starbrow

Dead leaves is so often cologne-y on me, but this is true leaves moldering in damp piles on the driveway, with the remnants of summer's flower beds overgrowing the walkway with their wilted petals hanging on for dear life. In that sense, this would work really great as an atmo, I think. It's something that really does suggest a moment in fall, but it's not necessarily a moment that I need to cover myself in. Oudh and blackcurrant both behave themselves, though, and play gentle supporting roles behind those vibrantly colorful maple leaves crunched underfoot and darkly romantic rose (which is not a stompy rose at all, amazingly). I'm very happy with my decant.

Newly bottled cherry wine, whoa! This is strong and unashamed. It's throwing down some bold I Married a Vampire from Planet X vibes, without the clary sage to calm it down. The blood note is all cherry/redcurrant/sour red fruit, syrupy sweet and rich from the myrrh. My nose can't decide if it loves it or wants a break from how brash this sacrament is. To me, there's nothing holy or mystical about this; it's so fleshly and human, raw and frank.

Fresh out of the mail, I got tons of wildflower honey from Bread Lumps, but testing it when settled, it's all too-well toasted (just shy of burnt) gluten-free bread globbed with honey. So there's no waft of yeasty gluten which I was hoping for, rather disappointing! Definitely pay attention to the bread crusts note!

Terebinth is one of the sexiest woods, and I've loved almost every blend with it. This HG is no exception. Warm, rich woods with a hint of sweetness. Compared with my other Terebinth blends, Pumpkin Seeds is definitely a little more cafe-gourmand than streaking through the woods in buckskin. However, this is a savoury gourmand, like pumpkin soup or zucchini bread. It's got the roasted nuttiness of the pumpkin seeds combining with the creaminess of the resins into a blend that could easily be worn throughout the year whenever you want something comforting and warming. "Toasted pumpkin seeds" is very much present, so how about the "thick, smoky rosin"? Thick here reads like dense and creamy to my nose. It's grand. Smoky...I'm so used to smoky notes being acrid and charred, and this one is neither. I really don't think I'd describe it as smoky at all, more like toasty. It is completely wearable throughout the day, with nothing that gives me a headache the way strong smoke can do. Pitch/rosin is the half-hardened and then fully-hardened version of sap, so either way it will be a kind of resin, and it's a sweet, kind one at that. In the BPAL collection, this is very unique and delicious. It's made me crave resins and gourmands together like mad. Maybe I'll even need a backup?

I too have never smelled the original Silkybat but thought sugared patchouli sounded like a nice complement to pumpkin spices. As it turns out, there was too much earthy patch here to work well in my hair. It did smell a bit dirty to me, but one person's dirt is another person's perfection. A medium amount of pumpkin spice, it definitely didn't drown out the patchouli at ALL!

Fascinating. While I get something very snuggly and cute sniffing the vial, once it's on it goes almost all grave on me. Cold, cold stone and dirt, a new gravestone in winter; cold, cold milk that a naughty pup has been lapping at before going to dig up some freshly turned earth. It stays very grave-like on my skin for several hours, until those top notes burned off and left the snuggly musk, which reminded me of the musk at the end of Half-Elf. Weird, huh? But I think it's that musk and another note (coconut milk sounds about right) that is making this blend a little sweeter than Coimetrophobia, which has a similar gravestone vibe. When I say Are You Digging smells cold, it's not at all the BPAL snow note. It's austere and frigid, a coldness that lacks the mintiness or powderiness of snow. Sometimes earth/dirt notes can smell warm, but this one was decidedly dug up in winter. Ultimately, as cool as the scent-story is here, I don't think I'll be wearing this one much. Not all art is wearable!

There were a lot of starring-role notes to live up to in this lineup, but Voluptuous is up to the task. The first whiff was plum: dark, gothy plum with sweet tobacco, just like A Savage Veil. That makes me so happy, because plum is my favorite note from BPAL, and it holds hands so beautifully with the tobacco here. Creamy oudh has perhaps a touch of fire and spice to it, with lots of sweetness from the vanillas and sweet resins and the sugary fig (which I can just barely pick up on, and which I probably wouldn't have guessed on my own that it was in here). Mimosa is definitely overshadowed by the plum! Now what exactly is scarlet musk? WHO KNOWS? To me, it is not red musk at all. I'd call it sexy without being raunchy. It is - maybe? - a little dribble of wine, a little cinnamon and spice. This blend does burn a bit on the inside of the elbows, so it is possible it has cinnamon in it. I will have to try it on my cinnamon-bomb friend to know for sure. But it is a very sultry background for all these hedonistic notes to play across. As sensitive as I can be to tobacco notes, this one is sweet and toothsome, probably because of its perfect dance partner, Wild Miss Plum. They are a couple with perfect presence, swirling and twirling in the air for hours, even as fresh as they are right now. They should only get better with age. Fans of Savage Veil, CP Shadow in the Elevator, Bordello, and A Complex Wiggly Sigil (which has that same scarlet color with the resiny oudh) should give this one a whirl.

I immediately slathered in this. The lab has truly nailed that cozy sweater effect, just like with Two Sheep and Two Goats from last year, but this time sweeter and without any tang of vetiver, although I swear there is the most delicate vetiver ever in here lending woolly fluff. I could be dead wrong, it may well be a very cozy sandalwood or other snuggly wood. In the skin-slather, I get a lot of vanilla, lots of fuzzy wool, and not much of the specific combo I associate with "pumpkin spice" - but there is definitely spice in there, with orange more a scent color than a literal citrus note. Almost like a mulled pumpkin-orange licqueur with warm autumn spices, just minus any boozy notes. I wasn't expecting it to have vanilla or be as sweet as it is, but wow is it gorgeous and delicious. And oh my gosh the waft on this one. Not throw, but just the waft up to my nose is swoony. It lingers for a good amount of time, too. Does it do what it claims in the name? To my nose, yes! Cozy Pumpkin Sweater is uber cozy, uber woolly, and just enough pumpkin to give it a definite fall flavor. I will need two bottles for sure.

I am in love! I totally lucked out with this blind bottle. With all those notes, you'd expect a dark, maybe sinister blend. In no way was I expecting something this kind and approachable! The Empty House is all sweet woods and welcoming warmth. In the bottle, the blackened pumpkin reads like maple to my nose, but once on the skin, it's a rich, softly caramelized pumpkin, with the most beautiful woodsmoke thread I've ever smelled in a BPAL blend. I didn't even know smoke could be this delicate. It must be magic, surely! Everything in here just plays so nicely. The oud is the creamy, cozy kind. You may even be reminded of 2018's standout, Pumpkin Musk and Black Oud, with how darkly romantic of a combo it makes with the redolent pumpkin. I don't specifically pick out mahogany or pine, just an elegance to the woods that balances out the sweetness of the pumpkin. There is no pumpkin spice whatsoever. If you're a fan of Arcana's Last Judgment or maybe even BPAL's Magician's Wand, this is a fall twist on those sweet resins, and I adore it.

I have a Buck Moon 05 decant that was light, sweetly musky, a little leathery, not that strong, but very delicious. I sprang for a full bottle of this year's release, no questions. WOW it's so much stronger. That's not a bad thing. There is a lot going on in this scent. I get juniper, fur, buckskin, something a little sweet but in a crushed wildflowers-and-herbs kind of way. I'm reminded of smells in the forest without specifically smelling individual types of trees. The musk is sexy in a, yeah, sex kind of way. I wouldn't wear this one to work! It's very outdoorsy and raw and sweet in the way that skin musks can be. It all reminds me of something tawny in color, warm and brown. Ranger is the closest thing I can think of to this, but the RPG scent is a bright green with very obvious pine and berry notes, compared with Buck Moon where it is all about the golden-brown of the buck in his woodland realm. A really unique blend and one you should pick up if you can't do leather but want the raw sexiness of a suedey buckskin scent.

Amidst all the many fall scents, this is a really excellent and unique one. It does indeed remind me of visiting a mountain farm in late October, the smell of corn and sunflowers and hay on clean brisk air, and a market full of gourds and fruits. There's a sweetness that reminds me of maple leaves but not maple syrup, and the memory of apples and pumpkins without anything specifically screaming APPLE! PUMPKIN! So many delicious parts of fall harvest, with no single note taking over. I wouldn't have guessed there was either bonfire smoke or incense in here, but I think it runs underneath the top notes to give this a rich, deep autumnal glory. Don't be worried about the smoke if it has done you dirty in the past. It is a very friendly fire. This does indeed remind me of Scarecrow Turned Philosopher, so if you can't find Corn Riggs, that's a good backup. But wow, this one would have made a great Weenie! I will happily hold onto my bottle and wear it often in the fall. Update for 2022: this is aging towards the smoke, and specifically smells to me like a combination between the bourbon apple note from Prairie Witch/Bourbon Apple HG and...stale cigarette smoke? It's interesting that I find this still very appealing, since I usually don't like cigarette smells. Anyways, just know that the smoke is a little sus these days but not headache-style-smoke.

This one sounded glorious, but that "gentle breath" of sweet wine has not typically been my experience with BPAL wine notes. They tend to blast their way into blends with all the subtlety of a $5 pack of cooking wine bottles - yes, you know the ones, that taste like grape juice that's sat in the back of the cupboard for a few months? When really I want an expensive vintage Italian bottle? Oh, BPAL, you break my heart. I want their wine to be gorgeous and aged on me. Well, my wish has finally come true. This is spiced autumnal wine, far from sour, bright summer wine. It is deeply mulled with all those glorious fall florals, herbs, and woods. Leaves waft up to my nose first; no hint of cologne like the Dead Leaves collection can have, these are pure crunchy leaves underfoot. I get a little clove, a hint of woods, and a lot of darkly spiced fruits. I would like more plum, of course, but I know it's in there, playing a supporting role in the blend. Any florals are muted and well-behaved. The woodsmoke is the most delicate of tendrils, truly a gentle breath. Harvest Moon belongs with the most sophisticated Weenies. (Even considering labeling the top with my Weenie sticker and storing it in the collection!) It has enough waft that I can smell it without huffing my wrist, although I have to reapply it in a few hours. I hope it ages beautifully. I think it will. Very happy to have a bottle.

Red musk, black amber, red leather, teakwood, smoked lavender, and plum. This is one sexy blend. For fans of red musk, this one is different enough to include in the collection. The warm leather and teak gives it almost a unisex quality - in fact, I'll be trying this one on a boy soon - along the lines of Hellfire or Dee, with the faint whiffs of smoky lavender and red musk swirling into the mix, and that beautiful plum note from the lab giving it all a rich purply note. But it's the leather that is really warming this one up for me and sinking into my skin. It's incredibly sexy as it settles, losing throw but gaining that really nice second-skin quality. For fun, I put it up against Mme. Moriarty, with whom it shares the red musk and plum. They are quite different, but absolutely deserve to share shelf space in the same collection. Fans of A Savage Veil or Shadow in the Elevator (kissing cousins, minus the leather note) should definitely check this one out. I hadn't tried a red musk/leather scent before and Fifth Lash works SO well. I wish its throw lasted longer but really that is my only complaint. It's gorgeous.

This is exactly everything I hoped and dreamed it would be. Orange blossom is one of my favorite scents in the world, and it's been hard to find any blends where it doesn't get overwhelmed by other top notes. This blend was made for orange blossom lovers of the world. It is queen, ruling over its woodland subjects. The patch is indeed sweet and well-behaved, the vetiver an earthy but not acrid smokiness, and the sandalwood is quiet as always but I keep getting whiffs that remind me very much of the sandalwood from They Shut Me In Prose, that sweet-ghostly pale wood that wafts and wafts. Is it possible? Have I found my orange blossom holy grail? Fresh, this one is a quiet one, with a close throw but in that small inner cloud near the skin, it has wonderful presence. I am curious to see how this ages. I hope the orange blossom doesn't age out quickly. I might get a backup bottle of this one anyways!

One huff of this at Lunacy and I was in love. It's DELICIOUS. Now, let's break it down. Pomegranate, first and foremost. It's a very juicy dark-red topnote. Hmm, what's in that blood-red ink? Maybe a drop of red musk along with that dark-berry blackness that's in some of the slinky inky blends? It's darkened even more by the oudh, which may indeed be the same oudh from Pumpkin Musk and Black Oudh, because I had the same this smells soooo good reaction to both of them. Not indolic at all to my nose, and it does exactly what it's supposed to, swirling the blend with rich resiny gloom. This glows redly for much more than a moment, but the darkness does indeed make it a rich, deep, dark red, almost velvety pomegranate. I instantly picked up a bottle. I am wearing it in the summer, but this would also make a great yule scent.

Can I bathe in this? Haunting moonlight, painfully beautiful, a melancholy sweetness. Pale but not shrinking, "hidden in her leaflets," she is very much Emily Dickinson. From that first whiff at DSLE, I was musing on how to depict this one just by its scent, without reading the scent notes or flavor text. Emily came to mind. Uncanny, or just amazing blending? Vanilla is queen, puffed by mallow, yet this is far from foodie. Nor is it quite floral; the osmanthus is a wispy, creamy apricot whisked away by the wind. The sandalwood and frank are impossibly pale ghosts of incense and resin. They wander through, such shimmering apparitions you wonder exactly who they were in their past life. The girl who stands in their midst is undeniably dabbed with vanilla, but her sweetness is touched with pensive reflection. I think many BPALers will connect with this. A wearable masterpiece. If I don't end up with multiple bottles, I will wonder at myself.

I am loving this, but I was pretty sure I would, since green tea and white amber are two of my all-time favorite notes. Informal Tea HG is just a beautiful springtime green tea that is perfect for the office, somehow both crisp and soft, its throw light and intimate. I tried on some Shanghai for comparison and they are indeed in the same family, just Informal Tea replaces any citrusy notes with those smooth amber and sandalwood undertones, so if you're not into lemon with your tea, this is fantastic. Elegantly simple, and not boring at all if you enjoy tea as the star of a blend. It would also pair fabulously with so many oils, because nothing will clash with a skin scent that has more sassy notes

So much apple. All the apple. A juicy green apple, plucked on a sunny day with a soft breeze wafting light florals around you, and green woods fresh and bright. If you're worried about jasmine, don't be! Jessamine is very delicate, slightly honeyed and creamy but not heavy. This is a lovely spring scent, although part of me hopes it will blossom more with age, and that more of the notes will speak other than apple.

Snow dripping down a mountain and into a grove of blooming magnolias. Cool magnolia is very present in this one, with a shimmer of light jasmine and something green, but honestly I was hoping for a ton of terebinth pine from this (love that note!) and there's very little of it here. Which is great news for the floral lovers, while those who want RESIN might be a bit disappointed. Very fresh, very late winter-early spring.

2019: I was hoping for the same red leather from Yule 2018 Fifth Lash and Sixth Lash, a dark sexy musky red leather. Ah, no, Bright Red Dildo is unapologetically bright and red and penetratingly honey. It's all honey, with a gloss of shiny red leather vinyl. As it dries, the leather slips away, leaving a more subdued honey but still. Much honey. I am hoping this one will mellow into something wonderful with age. I'd like to smell the previous years, too.

Many creamy tea scents - my favorite Shungas - need aging to develop any sort of presence or throw. But from the very first testing, Atsui-Mono walked into the room and was here to stay. She's a bold, figgy tea, creamed and sugared with a mere hint (like not even a full twist) of lemon that is probably the hay. Honey? Hiding somewhere, nicely checked by the fig and sweet vanilla, and those are the notes that stick around, long after the tea has vanished. I'm enjoying this one so much. It reminded me a lot of Humorous Copulation, but in the end I love H.C.'s drydown so much, that one will probably get the backup bottle. But I will treasure my full bottle of Atsui-Mono quite dearly.

The darkest of darks. This is ultra-smooth woody vetiver, swirling hot in black curtains of thick leather and spiced darkness. And yet the throw is intimate, only powerful when your nose is up close - or if you slather. I get very little red musk, and nothing indolic at all from the oudh, just a rich dark wood. This is fierce, sexy, but not stompy. It's surprisingly subtle. This woman has inner strength for days. I am not sure if I am this woman, but I kind of want to be. Did I mention? Dark.

Gorgeous and STRONG! Creamy red musk, equal parts sweet and vibrant. It is eyes-rolling-in-the-back-of-the-head good. As it dries down, the impact doesn't diminish. Wow this packs a punch. I alternate between "I want to smell like this always" and "is this too much?" One or two spritzes can last for days. I can only imagine what aging will do. I highly recommend all red musk and/or patchouli fans check this one out.

Goth club central! This is straight up vanilla, sex, and clove cigarette smoke. I'm kind of obsessed. The smoke note is so wearable and lets its fellow notes breathe. If tobacco is a stompy note for you like it is for me, I'm happy to report I detect no tobacco-of-doom here. The vanilla is sugary, sultry, and blatantly naughty. It's addicting. This was a medium-wear length HG for me, compared with the monster wear of some. I can already tell I'll need another bottle.

A little sniffie at the bottle and it's SWEET SWEET PLUMMY JAM like super sweet. And that's the first blast wet on the skin, so much sweet pastry. Oh but then, my friends. Then. The chestnut comes out. And I know what it is because, uh, We Believe That Death is Not the End of Man, is that you? I started inhaling that elusive 2018 Lupercalia, wondered why, then realized. The shared note is chestnut. Holy cow. This is chestnut. Sweet, snarky, mall-goth chestnut. Why chestnut reminds me of malls, I will never know, but it's a really good scent memory for me. And I amp it, and it's beautiful. In the end, yes there is some pastry, a smidge of plum jam (and plum is a dynamite note for me, so I'm sure it's playing a supporting role beautifully). But chestnut. Wow. Who knew?