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Dusk in Autumn

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In the bottle it smells like dried flowers! Sweet, herby, burnt and smokey.

 

On my skin the cake and smoke is vey pronounced and it has a lot of rose coming through. Soft and sweet and very very floral. 

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This. Its my new favorite. Its half oriental half gourmand. Beautiful, slightly sweet, earthy smoky. Perfectly balanced dark sexy and magnetic. Ungh. 

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Cake, slightly sharp tea/leaves, and just the barest hint of sweet smoke - they balance each other beautifully in a way that's avoids becoming 'overly' gourmand.

This was a blind buy based on the name and description, and I don't regret it one bit! It's so soft and comforting. 💗

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Currant cake, leaves, and hearth smoke. This smells like a Sabbath. You know, you bake a cake because you're gonna have visitors over. Your yard is covered in leaves, and mandrake roots. You've stoked the fire. You're ready for everyone to arrive on an autumn wind, wild and untamed. Full of vim and glee. Perfect for the witch hostest with the mostest. Good throw and wear length.

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Some scents really love up to that "alchemy" part of the BPAL name, and this is one. I can smell the dead leaves, tea, cake, currant, and the barest whiff of smoke, if I really try to hone in. But the effect is more than the sum of it's parts. It's sweet but not overly foodie (thank goodness, I can't stand smelling like food or too sweet) and very atmospheric. Fall outside at dusk. I wish I got more prominent smoke, but this is fresh out the mailbox so that may come with time.

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I really enjoy this scent but As someone who absolutely hoards gourmands and foodie scents I do not find this to be a cake scent. This is on my skin a lightly perfumed black tea scent with a sweet fruity/dry incense vibe. Perhaps there is a light vanilla here that’s contributing to cake vibes, but, it’s not a doughy gluten, flour cake. It would only be the vanilla component in a predominantly pretty black tea scent. A nice wearable scent that would be pleasing in any situation to wear, innocuous and inoffensive, yet unique. But not a dark gourmand on me which is what I was hoping for. 

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I get lots of leaves and black tea, and more and more mandrake root as it settles. There's something quite unexpectedly floral-perfumey about this blend that keeps it from being foody at all to my nose. It's a little strange, to be expecting cake and instead getting herby, heady flowers. I don't get any of the currant cake yet, and I hope it peeks its head out eventually with age.
 
The leaf note is distinct from the dead leaves note, which has a 'cologney' overtone. This one is lighter and brighter, fresher. But I was hoping for some pretty smoke, and I can only detect the faintest whiff of it so far. Alas!
 
Overall, it's a very wearable blend, but it doesn't scream fall to me. I could wear this almost any time of year if I'm in that more floral tea kind of me. In that respect, it reminds me a lot of the Carnival Diaboliques. But for a Weenie, I really want it to smell like a Weenie, you know?
 
2022 update: Reacquired! The leaf note is not too dead-leafy to me after three years! There is a mild, mild whiff of it that doesn't go headachey (yay!) yet has gotten a touch smokier over the years (yay!!); the cake is gone completely (boo). Overall, I get the impression of darkened dried potpourri of petals, leaves, and herbs, accompanied by a perfumey black tea. This DOES feel autumnal to me now, with kind of an elegant burgundy scent profile. Adding it into my fall rotation again!
Edited by starbrow

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Currant cake.  What was I thinking?  It's the currant cakes in Eat Me that go so tragically wrong on my skin.  Wet, Dusk in Autumn is all currant cake going tragically wrong on my skin.  Sadly, I can't wear this.  Once it dries down (I didn't scrub it off), it's significantly nicer, sweet, smoky: dusky and autumnal, in fact.  The currant cake sh*tshow has calmed down significantly.  But the wet phase makes this decant not a keeper for me.  

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This smells fantastic.  It's complex, but I think I can pick out leaves, tea, and although I smell something vaguely fruity that I guess is currant (it smells sort of purple-y), I really don't smell any cake except maybe the slightest hint of it.  I don't get a lot of smoke but it's very atmospheric.  I'm really happy with this, so far it's my #1 winner from this year's Halloweenies.

 

I commented elsewhere that this is like Dorian at the Halloween party with a witch costume on.  I still think so but it also reminds me of a Lace scent without the Lace, or maybe with the Lace turned down low.  I hope that makes sense to someone.  : D

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Black currant tea, dried leaves, nearby hearth. This did not go cake on me at all.

 

I was going to bottle it, but it didn't live on my skin long. Very pretty while it lasted.

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Very subdued. The root and the dead leaves/smoke are prominent on me. Ever so slight baked and dried cake component. Truly smells like a floral tea (but smoked floral) with a dry cake somewhere in the background. It’s so unique. Very dark. It is quite fall to me and I can say I’ve never smelled anything quite like it. I’m loving it.

Edited by Bassmastadroog

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This is so good, and, what a surprise, as well. I put it on and then forgot all the notes, and was thinking it was a blackcurrant fougere full of added autumn wonderfulness. Or somethign like Mabel, perhaps (which I think has zero notes in common, lol.)  I do not get any cake scent, which is a scent I normally don't wear well. This scent is not foody. This is so good, and I wish I knew how to describe it! Very beautiful on me. I agree, this is one of the true 'alchemy' ones. 

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Wet: Tea, leaves, and a touch of smoke. This feels very "autumn" to me... appropriately! I'm crossing my fingers that the currant cake comes out upon dry down.

 

Dry:  Sadly no currant cake; when this dries all I'm really left with is... black tea. Tiny bit of the leaves note is still there, but it's mainly just black tea now.

 

Too bad!

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In the opening, i get the the dry crunchy leaves, backed with some tartness from the currants. Gradually the leaves subside and are replaced with some tempered smokiness. The cake and tea notes mingle with the smokiness and feels very cozy and refined.

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Soft, fruity cake with a swirl of crisp dead leaves fresh on. So autumnal, I love these cake-and-other-things blends like All Souls, half gourmand half atmospheric. As it sits on my skin it becomes a bit more about the hearthsmoke, soft, warm, and a bit woody. I get more tea. It is a beautiful blend, it smells like being in a little cottage, cakes out of the oven resting on the counter with the smoke from a fire and the cold autumn wind coming in from a nearby window. All the elements combine and balance so well. 

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The minute I smelled this I thought of Scarecrow Turned Philosopher and now I can't shake that scent association.  It has a vague, minty thing going for me, maybe the tea.  After it dries it becomes a lovely blend that is bright and forward.  I don't get much, if any smokiness, which is a bummer because I love the smoky smells.  Overall, I'm not sorry I got a blind bottle

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On me, Dusk in Autumn was mostly dead leaves accompanied by some black tea leaves and a bit of sweetness from the currant cake. I didn't get a distinct cake note, which I had been hoping for, but I also didn't get a ton of smoke from this, for which I am thankful.

 

I am glad I got to try it, since I was curious about it and ended up culling from my list of possible decants, but I can't really see myself reaching for this one since I was hoping for some more sweetness.

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I'm so glad I waited a couple months to review this (as I am with pretty much any scent from the lab :) )

 

In the bottle, I would swear this was a Dead Leaves blend. Looooots of leaves (this is a good thing).

 

When I first received this, I wasn't getting the smoke that I so wanted. Now, it's there. A nice smoky undertone to dried leaves, and currant scented black tea. I'm not really getting a "canote, but the currant is there for sure. This is lovely, not foodie , and complex. A reviewer above used the word "atmospheric", and I totally agree. This is the smell of hiding away in a cottage, away from the chill autum winds. love it.

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First sniff is all tea and fruit.  Like a cup of strong, oxidized Oolong spiked with berries.  The kind of tea I mostly don't care to drink but love to smell.  Stays pretty faithful to this during dry-down, though a touch of smoke becomes more prominent as the berry note fades.

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Oh wow. This is such a winner. I am so glad this caught my eye and that I blind bottled it based on the notes alone. This opens with a good amount of smoky tea, dead leaves, and a touch of sweetness from the currant. As it dries, the mandrake root grounds the sweetness of the berries. I adore this. Not gourmand, no cake, at least to my nose.This is witchy woman goals achieved! The reviews above about this being atmospheric are spot on. 

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