Teamama

I just used up a recently found decant from 2016 that had rolled to the back of the downstairs bathroom closet. After all this time, it's an oudh-forward scent with faint aquatic & floral hints. Still wearable!

I have a few to add to @VetchVesper & @Lucchesa's recommendations for complex blends. I tend to like the sweet stuff, my guy does not. Here are a few that I know are complex but not (very) sweet. Aelopile: Citrus & resins & vetiver. Starts out with a citrus bang, ends with a vetiver purr. Al-Shairan: Spicy incense & fruit. This gets mixed reviews for sweetness, so worth testing. Aureus: A golden resin-fest. The Coiled Serpent: Mysterious resins unfolding over time. Earthy. Tsadikim Nistarim: OK, this is a little sweet, but it's so complex! All the herbs & resins tell a story. Tushnamatay: Dry, woody incense with a bittersweet heart. Wulric, the Wolfman: Musk blend with a lavish background of notes that change over hours of wear. STRONG. I endorse Aperotos Eros as a complex, morphing scent. On me, it's on the sweet side, but my skin tends that way. Ditto Kubla Khan, Oblivion, & The Carousel.

I love Bengal. It took me a few years to get around to trying it, because I amp clove like nobody's business. A frimp came my way, & I was instantly blown away. The honey, musk, & spices blend into a delicious whole, resulting in a spicy skin musk that lifts my mood like nothing else. The honey is restrained & delicate on my skin. I think the musk in Bengal is similar to Morocco's "warm musk." Clove (which usually amps on my skin & wrecks the balance,) stays a faint note, letting the cinnamon bark & ginger take the spotlight. After trying Silk Road resurrected, I think of Bengal as halfway between Silk Road & Morocco. Bengal is definitely in my top 10.

So delicate! This is a dreamy, creamy scent, sweet & uplifting. The milk note is subordinate to the fig, honey & olive leaf. Something about the fruit, honey & leaves creates a slightly floral impression. It's wonderfully comforting. If you loved Poor Monkey, grab this!

Wet: Adorable, sweet, cuddly fig, something green & almost piney, & wood. No cherry? Dry: the cherry is finally emerging, but my skin is throwing the balance off, somehow. I get hints of how the notes fit together, but alas, my skin amps the green. Not for me, darn it.

Wet: labdanum, lavender & vanilla amber. Dry: the same, with a hint of sandalwood. Delicate & a little sharp (frozen?) This one's probably for Teadaughter.

I got a tiny sniffie tester, & agree with everything above. Butterscotch cookie deliciousness. I like it, but don't need a bottle.

I love it. The rose absolute & organic rose petals are the stars for me. Vanilla & strawberry are the second layer, with honey, herbs & butter as distant backups. Not long-lasting on my skin, but pretty good longevity in a locket.

Looks like I'm the first to review the 2020 version? I get what all the fuss is about! Wet: Caramel tobacco noms. Dry: Sweet, complex, amber tobacco blend, with foody leanings. Lots of throw, but not in an overwhelming way. I'm going to have to come back & update after wearing it alone on a non-testing day, to capture all the subtleties. My reaction to it is like the insta-love from Bears of Berlin, & St. Clare. In short: Red Lantern is lovely, I want a bottle.

Wet: It's kind of powdery & soapy on my skin. The benzoin & sandalwood are out in front, not a lot from the other notes. Dry: The notes blend into a powdery whole. On me, this is sweet & dry, mostly benzoin & sandalwood. I never got the labdanum, or any smoke. Verdict:This might age into something I'll regret not buying, but it isn't something I see myself wearing at this stage.

Wet: Oh yum. Resinous wood & sweet vanilla are my jam, for sure. Dry: a lot like Two Sheep & Two Goats Resting Together in a Field, but without the vetiver's grassy bitterness. Verdict: Lovely, but I don't need a bottle.

Wet: patchouli & testosterone. Dry: Yummy guy. This is Beth doing magic. All these notes work on me individually, but in this blend they combine to be VERY masculine. I will try it on Teapapa. I predict deliciousness on him, but it's not for me & my skin.

Wow, my experience is so different with this blend! This starts out as very strong bitter honey, both in the imp & on my skin. One year, one of our hives got into a field full of knapweed, an invasive plant with bitter, toxic sap. This smells like that hive's honey tasted: sweet & unbearably bitter. I could feel that bitterness on my tongue as I sniffed this scent. As it dries, the bitter herbal note dials back. This reminds me of Door. I don't plan to wear it again--my mouth can't take the wet stage.

Very light vanilla amber with a hazy hint of smoke. Only a trace of cypress on me. Charming.

STRONG throw when first applied. The oakmoss takes this in a traditional masculine direction on my skin, darn it. Gorgeous, but not for me. Not Teapapa's style either. Glad I got to try it, off to the swap pile.

Necro-bump! Are you team Always-Fig, Usually-Fig, Sometimes-Fig, or Never-Fig? I'm very much a fig gal. Fresh fig's sweet/floral notes do it for me, & dried fig's sweet/earthy notes are awesome, too. My skin handles fig as almost a skin scent. My fave fig blends to date are: Poor Monkey Atsui-Mono Carnal Narr Romans 13:8 The Dream is Big Enough for Everyone Fig & White Sandalwood HG (!!!) The Place Wherein Love Grew Atmosphere Spray (!!!)

Bottle from a forum purchase. BPAL's blends featuring vanilla & sandalwood are usually fantastic on me. Sinus Amoris is near fantastic, but has to dry down fully to get there. The interaction between red sandalwood, oude & myrrh come across as "sweaty" on my skin for about the first half hour after application. This means I don't reach for this bottle often. One it's dry, it's a light vanilla sandalwood with spice undertones from the pepper & champaca blossom. At 2+ hours, I love it.

Sugary jasmine is the main note on my skin, with a little bit of vanilla. The rose cream, mallow and amber never really showed up on me. If you love the jasmine sugar in La Prostitution et la Folie Dominent le Monde, this will definitely float your boat. Glad I tried it.

Gorgeous! This blend is the perfect balance between incense & honey. It's my new favorite BPAL amber. I do not get cake from this blend. Like @zankoku_zen, on me the honey evokes the Lab's beeswax note. A golden treasure.

Russet musk is red musk-adjacent, but not exactly the same, right? I got a decant, hoping that my red musk-amping chemistry would allow Fiery Clinch to work in my hair. On me, it was a sweet, musky amber patchouli. Loads of throw, long-lasting. It was a good risk, & I enjoyed the decant.

The "inky" oudh dominates this blend at the start. This oudh is indolic (edging over into almost-fecal,) both wet, in my locket, and on my skin. After about a half hour, the rose & blackcurrant notes make an appearance on my skin. No birch tar, though . It's quiet, and a good representation of dusk. I think it would be good for fans of delicate, atmospheric blends like Disastrous Twilight, who like a little indolic umph in their fruits & flowers. Glad I got to try it, don't need a bottle.

Sweet, spicy musk. On me, the musk is less like black musk, & more like the perfumey, "classic" musk of Miss Forcible + The Other Miss Forcible. The cinnamon is dry & subtle. I'll definitely wear my decant, but I don't need a full bottle.

I have a partial of the 2014 release. In the bottle & wet on my skin, the wine note is very sharp, almost a vinegar. That dissipates quickly, thank heavens. On drydown, this is a sweet, resiny beeswax scent with a faint hint of wine and frankincense. I don't get much rose. An excellent alternative to The Lights of Men's Lives when I want some beeswax. If this comes around again for Lupers, I plan to pick up a bottle.

On me, this is a sunshiney citrus party. The mandarin, litsea cubeba, & bergamot take center stage, with lavender & company in the background. It's full of positive energy, for sure. I like it a lot, but I'm not sure how much I'll wear it. When I do, I'll plan to wear it in a locket to avoid getting photosensitized because bergamot does that to me.

Mod Note: There is a review topic for Day of the Skulls release years 2008 and 2013 located here. Per our Review sub-forum topic policy, a new review topic has been created for the 2017 release due to slightly different name: Day of Skulls versus Day of the Skulls. The scent description is the same for both review topics/releases. In Bolivia, many people hold to the tradition of keeping the skulls of their ancestors with them in their homes, caring for their remains. It is believed that each person has seven souls, and one of those souls stays with the skull after death, enabling a spirit to grant protection and prophetic dreams to their descendants, and to bless their families with good health and prosperity. The Bolivian Fiesta de las Natitas, or Dia de los Natitas, is a day of honor for these ancestors. Their skulls are dressed with fragrant blossoms, and offerings of cocoa leaves, alcohol, and cigarettes are made. White sandalwood, beeswax, and frankincense crowned by hydrangea, rose, and kantuta blossoms, dressed with tobacco, cocoa leaves and flowers from the sacred Cactus of the Four Winds. Day of Skulls! Beeswax sandalwood tobacco floral incense cocoa magic! I didn't know about this blend. It wasn't on my radar & I got a decant on a whim. Now I am totally obsessed. The interplay between the different notes is intoxicating. The kantuta flowers are a revelation, so lush & enticing. Wet, the flowers & beeswax take center stage, mostly the kantuta, which is new to me. The rose & hydrangea didn't really register for me at this point. The cocoa & tobacco are present, but not emphatic. The frankincense & sandalwood come & go. As it dries down, the tobacco & woods are more noticeable, the beeswax also gets more rounded as the flowers move out of the spotlight. I love this blend!