Teamama

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 .

Citrus musk with tea! Tangerine + blood orange balance each other beautifully. Not too sweet, not too dry. Thankfully the orange blossom doesn't take over. I love it.

Golden, for sure! I agree with @Leopard403 that this is well-blended. It's one of the Lab's complex beauties. The amber is a warm background, like in Kubla Khan or Scarecrow Turned Philosopher. The white peach, tobacco flower, & orchid are prominent when I sniff the decant, but once they hit my skin they quickly morphed into a citrusy note (in my locket, the peach note remained distinct longer.) Bergamot & frankincense are both so far in the background that I can't pick them out. I really like Prospering In Golden Hope, & may need a bottle.

A soft linear holographic top coat filled with holo microflake and iridescent shifting flake in two different color ways. It can be worn as a topper for any of the other Shards, or alone in 3-4 coats. What, no reviews yet? Nova is excellent. The holo glitter & flake are gorgeous, producing an opal effect that is stunning. Teadaughter got full coverage with 3 coats. I just applied 1 coat over a pink creme, & it totally changed the look from a lavender-tinted pink go a silvery pink opal. This is a stunner, everybody, buy Nova now!

I have a lot of vanilla, and at first I thought I didn't need a bottle. My decant just kept calling to me, and I finally put in my order. The vanilla in this blend is very similar to the one in Antique Lace Resurrected. Soft, delicate, very low throw.

Late to reviewing this blend! I got my bottle via a forum purchase several years back, so I don't know precisely how aged it is. It's lovely, & I reach for it mostly in the summer. When first applied, the ice (mint?), sandalwood, & mandarin notes are the most prominent notes, with amber & vanilla as a ground. As it dries down the leather emerges subtly, with bare hints of the other notes (roses, opium smoke, tobacco, champaca, tea leaf, sugared lily, ginger, rich hay absolute, peru balsam, and Moroccan jasmine,) peeking through. I really like Kubla Khan. For me, it falls into the category of BPAL uplifting mandarin blends.

This is a little bottle of perfect: three of my favorite notes in a wholesome yet sexy tangle. Beeswax is a really complicated scent, holy/profane, sweet/spitty, wild/domesticated. I love the way the cedar & vanilla anchor beeswax between them.

Delicate blossoms, with a hint of fruit (from the cognac?) The white amber is subtle & a little dry. All the notes are in my wheelhouse, but the blend fits Teadaughter better, so the decant has become hers.

Ginger beer! The honey isn't strong enough for me to notice over the ginger-y, vaguely citrus-y fizzing. A tickle, for sure. I will enjoy my decant but don't need a bottle.

Turns out I amp oats? My skin is so weird. In the decant: sweet vanilla-cream, with a hint of spice from the cardamom, & a hint of grain. The honey reads as sweetness, with no floral, wax, or bee spit notes. On me: A bowl of oatmeal, with sweetened cream. There's a touch of spiciness, but overall the vanilla & cardamom have faded into the background. Stupid skin.

Decant. This was a little tea-sharp for me when it was released, but it's mellowed. It's now a lovely dark tonka, with warm dried grassy notes from the tea and vetiver. It's surprisingly black musk-adjacent. Glad I got to try it.

Ut Ameris is in the honey + herbs + flowers scent family, & I would buy it for the fragrance alone. I tested a decant, & have already ordered a full bottle. It's no surprise that I love it, because the scent is similar to Osun, which I adore & have hoarded bottles of since it was discontinued. Osun didn't have many listed notes: Her ofrenda is thick with honey and herbs of love, passion and desire. What makes Ut Ameris a markedly different scent from Osun is the magnificent fruit layer of jammy strawberry compound & sweet orange. Ut Ameris did not change much from application to dry-down. It isn't long-lasting on my skin. It faded quite a bit within 2 hours. As usual, it had better longevity in my scent locket. At 5 hours, it's barely noticeable on me, & has about half the original throw in the locket. As for the (beautiful) intent, my initial wearing was a day where my energy level was lower than what I would have liked for assisting in public worship. I definitely felt love & friendship toward my community, & from them toward me. I felt grounded & prepared, as well as confident & supported in speaking prayers inspired by Transgender Day of Visibility. Compassion is pretty much my job, so I anticipate utilizing Ut Ameris as a focusing tool regularly. I'm glad that it harmonizes so well with Osun, which lasts longer on my skin.

Dang my wine-amping skin! In the decant, this is totally my jam--spicy, complex, with a truly glorious honey note. On my skin, it flattened out into a vague, wine-soaked spice bread. At 4 hours, the wine finally quit dominating. This one's scent-locket only for me.

Different than I had expected. The notes are all winners for me, so I imagined this might be a blend I'd end up buying more than one bottle of. In the bottle, the resins are forward, in a medicinal, linament kind of way. That was also the case when wet. That passed, & it became a complex amber skin scent. The amber in this blend is a lot more sap/vegetal than I usually experience from BPAL. The vanilla, musk & patch are all subordinate to that amber. Think of the siberian fir needles in Fae Forest atmo spray, & imagine amber from that tree's sap. Dry, the blend is warm, dry, balanced, & wearable by people of any gender expression. It's gorgeous, but more to my daughter's taste than mine. I'm glad I bought it. I think this will be a favorite for a lot of people.