carrioncupid

so. i got a imp of it second hand in a destash in june, and when it first arrived i was underwhelmed by it. it was.. nice, but i couldn't understand the hype around it. let down, i then tucked it away in a box with all of my other imps destined for destash. but, last night, inexplicably, i was really compelled to pull it out and try it again. and thank god i did because it's just so... beautiful now. it's been three months with this little beauty aging in my destash box. i can't explain to you what i'm smelling, this doesn't make for a good review but it's so outside of what i usually wear that i have no idea what specific notes i'm picking out. but, it is exactly how beth describes it as. it's vegetal, it's musky, it's sweet from the vanilla. it's sinuous and slithering, exactly like the feel of a snake coiling around you. the project on this baby is nuclear, and it completely shadowed all the other scents i was testing out last night as well. i think the combo of this and DE's unrequited has converted me from a patchouli hater into an enjoyer... and dare i say even a lover? before these two i would turn tail and run the other way from any sort of fragrance that had even a smidge of patch listed in the notes. but, well-- it's good news for me, and terrible news for my wallet lol (big bonus points for reminding me so heavily of my favorite street fighter character as well: aki she teeming with snake imagery, from her outfit, her character and down to her move set. not to mention, snakes are also one of my favorite animals as well! there are so many reasons for me to love SO) it's a shame i have no idea how old my imp is because i got it second hand, but i'm more than happy to nab a fresh bottle straight from the lab! (and don't even get me started on snoil variants, i need to get my hands on serpents in the lilac ASAP!)

[I haven't tried the original perfume] Like others have mentioned it's definitely lavender heavy! Lovely, herbaceous, French lavender buds are the main thing in this HG. There is just a very slight hint of white oud around the edges of the lavender. I love it so much. When giving it a sniff, I was instantly reminded of the scent of my favorite childhood plushie. He was a cute pink piggy and he smelled exactly like this. I don't care that I can't smell the other notes in here, this has solidified to me that I adore the scent of French lavender, you never cease to amaze me BPAL.

oh my gawd…. lilac and lavender perfection right here, i especially love the lavender used in this one. it’s not sweet at all, i’d say that it’s more of an herbal one but it doesn’t have any herby bite to it like it normal would. probably because it’s tempered by the lilac but my GOD this is amazing. i feel like a little seaside lilacvender fairy wearing this

Wow!!! Wow wow wow, this is gorgeous! Delicate woods and dare I say vanilla? I’m not acquainted with Antique Lace whatsoever, but lace accords just scream vanilla to me. Not overwhelmingly woody, it’s a lovely blend of vanilla, wood and something slightly floral. When I first got this, this wasn’t impressive to me at all, it smelled really fruity– just like cherry but this. Wow, this is a stunner. Smells so delicate… Mhm yeah, light vanilla with some (quite faint) cherrywood and something slightly floral to bring it all together. It doesn’t read as rose to me, but that’s quite fine to me. Maybe it’ll come out more on the drydown? But as it stands right now, I LOVE this blend so much. BPAL you do it again, I never really cared for woody notes, or lace to be honest before them. If you like light multifaceted vanillas this one is for you. 1000/5!!! would wear on my wedding day!!

(copy pasted from my mega review) Noticeably right off the bat, the moment it hits skin it has HUGE projection. It has a certain ~cool~ and silky quality to it that is very reminiscent of porcelain. Like running your thumb over a delicate teacup. The rose in here is very gentle, and it’s not sweet– these are just pure pink roses in bloom. The peony is not nearly as recognizable to me as the roses are, but I think that they provide an undercurrent of something slightly fruity, but it never ever tips into being edible. I think this might be the same peony note in BPAL’s The Pearl? [A salt-encrusted cocoon overflowing with almond blossoms, sweet patchouli, and dried peony petals whipped into orris butter.] But The Pearl didn’t work for me. This is so lovely, if you find rose to be an overwhelming note, I suggest you give this one a try. I’m not the biggest fan of roses but this one is quite nice. It’s not very in your face, green, powdery or sticky sweet. Just fresh gentle rose tempered by cool porcelain and delicately fruity peony. I’m very very inclined to pick up a full bottle if it stays this way through minimum 6 hour wear. Definite 4/5, tentative 5/5. ETA: Ah, this is such an easy and soothing scent to wear, lasted for a bit before I felt the need to refresh it, about 5 hours. (Handwashing/rubbing probably decreased longevity but, still, I feel comfortable buying an FS of it, the nice label art is a plus too.) 4/5 → 5/5

i agree with the other reviews that mentioned that tomie has a sort of mainstream quality to it, not in the way of it being generic or something like that but this is definitely a crowd pleaser! the white amber used in here is different from the ones that i'm used to ie. the sort of skin scent quality the ones i've tried have. like in hexennacht's loup garou or NA's eternal ankh, both of which i love. tomie to me is a very delicate and lovely floral blend. it's like a lovely bouquet of flowers, all of them melding together without one outshining the other. i was kind of nervous about the sandalwood but it adds a pleasant sort of musky quality to the florals that grounds them, preventing them from simply floating away. on me it's mainly the almond blossoms that spring forth from the other florals, if i really had to say. with the jasmine and the rose playing back up. i wasn't sure if coeur de jasmin referred to a specific type or where it's "located" in the blend, but i believe that it means in this case that jasmine is a heart note, rather than a specific type. all in all, a nice and inoffensive floral blend that's perfect for getting someone into the BPAL rabbit hole.

got this as a sniffie imp back in may (but there's enough juice in here for a test, or three, i don't typically use a lot ) the scent morphs with proximity, is what i immediately notice. from far away and in the imp it's more of a fresh springtime floral, but up close near the back of my hand, the almond milk comes out more. i can't say if the sweet pea note is accurate because i don't have a lot of experience with it but so far, it's nice! i think i'd like to try the lab's other sweet pea notes, specifically mouse's long and sad tale, as i have a lot of almond milk scents already.

i was frimped this one pretty recently, maybe... a week or two ago now? despite having lotus in it, the presence of both myrrh and sandalwood steer me away from this one, so i definitely wouldn't have gone out of my way to get this one. hm, smells like a pause in one's studies but without the almond! very interesting. it smells very clean to me. this doesn't bring to mind any dark imagery like the description would lead you to believe, this is more... lounging around in the afternoon sun. lotus flower, with a hint of something woody in the background, it's nice actually! i don't get any sort of, "bubble gum" aspect that other associate with lotus. it's just, clean and pretty simple in my opinion. i'll keep my imp, but i don't see an FS in my future. uhh, so well i inevitably had to scrub because i had to wash my hands, and i don’t know it’s the power or suggestion or placebo or whatever but post scrub it smells like. paper towels? and i’m. i’m oddly into it? smells exactly like freshly used paper towels and of course the original scent but a lot more muted. i guess it’s not too weird because i also love the smell of the home depot lumber aisle so maybe i’m just inclined towards processed wood notes LOL

very fresh goblin sniff right out of the mail, haven’t skin tested yet. smells just like cherry lollipops in the bottle! juicy, vibrant red 40 colored cherry lollipops and a hint of something silky smooth in the background, i initially thought it was incense but after inspection of the note list i suspect it might be that red musk? i don’t have much experience with red or other colored musks besides my usual white and skin musks. but it’s quite silky! will love how to see this performs on my skin. on skin it's much of the same, except not as juicy as freshly applied or in the bottle. after sniffing it more, i can sense something sort of powdery(?) come out? i think it might be the beeswax note, this is very much outside of my usual wheelhouse as a scent, but it's a nice change of pace. it's definitely cloying if you apply to much, so use a light hand for this one. i'm glad to have a partial of it in my collection, but i don't think i need more.

this one... it's really strong in the bottle. like. super duper strong, and there's this very apparent sour wave that washes over me but it leaves just as quickly thankfully (PROBABLY honey + skin musk combo if i had to say). to me, i'm not sure if it's because i just don't eat a lot of pears-- but i wouldn't be able to tell that this is supposed to be pear. not even like, a candied or idealized version of a pear, it just...kinda smells like fruit? to me? nondescript fruit with cream. on skin, it is not nearly as strong to me. maybe it's also because i am wearing another scent on my neck and that's smothering what i can smell on my hand? (i didn't expect l'homme to have this much projection;;;) or maybe it's because i didn't apply enough of it? but. it's.. fine. yeah. it's fine. it doesn't knock my socks off or anything like that, it's fine for what it is. (and the little mini wave of honey sourness each time i give it a whiff is not helping its case) but i could definitely live without it. i'll have to compare to nava's EA pear, but i think i'd like a pear scent without any fixings.

i don't remember much of it because i had it a few months ago, and i JUST got into collecting BPALs, but i think it's a case of my olfactory senses not agreeing with BPAL's strawberry note. iris and peony is already pretty hard for me to discern on their own but when you add an overwhelming strawberry note to the mix, well it basically blitzes those delicate florals out of the blend completely, at least for me. i'm not sure why, convivial vulva, beauty with pink veil, and contest of flowers: iris, if you blindfolded me and asked me to name which is which. well i'd probably jumble them all up, that's how similar they all smelled to me. i think i'll just have to pass on their future strawberry offerings unfortunately.

(had this sample for abt 4 days) in the slonk it smells like... butter? like straight up salted butter but dropped into some patch i think. it's very odd, considering how when i initially sniffed it when i first got it, it smelled quite fruity thanks (probably) due to the peony. on skin the butter recedes into the background somewhat (although it is still very much present) and there's a noticeable fruity and floral quality to it now. i don't smell anything resembling anything close to almond in here, even if i really try to pick it out. it very much so has a sort of... clean and yet, dirty-at-the-same-time creamy quality to it that was present in a girl knitting, similar to what amoraexcena said. ooh. the fruitness evaporated again and the butter is back with a vengeance. i just think that salty, buttery patchouli simply isn't for me. i ended up attempting to scrub this one off (to seemingly little effect) but i gave it another sniff and i think i like it more post-scrub. the butter has been sheered away for the most part leaving the fruity peony petals behind (although that accursed butter still lingers noticeably around the edges), sigh-- if only there wasn't any orris butter in here! i think the butter part is messing with me. if it had been just regular orris i think i would've enjoyed it just fine.

wayyy too sweet for my tastes, maybe it's because i drink solely black coffee but this is incredibly sweet. one part coffee to three parts dunkin donuts coffee creamer, and extra sugar to really seal the deal. rather than occult rituals in the venerated and ancient university, they're being held in the storage room of the starbucks in the barnes and nobles; hard pass.

milk + wine + my skin chemistry = death. enough said. no but seriously, this one is not doing it for me. i'm already iffy about milk notes but the wine just speeds up the curdling of the milk and it's just a sour mess in the imp. i didn't even try this one on my skin before i destashed it. i doubt more rest would've done anything to improve it for me, the imp was already very aged, with yellowed and worn paper label.

spices in a very literal sense. it smells like my pantry, this is pure cinnamon bark to me. there's a very slight sweetness but that's coming from the cinnamon. i don't get any of the honey here thankfully. smells like cinnamon tea i used to drink, except it's a lot less sweet. it's a pretty dry blend of spices i'd say. can't really go wrong with a scent like this on a cold day. the projection is a very intimate one, can't really smell it from the back of my hand unless i get close. i think if i slather this on the suprasternal notch like i usually do then it'd be fine. beware if you have cinnamon sensitivities. i tried this one again after maybe, a week or two after my initial review and i've bumped it down a bit. something in here is just sour and doesn't agree with me. i think it may be the honey, sigh, honey notes are usually very hit or miss on me (usually miss) and this one is no different. i'll probably look elsewhere to get my spice kick.