joopjoop

This one got an all-day test today, and it is another stunner from this update - the Lupers this year are shaping up to be a real wallet buster!

Wet this is a true absinthe scent, but a much more lemony and tart absinthe than the GC Absinthe (which is much more sugary to my nose).

As it starts to dry down the anise emerges and particularly in the throw it is a creamy, rich anise that I really love. When I sniff closely it is still lemony with a bit of bitterness from the wormwood and what I think is a touch of the white clove (I tend to amp clove, so I am relieved that white clove seems to be much more subtle).

Later this fades into a lovely light anise and skin scent with just a hint of the patchouli at the end. My hope is that the patchouli will take on a more central role as this blend ages.

This is the second blend from this update where I'm considering ordering multiple bottle. I can really see this one as a regular favorite. It's distinctive in a nice way and quite appropriate for daytime.

I wore this out last night and felt so pretty. I love gardenia, but it can be very overpowering in perfume form, fortunately in Adventure with Bandits in a Kago it is just a perfect, light creamy floral. Feminine and dreamy.

The nectarine/peach combo is genius - works perfectly with the gardenia and the brightness of the fruit is paired well with the frankincense, which like LiberAmoris says above, acts as sort of necessary dimmer switch to keep the sweet fruits and heady floral in check.

Like izile, it reminds me of Josie - which I also love - but I think Adventure with Bandits is even better - a little fresher, a little less assertive (in a good way).

I really love this - it may be my perfect gardenia blend and I'm considering getting two bottles (which so far I have never done).

Unpleasant at first, with a blast of orris root and pepper. That smooths out immediately on the skin and it settles into a lovely red musk scent that is a little reminiscent of Kabuki - that must be the blackcurrant weighing in - but no anise and not nearly as sweet. The pepper gives it an edge. I don't get any red leather or bergamot, but the decant is pretty new.

I like this a lot - it smells like quintessential BPAL to me - but it doesn't last very long and fades quickly, so I don't think that I like it quite enough for a bottle.

2017 version and my first time trying Smut! Starts off wonderfully - musky, sugary and sexy as all get out.

Unfortunately, Smut is like Snake Oil on me - it just gets stronger and sweeter the longer I wear it until about 45 minutes in when it is completely overpowering boozy sugar and sadly headache-inducing.

Apparently Smut (like SO) is great for other people, but not for me.

Do you ever say to yourself, "Self, what is the most over-the-top, feminine and frilly scent you can imagine?"

And you ask yourself in reply, "Hmm, you mean lacy underpants frilly? Softly lit pastel colored macaroons, carefully arranged and heavily filtered on instagram girly? Marie Antoinette-would- approve feminine?"

"Not just Marie Antoinette," you rejoin, "But Kirsten Dunst in Sophia Coppola's Marie Antoinette - super feminine to the pink satin extreme - we're talking ROCOCO-level-5 -girly!"

"Wait I've got it! How about jasmine infused vanilla buttercream frosting!" you respond, because you know yourself so well. "What could fit the bill better than that?!"

"Yes! With a touch of anise to give it that truly indulgent European luxury patisserie feeling!"

"Wow! You're a genius - fortunately so is Beth at the lab. Here you go!" [pulls out decant of La Prostitution et la Folie Dominant le Monde and puts it on.]

and... scene!

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Postscript: Honestly, this one may just be a little too foody for me - the vanilla is very rich and heady and for the first couple of hours it swaps places with the jasmine every 10 or 15 minutes. It eventually smooths out and is a gorgeous scent as others have noted. I'm just not sure it is for me. However if jasmine-infused buttercream vanilla frosting appeals to you, then you should snap this one up!

I have to agree. This is a wonderful unisex scent. It smells effortless, chic and confident. Clean and sophisticated. Like the best version of yourself.

It has that gorgeous BPAL white sandalwood married with blond wood and a touch of pink pepper that ties it all together. The iris is the elegant lady that underlies it all. I can't wait to try this again after it has a chance to settle a little more, and I have a feeling it will age beautifully.

I ordered a decant on a whim, and I'm so glad I did!

I am a little obsessed with Lamia at the moment - I've been wearing it several times a week for the last few weeks - but it is another one (like Mme. Moriarty!) that I'm not sure how to review because I don't even know how to describe what it smells like!

It starts off as a rich coconut with peach, orchid and vetiver, and it really does smell very similar to Lush's Jungle conditioner - almost startlingly so. But after about 30 minutes it develops into this intense, sexy, earthy coconut/vetiver scent with orchid and something else that is just so so good. What is this mysterious magical 'other' ingredient taking things to the next level? The champaca? The vanilla amber? The oude? The myrrh? All of them combined? I DON'T KNOW! And it's driving me crazy.

Lamia is like a mysterious slightly gothy lady away on an upscale beach vacation. Which I guess is appropriate considering its inspiration? It's sort of confounding. But I'm seriously pondering a back up bottle.

I was underwhelmed with Mme. Moriarty at first, but after a couple of months of aging, I really love it - definitely in my top 10! I've hesitated to review it because like the other Carnaval's I've tried, it is superbly blended and I have a lot of trouble picking out the various notes - it just smells GOOD to me.

On reflection, I think for me the magic is in the plum, which is a note that often doesn't work on me, but here is is combined with some of my favs and mainstays - pomegranate, red currant, and red musk - all notes that I get excited to see in scent descriptions. But the plum takes it to another level - it combines with the other notes to smell rich and indolent, and oh so very purplish-red. The vanilla bean gives it depth and sweetness and the patchouli leaf is unobtrusive but gives it a little edge that I like. This is also the joopman's favorite scent on me.

If you are a plum lover but find it to be a tricky note (as I do), I recommend giving this one a try - it's divine!

I dearly wanted to try this one, but got into BPAL after it had been out for a while and missed all the decant circles.

I dithered and it jumped in and out of my cart a few times, but I finally pulled the trigger and blind bottled it. And I'm glad I did!

Wet Midnight on the Midway has a slightly unpleasant, almost fecal, edge to it - but fortunately that dissipates almost immediately. It quickly settles into a lovely 'flickering' incense scent with just enough (but not too much) sugary white floral to keep it from going too headshop on me.

The blue musk is really interesting and almost has a fizzy electrical quality to it - like ambergris mixed with a touch of ozone - very evocative of the image and description.

Another winner from the Carnaval!

This is such a beautiful scent.

It is a soft sexy lemony-citrus blend with just a touch of sweetness from the vanilla and coconut on the one hand and a touch of sultriness from the opium and black musk on the other. I'm not really sure how to describe it - all the notes are clearly present but it is superbly blended and hard to pick them apart once it starts to dry down.

The lemon and opium come on strong wet, but then they are joined by the other notes and everything settles down into a fresh, feminine yet very modern citrus floral that is very suitable for wearing all day. The throw on CD is particularly nice - every now I get a waft and think 'what smells so good - oh yeah, me!'

I've blind-bottled three of the Carnaval scents and all three have been complex, beautiful masterpieces. I'm planning on ordering more and can't wait for the next act to come out.

My nose is a little off, as I am recovering from a cold so I may have to revisit, but so far I really like this one.

It smells like a clean well-oiled clockwork machine with just a hint of anise to brighten things up. As it dries down, more of the leather comes up, but the metallic and oil balance it nicely. I do wish the anise was a little stronger, but part of that could be my nose, or maybe it needs to rest a bit more. It smells very clean and unobtrusive (yet still very much there) to me. I think it would be a very appropriate work scent, and it might be interesting to test while working out (I work out at home, alone, so it won't bother anyone but me!)

Not sure if I need a bottle, but I'm sure I'll figure it out with a few more tests.

This scent makes me smile. It smells like fruity tea - the kind I like to drink as a pick-me-up on cold winter mornings.

I've learned I amp bergamot and so the 'tea' aspect never really fades, and in fact grows stronger during the dry down. That's disappointing as I wish that the other notes - the lemongrass and ginger in particular - asserted themselves more.

Ultimately not for me. But lovely nonetheless. If you love bergamot scents, this one is for you.

2016 version.

Lush silky red rose. This is my first Peacock Queen, and the most anticipated of my Yule decants, and I'm not disappointed.

The perfect red velvet dress of a scent. A scent for late nights and fancy cocktails at fancy parties.

Perfection. Bottle for sure.

I have a feeling that this is a scent that will age beautifully. Right now, on me, it is primarily a Jasmine scent, with an incense background and a little neroli that sweetens things up a bit. After a few hours the jasmine sambac fades a bit and the other notes - particularly the saffron and the benzoin start to shine a little more, hinting that with some age, the whole blend may deepen and become more complex and heady.

If you are a jasmine lover, then Poetry is a real winner right out of the gate. It is a gorgeous jasmine, but for me, I wish that it weren't so dominant for so much of it's wear-time. I may try to get my hands on another decant to age, but I don't think it is bottle worthy (when my list is already so long)!

Very pretty and dry. To start it is fuzzy incense and very dry, almost dusty patchouli and then the sandalwood warms up on the skin. I think that the white sandalwood that BPAL uses is just beautiful and it is really the star of the show here. Throughout its wear, there is just a hint of dry coconut, but after about 3 hours, surprisingly, the coconut snow comes out more giving just a little sweetness that nicely balances the sandalwood.

It's a lovely scent and in contention for my favorite of the Yules.

The green musk in this is definitely the same one as in 51 - one of my warm weather favorites.

To me this is a cold-weather and elegant scent, with lavender and the blue plum as the main complements to the green musk. I don't get much agarwood or bergamot - which is fine with me.

It does a good job of capturing the feeling of being outside on a freezing winter night and looking at the sky. It has that same airy, almost windy quality of 51, but much colder. I may just need a bottle.

This is very very pretty and matches the artwork perfectly.

I get an initial blast of ylang ylang which quickly mellows into a light pink floral with the cherry blossom dominant. In the background the cypress provides a slightly herbal counterpoint to give this a bit of briskness. There is a bit of coolness that is almost but not quite minty that creates a welcome brightness - that must be the 'snow dusted' part. It is very well blended and has moderate but noticeable throw and good staying power.

To be honest, while I like this a lot, I probably don't need a full bottle - I have some things that are similar in tone that I wear often - but I love the artwork so so much, that I'm tempted to grab one anyway before the Yules come down.

Sadly, my experience is similar to a few of the other reviewers: this turns immediately to soap on me. I can smell the wisteria and a little cherry blossom and then soap soap soap and more soap. I waited a while to see if the soapy stage would pass but if anything it got stronger.

I think it must be the lilies. They just don't agree with my skin.

I love this in the decant - chilly coconut flowers! What could be better than that?

But once on it is a little bit of floral and a whole lot of vinyl doll head. It is very nostalgic in a weird way because it really does smell like the dolls I played with as a child. I wore it for 4 hours and it faded down into a soft vinyl skin scent (if such a thing is possible) before disappearing.

Sad Snow White didn't work on me, but that's how it goes. I did always like Rose Red better in the fairytale anyways.

Rose Red is pretty much the perfect rose. It smells like REAL garden cut roses, touched with dew and with the stems still on.

I'm honestly not sure if I need a bottle, as I tend to favor my rose scents mixed up with a little tart fruit or some gentle herbs, but this is truly lovely. Every now and then the rose wafts up to greet me and I'm amazed again at how real it smells.

A work of art. It's easy to see why this is a perennial favorite.

In the decant this is absolutely beautiful - all iced plum and cold lavender - I'm immediately in love. This is the iced plum of my dreams - the one I didn't know I needed but I do.

But then on my skin it instantly turns into really expensive soap. That french milled kind that people buy at fancy boutiques and give as housewarming gifts. But undeniably soap. I'm disappointed - not sure if it is the lily or the lavender - as lavender is often the sneaky soap culprit on me.

But I wait it out and while I'm forced to admit that it never completely 100% loses the soapy edge, after about an hour it eventually softens back into a lovely iced plum with just a touch of lily. And it is almost perfect. But that soap phase is a tough one to get past.

So, as I seem to be saying with a lot of the Yules I've tried so far, I'm going to rest this one a little longer and then try again. And if it doesn't change, I'm still considering a bottle, perhaps to use with a scent locket. Since it is a Winter Gallery release, it seems unlikely to come back in the future, and I can already tell I will regret it if I don't have more...

I have to agree with Lycanthrope, this is surprisingly foodie. I think it must be the 'white winter backdrop' which is very sweet and smells almost boozy on first application to the skin.

The blackcurrant is definitely there but paired with the snow it is like pie filling rather than fresh tart berries. Once it warms up, the blackcurrant does blossom on the skin and makes a nice compliment to the sweetness.

After a couple of hours I can detect a little sandalwood when I sniff closely, but the throw is all what I assume is the sweet snow with a side of currant. I'm not sure what violet leaf smells like, but I'm not detecting anything distinct.

Frankly I wish I got a little more of the sandalwood to cut the sweetness - it is just on the edge of cloying to me, and I'm not much of a gourmand lover.

This painting is a particular favorite of mine, so I'm a little disappointed, but I'm not quite ready to give up on this one just yet. I'm going to tuck it away for a little while and see if it gets a bit more balanced and earthy after resting a bit longer (basically I want the scent that rainbow describes above!).

On me, this starts off with the three notes relatively balanced, although as others have noted, there is a bit of a wood/incense edge that is tickling my nose just a bit. I'm not getting full-on pencil shavings, however, which is a relief.

As it dries down this becomes a predominantly violet scent on me, with a bit of rosy-chill in the background. This is the first blend where I have really enjoyed violet on my skin - I like violet objectively as a scent but usually don't care for it ON me, if that makes sense. But I like it here. But in the end, This World's Joy reads to me as a violet version of The Unquiet Grave, and I think I prefer my roses and frank with vanilla orchid and sandalwood rather than violet, so I will stick with UG for now. But violet lovers who like cooler scents should snap this one up.

Gonna hold on to the decant though. I have a feeling this one might grow on me after a few more tests.

Pretty Princess indeed!

It starts off with a blast of green apple and then dries down into a very wispy and light violet-iris scent with just a hint of apple in the background. I'm not a big one for violet, but I like it here - it pairs nicely with the iris and apple.

It does read very young and very innocent. I think I will give this decant to my niece - she'll enjoy it more than I will.

Well I thought I ordered a last-minute decant of Apple VII, but it was actually Apple VIII. Oops.

I agree with Little Bird in that the opening of this one is a lot like Apple X - which I love! - but it starts and then stays way more apple-y.

As it dries down it remains very apple-centric, although it is a delicate apple on me - perhaps because of the apple blossom.

I'll stick with Apple X, but this is nice too. I might use it in the bath or as a room scent.