Jarek

I bought this from description of notes alone, I just thought it sounded amazing. I'm really glad I have it. :3 In the bottle I smell lemon, honey, and maybe a bit of vanilla. Once it's on my skin I can pick out more notes, though I don't smell the vanilla as much, at least not right away. I smell the amber and the skin musk, the lemon is sweet, or maybe that's the honey? The honey is lovely and it sets off the lemon really nicely. The lemon adds this fresh scent (not cleaner type fresh though) to the perfume that is mostly... golden. Golden resin, golden honey, golden musk. I'd like a bit more vanilla, at least initially. As it starts to dry I smell more vanilla and it's interesting with the lemon, it feels like much more of a deep/bass note with the lemon and amber and honey dancing overtop. The skin musk stands out more but is also a supporting role. Vanilla and musk linger longest on my skin and this lasts a really long time, six or seven hours, but I can still smell a bit of amber too. It's just very golden and a lot like the painting that goes with it, lovely. This seems feminine I think, and fresh and golden and summery.

I bought this based on notes alone. And it's really lovely. In the bottle I smell mostly frankincense. There's more to it but that's most of what I get from the bottle. On my skin the rest comes out. The lilac is delicate and floating on top of the labdanum and frankincense, the labdanum is a bit like a leathery amber, the frankincense is smokey and airy and a bit bright, next to the darker labdanum. The ambergris is surrounding and getting in everything, but more of a supporting note than a huge player. The resins are really prominent and have a fair amount of throw. They last a decent amount of time on my skin, I was smelling it after four or five hours and that was without putting my wrist up to my nose. Really glad I grabbed a bottle of this.

This was a frimp, but it's also been on one of my wishlists of things to try. It's the fougere and "gentleman's cologne" things that piqued my interest. In the vial, I smell something almost smoky, and the lavender. That might be the fougere in general? On my skin the lavender fougere blooms so lovely, but the lavender isn't super herbal like it can sometimes be. It's floral and woody/earthy and something a bit smoky. I think I smell the amber too? After 30-60min I can smell the tonka and amber more, tonka does smell a lot like vanilla but a bit different too, maybe a bit more dry. The amber and tonka are warming up the heavier herbal smelling lavender. There's still a woody smell which I've been thinking is from the fougere (possibly oakmoss?) but could be the rosewood too. Not really smelling patchouli yet, again, unless that "diabolical" is the smoky element I've been smelling. After a few hours the herbal lavender has faded in its intensity, I can still smell some lavender but moreso the amber and the tonka, and the woody smells, that smoky smell is largely gone, and I think maybe I'm getting a touch of patchouli? But it's hard for me to tell. It's really a hint of patchouli and not super strong like some of the other scents I've reviewed recently. I really, really, really love this. It's in my special selection of love-plus-star. I really really really want a bottle of this, and I might actually go grab one the next time I place an order.

This was a frimp, I was interested because I like a lot of stuff with red musk, with patchouli, with vanilla... but had yet to try anything with all three. Though Snake Oil isn't too terribly different at least in description. In the vial I smell red musk, and pretty much only red musk. The perfume oil itself is a lovely reddish colour. I have applied it a few times on my wrists today and there's a very slight colouration on them from the oil, but that washes right off. On my skin I smell red musk, patchouli, and vanilla. Something a bit smokey as well? Not sure what that is. It could be the musk actually, I could be reading it as smokey. Like a lot of musks I prefer this one with my nose a bit further away from my wrist than right up against it. It has a decent amount of throw when freshly applied. I think I smell the red currant too, with my nose further away, something is a bit fruity. I don't know if I smell anything citrus, and I tried looking up chypre and I'm not sure how to define that separately from the rest. It lasts a long time, especially the musk and patchouli, hours and hours with a decent amount of throw even after six or more hours of wearing it, though the other notes fade and it does get closer to my skin. I'm not getting any bergamot I don't think, unless that's in the fruity element too? Could be. It's really not like Snake Oil, though it has the musk/patch/vanilla combo, it's still distinct enough to me that it's different. I'd say Snake Oil is darker and this one is a bit brighter because of the fruit. The chypre adds a woody element too and brings that out of the patchouli. I really love this and would like to get a bottle one day in the future. So it's in my favourites wishlist. ^.^

This was a frimp! In the vial I smell herbs and what is probably the iron. And some florals? I think? The "spell soaked" makes me wonder what else I'm smelling. On my skin I think I can smell the patchouli root, and some green, and the iron and florals. There's more there but I don't know if it's the dust or the spell soaked or the broom twigs or other things used to make those scents. It tingles my nose a bit, though I'm not feeling a cooling effect, but that might be the "cold" part of the cold iron, I don't quite smell mint so if it's in there it's not overwhelming like mint can so often be to my nose. It has a short to medium throw at this stage. Two hours later and the green (moss and herbs?) and the tingle (mint?) have faded, but the florals and the iron and the patchouli root remain. I smell a dusty kind of smell too, which is awesome, I love how she does that with smells, it's pretty on point! It plays even closer to my skin but I can still smell it with my wrists not right up next to my nose. Six hours later and I can still smell the patchouli root, and the dust, but the patchouli I don't have to have my wrist right up to my nose to smell, still catching whiffs while I'm at my computer. I was surprised at this as I'd thought it faded faster than that but happy to see that is not the case! I thought this one was a like but upon wearing it again I think I can upgrade it to a love! Though I wish it had a longer throw. But it still lasts a decent amount of time and it makes me think of a spooky hut full of herbs and magic and housing a crone. x3

This was a frimp from two orders ago. In the vial I smell florals, I think the jasmine mostly, and it's slightly indolic I think as well. And lemon. Definitely some citrus. On my skin I don't really smell the lemon much anymore, and the floral gains some depth to it. It took me a little bit to get used to the jasmine, it's a bit "stinky" but I've come to realize I can quite enjoy that in a perfume, just took some getting used to. There's a base of some spices that's apparent on my skin too but I can't quite pick out which ones. After being on my skin for three or four hours the florals have faded more and the spices remain, maybe a bit of the lemon is showing through although it's largely faded as well. But touches of both remain, with the spices, and it's really nice. I would agree that I think one of the spices is cardamom, now, but I still can't quite pick out what the others are. All in all I have come to love this perfume and would like to get a bottle of it one day.

This was a frimp. I think I had it on a wishlist because of the cumin, possibly? So I was interested. In the imp vial I smell the pine pitch and vetiver, maybe smoke. On my skin, as usual, I smell so much more. Though I think I'm getting better at smelling different things in the perfume in the bottle. Black green-ness, smoke, scorched, a bit of spice and blackened herbs, vetiver smokiness, and pine pitch specifically. I don't quite smell the musk yet. I wasn't sure what I thought of this at first. It's so confronting. I like some confronting scents but it really took me a few tries to start to like this one. And now I think I love it. Some hours later I smell more of the musk and it's not a black musk but is there such a thing as a green musk? Or like, a dark green musk? Anyways the green parts kind of fade but the darker and scorched parts stick around, the musk for sure, the pine less so but I can still smell some of it. It's very evocative of a troll, in concept. Yes, I love this perfume. I would like to get a bottle one day.

This came as a frimp. I didn't know what to expect, but I do like patchouli so when I looked up reviews I was interested. In the vial I smell... patchouli! It's like. A dark patchouli. Very earthy patchouli. On my skin and yes, very rich, dark, earthy patchouli. There's some other woods present too, I think, and I can pick up a bit of resin as well, possibly. It's more complex than patchouli but it's hard for me to pick out just what is accompanying it. The oil itself is a bit darker and it has slightly tinted my wrists after a couple applications today, so beware! It has a really long throw, my roommate could smell me across the room, this is unusual I find with BPAL blends, so a little will likely go a long way with this one, and careful if you're going somewhere a strong scent might not be appropriate. I find it lasts a really long time too. I had mine on for eight hours and could still smell it without having to put my wrist right up to my nose, though I don't think my roommate would've been able to smell me across the room anymore. Doesn't change much over time, maybe a bit more of the resin/incense comes through but the patchouli is just. Really. Everywhere. I really love it, I have some straight up patchouli perfume oil and this definitely smells different and more complex than that but I love them both. I would like to get a bottle of this one, one day.

This was a frimp. I take heart from the "golden" in the description, because that's probably indicating amber, and I've come to enjoy amber from BPAL in a few blends. In the vial I think I smell amber and something resinous, incense-y, though I don't know quite which resin it is. I don't think it's myrrh, anyways. On my skin and the resin really blooms, and I think there's some woods in there too, I'm detecting maybe some cedar, I could see sandalwood being in there as well, and of course the amber. I know some others say patchouli and I don't quite get that, unless it's a certain variation of patchouli like maybe green or red or golden patchouli. It plays fairly close to my skin and it seems to fade fairly quickly, although when I sniff at my wrists after a few hours when I think it's gone, it is in fact still quite present. Just. More subtle, than some other scents I've been wearing lately. This one is more gentle and subtle, soft. Like smoke or light, it's not a harsh desert sun but some golden rays of light peeking through some sort of covering, like clouds or a curtain. Or incense smoke. This one is a love and I'd like to get a bottle one day. It's been added to my favourites wishlist, anyways. :3

This was a frimp. I was a bit wary of it upon reading the description of notes, as I'm not a fan of mint in most things, I find it too overpowering. But I do like two BPAL perfumes with mint so far (Vicomte de Valmont and Celestial Beings Making Love Above the Sea) so I knew it was possible I'd like this too! In the vial, I smell mint and sweetness, likely the sugar. The mint is a bit cooling but not quite like the mint in Snow White, it smells fresh and green and yes, minty. But the mint isn't super overpowering, so I tried it on my skin! At first it's mostly mint and sugar, and I like the smell of it with my nose further away from my wrist than up close, I find the mint a bit too much when my nose is up close to my wrist. Over a little bit of time and further away from my nose, the bourbon comes out. It's not overpowering either. The mint is quite gentle and I like that, because I find (especially in food) that a little mint goes a very long way, the only foods I have liked with mint used it very very sparingly! And typically used the fresh green leaves. I don't like mint tea but this isn't like that. It sticks around for a few hours, it's not very strong or far reaching but I can still smell the mint and bourbon and sugar a few hours later against my skin. I like it enough to have reapplied it a few times today and I reapply it more frequently than some others I've tried recently. I like it, more than I thought I would, but I don't love it and I won't be getting a bottle of it. But if you sometimes like mint but don't want it to be overpowering, this is a nice blend to try that with. :3

This was a frimp, and I was excited to try it because I love the oud in Uncertain Horror and I had yet to try oud in anything else yet. Unfortunately this seems a rather indolic oud, at least on my skin, and at first. For like, the first hour to two hours. It's hard for me to smell much anything else past it. I can see why the prediction of the "manure" scent in a certain Yule perfume from 2024 was that it would be a stinky oud. It's not bad enough for me to wash it off, but the first time I tested it I was glad I was only applying it once. That being said I've applied it twice today so far and might go for a third. It's kind of growing on me? And I *love* what it morphs into. The woods, including the fragrant oud, and the frankincense and the hazelnut just morph over time into something much less "stinky" and absolutely wonderful on my skin. I find this one lasts a fair amount of time, too. Like at least five or six hours. But the extra strong and stinky version only lasts for one or two, so I could see why this would fade on some other folks' skin. Sniffing it later I think that even earlier in the "stinky" stage it must have a fair amount of frankincense, it's just again hard for me to smell past the very fragrant oud. It's not a "urine" scent to me, I wouldn't call it quite like a bathroom either but again, I can see why some descriptors of oud are "animalic" and yeah stinky oud could really mimic a... manure scent. Almost. Like it's woody too, and mostly just. Stinky. But I can see why others like it. I'm still going to try other things with oud because depending on the oud I might really, really like it. Also this might change with some aging. I'm not interested in buying a bottle of this anytime soon, it's definitely more of a "meh" (but then becomes a like/love) than anything else (also not a "yuck" though) for me personally, but I'm going to try aging it a bit and try it again in six months to a year and see what it's like then.

This was another frimp, love all the notes. I love how many frimps have turned out to be perfumes I love. In the vial I smell the amber and the vanilla bean. On my skin those really bloom and out comes the floral and the wood too. I don't know the scent of peach blossom off hand but there's definitely a floral there so I'm presuming that's it. The sandalwood is of the slightly creamy sort that I really love, it blends into the vanilla rather well but it's very similar to the sandalwood in Veil, which is supposed to be white sandalwood and not golden, but I find the "creamy" element of them similar. This one is a bit more.... woody though. It lasts quite a while, I was getting whiffs from my wrists some seven or eight hours after I initially applied it, and that was without putting my wrists up to my nose, it was faint but still noticeable. Usually it's a musk that lasts that long on me but this and the perfume I tried yesterday both last a really long time! It's very enjoyable. It doesn't have a long throw but it doesn't play super close to the skin either. I really want a bottle of this one, eventually.

A frimp, one I got excited about because I love green and wood and cedar especially. In the vial I smell pitch pine and something green, assuming that's the two kinds of leaves. On my skin I smell so much more. The cranberry and cedar really come out. It plays a bit closer to my skin, but lasts a really long time, I could still smell the pitch pine and cedar some six to seven hours after application. Usually only musks last that long on me, but I'm so happy. I really love this one and hope to get a bottle one day.

This was a frimp, but something I also had on one of my wishlists to try in the future. So I was quite happy to see it show up! In the imp, all I smell is the aquatic. It's salty and perhaps slightly more ozone than ocean but definitely, clearly, aquatic. Which I love! On my skin the aquatic, salty, almost ozone quality really blooms and takes centre stage. I don't smell much else really, not fresh on my skin. Maybe a hint of wood? That settles fairly quickly, within the first 30min or so the wood and the bay rum come out to play, and I think I can smell the leather too although I don't notice it as much, and I don't typically make leather notes vanish so this seems more a feature of the perfume than the nature of my skin? Maybe? But then, everyone is different, and this could just be my skin today. An hour or so after that the aquatic is still there but fading a bit, and the salt is going, but now I smell more of the leather. The rum is still around but it's blending in with the leather and wood. I would like a bottle of this one day. Although I keep buying LEs instead. xD But one day, I will buy more from the GC again! Especially aquatics.

This was a frimp, but I also had it on a wishlist of scents to try. In the imp I smell honey and florals, mostly. Once on my skin I smell the honey, though it's a bit different from other honey notes so possibly the honeycomb is what makes it different. I smell amber, I smell a bit of green (I'm assuming moss and aspen leaf), but the green is also very light and almost sweet, light florals, and a touch of wood. There is a gentle musk too but it's really light. I don't know if I smell any berry. The musk may be light but it plus the wood/bark is what lasts longest on me, after everything else fades away. This whole scent stays fairly close to my skin but lasts a decent amount of time. I could still smell the musk five+ hours later. This one was more of a like but I've really come to appreciate it more, and I think I love it, all on its own. But now I also want to try layering it with my other RPG scents, I bet it would be amazing with Ranger.