alterosen

My decant is rather heavy on the beeswax with a little rosewater so it leans sweet, creamy & musky. Very little woods or leather - I can pick out a tiny bit but they're mostly masked by the beeswax. I'm picturing a plush, golden-cushioned boudoir rather than anything masculine.

Love this! I'm a late convert to the Serpentine - I'm a huge Dorian fan but lavender is hit or miss (can't stand TKO). I tried the Serpentine HG recently, adored it & was delighted to manage to track down some of this spray. After the first blast of lavender & fougere, the most fabulous musky vanilla comes out & lingers nicely. I suspect my kids & dh are getting a little tired of how much I use this but too bad!

My decant is heavy on the dead leaves with the patch second & the bay rum only a background note. It reads a bit dungeon-y to me for some reason. My husband quite likes it but I was hoping for more of the bay note. 

I should love this more than I do - I adore Schwartzwald & other evergreen based atmospheres but somehow this just doesn't thrill me. It's nice & piney as advertised, with that hint of lemon mentioned upthread, but would need a bit of stone or wood for it to sing for me. There's a little creaminess or light musk in the background once it dries. It also doesn't linger as much as I would like. I like it fine but don't reach for it that often.

I have Vanilla #167 . Previously reviewed here

Agreeing about the caramel & apples and want to add some chamomile to the drydown which goes quite well with the other notes.

#12 decant

Sweet cinnamon (not red hots), honey, bit of pastry & a hint of lemon. Reminds me of baklava though there's no nut note. Mmm!

 

 

12 hours ago, Deceitfuldescender said:

I have rose problems. I despise tea roses in perfume. It just reads awful in me.

I love the smell of most garden variety roses fresh on the bush. Wild roses and big beautiful pink and yellow and peach roses make me happiest.

 

Do those exist in bpal? If so, how can I discern it (besides avoiding the note tea roses forever.)

 

Do you find the tea rose note too bitter or sharp or is there something else about it that you dislike? What have you tried? I find BPAL roses are very dependent on skin chemistry, so you're probably going to have to do a lot of testing!

I often suggest London as a nice realistic rose but since it is tea rose that's probably not going to work for you. The Rose is quite fresh & true to life but since you like pink, yellow & peach roses IRL, I would look for those in the notes rather than red rose. Also you might like the roses that have a fruity aspect since I find many modern roses do have a bit of citrus or berry in their scents. Also blends that are reviewed as being sweet might counteract any bitterness or sourness coming from the rose. 

Hedylogos, Snooty Rose, The Fool's Rose, Sept, Onze, The Best Lies, Hope would all be worth trying.  I'm sure people will chime in with others!

This really doesn't work on me. Starts out super smoky as expected, then goes badly funky. Mildewy pine or wet dog? Mugwort? Something sour, murky & kind of rank. The funk fades as the smoke amplifies & takes on a bitter, inky tone which means a certain leather note has arrived. I asked my son if he wanted to sniff my wrist at this point & he fled across the room, fast.  And I had only dabbed it on, not slathered!

After about an hour of harsh, smoky leather, a whisp of vanilla musk arrives. It steadily gets stronger while the leather fades until we get the nice Lace base with a smoke accent. There seems to be a bit of extra musk, too. I do like the drydown but am not going to deal with the wet phases again. I was hoping for some spiced plum but never got any opium, clove or fruit. People who wear smoke & leather well might have better luck with this scent than me.

This is lovely! I get an ethereal sweet vanilla right from the start, then it becomes reminiscent of some Japanese incense I have, so perhaps there's a little dry sandalwood involved (or maybe it's the tobacco?). A fizzy aspect comes out, more subdued than in Champagne Lace, but definitely related. The fizz takes on a hint of bitterness which I realize must be the rose but it's only ever a minor player for me. The fizzy note fades and the scent ends up being a dry elegant vanilla on my skin, lacking soil, pine, viscera or anything disturbing. I'm upgrading my decant to a bottle, first chance I get!

Port Royal!

My husband was wearing some yesterday & it's very rawr Warm, spicy wood with a smidgen of leather

I am so enamoured of this gloss! Sweet creamy pumpkin with a breath of spices. I'm getting a bit of orange peel, too, and the creamy vanilla reminds me of white chocolate. Yummy!

#9 decant

My impression is of a lightly spiced apple cider. No overpowering spices here! Nice, work appropriate.

 

#10 decant

Red roses, front & centre. Strong, deep, slightly fruity, regal - wear to make a statement. Any spices are overwhelmed by the rose. Probably not work friendly, but glorious if roses are your thing! 

 

Like Lunameth, l get lots of orange with a champagne-like note. The honey comes & goes. Very fun & perky.

This is nice - it's primarily cooked apple and spices with a bit of buttery baking in the background. Very comforting. I don't get any cold notes. I agee that the frost is more likely icing on the gingerbread than actual frost. Great on a cold wet day making my house smell warm & cozy!

This is pretty but the roses & other flowers are a little soapy & high-pitched for me. I get a tiny bit of bitterness in the greenery, too, that I don't enjoy in the way I do the Queen's Croquet Ground where the grass & roses are richer/deeper notes than these.

#135

Samhain with a black cherry note, very sweet, sugary & strong. It actually overpowers the Samhain base while occasionally letting elements peek through. This is a dark & mysterious fruit scent. As it dries, the cherry becomes less defined & takes on a whiff of wine or sugar plum. It reminds me somewhat of Hearth '04. Though it teeters on the verge of being too sweet for me & doesn't last quite as long as regular Samhain, I'm totally enjoying it!

This has a really golden, creamy feel to me. It's so rich & sweet it seems like I'm surrounded by the filling of an orange cream chocolate (without there actually being any chocolate in the scent). I think I would like it better as a perfume - it's one of the few atmospheres that I like the smell of but don't want to spray around my home for some reason.

Strong peach, almost jammy, with an unidentifiable spicy note while wet. As it dries, the spice dissipates and I get some citrus, instead, which, while not orangey as such, reminds me of marmalade. This is very fruit forward on me - I don't notice much pastry or crust.

...

I also have to give Dorian an obligatory recommendation

 

I second Lady Death: Savage & Ava and would like to add Mother Ghost (a cold, sheer white musk gleaming with black orchid, benzoin, labdanum, and blackened amber embraced by white rose, tea leaf, and vanilla flower), Love Lay Upon Her Eyes (White amber & Bulgarian rose) & This World, Where Death Reigns (Myrrh and black roses). Unveiled (Red bush tea, vanilla, white peach, golden amber, mandarin, lotus root, and myrrh) reminds of the oriental type perfumes that my Mum used to wear.

Beautiful Death is also lovely (sandalwood, vanilla, green cognac, white tobacco, chamomile, black tea & belladonna). It's like a poisonous berry perfume in the Lace family.

This is nice! When I first tried it, fresh from the mail, the ginger & sandalwood were prominent with little fruit appearing but it has developed more with a little aging. Now I notice the peach & red fruits, too and with the amber & sandalwood, it has the feel of some oriental perfumes. It reminds me slightly of Portrait of a Young Woman With Unicorn though it doesn't have the vanilla or red musk.

 

Frank & rose are great. I forgot to put Sept on my list. A new fra nk + rose delight :-).

 

Agreed! Sept is my current frankenfave.

 

 

Ditto!

I had high hopes for this one but ultimately it doesn't work on me. The florals are well-behaved & the vanilla lovely & ethereal but then after a while a pungent tangy note develops that reminds me of fish Not sure where that emerged from: maybe the ambergris & tobacco are combining strangely? Freakin' skin chemistry.

I like cold florals for this sort of thing - I guess I'm going for an Ice Maiden vibe?

 

Both Rose Red & Lady Death: Savage make me feel cool & competent. I like Ruined Roses, too, but it's not as intense. If I'm just going for comfort, I would probably reach for Dorian or Paper Phoenix - there's something about the combo of musks, tea & vanilla that I really enjoy.

I really like this - I can see myself reaching for it in spring or summer when I want something with spice that's not too heavy. The white musk, lemon & tea keep it refreshing & don't fight with the spices.