Assimbya

This is definitely an orris-forward scent to me; the orris-leather-vanilla combination brings to mind Porcelain Bat, but the leather is a lot more prominent in this one, and with the woodiness of the cedar and the heaviness of the tonka and red amber, it lacks Porcelain Bat's softly comforting energy. As it dries down, I get hints of the floral notes, but can't make them out specifically. This has a solid presence, but low throw; though it's not musky, the cedar-orris-vanilla creates a skin scent effect that reminds me of Like the Very Gods, though The Woodland So Wild is nordic and forested and pretty substantially masculine; the similarity is one more in the category they fill then in the nature of the scent itself. Though Porcelain Bat somehow managed to keep the leather from taking over on my skin, unfortunately I get more of it here than I like, and the whole skews far too classically masculine for me. I really like it on my partner (who likes and wears perfumes across all gendered associations), but it's not for me.

I have the 2024 version, but realized I never reviewed it! My dearly beloved Peacock Queen! Peacock Queen is the rose perfume of my dreams - deep, lush, smooth, rich, and purely itself. I experience it as very red. Unfortunately I can't wear Rose Red, which turns to acrylic paint on my skin, but Peacock Queen's beauty more than makes up for this. My other favorite BPAL (nearly) pure rose scent is Two, Five, & Seven, which is very different, but these complement one another so well - Peacock Queen is the winter rose to Two, Five's summer, the nighttime to its daytime, the sensuous elegance to its playful brightness. I love it and feel so lucky to have both. Unfortunately, Peacock Queen tends to fade pretty quickly on my skin - its longevity has improved noticeably with aging and I'm hopefully that it might continue to do so, but I do have to reapply if I want to wear it all day and I treasure its accompanying hair gloss as a longer-lasting way to experience the scent (I'm intrigued by the lotion this year for the same reason). I am finding myself often wanting to wear it this winter, when I don't feel as pulled during the summer, and it shows up beautifully in the cold, vivid and stark as a proud red rose holding on when the other flowers of the season have faded.

When this goes on, it reminds me intensely of the Ars Anni Equivalent No. 314, to the point that I think I probably could be fooled into thinking it was the same blend if I hadn't put it on myself - there's no milk note, but there's a definite creaminess, and whatever the florals are in Erl-King's Pale Daughter must remind me really intensely of the iris-mallow flower combination in 314. I wonder if perhaps there also may be ambergris in this one. As it dries, the differences between the two scents become clearer, though there's still a distinct resemblance. The Erl-King's Pale Daughter starts to show its aquatic features; there's a watery translucence which feels elegant and eerie, and something a little bit briny without being overpowering. It find it hard to identify the florals here; I can maybe get lilies if I try, but that might be my imagination based on the listed notes; I wonder if this may be the lab's waterlily accord which also showed up in last year's Cold Moon. Though there's no vanilla here, the creamy-musky-floral aquatic sensibility reminds me a little of Lyonesse, but made much more ghostly. This is a being who lives in the depths of still ponds, not in the ocean. I find this really lovely, and enjoy the elegant eerieness quite a bit; I could see myself wearing it a lot especially in warmer weather. There are also things I can't quite make sense of about it, and it's a perfume that I feel I need more time with to really understand. I might go for a bottle of this one, though it might too similar to 314 for that to make sense. But definitely glad to have my decant.

Wet on my skin this starts as pretty much entirely blackcurrant, very fruity and inching towards feeling artificial, as fruit scents unfortunately often can on me. As it dries, it becomes much more centrally a myrrh blend, and a lovely myrrh it is too - it feels to me like the same one from Black Butterfly Moon, and the effect with the still strong blackcurrant is similar to the blackberry + myrrh in that other blend, but without the florals which are a big part of Black Butterfly. The labdanum tar seems to be adding a sticky resinous depth and a bit of darkness, but overall this is all about the myrrh and blackcurrant on me. For that reason, it's a much more friendly, approachable blend than the description would suggest; it has a contemplative feel, but it definitely does not evoke a dirge to me. I enjoy this, and would recommend it as a relatively straightforward dark fruit + resin blend, but I have enough beautiful myrrh scents already. I would be more interested in this probably if it were a little darker and more uncomfortable, which it might be if the labdanum tar note were turned up a bit; I wonder if aging might bring that out and will keep my imp to find out.

This goes on mostly coffee beans to start, close to photorealistic and smoky, with a chocolate-y warm depth. The rose shows up first as a floral sharpness underneath the coffee, and deepens for me over the course of wear, gradually unfolding in vividness. I've been trying to identify which of the lab's other rose blends this note reminds me, since Bulgarian rose specifically doesn't tend to show up all that often in listed notes - it's in Two, Five, & Seven, but along with so many other roses that it can be hard to pick out! This Bulgarian rose notes feels related to the lab's tea rose, but deeper, lusher, and more adult, if not as deep as the Peacock Queen rose - I'd say that it's pink rather than red. This is a duet which does what it says it's going to do, and if you want rose and coffee beans then you should go for it! I was intrigued by the idea of the combination (I'm not a coffee drinker but do enjoy the smell of coffee beans), but the experience of actually smelling like coffee is not one I think I'm going to want very often. Our decant will stay with us, but I won't need more of it.

I got decants of all the Erl-King scents out of love for the poem/song, but was specifically hopeful about this one because both the lab's milk and honey notes tend to work very well on me. Unfortunately, something about this one goes very weird, almost sour on my skin; it doesn't smell like either of those notes usually do from bpal, and since trying it first the other day I've been trying to puzzle out what it does smell like to me. There's something that maybe could be a caramel, though @ND¢'s identification of rose petal jam or yeast both sound more plausible with what I'm smelling. Honestly, it maybe smell sort of fermented to me? Whatever it is, unfortunately I don't think it works on me! I'll give it a while to rest and retest it, but I am alas not hopeful.

I'm adding my voice to the chorus on this one - this is such a soft, gentle, beautiful perfume; very very much pale purples and grays. On me it goes on mainly a pale, crumbing mix of lavender and lilac; as it dries down the iris starts to come through along with musk and lots of distinct fabric notes, and the florals blend into something very gentle and pretty. I can't specifically track the tea or moss and am unfamiliar with the thistle note, but I do have a sense of them as a base notes grounding the scent and keeping it from just dissolving into a diffuse cloud of melancholy. Lovely and very soothing, but also holding its own. I am seriously considering a bottle of this one, despite having an inordinate number of lilac scents already; the florals + fabric combination is so pretty and special. I like lavender but don't find myself wearing it very often (except for the GC Twilight, which I use as a sleep scent), and this scent as at once elegant and comforting, the way the lavender is balanced out, feels like a lavender that I actually want to smell like all day. Definitely a standout from the Yules I've tried so far this year!

Full, rich, unapologetic floral. On me this is primarily jasmine and honeysuckle, in rather equal measure; lilac comes out more on the drydown, but is definitely secondary to the other florals for me. This is gently indolic, but mostly just very deeply floral; I can only detect the amber as perhaps adding a resinous depth. Sophisticated, billowing, and creamy. I very much enjoy this and am so glad to have obtained a partial bottle secondhand; it pairs especially well with Persephone's Ascent, but I love it with all my jasmine/honeysuckle/white floral perfumes.

Cool green grass with dew-touched lilacs peeking through, and just a hint of wood from the trees in the background; very very true to the description. There's something about this which feels rather sparkly to me, something in the cool wet greenness of the floral. Appropriately enough to the inspiration, this feels like an animation of an enchanted wood, the colors just a little brighter and more technicolor than the thing itself would be. I think this would be a good starter floral for someone who's scared of florals; the grass really gentles out the lilac, though they are distinctly and beautifully there. It's really delightful, but I personally don't often find myself drawn to wear it over my other BPAL lilacs (4! I am so lucky), all of which are rather more intense in their florals. I am really glad to have my decant and also to know that this is in the more permanent collection, as so many BPAL's gorgeous lilacs are LEs. For now I don't need a bottle of it, but I could see my feelings on that changing in the spring (and also if I ever run out of Blue Lilac & Lily of the Valley, to which it's probably closest of the other lilacs I've tried).

Resurrecting this thread as I continue on my floral completionist quest! I am now searching for a hyacinth-dominant perfume; the only bpal one currently available is Dawn: Mourning Victory, which I am up for trying, though there aren't many reviews for me to get a sense of how prominent the hyacinth is. (There's also the Erebos atmosphere & linen spray which I am curious about though, being a linen spray, it does not fulfill this particular wish of mine.) I'd love to hear if others have thoughts on the hyacinth note in that one, or if there are other hyacinth bpals from the past for which I should keep an eye out, as I certainly shall for those already mentioned in this thread.

You're welcome! As a dedicated lover of florals, I am happy to help in this arena. Given this context, I would definitely suggest Lorrainna and/or Nocturne for your mother, which are both pretty pure florals; Lorrainna in particular is so special. If you try Faustus for yourself, I hope you enjoy it!

From the GC, Nocturne (deepest violet touched with lilac and tuberose) is a lovely violet and lilac scent, with a delicate, ethereal sensibility. I was frimped it recently and have been really enjoying it! If you're looking for both of these notes together, I think it would be a great choice. Veil (white sandalwood, lilac, gardenia, violet, orris, lavender and ylang ylang) also looks intriguing, in a similar vein, but I haven't had the chance to try that one yet. For lilac, I cannot say enough good things about Lorrainna from the Skull Maskerade collection (an early 19th-century Italian perfume dabbed on black satin and lace – magnolia blossoms, lilac, orris root, and ambergris accord), which has become an absolute favorite of mine. It's elegant, smooth, with clear, resounding floral notes (both lilac and a gorgeous magnolia) and a depth underneath from the ambergris and orris. Lilac is one of my favorite notes and this is one of my favorite bpals with it that I've tried. The Lilac Wood (ageless trees, everblooming flowers, brilliant grass, a flicker of fireflies, and soft shadows) is also beautiful - as the name suggests, it's a greener, woodier lilac note. And the duet Black Lilac & Black Tea is still up if you want a darker lilac! I don't wear a ton of violet, but my partner frequently wears Faustus (frankincense and cinnamon, darkened by violet), and it's gorgeous on him, a darkened, mysterious, spicy violet note.

I love it! I definitely would agree with other reviewers that this is somewhat heavier on the carnation than the perfume oil version, but it's still recognizably Alice, with the other notes coming through clearly, playful and cheering and with a hint of a sharp wit. The throw and longevity are both strong. I was frimped a decant of this one, and went to buy a bottle very quickly as I knew I would quickly go through my tiny decant (and I like to save hair gloss decants to travel with) - it pairs well with so many of my perfumes, and its playfulness makes it a very appealing hair gloss choice for everyday wear. As a lover of florals and musks, my favorite hair glosses have ended up often being very elegant and sexy to me, which is a delight and I so much love having all of them, but it means that Alice really fills a gap for (I previously tried Razors in a Doll's House for this niche, but it ended up being rather too sweet for my taste). I am so happy to have a bottle of this now.

Glittering, aldehydic, pale amber; I agree with previous reviewers that it has an enrapturing salty-sweet combination to it which is both pretty and slightly mysterious. I suspect this would go sharp on my skin, so it's lovely to have it in hair gloss form, where it can shine alongside my amber-centric perfumes, which all have more sweetness or floral to soften them. This doesn't have quite so much throw or longevity as my other bpal hair glosses; it's a little subtler, but quite lovely. I ordered a squirt of this from the lab with my last bottle order, and am very pleased I did, though I am going to need to wear it some more times to decide whether I will get a bottle of it. I go through hair gloss so much more quickly than I go through perfume and so the bar for buying a bottle is much lower on these for me; I can tell this one is going to pair well with many of my perfume collection, but I'm not quite sure it feels a niche I need.

There's something about this one which just isn't working with my skin chemistry, and I don't know why - the combination of notes comes off as peculiarly artificial in a way that I find pretty off-putting, partially like candy and partially, with the woody frankincense and sweet vanilla, like a commercial room spray. Probably it's my skin's dislike of BPAL's red fruit notes, except I didn't know whether raspberry would be counted among them. Alas!