda have to love chypres or fougeres to enjoy this one. The bright soapy moss is strong throughout the wear. I think it will layer well with rose heavy blends, and I look forward to see how it ages. I was hoping for more vanilla and rose, so I'm hoping they will join the dance a little later.

Lemon balm (wat?), grass, rose, faint hints of soap and metal (again wat?). No pepper or anything sweet. It's just okay on me, might layer or age well. Smells like something a hedge witch would use to keep bugs away. Say, that's not a bad idea.

This reminds me of Blood Rose a little bit, juicy and sweet but maybe a bit softer. The pom is also slightly reminiscent of the cherry in Phantom Calliope, kind of that spooky red fruit vibe, but much less dark of course with no patch to ground it. It sours slightly on my skin as most fruit blends do, but not nearly as much as anticipated, and it doesn't go cat pee like red currant, so that's a plus. The rose isn't powdery. I don't find the pom to be too lifelike, nor is it like the Softsoap Juicy Pomegranate and Mango body wash (loved that shit in college). It's actually quite subdued, and this does read a bit more rose than pom, yet both are present. If someone asked me what fruit is in it, I wouldn't have guessed pom at all, maybe cranberry. Yes, yes! This kinda has a Christmas cranberry scented soap or candle vibe (not waxy or soapy, just the scent in general). I do agree there is a slight bitterness, but I get a bit more of a tartness from it. I think on the right skin this could be a badass scent but it's kinda just dudding out on me. I was so glad to try this just to get a feel for pom as a note, and it's not nearly as bad as I thought it would be, so I'm not completely ruling it out as a note in the future ( Madame Moriarty worked great for years until the cat pee note killed it). Possibly for fans of Blood Rose, Madame Moriarty, and wine notes.

@lookingglass absolutely nailed it on this blend. This is from an aged imp, back around the time it came out and it is still a gorgeous scent all these years later. In the vial, it is a sweet, glittery, almost gourmand coconut rose. It reminds me of the beach a little bit, but not in an overtly sunscreen or plastic way. The orris tempers the coconut so it is not too cloying, and thank goodness, I get no play-doh from this. It feels more high end, but not like a conventional perfume. If someone waved the drydown in front of me, I'd've guessed maybe Egyptian musk and rose. It is a light musky rose in the end, soft and demure. It is kind of like if Pink Snowballs had less balls, which is odd considering how soft Pink Snowballs reads but has surprising throw and staying power. This one is much more of a skin scent in the end, and airy. I love this. Not sure why I didn't upgrade to a full until now. I feel like this GC blend gets taken for granted, it is so sweet and unassuming, like the character. This blend deserves more accolades, imo. This is great for those moments you want to feel like you just walked out of a fairy tale. <3 If you are a fan of Pink Snowballs, Snow White, Katrina van Tassel, Poinsettia Gown, Cassia Aromatics' Rose Milk, and Solstice Scents Rose Mallow Cream, but maybe found these too loud or cloying and wanted something more similar to Asses Plus Long, go for a dance with Roses, Pearls, and Diamonds.

Fresh from the mail today and on the skin a couple hours. I get a softness with white floral and an ever so slight dusting of powder. I see where @fairybites gets an almost linen vibe. It doesn't go dryer sheets, but there is definitely a cuddly, clean thing going on. It also doesn't remind me of Snow-Flakes at all, and it doesn't lean tropical like gardenia, jasmine, or tuberose. The floral is more reminiscent of perfumes geared towards teen-20s crowds in the mid 90s, ala Curve, so there's a safe and conventional side to it, like Curve minus fruit. I feel people of any age could wear this, though. I wish I had a BPAL to compare it to, but this really is it's own boss and quite unique in the BPALverse, so I recommend if you are looking for a single note, 90s white floral sort of thing that may not look like other girls. Although I was hoping for more snow, I'm glad this didn't go pine, aquatic, play-doh, or quite like anything else in my collection. Very pretty, great for Spring, I'll keep the decant for sure, might upgrade for layering.

I'm not sure what it is, but I've noticed with many new perfumes, mostly conventional, turn to this acrid/burning smell on me. A scentcan smell great in the vial, then within minutes the blend gets hard to handle. I get it with a lot of oud/agarwood/guiacwood blends, so it could be that, or a component that is added to those. Only noticed it in recent years. It has happened.with a few BPALs, but mostly conventional perfumes released in the past few years. Very strange. It's odd because oud can also smell very beautiful, and it's not one.of the listed notes, possibly it is a component to one of the listed notes. It smelled great in the vial, too! We can rule out the dandelion note, however that could be causing an allergy, although I'd reckon the sage could be causing a reaction.

I'm reading Conan and The Manhunters by John Maddox Roberts right now, and just got to a part where they describe this evil temple with an ancient snake altar and red light that filters in like blood and these pillars of stone that are shaped like women in chains wincing in agony holding up the ceiling. Brootal. There's also a potential curse on the place. Pretty metal. So this scent makes me think of that, a really horrible place to die or get sacrified in. Actually let's just skip the ever needing to go inside part. Smells like ancient, dark incense with some grimacing vetiver wanting to chop my head off in a bit. tldr Brootal, badass evil temple incense with dark vetiver. Something clean and powdery resinous, too. Perfectly fits the mood.

I received a free sniffie bottle with a bit left to do a small test. The honey was nice and not cloying, but unmistakably golden, gooey honey. I didn't pick up bergamot so much as a light airy feel, with frankincense grounding. Very pleasant, even for someone who doesn't reach for honey often. It never went sour or overly sweet. I guess it is not so much honey itself, but more what it is blended with that will make it a winner or not on my skin. Honestly this and the lovely Good and Ghost Milk have me reconsidering the Lab's honey notes. Highly recommend if you like honey or not!

I thought for sure between the honey, milk, and cashmere notes something would go Wonksville. However thankfully this doesn't go sour, cloying, or blergh at all! So if you have problems with those notes, try this instead. It's a very nice, sophisticated creamy vanilla floofy thing that reminds me of perfumes from the mall, but one of the better ones you would find. Maybe akin to Warm Vanilla Sugar, Vanilla Lace, or something along those lines, but less cloying, more smooth, and high end. Cozy and perfect for dipping. Definitely for fans of Zorya P, Antique Lace, The Last Unicorn, and maybe Snow White. It is it's own person and doesn't smell identical to any of these but if you are a vanilla or white chocolate fan, definitely grab a glass of Ghost Milk. I have a feefee this is going to end up one of those highly sought after shindigs afterwards, so looks like this is going in my next order, too. Aaaand my pockets are gonna weep. Again. lol. RIP WALLET.

Oh wow this is lovely. It starts out with chocolate, crust, and a blast of witch shop cinnamon. I love this phase. I doofed and put this on the crux of the elbow after a hot shower, so I had a reaction to the cinnamon. I'll probably put this on the top side of my wrists next time (totally underrated application spot imho). Dries down pretty nice, pleasant dry cinnamon crust blend. The fact this doesn't go sour on me as a pumpkin and/or gourmand is a huge win. If you have issues with the pumpkin note give this a spin, dude. It's not my favorite pumpkin indie, but it is definitely one of my favorite pumpkin BPAL blends. I really like this and will definitely keep the partial, might even upgrade to a full in the future. ❤️