splendidissima

This has been one of my favorites since I got into BPAL! It's sweet, dark, ginger - heavy on the ginger - with warm cookies/pastries/something sweet and rich that's playing oh so nice with the spices. Not sharp at all, just dark, warm, gently spicy. I bought a new bottle this year, and I still absolutely love it. Also, we visited my grandparents this past weekend, and I was wearing my new bottle, and I hugged my grandma, and she said, "oh, you smell so good, were you baking?"

Like Doomsday_disco, I get that upfront boozy blast! I'm not sure what's doing that, but it's definitely a booze punch, like maybe a rum? I actually wondered at first if there was some mix-up and this was the Rum Cake! A couple hours later, it's much more bread-y and pumpkin-y - like a canned pumpkin, like, well, like a pumpkin bread! It's not really very sweet - it's closer to other Lab bread scents, if you've liked those. It's a calm baked-bread skin-close scent, very home-y. I'm not really getting any chocolate, unless that's somehow transforming into the initial booze wave. Overall, I like it, in a gentle autumn-kitchen sort of way, especially once it dries down.

Oh my word - so much fizzy champagne! To the point that I'm wondering who ate my pumpkin cheesecake! I like the Lab's champagne note, so I'm not mad about it, but honestly it's almost a single note of that on me, especially at first. After it dries there's a hint - it really is a *hint* - of a little creaminess at the back. I got it yesterday, so I'm going to leave it for a couple of days and see if the pumpkin stops being shy - I do also *really* love pumpkin, and I like sweet cream type scents, so I was hoping for a balance of notes here, so in that sense I'm a bit sad. But, again, I like the champagne, so that's okay too - not complaining! Maybe I'll try layering it with something more pumpkin or cream-forward...maybe Ghost Milk? Or my old partial bottle of Pumpkin Cheesecake?

In order of strength, I get: coffee, apple, and a dark sweetness - caramel/brown sugar, I think! With a kiss of cinnamon. It's not as sweet as might be expected from the notes, because the coffee is so up front and the sugar is dark brown. I can't pick out any oatmilk, which I was kind of looking forward to, unless maybe it's just smoothing things out in the background. But that's okay; this is still fun, and I don't have anything else quite like it in my collection! It really does smell like something I'd want to drink on a grey chilly morning, while wrapped up in a cozy blanket - or maybe even getting a jolt of caffeine for braving the weather to run errands!

Oooooh. This one's for chocolate lovers! Rich, dark, creamy chocolate - I agree that it's creamy, like the mousse or even the mirror glaze in the description, and not cake-y at all! And then there's a swirl of nuttiness - hazelnut & praline. The fancy Nutella description is a good one! It's a big decadent scent - I can see this getting a lot of wear in cold weather, or at cozy holiday parties. 🙂

This is very much spiced apples and pumpkin spice on me, and I'm not complaining! The husband took one sniff and said "that smells like fall," and I agree - like standing next to a cauldron of spiced apple cider while also holding a spiced pumpkin hot beverage in one hand. (I don't want to say PSL because I don't really get coffee at all - just warm pumpkin + more spice!) As it dries it alllllmost gets to be...too much spice? Hinting at Cinnamon Apple Spice Candle? But in the end it's not quite too much - there's some sweetness from the candy corn and some booze-sweet-darkness from the bourbon that keeps it multilayered and intriguing. Good for autumn nights!

I'd actually bought this one to give to my mom, but I think I might like it... It's a warm, tropical, lush floral - I agree that there's something not-quite-fruit in there, like walking around someplace tropical, where there're giant colorful blooms but also big floppy green leaves and also maybe some pineapple or coconut drifting on the air. It's staying pretty much exactly that - I don't really get ginger, unless that's just contributing to the 'warm' feel. It's wonderfully atmospheric - evoking scent and place memories of tropical vacations.

Hmm - this is very sandalwood on me, to the point that that's mostly what's dominating! After quite a while - like, an hour - there's some sweetness adding itself, and it is a very pale-pink sort of sweetness, if that makes sense? Like little pink marshmallows, but also with a lot of sandalwood? I'm starting to think sandalwood doesn't work well on me, so maybe it's a me thing! By which I mean... I *loved* Gingerbread Mummy, and so I thought, okay, this is fine, especially with sweet notes like the white chocolate and mallow flower! But then - Every Day Is Halloween (last year's) was very sandalwood heavy on me, and now this one is too! I don't dislike it as such - this is perfectly fine as a sweet sandalwood, especially as it dries down and a bit more of the sweetness emerges - but I'm not loving it as much as I hoped I would? I shall let my mom try it in two weeks when she visits, and see what she thinks!

Grapes! Such grapes! "Heady" is the right word - it's a big, swooping, purple, thick burst of grapes as it goes on! It's odd - it doesn't read 'wine' to me as much as 'grape juice + booze,' if that makes sense? Like someone put alcohol in the grape juice, rather than "wine" as such. Which is nice, especially if you like the Lab's grape note. At first, it's actually not as sweet as I was expecting, though now - about half an hour in - more blackberry is creeping out and adding a little fruity berry-sweetness. Perhaps a good scent for early autumn nights, all indigo and bronze and velvet folds.

Frottle from the Lab! ❤️ I would also agree about the lemongrass - it's lemon-herby, refreshing, clean and light. I feel like it'll be nice for hot weather!

Just got this today, and I couldn't wait, so this is an out-of-the-mailbox review! So far Ceres is just lovely - I don't get much peony, which is fine, I was mostly here for the mallow and cream and corn! It's beautifully blended; all the notes swirl together. It's a creamy, sweet, sugared corn pudding, on my arm: homey, autumnal, golden, warm, and rich. Honestly it's sort of like...a really, really good creamed corn casserole, but I mean that in a good way, I swear - I really love this! It's foody but in that sweet-corn way, not like cake or bread, so if you like the Lab's corn note plus creamy sweetness, you'll want to try this! Pretty good throw, so far, though it's only been about twenty minutes. 🙂

A thick fudgy brownie, rich and decadent and delicious! Mmm. The coffee is there, but just a hint - the way that, if you make a chocolate cake using coffee as part of the liquid ingredients, it just adds a depth of flavor and a little darkness. After a few minutes little wafts of amber and cardamom appear, adding some complexity, but it stays primarily a big soft gooey fudge brownie on me - which I like!

Vanilla sugar and fizzy champagne! Bright and sparkling. It's actually reminding me of...I think it was Gingerbread Invisible Man, from the Yules - that same champagne note, but without the ginger/gingerbread. I like it!

This one's all about the cheesecake! Sweet cream cheese, with a little waft of lemon in the distance. Mmm. I really like this, but I wish the throw was stronger - it's still there a couple hours later, but very skin-close: I have to get my nose right up to my wrist and sniff. The lemon's very, very faint, so much so that I almost wonder if I'm just imagining it because I know it's supposed to be there! My mom also tested this one, and she said it smelled good but too foody for her - she wanted to eat it, not wear it! But she likes bright big florals and also tropical scents - she loved Sunyashniki, out of the Ukraine scents, so I gave her my bottle and ordered a new one. 😄

I really wanted to like this - I like sage, tonka, cinnamon, vanilla, myrrh - and in the bottle it's a sort of soft smoky spice mix, which is promising... ...somehow, on my skin, this turns to soap. A very nice, luxurious, clean-smelling sort of spa soap, and I wouldn't be mad at it if, y'know, this was a soap scent in my bathroom! But, yep, it's definitely soap. The husband concurs. Maybe I'll try it in a scent locket or oil warmer and see if any of the soft spice from the bottle sticks around...

This is very pretty and summery: ripe red strawberries, a sprinkle of sugar-crystals, and a warm grass-green backdrop. It reminds me a lot of Eat the Strawberries - no surprise, I suppose! - but this Moon doesn't seem to be as loud on my skin in terms of throw; I think the sap and grasses and benzoin are softening it a bit? I haven't tried another Strawberry Moon to compare, but I'm also testing Frogberry Moon on the other arm, and that one has a stronger throw. No real change as it dries, still sweet ripe strawberries, sugar, and - in the back - that soft summer-grass green. I really like this, but it might need slathering - it's fading fast, too!

Berries + clean watery greenness! Lightly berry-sweet, but not overly sweet - the crisp grapefruit and water lily are adding citrus and that water-plant note. The blue lotus is the same note from Vaginal Tales of the Nocturnal Palace - a creamy delicate floral that isn't overly floral, if that makes sense. It's very light and pretty here. I'm not getting much musk or ti leaf, but that's okay - I was mostly here for the intriguing berry-lotus-grapefruit combo! Not soapy at all. Light, pretty, decent throw so far - it's staying basically what it went on as, all red berries + lightly sweet green + a watery note that's more like greenhouses or dew on ferns, not like ozone or anything! Awesome Husband: "...this reminds me of...an old Bath & Body Works scent...not in a bad way! It's nice. But like something I remember." 😄

Am I first? Eep! Okay, let's see. In the bottle and wet on my arm (mind you, I got it two days ago), it's honestly more coconut + cream than fig? Which I'm not complaining about, I like those things, but I feel like they're trampling the fig. That also makes it a heavier scent - kind of similar to the White Chocolate, Carnation, Coconut Cream, Clove Luper, but minus the clove-and-carnation spice. As it dries I think I'm starting to get the fig a little more, or at least there's *something else* in there that's a darker richer note (I'd almost say dates? is that weird?). Not fruity in the way of, like, peaches and such, but like...okay, maybe a fig jam, like Fig Newton filling but better, like, the freshly made homemade kind, spread over the coconut cream. Still not overly sweet, but sweeter, like, well, that fig spread! About 15 minutes in, it's still very coconut cream with that fig jam note bringing some darker complexity. Low throw, but I did only put a couple drops on that arm, since I was also testing another scent on the other arm. (But for comparison, the other scent - White Honey, Lemon Peel, Salt - got put on right before, on the other arm, and is *much* louder. This one I have to put my nose right up to my arm to smell!)

I hesitated about this one, because normally I like sweeter lemon scents - loved Penis Bound with Gold Ribbon! - and honey doesn't always work on me, but I ended up really liking Lollipop Sea from the Yules, with that berry + salt note, so I went for it! And, you know what, I really do like it! It's very very different from Gold Ribbon, which is much more lemon cream and warmth. *This* one is tart and beachy - the salt gives it that seaspray/aquatic-but-not-watery/ocean-air note, but the honey sweetens it again, with a delicate sweetness, and then the lemon brings a sparkling citrus. A couple people have mentioned cocktails, and yes! - it's like a margarita, or something with that sweet-sour note and a salt rim, being sipped outside in the sun by the beach. Good throw and longevity so far, too! I can see this getting a lot of wear as a summer scent.

In order of intensity: cool wintry mint, sweet pale florals, soft white chocolate! All of those are present and distinct - I keep wanting to sniff my wrist more, over and over! There is something misty and magical and ethereal about it, and also - not quite sad, but like, yes, a unicorn who's learned about regret and love and loss, pensive and cool and wise.

Sugared herbal lemon! Oh, this is fun; I'm so glad I snagged a bottle on Etsy. I don't really get red currant or anise or even the iris - which I was a little worried about, since I'm not big on florals! But this is a cool, pale, lightly sweet (not overly sweet) lemon, with whispers of tea-like herbs in the background. It'll be a great summer scent, I think!

I got this with fingers crossed, because I love sweet lemon and lemon-cake type scents, so I was really hoping for that - and, lo and behold, that's what it is on me! It really is a sweet lemon cream - all the lemon frosting or creme filling reviews are spot on. As it dries, it gets a little warmer + more golden, which I think is the amber. It's lovely and strong for quite a while - good staying power. I'm definitely happy I got this one!

Given the cause, I had to grab this one, even though it's not in my usual scent wheelhouse! It goes on as a tangle of florals - I can't pick out anything specific. It is very springtime-y, and maybe just a little spicy. Under that, there's the BPAL soil note, which smells exactly like rich dark soil, as expected! It's still not my usual as far as something I'd wear, but I think it might be a pretty springtime room scent, in an oil warmer, perhaps.

Completely unexpectedly, this is one of my absolute favorites from this order! I'm considering a backup, which I rarely do. I got this because I like red currant (I love Eat Me) and I like sweet, but I was unsure about "poppy tar" or simply "sugar" - Sugar Cookie (and its variants), for instance, always goes dark and caramelized on me, and I've got enough of those! But...oh, my. This. This, yes. This doesn't change at all, as far as I can tell, in bottle - wet - dry on me. Several people above have said hummingbird water, sugar water, nectar - yes! A white sugar, spun-sugar, light & bright & sparkling - but with a juicy dark red layer underneath, like a shimmering crimson, if a scent could be a color. Red berries, with something that darkens it up and makes it more sensual - but no tar or smoke notes at all, if anyone's worried! Just that sense of dark shimmer, if that makes any sense. My gosh, this is glorious. Like Casablanca said - that's a perfect metaphor - it's sweet glittering sugar except it's put on a slinky red dress and is singing in a dimly lit bar somewhere and will seduce someone by the end of the night.

My bottle says 2007, so it's nicely aged! This is fascinating, and not quite like anything else I've got! It's fruity in the way that good olive oil can be fruity, with some grapes and resins giving it a little more wine + warm spice. It's not boozy - these are grapes, not wine, unless it's a sweet herbal sort of wine, which - maybe that's it! As it dries I get a little more of the cakes, not overly sweet, but like an olive oil cake, kind of golden and balanced between sweet and, like, a sweeter type of...almost bread? (What I mean is, it's not like a super-dessert-y cake at all, but like something warm and golden made with honey and olive oil.) All the notes are blending together really nicely now. It reads as fairly androgynous to me - I like it on me, and I feel like I would love it on a partner of any gender! I'd want to keep inhaling their fascinating scent! This is actually really lovely - I keep breathing it in for the experience! Very evocative of ancient Greece, perhaps in the midst of celebratory revels!