Juliamon

Found a long-lost decant of this earlier today as I was looking for something entirely different, so as I was not one to pass on such a fortuitous event, I decided to give it a go. This opens right away with sweet red wine, though thankfully not so sweet as to be cloying as this note can sometimes be. Right behind it is a complicated blend of herbs and spices, with very few I can pick out (clove being the most prominent by just a bit). If I concentrate I can get a whiff of chocolate, but it (along with the coconut meat) is fleeting and not a note I would mention if someone asked what I was wearing. The sweet note is separating itself out from the wine and becoming a bit powdery as it dries down, I think it must be the marshmallow. The overall effect for me is, as Aveya helpfully pointed out, like Nosferatu with extra herbs, and unlike Nosferatu it actually lasts on my skin longer than a moment! It's still not a terribly long-lasting blend and I think it would have made for a great atmo spray, but I'll be holding onto this decant regardless--and putting it somewhere less likely to get lost this time!

I let my decant sit for a few weeks and the cacao separated out. Try as I might I couldn't get it to mix back in, it's stuck to the vial in little globules, so that may have affected my experience. But it's worth mentioning because it may be why not everyone is picking up on the cacao note--it may be stuck to the bottom of your bottle! Because I scraped at the cacao globs with the applicator wand this opened very chocolate-forward, with rich labdanum intertwined and a distant dusty vetiver. The vetiver pulls forward as the cocoa pulls back, but never enough to make this a "vetiver scent" and honestly it gives me kind of an orris vibe here as it's more powdery than smoky. I never really get a distinct vanilla, which is very odd considering my skin's penchant for amping it wildly. I'm on the fence about keeping the decant, as I don't really have the patience to stir and scrape every time I want to wear it. It's in the same family as Boomslang but with a more resinous presence, so if you're a Boomslang fan but want something less prone to skin-staining you should definitely give this a try!

This one has never been on my radar due to multiple mentions of florals in the description, but I've been getting a lot of fruity-floral samples from various houses lately and getting along reasonably well with most of them, so when this showed up as a frimp with my TLU bottles I actually got a bit excited! None of the booze shows up on me, nor does the moss really have much presence; it's all sweet dirt and clean, fruity florals. It dries down less fruity and a bit more floral, but not so much that I feel the need to scrub. It's gone entirely after a couple hours anyway (though the current heat wave may be affecting it) so it's not a big deal. The dirt note is what really makes this move from "meh, swap" to "oh, this'll be nice for special occasions!" BPAL's dirt note is absolutely my favorite of any house, it makes everything better IMO, and in this case adds a sophisticated edge to the otherwise-generic florals. Tucking the imp away for the next time I'm going somewhere where I need to make a good first impression. Thanks, labbies!

In the bottle: lots of petitgrain and some bergamot. Gives off a masculine vibe. On my skin, my first reaction is that this is a very "BPAL" scent. Upon asking myself "okay Julia but what does that even MEAN" I think it's that there's a good mix of resins and other elements that are exactly the sort of BPAL blends I usually gravitate towards. So of course it's gonna smell like a BPAL box to me! What makes this one stand out, though, is the use of tonka in place of the usual vanilla. My wrists amp vanilla and it often absolutely dominates a scent for me, especially in amber blends as BPAL's amber struggles on my skin already. Tonka, however? It behaves well, offering a vanillic buttery sweetness without suffocating the other notes. It also is remarkably fuzzy, bordering on musky. The bergamot comes out a bit more to add a nice zestiness. As a whole it's actually very gender-neutral. Very zingy and loud at first though, better suited to someone more extroverted than me unfortunately, even though it dries down to a lovely soft amber. It breaks my heart but I may need to pass this one along. Maybe I'll save a decant though...

In the bottle: Lilacs and rain-soaked plants. On my skin the plants dry off, keeping this from being an aquatic. They're still fresh, juicy, vibrant greenery though, a little bit spicy. If there are trees in here they are young and mostly leaf, if you're hoping for woodiness it's not to be found.. The lilacs (and I'm pretty sure there's another floral in there, but the lilacs are far and away the dominant one) are gorgeous and just bloomed, and they dance back and forth with the greens taking turns in the throw. There is magic afoot in this blend! Alas, even with slathering it barely lasts a couple of hours on me, but it's wooooorth it.

Grabbed a leftover Ajevie decant of #35 and then... uh, forgot about it. I mean, "aged" it. Unlike the previous reviewer I only get the slightest hint of mint, as though the Samhain spices took the last handful of months to really intensify. Especially the nutmeg. There is WAY more nutmeg in here than normal Samhain. I'm not sure I'm digging it.

I foolishly forgot to test my decant of this until it was too late to upgrade to a full bottle, because this may very well be my new favorite SO blend. There's a wonderfully smooth resinous streak right up front, with the tobacco having a tinge of caramel sweetness. The oak and oakmoss are both hidden beneath, not making a big deal of themselves but still definitely there when you look for them. There seems to be less vanilla than the traditional SO, which I think is to its benefit but could be a dealbreaker for some. The overall feel is much more sinuous, more subtle, more snakey than Snake Oil proper, and my overactive senses deeply appreciate it. I hope to see this make a return next year!

Opens with a blast of tea, but almost immediately calms down to be more cherry blossom-forward on me. Very bright... and yet the wood gives it a bit of a muted feel and keeps it from being too in-your-face floral. The amber surfaces later and helps balance it a bit better, but it seems like this has the tea note that my skin loves to gobble up. It is a REALLY pretty scent, but doesn't reach it's full potential on me. I'd like to see this wood note in more blends!

Intensely floral honey! Just so much honey. Honey for daaaays. And that's even before I put it on my honey-amping skin! The amber comes out a bit once dry and I get that nutty note some others have smelled, but the wildflower honey dominates the entire time. This is very much like O on me but way more interesting.

I was hyped for this because of the wheat but unfortunately it let me down by being overly spiced. This is in the same vein as Sweet Potato Musk on me, but much more heavy on the nutmeg and ginger. If SPM is a bowl of homemade oatmeal, Frumenty is the "cinnamon & spice" store-brand Cream of Wheat. The cream note is just barely noticeable. If you like a lot of spices in your breakfast this could be a really good one, but as someone who doesn't I'm gonna have to pass this one along.

On me, this is almost entirely sugar with some amber thrown in and a little bit of musk. Without looking at the notes I would not have guessed there was anything peachy at all in here. The amber is a nice one that reminds me of the crumbly solid stuff that my mom had in a fancy little wooden box and I'd sneak into her room to sniff when I was young. It's very much a skin scent for me, but it's so sugary I'd probably get nauseous if it had any more throw than it does. I ultimately prefer Imp but I will hold onto my decant of this, I wish Imp had this amber in it!

Was gifted an empty of this, with a little bit left in the bottom. Opened it to sniff, fumbled the cap and got some on my hand, just a tiny bit. This is some potent stuff, that drop lasted half the day! On me this is primarily sugared champaca, no sign of the dead leaves or chestnuts. It's a very rich, cozy floral incense. If I didn't already have several champaca scents in my collection I'd be on the lookout for a bottle with more in it!

Something about the honey note in this hits my nose in a very floral way, and I can't help but draw comparisons to Lush's Yummy Mummy scent. Sweet and friendly! I'm a little disappointed the vetiver doesn't show up for me as it's a tad TOO sweet for me to use frequently. Still very nice though.

I feel bad that Informal Tea has so few reviews, but it's because of its very nature: there's not a whole lot to say about it. It's exactly what it says on the tin, a light and cheery tea with the barest hint of something else. Like green tea fragrances? Get this. End of story.

I've never had a sufganiyot before (I honestly didn't even know they existed before BPAL as we're not the most 'traditional' Jewish family, and my mom can't have gluten anyway so Chanukah's been latkes-only here for a long time) but BPAL's Suf perfumes seem pretty sought-after so I picked up a leftover decant on a whim. I don't really have anything predominantly blueberry yet anyway, so why not, right? I can vaguely smell something pastry-adjacent in the imp, but it vanishes the moment it hits my skin in favor of BLURPLE. Whenever I buy titanium jewelry I tend to go for the anodized 'blurple' color, not quite blue but not pure purple either. This scent is that color perfumified, and it's LOUD. Super sweet, super fruity, super sticky jam, rich and syrupy. I want to top some pancakes with it. Maybe just lick my arm... no, let's not do that. I've learned my lesson already. And yet, for as tasty as it smells, it's still fairly single-note and not something I see myself wanting to wear often. I don't really want people thinking I spilled jam on myself. The intensity drops off dramatically after an hour, then lingers for a good long time. Might be worth picking up a decant of one of the pancake scents to layer this with...

BPAL's beeswax and honey notes have a tendency to go horrible on me, but I opted to give this one a shot anyway as I've been craving a good teakwood blend lately for some reason. Happily the beeswax rosin behaves nicely here, blending well with the myrrh to lend a musky incensey sweetness. But the real star here is the woods, of course! They're old and dusty, well-worn by time and use, tinged with salt. I get the impression of pews from an old beachside church, reclaimed by the ocean, washed back ashore and carved into some sort of religious symbol to be sold to raise funds so the locals can restore the church to its former glory. I don't know how often I would wear this as it's pretty intense wood and feels a bit more masculine than I typically go, but it's hitting my sweet spot right now.

On my hair this opens with a powdery blast of ambers with a biiig scoop of peach ice cream to sweeten them up. Quickly though, it fades to almost a single-note white amber with a touch of sandalwood. Not bad by any means, but... I was really hoping for that peach to stick around, or for the cardamom to show up at all. I would like to note that my decant absolutely refused to stay mixed for more than a second so that may be affecting it; however, as I already have a fruity amber HG that I love (Golden Apple/Sandalwood/Amber) I don't think I can justify a full bottle of this to see if it's just a decanting issue. If I didn't have that, though, I definitely would grab this. It may not have complexity on me but there's nothing wrong with a good white amber and it is quite yummy.

I didn't expect this blend to be as delicate as it is! The hint of clove adds a spice to the frankincense that gives it an almost floral touch, and the vanilla is a very gentle one that my skin somehow cannot amp (perhaps the sandalwood restrains it). The rice milk is only present in the throw at first, but with time it becomes more present as the clove backs away. It's overall too dainty for me, but I wouldn't mind smelling it on someone else.

This is, in general, an incredible lilac scent, possibly the closest to a perfect lilac as you will get from BPAL. It goes on fairly aggressive as the blackberries and lilacs try to figure each other out, but dries down to an unexpectedly delicate scent with the lilacs being gently supported by the blackberries on the bush. On a personal level, unfortunately, I pick up that same air-freshener ozone that z_z did, and between that and the ever-so-slight tang of blackberry (BPAL's blackberry note definitely goes sour-stanky on me) it creates a really unfortunate and powerful scent memory for me involving a house so thoroughly skunked that I got sent home from my job because my coat (which had been in a closet and was untouched by any skunk spray, mind you) was making the locker room unbearable, and required a short impromptu vacation and the use of several bottles of Febreze over the next month. So... this is a pass for me. But I'll be having other family members give it a try and see if they have the same reaction.

#62 I was so worried this would have some sort of obnoxious white floral, but I hit the jackpot instead! Amber with nag champa and some wood that I can't personally identify (it's different than how BPAL's sandalwoods usually wear on me). Rich, incensey, woody, warm. Excellent longevity, moderate throw. You will pry this bottle from my cold dead hands.

A popular holy day beverage in 18th century Ireland: roasted apples mashed into warmed milk and ale, with nutmeg, sugar, ginger, and clove.  2018 version. This set a new speed record for migraine-triggering. I barely had time to put the cap back on the imp before it literally sent me reeling like I'd walked past a Yankee Candle shop. The scent itself is nice (if a bit cheap-candle at first) but my head is having none of it. I think it's the apple's fault, so I guess I'll stick to Samhain with its lower ratio of apple.

To me, this is a shining example of everything I adore in a BPAL. Rich incensey resins up front, a sharp bite of ti leaf, a hint of tangy musk like when you bury your nose in your cat's fur, and a soft fuzzy quality enveloping the whole thing in a way that's more than the sum of its parts. This is a pet cat perfume through and through, soft and warm and clinging close to the skin.

I don't know if this is just one that's going to need a long, long time to age into something wearable, or if it's just doomed from the start. I almost blind-bottled this based on the notes, it reads like a list of all my favorite things... and yet, somehow they all combine to smell exactly like the girls' locker room in high school. Overly fruity drug-store body spray and chemical-laden hair products trying in vain to cover up the funk of adolescent bodies that don't have time to shower off the sweat because you only have 5 minutes to get to your next class. I wonder if, like Lucchesa, BPAL's blackberries just don't like me. I should have learned from Bewitched. Too lazy to scrub it off, it had a low throw and lasted an average amount of time.

Picked up a decant of this because the name, photo, and notes reminded me of the nice couple who bought our barn-camp in Vermont and keep a pair of guard-goats (it's rural enough that they do a good enough job). We didn't get to visit them this year so I figured this would help ease the heartache. Something in here is amping violently on me, either the sage or the juniper (possibly both). It's a real shame because otherwise this a wonderfully herbal, grassy scent that's almost nostalgic. Like, it's the exact scent of overgrown grasses drying out and cooking against the underside of a car that just spent a couple hours on the road. It has fantastic longevity, smells best after whatever's amping has had a few hours to burn off and settle down, and I can still pick up traces of dry sweet warmth on my skin a full 24 hours after applying. It temps me to upgrade to a full bottle despite the almost-medicinal blast of the first couple hours. It tempts me to scent a scarf or flannel shirt with it for extra coziness. But it is too cold and snowy here for me to want to wear it right now, it's very much an early spring/late summer scent and doesn't feel right to be smelling right now. I can see this one becoming quite sought-after in the future!

On my hair (and on me, because I couldn't resist using it as a body mist after my shower) this is also very apple-forward, with just a hint of the sandalwood and amber to smooth out what might otherwise be a very acidic apple. It's a very bright and golden scent indeed, suitable for all the way through fall AND winter. I agree that this would probably layer wonderfully with a number of Weenies! Longevity seems a little weaker than other HGs I've tried, but I did just have my hair recolored less than a week ago and it might be interfering with how well the scent holds. My sister saw the bottle in the bathroom and decided to give it a try as well, as she loves apple scents. Now, the two of us have wildly differing tastes in perfume (she prefers florals whereas I'm more about resin/incense), and her nose unfortunately didn't enjoy it at all; she described it as "musty grandparents' attic" with the amber and sandalwood up front and the apple going rotten in the back. Just thought it would be fair to share a second opinion because I was amused how differently two people could experience the same bottle.