quantquill
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Not something I would have taken a chance on buying, but received it as a frottle, and I'm so glad! As someone in an earlier review mentioned, it's the rare aquatic that works on me. What I wrote in my notes: "Surprisingly, this is a lovely scent on me, since it has so many notes of doom. I could see mixing this with lotion and slathering. It's a spa-type scent." I recently had an opportunity to smell a single-note sweetgrass oil, and it blew me away, and I'm guessing that's the star of this lakeside show.
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Terrible Moon: Coffee Bean and Cinnamon Stick Hair Gloss
quantquill replied to doomsday_disco's topic in Hair
I love coffee beans and cinnamon and these are also notes I love from the Lab, it's (for me) a very true to life cup of black coffee loaded with cinnamon. The coffee is made with fresh ground beans. It's a bit weird wearing coffee in my hair but I'm down for it! Getting whiffs of it all day makes me want coffee all day, too, ha. Could potentially be a marketing aid for a coffee shop? -
Coyote Moon: Vanilla Incense and Roasted Tonka Bean
quantquill replied to doomsday_disco's topic in Duets & Menage A Trois
I wish I got what others are getting... When I sniff the bottle, I get a slightly sweet non-denominational floral. It changes drastically on my skin, turning into a single note aquatic, without a hint of vanilla or tonka bean. (ETA: This is the first half hour.) Vanilla and tonka bean are two of my favorite scent notes, and my brain was absolutely expecting something dry or sweet but vanilla. Always shocking to the senses when it's different than expected, which also makes it difficult to evaluate the scent on its own merits. I'm not a fan of aquatics -- but I'm betting that anyone who loves aquatics would find this gorgeous. Got the bottle new from BPAL in March 2026, it's been in a climate-controlled space since then, and finally opened it to try in August 2026. I'm currently leaving the lid off for an hour to see if it changes anything, hoping the volatile top notes will run away. (ETA Spoiler alert: it didn't, because it's my skin chemistry, not the scent.) (I wonder if I don't get along with the lab's tonka bean note? Had a similar heartbreak with Tonka Bean, Madagascar Vanilla, and Agarwood, and with Tonka Bean and Pink Pepper, and Martial Arts.) ETA: After thirty minutes to an hour, it mellows on my skin to a very slightly sweet, well blended aquatic vanilla. Absolutely a skin chemistry fail. I've tried it four times now and it always goes through a similar journey. Has good projection the whole way through, lasts for absolutely hours, and while I really like the last stage, the first half hour isn't my jam. -
Oh baby, oh baby! I love clove scents that are the kitchen cabinet clove (rather than clove cigarette), and this delivers. When I first applied it, this was chocolate with a hint of spice. Now it's clove with a hint of chocolate. Love! Also, just received in the mail today, it was 100 degrees and no telling how many days it's been traveling, so it's only going to get *even better*! (Also, I amp clove, so if you don't, you might get more of a balance between chocolate and clove).
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Okay, I see what I did there... When I scanned the notes list, my focus was entirely on the malted barley powder (which for some reason made me think, "chocolate"), so the first sniff was a surprise. Like thinking you're drinking from a glass of cola but it's actually tea. Your taste buds have to rewire. I'm reviewing this fresh out of the mailbox on a 100 degree day after being shipped across the country in lotsa heat. I know it's not as good as it's gonna be, and it's already lovely. More of a floral lean than I expected. Hm, let's see... I can't pick out any one note, but the black pepper is giving a nice kick on the deep inhale. It's not a floral in the sense of "oh, a white floral" or "rose" or "garden." Rather it's .... a fleurmand? The kitchen herbs offer some grounding. The black pepper adds a hint of a kick. There's a creaminess (not milky/lactonic) and I wouldn't have said incense, smoke, or incense smoke if I hadn't seen that in the note list. It's not sweet. An almost vintage feel. I could believe this has some amber, though it's not listed. The longer it dries down, the more I'm getting some woodiness and the more I can pick out pepper. I'd call this a unisex green unique hint-of-floral-and-pepper scent, a winner for folks who don't normally like florals (aka me). Lovely, and I can't wait to try it again in a few days.
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My decant is thanks to @paperflowers. This arrived *today*, and it's been a hot few days so I'm sure it needs more resting but I couldn't wait, so I put a generous dollop on the back of my hand. Strongest notes are marshmallow, white chocolate and waffle cone, with a hint of cozy cashmere. Yum! I love gourmands and this is only going to get better as it develops.
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Welllllll. It's not intimidating at all to be the first one to post a review. This one is a love. ANISE with a side of tonka black licorice and a next-level hint of cardamom. Strong like bull - a small dab'll do ya. Not a huge projection but it lasted several hours on the back of my hand, and I wash my hands a lot. I kinda want to wear it all the time.
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Sniffing from the bottle, it's a beautiful citrus and myrrh scent. Fresh on, I get fruiiiits (with citrus dominating), and myrrh. Gahhh, if it stayed here, I'd slather and laugh wildly. Within a couple minutes, the neroli comes out and stomps everything else and says "it's all about me." Kind of a sharp version of neroli, too, with stilettos. A couple minutes later, the scent shifts once again, now toward a smoother, 'old parchment' scent, kind of vanillic but still dominated by neroli, only it took off it's stilettos and put on fuzzy slippers. A few minutes later, it settles into the final form on my menopausal skin chemistry: a smoooooth neroli parchment show with a citrussy stagehand lingering in the wings. I'm amping neroli to the roof nowadays and that's unfortunate because I love it and have a lot of scents with neroli notes. I'm going to let this one go to a hopefully more fortunate perfumista who is able to get a more balanced combo of notes.
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I wish I had frizzlechicken's skin chemistry! I get an almost single note of aldehyde. Fizzy champagne, bubbly indeed, though I'm not getting an alcohol scent. The bubbly is dry enough to have a bit of a parchment note. My skin always does me wrong with aldehyde but I was hopeful on this one because all the other notes are wins. Glad I got to try it, now it's off to a more fortunate home.
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I picked up a decant in a destash. It's oatmeal with gingerbread spices, very comforting. I don't pick up on the rice pudding (but that might be what I'm getting as oatmeal), cocoa powder or cotton candy, but I always amp gingerbread spice. I've got a lot of gingerbread spice perfumes because I like them, but I might let this one go and maybe someone else will get to experience allll the notes.
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2025: Got a frimp in a destash purchase. Wow, never would I have thought a scent with leather could smell this good on me. I usually amp it until that new car smell exudes from my pores, but Batty Lace is more like aged vanillic parchment paper with a hint of caramel. Quite lovely. Will definitely use up the imp and may seek out more.
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Just posted a review for the hair gloss, and I bought both the 5ml of perfume and the hair gloss, can report they smell the same on (the hair gloss has more projection, but the scent itself is the same to my nose). I'm delighted to report that it reminds me of a slightly more amber, slightly less sweet version of Dahlia, which has been my obsession for a while now. I know opinions are divided on Dahlia. To me, Dahlia is sweet vanilla and sugary vanilla orchid, all joyful and lovely. Catherine has more amber, less sugar, it's a deeper, more mature version of Dahlia. I don't get much (if any) resin and for those concerned about "melted and honeyed", I don't get honey, a hint of caramel maybe. Of course, ymmv. Maybe with time some more of the dark, resinous veins will pop out. Ha. What a win!! ❤️ It's a risk buying anything full size without an explicit note list, and I hope this review helps anyone on the fence to fall off one side or the other. I'm a little hesitant to say this leans more feminine than unisex, but I'm in my 50s and used to guys wearing pine and spruce and women wearing sweet and floral. However, I'd want to take a deeeeeeep whiff of any person wearing this scent. Kinda makes me want to snuggle myself.
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I'm delighted to report that it reminds me of a slightly more amber, slightly less sweet version of Dahlia, which has been my obsession for a while now. I know opinions are divided on Dahlia. To me, Dahlia is sweet vanilla and sugary vanilla orchid, all joyful and lovely. Catherine has more amber, less sugar, it's a deeper, more mature version of Dahlia. I don't get much (if any) resin and for those concerned about "melted and honeyed", I don't get honey, a hint of caramel maybe. Of course, ymmv. I also bought the perfume, and it smells the same on my skin. Maybe with time some more of the dark, resinous veins will pop out. Ha. What a win!! ❤️ It's a risk buying anything full size without an explicit note list, and I hope this review helps anyone on the fence to fall off one side or the other. I'm a little hesitant to say this leans more feminine than unisex, but I'm in my 50s and used to guys wearing pine and spruce and women wearing sweet and floral. However, I'd want to take a deeeeeeep whiff of any person wearing this scent. Kinda makes me want to snuggle myself.
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Ohhkay, someone just asked me about my thoughts on this one because there weren't any other reviews, and since I've made many purchase decisions based on forum reviews, I need to do my duty, lol. I expected this to smell fabulously fruity because of all the fruit notes + sandalwood musk. Sniffing the open bottle, that's exactly what I smell, currants and orange and spice, so good. Skin chemistry turns this to a fruity floral, like orange blossom (which must be the neroli). Maybe if this rests for a good long while, it will evolve on me, but I think probably not, since I bought it direct from BPAL in April 2025, tried it in Nov 2025 and again in Feb 2026, and from my notes, it hasn't changed. It is objectively a lovely scent, not objectionable, work safe, too, but I don't love florals. It's not you, Masks, it's me. You deserve a better home.
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My skin plays with these scents quite a bit differently. No leather (thank goodness, because I usually emote "new car smell" with leather notes). The macadamia overwhelmed right out of the bottle, but that toned down in seconds. Now it's like someone spilled a bit of macademia oil on a batch of old parchment, while burning a beeswax candle a safe distance away from that stack of flammable paper, and in the breakroom down the hall, someone is biting into a fresh-out-of-the-oven crusty roll. Will have to see if this continues to develop because I can't eat bread anymore, and resent being reminded. And drool isn't a cute look on anyone.