Leopard403

The Icebergs, when wet, is all clean Ivory soap. As it dries on skin, it settles, and I get a whiff of peach/apricot with something a bit bracing. The juniper sap? Surprisingly mellow for a blend that has such strong notes. Unfortunately, there’s also a bottom note in there that is strangely vegetal and grossly overripe, to the point of soft rot, and once my brain found it it wouldn’t let go.

Some ripe and juicy mandarins had a baby with Snow White* and this is it. (*yes, the BPAL scent, not the fourteen-year-old Disney princess)

Yep, it’s a dead ringer for the Marshmallow Snow bath oil they did a while back, with poofy sweetness layered onto slushy pine-pitch snow. It wants to label itself “minty,” but that is not quite right.

Usually, blends with peach notes tend to be PEACH BLENDS *jazz hands* on me, but this is beautifully subtle. Perhaps a bit too subtle, as I really have to slather it on to get it to stay. I’d say the whole scent is “opalescent,” a little ethereal but not in an inaccessible way. I really think the simplicity of the wheat note gives it the sturdy back of working peasants but overall it’s bougie. It’s lovely.

For this to have so many notes that have such distinct scents on their own, this is surprisingly muddled to me, and in the end I get ... gingerbread.

It’s all lavender, a softer TKO. I’m sad to miss that tobacco flower.

Though the doctor continued to assure her that the treatment was therapeutic, her anxiety increased. Ignoring her feeble protestations, the doctor produced a pair of glass wands, and set to work. As the machine hummed to life, her misgivings were dissolved in a haze of unexpected pleasure. Warmth, contrasted sharply with a million white-hot pinpricks and a strangely cooling blast of electricity, surged through her thighs. The metal electrodes secured beneath her corset flared as the electrical current swelled through her nerve endings. White mint, purple musk, violet, lilac, ylang ylang, lavender moss, and sandalwood. I am a bit disappointed in Violet Ray: To my (admittedly, rather unsophisticated) nose, it smells identical to Faith, though the sweet top note in VR burns off quickly on my skin. This is a lovely scent, just not as distinguished and distinguishable as I hoped it would be.

I agree with other reviewers: If I didn’t know that DL was in here, I don’t think my nose or brain would pick it up. There’s an ever-so-slight cologne-type note base note, and I think that is the leaves, but it is a good grounding point and not shrieking dryness as it often is on me. The other notes here are DIVINE. It’s like melty pistachio gelato (but not in a way that would make some idiot say “what smells like food?”) and I am HERE FOR IT. I also discovered that it blooms beautifully on warm, damp skin fresh from a shower/bath. Holy mama this is pretty.

No pecan, no pie. Just oud. What can ya do? ??‍♀️

All guava and sweet strawberry candy when wet, then a moment later it is strawberry milk, then a moment after that it is completely gone.

This is clean all right: It was all high-pitched baby powder on me.

So many other “book” scents can have sharp notes that are too woody or leather-like. None of that here! It’s very much that biblichor smell you get when you bury your face in the spine of an old book, really soft and organic, with the teeniest drop of sweet lavender. There’s a notable warmth to it, as well—like this paperback is so beloved it is always tucked into your pocket—which I think may be the “hoodie” note.

Boop is mostly caramel toffee to me; clearly I am amping that honey dust.

I almost didn’t try this because of that clove, but I’m glad I got over myself because this is lovely. I love rose, and I’m fairly confident that I’ve at least tested (if not hoarded) every lab rose scent over the years, and I am always so fascinated that each scent is so different! I can tell that there are multiple types of roses here, and they are all nicely grounded by a hint (a HINT!) of green and spice. It’s very well blended, and it sits close to the skin so it doesn’t scream ROSE! at passersby. It lasts too, even through a hot shower.

Ugh, this one hurts: All I get is plastic sweet, like if a Strawberry Shortcake doll was actually raspberry. Disappointing, so it’s a 2020 aesthetic indeed.

So I just found (found! like a shiny nickel!) a bottle of TKO atmo in my guest room. Didn’t know I had it, can’t remember buying it, don’t order atmosphere sprays as a general rule. I’m convinced it’s supernatural. And really, holy crap, supernatural is the right word to describe the scent. I tried TKO perfume oil many years back and found it too sharp. While I am aware that my nose, my brain, and my tastes have changed over time, I’m convinced that because the medium here is different and it’s clearly aged a bit, this is just a better version of the scent. I arrived to BPAL convinced I didn’t like lavender and that scents containing that note all ended up the same. Clearly, I’ve learned something. With this bottle of TKO, sure, there’s that herbal punch, slightly astringent, but it’s not medicinal. There is something that helps it stay sweeter than that... almost like—dare I say it?—there is poofy marshmallow in there! Say whaaaaaaaat? It’s a strong scent, with a lot of throw—one spritz to my blanket filled up the room!—but this means I only need a little and so it will last. Also, it lingers: When I came home from work the next day, I could still smell it in the room. Who knew I had it? And who knew I would love it so??

Something is very grassy-green at first, but this quickly turns into a honeysuckle cream.

I’m having a very different experience with Hope. It’s a surprisingly fusty scent, like sniffing a long-lost box of cigars.

I didn’t know tulips had a scent until grad school, when I worked at a Wicks N Sticks in my spare time. Our biggest seller was Yankee Candles, and there was a tulip blend that was shockingly fragrant for such a simple little flower. Unfortunately that stuck with me, and while I love the smell I have to be wary of it because it often eats everything else. And yeah, it kinda does that here too. Hmph.

It’s funny what the mind clings to. This blend goes on beautifully...and the there are several minutes of something unpleasant.* Things mellow out again into something very nice but I really suffered there for a bit. Bummer. *The something unpleasant:

Oh dang. I like this. At first it’s all green grass on my skin, but then there is coconut that isn’t suntan lotion-y in the least but is probably made overt by that vanilla and amber base. I get maybe one quick whiff of sweet fig if I reeeeeally hunt for it, and at least to my nose any delicate orange blossom is eaten up by the rest. The name is perfect and precisely evocative. Might need to get more of this one.

Looking at so many floral notes, I was shocked at how juicy this blend turned out to be when it hit my skin. Sadly, that gardenia and white amber quickly take over and this turns into soap. Finely milled expensive French soap, but still. I’ll keep wearing it until my decant is gone, but I don’t need a bottle. Update: OMG this is a morpher. I had to come back and edit because after a while the juicy note (the strawberry, I guess) comes back. Whaaaaaat? And now, several hours later, what is lingering smells like SJP Lovely, (which I once tramped all over NYC to find only to realize it wasn’t considered high market enough to be in any of the super-fancy stores and I ended up purchasing it in the Orlando airport. Also, a warning: Lovely and Elon Karanishiki do not appear to have ANYTHING in common note-wise, so don’t try to make sense of that, mmmkay?). So it has enough nostalgia to it that I might buy more after all.

The cherry fades. The rose stays. - A poem by Leopard403

Holy crap, more people need to be talking about this. I was wary of the bergamot because it can be so overwhelming on my skin, and when I first applied this scent that’s all I got. But then a few minutes later I got the most gorgeous, juicy, fruity whiff of that unexpected blackberry. UMPFFFFF. SO GOOD. There’s something a bit creamy and wistful that helps center the berry, but oh yeah, those berries are the star. Great wear length on me, as well. Bottleworthy!

Around here, people seem to feel very strongly about fig, and that’s the reason I bought this. Just to see... And now I get it. Give me ALL FIG ALL THE TIME. *swoon* There’s a whiff of cherry here when the scent is wet, but it’s gone quickly and I’m left with Deep Fig Perfection (new band name, I called it!).