carrioncupid

an utterly beguiling scent to me, i think i can smell all or almost all the notes in here (i still can’t for the life of me determine what red musk smells like) it’s so… weird? i can smell the porcelain, the bergamot, the violet leaf, the fougere… but i just don’t care for it. i wish there was a whole lot more vanilla in here, and less of the… fougere (iris and bergamot) i suppose. i think i’d prefer floral still life with cat for a porcelain note. this was also sent off to a better home.

made me realize that neroli is not a note for me. bitter neroli in the beginning and for much of the wear time until all the other notes shyly peek out hours later. was sent off to a much better new home.

smells oddly…mainstream-y? to me? my first thought was my very old bottle of chanel no5, my mom handed down to me. it’s about 30 years old, and ravenna smells like that to me, but sweeter. i also asked my brother for his opinion on it and he agreed it smelled like a mainstream perfume. ravenna is very, perfumey, let’s say. it’s one of those BPALs where i have difficulty picking out single notes (when i’m usually good at that) and instead it’s just a blend of… smells. like, yep, it sure smells like something, not sure what, but it does. i’m sad about it. wish i got the luxurious, heavy and sensual smell others are getting, i do really well with those types of scents. but oh well— can’t win em all.

i don't know for sure what i'm smelling. i have limited experience with violet, and, quite honestly almost all of the other notes in this blend besides the patchouli. it's green smelling? i think if i had to say i don't really get any of the so-called violet. it's the patch and the moss i think, there's nothing fruity or floral in this blend on my skin. stale green moss and patch? i don't care for it.

minty… herbal… almost medicinal in quality. it reminds me of my mom’s tiger balm. ooh. there’s two scents entwined within one another, a woody scent and a fruity scent. there’s also a slight smoky quality that lingers beneath the fresh scent. it’s mainly blackberry and pitch pine. there’s also a slightly spiciness that comes from the tomato leaf, although it doesn’t smell like tomatoes. it’s very interesting. not my preference for scents but it’s certainly one that may be good for warmer months. becomes a lot gentler on the dry down, with the only thing really remaining is a blackberry musk. all other notes fade a lot into the background and it’s just like you got done eating a whole blackberry bush.

eh. grandma-esque soapy florals that also irritated my skin 😕 smells familiar to me, i think there might be another BPAL blend similar to this. if i had to say i think it’s old powdery florals. oh yes, it’s the drydown of carved wooden bridal shop, that specific rose note is prolific in many blends it seems. not much to say about it, les fleurs du mal is probably named that because of the skin reaction it gave me, and not the scent itself.

loooove it, love love love it! i agree with the first review that there is a slightly coconutty aspect to it, despite it not being listed as a note. i concur that it’s a warm, creamy and rustic take on vanilla. i have no experience with balsam, nor tumbleweeds but the vanilla just carries this whole blend so well. i’m in love! the cognac isn’t noticeable to me (and i have no experience with it as i don’t drink) but it doesn’t smell boozy— if it’s there it’s quite subtle. CSSG has immediately jumped up into one of my absolute fave vanillas, up there with the likes of my beloved zorya p, and arcana’s unicorn horn. eta: cssg is so good i have a second bottle of it otw hehe

my experience with lorrainna is like doomsday_disco’s, it’s mainly a lilac solinote scent on me which i’m a huge fan of. i loooove lilac, they’re one of my favorite floral scents ever. i’m unfamiliar with the scent of magnolia, and the scant experience i’ve had with it have been less than pleasant, so i’m so happy that it’s mainly lilac on me. the orris and the ambergris aren’t too detectable, but that’s a non issue for me. a beautiful, slightly sweet lilac that’s perfect for everyday wear.

i think i’m the odd man out here because all i got was an almond milk single note so incredibly disappointed. not even a little hint of rose or tea or tapioca— it’s as if a metric f*ck ton of almond milk was dumped on me. if you also amp almonds, like i do, then beware of this one.

a true wild card in my little imp collection! i love eating all sorts of mushrooms (not wild ones, only commercially farmed unfortunately) but i’m not sure how i feel about smelling like them. ooh. a mouth full of hay in the imp. a very dry scent, very wood and hay heavy in the imp. hm. smells like chewing on a 2x4 fresh from the home depot lumber aisle. or snorting a line of sawdust. a LOT more wood heavy than what the name would lead you to believe. there’s a slight hint of sweetness underneath the pile of wood, but whether that’s the slight natural sweetness of presumably hiba– or the mushrooms, it remains to be seen. hmm, it kind of reminds me of the natural dry sweetness of cinnamon? i mean, cinnamon IS tree bark after all. there’s a very dry subtle sweetness that’s reminiscent of cinnamon. i don’t detect any ginger root or ginseng in here. just pure woodiness. not what i expected going into it, but i kind of dig it.

ooh. floral bomb. and most florals that land quite outside my comfort zone once again. soapy… with a slight spiced bite from it, presumably from the lily of the valley. more sniffs reveal a sort of, laundry scent to me. this kind of just smells like snuggles detergent but not nearly as sweet. not the sort of scent i would envision when i think of what grief would smell like, but to each their own interpretation. grief smells like dryer sheets apparently.

hmm, three notes that i don’t usually go for, so this is quite outside the realm of my comfort zone. but i’ll give it a try anyway. the wine and the rose vie for equal attention in the spot light, with the dragon’s blood resigning itself to the backstage. it oscillates between wine and rose before eventually coming to a truce and settling down into a wine and rose scent. the wine is a sweet one, this blend isn’t a dry one– probably due in part to the rose. although it does lean quite soapy to me, or very perfumey. like in the after smell when i pull away from where it’s applied on the back of my hand, i can feel a sort of soapiness lingering in the back of my nose. oh! i was wondering why this was so familiar to me– it smells like a GC version of carved wooden bridal shop from last year’s yules! it’s less fruity than CWBS but i think the rose note used is the same– if not very similar. overall, it’s an unoffensive, albeit soapy rose scent, but i think i prefer CWBS more than this one.

[muscadine, black and red patchouli, cereus and nag champa] most definitely grape with a bite in the imp! like wine but sweet. oh lord, it’s like a grape scented bomb went off on the back of my hand. the initial grape blast dies down pretty quickly, although it still definitely lingers within the blend. the patch in here kinda smells dirty, earthy, unlike the patch in my beloved SO. on the extremely quick dry down [VERY quick, like a dew seconds, quick] the grape skedaddles out of there and it’s only the patch and the presumably the cereus and NC that give it a little bit of sweetness. with a little more time the patch smooths out some more and it’s a little better, the grape peeks its head back in here and there but it’s no where near as present as it was in the beginning. the nag champa is unfortunately not anywhere near the spot light, which is a shame, as i love the smell of unlit nag champa incense sticks.

[from a 'feltie' sample so generously gifted to me by a fellow forumite] she warned me that there was a sort of... pissy scent to this one, and when i asked for more info-- she also went on to describe it as barnyard and i must say that she wasn't lying the in the slightest. reviews of the counterpart "is he, you know" have also mentioned there being a pissy and or poopy sharpness to this and it most certainly finds its way here. thankfully, the stank does disappear on the dry down and it's that sensational bpal lilac coming out full force. as mentioned by leptonpyr it's definitely more than just a sprig of lilac it's a whole bush of it! i'd say that it's kind of a mature lilac blend? i have very limited experience with the majority of the notes in here, but it's definitely lilac and then a sweetness that supports that [can't tell whether it's the sugar cane or the vanilla] and then a subtle herbalness underneath. quite a lovely lilac if you can get over the brief stank!

i had a very “this hole was made for me!” junji ito moment but with the notes list for this one. it’s perfect and i love it! i saw another reviewer on the forum mention there being a citrusy bite coming from somewhere in the blend and i can definitely see what they’re talking about. this one really morphed in my hair over night, when applied fresh it was all wood and hay and beeswax and to be honest i was a little miffed lol, but this morning— i keep catching whiffs of something deliciously figgy and i can say for certain it’s a yellow smell! man, the waxy texture of the beeswax and the figs translate SO well in scent! this one is quite lovely actually, and i love the smell of the figs in this one!! i wanted some more chamomile (because i love smelling my huge bag of loose leaf chamomile from time to time) so hopefully with a little more time it’ll come out! even with just a little more rest over night, this has completely changed from the first time i tried it! my first try was all wood and beeswax and the fig and honey goodness came out after a good night's sleep-- but today, right off the bat it's sweet summery goodness! i spitzed 3 pumps into my hands and rubbed it a bit between my palms and it was like summer blossomed between them. it's magical, the fig and the honey and the chamomile coming out in full force. the honey in here has slight floral nuances and it's not heavy and overbearing at all like other honey scents i dislike. the figs feel fresh and so ripe they're about to split open, the chamomile is more like a brewed tisane with copious amounts of honey swirled into it. the beeswax and the wood recede into the background, noticeable but they support the main stars of the show-- the fig, honey and chamomile. i knew that i would love this one and i was right! this was the only one i really REALLY wanted from this year's weenies and i'm so happy this little ray of sunshine is in my collection now!