LavenderCoffee
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Everything posted by LavenderCoffee
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When I first tested this tengu I couldn't really pick up on the peony and poppy. Now, a couple weeks later, they bring a rich, almost creamy floral heart to the scent that distinguishes it from other carnation/clove options. Only gently spiced and softly sweet, with wafts of subtle vanilla in the drydown. Lovely!
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Opens with a big bushel of lemony hay, and just keeps getting better from there. The tobacco flower gains prominence and the pepper provides a nice accent. During my first skin test, I thought I could pick out magnolia clearly, but it's less distinct today. In the drydown I get more of the amber and soft brown leather, adding a sweeter depth to balance the bright chord of top notes. It lasts all day with a low to modest throw, feels very neutral and wearable but also elevated. Thought this would be more outside my comfort zone with the tobacco flower, but I'm really enjoying it.
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this one has me all twitterpated. I was initially struck by the dramatic colors on the label art, and hesitated to purchase based on the plum note, which can go either way for me depending on the blend. I'm so glad I took the leap! the opening is unexpectedly sweet - not sugary, but fruity - as the plum and tea combine, perhaps with the silk, which I tend to have trouble isolating. seems to make the other notes silky and smooth, but perhaps there is some sweetness there as well. as it dries and wears I can detect a flirtation of lilac if I search, and the atmospheric smoky metallic scent emerges to form the backdrop of the train station. the whole composition is gorgeously balanced, but I would say it is primarily a plum-tea-silk perfume. I slathered it yesterday and it stayed with me all day long, although it doesn't have a ton of throw. something you could easily wear every day that still feels special.
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this is an odd one, it went on fizzy (champagne or soda?), then bloomed floral (something waxy like a lily?), and dried spicy (maybe ginger? cassia?). I'm not getting the soapy aspect others have mentioned but the floral backs off a lot for me on drydown. there might be a lemon or lime note hiding in there but my nose is confused by this journey.
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13-year aged red patchouli, Damascus rose resin tar, blackcurrant syrup, Egyptian myrrh, and crimson musk seed. I've been hanging out with Garnet for just a short while now. Directly out of the mail, I dabbed a bit on and could have sworn I was smelling some Snake Oil - the patchouli was forward and playing with the musk in a very familiar way. The next day, however, there were no sneaky snakes. The crimson musk seed reads like red musk on first application, which is to say, it's not shy about announcing itself, but somehow it doesn't wear the same as red musk usually does for me as it dries. Today, the third day, it's almost like a red musk playing dress up as a black musk, aided and abetted by the gorgeous myrrh. I know the analogy to the stone itself is an easy one, but I haven't found that it applies to all the other similarly inspired HM scents equally. It does here: I get different shifting glints of notes coming through the impossibly deep dark red. The myrrh and musk stand out nicely over the rich patchouli backdrop, and I definitely do not get a floral rose, but if you lean in close to it you can pick up the remains of a rose alongside the blackcurrant, and the faintest breath of sweetness. As of now it's a subtle but slinky resinous scent and I like it a lot. If I get anything much different from it in the coming months I'll try to remember to update!
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Ooh I thought I'd reviewed this one, but I must have mentioned it on a different thread or have misremembered. When I first tested this from a decant, it went a little too funky for me and I thought I was safe. But then I regretted passing the decant along, and decided to find a bottle. Now I love it, especially the way the elegant white patch and beeswax funk play off each other. It's a different sort of musk quality than honey does on its own. A sensual, personal sort of scent.
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When I tested this yesterday the first description that came to mind was "toasted beeswax," which technically doesn't make any sense, but still seems correct to me today, after wearing it all morning. It's a rich, sweet honey scent accented with vanilla, but the additional notes add a layer of complexity - a gently toasty quality - that prevent it from going too cloying for me. This also hits my sweet spot for sillage and longevity, as I'm still enjoying my personal scent bubble 6 hours in. Glad I caught up with this lovely scent after missing it last year.
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got the 2011 version as a frottle and it is so gorgeous! have to echo the "warm and smoky" vibe from Lucchesa - I find this much more cozy and sensual than I would have expected from the notes. this is going into my fav incense blends category.
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Swoon-a-roonies, this is great! If you ordered a decant it will probably be obvious that you want to roll/shake/otherwise gently agitate this oil, but even in the bottle you can see a distinct separation of components: There is definitely something magically cola-like happening, without being sticky or cloying. I love the contrast of the cool fizz of champagne with the warmth of dragon's blood and clove, accented by a flirtation of delicious cherry. But the sparkling champagne note is the star, and it lasts all day. A delight!
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I am super pleased with this one. Both oak and honey can be big notes, but they are very nicely balanced here. The strength of a big strong oak and the comfort of warm sweet honey combine into a fortifying hug of a scent that sticks with you all day. I do get a bit of nutty acorn but I'm not sure I can pick out the sap yet.
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A yummy jammy rose to layer with everything, yes please!
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This reminds me quite a lot of the Burnt Sugar and Blackberry duet, but it does have some pastry/dough peeking out. I agree that the balance strongly favors the blackberry over the apple.
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So funny reading reviews of this from when it was released that are all about caramel. Over 15 years later the caramel is pretty subtle! In its advanced age, Bad Luck Woman Blues is earthy, smoky, slightly herbal, with pleasant hits of the cologne elements and a soft, sweet background. Dries down into something quite balanced and wearable. Now to see if it works against bad luck dudes! Edited to add: just gotta repeat the previous reviewer, it smells expensive and powerful. I'm so into it!
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When I first got a decant of this scent, I was overwhelmed by the combination of rich, dense honey and rich, dense cake. Now that I've had it awhile, the richness has dialed back from 11 to 7, which allows the lavender to shine through. I agree that the honey develops a musky quality, but that is right in my wheelhouse. Very pleased to end up with such a delightful lavender honey concoction.
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This is the blend that taught me that walnut is not a good note on my skin. My first skin test was absolute 💩 so I decided to come back to it later after some rest. I was able to get a hint of chocolate croissant eventually, but for me, this is leaning into the walnut countertop for a deep whiff where you can tell it has been used for baked goods. I will tread lightly with walnut in the future!
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Chocolate and coffee (who would have known?!) are two of my favorite scent notes, and even though I prefer to drink my coffee unsweetened, the lab's coffee note seems to work best for me when it is sweetened, so I was super hype to get my nose into a bottle of a sweet, chocolatey coffee scent. Thought it would be a slam dunk, but the coffee in this blend will simply not be stopped. I have a tricky history with BPAL coffee scents so take my experience with a grain of salt. The best phase of this scent for me is right after application, I get the sweetened creamy topping, the smooth chocolatey filling, all infused with the warmth of coffee. After 20 minutes, the oil dries and the coffee takes over - all the other notes fade to the background, and the effect for me is largely the same as the lab's coffee single note. I put a generous dab into my scent locket and the yummy wet phase lasted a couple hours, but settled back into pure coffee all the same. If there is any vanilla bean in this one, it could age into something less coffee-centric, but at present it's not something I'm excited about.
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My initial notes on this were "too musty/dusty, can't find snakes," and honestly, that still holds. After having the bottle for a month, I gave it a full day's wear, and I'm still perplexed: I can't find the snake oil in this one, and it has very little throw besides. Did not even have the sneaky next-day snake that typically happens for me the day after wearing a snake oil blend. I can only assume that one or more of the other notes added here is colluding with my skin chemistry to de-snake the scent - or perhaps, as is written in the description, the bottles are too tiny to be detected, or too well-packed in cardboard. It's an interesting atmospheric blend, but it is neither what I was expecting nor something that has grown on me.
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This is a fun one for sure, but the candy and the musk actually blend together really nicely for me, to the point where it feels quite sophisticated after an hour or so. Might retest this against something like Teenage Werewolf or even Bear Moon from earlier in the year.
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This starts with the same hit of candied lavender as Lavender Coconut Cream Pie but the earl grey tea shows up right behind it, and it's marvelous. I don't get a distinct impression of a sugar cookie but there's definitely a vanilla baked good in here somewhere, and it's great. A sweet lavender treat that would make a lovely sleep scent.
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Slug is a beauty. Goes on as an airy cream, lightly sweetened with honey. It could be a buttercream, but whipped, as mentioned above - with half the density and half the sugar. It's honestly barely buttery though, just a hint of richness that melts right into the warm amber, which takes over in the drydown. A lovely light golden scent.
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Red Oakmoss, Cedarwood, and Sweet Patchouli
LavenderCoffee replied to Jenjin's topic in Duets & Menage A Trois
Red oakmoss: "I'm not a regular oakmoss, I'm a cool oakmoss" 😎 The throw on this reads like a very polished cedar scent on me, with the oakmoss boosting the signal. If I get in close, I get more of the patch. As is often the case with these blends, and as is mentioned above, the sum is more than the parts - you could easily convince me there's a dash of clove lurking. I always assume oakmoss will clobber everything, but this trio is beautifully balanced. Although it may be a bit overpowering for me and I usually like a big scent! If you want to command the room in what will likely be perceived as a masc leaning fragrance, this is one to check out. A dab on the sternum should do the trick. -
Black Rose, Nutmeg, and Smoked Amber
LavenderCoffee replied to Jenjin's topic in Duets & Menage A Trois
this is pretty light on rose, but the nutmeg/smoky amber combo is delightful. easy to wear and unobtrusive, but not plain. -
The Lantern Bearers is giving me some serious indole attitude in the wet phase, but I love the payoff, and honestly I kinda like the funk too. It feels like maybe an odd alignment of lemon-plum-orchid, like one of the puzzle pieces is not quite in the right place, but then it clicks, and it's gorgeous. I'm such a sucker for an orchid like this one, and it never lasts very long on me but I don't care, especially alongside this dreamy lemon amber. It gives me maybe a half day of wear, or it could be an evening going out scent, if I was still an evening going out person.
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a little "how it started, how it's going" breakdown of my Yule overindulgence
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most folks, myself included, are probably not browsing BPAL for a typical "perfume" blend most of the time. my motto (maybe the lab's secret motto?) is give me something warm, lusty, strange, or musky, but this all of those things! it makes me want to saunter down the stairs in my sweatpants as though I'm cosplaying clementine pennyfeather, repeating her preposterous programmed dialogue. this is maybe in my top three favorite things BPAL has done with a cherry note? of course I'm not super into cherry in perfume, and this probably isn't a typical use of it. the cherry and sugar maple sap do not remain in their expected candy-sweet realms. and I don't think I'm usually seeking out teak either, but whatever alchemical secrets and/or rough hands have been employed here, these notes have been wrangled together into a gorgeous foil for the perfumes of imaginary bawds. there might even be some sawdust on the floor? it's very UNF to me. in summary: sexy, nicely balanced, and dare I say SFW. I suspect it would smell good on a wide range of people as well, whether you consider yourself more of a bawd or a gentleman caller on any given day. swing open that saloon door and give it a go.