VetchVesper

This is an odd one, hard to pin down, with lots of not.es swirling in and out of a misty backdrop.  The petrichor and moss are definitely there, and the best way I can describe the rest of it is like a floral tea, with the jasmine present, but not really "flowery", mixing with a discordant mélange of herbs. It smells "impressionistic" to me, with everything sort of soft and fuzzing together.  In the dry down, it comes together into a silvery musk, deepened by the labdanum, which is, I think, what rivetted is comparing to absinthe.  I can see what she means, but this is less bright and lemony. It's still got that powdery herbal feel though.  

Unique, and an enjoyable scent journey, though this isn't something I'd wear much.  I wouldn't let the jasmine scare you away from this one though, if the other notes sound promising.

Ethereal is not word I would use.  Lavender, lavender, and more lavender. This should be called Row of Lavender.  It's a big punch in the nose of the vociferous herb.  I'm not getting much else besides maybe a hint of the juniper amping up the more green, herbal quality of the lavender.  I actually added some Vanilla Bean, Marshmallow, & Benzoin to this, hoping to create something akin to TKO.  What I got was... lavender. I don't like lavender.   

My mom likes lavender.  She liked this.  Maybe you will too. 

ETA:  Ok, in the dry down, I'm starting to get a tiny bit of bergamot, and the lavender has softened - slightly. I'm still wearing the VB, M, & B with it, and I think it's a nice addition, though it's extremely subtle. I look forward to reviews from lavender lovers, who will surely experience more complexity and nuance than me.  

I concur with previous reviews.  Zippy ginger ale - the good stuff.  The tartness of the ginger becomes stronger on my chemistry, turning almost lemony.  Then this mellows down to a light, gingery honey that makes me think of something I'd put in my tea.  That first phase is very fun, and I adore the name, but this isn't my favorite kind of honey.  If you like lighter honey notes and wildflower honey though, this should be up your alley.  

Wow.  Beautiful grey amber that softens to something hazy, powdery, and very vaguely herbal.  This is all the amber dustiness of The Grey Columns without the sweet vanilla tones.  Very classy and understated.  Soft.  Gender neutral. Intimate. I like this, but it's barely there on me after a few minutes; it just becomes a powdering over my skin.  I like things with a bit more oomph, but I'll hang on to this in case it gets more potent with age. 

A very shimmery, hazy blue musk, with hints of floral.  I can smell the sweet pea and the moonflower, and I do sort of like this, but... moonflower and white musk can both go soapy on me and that's what they're doing here.  This goes "fancy floral soap" or, yes, upscale laundry detergent. It's still pleasant and clean, but not something I need to hang onto.  However, if you were a fan of Moonflower & Orris, check this one out.  It is very pretty - just not for my chemistry.  

I have a friend who likes florals and seems to wear these things better than I do.  Might get her to try it and report back.   

This is a very delicate, creamy apricot scent. Like clean skin but better. As it dries down, it becomes more herbal from the sage.  It's not super sweet, and I think a lot of peach lovers should check this out.  It's similar, but different enough to be worth a sniff.  It's a little tame for my tastes, but it does stay present for a while.  I wore it to bed and it was very nice and comforting.  

I was hoping this would smell like sangria, and YES!. Very fruity, but a darker, purplish red sort of vibe.  The red musk is present, but it's more about the fruits.  It gets less sweet on me as it dries down.  The citrus does have more of a "peel" sort of vibe rather than the super bright, juicy variety, and the chianti is less sweet that some of the other more bubble-gummy wine notes I've run across.  That said, it's still plenty sweet - lickable smelling.   

This will be very fun for summer.  I feel like I should be wearing flip flops in a backyard, surrounded by very happy, drunk Italian people.  No idea - but that's my scent impression.   

SO MUCH HAZELNUT CREAM.  ...wait... it's doing things on my skin... Fruit? ... a titch of spice....weeeee bit of vetiver...

Hmmm... this isn't nearly as foody as I was expecting from that initial hazelnut blast.  It's very warm and comforting.  Cozy.  Nice.  Crackling fireplace is a good descriptor. More smokey and woody as it wears, and it will probably age in glorious fashion. And I can't believe how well the cedar is behaving itself. This is a good foody winter scent for non-foody loving people.   

I'll admit, this one I hunted down solely because of the name and image.  The scent is odd, a much lighter than I would have expected.  My skin also seems to drink it up, as it only lasts a couple hours on me.  Everything sort of blends together to create a nutty, musk, melange with a warm, fruity top note.  I can tell the coffee's in here, but it doesn't smell like coffee.  Nor is the champaca obviously champaca.  I would have expected this to be incensey, but it's really not on me. No problems with p'oud, though there is something slightly animalic about the whole thing.  I can see why some forumites really loved this one; it's very unusual.  I'm happy with just my imp though.    

Not gonna lie. I'm not crazy about this when it's first on.  The neroli is very up front and sort of smells like soured orange juice to me. Perhaps it's the mugwort in the mix, giving it the weird vibe.  (Also, caveat - I'm generally ambivalent towards neroli.)  HOWEVER - once this has had time to bloom on my skin (about 15 mins), I really like it.  The champaca appears, and everything starts to work together.  It becomes a lightweight, hazy champaca, with little whiffs of neroli thrown in.

Enjoying some Injured Dickchest on this fine spring morning.  It's such a quirky blend, and a great example of different notes blending together to create something unique. I don't really get the bourbon vanilla distinctly, but I'm guessing it adds to the huskiness of the whole and gives the fragrance some weight.  Overall, I'd call this a champaca perfume, but the green tea just adds this weird greeness, while the pink pepper adds a smoky, spicy mélange. It's reminding me a little bit of "Snakes Slithering Through Stinging Nettles."

But yeah - odd, smoky, spicy, green champaca incense. Medium weight. It's a weird one, but my imp grew on me till I had to track down a partial, and I'm very glad I did.   

Yeeeeah.  A bunch of folks need to buy this.  It's pretty much all the gooey marshmallow-vanilla bits from Antique Lace.  Creamy, foody vanilla with just a hint of graham-cracker-nuttiness, probably from the benzoin.  If you like foody vanillas, and enjoy mixing your perfumes, this is a marvelous investment. I'm pretty sure this could be added to all sorts of things with drool-worthy results.  

Saw the lab had bottles of this up on Etsy and decided to pull out my old decant to see if I should take the plunge.  My decant is, of course, quite old, and was also a swap, so I'm not sure if this is how a aged bottle, fresh from the lab will smell, but here goes.  

This smells like money.  Cash, cash dollar bills.  That "gold" note is a hefty dose of copal, and though the vetiver is certainly still present, I think the copal is part of what's smacking folks in the nose with an earthy, masculine vibe, right up front.  It's powdery, lux, a bit metallic smelling, and very vintage.  Honestly, I would never describe this as a floral.  I don't really get florals except maybe some hint of the lavender flavoring the vetiver and copal, but it's hard to identify. Perhaps the florals were delicate enough that they're gone from my imp, or perhaps the florals are just an afterthought in this fragrance - the dead, dried blossoms of Scrooge's dead, dry heart.  Either way, I quite like the fragrance and I think it would smell quite wonderful on a man, or a rich, grande dame.  It does smell golden, not glittering, but like the antique, dust-sheathed gold of a pirate horde.

On 3/19/2022 at 12:03 PM, biggest_ghost said:

Hey, all!

After getting a decant of Leaden Fog, orris has become my newest scent obsession. However, it seems like most of the orris scents BPAL provides are combined with floral scents. While I'm sure they smell lovely, I'd like to find something a little more traditionally masculine.

 

(For the record, Leaden Fog is essentially all orris on me; no smoke, only a hint of sandalwood. I'm noticing that my skin tends to amp these vegetal kinds of scents -- vetiver is another one that takes over every perfume on me, much to my delight.)

 

Ideally I'm looking for something I can get an imp of first to test, but I understand that there's a limited amount of the catalogue that'll apply to. I'm not opposed at all to hunting down decants or partials from friendly forumites. Any advice?

Look for "Mythological Scene, with a Warrior Addressing a Lady Outside a Classical Mansion, Two Maidens Riding Unicorns Behind." It's a really lovely, masculine leaning perfume from the Unicorn release about four years ago, but I think I've seen it up on the sales/swaps pages once or twice. Florentine orris butter, red sandalwood, white patchouli, leather accord, and ambrette musk with a drifting eddy of King mandarin, wild bergamot, bourbon vanilla, and gold-limned saffron

Another one you might try is Row of Trees from this year's Lupers. You might be able to hop on a decant circle and get a decant, or keep an eye on the swaps pages for folks who weren't impressed with their decants.  An ethereal, dewy blend of juniper berries, lavender absolute, orris root, frankincense, spikenard, and bergamot.

Leaden Fog is another Limited Edition that's still available that might be worth looking into. Might have vetiver in it though as the "charred" note, so read reviews.  

Socrates and King Cobra are always available on the site, but you'll have to hunt swaps if you want a decant first.  Brown Jenkins is he only GC scent I can think of that might read semi-masculine.  It's very nice and snuggly.    Also, it seems like some of the lab's scents that have "bone" as a descriptor use orris, so you might keep an eye out for that.  I'd wager Yorick has unlisted orris in it.  

Old Moon 2022 smells sort of unisex to me but might work on a man.  Oddly, it has a leathery vibe to it.

ETA: LOL.  Just realized you'd tried Leaden Fog.  😄 Dur.  Well, at least I'm in the vicinity of the right track. 

This is all candy-sweet strawberries on me. The red musk is present but stays in a support role, giving a syrupy depth to the strawberries.  I don't get much rose until the dry down, when I start to get just a hint of floral.  This smells very sweet and very red. Oddly, the oil has an olive color to it.  

Strawberry scents aren't really my thing, but this does seem to be a nice one.  It threatened to go a bit plasticy at first, but now it's behaving itself and has settled into a "smooshy-strawberries-at-the-bottom-of-my-fruit-slushie-cup" sort of strawberry, versus a candy or fresh strawberry. 🍓

Prairie Witch is a bright spiced apple at first, with a bit of pulpy orange pumpkin in the background. I can't really get past the association of autumn craft store, but that said, this is a complex, upscale version of that time honored, nostalgic scent - nice and homey. There's a freshness to the apple and pumpkin that make me think early fall vs. late fall.  These apples and pumpkins still have the warm glow of setting summer upon them.  The spices strengthen in the dry down but remain well balanced.  I see cinnamon isn't listed, which is a plus for my cinnamon amping chemistry.  So, for those looking for a spicy apple without the cinnamon, look no further. It didn't last very long on me, but aging might help with that.

This is reminding me of Snow Moon from a few years ago in its opening. (Snowdrops pushing through a pale white blanket of crystalline musk, pale white frozen apples, white tea leaf, yuzu, and angelica root)  It's chilly, ozone, white musk and apples - cool and fresh and snowy.  Something seems to warm in the fragrance after a few moments though.  I think it's the musk becoming more prominent.  Sweet, minty musk becomes more prominent than the fresh juicy apple. On me, this is more about the snow note, but as someone who isn't crazy about "snow," this one is very nice.  Well blended, refreshing, and seems very wearable.  The ozone is calm, no harsh edges.  This isn't really my sort of fragrance, but it is very pleasant.  Honestly, I'd love to have an atmo spray that smelled like this.  It's just very chill and refreshing.  

Very pretty.  Somehow both clean and smokey at the same time.  Spicy carnation is the most prominent floral on me, with a hint of the peony reading more as something bright and fresh rather than as the fruity floral I'm used to.  I do smell the sandalwood, especially in the bottle, but it's not a heavy incense smell at all. I don't actually get rose.  I was expecting this to be very pink and girly.  It's not really that.  Surprisingly lacking in sweetness, but still lovely.  I'd say, if you are a fan of carnation and/or light incense, this is one to check out.  It really is quite lovely, and I'm looking forward to seeing how it ages.  

Green!  Kelly green! Grassy. Sort of soapy.  This smells like it should be some sort of vividly colored bath product for kids.  Green musk is hanging out in the background. Rosemary is actually not something I'm getting.  Maybe lily of the valley?  There's something sort of spring floral meets soap going on, and that's what lily of the valley does on me.  Hmmm... Very fun to try, but not something I'd wear much.

I see white roses were mentioned above.  Yes, that might be the floral I'm getting. Lettuce too.  This is both green and aquatic, with a hint of watery vegetables. Maybe a bit like Planting Moon, but far soapier on me.  

On 3/22/2022 at 5:39 PM, ginathelintqueen said:

I've searched but haven't found an answer (and apologies if I missed it somewhere), but would anyone know what might be a match for Alfred Sung Forever (described on Fragrantica as "Top notes are Peony, Plum and Tayberry [ETA: Tayberry may be the same as raspberry?]; middle notes are Freesia, Narcissus, Lily-of-the-Valley and Rose; base notes are Amber and Sandalwood."? 

Another description of the notes: "Mirabelle plum and pink peony buds, it blooms into a beautiful heart of yellow freesia. The base notes of lily of the valley and sandalwood perfectly balance the breezy floral bouquet."

Ideas for a BPAL similarity?

Some of this year's Lupers might be worth looking at. Lots of florals with some peony, and several plums. Freesia and peony generally feature in the spring releases, so you might try running some note searches in the general Luper thread. Sorry, nothing immediately pops into my mind. 

Jammie blackberry backed by gentle frankincense. The gardenia becomes a little more prominent in the dry down as it blends with the blackberry.  I seem to remember this having more punch when I first got it, being more obviously FRUITY.  Now the incense, though gentle, plays more of a part in the overall fragrance.  I can still smell a faint hint of the pink strawberry if I sniff real hard.  Pleasant, and a well-balanced blend of incense, fruit, and florals.  

Cracker Jacks!  Not an exact dupe, but this is a sweet, kettle corn and caramel smell.  Very foody and fun.  It's similar to the popcorn note in Mouse Circus, but more in your face.  My half bottle of MC is plenty sweet and foody enough for my preferences, but if you love MC, this is probably different enough to still be worth a sniff. It's lasted on me for about 6 hours now, through yard work, and is still surrounding me with an aura of Cracker Jack as I type.

@elissamay and @ziggystardust13 

Glad to help. 😊

@ziggystardust13 Did you ever get a chance to try Kneel Down, Fair Love, and Fill Thyself with Tears?  (gossamer orris root and silken white magnolia over a sheer dove-grey musk.) It's a really beautiful, misty magnolia.  The Snipe's Beak also has a prominent magnolia, but it's much more straight up floral.

Sugar Cookie Satyr is super tasty for that sort of Snake Oil meets something rich and almost-foodie vibe. Zipline 2 is rummy and autumnal foodiness balanced by Ren Fest incense. 😊 

😂 I've smelled way too much BPAL.

Satyr and Snake Oil have always seemed like kissing cousins to me, with Satyr being more aggressive and lacking the vanilla and sweetness that SO has.  I got a decant of both of these lovelies, and oddly, it's like the two fragrances plus sugar cookie swap places.  

Sugar Cookie + Snake smells richer and more buttery to me, with an extra dollop of spice from the cinnamon.  With the added punch and spice, it remnds me a lot of a sweeter Satyr.  

Meanwhile, Sugar Cookie + Satyr seems thinned out by the addition of the sugar cookie notes, sweetened up, and vanilla-fied, making it smell even more like Snake Oil.  Something about the mix of vanilla with the musk does a fizzy thing on my skin, almost like there's some good cream soda going on in the mix.

Anywho, I really like both of them, but they are still very much related scents to my nose.  I think I slightly prefer Sugar Cookie Snake?  (I prefer regular Satyr over regular Snake.)  Both scents are sexy and comforting - nibble worthy.   I'll probably invest in a bottle of SC Snake to see how it ages.  (I already have a bottle of Gingerbread Satyr.  )