Jarek

I bought an imp of this as I was very interested in trying out BPAL's dirt note. In the imp: An earthy scent combo of dirt and some sort of evergreen, juniper likely. Wet on skin: Similar to the above but moreso, the soil note is very prominent but the juniper and patchouli are also very forward. There's a hint of more to the forest scents but I can't quite pick out what they are specifically. I don't get any florals (yet?). It's very nice and I like it at this stage a lot. Medium to long throw. Dry, a few hours later: The dirt smell backs off more though it's still present, patchouli is still there though the juniper also lightens, I still think there's other woody smells but I can't quite pick out what they are. I'm still not getting any florals. Short throw. I like it at this stage too though I wish it stayed a bit stronger. I love this enough to hopefully one day get a bottle.

I had first smelled ozone from a different company that I yried whose perfumes sadly were not to my preference, so that worried me I wouldn't like BPAL's ozone, but I needn't have worried. :3 In the imp: fresh, clear, slight hint of what I know is ozone. Wet on skin: The aquatic and ozone notes are so, so prominent. And I love it. ShadowEtienne said it reminds him of a brighter & sharper Sea of Glass, and as I got that imp in this order too I can fully agree. I think I like Sea of Glass slightly more but I still really really like Lightning. It makes me want to try all of those "Lightning Strikes..." perfumes too. Aquatics work well on me often and this one doesn't remind me of doing the laundry. Dry: The scent doesn't morph or change much I find, it starts a lot like it was, maybe a bit of the crispness of the water goes away but the ozone and the watery scents stay pretty balanced. I really like this one and hope to one day add a bottle to my collection.

I bought an imp of Tavern of Hell because of the ambergris and lavender fougère. I love both of those things. In the imp: sometjing a bit salty and maybe something citrusy? Could be some of the liquor, or ambergris. Wet on my skin: kind of peppery, maybe the tobacco flower, something a bit floral but bitter. Not picking up fougère or lavender at all, and the ambergris might be sort of present in the background but it's not forward at ALL unlike some scents. So, maybe, coriander, tobacco flower, a touch of absinthe? As it dries: some more of the alcohol comes through and maybe a bit more of the ambergris, though the latter still stays in the background as a supporting actor. I think I smell whiskey and absinthe, the wormwood liquor scent seems most peominent, but there are some florals as well. Mayyyybe the lavender fougère,so some lavender and woody scent, but it's all very well blended. That peppery scent is still around. A few hours later: wood scents, could be ebony wood, could be something in the fougère, could be both. I don't know what ebondy wood smells like. Liquor scents are still present, more of the whiskey now. There's florals in the background but they're faded. Maybe some ylang ylang is still present? The ambergris is hidden beneath the liquor & peppery scents, I'd likely miss it if it weren't in there but it's hard to pick out on its own. I do wish I could make out more of the ambergris, but it's an enjoyable scent overall. Not thinking I'll get a bottle, but we'll see what some aging does to the imp. I will wear out the imp. Like it.

Got an imp of Dorian from the lab, purchased near the end of 2024. When I first tried it a huge amount of what I smwlled was sweet tea, a tpuch of vanilla, but the sugar really stood out to me and although I liked it, it wasn't an instant love. I've tried it again a couple times (and I did let it sit for weeks before trying it initially!) and I like it even more, I notice more depth to it and I can say I love it now. Initially wet on my skin I largely smell sugar, vanilla, and black tea. I'm not sure what type of fougère it is made with but there is maybe a hint of woodiness from it, possibly lavender? I'm not detecting musk yet. The tea is very lovely, I've quite come to enjoy BPAL's tea note, and the hint of vanilla with it is so nice. Medium to long throw. I think it's medium throw but then catch whiffs of it from further than I thought it went As it dries over a few hours I can smell the musks, and things are a bit sweet in a musky sort of way and maybe still a touch of sugar & vanilla sweetness, though faded. The tea fades as it dries too. Throw shrinks, medium to low. There's a bit more fougère revealed but I can't quite pick out the elements, I'm guessing lavender and something woody-smelling (not necessarily wood) but I'm not sure.. Yeah this has really grown on me and I want to one day get a bottle of it. :3

Vicomte de Valmont was one of my first BPAL experiences, from a fougère imp pack I bought in 2020. I remember not being sure what to make of it at first. But it definitely grew on me and became one of my absolute beloved favourites! I emptied the imp before I discovered reviews on this forum, but I recently bought a bottle of it and so here I am! In the bottle: ambergris. Maybe a bit of florals I find it hard to place, but the ambergris is very salty and forward and yes. Very good. Wet on skin: I don't like a lot of mainstream perfumes or colognes, but to me this doesn't smell like any of those. This is very ambergris-forward from the start, and there's florals, and I don't get much mint at all which is good for me because I'm not the biggest fan of it. Mayyybe something herbal with the rosemary? Fairly long throw. As it dries: Still very much ambergris, the musk is coming through more now and blending with the ambergris. The florals are backing off, and I think the sandalwood is also more noticeable but it's backing off too so it's hard to tell. Something woody. The "green" of the moss and rosemary have backed off a lot, there's maybe a breath of mint but again the mint is subtle. Still long throw, though slightly less long. Three/four hours later: The musk is mostly what remains, with some traces of ambergris and again, maybe a breath of mint or rosemary. Maybe some trace remnants of the florals. Medium throw. I am so in love with this scent. I can see why it's meant to be a masculine one and I like it a lot for that reason too but I think it could work well for feminine folks too, and I'm a fairly feminine guy, so. Make of that what you will. x3 This isn't masculine in the way a number of other scents are said to be masculine.

I wasn't sure I'd like this as I don't always like black musk, but I really love this scent on me. I don't notice a whole lot of change as I wear it, the amber and musk are pretty balanced and they both linger. It's a touch more amber when wet and a touch more musk when well dry but the difference is not so large. It's a little bit sweet and the musk is very present but the amber rounds it out so nicely. I really adore this combo on my skin. This was a frimp from thr lab and I never would've thought to try it on my own, but now I want to check out other amber and even more black musk scents! Definitely adding it to my list of bottles to one day acquire.

I received a decant of this with my 2024 Yule decants order from a forumite. I don't have any hair, but I've read of folks using hair gloss as a body spray so I decided to try that! And let me just say, the texture of the hair gloss is so silky and nice. I wondered if it was going to be slightly slick but that feeling goes away as soon as it dries, and it dries quickly. Now, I wasn't sure about this one when I first applied it. I didn't dislike it, but I think thr oud was throwing me off, it's my first experience of it. But a few minutes later and I've adjusted and I'm starting to really love it. And there's so many notes in this that I already like. I don't know if I'm getting patchouli but there's somehing earthy, though some of that might be the oud? I smell a bit of sage, tea and tobacco in the throw, and something a bit smoky. It's all here and it's blended really well and I really love this already. Long throw. Five hours after application and it's still very present. Medium throw. Smokey wood, tobacco, tea. Some of what I think is oud. Still very enjoyable. I wish I could get a full bottle of this or the perfume, but I will settle for wearing my decant and maybe putting the perfume or HG on my DISO xD.

Decant. In the vial: it really does smell almost fruity to me. Not particularly sweet but definitely fruity. Wet on skin: The fruity impression is gone, there's some creamy vanilla and other things I'm going to assume are orris root, rice powder, and ambrette seed. I can't make out leather, or musk yet. The vanilla is slightly sweet and "milky" is a good descriptor. The switches might be there, there's a slight wood scent, but it could be root or something I'm unfamiliar with instead. Medium throw. Dry, three hours later: I think I smell the wood, not much of the vanilla. And maybe there's a breath of musk but I'm not getting a lot. There's some leather but it's faded. There's a bit of the other things I smelled earlier, that I'm not sure but think may be the other notes listed, or at least one or two of them. They give this a bit more of a perfume scent but it's not very strong an impression. I don't often get gender impressions from scents but this one started out androgynous and has become slightly masculine but still fairly androgynous. Low throw. It's nice but I'm not sure I want a bottle. I think I might wear the imp out but it might go to the gift/sell/trade selection. Edit: I am much more familiar with orris root now, and I really smell it after I first apply this. I also like orris root a lot. There's a bit of wood too, and some leather in the background. I think I smell vanilla too. I'm really liking this the second time around, and I'd like a bottle but I'm not sure I'll be able to buy one in time before they're taken down. Maybe I'll find one from a forumite. :3

2024 version, decant. In the vial: something sweet, but not a sugary sweet, uncertain what sort of sweet it is. Floral? Creamy? Something. Pleasant. Not too sweet. Wet on my skin: I'm only familiar with about half the notes, but doing my best. It's sweet, and I think a bit floral, and a little creamy, I don't get a strong foodie vibe but I might just not be familiar with fig. It smells sweet and "smooth" and a bit perfumey, but in the BPAL way of perfume. Maybe some myrrh, not sure I can pick out vanilla or sandalwood just yet but that might be "creamy" and it might come out more later. Medium-ish throw, it's close to my skin but I can smell it with my wrists further away. Dry, three hours later: slightly less sweet, and the "creamy" is gone, but sandalwood and incense (sandalwood & myrrh?) is much more noticeable now. I think maybe the fig is still there too? Possibly? Very close to my skin now. I really love this one. I might love it more than some others I'm also contrmplating a bottle of. I would like a bottle of this one.

Wasn't sure if I should put this in this thread or the Krampus 2023 thread but. I made my choice. xD Decant, 2024 version. In the vial: Kind of a sweet wood smell that I kind of associate with birch but I don't know if I'm placing that correctly. Wet on my skin: lovely red musk and black leather, musk yes but red more obvious in the throw, black leather supporting role but still stands out. Very musk forward, red musk, and I've really come to enjoy BPAL's red musk so this is pretty great. I'm not getting much dust or sticks but I don't mind because the red musk and black leather are fabulous. Medium to long throw. Dry, four hours later: The musk partially stays but some of the red aspects of it fade, the leather is faded, the wood is more prominent now. Medium to low throw. I might get a bottle of this. If not for this recent Yule then certainly an upcoming one, because I really do love it.

Decant. In the vial: I mostly smell what seems like peppermint. This doesn't give me much hope as I'm not a big mint fan, but I want to see what it's like on my skin. Wet on my skin: it's a cool mint, not necessarily peppermint, and there's a lot of I'm presuming the birch with it so it's not solely mint either. It's not creamy-monty like snow, I'm not sure what else is in there for ice, but it's very nice with the birch and a touch of clives I think. I actually like this a lot. Medium throw. Dry on my skin some three/four hours later: the mint is nearly gone and the birch has faded a bit but is still there, and the clove is a lot more prominent now. The birch adds some dimension to the clove so it's not only spice I'm smelling. It's very enjoyable at this stage as well. Medium to low throw. I'm not sure I'll get a bottle but I'm definitely wearing this decant out. :3

Purchased partial bottle 2024. In the bottle: it does smell like ginger to me. A bit of a fruity ginger. Wet on my skin: It's sweet and I want to say fruity, but I can see that being sweet and floral instead. There's some aquatic note in there and just a general freshness, can't tell if that's green or fruity or citrus or what. Almost a "clean" or maybe a "breeze?" It's pretty gentle, with medium-low throw, but I'm not sure how much of that is aging. After a few hours it's down to low throw, though it's still far enough for me to smell without having to put my wrist up to my nose, the fruity-floral scent is mostly gone, and what's left is a bit aquatic and fresh, now it's smelling maybe more green, or else a clean or breeze. That could be the aquatic though. I like this one a lot, pretty good for my first... well I suppose it's not quite a blind bottle if I have reviews to go by. xD I did decide to get it because of those, I like aquatics, and floral aquatics! And this one is very nice.

Decant, not sure of bottle's age. In the vial: something sweet and the salty-aquatic note I'm a bit familiar with from other BPAL ocean aquatics. Wet on my skin: the sweet milky scent is at first hard to place and I almost think it smells fruity, but as I sniff or maybe it changes over the next minute or so to be more milky in nature. It's a sweet milk though, like sweetened cream or condensed milk or something like that. A milky candy maybe. And with the salty ocean-aquatic that's more prominent than just the whiff from the vial, and I think I see how aquatics like Cthulhu and R'Lyeh are "dark" ocean waters now because this is fairly bright. Medium throw. Dry, four/five hours later: low throw now but still quite present, I'm not used to the aquatic being the longer lasting element but it is in this perfume. Some of the milky sweetness remains but it's pretty faded by now, and some of the water aspect of the aquatic is gone, largely salt with some water now left. I really like this one. Love it even. I can see myself getting a bottle in the future.

2024 decant. In the vial: A bit sweet, a bit musky. Hard to place exactly what I'm smelling though. Maybe some vanilla? I'm not getting any rose, really. Wet on my skin: I can smell a bit of rose now, and a fair amount of what I've come to know of as "snow" from my vatious Yule decants. A sweet, creamy, minty sort of blend, possibly with vanilla, and it's hard for me to pick out the other notes of it. The musky fur-scent is present, I'm not sure what kind of musk this is but I'm fairly sure it's not black musk, I don't think it's a white musk either but I cpuld be wrong about that. The rose on me is not very prominent at all and the mint to me is quite noticeable. Long throw. Dry, a few hours later: the musk really deepens and becomes more prominent, the creamy notes of the snow are still there too, and I can still smell the mint though it's less noticeable at this stage than I find it to be in Snow White. There might be some rose still? I've been finding the rose note very difficult to pick out and I don't know if it's my nose or my skin but it's just not very present to me. Maybe I would notice if it's gone? I'm tempted to layer a bit of Peacock Queen to see if that brings it out more, but I'll save that for another time. Still a pretty long throw. Eight or nine hours later: the musk is still quite noticeable on my skin, maybe a bit of mint or ceamy-snow. Low throw by this point but I was quite pleasantly surprised this one lasted so long. Unsure if I want a bottle yet. I like it a fair amount but I may have to try it again a couple times to be sure. I think I like it more than Snow White, maybe on par with Honey Snowballs. But it is the mint that throws me off slightly. That's just me though. I find it more blended in this perfume, but between the musk and the mint I'm not able to pick out much rose. Maybe some in the throw? That fits with "rose-touched", but I'm going to see what more rose does to it. :3 Edit: trying this again and not sure why I missed this the first time, but in the vial and freshly set on my skin I smell so much rose. It's really nice. It balances well with the musky fur, and I'm not getting much snow yet. Maybe a bit of a chill in my nose from whatever is used to create the snow note, I say mint but it could be wintergreen? As it dries, the rose is a bit less prominent but I can still smell it beneath everything, the snow note is coming through a bit more, and the musk really smells brown and furry. I find I like this one well enough for a bottle, but I prioritized other non-repeating scents, so this will likely have to wait until it comes back at a later time for me to get a bottle. I will enjoy wearing out the decant, however.

2024 version, decant. In the vial: rose! Very much a rose. Maybe a bit damp. Wet on my skin: This is straight-up rose, fairly good throw, not much else on my skin. The description mentions a thorn but I'm not getting anything of that, unless you're expecting a thorn with the rose itself. And I might. It's very boldly rose. I see up above someone mentioning layering this with other scents to turn them into rose scents and I think that would be great, as this seems almost like a single note rose to me. Drying, after a few hours: it's gone a bit powdery on me. Still obviously rose but it's rose powder, kind of. I'm not as into this one as I am into Rose Red, but it's a very fine rose on its own. I won't be seeking a bottle but I may use up my imp with layering.

I have a decant of the 2024 version. In the vial: bright rose and a bit of fresh/green. Wet on skin: This smells exactly like a newly cut fresh dewy rose. There's rose, there's the green of the stem (and it's very much a rose stem kimd of green), and there's a breath of dew aquatic. It's more light than a rain aquatic, almost reminds me of breeze, but more watery than airy. The perfume is gorgeous at this stage and I really really love it. Medium to large throw. A few hours later: most of the green and dew are gone, a bit of the green stem remains though, and the rose itself has toned down somewhat. Medium to low throw. It's still very pretty at this stage and I like it a lot, though the wet and initial hour just blows me away with how lovely it is. I would like to get a bottle but I'm not sure I'll be able to afford it before the Yules go down, as I have other bottles as priorities. But we'll see. This one does return, if not every year then it's still something I'll look forward to acquiring a bottle of one day.

I got a decant of the 2024 vwrsion of Honey Snowballs. I have tried Snow White for the first time sometime last week. My only other experience with BPAL's honey notes so far have been in blends with kyphi. In the vial I smell the honey, it's sweet and a little spicy almost. That's primarily what I smell. Wet on my skin and there's floral notes, if this is indeed Snow White snow then I wonder if it's bringing out the floral notes from that, or if it's more in the honey itself. It does smell a bit "spiced" too, and it's sweet but in a musky honey way than in the way of Snow White. In fact I don't smell much that makes me think of Snow White at all. I do think there's mint but it's not nearly as prominent as I find it to be in Snow White. A couple/few hours later and the musky-floral parts of the honey, the sweet, are still there, but the main smell of the honey itself has faded somewhat.The mint has remained in the background, unlike in Snow White where I found it getting stronger over time. I think it smells a bit more like Snow White snow now, just, a couple/frw hours after applying Snow White, so there's some vanilla but I'm not really getting coconut or almond. It's a little creamy, maybe, but the sweet/honey musk/floral notes definitely take it over. I like it. I like Snow White too but I think I like this slightly more. Not sure I'd get a bottle, but I can see myself wearing it more often than I'd wear Snow White.

I have a decant of Dirty, not sure when the bottle was purchased. In the decant vial: it smells like very high quality "laundry soap" but not soapy, just the clean laundry smell afterwards, but amped up a few degrees and like. A lot nicer and ali5ghtly more complex. Wet on my skin: this has about medium throw. It reminds me of some "aquatics" but very very nice ones, in the laundry area and also some "breeze" fresh sort of note. It's very much like clean laundry, liked in the vial, but even more so, yet more complex than that. Perhaps one of those expensive natural-products based laundry detergents. But it's slightly closer to perfume than laundry. I don't know how else to describe it. I like it, I like it as a perfume specifically. But it is not your typical perfume. A few hours later: still medium throw, the breeze note has faded but the more tart aquatic-laundry notes are still around, just somewhat more gentle. But overall it still smells remarkably like it did when I first applied it. Decent throw still too though that's faded a bit. I can still smell it without having to put my wrist up to my nose. Overall, I like it. I don't love it, but I quite like it,I don't know if I would get a bottle but I'm glad I have a decant and I will possibly wear this one until it's empty, though I may try it on friends who are interested in trying perfume that doesn't smell like perfume.

Ii have a decant of this and tried it today. I really really love it. I in the decant vial I smell frankincense and myrrh, and something citrusy, and a bit of what freshly crushed sage can smell like. The freshly crushed sage bit is quite uncannily spot-on. Wet on my skin and for an hour or so afterwards I smell quite heavenly. I think I can smell some honey and wine of kyphi. The sage becomes less freshly crushed but still noticeably sage. I looked up most of the scents to see what I might be smelling. I think I smell sandarac, palmarosa, and a bit of star anise. It's incensey, herbal, fresh, citrusy, a little bit of liquorice, resinously sweet. It's beautiful. A few hours later, like four, it's fairly powdery now, powder incense and still sweet, still got some good throw to it, medium or longer. I still really like it here though not quite as much as the first few hours, which does last a fair while. I was not execting to love this one so much but I really, really do, and if I don't geab a bottle from this year's offering I'm glad to see it returns sometimes so I could grab it at a later time. But I think I will try in a month or two.

I got this partial bottle from a wonderful forumite. It was one of my first blind bottles and I really like it! In the bottle I get the woods and maybe some pepper and a bit of pear, maybe. I wanted this largely for the woods so I'm pretty happy about this. Wet on my skin it's mostly woods, I looked up champaca and I think some of that comes through as it dries, I don't pick up much pear or jasmine, maybe a bit of pepper. This definitely makes me think of bronze beings, not Ares but it does seem to evoke the colours of polished bronze. As it dries further I think I do smell the florals a bit more but they do fade, maybe some jasmine but definitely what I've read champaca to smell like ("creamy floral"), maybe something sweet which could be the pear. After a few hours the remaining smells are the woods, moreso the sandalwood but still some cedar, a hint of creaminess but that's mostly gone. I really love this one and I'm so glad to have a bottle, it makes me very interested in future Lupercalia releases too.

A chilly, bright perfume: flurries of virgin snow, crisp winter wind and the faintest breath of night-blooming flowers. 2024 version I have been very curious about the lab's snow and ice and cold notes. It was only partly through making an order I checked the reviews and discovered mint is a possible inclusion. I'm not the biggest fan of mint, but I do like some blends with it, and I was still so very curious so I decided to give it a go. In the decant vial it's a little sweet but not in a sugary way, quite a light scent, a touch of florals. Wet on my skin and I'm smelling the mint, but there's other things layered with it, it's not like smelling Mad Hatter with the "paroxysm of pennyroyal", but it is more noticeable than the mints in Vicomte de Valmont. At least to me. The florals are there but very light, and there's a light breezy/airy sort of scent which is also kind of sweet (I did just try Machu Picchu yesterday so I'm primed to pick out that sort of more I think). As it dries and evaporates over the day the mint and sweet stay, the florals gradually go away, the air/wind scent fades a bit too but hands around longer than the florals. There's more to the "snow" than mint, but I always find mint very overpowering to my nose (and tongue), a little goes a very long way for me. So while I can tell there's more than the mint, I can't make out what. It lasted a really long time, I could still smell it on my wrists six+ hours later and I didn't need to put my wrist up to my nose either. It's a pretty nice scent! It was a bit of a gamble for me with the mint, and I don't think I'll be getting a bottle of it, but I think it was definitely worth trying a decant. I mean, Vicomte de Valmont is one of my absolute favourites. Snow White for me is very pretty, long lasting, I like a lot of it. Not sure if I'll keep the decant or not. I'll definitely try it again though. Edit: Omay I've re-applied and the coconut, vanilla, maybe a bit of almond, I see what others are talking about now. The mint is much more subtle in the decant and freshly applied on my skin. It just becomes more noticeable with time as the other stuff fades, but the rest of the... I think vanilla, possibly coconut, may fade a bit but also sticks around with the mint. I do like this more freshly applied, and I may like it more after some reapplications. I'm glad I'm giving it further opportunities. :3 Efit 2: So I like it even more with further applications, even though the mint is still pretty noticeable to me it's very nicely blended with everything. I don't forsee getting a bottle but I'm definitely wearing out the decant, and I might order decants again in the future.

In the decant vial it's fairly light and a bit floral and sweet, but I was wondering if it was going to turn out to have low throw and maybe not last as long, like the scent I trialled yesterday. Wet on my skin though that's much less of a worry. It starts out fairly light still but within a minute or few it really blooms. I can make out fruits, aquatic notes, "breeze", florals, and the amber is countering the sweetness of the rest of it. Eveything is really well balanced. Medium throw on me. Dry down: This lasts a fair amount of time for me, I can still smell it four/five hours later, though the fruits are largely gone and so is the breeze. The florals and amber are still there. I really like this! I think I will add it to the list of things to get a bottle of. :3

I smelled something quite green but to me it didn't smell like cucumbers or grass? Anyways. In the decant vial it is a bit, I want to say sharper, not strong but stronger than on my skin later. At first whiff I wasn't sure I'd like it. Wet on skin: still green of some kind woth a zing but whatever it was that had me uncertain about liking it vanishes within seconds of applying it to my skin. I don't know if mine is aged and this used to be stronger, but it doesn't have very much throw. But I do really like it, even if I can't quite place it. Drydown: this didn't last very long on me! I was reapplying within an hour or two until I had to get ready to go. More of the same though the "zing" crisp kind of component smooths out, and what's left is a bit more... not quite watery, still green, but sort of watery green, but it doesn't smell like an aquatic? I don't know! I still like it though. If it stayed longer on me, I'd get a bottle.

In my decant vial, and wet on my skin, I smell lavendar and a thick syrup kind of smell that is a bit sweet but less like sugar and more floral. And the lavendar isn't just quite lavendar, but I'm having difficulty quantifying how. It's very nice though. Drying a bit, maybe an hour after application, the syrupy smell is still there and the lavendar is still there but it's richer, there's more depth to it. Maybe a very very light soft smoke? Nothing acrid. Very floral and sweet. It's still lavendar but not quite so. It fits the name well but I find it interesting rather than discomforting. :3 Quite enjoyable. A few hours after application, the floral-syrupy smell is faded though some floral sweetness remains, and I can pick out more elements of the fougère now, like probably some oakmoss. The lavendar is a touch faded and so is the soft (sweet?) smoke but both still present. A good amount of throw at first but has dropped off to medium throw now on me. I really like this one. It smells unlike any fougère I've tried from BPAL before but is still noticeably fougère, and it's just delightful. I think I will definitely try to aquire a bottle of it.

In the decant vial, it's pretty woody. Maybe a touch of smoke. Wet on my skin the woody smells predominate, with some spices from the cardamom and black pepper. Wverything is blending really well that I'm finding it hard to pick out notes, but I think the samdalwood and white cedar are there, with a touch of smokey from the vetiver but it's mostly a woody vetiver. I don't smell much ambergris but I rarely do in the start of ambergris perfumes, I figure it can take a while to show up on my skin. Dry after five hours it still has some decent throw, the spices portion is nearly gone but there may be some left and I'm just not as familiar with the cardamom. Cedar is still here but the sandalwood has faded, vetiver is largely gone but I think the orris root is still around. Parts of it anyways. Strangely the ambergris hasn't become prominent like I'm used to, I can tell it's there but it's more boosting everything else rather than coming forward and doing its own thing too. The overall effect is very nice. Everything is well blended. I quite like this one, though I'm going to let it rest at least a week before trying it again and deciding if I want a bottle. Waering the rest of my decant for sure. Edit: the more I try this the more I love it. The ambergris is a bit more noticeable to me now but it's definitely more in the background than I'm used to, it's nice though. Very nice. I looked up orris root too and I think it also really stands out in the initial stages with the woody smells. It is a bit fruity in a way. But not like a gourmet. I didn't get a bottle at the start of February, but I am going to get one at the start of March.