Thirteen (13): January 2023

[Silvertree]

Help steel your nerve in the upcoming year with this earthy blend of 13 symbols of luck and stability steeped in smoked cacao: purple sage, lavender bud, patchouli, Irish moss, thyme, ambrette seed, chocolate mint, rice milk, vetiver, hazelnut, barley, tobacco, and cedar.

 

[Claire-of-the-Valley]

This is the first of BPAL's 13 scents I've ever tried and this is absolutely phenomenal. In the bottle I get pure chocolate, but we're talking rich, deep chocolate. I can see what they mean by "smoked" cacao because it's not like a candy bar at all. Definitely the same chocolate note they're using in El Dia de los Reyes.

 

When I first put it on I still have that backdrop of chocolate, but the rice milk, mint, and what I think is the ambrette seed really come through. There's the faintest hint of lavender. While I can't detect each individual scent, I have no doubt they're giving this a fuller aroma overall. It's a sweet, earthy, slightly fresh scent.

 

After awhile it fades into a faint whiff of something soft that's faintly identifiable as chocolate.

 

Very glad I got a few of these. Feels like a great scent to steel one's nerves. I know each 13 is different, but I would have no complaints if this one made a return.

[doomsday_disco]

I was here for the lavender, chocolate, and the purple sage I love so much from Colemanite's Phoenix, with the hope that the vetiver would not be a bully or a smoky variety and that the moss and thyme would play nicely on me.

 

And blind buying this bottle paid off. This is a really earthy, yet wearable, 13. I find it to be very comforting. I actually took an afternoon nap while wearing this one and it was still going strong when I woke up. I think it would have lasted all night if I hadn't showered that evening! It's not strong on the lavender, although it's there in the beginning (most noticeable during the wet phase of the scent). I'd describe this as an earthy, woodsy, herbal 13 that's waayyyy different than the Plague Doctor 13 with its herbs and sugar (13 August 2021). I can smell the sage, lavender, moss, thyme, musky ambrette, rice milk, hazelnut, tobacco, and cedar in this, buuuut I'd say this mostly goes from chocolate + herbs + oak vibe (I think it's the way the moss combines with the vetiver, hazelnut, and cedar?) to tobacco swirled with chocolate and herbs by the end of the day. The rice milk really smooths things over and I think is what makes this scent smell so comforting to me. The cacao doesn't smell smoked to me (if you're worried about smoky scents), and the vetiver is a grassy variety as opposed to a smoky one and plays nicely with the other notes.

 

I tested this after it had a day of rest, and I'm curious to see how this one ages.

 

But I'm not sure mine will have a chance to really age, since I plan to use it as a sleep scent (even though it's not lavender-heavy!) because it is just so comforting.  

[dancingchair]

I find it so hard to pick most of the individual notes out on this one. My general impression of this perfume is a floaty chocolate-tinged cloud of the same jammy lavender in Lavender Buttercream swirling around bundles of herbs. The lavender, cacao, and rice milk are the strongest on me. Occasionally, I'll be able to pick out other individual notes, like the thyme and maybe a swirl of smoky tobacco or vetiver? This blend is sweet, but not cloyingly so.

 

It smells like the Lab bottled the promise of spring and that's exactly what I need in January. I'm interested to see how this changes over time, maybe other notes will start to take over?

[Diesis]

This smells so delicious on my skin. In the bottle it was straight up smoked cacao, cedar, & sage. Which I’m fine with! Winning combo. But once on? That cacao just bloomed with notes from our gardens!

 

The sage was still there, the cedar was a lovely note humming through the cacao now (no pencil shavings; just trees & nature & quieter times). But then the lavender, patchouli, thyme, chocolate mint, & barely started swirling in. It was like walking through our overgrown herb beds & flowers trees (they will not be tamed to bushes) if they were deep in the woods! This may have booted the Sugars 13 out of its roost. Which is fine since I’m down to only half that bottle. 
 

Sadly, I cannot find the moss, ambrette, rice milk, vetiver, hazelnut, or tobacco. I’m hoping with a bit of rest that vetiver brings in some earthy grasses or the musky floral of ambrette. But if none or all come up I’ll be well pleased I got this!! 
 

The 13’s have been my favourite series for so long now. I finally finished a bottle from… 2012? Or 2011? but am keeping the bottle. This & Blue Moons (or any weird lunar/star/solar thing… black moons, moons of other planets). So I’m looking forward to our other Fri13 scent this year!

Edited February 1, 2023 by Diesis

[wendyb1063]

This is really gorgeous.  I have many of the previous 13s, and they are deliciously foody, and I cherish them.  But this one is special.  The lavender and herbs in it give it a drier, perfum-ier, spa-like vibe that I love and that differentiates it from other 13s.  

[RoseThornAndOak]

This is really nice, like a softer No Man is an Island on me! There is something in the drydown that is vaguely reminiscent of Morocco, not sure where that comes from. It mostly reads chocoately + some dry herbs, like there is some soft moss, dry woods, etc in there. Also perfum-ier is a great descriptor.

 

I don't really get much maple vibes from the ambrette, no toothpaste from the mint, no pencil shavings from the cedar, no wet cigarette wrapper from the tobacco or the smoke, no angsty peanuts from the vetiver, no spilled beer from the barley, no rice cooker from the rice milk, no Whole Foods bar soap from the lavender and sage, and no hippie patchouli stomping it's boots on everything. It's so well blended and feels like a good luck charm. It feels like a 13 and kinda makes up for Witches' Lace being a mega fail on me.

 

The only perfume it vaguely reminds me of is Alkemia's Fleur Historiques de Cacao, but I like 13 more. Probably say this more often than I should but it does have an Old World vibe. 

 

Thanks for another win Lab!

 

edit: 20 minutes after the review I hopped in the shower and now the patchouli is stomping on everything. It's about as much patchouli as I can stand, so there's that at least, but I still wish it held less prominence than it's wont to do. Dangit dude. 

Edited February 5, 2023 by RoseThornAndOak

[Little Bird]

This Thirteen didn't sound good to me (I'm not a fan of sage, thyme or herbal scents in general), but I always regret it when I don't buy the Thirteens, so into my cart it went.  And, of course, I wound up loving this blend.  I mostly get the lavender, rice milk, and mint chocolate, all whipped together into the most beautiful, cool, creamy, delicately sweet, calming, milky-clean scent.  Over time, I can smell the dry cedar, hazelnut and patchouli lingering lightly underneath those more gourmand notes, but they smell so soft, warm, and spa-like, not aggressively earthy or spicy.

[MamaMoth]

goes on as dark, almost bitter cacao and herbs. sage, lavender, thyme, maybe moss. a bit masculine. 

 

everything comes together, and... well, i'm hopeless with these kitchen-sink type blends, my nose is just too overwhelmed. i don't actually usually connect with the 13s, but there were no off-putting notes in the list so i decided to give it a try. and i'm glad i did! it's definitely earthy, and there's a middling richness to it, but without any heaviness at all. some smoky dark cacao. a little herbal melange. a bit of cedary woods. the rice milk smoothing everything out.

 

yeah, i'm not sure why i'm even attempting to describe this one. i mainly just came to say: IS GOOD. ME LIKE. kinda wishing now that i had gone for a bottle, rather than a decant. it's really unique.