Leopard403

It’s perfection when it hits the skin, equal parts lemongrass and coconut. Sadly, it seems to fade quickly on me and while the coconut lingers close to the skin, it becomes a little too “suntan lotion.” Really heartbroken at the tease.

This is all gardenia on me, and what’s up with that?!

Venus Pandemos Hay, rose otto, red benzoin, torch smoke, and pink carnation. Venus Pandemos is an interesting scent. The hay note is listed first for a reason, because it is definitely in the forefront of this blend. It’s unusual, though: It isn’t as “dusty” as the other Lab hay notes. Instead, this smells like fresh hay. (And let me tell you, I just had a long talk with myself about what that means. Because isn’t fresh hay, well, grass?! But no, that’s not what this is. The note here, it’s like there is a dampness to it. And maybe a hint of a nutty cream-like scent? So maybe freshly-rolled hay is a little less, I dunno, fusty, or something? It’s also amazing that I don’t smell any benzoin, because my nose can find a drop of that in the ocean. This isn’t resin-y at all. There’s also just a whisper of smoke, and the slightest warm and spicy floral hint. (I mean, really: If it weren’t for that hay note, I would wonder if I got a mislabeled decant!) I’m still not sure if I like this. There isn’t much throw, which is okay for a smell like this one, and it doesn’t last very long on my skin.

[No additional description given.] Dead Leaves & Blackberries was a blind bottle purchase for me, and I rarely do that. So glad that I did, because this is lovely! The lab's dead leaves scent is so evocative of fall, though it can turn a little too masculine/cologne-y depending on what else is in the blend. Here, when you add a fresh (read: juicy and just barely candy-ish) blackberry scent (no green stem there, just Berry), it is just perfect. It really is dead leaves and blackberries! This will be nice in cold AND warm weather!

THE KINGDOM OF SWEETS An empire of jellybeans, rock candy, sours, lollipops, gumdrops, peppermint sticks, held together by taffy mortar. Kingdom of Sweets is definitely sweet! In the bottle, it straddles the line between candy-ish fruity goodness and citrus-scented bathroom cleaner; but luckily on my skin it tips over to the candy side. If Pixi Stix could somehow be carbonated, you'd get Kingdom of Sweets. Lovely and sweet and bright and fun, it's not a scent for every day but it definitely feels festive and somehow fizzy. I'm glad I took a chance on this! edited to fix a misspelled word

Winter cherries and a slush of merry snow. His Own Heart Laughed is an interesting scent. I was hoping it would smell like a cherry slushie, and I was both right and wrong. In the bottle: Smells like a mixture of Snow White and bright red cherries. If only it stayed this way! On dry skin as a moisturizer: There's a more medicinal hint to the blend, as often happens with cherry scents. In the bath: Surprisingly green! It's like the red cherries were attached to holly boughs! After the bath: It doesn't last very long on my skin at all. There's just a vague fruitiness left behind if I smell very closely.

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.