Teamama

I got this as a forum purchase. It's a one-coat-wonder. Shiny & fun! The green is on the blue-er end of the scale, & it goes with a surprisingly large number of things in my wardrobe. 100% win, glad I own it!

This was an insta-purchase. My thought was, no matter which combination of the notes (Sweet honeyed patchouli, ambrette seed, King mandarin, and mango cream,) is predominant, there's no way I won't love it! I applied it after washing my hair, & I'm a very happy camper. The mandarin & mango are bright & charmingly sweet. They're fresh, so the effect is more enlivening than tutti-frutti. The patch, ambrette, & cream are background notes. The patch is very smooth, more woody than gnarly. A winner!

When I sniffed the bottle right out of the mailbox & chilled, the honey was very indolic (like, toddler underpants level indolic.) I knew it needed at least a short rest. The next morning: wet in the bottle, it's a vanilla & honey blend, with incense. Wet on my skin: the honey & pink pepper are forward, with a touch of smoke & vanilla. No labdanum, alas. On dry-down: it's got very little throw. Vanilla, honey, & incense. No labdanum & no pepper. I'll try to come back with further impressions, because I suspect this blend could change a lot with age. I like it, but it isn't rocking my world.

Skin chemistry mismatch . Teapot Full of Angst is a Big Indolic Oud Mood. My skin took Teapot on a trip to the country village of Barnsmell, & only came back to let me enjoy the other notes after a couple of hours. Not for me, alas.

The fir & cardamom are dominant in the decant, & wet on my skin. After drying, it's a snuggly, slightly smokey cardamom coffee next to a fir tree. Edited to add: by bedtime, this was a dead ringer for Wulric the Wolfman at around the same wear length--surprise! I'm glad I got to try it, but don't need a bottle.

Mmm, tonka! On me, this is primarily tonka being its sweet, brown, mellow self, all vanilla-like. Lavender bud brings some freshness & complexity. The honey & beeswax sweetens it up just right. The driftwood adds a pinch of salt, but thankfully isn't aquatic enough for my skin to grab hold of & do its nasty trick of turning into dryer sheets. The patchouli is mellow & rooty, & the amber anchors the blend. It's got medium throw, great longevity, & doesn't morph on me. I anticipate it will linger deliciously on sweaters & sweatshirts, like Wulric. The decant blew my mind. I love it, so I bought a bottle + a partial. It's my favorite Lilith for this year

Decant. Rosy patchouli on me, with a little tangy dried apricot? Somehow, my skin has misplaced the bourbon vanilla, labdanum & pepperberry. I can detect the vanilla in my locket. GC Rakshasa meets my needs for rosy patchouli, so I won't need a bottle.

2019 version, partial bottle from a forum purchase. The meditation called for in the description is powerful, like so many of the Activism blends. Reaching for Nes Gadol Haya Sham feels like reaching for prayer beads, with a commitment to be mindful of stories of loss and remembrance; abundance, fortitude, and determination; clarity and piety; strength, generosity, kindness, and benediction. I'm a resin-lover, so I've always wanted to try it. Beth's multi-note blends can be a challenge for me to review, because my skin chemistry takes it in a lot of different directions over time. I can say right off that I have an affinity for opoponax, patchouli, almond, frankincense, and myrrh. Myrtle, lemon verbena & pomegranate can be difficult for me to wear. Heliotrope, hyssop, carnation, red poppy & hibiscus haven't made an big impression on me one way or another. Wet on my skin & in a locket, the dominant notes are lemon verbena & green, green myrtle, with a background of fruit & floral sweetness, & grounding resins. The patchouli & almond, which can both go big on my skin, are reserved & barely detectable. It's more green & bitter than my usual scent range, in a bracing, powerful way. As it dries down, my skin lets most of the myrtle go, & the lemon verbena melts back into the complex, floral/fruity/resin base. It's still got an edge to it, reminding me of holly for some reason. This feels like a wintry blend, probably because of the myrtle & resins. I don't wear very often, but I like it, & I'm glad I bought the partial.

Shucks! I forgot to review V'al Hanissim? Review of the 2020 release. Light, sweet, close to the skin. The interplay between the dry amber & the sweet beeswax is lovely. The beeswax accord is similar to the one in The Lights of Men's Lives, but this one smells less processed, so there's a bit more of the lovely, warm, furry smell of bees. Both I and my daughter loved this enough to get a bottles in 2020.

Necrobump: Thanks @Lucchesa for referring me to this thread. I'm wearing my beloved Bengal again today, at last! Abstaining from spice scents for nearly two months may have done the trick. If today continues without mishaps of the red & itchy variety, I'll try another spicy favorite next Friday.

This was part of my very first BPAL decant order! At that time, it was very clove/carnation forward, similar to doomsday_disco's description. This was how I learned that my skin will amp BPAL's clove note to the moon and back . I fished out the decant for the 2022 Wear Your Weenies Challenge. I was tickled to find that aging has totally changed the balance of the notes. I'm currently getting honey, lemony cubeb, & spicy floral. It's like a mashup of Crib Girls & Alice, and I like it a lot.

This was a surprise win... for Teadaughter. Fruity musks are my kind of jam, so I was really excited for this blend. In the decant, I smell bubbling (labdanum in there, maybe?) musk, cranberries & mandarin rind. As soon as it hit my skin, it was obviously not for me. An aquatic note showed up, which my skin predictably amped to throw the whole thing out of balance. Smells great in a locket, but mediocre on me. Teadaughter likes mandarin, so I asked her to give it a sniff (she wasn't originally interested due to the current, coconut & pineapple notes.) She's claimed the decant, & is evaluating it as a possible bottle for my next order. It smells fantastic on her. Less fruity & sweet than I imagined. Neither Teadaughter nor I can pick out currant, pineapple, coconut, or carrot. Musky, pleasantly bittersweet, more vegetal than fruity.

This was a roller-coaster journey! I love Morocco (the perfect spiced musk & sandalwood blend,) & I love Moroccan Pumpkin Patch. I held off on reviewing MP last year, My skin amped the musk note when it was fresh from the Lab, turning it into pumpkin spice dryer sheets (cue sad trombone noise.) I was discouraged, but held to my belief that with age, it would be awesome. I tried again in December, but without success. It's the end of September now, so almost a full year has passed since purchase. Moroccan Pumpkin is now PERFECT! Morocco's smooth, musky, spicy wonderfulness, with more spices, & a little hint of pumpkin sweetness.

Forum acquisition. Rosy woods & faint spice. It's better in my locket than on my skin. My skin flattens out the individual notes, but they remain vibrant on the wool felt in my locket. I'll wear it in scent lockets to best enjoy this lovely aged blend.

When I first got this bottle (I think from Etsy?) the floral notes were too bold for it to go into regular rotation. The bottle got pushed to the back of the HG shelf, and I forgot to review it. Fast forward to 2022. Teadaughter rooted through the collection this week, looking for a decant suitable for oral surgery. "Oh, look," says I, "Still Life with Melon and Peaches! I wonder how that's aged?" Aging has mellowed the flowers, so this is now a fruit/vanilla/musk blend, with low-key notes of flowers & tea. I'll be wearing it a LOT more frequently .