elissamay
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Everything posted by elissamay
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I just acquired a full bottle of Spanked that's in a cobalt bottle, and I am wondering the same thing. It says "Naughty" on the label as well, so I am assuming it's the original release?
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Terrible Moon: Cardamom and Black Amber
elissamay replied to doomsday_disco's topic in Duets & Menage A Trois
Out of the bottle, I was shocked at how much I hated this. OOB, it smells almost like Irish Spring or something along those lines. After a very, very long rest, after venturing to put this on my skin, I was able to find the cardamom, but the freshness still boggles my mind. I don't remember black amber having this intensely fresh, almost aquatic quality to it in any other black amber blend I've tried. If you love aquatics or fresh scents, and you have difficulty finding that kind of vibe paired with a sweet spiciness, this is absolutely the blend for you. If you're expecting something darkly resinous with spicy cardamom, this one (at least for me) isn't that. -
This smells like those butter cookies that come in a tin that your grandmother recycled into a container for her sewing notions. The pretzel-shaped one with the rock sugar in particular.
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Strawberry Moon: Kyphi and Sweet Cream
elissamay replied to doomsday_disco's topic in Duets & Menage A Trois
I am searching for the kyphi and only finding the sweet cream. It doesn't go sour on me, and it's a beautiful cream note, but I would do unspeakable things for a no-holds-barred BPAL kyphi. I love Cairo but I don't smell even a smidgen of that kyphi in this blend. I am optimistic that giving it some time will let those elements come forward. -
2026 Smut Hell, yes! Last year I thought it was a little boozier than other versions I have (only circa 2021, I think) and extra good. But this year?! I am smelling my beloved BPAL black musk in this year's. It's almost got a little Streets of Detroit quality going on in that boozy, woozy bottle. I cannot WAIT to slather the hell outta this one. Sorry, not sorry, everyone around me!
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Strawberry Moon: Wild Strawberries and Inky Musk
elissamay replied to doomsday_disco's topic in Duets & Menage A Trois
If you liked Wild Strawberries & Patchouli from last year, just THINK about how good these two would layer together! This is that same realistic strawberry with a lovely black musk, but a black musk that isn't completely intense and over-the-top potent BLACK MUSK like it can sometimes be (which I do actually love). Maybe imagine if it was 50% black musk and 50% BPAL's ink note plus that realistic tangy strawberry. This will be so fun in summer with the Wild Strawberries & Patchouli to layer or with a little spritz of the Feuilles de Patchouli hair gloss. Just call me a filthy, fruity hippy. -
Am I the only one who gets freshly peeled rhubarb from this blend? Anyone? It's fresh and tart and very enjoyable, especially as a warm weather scent.
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I ordered this because a) I wanted the book and b) I fancy myself a sensuous witch. I might not be the best person to review it since florals generally aren't my jam, but this blend is dark and stormy enough that I'm almost reading the flowers as fruit. Except for the tuberose - that one stands out unmistakably among her covenmates. It isn't loud or taking over, but I can discern it specifically. (I don't love tuberose, can you tell?) The oud and patchouli are truly grounding and centering this one, and the vanilla has a smoky, dry sweetness that is probably helping to keep that tuberose high priestess in check for me. One thing I definitely can't pick out yet is honey. But this is brand new, so I will give it some time. Recommend for anyone who loves an intoxicating, dark blend where the patchouli and spice take a bit of a backseat to the other players for a change.
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This is so interesting because OOB I get so much nag champa incense, but imagine if nag champa incense was, like, really, really classy. I think I'm also reading the bergamot as an almost sparkling or fizzy aspect. I can't wait to wear this!
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This is so effing good. I just picked up a second bottle because I always wished I had done so when it came out. I'm wearing it now and damn, if it isn't one of my favorites. It has aged into the perfect amalgamation of every single thing you love about these three scents, somehow kicked up to 11. Hippie, occult, headshop, maybe? For me, that's just what I want my whole world to smell like!
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Cardamom and rice are two of my favorite notes, but I never thought I'd find them together in a perfume that wasn't very much a gourmand. Until this one! This is sweet and creamy, but not terribly foody. The warm amber and the musk keep it out of "rice pudding" territory for me, even with the milk and honey.
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I'd like to jump inside this bottle and soak in it. This is one of those BPALs that made me pause for a brief moment and say, "That's it. That's the one. I don't need any more." Of course I will always need more, but this is one that blends together several things that I love -- black musk, rum, vetiver -- and turns them into something sublime and beyond just the sum of their parts. It's dark, kind of creepy, kind of sinister, but it's sweet and sexy all the same. I could wear this every day and never tire of it, much like my original ride or die Anne Bonny. Now if only I could find a couple aged bottles to appreciate how much more gorgeous this brand-new bottle will eventually become!
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Anne Bonny fans, take note: this is the frankincense in that blend or I'll eat my shoe! I would layer this with Anne Bonny and add the Palo Santo & Patchouli hair gloss and smell better than 99.99% of the human population on any given day. Such an essential Duet!
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This is stunning. I have been really, really behind in inventory-ing all of my scents, and I just took a deep inhalation of this and was transported to a shrine of worshipful contemplation. I have no idea what iron oxide smells like, but there is a vaguely metallic shimmer at the top of this one that enhances the lemony (but not screechy or Pledge-y) frankincense. Behind it is that wine and crimson musk, sweet and reverent. I find the linen in a sort of dusty quality that grounds the whole thing, and the saffron threads it all together. So beautiful, and little bit sad.
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This is pretty much as described: Deep, dark and spicy. I don't get any fruit or patchouli. It's an incensey, non-floral dragon's blood sweetened by amber and spiced with clove. I was going to say it's Dragon's Milk-adjacent, but it isn't that kind of creamy-sweet, and it's certainly more spicy.
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Sweet and toasty as others have said, but if you're like me and gourmand isn't your main vibe, this is a stunner paired with some filthy patchouli or woody perfumes. Amazing staying power!
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This is really lovely. There is a leather-bound quality to this scent, and sweetness with a faint crinkle of paper. In that sweetness, I might be smelling a little spilled wine, or maybe blood, and there's possibly a wee splash of faded cologne. There might be just a bit of warm beeswax, but it isn't a waxy or honey scent. Leather doesn't always jive with me, but this is old and well-worn leather. Not sharp, not punch-you-in-the-face leather. Antique-books-on-a-mansion-library's-carved-wooden-shelf leather. I posted this review after I knew I'd secured a second bottle just in case. So selfish!
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Wet this is so green and full of dewy clover, and it's like nothing else in my collection. A bright and sunshiney meadow of Snake Oil that dries down later into the most spectacular, vintage-smelling SO you ever did smell.
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This gives me Nag Champa Snake Oil, which is something I am absolutely here for. Floral isn't my thing, but the line "I’ve created something for myself that I want to share," made this one a must-try, and I'm happy I did!
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I love the cardamom in this and I could wear this all the time (if I didn't have 600+ other BPALs to pick from, lol). My husband thinks it smells like a deodorant brand, which is annoying, but whatever. It is more of a skin scent, but since it's GC I really pour it on.
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A Guardian Angel Serves a Small Breakfast
elissamay replied to doomsday_disco's topic in Limited Editions
There is so much fluffy, yeasted bread in this scent for me. If I breathe in a deep whiff off my skin, I get a tingle of cinnamon spiciness, but that warm, fluffy rosenkutchen leads by a mile. Definitely bread, and not pastry. This isn't pie crusty or doughnutty, even. There's no fried note or anything other than very specifically a yeast-risen bread, all tender and tear-apart. As it evolves, there's a milky creaminess and maybe just a whiff of coffee. No sourness or sharpness at all to the milk. What I don't immediately really find is the musk, though I think it's part of the warm spiciness I'm getting. Overall incredibly comfortable, comforting, and absolutely perfect for fall/winter hygge-type-things! -
If you're a fan of Woman in Front of the Setting Sun, you'll enjoy this. It's beautiful, glowing amber with a lemony sweetness and touch of honeyed skin musk.
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This is the first BPAL weed perfume where I can actually smell the weed, but it doesn't come through until it's on the skin and I take a deeeeeeeeeeeeeeep toke off my own arm. Creamy rice milk and marshmallows with a little amber glow, and then that green and glorious weed following far behind. Very fun and enjoyable.
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This one smells like orange Smarties if they were a soda when it's in my skin. It's almost a little mentholated OOB, but that doesn't come through for me on the skin at all. I really don't get any of the listed notes, if I'm being honest. It's still really unique and interesting, and so strangely effervescent.
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I love this rice note so much! There's only one scent from another indie that I ever went crazy over, and it was because of a rice note. This BPAL rice (also thinking of the awesome rice note in Peach Sticky Rice) is just so delicious and toasty and creamy and perfect. The spice is just right, and there's a little bit of lemony-ness from the amber. I don't really find the cocoa, but if it's a drier cocoa it may just be melding with the spices for me. Sweet but not cloying, and foodie without totally reading fully gourmand. I'm so glad that this is GC!