leptonpyr

I wore The Woman at the Edge of the Woods for the first time today, and I have to say, it is such a fascinating blend that I've pretty much spent the entire day thinking about it off and on. BPAL is truly taking over my life! (I can't say I mind much.) It goes on wet quite strong, and instantly feels like it embodies its name--WOODS, dark damp woods, with some witchy kitchen herbs. It's all pine-camphor, earthy patchouli, a little bitter and a little sharp, almost minty, almost but not quite medicinal, and just a little bit smoky. After maybe half an hour the vanilla started to come out to soften it a little, which had a kind of really delicious effect. I would describe it as dark and warm, though there is a slight astringency peeking through that's almost citrus-like (after some googling, it would appear this could be the nettle? or perhaps the chamomile). At the end of the day the headiness of the herbaceous/camphorous swirl is gone, and I'm left with a sharp but softened piney pepperiness that is simpler and more straightforward than the Woman at the height of her power. It feels more like I'm sniffing a bouquet of dried herbs I've taken into my house rather than standing outside in the thick of a forest, in a way that's making me excited at the thought of getting lost in the forest all over again. (I don't think I got a single note of berry at all, unless it was contributing to the astringency? I was also very surprised to see so many forumites mention rose, as I came on here specifically to see if anyone could describe what the "rose thorn" note is like, since I couldn't identify it. I can't smell any rose at all on me! I'm not sure I picked up on any floral aspects whatsoever.)

The description for this one was so evocative that I had to try a decant, but I found this one a little underwhelming. It kind of just smelled like a mix of Y'ha Nthlei and Cthulhu, only with a slight floral note. It definitely shares Y'ha Nthlei's marine notes; I'm not sure exactly which ones, maybe ambergris and eucalyptus? It even smelled slightly citrusy to me, so possibly the bergamot too. After about an hour I started to notice a scent I would describe as slightly bubblegum-y; after 2 hours the marine note started to take a backseat to a kind of soft, gentle floral spice. It was quite nice, but did not last; at the 6-hour mark you wouldn't've known I had put on perfume that day at all, except my skin smelled kind of fresh and pleasantly soap-like. Overall, it smelled nice, but disappeared pretty fast. I think I'll stick to Y'ha Nthlei for this particular marine note, and maybe try layering it with Lightning if I want to add something floral.

Well, I'm not sure how helpful my review is going to be to anyone else, but I feel compelled to leave one considering this is an active Lunacy and mine would be the first! So. I amp indoles unto oblivion. Apparently BPAL's lilac accord (don't know if it's all lilacs or just black lilac, this is my first BPAL lilac) is indolic, because when I first put it on all I could smell was an atomic indole BLAST. Thankfully this calms down within an hour and I start getting something more recognizably lilac-y that is very pretty, although still quite strong. It's nice and fresh and not at all powdery. I did not get even the slightest hint of tea until after many hours of wear, when I think I started to detect a hint of astringency. Now at the very end of the day, after about 10 hours of wear, I think I can finally smell more of the tea, and it's quite lovely as it mixes with the lilac. I guess the most useful thing I can say is: if you amp indoles, this lilac accord is in fact somewhat indolic. I doubt it's as intensely indolic for anyone whose skin behaves normally around indoles, so if you don't share my indole problem and you try this one out, I'd love to see another review so I can get an idea of what this is *supposed* to smell like!

When first applied, this is a really yummy, complex blend of spiced, honeyed fruitiness that smells wonderful. After a minute or so, the fruitiness disappears and is replaced by a spicy, "dirty" kind of musk that is very potent on me. I always find it hard to describe musk, and I'm really grasping for a less nonspecific, less gendered way to pinpoint what this smells like...but the most accurate description I can think of is what a college roommate once described as "man stank." Like very strong, very musky skin, but it doesn't smell *bad*, in fact it smells quite good, it's just very strong. It was surprising to smell it on myself and I'm not entirely sure whether I like it on me! But it was for sure an interesting experience, and I am planning on trying it a few more times at least. The spicy, peppery, camphorousness of marjoram and bay are I think adding to the "swine musk" effect, and the labdanum may be contributing its warm, musky, slightly earthy/sweet animalic qualities. The "swine musk" & the peppery spice stay most prominent on me all day, and there's just a whiff of a honeyed, faintly fruity tinge. It didn't really seem to morph throughout the day, it just got slowly fainter--although it definitely lasted the whole day and stayed pretty strong for most of it. Overall, a super fascinating, complex scent, although I do find myself wishing the swine musk were a bit less pungent on me, and that the initial effect I got as I was applying it stuck around for longer.

This was not one I would've chosen for myself based on the notes listed (I assumed "strawberry cream" would be a little gross), but it was passed on to me from a friend for whom it didn't work, and I was pleasantly surprised by how pretty it was! The strawberry cream was definitely the first note to come out, but it was a very lovely and fresh strawberry cream, not the cloying nesquik I'd imagined, tempered by something vegetal and floral in a really nice way. (Maybe it's the florals that are responsible for making the strawberry cream note come across as "fresh"?) I liked this one so much I reapplied about 4 hours in, and upon reapplication I noticed the strawberry note was much lusher. As the day went on, it faded into a really gorgeous earthy, almost musky, ever so slightly powdery iris note, which smelled surprisingly sophisticated. The strawberry creaminess was still present, but had faded mostly into the background. It wasn't until the very end of the day that I started getting my first whiffs of spice from the carnation, and I'm still not entirely sure what lotus smells like. I've seen it described as "airy," "creamy", "soft and fruity", all of which would blend well with the other notes in this one. I've seen some of you describe it as going kind of "bubblegum-y" on the forums, and I think I may have noticed that about 2hrs in, but it receded again. Overall I'm so happy I was able to give this one a try, it's very very pretty! I'm excited to wear it more in the spring.

This did something odd when I first put it on and smelled almost unpleasantly indolic. I have no idea why! Carnation hasn't done that on me before. Peony was the only note in this that I hadn't tried yet, but "indolic" does not seem to correspond remotely to any descriptions of peony I've found online, so who knows what that was about. Apparently I amp indoles like crazy, so maybe I've just unlocked the bonus power of "turn anything I touch indolic"? (glad I'm not the only who had this experience at any rate!) Anyway, happily the inexplicable indoles faded within an hour, and I could mainly smell the juicy pomegranate with a floral undertone. Possibly a whiff of spice from the carnation, but I'm really not sure. As the day went on, it kind of blended into something very smooth/fresh/bright, more of a blended fruity-floral than distinctly pomegranate or distinctly peony/carnation, which was very nice. It mostly disappeared on me after about 6hrs, but I could definitely still pick it up very, very faintly if I pressed my nose to my skin. At the very end of the day, after more than 12 hours of wear, there was something decidedly but verrrrry faintly peppery/spicy on me, so I suppose that was the carnation coming out at last! Overall neither my favorite pomegranate scent nor my favorite floral, but I really enjoyed this one, and my experience of wearing it was so weird it only added to the enjoyment.

This went on smelling of ALMOND and not much else, which I did enjoy because I absolutely love almond. Started getting hints of vanilla, a little warmth, and maaaaybe a little spice? At first it was very slightly powdery, but not overpoweringly so, still very pleasant. I'm sad to report that about 8 hours in it's gone pure baby powder. Almond-scented baby powder so that's nice, but definitely baby powder. I don't think this one's for me.

Sadly this one didn't really work on me. When it first went on it was a really yummy blend of peach and grapefruit with maybe a tiny hint of lime, but all the citrus quickly disappeared and left only a strange peachiness. I say "strange" because it smelled more like gummy peach candy than actual peach, which is a yummy smell for candy, but not something I think I actually want to smell like. It disappeared VERY quickly, and by the end of the day I just smelled like I had never put perfume on at all. Amber never showed up for me. More sorrow than joy then, I guess. Alas

This is totally gorgeous on me. When I first put it on, it smelled just like breathing in the steam from a cup of jasmine tea. The jasmine note was very prominent, and it was a beautiful jasmine note, softened a bit by the tea and the rice. I couldn't stop sniffing my arm! The jasmine started to recede a little after maybe an hour or so, and I started to pick up more of the rice and the creaminess from the vanilla. This stayed pretty close to my skin, didn't have a ton of throw, but it was a really really lovely one. It's mostly gone now at the end of the day, though I can still smell the rice and vanilla if I put my skin right up against my nose. I don't think I ever got the yuzu or any smokiness from this, but I do love it for what it is on me! I do wish it would last a little longer tho.

I've been *fascinated* reading the other reviews, because very few of them seem to reflect the experience I'm having with this one. I am new to fragrance, so it's quite possible I'm just not correctly identifying what I'm smelling, but I definitely have not noticed anything "green" or "wet stone" at all. I've tried other fragrances that definitely evoke the wetness of moss, for instance (one BPAL example would be The Witch/Strega, which definitely evokes dampness), but this one I can only describe as dry and spicy. It's pretty much been one-note on me all day, just very sharp and peppery; no other notes have made an appearance. It smelled complex and a little fruity in the bottle, and I was excited to try it, but whatever fruitiness I got from the bottle disappears completely on me. I hate to gender fragrances, but to me this just smells so strongly like something that would be marketed FOR MEN in an all-caps sans serif font, you know the kind of marketing I'm describing. It almost reminds me of aftershave? I don't think this one's a match for my skin chemistry, sadly.

So I bought a decant from another forum-user and I think I'm in LOVE, will probably see if I can find a bottle at some point. I'm sad I hadn't discovered BPAL yet when this was released! On me this is a delicious blend of every note listed, except for fig, which I don't think I ever got. I would describe it as smelling both creamy and resinous--I get a little toasted rice, a little coconut, a little champaca resin, and those three notes seem to be a MAGICAL combination on me. The champaca resin is very noticeable/prominent at first, but it blends gorgeously with the other notes and doesn't blot out everything else. After about an hour or so the champaca recedes a bit and the toasted rice/coconut becomes more prominent--I was delighted to find that when I sat outside in the sun, it brought the champaca right out again! Seems to be more champaca-forward in heat/sun, more rice/coconut-forward in the air-conditioned indoors. By the end of the day it had developed a really lovely, almost smoky vanillic aspect, and I started getting more of the almond cream. Really swooning over this one, sad I have so little of it!

So this was a fascinating one for me--I'm new to fragrances, and I think this was the first time I was finally able to really "get" the skin musk note! In the bottle and immediately after putting it on, the predominant note is the lemon. I wouldn't say it's an especially intense lemon, it's a little softened (perhaps by the "sugared"-ness), but stands out as the only note I can identify at first. After a bit I started noticing the musk and amber, then it went a bit powdery on me for awhile, then it went QUITE powdery and I was worried it might not work out for me (I've noticed Bastet goes very slightly powdery on me too, so I wonder if that's the amber?)--but weirdly the powdery phase only lasted an hour, then went away completely and it was like the most gorgeous slightly lemony ambery skin musk! Smells fresh and kind of gentle. Skin musk is hard to describe, but wow, it really does just kind of smell like skin when skin just smells really good? Lasted most of the day, towards the end of the day I could only detect it by putting my nose right up against my skin, but it was definitely still there. Really liked this one, think it's made me curious about trying more skin musks. eta: I'm not sure if I ever got the honey or the vanilla cream tho (or if they were present, I just wasn't able to identify them)