SmellsPrettyGood2Me

Lavender is one of my favorite relaxing scents, but Lurid is anything but sleepy! The ozone note is simply fantastic, and the black currant is quietly fruity. This is a perfect scent for those lazy, humid, languid days of summer when you need a little something to perk up your senses! Wears well for about 3 hours then starts to rapidly fade, which makes sense because there are not really any strong base notes here to anchor the scent. I gladly reapplied twice throughout the day as this is a freshie that had me huffing my arm at every opportunity. This is a hidden gem in the GC collection that should be on hand for those days when you want to smell good and want an easy grab to get there.

I had passed on a few Velvet frimps without trying them, on the basis of not caring much for cocoa as a note, but after trying Velvet Brick recently and liking it I wondered if I should give the OG base a try. BPAL got me again! The Swiss Miss (without marshmallows) vibe wet and on initial application really morphs into a pretty sandalwood scent with a dry Tootsie Roll-esque vanilla undertone. All of a sudden I'm 8 years old and scratching and sniffing the rear end of a My Little Pony doll at my friend Allie's house like it's 1988 again. If you like cocoa scented plastic pony butt, as I do, you will love Velvet.

What a gorgeous fruity floral! Both wet and on initial application I get predominantly photorealistic ripe pear, which makes the bold white florals I usually shy away from a lot more tame in contrast. I agree with others who describe this as creamy on the dry down, and the honeysuckle is a light enough touch to not be overwhelming. Very wearable and probably about as safe of a floral blind buy as I have come across from BPAL yet. I would wear this late March/early April to bridge between spring and summer. To make it more "mature" and cold weather friendly I'd layer with a bit of sweet patchouli.

I try not to look a frimp horse in the mouth, but if you don't love cherry (and I mean REALLY love cherry, particularly in a highly concentrated saccharine reduction format) you will not be able to even open this without being completely overwhelmed by it. The lavender is there, too, but it stands no chance against that much cherry. Can't bring myself to put this on skin, so I will immediately redirect it to my niece who will probably adore it.

Having tried the Batty Perversion variant before the OG version, I knew I already liked this base but didn't realize how much. I generally don't care for wine notes, but the chardonnay here is not sparkling or too crisp at all. I get slightly musty sweet grapes, and only faintly, more than anything alcoholic at all. The tobacco is chewy and maybe a little bit cherry? I could do with another dollop of leather here, but as it is I love it anyway. Truly a GC stunner and worth a try if you are into these notes. Moderate projection and lasted 7+ hours on my skin. My nose brain reads this more as fall coziness than BDSM bondage room.

This is indeed a dapper gentleman's scent, but I'm thinking more Roger Sterling from Mad Men than a 19th century Irish novelist. The bergamot actually sticks around quite awhile, maybe 2 hours, before the sweetness of the hay and earthiness of the vetiver are the only two strong impressions left behind. Great projection and longevity in a very clean and pleasant blend. For a masculine presentation I would wear as is; for something more feminine I may add a powdery vanilla layering note to give the hay some added depth.

Firmly in the "this smells more like rose" camp! The narcissus is pretty green and daffodil-y to my nose. It really amps the scent up from a sillage perspective. There is a powdery undertone here, too, almost like old fashioned face powder. Maybe a very small touch of violet is in there too? As with most rose scents this could be overpowering if applied with a heavy hand or in a closed room. This is a cottage core bride's wedding day (and night) perfume.

My first and favorite FS hair gloss purchase! I find it to be more patchouli forward, especially when applied to wet hair vs dry hair. Great longevity! I can still smell this at the end of the work day as well as when I wash my hair the next morning. Pairs perfectly with any and every patchouli fragrance in my collection. I have fine, thinning hair and this does not weigh it down at all.

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Fresh and herbal in the best way! The pitch is really punchy here and balances out the other deeper resins really well. It definitely evokes a "dark coldness" feeling when initially applied and then fades into a sweetly pine leather. We all know assassins can't wear fragrance for fear of being detected, but when they go out for a drink after a long day of murder-for-hire this is what they wear to the bar. I feel like this is a hidden gem for anyone who wants to smell foresty mysterious!

Morocco came to me as a frimp and quickly embedded itself into both my heart and my list of top 5 BPAL fragrances, ever. I was distraught when it went out of stock and relieved when it came back! In the bottle and on skin the sandalwood is initially the most dominant note, but I don't mean overpowering or strong - everything about this is delicate and beautiful. The carnation isn't sharp, grassy, or brassy, but it anchors the "floral" aspect of the scent quite nicely. Yes, it's musky, but a powdery musk, not a sweaty or smutty one. This was the first fragrance I ever tried with cassia in it and the effect is lovely. I would call this sillage moderate to intimate, and the longevity is really good (6-7 hours). I've gotten several "oh! you smell really nice!" comments when wearing this so I would absolutely categorize it as office safe. Having tested both aged and new examples I suggest getting a few bottles to tuck away as it only gets more amazing over time.

I bought this scent largely to support The Cause and less because I was genuinely interested in the notes. I don't generally care for cocoa in fragrances, but I've found it to soften as a scent ages and try to keep an open mind. What a morpher this one is!! In the bottle I can definitely smell the fuzzy velvet and the cocoa, but once applied the myrrh jumps out from behind the curtain. For whatever reason this smells just like the lecture hall at a local university - masculine leaning, a bit mature, and slightly alcoholic (the brown liquor kind, not the fizzy fluted glass kind). Evokes strong academic advisor vibes. I can see this being a great "rainy afternoon in a bookstore" fragrance.

Very beeswax forward, as others have said, but without the warm, melty, gooey quality in some of the Lab's other beeswax fragrances; this is solidly "unlit candle". I do get very soft vanilla in the bottle, too, but the cedar doesn't come out for me until applied to skin, where it remains in the backseat. Something about this telegraphs Bedtime Scent to me, as it's very soft and soothing. Sillage is also intimate and it does not last more than 4 hours on my skin.

Thank you for saying this, I thought there was something seriously wrong with my olfactory system! I get this same apple-pie-with-acridity experience from this scent as well as the entire Apples Crave series from another maker. I don't know if this is a recent development of my advancing female age, or if this was always the case, but I can smell it in the bottle, too. I desperately wanted to like this, but my perception of one of the notes is just off and I can't properly enjoy it.

Chewy, punchy, molasses is the first thing to hit my nose from the bottle. Why do I all of a sudden want an oatmeal cookie? There's whiff of raisin somewhere in there that I can't stop smelling. That warm sweetness translates when applied to skin and really unfurls a cloak of scent that is not shy. After about 10 minutes the tobacco finally peeks out and gets bolder, slightly tannic and a bit earthy. Is there a tiny hint of a leaf note in here? Maybe more than a hint? An hour in there is more maple than molasses, and I've found bliss. This is terrific on it's own and also really inspires combinations with maybe teak, or vanilla. Glad to see it is back in stock as it's dreamy!!

In the bottle: melted strawberry hard candies Wet on skin: Strawberry n' Cream Lipsmackers Dried down: Strawberry Peeps Pretty, but I find myself wanting to beef it up a bit with a patchouli or tobacco SN. I agree with others who said that it fades (relatively) fast; she was gone in about 3 hours. Worth buying a bottle to tuck away as I think this will age well and can be layered with many other scents to suit different moods.

The predominant note I get from first whiff to last is rose, the same red rose of course that Whip is known for. I do not get much patchouli at all, more of a drop than a glob. Throw is very modest! This is pretty but not markedly different from the OG Whip, which on me has generally been pleasantly soapy.

2025 version! I did not release that this was a returning community favorite and am so glad that I have the opportunity to try it. Other testers have provided incredible descriptions that I cannot match! My perception is that this vanilla is just a little bit dusty and powdery in the best sort of pollen-y way. The honey definitely behaves, and while I can barely get any cedar, it is there with a quiet freshness if you sniff hard enough. Exceptionally well balanced, very pretty, and blind-buy safe if these notes generally work for you. I expect this will age beautifully!

Delicate, soft, and incredibly lovely. The beeswax is very prominent and stays in the front for as long as the fragrance lasts (about 6 hours in my case). I get no greenness from this lilac; it is all blossoms and no stems. This scent conjures the image of a freshly sealed letter that has been gently dusted with setting powder and contains a dried, pressed flower, destined for sweetheart who is dearly missed.

Genuinely confused by this one! Wet in the bottle, the green leather really stands out, and the osmanthus is along for the ride. On skin, their roles invert, and the osmanthus takes over and the leather slinks into the background. The cardamom is there, but not very "black", and I don't get any smoked oud at all. The amber is incredibly faint when it does appear and never makes much of an impression. What I hoped for: smokey, sinewy, and slighly herbaceous leather with sweet floral undertones What I got: flowers mouldering in a water logged leather satchel I will put this away with the hope that it deepens over time for a future retry, but fresh off the assembly line it didn't work with my skin chemistry at all.

Lillies, a couple of other white flowers, and what I could swear is a tiny hint of...banana taffy? Banana pudding? There is a thickness to the sweetness here that is front and center. Extremely large projection in general; please make sure you really, really like this before applying more than a tiny dab.

Smells like your dad's old school European boss: woodsy cologne with a bit of fruity, floral spiciness. This gentleman carries a cane for fashion (not for ambulatory support), winks at girls in the checkout line as he waits to pay for his imported cigars and always has butterscotch candies in his pockets for the little ones.

Really chewy incense and smooth tobacco that gave me love-at-first-sniff. I don't know this is both piney sharp and powdery spices at the same time, but it's amazing. Where would I wear this? On a first date picnic in the park, then to a poetry reading at Powell's City of Books, then back to his place for some super obscure craft beer.

Easter Sunday. Your grandmother's funeral. A southern debutante ball. These are green, humid lilies, equal parts stem and bloom, sitting atop polished wood, next to an open window whereby a light breeze wafts in a distant hint of honeysuckle. Potent white floral that does not mess around!

Very candied fruit in the bottle, thankfully less cloying on skin. The brown sugar is much more molasses and has that condensed, cooked down sweetness. I really have to get my arm up into my nose to find the tobacco at all and would have loved it to be represented more strongly in the blend. Definitely berry (and, with gratitude) not cherry on my skin. I can see this being a great summer-to-fall transition scent as well as nice to layer with a bit of smoke to balance out the sweetness.