Assimbya
-
Content Count
876 -
Joined
-
Last visited
2 Followers
-
I've been enjoying this recently in the summer heat - it has a bright, tart-sweet quality which cuts through the dense, still air of summer very pleasantly. Definitely sharp, citric peach-bergamot at first, with the fuzzy astringency of bpal's white musk note; the chypre notes keep it feeling like a perfume rather than fruity candy, and I'd agree that there's a shimmery, lucent quality which feels appropriate to its name. On drydown the fruity note calm and get more of nutty-floral-powdery heliotrope, dusted with peach and musk. This is fun and very pleasant; I'm glad to have ended up with a frimp of it, though I don't think it's enough me to warrant a bottle.
-
I'm rather confused about what this one is doing on my skin, since all the notes are typically reliable successes on me as bpal does them. This goes on as a very sweet gourmand vanilla, slightly artificial and to my taste somewhat cloying, as someone who prefers my vanilla distinctly not foody; this feels like vanilla ice cream. As dries down the vanilla does calm down on me, but the scent that emerges underneath feels vaguely stale and dusty, and still more artificial than I'm used to with bpal. I definitely can't detect any osmanthus, which is generally among my favorite notes. I think I may need to find another home for this one, with someone with more obliging skin chemistry and more of a fondness for gourmands than I do.
-
Paris Being Admitted to the Bedchamber of Helen
Assimbya replied to doomsday_disco's topic in Limited Editions
This is a very tuberose-heavy scent, and a lovely incarnation of tuberose indeed, probably my favorite that I've tried from bpal so far. There's a smooth delicacy to it that is sensuous and very much evokes silk, though I think it's actually coming from the skin musk, but the billowing, rich quality of the tuberose gives it body and substance. I am not familiar enough with sweet pea to pick it out, but I think it's bringing a sweet, fruity quality which keeps the tuberose from tipping too far into the indolic. On dry down I get more honey and musk, and the tuberose calms a little. This a very wearable, balanced tuberose, unlike the other most tuberose-centric bpal I've tried, A Timid Twinkling Star, where the butteriness of the white floral becomes overpowering. The whole certainly feels pink, indolent, and luxurious, fitting to the painting; white flowers on a summer breeze through the window at night. I might end up wanting a bottle of this one; I don't have another scent in my collection which really showcases tuberose, and I want one for floral completionist purposes! But I'll live with my decant for a little and see how often I end up wearing it before it goes down. -
This is gorgeous; I loved it immediately upon first putting it on and I anticipate wanting to wear it a lot over this coming summer. I agree with @LavenderCoffee that it's beautifully balanced between the individual notes, each of which truly shines, though I think it's the olive oil note which is most getting me here, which is golden and skin-warm. The whole evokes the feeling of a long summer walk through the mountains of Greece, the contrast between sun and shade, the wind picking up the scents of wild-growing herbs and figs ripening on their branches. The rose resin and myrrh take it out of the realm of the strictly atmospheric into something more pulled together and elegant, clearly a perfume, while not disrupting the sense of space. I think it's a perfect scent to honor Sappho, and I'd recommend it especially to fans of Like the Very Gods; though they are very different scents, the Hellenic sunlight feeling is of course quite similar. I got an imp with my last order, but this quickly jumped to the top of my list of GCs to buy full bottles of.
-
Flower Moon: Calla Lily and Purple Musk
Assimbya replied to doomsday_disco's topic in Duets & Menage A Trois
I don't really understand what this one is doing with my skin chemistry, but whatever it is I don't think it works for me. I don't really get anything at all identifiable as lily; there's the suggestion of a floral, but it is overpowered by a strong spicy-fruity incense note which I suppose must be the purple musk. It's hard for me to pick out any more specific notes than that, but I definitely get the impression of incense burning in a palm-reader's shop, with a beaded curtain hanging down and tangling in your hair when you pass through it. It is very definitely not for me, but that's okay since the Lupercalia Honey-Gilded Calla Lilies & Golden Amber turned out to be such a success with my skin chemistry. I'll pass on my decant of this. -
Darkened, moody purple floral. Wet I get a lot of lavender and that in combination with the lilac reminds me of a more dramatic, less comforting variation on Gloomily, Gloomily. I also feel like I get violet at this stage, though it's not listed and so probably an olfactory illusion from the other floral notes. As it dries I get more woodiness, depth, and complexity, and can pick out the lab's poppy note (which is distinctive to me though I have trouble describing it), and an underlying sharp, perfumey sweetness; the florals recede somewhat with wear. The oud is not challenging at all in this blend for me. This feels well-balanced and sophisticated, with a certain kind of confidence, like a dark velvet cloak with crystals on it. It's really lovely; on my own I probably wouldn't have gone for a bottle, but my partner absolutely adored it so a bottle now lives with us and I will probably wear it more than I otherwise might!
-
This is a smooth, delicate, honeyed floral, and really lovely on me. I get the liquid translucence which for me is characteristic of bpal's white honey note specifically, along with a restrained osmanthus and subtle jasmine; the orris and amber for me create a organizing base rather than being so prominent as notes unto themselves. I like this a lot, and it fits squarely into a family of bpal's honey + florals which consistently works really well on me. However, it's very light, with almost no throw, and fades rather quickly. For this reason, it's one I wear pretty much only at home, when I can reapply and smell right up against my wrist. I am wearing it right now for a rainy morning alone indoors and am enjoying its understated elegance without distraction, but will certainly put on something a little more vivid when I go out later today.
-
Definitely a subtler, more delicate scent on me. I get a lot of agave, which is a thinner, sharper sort of sweetness than the lab's lush and perfumed honey note, and some pale, cool-toned florals, I think primarily ylang-ylang. As it dries I get the dry earth in the background gradually taking up more space. I don't know how bpal gets the sun-baked quality but it feels distinct to me, with the dirt note dusty with that warm heat from the sun and a light herbal quality. The dustiness of this almost makes it feel like it should be tickling my nose, and the sharpness edges on uncomfortable for me. It's a sophisticated, complex scent that I find really interesting, but not precisely pleasant to wear; I was hoping for a lot more florals than I got on this one.
-
Soft, clean, pretty floral, very similar to Hanami to me. This goes on largely plum blossom and white musk, with a little hint of sharpness that I could see reading soapy but doesn't strike me in that way. The lilac and cherry blossom both come out on drydown, and it's a very balanced blend of the notes. Distinctly floral but at a little bit of a remove, like a painting of the flowers rather than the flowers themselves. After a while it turns mostly into cherry blossom, and it's a really lovely, pink, pretty cherry blossom. I like this, and will definitely keep and wear my decant, but I don't think I'm in love enough to get a bottle.
-
Lovely date and hyacinth blend, the sticky-sweetness of the dates and the sharpness of the hyacinth complementing each other very well. As it dries I get some sweet violet as well, and a woody, sun-dappled skin musk underneath very slightly reminiscent of Like the Very Gods, though the date and hyacinth remain the main notes. This evokes a hazy spring afternoon in the Greek countryside, Apollo and Hyacinthus under a tree together eating dates. I don't get much of the other notes, and would like them (especially the lilies!); I imagine the amber in particular might come out more with age. This is really lovely and balanced; I like it a lot though would personally prefer if the dates were a little quieter and the florals more intense.
-
Unfortunately I don't think my decant of this one has aged very well! On initial application I get a lot of grass, some fresh, very green wildflowers, and a hint perhaps of citrus, but on drydown it quickly goes waxy and indistinct, which I've noticed is a pattern for bpal florals aging poorly; I get a faint pleasant scent if I smell my wrist directly, but little else. I haven't been able to notice much of a pattern as far as which age well or not; I wonder if the fresh greenness of this one (perhaps leaning on top notes?) lead it to age worse, but have no actual idea.
-
Dildo, Boxes with Lubricants, and a Plum Blossom Twig Hair Gloss
Assimbya replied to doomsday_disco's topic in Hair
The grapefruit definitely dominates this one on me - it's a realistic pink grapefruit, with both the slight bitterness of the rind and the sweet brightness of the juice present for me. I get a little apricot in the background, and some soft florals; maybe more plum blossom than honeysuckle, but it's hard to quite distinguish under the loudness of the grapefruit. It feels very clean and cheerful, and goes in my head into the category of bpal scents which could almost be commercial perfumes, but with underlying complexity and realism which set them apart; I do think it would be very likable and palatable to many people, a good bpal gateway scent. The throw and longevity are lower than most of my other hair glosses, which might be just the inevitability of it being a citrus scent, or may improve with age. I like the scent of grapefruit a lot, and find this nostalgic (my first perfume as a child was that Crabtree & Evelyn grapefruit eau fraiche from the '90's - does anyone remember those?), but I do wish the other notes came out a little more; I don't tend to want to smell so purely of citrus these days. I'm going to keep my decant around to see both if a little more aging brings out the other notes and also how I feel wearing it in especially hot weather, when I imagine it could be quite refreshing, before I decide whether I want a bottle. -
This is a straightforward but lovely white tropical floral; I have never smelled Flor de Maga proper in real life, but concur with previous reviewers that this note feels closest to a jasmine/hibiscus combination. It's bright and sweet, more citric and humid as it goes on and softening into more of a recognizable white floral as it dries down. It's rather similar to the newer fundraiser perfume Night-Scented Orchid; I was happy to be able to pick up a decant of this one in my quest to experience every kind of floral note possible, and I'll keep this around, but on balance I think I prefer Night-Scented Orchid.
-
To me this one feels extremely similar to A Robe All Red With Dripping Gore from the Sorores Genita Nocte collection, which is not surprising because there is considerable overlap in notes. Especially when wet, I get a saffron/amber/red musk/honey combination so similar that I could mistake one for the other, though the lab's recognizable white amber note has a silvery, liquid quality which differentiates it from A Robe All Red...'s red amber if I look very closely for it. As it dries I get some more complexity from the other resins, and the orris in particular adds a lovely smoothness. I enjoy this quite a bit and will keep my decant around but, as I already have a bottle of A Robe All Red, I won't need one of this.
-
The Persephone's Ascent perfume oil is an absolute favorite of mine, so I was so pleased to see a hair gloss version, and, as I hoped for, it is as beautiful as the perfume! I've already reviewed the perfume, so I don't have a ton to add; on me at least the hair gloss is slightly lighter on the cream and vanilla notes, and the honeysuckle nectar is slightly more prominent; it's somewhat sheerer, more green floral and less gourmand. A perfect springtime hair gloss scent, with medium throw and longevity as far as bpal hair glosses; it doesn't give me a floral cloud like, for example, the White Lilac & Moss lunacy HG from last year, but I catch hints of it throughout the day. Delighted to have this!