Leopard403

There are some blends I find to be beyond description, and Lola Lee Loo is one of them. I don’t smell any particular note and say “ah, that’s the X”; this is much more complicated than that because it isn’t about what it smells like. It’s about the way it makes you feel. There are some blends from Black Phoenix—Lilith blends in particular—that make you feel that powdery, sticky, wholehearted kind of love you can feel for a child. The smells evoke something in you. Lola Lee Loo does the same thing, in that warm, salty-sweet, unconditional and wholly uncomplicated kind of love you feel for a pet. It makes you want to squeeze them tight and gift them with eternal youth and health because you also remember how brief your times together can be, which perhaps makes them all the more special. Sorry I can’t say more than that about what this “smells like.” Plus I have something in my eye, like a stick or a branch...

(ordered from Etsy when the Trunk Show extras were listed) I almost skipped past the description of this scent, because I saw “Overconfident Hipster” and my brain went DO NOT WANT. Something with that name should smell like beard oil, lavash bread and hummus, PBR, all-natural laundry detergent, a warm and un-ironic trilby, and faint disdain. But gardenias? Yes, please! And that’s exactly what it smells like. Strong, too: a little goes a loooooong way.

Kitty is FANTASTIC as a hair gloss. Exceptionally well-blended, it’s hard to pick out specific notes, though I can tell there is something creamy, floral, and slightly fruity to it. It smells expensive. If it were a color, it would be an effervescent rose gold. Lasting power is great, too: Application was 27 hours ago and I just got a whiff!

2018 version Yowza this is sweet! I was hoping this might be a blend of Sugar Plum Fairy and Snow White, but no, this is its own scent. A SWEET scent. I think I’d love it were I twenty years younger, but as it stands it’s too cloying to enjoy. I could imagine it as a bubble bath scent for littlies, and that would be fun, but it’s just not for me.

I can’t believe I’ve been a BPALer for this long and I’ve never before sampled Hanerot Halalu. So, finally, I’m testing the 2018 version. One of my very favorite scents is The Lights of Men’s Lives and I find this eerily similar, if a bit sweeter which is surprising looking at the notes. At times, HH is almost floral in nature, more olive blossom than olive oil. I don’t really get a smoke note here, either, whereas with TLOML there’s a heavy whiff of just-extinguished candle. I really like this, but not quite as much as TLOML.

This is really lovely. It’s a soft, warm lavender added to a gentle vanilla sugar. Not overtly herbaceous and also not identifiably foodie, it could be boring in its simplicity but it isn’t. It’s comfy, it’s comforting, it’s gorgeous.

This was not what I expected: Both sniffing from the decant and on my skin there is no sign of gingerbread. None. No mint, either. I get mostly sugary strawberry, vaguely reminiscent of that sought-after sufganiyot type but also slightly Strawberry Shortcake doll-esque. It sticks close to the skin and doesn't seem to last very long.

Same buttery coconut I get from Obatala, but with something quite a bit more sophisticated. And this stuff LASTS on my skin, wow!

When I sniff the decant I can’t control myself: My eyes literally roll back in my head and my mouth waters a little. It’s a super sexy butterscotch tobacco, simple but decadent. Sadly, on my skin it’s all fancy cigar, no foodiness, so it’s too masculine. It smells like my dad.

Unbelievable. Uncanny. SO GOOD. Moonglow is an olfactory journey that takes me back to toddlerhood, before the Skeeter’s Big Biscuit restaurant in my hometown shut down. While the rest of my family dug into grits, gravy, and cheesy scrambled eggs, I ate biscuit after biscuit but only after completely smothering them with honey. And oh, their honey; it was thick like jam, the color of root beer, and it managed to stick to everything nearby and that tacky feeling haunted your face and fingers for days. Moonglow smells just like those hot, flaky breakfast biscuits and dark creamy honey. Beth, Labbies, HOW DO YOU DO IT?!?

Blue Window HG is shockingly light to my nose. I apply HG by squirting into my palms, then I vigorously rub them together and then "fluff" my hair. Sniffing my hands, or later my hair, I can barely tell that I have applied this scent. It's nice, though, and I might use it on days where I don't want something really noticeable in my hair but need the glossing benefits.

Smells like those "organic" fruit roll-up bars I was so into during college. Peachy and strawberry-y and juicy and lovely.

I loved Hidden Purpose when it was fresh. It was a great bedtime scent with all that rich lavender. However, I'm finding that it is not aging well at all; it's going a bit rancid at this point. I'm working from a decant, and I wonder if something is happening with the bottle itself (it's a different type than any other I've had before). Could it be eating the plastic? Super sad, because I really found this calming.

I get a nice blend of all the notes when this is still wet on my skin. Then I get the White Chocolate Death Plastic. Bummer.

One of my favorite OCYL scents is called Pink Ambrosia, and while the description of that is a bit fruitier, it was similar enough to this blend that I got really excited. And this is NICE! Lots of goat’s milk up front, and then the other scents emerge and balance with that gorgeous, creamy base that becomes slightly tropical. eta: In fact, now that I think of it, this kind of smells like a baby. You know that warm lovely creamy sweet completely indescribable scent of a new baby’s head? Yeah, this is pretty damn close.

WOW this is tart at first! It dries down very similar to Raspberry Sufganiyot, so I don’t need both.

SO GOOD when this is freshly applied to my skin. When I was growing up in Florida, every Fourth of July my family would stock up on Winn Dixie's house brand of soda (Chek) in all different flavors and the Black Cherry was always my favorite. This is a throwback to my youthful summers because it smells JUST LIKE THAT. Sadly, Yipe! hits my skin and then it's gone. SUPER BUMMED.

The spice of carnations makes the dead leaves a lot less sharp. Similar enough to Harvest Moon ‘13 that I don’t need bottles of both.

Over ten years ago, when I was a BPAL noob, I was strongly anti-musk. In my mind (and nose) it all seemed to be that hot red fusty scent, too spicy and weirdly animalic. Who knew there was more than one kind of musk?! So far I find that blue musk is my favorite of the musks, but green musk is right up there as a close second. And coupled with the lime in this blend? Oh yes ma’am! This is bright, slightly sharp, a bit bubbly, and lots of fun. The blend could’ve swung too masculine, but that tiny tuft of rose wig powder (LOL) keeps that from happening on my skin. This a surprise standout amongst my Weenie decants, so far my first plan for a full bottle!

I love Ghoulish but I can’t wear it on my skin, so I was so pleased to see it in HG form! Smells just right, but it’s somehow softer in the hair, and not overly boozy at all, which I was worried about.

Oof. I am so bummed because Violet Window is ROUGH. It smells like that kind of high-note cheap hairspray that is overly perfumey. (I reacted to this the way I react to cigarette smoke! 😷) I can sense the plum and violets underneath if I sniff and concentration, but that skunky blast is just too strong.

IDK why the Lab calls this stuff Fuck Ups because I know there are many fans who live and die for super LE blends. And with Snake Oil?! Um, sorry honeys, but that’s not a mistake that is a home run. 😝 So anyway. I’ve only ever sniffed LSSB, never skin tested it, but I recall it being a delightful sugar-lemon scent. Snake Oil tends to get along well on my skin after it ages a bit, and blends with it tend to be hit and miss based on other notes. This seems to be a hit so far! Very lemony at first but not as sweet as expected. I think the white tea is very grounding with that sweet lemon, and keeps away any “cleanser” vibes. Very strong SO base note, but it plays well with the others. I’m excited to find I can wear this scent now, whereas I usually have to age SO before I can truly enjoy it; and of course, I’m excited to see what this becomes over time. Glad I took the plunge!

This is uncanny: It smells JUST LIKE a honey-scented shower gel I used to be obsessed with. Problem is, I can’t remember the name of it! I *think* it was L’Occitane, the miel gel in the clear tombstone-shaped bottle... So yeah: Honey.

This is all leather on me, but it's soft like an old brown suede jacket so maybe the musk and amber are softening it a bit and I just can't smell it. I like it, but it's not what I was hoping for.

That one drop of rose water really amps over everything else. Not that I mind, as it softens the bite of the lavender, and lord knows I need something to do that. A comfy, simple scent.