splendidissima

Mostly a delicious apple cider, not much marshmallow, but I'm not mad at it - I like apple cider! I've been wearing this one a lot. 🙂 I will add, the last time I wore this to campus, I was chatting with a colleague in the hall, and she said, "do you smell something like...incense? or, like...cinnamon sticks?" and I said, "oh, I think that's my hair gloss!" So...there's that, if that helps anyone!

Sweet honeyed dandelion wine - like summer in a bottle! I actually really like this; I dug out my old partial bottle to test, and liked it more than I remembered!

Cozy and warm! Hearty oatmeal, with cream and brown sugar. I'm not sure I get a fruit note, but I do get a sweetness - I think that + some smokiness is reading as brown sugar or dark caramel, that kind of toasty dark sugar. I really like this!

Oddly soapy! This is my least favorite of the Blow Molds - I normally like cherry and amber, but there's something, maybe that ozone note, that just isn't playing nicely on me and is doing so very loudly. It's not dreadful - I don't hate it; it's just cherry soap, inoffensive and pink - but I might try layering it or adding a lotion, to try to tone down the soap.

I've liked all the Blow Molds, and I like this one too! It's mint-forward on me - a creamy sort of mint, like the inside of a peppermint patty, not like icy slush - and then there's a slightly dry semi-dark cocoa, like maybe you've bought some dark chocolate cocoa powder (which really isn't all THAT dark - not milk, but not too far past that, either) for baking. I'm not sure I get the amber as much as just an overall warmth, so it's not a cold scent - actually very cozy! Sort of like you've just got out and opened up the ingredients for baking chocolate-mint cookies, but you haven't baked them yet, while you've also got a fire or a candle glowing in the background.

I've really liked all the Blow Molds, honestly! This one's so intriguing - creamy white chocolate, bright green tea, warm cozy amber. I would absolutely eat this!

Oh, I never reviewed this! I love this one. It's a gorgeous sweet creamy amber - like a vanilla creme dessert + a hint of lemony amber. Beautiful!

I like this one - though we seem to be continuing a sequence of...every hair gloss I try isn't quite, in some odd way, what I expect it to be! Never in a bad way, just...for instance, Pumpkin Buttercream, which I thought would be lighter and sweeter, went all dark toasted smoky sugar, and the Peach Honey Cake is just straight heavy peaches in syrup (no cake), and this one... ...this one's full of dark tart berries, purple and shadowy, and then, under that, there's this...sharp/bitter note, like tannins from the tea? I don't really get any sugar at all, unless it's keeping the tea from being even more dark! I think this tea has steeped for quite a while and is very black - which is not a bad thing, because I like black tea, and the contrast with the berries is intriguing! This feels very witchy, potion-y, good for fall. I keep reaching for it because it's so interesting!

Frottle from the Lab, 2024! Hmm - my first thought was, honestly, Irish Spring! And then it gets ever more dark green and wet, like a jungle in a downpour. I don't dislike it, but I might like it better as a bathroom or spa scent, or maybe in a lotion, versus straight perfume on me - it's that clean green soap association!

Warm and autumnal! Lots of spiced ale, plus the Lab's hay note, dry and golden. It does feel like a late-summer-edging-into-autumn moment: sun-heated air, lots of golds and browns, a dark brown ale to sip as the sun goes down. No real sweetness except for the little whisper in the hay, the way grasses can be a little earthy-sweet. There's not a distinct booze note as much as just the scent of malty brown beer and some autumn spices, something like nutmeg or allspice. Good throw, too!

Primarily, especially at first, a big strong sweet peach, drizzled with sugar syrup! That's the loudest note for quite a while, and then, after drying, it's sweet peach + a swirl of coconut, plus something else creamy and a little starchy that I'm guessing is the rice. Fun and summery!

Oh, gosh, I don't know if I want to be first, because my experience is...perplexing? *laughs* It goes on very grapefruit, which is fine - I like grapefruit, though it's not my absolute favorite! But at first that's all I'm getting, with maybe a little whisper of something...else? amber? dragon's blood? After about thirty minutes, I entirely forgot I was testing it, and I was watching a travel video on YouTube, and I suddenly thought...ooh, something smells good! Oh, wait, that's me! I think the vanilla and amber musk and angelica seed decided to pop in and temper the grapefruit into something really lovely and complex. There's some sweetness, some amber, something lightly summer-herbal (like the way the old BBW Lemongrass Sage smelled like the end of summer, if you remember that? It's not either of those notes but it has that....faded shimmery sunshine feel?) About twenty minutes after that, it is soap. I have no idea what's happened. It's a very pretty soap, fancy and luxury and probably herb-infused, but it's still soap. Something has kicked in and stampeded over everything else. This is dreadful, because I love that previous stage! I do have a scent locket, so perhaps I'll try it in that.

I have such a weird love for this - how have I not reviewed it?? It's got that yogurt note, which I love - tangy cream - but chilled somehow, which actually tones down the tang, and sweetened - I think that's the cake batter aspect. Layered atop that is...well...it's exactly the scent when you open a bag of gummy bears: fruit medley, slightly artificial, full of nostalgia. I don't know how Beth does it, but it's exactly that! The two layers go together in this delicious creamy yogurt fruit (slightly kid-artificial fruit-snacks but so fun!) scent - perfect for summer! (I can see how it might not be for everyone, but it's just such a delight; it makes me smile.)

A big warm spiced scent! This feels very classic BPAL to me - actually it does remind me a lot of Bastet, and not just for the cat association! It's that warm spices + almond swirl that's surging up at the forefront. But this Large Cat doesn't have Bastet's lotus or cardamom notes - that's been replaced with toasted dark gooey marshmallow and dates and a deep rich vanilla, so there's extra sweetness, but not candy sweetness; the "toasted marshmallow" really is a good descriptor! This is going to be lovely for wearing when the weather finally cools off!

Mmm, warm rich spice, very autumnal! I primarily get warm baking spices and a baked note that made me think of not-overly-sweet pie crust but I think is in fact the bread + roasted pumpkin. (Or something like scones? You know the sort of dough that's got, like, a hint of sweetness, it'll go well with jam on top, but not like a dessert level of sweetness? It's like that.) Not much cocoa (I actually forgot that was in here!), and not much wool or oak (which I'm fine with, because woods aren't always my favorite). Absolutely cozy and cuddly and friendly, like you've been baking in an autumn kitchen with a cat sitting on a bar-stool next to you, purring.