leptonpyr

This has CRAZY throw on me. The incense is unlisted, but there's a LOT of incense, some very sharp lily, and spicy-sweet ylang ylang. The sharp lilies die down after a couple of hours, and Flower Moon remains floral incense, with a hint of something sweetly balsamic, on me for *hours*. Seriously, I'm on hour 8 over here and still going strong. The projection's died down since this morning and it's definitely closer to my skin than it was, but it's still very noticeable. I went to try Flower Moon's accompanying hair gloss a minute ago, and I figured I'd reapply a drop of the perfume oil so I could better understand how they complemented each other. Possibly this was a mistake: the little drop of Flower Moon I reapplied has BLOTTED OUT the Passionflower & Wild Plum Hair Gloss. I feel like a walking cloud of incense. Whatever incense accord this is, it would appear I amp it. I wish I'd gotten more of the florals and earth notes! It was definitely a pleasant smell, just not what I'd been hoping for, and probably a bit too incensey for my tastes. I'll give my decant a month or two before I retest to see if it calms down at all.

Beatrice and Dante is BEAUTIFUL on me, just gorgeous. As a lover of rose who is cursed with skin chemistry that sometimes rejects it, I'm very happy to report that not only is this a rose that works for me, but on me it's a very beautiful rose-dominant blend. It's an absolutely lovely, soft, enveloping sort of rose; I would agree with @OxfordComma that it feels plush and velvety. The note is described as "white rose", but to me this feels like a very soft, pale pink smell. Beeswax comes into play, adding golden warmth and a smooth, rounded texture that complements the rose beautifully. On initial drydown, if I sniff close to my skin I can detect a trace of peppery frankincense peeking out from under the rose and beeswax; then maybe fifteen minutes in, there's a shy touch of powdery orris that reminds me (in a good way) of old-fashioned beauty products, like when orris butter was put in lipsticks or face cream. This feels very lush, soft, and warm---it sort of gives the impression of slipping into a warm bath, scented with rose petals. The warmth in this blend is palpable, with a touch of spice and incense. It's quite pretty and sophisticated. A few hours in, it stays warm and pretty in a lovely musky sort of way. The top-heart-base note progression actually reminds me a good bit of The Moth Fairy; they share a similar structure with a floral opening, beeswax/orris/resin heart, and an amber base. I think this might be the same amber as in Moth Fairy, actually; it really does somehow feel sort of light and luminous. I reapplied about 3-4 hours in, and when I did, interestingly enough I started to get a bit of a sharper, spicier rose, as the myrrh came into play (might also be the saffron? not sure I know how to pick out BPAL's saffron note yet). Myrrh and amber are the last notes on my skin, but to my delight they remained quite rosy! Average throw, surprisingly good longevity on me! It lasted all day, and the rose stayed as a throughline the whole time. This is such a beautiful, complex, sophisticated floral, and it will absolutely be a bottle purchase for me.

I was really hoping for more of the varied florals, but this is mainly strawberry on me. It first goes on a little fresh and grassy, like the snap of green stems, but the grassy green note almost immediately gives way to a LOT of strawberry, initially a tangy, juicy strawberry, but very quickly goes in a more artificial strawberry lip-gloss sort of direction that I don't really care for. An hour or so in, there's a touch of powderiness, possibly a pansy accord, or part of the silk accord, but I'm not really sure I can pick out any of the other florals. I might be getting the faintest whiff of cherry (not cherry blossom tho), but I might also be reaching here where I am in fact just smelling more strawberry. A few hours in, and I can pick up quite a pretty, pale honey, but combined with this strawberry it's a bit too sweet for me. The base note here is BPAL's lovely skin musk, with the lightest tinge of honey and fruit. I love skin musk, but I might have to flag BPAL's strawberry as a note that doesn't really work for me. YMMV, but on me it reads as a little too young and girlish. Projection is fittingly gentle, but the longevity was a bit better than I expected from such a light blend, got a good few hours out of this one (maybe 4-6?), as it goes through a traditional top-heart-base note progression, which I always enjoy. Probably ultimately not for me, but I'd be interested in seeing reviews from those of you who were able to get more florals! (And if you happen to have similar skin chemistry to me and love strawberry, you'll probably want to pick this one up.)

...Okay, I appear to have had the direct opposite experience of @Larinessa. I bought this decant specifically to try the champaca note, but when I put it on wet it's nothing but strawberry. Very, very berry--it's sort of zingy and tart, but somehow also sweet and candyish? It REALLY gives the impression of a Sour Patch Kid, actually, the way it's both sour-tart and feels like it's covered in sugar. Not my thing. @Larinessa, trade skin chemistry with you?

The opening of this one is YUMMY. An immediate crush of juicy, jammy berries, strawberries both tangy and sweet, with the blackcurrant bringing a fair bit of tartness. The lime is accenting and accentuating the berries' tartness beautifully, adding an extra citric zing, like lime zest grated over a bowl of crushed berries and blackcurrant sap. Strawberry Moon is having this very fascinating, slightly unsettling effect on me, where I keep getting the faintest whiff of incense, as if I'm catching incense on a breeze in the distance, but every time I go to sniff my skin directly, the incense disappears and all I get is berry. It's beguiling. As it dries down, I get more of the honey, and the blend gets jammier without losing tartness...at first. About 2 hours in, it loses much of its intensity and complexity, and the strawberry goes from juicy and photorealistic to a fainter, sort of artificial-smelling/candy red fruit scent on a backdrop of faint musky honey. Sadly, this goes from "WOW" to "meh" for me. I'll keep my decant because the opening is GREAT, but unless it ages differently within the next month, I don't think a bottle purchase is in my future. (I don't get any moss at all, but I have never once smelled BPAL's moss accord on me. At this point I'm convinced my skin has some sort of moss-resistant properties. Go figure.)

This has kind of a weird opening on me, but it dries down into something much nicer. Going on wet, the disparate elements don't quite coalesce: I get a really clean scent that reminds me weirdly of apple-scented baby shampoo, then this odd, almost medicinal, sharper bite that I can't quite place. I wish I could be more specific, but it honestly reminds me the most specifically of the smell of multivitamins in a health food store (??), while some light incense is being burned somewhere in the background. The fig is very waxy, green, and sharp, like it's very far from ripening. An hour or two in, the skin musk moves from weird-clean-shampoo to a beautiful skin musk, the fig gets sappier, and it starts to bloom into something quite creamy, with a whiff of pomegranate and a touch of light spice. This stage is very, very nice. Lasts about 4-6 hours overall and stays pretty close to the skin. I'm interested in trying this again in a month or two to see if the opening gets any less weird on me.

Okay, I'll bite! I'll be the first person to leave an inadequate review, so hopefully someone else sees this and is moved to write up a better one. I have no idea what Unquiet Slumbers is doing on my skin, but it doesn't feel like it's quite having the intended effect. The first note I'm hit with a super powdery sweet musk, tinted with something else I'm finding hard to pin down--something a little sour? Bitter, perhaps? On drydown, I swear I get the faintest whiff of peppermint, something very clean. Throughout the day it just goes poof and becomes 100% powdery musk with something slightly herbaceous that vaguely reminds me of Opal Crown. I'm going to let this one rest and see if it comes together for me in a month or so. In the meantime, any takers for that review gauntlet?

My skin apparently possesses the legendary alchemical properties necessary to turn the dreaded Erl-King into... Sprite. Not, like, a faerie type of sprite, like the popular lemon-lime soda. I swear to god that's all I'm getting from this, and it's bizarre. No idea which mysterious elements are going Sprite on me, but I definitely get zero rain-soaked earth, zero blackened steel. On me this is a weird artificial-smelling lemon-lime soda, with some fizzy aldehydes definitely present. The scent is quite similar to The Erl-King's Pale Daughter (although that one seems slightly more wearable on me), so if that one worked for you, I think the musk is the same and this one likely will too. I appreciate the thematic consistency of the Erl-King's Pale Daughter inheriting her father's spectral musk, I just wish my skin didn't do... whatever the hell it's doing to it!

This one has some SILLAGE! My partner said he could smell it across the apartment. It opens with BIG, bold narcissus, like the sensation of sticking my face directly into the center of a flower, bringing to mind gobs of blindingly bright, aggressively scented yellow-orange pollen. The next aspect I pick up on is a waxy smoothness, like big waxy petals, that almost reminds me of smelling candlewax. Apparently ambrette has "exceptional power and tenacity", so I'm thinking it's contributing to the BIGness of this blend, in concert with the narcissus. It's musky, slightly animalic, velvety, with a fruity facet that reminds me of osmanthus. I amp indoles to a truly absurd degree, but if I strain my ear, I swear I can hear the other notes underneath. The narcissus feels almost hedonistically thick, honey-like, but still somehow fresh and floral; the vanilla adds a rich, creamy texture. Saffron is a little hard for me to place in perfume, but I think it's adding to the honey nuance, maybe some aspects of hay and tobacco? Not totally sure about that one. It doesn't come across as either earthy or spicy on me. I'm not totally sure what tobacco flower smells like. Projection and sillage stay powerful for the first couple of hours, but it dies down and recedes closer to the skin after that. It stays quite intense for awhile. I'm really digging On Beauty in all its dizzying intensity, but I'm thinking I won't be wearing this often enough to need a full bottle. @theseagrows is spot-on that this feels like something I'd only want to wear in early spring or late winter. This is spring fever in a bottle, that delirious time of year when it seems that everything's blooming all at once, an inescapable rush of scent an color, and spring finally reigns triumphant over winter. It's a glorious feeling, but wearing it in hot weather would be borderline antisocial behavior, and I'm not really sure I can get away with wearing it to work. Recommended for spring days spent mostly outside & reveling!

Another beautifully complex BPAL! Long Eared Owl has a very smoky, woody opening, with a tannnic tint of dark purple plum skin. I'm also noticing a quality that seems quite clearly "frosted" to me, although I'm unsure how to describe it in any other way. Softened, maybe? That's not quite right. It feels *frosted*! I think both the oakwood and the plum are very tannic, and the plum really deepens more and more throughout wear, then finally some shy violet starts to bloom. They rapidly drop their shyness and really *bloom*. The violet is cool, plush, a bit woody and a bit fruity. The plum + violet + smoky woods are really beautiful together, it feels like each note deepens and brings out more nuances of every other. I get nuances of berry, leather, dried fruit, and hay. The smokiness recedes a lot after the first hour, and it becomes a bit more delicate but somehow deep, and somehow feels very *purple*. It's a beautiful blend, and I might just need a bottle before it comes down. I feel like I'm not quite doing it justice, but I noticed it had no reviews and simply couldn't let that stand when it's only available for another month. If you know you like complex BPALs and these notes speak to you, snap it up!

Decant from 2021. This is a very cool and light, delicate blend. It makes me feel ethereal as fuck, like I'm walking through a misty glade. Going on, I get the very palest of white florals and some dewy, ozonic violet leaf, which brings almost an aquatic sensibility. It's doing this strange thing on my skin, where I keep catching whiffs of it as I'm walking, but every time I go to sniff my skin directly, it's like the lighter top notes have already dissipated and I only get pale, lightly incensey sandalwood and coconut. It feels very much like I'm walking through that shaded, misty glade, and every so often I *think* I can just catch a glimpse of the unicorn before I blink and she's gone again. It's like I only stand a chance of catching that glimpse if I'm not actively trying to look for her. It feels very magical and floaty, and I love feeling like I'm taking a stroll through my own personal fairyland. But this effect lasts maybe an hour before the gardenia and violet leaf disappear completely, and I'm left with smooth, creamy sandalwood and a slightly nutty coconut. There's still something a touch ozonic, which I swear almost reminds me very faintly of the sea. Maybe a touch mossy, so could be the oakmoss peeking out. Not sure if I'm getting a ghostly trace of the florals, or if I'm smelling the base notes with the memory of gardenia in mind. I'm not sure if this is worth a bottle purchase. The first hour is sooooo pretty and magical (where can I find more of that lovely, delicate gardenia?!), but it just fades so fast on me. There's something to be said here about the ephemeral nature of beauty and magic and whatnot, but if I'm going to buy a perfume, I'd prefer it to at least outlast my commute. (I may at some point cave anyway, and see if I have better luck with longevity with a bottle than an imp.) That said, I think this would be a great one to try if you're new to perfume and unsure how you feel about it yet, since it is so very light.

Stunning! Just, absolutely stunning. I put it on and it's this blast of incredibly photo-realistic lilacs, I feel like I'm walking right past a lilac bush in May. (And I'm feeling pretty feverish for spring right about now, so this was just the thing to get me through March's gloom.) There's just a touch of indole that adds to the realism of the scent, and the magnolia brings a lovely, thick creaminess. Lorrainna is pretty much a pure floral, but it feels substantial somehow, like it has the texture of thick golden honey (or I suppose more accurately, a thick waxy magnolia petal!). Substantial, but never heavy, it's more that I can tell this perfume has *texture*. The ambergris is really just here as a musk to tie everything together; it doesn't stand out on its own, and it doesn't need to. Its effect is subtle, but its addition feels like the perfect accessory that marks the moment you KNOW your outfit is complete. I don't know that I was ever able to pick out orris, but this is so well blended, it's possible it's there adding some subtle smoothness and sophistication. I do wish the longevity were a bit longer, but such is the way with florals (I would say I got maybe 4 hours of wear, and then I reapplied in the afternoon). I was impressed by the projection; I definitely kept getting lovely wafts of it throughout its wear, like I was catching the heady scent of lilacs being carried to me on the wind. Really just gorgeous. If you are a floral-lover, run, don't walk.

True to its name, this is an extremely light, airy blend. Very thin, low projection and I only get about 2-3 hours of wear. It's quite pretty and fresh, but almost too clean for my liking. I get a fruitiness I associate with osmanthus and some very pale lilies. It's lovely and refreshing for a warm day, I may reach for it this summer when it gets so unbearably hot it's hard to even contemplate fragrance, but I can't imagine myself reaching for it particularly often. There's not much to it, although I'm not sure what I was expecting from a perfume with "thin" in its description!

Sad I neglected to revisit this one before its down date, but it's such a lovely one! Fresh out of the mail, it was very sharp and medicinal in an unpleasant way, so I let it sit for a few months (...a few months too long...), and now it's *lovely*. It's very well blended, and I can still identify every note: the frankincense and rue are very lemony, and they smell beautiful with the lavender-like rosemary, not to mention rue's own herbaceousness. The orris butter balances out the tart, citric notes really beautifully, lending a gentle powdery aspect. There's no tea in this, but there's something in the citric + herbaceous combination that's giving me the illusion of a relaxing cup of tea. It's gentle, calming, and really very pretty, and I might have considered a bottle if I'd been a bit faster retesting. eta: okay, yeah, I'd forgotten from my first test Opal Crown's extremely low projection and longevity. Lasts maaaaybe 2-4 hours max. Still very pretty and I'll happily enjoy the rest of my decant, but I feel a little better about missing my bottle opportunity now.

I'm obsessed, and imagining how this one's going to age has me salivating. I totally smell like a forest! I'm not sure what I can add here that hasn't already been said, but I needed to add my voice to the chorus before Wolf Moon goes down. The dark, camphorous fir/pine jumps out at me right away, but it's quickly followed by something surprisingly fresh and green -- like I'm standing in a grove of dark pines, but there's some really lovely fresh green vegetation around too. It has slight citrus undertones, and I can totally see the comparison to good gin. The longer it sits on my skin, the more I notice a a sap-like balsamic sweetness, but still very green and herbaceous, like pine sap mixed with crushed maple leaves. A few hours in I start getting something distinctly ink-like. It's mineralic, dark, a little bitter, a little bracing, a little of damp moss and soot. I wouldn't describe this as a "dark" perfume overall though, there's too much of an airy citrus-y lift to it. It's more that the moss/stone accord (whatever it is I'm smelling!) flecks through this blend like deposits of hematite in a larger stone cliff. It's just so good. I am in love. It's like that feeling of wanting to just stay outside all day so you can keep inhaling the gorgeous forest air, except it's on my skin and I get to wear it indoors whenever I want! 🌲🌲🌳🌱