LavenderCoffee
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Everything posted by LavenderCoffee
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This is also a surprise hit for me. I don't usually want to smell outright like cake or food, and "cologne" as a note can be a fun roulette wheel, so I wasn't sure what to expect. To lean on the theme, this wears less like an actual cake scent and more like someone in drag as cake. A playful wink at red velvet and cherry, with no small amount of swagger. You can definitely tell that the artist is portraying cake, but you can also tell that it isn't actually cake, and it's also more fun that way (at least for me). By the time a hint of buttercream appears in the drydown, it's making eye contact with you from the stage and asking "you wanna bite of this, sweetie?"
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fwiw I am super ultra mega sensitive to the smell of dryer sheets and I'm not put off by this scent. Agree that this is very much like smelling a person, so it's ever so slightly unsettling to smell someone else on me! But as person scents go, it's quite nice: like someone who spritzed on perfume earlier and then did laundry all day. Maybe they had to go up and down some stairs, so the perfume scent has melded with their personal scent. Not a ton of throw on this, but imo it's just the right amount.
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We meet our friend the toad doused in rich earth and green musk. The first few sniffs are like being ankle deep in swampy terrain. But since you came all this way, toad invites you to stay and visit! Now there is a charmingly refined cologne of oud and moss about your host, and shouldn't you accept the refreshment offered? There is something adding the slightest hint of sweetness, perhaps the musk settling in, which is still unapologetically green. Could be from the oud though, which I find quite polite here, ancient and black though it may be. First time I dabbed this on, the mosses ran away with it after an hour, and now even a couple days later they seem to be more in balance. I kinda dig the vibe of this dapper amphibian.
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OK you know what? Yes. A real lil’ creeper of a scent. First few times I tested this on a wrist or a forearm it was just dusty and then it disappeared, so I put it back under the stairs (in the drawer). Now that I've had it four months, it's starting to creep up on me. I have noticed it wears differently in different spots. In the crook of my elbow I'm getting the peppercorn/cedar/patch as well as some fig, and on my wrist I'm getting resins and a nice whiff of vanilla. I also got some on my shirt and that's where it smells dusty, but in a nice homey way. A surprisingly nice scent for a curious critter.
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This is magical. I tend to think of hay as a warm golden sunlit scent, but this is much more of a twilight blend. The sun has set, the warm stones are cooling. I wasn't sure how much the datura would come through, but it floats to the top once the grassiness subsides, adding an ethereal accent to the hay. This rabbit hole doesn't lead to wonderland, it leads to the faerie realm, and who knows what the rabbit has been up to.
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I am a fan of the BPAL cat scents, so I was excited to get my paws on this 😅 Ash and burnt clove take you right up to the well-used fireplace, and rooty patchouli suggests some witchy alchemy, but there is also a softness to the scent. I thought there might be some black or dark musk to represent the black fur, and usually my skin will amp those notes, but I'm not really picking up on a distinct musk. It's almost as though the scent captures the paw itself, having prowled through the soot. Dark, fuzzy, smoky-spiced - and claws retracted, at least for the moment. I'm a clove-head, so maybe take a grain of salt when I say I don't find this excessively clovey, but it's also not an overwhelming smoky fire scent to me either.
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If you love these notes, you will probably love this scent, but like its inky feather namesake, it is wonderfully multi-faceted. Freshly applied, the licorice root flies to the foreground, but just as quickly the composition shifts to feature the stunning black amber. I don't anticipate getting "who smells like a root beer" when wearing this. Patchouli and licorice root beome as inseperable as the colors reflected in the metallic sheen of a dark, sleek wing. And then when you think you have the size of it, there is absolutely a rich, non-foodie vanillic moment against the murky backdrop - perhaps the resinous incense is benzoin, sweetened by amber. I find this phase comes more quickly on skin exposed to air, and it put me in mind of the striking white and black coloration of Jessamy the raven, as depicted on the Sandman tv series. A subtle stunner of a scent to help build your resolve, whether you need to draw on cunning, courage, or mercy. I am trying to talk myself out of a second bottle, but Ink Feather might approve of collecting the shiny.
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This one surprised me, and might be my favorite of the collection. I guess I never considered whether I like the smell of hibiscus, and it turns out I do. On its own it might be tart, but doesn't read that way when balanced with the skin musk and shea. The nicotine isn't very prominent to me, but it kinda makes the scent feel a bit more lived in. Nice one for Summer, or if you need a bit of tropical pick-me-up without smelling like a novelty cocktail.
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Begins with a lovely frankincense base accented with subtle mandarin and soft orchid that sweetens with amber. Bergamot comes through more in the dry phase but doesn't take over. Mostly an orchid scent in the end, low throw and very wearable.
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Up front this absolutely smells like a satiny grapefruit. Not a fresh breakfast grapefruit. Like a satin sheet grapefruit. Then some of the satin fades once it dries and it's a soft fuzzy pith over a metallic backdrop. A subtle unsweet citrus.
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Gosh I love this one. It's a bit difficult, even though it's a somewhat idealized cigarette scent. Gotta be in the right mood for it. Wet on the wand I can smell more amber and floral, but on my skin I get cigarette smoke. It doesn't smell like a cigarette that is actively being smoked, but it's definitely something that makes you smell like you have been smoking. Thankfully not in the way I used to smoke, like eau de 3am dive bar. This smells like a terribly refined person who knows better, who otherwise takes impeccable care of themselves, wants to smell nice, excuses themselves to go outside - terribly sorry - to engage in their noxious habit. Sometimes tobacco flower has been rather sharp on me, but here I get a lovely soft floral, with a pleasant touch of powder, and the telltale scent of countless cigarette breaks. Once fully dry, the amber warms up and the smoke fades, ushering in a strong scent memory of my grandmother, who always smelled lovely but was also a lifelong smoker.
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Millenial Pink is a lovely fruity chocolate scent, renderedly slightly pastel by white musk. I mean fruity in the sense that cocoa pods are fruits. I haven't had ruby chocolate, but many single origin chocolates have this same delightful fruity-tangy quality to them. This scent also has a bit more of a cocoa butter presence than a cocoa bean/cocoa powder presence, but never goes as cloying as straight cocoa butter thanks to the tangy quality.
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Snowy Evening is the lavender incense scent of my dreams. Unfortunately for me, it is also as ephemeral as a dream on my skin. Today I wore it in my locket and I was able to catch whiffs of it all day long, so I'm definitely considering grabbing a bottle. I will also probably experiment with dotting some on my headscarf and/or the collar of my sleep shirt before bed. Dreamy! More lavender resin, please 💜🙏💜
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Very pleasantly surprised by this angel. In fact I was somewhat startled by the fresh rose scent when I first applied (with green bits and all!), but that was fleeting. I get a nice hint of spice in the wet phase as well, but it's not the kind I feel on my skin. I often think of red musk as a slightly darker, heavier musk, so I am delighted to find this blend is lighter and brighter, maybe thanks to the combined effect of red musk, honey musk, and mimosa. There's a lovely sticky honey happening through the end of the wet phase, and then after that I get to where the resins have been hanging out and holding things down, and it becomes harder to point to honey as the source of the lingering wisps of sweetness. The effect of the dry phase of the scent is warm and gleaming, rippling in the air like hot metal, but in an ethereal way, without the darkness and grit of the forge.
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Druids Cutting Mistletoe on the Sixth Day of the Moon
LavenderCoffee replied to Seajewel's topic in Limited Editions
I don't know what half these notes smell like on their own, but collectively they match the painting really nicely, and I like this a lot more than I thought I would. The hazelnut is most evident early on, but it recedes and finds its place in this magically clean and orderly forest scent. It doesn't have the throw of an evergreen blend (juniper and yew are very well behaved here) and it's neither crisp nor dry. It's wintry, but permeated with a soft living glow. I wish my house smelled like this. -
I was not sure about teakwood, but for me it stays in the background of the toasty caramelized vetiver. This vetiver smells like the khus note from the coffee/cacao/khus blend from last year. I like that blend better than this one, but if I missed out on it I would probably snag this.
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Coffee Bean, Oak Bark, and Patchouli
LavenderCoffee replied to Seajewel's topic in Duets & Menage A Trois
A smooth, subtle unisex blend. Oak bark scoots to the front after the first 10 minutes or so, but the coffee and patch fill in nicely around it, creating an atmospheric impression of a bookstore cafe. -
Black Pepper, White Sage, and Tea Rose
LavenderCoffee replied to Seajewel's topic in Duets & Menage A Trois
This black pepper note that has been popping up lately is tremendous. It's not "peppery" to my nose, but somehow it really rounds the edges off the other notes. I'm not getting much white sage and the tea rose is sleek and clean. I don't think it smells soapy but this could be the scent of an expensive soap. -
Questions about down dates/end of an LE series
LavenderCoffee replied to thekittenkat's topic in BPAL FAQs
I believe the officially discontinued items will have "in memoriam" in the URL: https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/product-category/in-memoriam/general-catalogue/ (Oddly it looks like Grief and Veritas are included here even though they can still be added to one's cart.) -
This is a fun scent in the bottle and freshly on, but it wears like cocoa butter on my skin.
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ICD category 37 refers to the class of surgical procedures where you cut into the heart, at least in the old ICD-9. The way this smells, it fits right into the 'everything is cake' trend: cut into this heart and find out it's full of luscious vanilla custard! This is some serious foodie goodness, even tho the label has old timey looking medical diagrams of the ribcage. The bottle scent is slightly boozy, but fresh on my skin I'm getting caramelization, cinnamon-y spice, so much sugary vanilla richness. It's not really reading as cake or pastry at this point, more like a spiced crème brûlée? As it dries, it transforms into more of a baked good, perhaps a spiced sugar tart, with a suggestion of a berry garnish. There's still kindof a custardy vibe even though there isn't an obvious dairy component. Hours later the sweet vanilla is still vanilla-ing, but it doesn't have a huge amount of throw for me.
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The lovely lab goblins dropped a 2010 Luperci into a recent order of mine and it is markedly different than the 2021 bottle I reviewed above. I guess things change a bit over 10 years, in addition to the nuance of batch variation! This Luperci feels a lot more dark and sexy, and there's still a nice amount of sweetness to it. I like how the juniper is more noticeable in this one, and I'm definitely not getting anything powdery. Would love to catch a whiff of this on a handsome so-and-so, but I like how it smells on me too.
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Chocolate, Cinnamon Bark, and Chipotle Honey
LavenderCoffee replied to Silvertree's topic in Duets & Menage A Trois
I love chocolate and I love honey, and I was very pleasantly surprised by how the chipotle and cinnamon bark fit in. It's got a nice chocolately throw and I think the spices and honey give it a bit of a warm, sweet musky quality. The cinnamon bark does make my skin tingle a teensy bit but it's not as intense as other spiced blends. Very nice wearable chocolate blend. -
I was SO SURE I did not want this one. "Red wine?! with MINT!?" but every other note was so terribly tempting, so I grabbed a decant. I can't stop sniffing it!. There is indeed a distinctly lovely vanilla minty phase: chilly minty on the skin, vanilla minty to my nose. As everyone has observed, it is like the winter snow and/or those deliciously pillowy after dinner treats as it sparkles and melts away. There was red wine skulking around in the mint phase, with more of a standard tannic red wine character, but after the melt, the wine no longer reads as a dry or dinner red. It starts jamming with the honey and the strawberries and it's so great. Vanilla still floats around the periphery of things. and it's still kinda chilly on my skin!
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I love this blend, it's a beautifully muddy forest floor situation. "richness and liveliness of river mud and shady evergreens" is 💯 I especially like adding some of it to a bath at the end of the day - it's like soaking in the mud sans mud.