Convallaria

The opening is freesia and guava, with a hint of green mandarin's skin - very elegant. The rest of the notes might be somewhere in there too - the scent is really well-blended. The combination is pretty much consistent all the way to the drydown. It reminds me of Mediterranean garden. A good contender for next year summer's full bottle purchase.

The "grapefruit" smells more like orange peel at the opening, to me. It does get a bit more bitter after the initial few minutes. The scent remains refreshingly citrusy all the way for a long time - a pleasant surprise, because I was looking for a lab "refreshing" scent for summer without sweet notes sneaking in later on. Tea, ginger and apple blossoms are just there to support it.

Not that smokey in the classical sense on me: the opening is like a resinous cologne with some dark herbs. The central note reminds me of olibanum burned in Orthodox churches, though. This note is pretty much present throughout, with slightly different flavors as the scent dries. Moderate wear length.

The opening is sharply herbal and medicinal - I can almost smell acetone in first few seconds. It rounds up to a more moderate herbal concoction later on, eventually going sweet. Personally, I've hoped it would have remained more sharp, if not borderline "unpleasant". The drydown reminds me of a sunscreen. Not very long lasting and mostly stays close to the skin.

On me, it's pretty much straightforward leather and vanilla, almost boozy at the opening. The leather is dominant for the most part - very sharp-smelling, unrefined. Vanilla takes over in latter stages of drydown. I think it could pass as unisex, despite the sweetness.

I somehow managed to miss the reviews mentioning melon! Thankfully, it's not too sweet or potent, and herbal elements temper it even further. So even if you, like me, aren't a fan of melon, it might be worth a try. Sadly this is one of BPAL oils my skin soaks up pretty fast, with barely-there throw and low wear length.

The opening reminds me of herbal candies, with eucalyptus negating the sweetness - but without becoming too minty. After a while, though, it takes a back seat and sweet resins dominate. Drydown is all aldehyde, neutral and close to skin but no shrinking violet. Moderate wear length.

I decided to buy this because I'm a Virgo, even though patchouli is more miss than hit for me. The opening is lemon verbena, but something (patchouli?) makes it smell more like a candied lemon peel than anything. It's lovely. Sadly, the mix of patchouli and "chypre" doesn't work that well for me. There isn't really an objective issue, I guess I just don't like strong, sweet patch. I thought greener parts of "chypre" would overpower it, which usually happens in my non-BPAL chypres, but not here. It goes a bit more smoky later on, but I still can't get over the phase I dislike. The verbena makes a comeback in the drydown. Nice scent, but I'm not getting anything much chypre-y about it.

The opening combination of musk and rose is strange if pleasant - it reminds me of fabric, cotton perhaps. Leather comes out to play soon after, but thankfully it doesn't take over completely - not that I have anything against leather, but I already have several leather scents and there's only so much variety you can get. I also feared that it would overpower the rose, but that's not the case - different notes become prominent in different stages, but they are really well blended overall. The drydown is on the stronger side, if close to the skin, and long-lasting on me.

The mandarin in the opening reminds me a little of Shade - it's almost like there is a champagne note in there too. It soon morphs into orris butter (very butter-y), then saffron-spiced vanilla. Patchouli is behaving, staying put as a stage prop rather than actor, which suits me fine. Leather isn't too strong either. The drydown is mostly musk. Despite the ecclectic ingredients, the scent as a whole is surprisingly mild. Maybe a bit too mild on me.

The opening is pretty much sweet tobacco incense, maybe with a side of tonka. I've been a bit wary of the combination after The Plagues 2016 - one was a hit and the other a miss, both containing tobacco and some type of incense, but I'm glad I took the risk. The tobacco here does not go towards sour or musty side of the spectrum. It's dry, smoky and spicy. I expected something close to Elegba, but there is barely a whiff of rum until the drydown - even then, it's not very sweet, even with the vanilla in the mix. It's really well balanced. If you're looking for a great tobacco scent, grab this one before it's gone.

I got a frimp with Lab purchase. I don't know if there might not have been some mislabeling going on because on me, this smells like a chypre. The kind that was popular before oakmoss was declared ingredient non grata. Then again, two of scent twins candidates contain patchouli too, so maybe there's something to that. Perhaps I'm a myrrh amper? Either way, it smells nothing like "pure" patchouli, which is my death note, so it's a bonus. But it's not one of my favorites, either. The drydown leans a bit more animalic with orris and musk, though myrrh is still adding a green note. I like this part much better, but not enough to go through the first phase. ETA: I keep falling in and out of love with chypres. Today it was perfectly good.

I got a frimp with Lab purchase. Normally, I wouldn't have bothered because Lab's "chocolate" has been a miss so far - but this one isn't a chocolate on me, but very moist chocolate cake. Or hot melted chocolate for fondue, at least. I'm usually iffy about smelling like food, but this one is beautiful. It doesn't morph and it's surprisingly consistent and moderately long-lasting on me. Bliss indeed.

Mostly candlewax and sweet rose spiced with saffron. Doesn't morph a lot, moderate wear length, stays close to skin.

The opening is mandarin peel, sweet and sour. Lilac appears soon after initial few minutes.The drydown is sweet vanilla spiced with opium. Pretty, but "not me".

Pretty much straight unrefined beeswax candle to me. My grandmother used to make her own and re-melt the remains. I think it's also similar to those long, dark yellow candles Eastern Ortodox churches use, but it's been a while since I visited one. It sticks rather close to skin and wear length is medium.

I got a small sample with decant purchase, so the age might be affecting the scent. On me, the opening feels like cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom. Then it gets more like carnation...but with spices still dominating. Which is, come to think of it, similar to "carnation" in Taste The Cherries And Look At The Flowers, so I guess that's the Lab/Post standard. Honey and milk might be somewhere in there, but roses are silent. Afterwards, it morphs into Lab's usual sweet vanilla drydown. Both phases last very long. Pretty, but not for me.

The opening is orange and chocolatey patchouli - it smells like chocolate-covered orange rinds. I've been wary of gourmets in general, but this is the kind I could get behind. Sadly, after a while, the orange is lost and patchouli morphs into the kind I'm not fond of - I hated this note in the infamous Angel and few others patchouli-heavy compositions. It smells like a mix of a sharp chemical and something rotten on me. It stays pretty much that way through the drydown, which is long-lasting. Not sensing any vetiver.

Pale lilacs, white tea, and candle wax. The opening is a blend of lilac and almost lemony tea. As time goes on, the combo of lilacs and tea goes nearly bitter, but then they settle down into a sweet accord - I think there's something not on the component list. Vanilla? Not getting any noticeable candles - maybe they were there in support role in "bitter" middle part? Tea+lilac was an unexpected and lovely combination, but I wish their stage lasted longer.

The opening is pure lemon. It lasts for a long time before gradually bleeding into green tea leaf and aloe with hints of lemon. The drydown is clean white musk with lemon aftertaste. It's okay but...I don't know. Maybe I expect too much from concept, but I wish there was something to hint at death or something mystical or a bit unpleasant medicine? If not human traditions, what about embalming in nature? It didn't have to be 100% match for an embalming fluid, but a component or two as a reference would have been nice. The flip side is that it's a very approachable scent. It's rather similar to popular "fresh" scents my mother adores, so if you're looking to introduce someone who likes them to BPAL, this is one of the options. Great for summer, too.

I agree with the Shalimar comparison. The Caterpillar always reminds me of L'Heure Bleue, especially after it has dried down for a while That's interesting! I've put The Caterpillar on the back-burner because I've seen it compared to Mitsouko, and notes seemed to support it. Mitsouko and I don't get along well, unfortunately, except when I'm wearing leather in cold weather. I was simultaneously testing those four scents, so the similarities show like that on me at least. In other discoveries, Embalming Fluid reminds me of D&G Light Blue and So Givenchy. It's not an identical twin, but if you're looking for something in the same vein it's a good place to go. I checked the notes and apparently So doesn't even have similar notes, but I had a bottle I used when it's too hot for anything else over several years, still have a little at bottom, and I don't know, the overall effect is just rather similar.

The opening is very sweet. Too sugary for my taste. It goes mellower later on, but the musks feed the sweetness rather than balance it. Overall it's nothing special on me.

I must admit, I never expected I'd like smelling like banana flavoring, but damn it, this is good. At first, it reminds me of chocolate bananas, but then there is something almost alcoholic. Sugary and unexpectedly cuddly blend of cacao, vetiver and tobacco takes over afterward, but there are still hints of banana goodness for a while. I love it and I wish I knew what makes the other three notes, which are usually hit-or-miss for me, so temperate. I hope we get more interesting takes on banana in the future. I should have gotten two bottles of this one.

The opening is cold lavender. Unfortunately, like my other "cool" lavender scent - Once Upon A Time - it vanishes soon. Maybe it's the nature of the note, but there could have been something to pass the torch to. There might be some kind of drydown present, but you need to sniff so close to get the hint there is a scent at all, there's no point to it.

Ooh, this one is leaning towards masculine, but not to the point I'd find it not-me. I guess I need my burnt tobacco with something that can temper it, which flowers and clove in In The Time Of Plague couldn't handle. The opening feels like a chypre-y cologne. It goes a bit more mild and pleasant after that - into a cuddly, cologne-y tobacco. The drydown is sweet musk, but there's still a herbal and tobacco undertone. I really liked it and I'm glad I decided to go for it even though I was disappointed with the other this year's Plague scent.