SmellsPrettyGood2Me

2025 version Having just smelled the Clove and Sweet Incense duet a few days ago, I definitely smell those exact same two notes here in the bottle almost immediately. This bat is punchy, screechy, LOUD and ready to take a bite out of anyone who gets too close. I put a wand size dab onto my skin and Holy Toledo, Batman - it fills the room. Are we sure there is no red musk in there? I could swear it is lurking in the background. The drydown is a bit of a rough ride for me, with the anise undertones of the clove really making it hard to smell much else. But patience is a virtue!! The sugared patchouli was waiting for me on the other side of it. Very assertive projection and 8+ strong hours of presence on skin. My shirt sleeve absorbed quite a bit of scent so it will be interesting to see if it all comes out in the wash or not! I think I like Snootier Bat better for regular wear, with more leather and less clove in that variation, but this is a total banger in it's own right, time and place. Not work safe or small enclosed space safe; you'll want to wear this to a club, festival or show where you want every nose turning in your direction.

Nobility and haughtiness befitting the Antichrist: sage, carnation and cedar with lavender, vanilla, white musk and leather. I would be sorely disappointed if this ever disappeared from the GC. Leather, lavender and cedar are most prominent in the bottle, and the carnation joins the party when applied to skin. While I can detect the sage with deeper sniffs, it's really not medicinal or herbaceous, and the white musk is sparingly incorporated. Vanilla may be present but doesn't add much to the party for my skin. Others have noted the leather taking a front seat here and I enthusiastically agree. This is a scent for kicking butt and taking names, best worn as an amplifier of assertive and commanding energy. I like it for any situation requiring one to keep control of themselves and silently bend others to their will, Jedi style. Moderately strong projection and 6-7 robust hours of presence on skin.

Clean, sexy, soapy mountain man straight out of a Hallmark Christmas movie. This scent comes out of the imp strong and stays that way on skin, pleasant and refreshing. I would much rather smell it on Chad Michael Murray but it's not too bad on me, either!

My favorite destash partner was kind enough to slip in a decant of this with a recent order, along with a note stating that it I would probably like this even though I usually try to avoid rose notes. I am so glad I got the chance to try it! Overall there is not too much transformation between notes on my skin during drydown, but the combined effect of them is very pleasant and familiar as several of them seem to have been present in other BPAL scents I have tried. The lace and rose here are very reminiscent of Carved Wooden Bridal Shop, ethereal and faint behind the marshmallow musk. The cream isn't heady, more light than heavy. I can detect a bit of the same white satin here as in White Satin Hearse, a little shiny and bright, but nicely blended along with the other notes so that it doesn't dominate the scent. The oakmoss is incredibly subtle, not really popping in to make an appearance until fully dried down. On my skin, low throw and good longevity of about 8 hours. Mr. Smells, not prone to engaging in the testing process unprompted, leaned in for a sniff and said "this one doesn't smell like candles" (!) then came back again a few minutes later for a rare second whiff and grunt of approval. I can see why other reviewers have likened this to a baby powder or lotion scent. There is something beautifully old fashioned about it, like you'd find it in a hand cream on the dressing table of a Bronte heroine. If I had to choose one scent to wear on a tour of the grand homes featured in BBC bonnet dramas, this would most definitely be it.

Simply lovely. The orris root and ambergris accord mark this as close cousin to Lace Lichen, and if you like that scent this will evoke very similar feelings of brightness and lightness in the open. Largely tea and bergamot to start, with an aromatic greenness from the angelica. After a half hour the frankincense begins to emerge as a soft wisp, increasing in dominance as the top notes recede but never becoming terribly strong. The orris root stays subtle and not very powdery at all. This is a delicate, romantic scent, not cloying but charmingly feminine, perfect for times or places where a lighter scent touch is desired or appropriate. I would call this very safe for work or enclosed spaces 15 minutes after application as it stays close to skin in the drydown and thereafter. Lasts with appreciable detection for about 4-5 hours. Most definitely one of my favorites from The Prophet series that I have tried thus far, appropriate for almost any season or circumstance.

I had a huge flashback when I opened this bottle; it was 2000 and I was in NYC's Chinatown with my then-boyfriend Patrick, his mom, stepdad and stepsister. As we stepped into one of the markets looking for some of the jasmine tea that his mom loved so much, our nostrils were assaulted by a combination of spices and incense. It is one of those very specific life experiences where nothing else before or since has combined to so precisely remind me of that moment. I had to put the bottle aside, have a cry, and come back to it another day. Young Smells did not know how much her life (and the world around her) would change less than 12 months after that experience. Both in bottle and on-skin there is something Chinese 5 Spice-y about this, where I could swear I also get anise and maybe even some nutmeg underneath the clove. My skin is prone to taking a dab of clove and turning it into an olfactory tornado, and that's precisely what happened here. Not for the faint of heart, this duet precedes you as you enter a room ("did you make a cup of tea?") and does not let you forget it. I'm not a licorice fan, and that undertone didn't really please me. Huge sillage and loooooong longevity at 8+ hours, which goes to show how much skin chemistry can be different for all of us in this game. (What ever happened to Patrick, you ask? We broke up after he cheated on me with a fellow exchange student during a semester abroad in Paris after 9/11, he then became an accountant and eventually he married someone else and moved to Minnesota. His mom died during COVID, and she's the one I cried for. She was a classy lady and I liked her a lot.) Destash for me, probably lovely for someone who loves licorice and has less emotional baggage tied to these scent notes.

An immediately positive impression as soon as I caught the first whiff! Lightly sweet (maybe slightly honeyed) liquid wax and a surprisingly jammy fig in the bottle with no smoke but a hint of some powdery resins deep underneath. First dab brings that beeswax out front and center and it warms up quite nicely on the skin. This must be the "Good" part of the equation? Honestly, it's quite cozy! About 10 minutes in the vetiver starts to creep out more and more, taking the scent the slightest touch deeper and darker. Still no smoke, but maybe there is a bit of cypress brightness intermingled in there? The myrrh and fig (which almost seems a bit stewed) are a terrific combination that are anchoring this in pleasant territory. Jammy, with a creamy resinousness that is beautiful to wear. At around the two hour mark, things take a turn. The beeswax has lost a lot of it's liquidity, cooling and hardening. Something gnarled, woody, and earthy emerges and starts fighting with the fig for supremacy. The powdery myrrh has completely vanished. What happened here?? Has the "Evil" come out to play? I'm desperately and deeply huffing, looking for that lovely sweetness that seems to be fading by the moment. By hour 3, all I can smell is something resembling an ash pile, and then it's gone. I'm not sure if this transition was intentional, or if my skin chemistry just ruined the scent the longer it had hold of it. I would wear the bliss of the first two hours often if somehow I could hang onto it! This is a perfect candidate for a scent locket trial as it is truly stunning to start off. I hope others are able to enjoy the journey more fully on themselves.

She's shifty! Grassy tannins with a waft of floral lilac in the bottle become completely transformed into something darker on skin. There is a blooming bergamot brightness in the wet open that I really like! Not at all sugared and much more of a booming floral than tea for the first hour. I do feel like maybe this combo would be a bit more smooth with a third note to draw down the sharpness of the lilac a bit, maybe some amber or sandalwood. As such I agree with other reviewers who have suggested layering it, because as a standalone scent, while I like it, it's missing a bottom note to anchor it and bring some gravitas. Medium sillage on my skin and a long lasting performance of 8+ detectable hours. I have a Black Amber SN from another house that I think will help make it a great trio of notes for winter wear.

This is the good stuff. Dusty, dry, sweet sandalwood and burnished, deeply tanned dark brown leather in equal and complimentary parts. There may even be more than one leather note in here as it seems to shift into something sweeter a few hours in. Sillage is low moderate and longevity was pretty good - although I could still detect it with a close sniff the next morning it was largely gone after about 7 hours. I think the Lab does really enjoyable, photorealistic "fabric" accords across the spectrum, but their various takes on leather are ones that I particularly enjoy. The black sandalwood does a great job of working with it to evoke a very nice smelling ranch hand, although it's not a deliberately masculine leaning scent; I would go so far as to call it pretty gender-neutral-while-still-giving-leather-chaps-vibes-in-the-open. I'll probably have to get a couple more bottles of this as it's enjoyable to wear and the two notes are perfectly paired.

Lovers of the Lab's ozone note (*raises hand*) rejoice! It dances merrily here in the bottle beside the star jasmine and violet incense and bruised plum, and makes the leap onto skin nicely. Much like a strike of lightning, this scent opens big and then quickly fades away within about 45 minutes, leaving mostly powdery resins behind. Not too floral, not too fruity, not too atmospheric, it comes in for a well balanced initial impression and sticks around pleasantly for about 5 more hours at a low, lightly sweet sillage. If your spirit guide is The Wizard from Stardew Valley, you've found his signature scent here.

Slightly soapy with a little bit of musky stank in the bottle, not at all smokey or dark. The musk hits hard when applied to skin, and I'm fighting to catch whiffs of the frankincense as it dries down. Ironically, the further I keep my nose from my hand, the better it smells! I caught whiffs of this throughout the day and it was much more pleasant as time went on. Moderate sillage and good staying power as I could still detect it 8 hours after application. I love a good musk, and I enjoyed the Jasmine Rice and White Musk duet enough that this buy was a no-brainer. I think at the moment I prefer the former for a "your skin but better" daily grab as this duet isn't balanced quite right with my skin chemistry, leaning a bit too musk heavy. Will try again after letting it sit for a few months to see how it ages.

Agree, it doesn't actually smell like vanilla or patchouli, at all. There is only the slightest hint of what smells like sweet orange oil in very minute dilution, and nothing else. To say that I am bummed is an exponential understatement. The formulation is fine, it just doesn't really have any scent and definitely not these notes.

Creamy salted caramel in the bottle with just a tiny bit of smoke. Once applied to skin, the clove bud barges into the scene and challenges the caramel to a duel. I have to breathe in deeply to get the bright golden saffron and a hint of the chili, the latter of which is the only thing that keeps this out of Yankee Candle territory. Moderate to big sillage and 7 hours of wear; I would not call this office safe as it booms with sweetness. I loved how this smelled in the bottle, but my skin chemistry did some sort of dirty magic to it, supercharging the caramel note in plastic-y, artificial ways that were mildly nauseating for the first hour. Sadly this one was a miss for regular wear and will get passed on to a friend. I unexpectedly really enjoyed the smoked chili note and will look for this in other blends.

Chewy, sweet figs and almost inky patchouli waft up from the bottle with a moderate amount of intensity. I could tell from that moment that I was really going to like this! Lightly dabbed on skin, these notes came galloping out with honey as the rider. This honey is a bit dusty and dirty from the oud and I'm here for it. Speaking of the oud, it shows up with the amber maybe 23 minutes in and really anchors the scent alongside the patchouli. Up until today I would have told you that loukhoum was a character in Lord of the Rings, but further study reveals it's actually a rosewater infused Turkish sweet type scent. I am grateful to get zero perceptible rose here! The bourbon vanilla shows up last and a dollar short in this one, which is ok because the preceding note combinations carry it well. Medium big sillage with 6 strong hours and 3 more mild hours of wear. My bottle was secondhand and aged for about 4 years; I'm honestly considering getting a backup bottle to put in the closet now for when this runs out. Aging has turned it into an absolute banger, and I'm reminded of the coaster I got for my birthday a few years ago. "I am not bossy, I am the boss" Yes, Nasty Woman, you are.

2025 Version I tried something a little different with this scent in that I didn't re-read the notes prior to sniffing and testing it, to see how far I have come in training my nose. Spoiler: not far enough to be able to identify a marigold note, I guess. In the bottle, I get a very light, faint vegetal sweetness - nothing even remotely akin to the loud brightness that others have described. I checked my notes (typing noises) and it had been resting for about 2 weeks, which should have corrected any mail shock. It doesn't smell bad, just not remarkable or easily identifiable. Applied to skin, the scent starts to warm up, and I get grassy, fresh petals with a touch of amber underneath. I am definitely starting to smell the mum-like quality of the marigolds at about the 13 minute mark, but the general impression I've had from the start is more like scented baby wipes. It sits relatively close to the skin and stays there for about 4 hours before fading into pleasant but unremarkable obscurity. I agree with others who have categorized this as work safe and unlikely to cause sensitivity issues. This is a much better spring scent than a fall one for me, as I prefer punchier, darker blends in cooler weather. Will put this away and revisit next Easter time frame when I want a soft, green floral.