leptonpyr
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Everything posted by leptonpyr
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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?
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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!
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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!
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Long Eared Owl on a Bare Tree Branch
leptonpyr replied to doomsday_disco's topic in Limited Editions
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.
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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.
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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!
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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.
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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! 🌲🌲🌳🌱
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I blind-bottled this based on the strength of this review + another forumite's recommendation, and I'm SO glad I did! Purple Sage & Pinon is the absolute PERFECT complement to Wolf Moon -- it's SO herbaceous, camphorous, and a little bit smoky. The smoky/sharp camphor really brings out a surprising sappy sweetness in Wolf Moon I hadn't noticed before, and just makes me love it even more. Lovely, very photorealistic sage note (I can see the lavender comparison!), which I'm ecstatic about because I love sage and so far every perfume I've tried with sage listed as a note has mysteriously failed to appear on my skin. If you're a fan of Wolf Moon or foresty/camphorous scents in general, you'll want to grab this one before it goes down. It is what it says on the tin, and it's fantastic!
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There is something *sparkly* about this perfume, I think it is definitely lightly aldehydic. It's not ultra fizzy like the Lab's champagne accord, rather it gives the impression of freshly fallen snow winking at you in sunlight. There's a really yummy citrus that feels like it's smoothed and refined by the musk and possibly the white tea; it's not overly tart nor is it sweet, but it feels more substantive than citrus otherwise might on its own. The oakmoss from the chypre is not a deep, rich, foresty smell, it's more like there's the faintest breath of a light, airy moss, sort of muted by the winter chill (you know how any outdoor smell smells more frigid than like itself in the winter? it's exactly like that, like the suggestion of moss carried to me on a cold wind that mainly smells like it's about to snow). It's definitely not minty, but I swear there's almost a breath of something faintly wintergreen here--oak bark maybe? Or maybe it's just the gently tingly sensation I get from the aldehydes. I don't know if I can quite pick out the ambergris, but I think it's blending nicely with the other elements. On me The Crumpet Fan-light Expedition is a light, gentle, but very smooth and refined scent. It feels very cold, a lovely bracing cold you want to linger in.
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This is a beautiful, very well blended and well balanced scent. To me it feels very cozy and comforting but without being cloying or leaning too gourmand (like It Was but the Wild Blast was, sadly), which was kind of exactly what I needed today. It opens with a lovely, buttery-smooth, sweetish chestnut, but right away I can pick up on a little more going on underneath, it's accompanied by a barely detectable lift of earthy freshness. As the hours go on and the chestnut opening fades, Seven Horses proves itself to be a beautifully complex blend. There's a touch of cool, peppery spice that winks out every now and then, although this blend is mainly about the nutty, golden, enveloping warmth. I can smell the sweet fresh hay, the spicy-sweet herbaceous tobacco, and I think I'm getting just a faint, somehow very smooth touch of vetiver's slightly leathery smokiness. It is sweet and deep and I keep repeating this word, but Seven Horses is so well balanced it gives me the overall impression of smoothness, which is decidedly not to say it's boring, but rather it feels sort of round and comforting, enveloping. I associate this smoothness with the pu'er, but it's possible it's the overall effect. It's a delightfully smooth, perfectly blended cup of tea. There's an almost cinnamon-y aspect that comes out every now and then, too. A couple of hours in, I start getting almost a dried-fruit aspect. The hay, the pu'er? Something else? I'm not sure where the effect comes from, but it's fascinating and really lovely. I'm not sure if I ever got the cacao or the coffee bean, although perhaps what I'm taking to be cinnamon-y could actually be cacao. 3-4 hours in it gets softer and more cinnamon-y, and there's this sweet softness to it that almost approaches powdery, I think from the hay, that I find so soothing I want to curl up and take a nap in. To me Seven Horses feels like a very deep, rich brown scent. A gorgeous, rich, autumnal brown like chocolate or freshly tilled soil, a mahogany credenza or a cup of tea. Just really mesmerically beautiful, in a quiet way that invites but doesn't demand attention. Frankly I'm a little upset that I want a bottle, because there are already so many bottles I want to snag before their down dates. I'm going to have to sit down and take a long hard look at my budget, I think. This feels like an absolutely *perfect* scent for November, the cooler latter days of autumn. Beth knocked it out of the park with this one.
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Cosmic Criquet is an INTENSE floral on me, with some impressive projection. It smells like I am standing in a greenhouse, surrounded by humid air, giant tropical blooms, and rich black soil. I wish I could identify which florals I'm smelling, but alas, I am too unschooled in florals to be able to differentiate. I can probably safely assume there's some orchid, based on the scent notes and @patina's review. I cannot overemphasize what intense tropical-greenhouse smells I'm getting from this blend. I'm getting that almost uncomfortably musky intensity of hundreds of tropical flowers in full bloom soaking the air around me. It's so intense it's almost melon-like, bringing to mind juicy, sweet-but-musky overripe melons splitting on wet soil. It's honey-thick, almost syrupy. If it isn't clear, I am so into this. I feel like it would be an absolutely insane scent to wear on a hot summer day, and I kind of want to. It lasts a good 5-6 hours before it calms down a lot and recedes quite close to skin, but once it does it's still a really beautiful floral, just more like flower clippings sitting in a vase in your house than a whole dizzying greenhouse experience. I feel like I don't have enough experience with BPAL's moss note to know whether I'm getting the moss; it's hard to pick out from everything else going on in Cosmic Criquet. I definitely never got leather though.
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I tried about a zillion dead-leaves variations this past Halloween, and while I enjoyed them for what they were, none of them were truly redolent of that sweet, vegetal decay I associate with piles of actual autumn leaves, and is one of my favorite smells in nature. Fallendes Laub is the closest approximation to what I had been hoping for all autumn long; it really smells like taking a stroll through the woods on a late October afternoon, so much so that putting it on made me a little melancholy when I opened my curtains this morning and still saw snow. A little melancholy, but also joyful to get to experience a sweet rush of autumn in the dead of winter. The other dead-leaves blends I tried were a bit sharper than what I'd been hoping for, but Fallendes Laub is a wonderfully complex incarnation of autumn leaves. It actually has that quiet, soft spice-sweetness (I agree with @patina that there's almost a hint of anise) of an autumn wood. There's something almost nutty here, in a way I'm finding hard to describe. A few hours in, most of the wonderful leafy complexity fades and I'm left with a lovely soft, clean, "perfumey" musk, that very much smells like the Lab's dead leaves accord does as it fades. There's something just a touch powdery too, which is making me wonder if there's an amber in this? Or perhaps orris? Not sure where the powder is coming from (I feel like probably not orris), but I'm fascinated. Its last stages are not as beautiful as its opening, but if you enjoy the Lab's dead leaves accord, it's still quite lovely. I am delighted to have found that platonic ideal of autumn leaves I'd given up on finding from BPAL, even if it took me till February, and will 100% be snagging a bottle. The Lab absolutely nailed it with this one. Fallendes Laub the perfume oil smells *exactly* the way the painting looks! 🍂
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Going on, I'm getting quite a fruity amber--or possibly BPAL's fruity snow accord, or maybe both? It's also very much a sweet balsamic. I hesitate to compare another aspect of it (possibly the birch bark, or part of the snow accord, or both) to wintergreen because it doesn't quite smell minty, but I'm getting just a whisper of something mentholic, leaning a little towards pine, albeit the light, citrusy kind (is "terpenic" the right word here?). I'm not sure if I'm getting any beeswax, but apparently beeswax can sometimes be quite balsamic, so it could be contributing to that aspect. As it dries down about a half hour in, I start getting a distinct touch of warm resinous spice too, which might be the frankincense or more of the peru balsam. Snowy Landscape strikes me as oddly fresh for a wintry scent, there is something about this blend that is very fruity on me, with some pine-forest vibes in the background. There's also something about it that feels very very clean to me, almost soap-like, or some kind of masculine-leaning cologne I associate with clean freshness. It actually reminds me quite a bit of Thalassa, it has the same warm-balsamic-spice thing going on, but I'd have to do a side-by-side comparison to really test that. I don't think this is one I'll be reaching for all the time, but I'm very interested to see how it goes for me. (Normally I wait for my thoughts to cohere a little more solidly before reviewing, but I thought I'd get this up now since this blend will be coming down in a month. If something coheres a little more for me the next time I try this one, I'll update here!)
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Frankincense Smoke goes on strong, but no stronger than to be expected when experiencing it in its most highly concentrated form. It very quickly mellows out into something much gentler, an absolutely lovely, incensey scent, perfect for winter. It's mostly a soft incense, but it's warmed by a lovely fatty, sweetish beeswax. I can pick out the frankincense too, doing its beautiful, slightly citrusy thing. Overall it gives a very gentle, comforting impression; I was a little worried this scent would end up much too heavy based on the description, but I'm happy to report it isn't at all, it's just what I was hoping it would be, soft and incensey but not overpowering, and I can pick out all the individual notes. Later on in the day I started noticing it's a little woody too, so that might be the cedar peeking through. It is in fact so gentle that I put on A View from the Window just now, only to find that my perfume is totally overpowering my hair gloss! Oops. I'm brand-new to exploring hair glosses, and I don't have a good sense of what pairs well with what quite yet. I'm going to try pairing Frankincense Smoke with On Time next, which is very very light scent, and I think will make for a gorgeous combination.
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This is such a lovely, golden scent--I put it on and it felt like springtime! Super photorealistic clover honey, and definitely CLOVER honey, not orange blossom. I'm a little amazed at the specificity. I'm not sure how to articulate the difference between clover and orange blossom honey if you haven't tasted both, except that clover feels a little darker, more ambery and more nuanced. "Darker" might not quite be the right word here, because I wouldn't describe If Bears Were Bees as "dark" AT ALL. It is so deeply golden and very, very bright. I swear there's something lemony and marmalade-like that's also quite prominent in this, a jammy sort of lemon-rind. I can't remember the last time I smelled mead, quite frankly, so I suppose that could be the mead for all I know. The last BPAL mead note I've tried was quite fruity, so maybe it is that! I'm definitely not getting anything fizzy though. Not getting anything smoky, exactly, but there's this almost caramelized, burnt-sugar edge to the honey as well, so I'm wondering if that's what the woodsmoke is doing with the honey on my skin. Hard to describe what the pollen is doing--it's absolutely adding a soft lightness (not powdery at all though), and a very very faint flowery touch. The total effect is really just lovely! I just got in from digging out my car from the most snow my area has seen in 10+ years, and it feels wonderful to feel like I'm basking in my own personal little bubble of golden springtime everywhere I go as I'm cozying back up inside. There are SO many BPAL bottles I've been meaning to buy, so I'm not sure if I can quite justify buying a bottle of this one as well, but I am wishing I had a bit more than a half-decant! I suppose I'll see how I feel about this come spring, if I decide I really must have more. (I know reviews are not strictly the place for this, but if you're looking to destash a half-bottle or partial of If Bears Were Bees, do please feel free to DM!) Haven't tried it yet, but am very curious to layer this one with Lines Written by a Bear of Very Little Brain. Will report back here if I do!
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2025 version. Well, for someone who doesn't really like gourmands, I sure did order myself a pile of gourmand decants! In my defense, I wanted to try this one because every note *except* sufganiyot sounded wonderful to me, but you'll never guess which note was all I could smell. A sweet cakey sufyanigot, and something that went weirdly fruity-but-plasticky (?? I don't even know what this could be. Is this what the olive notes did on me? I will be very sad if that turns out to be true). Later on in the day I got the butterly BPAL baked-goods note that reminds me of popcorn, which I really don't care for, and maybe a bit of soft, slightly powdery beeswax, or maybe amber, I honestly couldn't quite tell. I never got anything that smelled like fig or pomegranate at all. I will let it rest for a month or so to see if the sufganiyot calms down and makes room for literally anything else, but if it doesn't, this one will not be a keeper for me.
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2025 version. Well, I'm pretty bummed to say I seem to be someone for whom Snow White goes "Play-Doh." It was *very* faint, hardly any throw at all, and mainly smelled weirdly plasticky, with a bit of sweet vanilla and the faintest suggestion of indoles. Sadly it never improved. Whatever indoles there were faded very quickly, and the vanilla eventually went powdery (not in a nice way, more scented baby powder). The plastic note got...slightly less offensive, but I still sort of smelled like a vanilla-scented plastic doll. I did see a review of an older version of this mention that allowing it to rest brought out something a bit greener and made it wearable for them, so I'll keep this around and retest it in a month or two. If it doesn't improve, I'll move it straight to the sales/swap pile, where hopefully it can find a more appreciative home.
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I was very pleased with this one as someone who isn't into gourmands but wanted to give a pure gourmand a chance. It mainly smelled of a very beautiful lavender, and a touch of almond that faded pretty quickly. The cream isn't super heavy or sweet, on me it really just added a really enjoyable slight vanillic touch. I don't think I ever got sweet buns, or curiously any cardamom, but I enjoyed this one a lot! A very yummy vanillic lavender. This is weird, but towards the very end of the day I could've sworn it almost smelled like cocoa (?!). It was really more the suggestion of cocoa than anything that truly smelled like chocolate, so I don't know, maybe that was the buns. Or maybe it's some combination of notes doing something odd, but it was really nice without being sweet or overly gourmand. Average throw, super short longevity on me, MAYBE 4hrs, if that.
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This goes on all rich, dark, velvety coffee beans, extremely photorealistic. It reminds me more of espresso, actually, because it is just *so* rich and velvety. Yum! I was worried the coffee smell would be too intense for me (do I really want to smell like an espresso?), but fortunately about the moment it touched my skin, a surprisingly bright, citric rose started to fold itself in. The combination is just gorgeous! Before too long (maybe half an hour), the rose starts to dominate on me, and the coffee beans start doing more work backing the rose, adding a really lovely layer of dark, rich warmth, rather than standing out on their own, which I was very happy about as a lover of rose and someone who isn't particularly interested in gourmands. As the hours went on, the coffee faded more and more, but never entirely, although by the end of the wear it was so subtle I wouldn't have been able to pick it out if I hadn't known it was there. The last stage of rose for me was this absolutely gorgeous lush-powdery note that had the same lush-powdery texture as orris butter! (Except of course it smells like rose instead of orris.) The rose never went soapy on me at all, much to my delight, so I suppose Bulgarian rose will be another note for me to look out for! I genuinely wasn't sure if this blend was going to be as pretty as I'd hoped it would be; I knew there was a chance I'd find the coffee overpowering or off-putting, but it truly surpassed my expectations. Not 100% sure whether I'll be reaching for this quite often enough to warrant a bottle, but I am a bit tempted. Luckily I have a few months to think it over! I predict this will see some serious wear in February, it feels absolutely perfect for Valentine's Day. Had some throw at first but receded much closer within the first hour or two, pretty short longevity before it mostly faded (4-5hrs, probably more like 4).
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The cardamom is beautiful going on, and very prominent! I'm getting BPAL's rice note quite prominently as well, which I find hard to describe other than...it smells like rice! Like steamed Basmati rice, which is a smell I've always loved. (I find BPAL's rice note to be extremely realistic.) The honey is there too, a little sweet but not too sweet. It really just smells wonderful, definitely gourmand-leaning but not a pure gourmand. It's oddly very nostalgic for me, although I couldn't tell you why. The amber is a very light amber, barely detectable if I didn't recognize it from other BPALs, but I think it's anchoring this scent and keeping it from crossing into pure gourmand territory. It's light and subtle under the cardamom and rice, and very pretty. It's verrrry lightly resinous in an almost-but-not-quite fruity way. It's a very delicate amber, feels almost...floaty? I am having a hard time describing things today! Around 2 hours in, Lines Written by a Bear of Very Little Brain gets a bit sweeter (still not too sweet for me!), the cardamom recedes a bit, and I get more of the milky musk, which is truly a milk-scented musk instead of pure milk, and it's very gentle. This blend felt very warm and cozy; there is something about it that feels very charming, like if it were a person, I would be delighted to be in their company. Average-to-short longevity for BPAL, the top notes were decidedly my favorite part but I enjoyed this very much the whole time. I don't think it's quite interesting enough to me to want a full bottle, but I'm really happy to have my decant, and it makes me excited to look for other cardamom-forward blends. Not sure if I ever got anything I could identify as "snowy slush", but I'm still not very familiar with BPAL's snow accord (yet!).
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2025 version. This review is basically redundant at this point, but I am so in love. When I opened my decant, I actually said out loud "oh my god, this literally just smells like a rose?" It does! And on my skin: the same! It doesn't smell like a rose perfume, it smells like a bouquet of real, freshly cut red roses, green stem and all. Really just absolutely stunning. I can identify notes *of* rose itself for the first time: it's a little citric, maybe a bit of apple, very fresh and a bit green. Just totally gorgeous, and keeps unfolding. All the more stunning for me: I'm someone who adores rose, but tragically most of my previous BPAL rose ventures have turned to soap on my skin. (If you have this problem too, in case it's useful to note: BPAL's "wild rose" note tends to work for me. But I only have that rose in other blends with other notes at the forefront; this is the first of any rose-dominant BPAL I've ever tried that works on me at all.) My only caveat is that, as if a commentary on the ephemeral nature of a rose, this perfume fades very fast. It gets really faint within the first few hours, then fades almost completely. Could barely detect a trace of it by the time I got home from work. I know florals are top notes, I know! If this is the price I must pay for the freshest, most perfect photorealistic rose perfume I could've hoped for, then I will take it!
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I... smell like a bowl of oatmeal? With honey and condensed milk. I'm not sure what I was expecting given the listed notes, but I think I was hoping the carrot leaf, vetiver, and lemon verbena would balance out the more straightforwardly gourmand notes to make something more on the side of woody and herbaceous. Sadly on my skin this was not to be. I remembered liking the milk note in Equivalent No. 314, so I had no misgivings about milk, but it didn't occur to me that that was kind of a weird milk note, whereas condensed milk was likely to be extremely sweet (and it was). I never got any tea either, which is quite sad, as tea is one of my favorite BPAL notes. I got a tiny amount of a lovely lemon while applying, but it evaporated pretty quickly, almost on drydown. The first thing I noticed was sweet toasted oats, and that is exactly what stuck around for the next ~4-6 hours until the fragrance faded. I imagine that if gourmands were my thing, I'd find One Has to Be Careful to be warm, cozy, and comforting. If I were to smell this fragrance in, say, a scented candle or from standing in the kitchen while someone was making sweetened oatmeal, I'd find it warm, cozy, and comforting. I, personally, have no desire to *be* a bowl of oatmeal. This was just never on my list of aspirations in life. I think I'll hang onto this one in hopes that allowing it to rest brings out some of the other notes I was hoping for; if not, into the sales/swap pile it goes.
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I was initially a little put off by how strong the leather note was on me when first applied, but this blend has really grown on me. There's a lot of leather at first, yes, but it settles down before too long into something really beautifully complex. The leather is the predominant note throughout, but underneath there's something like burnt caramel, something golden that's both honey- and hay-like. There's just a trace of something pine-like and resinous, and even more faintly there's something soft and a little powdery coming from the amber. I kept trying to pick out the myrrh but couldn't pinpoint it; there's too much going on in this blend that's smoky and dark. After a few hours of wear, it reminded me a bit of woodsmoke, but with a thrum of something more complex underneath, resins, just a touch of burnt sweetness that feels very surprising each time I notice it. If The Fall of Anarchy were a person, it would be someone who puts on a big show of bravado as a kind of smoke-and-mirrors act to distract from the depth of their inner life, who makes it easy to overlook their intricate complexities if you aren't paying close enough attention. I think this is due to come down this month, so I know I don't have a ton of time to decide, but I'm sort of tempted by a bottle: I would LOVE to see how this ages, something tells me it will only get more beautiful and its nuances more pronounced.