splendidissima
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Everything posted by splendidissima
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Dead Laves, Shortbread & Crystallized Ginger
splendidissima replied to zankoku_zen's topic in Halloweenie
I really love ginger and shortbread, and sometimes the dead leaves note work (the maple one was great!) and sometimes they don't, so I took a chance on this! Unfortunately, this one has a very strong DL note - I basically get overwhelmingly that, plus a sharp ginger, and maybe a little whisper of dark sweetness, like a brown sugar. Maybe I'll see what more ageing does! -
Frottle from the Lab last year ('23)! Fizzy champagne, plus...lemon and ginger or ginger ale? I can see how this could be a tiki drink - or possibly veer into cleaner, with the lemon note. Interesting! - also very light on me.
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Such nostalgia! Fruit roll-ups, gushers, fruit snacks! With a little hint of pepper to make it more intriguing. This is very fun, even if it makes me think more of childhood fruit candy than anything naughty!
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Tart rhubarb - which I like! - plus some crumbles of golden cake and a little drizzle of cream. I would like it to be a little more balanced between all the notes, but this is fun and I don't have anything else quite like it!
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Snow Moon: Apple Liqueur and Brandy
splendidissima replied to doomsday_disco's topic in Duets & Menage A Trois
I think I've also got the booze-forward version! Honestly, that's...mostly what I get? It's like...a small, shy, demure apple got drenched in brandy. I'm not mad about it - I like the brandy note - but I wanted more apple; I love the Lab's apple + something else scents, usually, and this one feels less balanced to me - it did go the way of some of the last New Year's, maybe, if that's what I'm thinking of...the Inebriated Birbs route, as mentioned above! -
This was actually my first-ever BPAL hair gloss, so...I have conflicted feelings! I've had this for a while, and kept putting off writing a review. But I suppose I should! I *love* pumpkin and sweetness, especially sweet vanillas, so I was really hoping for...some sort of sweet pumpkiny frosting, like the name promises! It finally tempted me into buying a hair gloss, because it sounded like exactly the things I like! Alas, I am one of those who got ALL the smoke. It's sort of a sweet smoke - caramelized - I absolutely agree with Tiobe's review above: this pumpkin got rolled in sugar (maybe dark brown sugar), and then set on fire, or roasted in an oven, or something. There's still a hint of sweetness and a hint of pumpkin, but if it's sugar it's a dark burnt sugar, and it's hanging out at a nighttime witches' party with a bonfire going. I don't in fact dislike it - actually I kind of like it, especially as a fall scent, and my husband said "something smells good!" after I walked past - but it is definitely not what I hoped I would be getting! About the gloss as a hair gloss: my hair is both fine and frizzy, so I'm always looking for ways to tame the frizz without flattening it more! This doesn't totally tame the flyaways, but it does leave my hair feeling nice and definitely softer - I've done it on shower-damp hair and also a quick spritz on dry hair before teaching. The one day I bothered to do a little curling, I think it helped hold the curl - it stayed in place really well! I don't know that I'd buy this specific one again, but I will try other scents!
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Frosted vanilla cake, made more complex with a little drizzle of lemon and a brush of olive oil! I I've learned that I really like the BPAL olive oil note on me - a little fruity, herbal, refined, oil-rich. It's primarily sweet cake and definitely foodie, but the lemon + olive oil give it that intriguing twist - just a little more complex than pure cake. I like it!
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Portrait of Princess Marthe Bibesco
splendidissima replied to doomsday_disco's topic in Limited Editions
This is very pretty, in an old-fashioned sort of way! It's like...being in an elegant parlor, eating some type of classic sticky toffee candy, surrounded by white roses. I want to say there's something nostalgic about it, again, not in a bad way - a kind of stately baroque feel, as you sit upon that parlor sofa with good posture and breathe in the scent of roses and nibble your dark-honey-toffee bonbons. It reminds me a little of Parlement of Foules - I think it's that white rose - but PoF is more softly resinous, and this Portrait's more gourmand, with the dark sweetness. I would say it's *more* toffee-honey than rose, on me, but the rose is definitely there; I do get it wandering in. Good throw! -
Pink Moon: Sugar Crystals and Mandarin
splendidissima replied to doomsday_disco's topic in Duets & Menage A Trois
So fun! Sugar crystals + bright orange - it's like summer in a bottle! It actually feels like...if you remember Meigetsu Ya, from the Yules a few years back, this is like the summer version of that winter scent! It's the same bright juicy mandarin, except MY has that touch of the frost note for winter (which is a sweet-ish frost note on me), and this Pink Moon version, instead of that, has extra crystallized sugar sprinkled all over. It's very clearly sugar crystals (heh, almost a good pun!), versus any powdered or brown sugar types. I got a backup bottle of MY back then, and I may have to grab one for this too! -
Flower Moon: Blackberry and Lime Rind
splendidissima replied to doomsday_disco's topic in Duets & Menage A Trois
Ooh, I really like this! I love BPAL's lime, and there's not enough of it, so I absolutely pounced on this, and it does not disappoint! It's exactly what it promises: blackberries and lime, sweet and tart, a sort of scent-color of deep purples and emerald greens. It reminds me a lot of the Clown Princess of Crime from the Liliths - that sparkling lime + dark fruit, only here it's berry instead of sugar plum, and no bubblegum note (which I never really got from CPC anyway). It is on the sweeter side, but then the tart lime rind cuts through the sweetness. It seems to not have a huge throw on me - after initial application, it's pretty skin-close - but it's lingering, if I sniff my arm. This should be very fun for summer and early autumn! -
Snagged from the Lab's Etsy! I thought I would like this, and I was right! Rum + butterscotch + a creamy note - not sure how to disentangle cheesecake/ice cream here, but it's collectively adding a rich creamy backdrop. I don't get the hardtack crust at all, at least not that I can pick out. You do have to like dark caramelized sweetness for this, but if you do, this is for you! Very long-lasting, though after most of this evening it's become a skin-close scent - definitely still present, but I have to sniff my arm.
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This one's another one that does exactly what it says: sweet chocolate mint! It does have a creamy sort of note, like Andes mints or some sort of gourmet rich mint-chip ice cream that's drenched in flavor, rather than crunchy cookies, if that makes sense? I don't really get a crust note or a marshmallow note, at least not distinctly - I suspect the marshmallow is contributing to the 'creamy' factor. I do like this more than the Frankenstein Blow Mold, though I overall like both - the FBM definitely has that amber/plastic note, which is *interesting*, but this is a purer sweet mint chocolate dessert.
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I remember liking but not loving OG Dorian (I might still have an empty imp or decant or something around?) - pretty, but light and very tea-forward on me. But I do love sweet cakes and lemon-vanilla and all the Lab's Sufs. And this is gorgeous. It might be my favorite of the Yules. It's the lemon-vanilla aspects of Dorian baked into a fluffy cream cake covered in a generous pour of a vanilla cream-custard, with just a whisper of freshly-brewed dark tea, just to bring down the sweetness and make it more complex. Really nice throw, too - it's a big scent. Two people on two different occasions have said "Wow, you smell good!" while I was wearing it, too!
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This definitely delivers what it promises! On me it's more coffee than chocolate, though the chocolate is there - it's like a 60/40 split. I don't get any pie crust or specifically cookie notes, but I did get something that made me think "pudding" - that is, the American kind, the jiggly blobby Snack Pack or refrigerated tub kind. I don't know what note is doing that, but I 100% would've said "this smells like pudding!" even without knowing that was in the description. I actually like it more than I expected to - I'm not always sure I want to smell like coffee all day long! But this is like some sort of lightly chilled sweet mocha cream, and I'm here for it, especially as the days warm up! The husband, who loves his coffee, at first went, "ooh, you smell good!" and then paused and said, "...but now I just want coffee and I'm sad that it's not real coffee and I'm going to have to make some," so, there's that as a review? 😛
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Ooh, I really like this! Rich, creamy, with that nutty-sweet-starchy swirl of taro...oh, yes! I'll second the taro mochi comment from above; if white chocolate is often too sweet for you, it isn't here; it's balanced perfectly with the taro. My husband (Filipino) even commented on it - that it genuinely truly smelled like a taro pastry! So basically, if that sounds good to you, jump on this!
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Frottle from the Lab! Let's see... ...some sort of dark fruit, definitely! I thought plum at first, but upon reading reviews above, I would also believe it if you told me it was pomegranate. Dark purple and resinous and spiced; it does feel holiday-ish, not in a bad way. Interesting!
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Oh, this is delicious! Gingerbread warmth, plus red juicy fruits, with a little whisper of rose so it's not entirely gourmand. Autumnal with the spiced warmth, but not screaming FALL like some heavy pumpkin scents can. Low throw, but really nice - I keep sniffing my arm!
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I mostly get richly spiced coffee with a bit of a chocolate-y note - not quite enough to be a full-on mocha, but tempering the coffee. I don't really get fir or smoke at all, which is fine - it's a nice cozy warm scent as is, good for cold weather! And I love the label. 🙂
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Sugared Peaches and Blackberry Wine
splendidissima replied to zankoku_zen's topic in Event Exclusive Oils
This is pretty much exactly what it says - heavy on the BPAL peach note, rich and sweet, followed up by blackberries, and a little kiss of wine. It reminds me of some of the Stardust scents - Fairy Wine, perhaps. Nice for late summer/golden autumn! -
Beeswax, Silver Fennel, & Apple Pulp
splendidissima replied to zankoku_zen's topic in Duets & Menage A Trois
This is primarily apple on me - a soft woodsy apple, almost floral. (My husband actually guessed it was apple blossom!) I've never had anything else with silver fennel, so I'm wondering if that's contributing to the woods/herbal sense here? The beeswax adds a nice warm touch of creamy lightly sweet wax. I sort of picture walking through an apple orchard in some sort of old-fashioned dress, on a warm afternoon. It's very interesting, and very pretty! -
Morello Cherry, Ginger Root, and Black Musk
splendidissima replied to Silvertree's topic in Duets & Menage A Trois
Ginger and red cherries! I don't really get black musk, but I think that must be keeping the cherries from going too cough-syrup - someone said cherry soda or cherry cordial, above, and that sounds right! The ginger gives it a little spice, nice and bright, not too dark. This is fun! -
Oh, I like this one! I figured I would - I like all three notes (I really like the Lab's yogurt), so this was a full-bottle buy. In order of strength, on me: green tea, yogurt, and then mango. The green tea is refreshing and light, the yogurt adds that sour-cream note, and the mango pops in for a little sweet tropical brightness. I would totally drink this - like some sort of tropical milk tea drink! It's great for the last hot days of summer-into-autumn, here.
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Raspberry white chocolate swirls! Pink, sweet, fruity, creamy, and pretty. There is something that keeps it more grown-up than little-kid - maybe the white musk lending it a cool pale edge? Like eating a fancy raspberry white chocolate truffle while sitting by the window of an upscale apartment on a misty silver-hued day. Oh, I really like this. I'm tempted to acquire a backup!
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Sweet maraschino cherry! Not cough syrup at all - really a dead ringer for that bright red sugary sweetness. As it dries, the marshmallow comes out more - it's very marshmallow fluff, with a whipped or airy note - how does Beth do that?! It's different from just straight marshmallow somehow, with whatever's making it fluffier and airier. I really like this, but it's very low throw and also one of those scents that my skin just eats; I put it on and it's gone within half an hour. I've been having that issue with a few of the recent blends, so maybe it's me? For example, both Ghost Dragon's Mama and White Cat do this to me too - great, but then just gone. *sad*