sunshinedaisybliss

Hi guys I'm new and I'm actually looking for a scent similar to the mix of patchouli, vanilla and lavender. - I'm more of the classic Gothic smell. If anyone can help me find either one of the scents that'll be great.

 

~VM

Hiya VM

The first thing I thought of was a blend called Wulric the Wolfman - here's the description:

It doesn't have the patchouli you're looking for, but the combination of the cocoa + vetiver gives it a lovely smokey/earthy tone which is similar to a patchouli-esque kinda vibe. The vanilla + lavender isn't too sweet - the other notes darken it up nicely.

Wulric is from the Carnaval Diabolique line, which is currently on hiatus at the Lab (it will be back, but we don't know when), but if you check through the For Sale area here on the forum you should be able to find a decant of it so you can try it out

On my skin, this smells exactly the same as Lump of Coal. Exactly.. really, exactly. Eggsackly!!

The chocolate definitely has a slight bitterness, but it's not actually bitter - nor is it super sweet. It's a dry, dark chocolate with the oude sitting darkly but very quietly underneath. It smells like a brownie.

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Nooooo.... not that kind of brownie! Cakey brownies - rich, soft and gooey brownies.

The oil itself is smooth and silky - I have no cacoa globules in mine (I don't have a full bottle - just a 10ml decant), and I was kinda hoping I would have, because I love it when there's cocoa globules - it's like having a little lava lamp in a bottle. The fragrace stays on my skin for a while - maybe an hour or so? And then.. it's gone. I'm a bit sad about that, but this test was done on dry skin - not in the bath/shower - so I'll have to try it another time as an actual bath oil to see if that improves the staying power. Plus, I bet it makes the house smell amazing after it's been wafting out of a warm bath for a while

On the OMG I LOVE CHOCOLATE BROWNIES scale of one to ten.. this one goes to eleven.

Deep, dark, delicious vanilla. Naughty, booozy vanilla. I applied this directly on to my skin, because it would have been inappropriate to derobe and bathe in it at work, and the scent I got was rich and gourmand - like the world's most expensive vanilla extract that you would use if you were baking a $5000 cake. There's a slight undertone of rich, warm wood and yes - maybe a hint of something sassafrasish - I agree with others on the Tombstone likeness, but the vanilla here is 100x more vanillasome.

I am going to consult a plastic surgeon and enquire whether it's possible to have this bath oil injected into my body somehow so that all of me smells like it. I want it to ooze out of every pore and be in my hair, my spit, my pee, my sweat.. even my poo. It all needs to smell like this. That must be possible, with all the advances in medical techology - right?

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Is Goblin sweet at all? Or is it all Patchoulli? And Tomstone scares me because of the balsam and cedar but does the vanilla overpower those?

 

Wonder what vanilla scent would be the same/closest as the one in Banshee Beat to layer with?

Goblin isn't really sweet.. it's kinda gnarly, raw, dirty - but in a good way.. but that's coming from me, a lover of black coconut The benzoin in Goblin is sweet and syrupy - similar to a dark vanilla - but it's not 'foodie' like vanilla is, but mostly it's all about the patchouli with Goblin - it's pretty patchouli-heavy, but it's not as full-on as it is in #occupywallstreet, and the coconut/benzoin sweeten it up nicely. Tombstone is really lovely - the balsam is similar to the hemp in BB, and the cedar is soft and smooth because it has the sassafras to warm it up, but to me the vanilla is the star of the show - with the balsam it has a really nice smokey tone.

They're both worth a try, I'd say.. but out of the two, Goblin is probably more Banshee Beat-ish because it has that same raw kind of vibe about it, and the same syrupy rich feel as BB. If you like black coconut and patchouli, then Gobin is a must-try anyways

I need to know what GCs smell like Banshee Beat! I spilled my bottle today (first devastating spill ever). I'm hoping a sweet forumite will sell me there back up. But if that does not happen I need to know what else may work. I LOVE the black vanilla note in it the most. And the patchoulli in it is the ONLY patchoulli that worked for me so far. So please tell me what else is similar or the closest!

Vanilla323 - Banshee Beat is my most favourite BPAL, and I haven't found anything else in the GC that smells anything like it. Tombstone has a similar feel, but it's different.. and Goblin (which was mentioned by Orata) has a similar darkness but the coconut makes it completely different to BB. Those two are definitely worth a try though, if you like the darker vanillas. Sorry I haven't got any suggestions for you as Banshee Beat substitutes, but I've seen bottles of BB around here for sale, so hopefully you'll be able to replace your bottle.

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And I'm late to reply to earlier questions, but here goes...

Is there anything LE or GC that smells like Neil Gaiman's Orange? I am so in love that it hurts.

Reviving this to let you know that you're not alone and that I, too, am pining away for Orange. Specifically, I want to know where else in the BPAL catalogue I can find that Orange-Crush-esque bit to Orange that I got. I know there's already a thread for orange blossom (which I'm scouring!) and I had recommendations for outside-of-BPAL, commercial-brand perfume, but I am on a hunt for the perfect Orange-y orange.

You guys should try and track down PL176 - it's a prototype, so it won't be easy to find, but definitely easier to find than Orange! PL176 is a gorgeous straight-up orange crush

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Any hope for similar scents to Midway? Besides Midway Res, and others are saying Velvet Unicorn, but that seems hard to track down.

Velvet Unicorn has a 'pink' tone to it, more candy-like, so for me it's not at all like Midway/Midway Res. I haven't found a GC or LE yet that's even close to that unique smell of Midway

I didn't go for many of the Lupercalia/Shunga blends this time around - I never have much success with them, because there's often a lot of white florals and/or otherwise 'white' notes like skin musk that hate me. This year's batch featured a lot of honey, which is a very problematic note for my skin and usually ends up smelling either like sweaty feet, or vomit. Nice

The Vine could have been a winner, but the honey ruined it and the vanilla cream smelled kinda weird on me. Lady in Speckled Pink Kimono is really pretty, but not any more impressive than other similar 'pink and sweet' BPALs I've tried before.

So my stand-out hit for this year is... *drum roll* Body, Remember. I wrote a rather embarrassingly love-fuelled review of it here, but anyone who loves black coconut (think Goblin, Death Adder, Snake Charmer, Red Lantern) must try it! Gorgeous gorgeous gooooorgeoussssss

ETA - I predict Body, Remember and Variety of Pleasing Amusements will be this year's sleepers - maybe also Snowy Mountains and Kingfisher

The last couple days I think I've noticed that the oil on my hands and wrists seems to be fading quickly, but I can still smell what seems to be the oil from my neck. Is my air conditioning in my car drying it out too quickly and causing it to fade?

I'm not sure whether it's related to the air conditioning in your car, but I definitely get the same results as you in those three spots - the back of my hand loses the fragrance most quickly, my wrists hold a scent for a couple of hours, but if I apply the oil to my neck (typically towards the back/side of my neck, below the back of my ears) then it lasts for ages.

I think it probably has more to do with the varying dryness of your skin in those three places, rather than any air conditions, but I'm not really sure.. the back of my hand definitely has drier skin (also, thinner skin) than the other two places though.

Hazelnuts, oh hazelnuts

Sometimes I quite hate your guts

Cumin, cumin, how 'bout you

On my skin you're baby poo

Amber, amber, cannot lie

I love you 'cos you're soft and dry

Cardamom I think you know

How I love your spicy glow

Labdanum, so woodsy sweet

Smelling you is quite the treat

Tobacco tar, you stinky beast

Of all these notes, I love you least

Sweet and golden honey dear

You're the note I always fear

Blackbear Moon starts off all hazelnuts on me - like someone's just eaten a big bowl of hazelnuts then burped in my face.. warm, nutty air. But then mama bear comes out, and she's all soft and fuzzy and I smell the beautiful warm earth of the patchouli and the golden tones of the spices and honey together, and I'm right there in the forest, breathing in the trees and the earth and the musky animal smells and I'm loving it - it's warm and snuggly. The labdanum here is stunning - it has everything it should.. gorgeous resiny woodiness, soft leathery fruitiness and wonderful smoky earthiness - I think that's the note most responsible for the 'bear' feel that I get from this. Honey is not a note that my skin wears well - it's just a wee bit cloying here, especially with the strength of the hazelnut smell, but I'm handling it OK - it fades away nicely once the oil has fully dried down.

Blackbear Moon is a beautiful, beautiful blend that I think will deepen and become even more lovely with some age on it.

Patchouli curry with honey sauce, mixed with cigarettes and garnished with a sprig of mint.

Weird - with the grains and hops, I thought this would smell more - err.. hoppy. Instead, I am getting a very woodsy/spicy vibe from it - not at all what I was expecting. I also thought it would be a lot more dry/dusky with the amber and sandalwood.. but again, nope - not what I was expecting.

I could swear there's honey in here somewhere - or is it nutty, like hazelnuts? Perhaps it's in the hops, I dunno. This becomes quite syrupy and foody on my skin, but not in a good way. Pass.

Hello, pretty lady in your pretty pink kimono. You smell sweet and pretty - just like I thought you would.

At first, I find the peony to be a bit overly sweet - but then the lovely soft waxiness of the vanilla orchid comes in.. and eventually overtakes the peony. So what I end up with is vanilla orchid with a touch of peony - sweet, floral but not flowery, and somehow there's a real 'oriental' feel to it - it has a very cool tone.

Nice.. and pretty.. but nothing that makes me jump around in excitement.

OK.. so when first applied, the honey and pear combination is a little bit - quite strong, very juicy, sweet.. but a little bit on the sour side too. But most of all.. strong. Honey often goes sickly/cloying/funky on my skin - thankfully it's not quite doing that here, but it's close to it.. very close. However, as it dries down I find that the notes balance out nicely and the vanilla warms up to counteract the sweetness of the honey. It's still a bit too honey-riffic for my liking at this stage though - and sadly, it does eventually change into that horrible sickly/cloying honeyness that I don't enjoy at all. Honey, you're a stinky fiend - why don't you like meeeeeeeeeee? The vanilla cream is weird - I'm not sure whether I like it, and I'm wondering if that's what's responsible for the slightly sour top layer that I'm getting.

For me, The Vine is at its best point when it's faded right down - I get the fragrance of warm pears.. like cooked pears, and the honey has turned into a dry almost musky kind of tone. But overall, the honey is just too much - it's like 70% honey and 30% pear.. I was hoping for the reverse of that. And now that I'm aware of the fresh splotch one one arm, comparing it to the other arm where it's been on for about 90 minutes now - the difference is really quite significant; the most recently splotched arm is honey overload and kind of a stinky mess, but the one that's been there for a while is soft and lovely with more pear than honey. I just can't deal with that honey overload though, not even just to tolerate it until I get to the lovely faded stage, so nope - this one is not for me.

I know a lot of people were hoping this would be like Perilous Parlor - I was, too - but on me, they are nothing alike. PP is a clean, sweet, fresh and juicy pear with a soft/sweet vanilla - TV is a brown pear, cooked in a honey sauce, with a milky vanilla. One is white, the other is brown. Just my opinion of course, but PP > TV. I wish I had my Note Removal Machine^TM though, because if I could reduce the honey quotient here then I think I could really love it.

I notice a lot of the previous reviews are talking about cinnamon.. but it's not a listed note I actually have no idea what hedoine accord smells like - is that a cinnamon-like spice, perhaps? I checked google but didn't find much.. except that hedoine is one of the listed notes in Angel. Curious and curiouser. There definitely is something spicy in here though - I actually thought it was cassia, but since everyone else is saying cinnamon then I guess that's it.

Ten minutes later, when the spice had calmed down, the red musk emerged - it's lovely here.. I think that the combo of red musk + patchouli gives everything a fairly soft, earthy and warm feel. There's a very soft smokiness from the opium, but nothing obvious. I expected more of a dark fruit tone with cassis being here, but nope - not getting anything fruity from this at all. I wonder if 'cassis' is actually supposed to be 'cassia'? That would explain the cinnamon vibe.

I'm not noticing anything floral-like from the styrax, and thankfully the costus isn't rubbery or overly musky. Frankincense.. not picking that up. Oakmoss.. yeah, but it's faint. Kief.. well, no - can't find that either.. there's nothing green or herb-ish in here at all as far as I can tell.

After about an hour, I'm left with softly spicy red musk with a hint of oakmoss. This one doesn't really have anything unique enough about it to make me need it, and overall I just feel a bit ambivalent about it - it's just.. not that exciting.

I received this as a gift from my beautiful friend stargirl

This is the third extrait from BPAL/BPTP that I've tried (the others being Snake Oil and White Pumpkin), and it's by far the most subtle and soft - interesting colour too, it's a lovely reddish-golden orange. I did one spritz on my arm at first, but could barely smell it, so I layered another spritz over the top.. that worked. And this one is quite delicate and transparent - I don't get that hit of fragrance like I do when an oil hits my skin. But that's what makes the extraits interesting - you feel more immersed in the fragrance rather than having it focused on one particular spot on your skin

So yeah.. delicate and transparent, which was a surprise considering the notes - I've never really known black patchouli and balsam and oudh to be 'delicate'! And it's somehow quite refreshing, invigorating. The black pomegranate here is beautiful - unlike regular pomegranate, which usually smells like raspberry candy on my skin, this one is much less fruity and works beautifully with the earthy/woodsy tones of the patchouli and guaiac wood. There's a definite duskiness, which would be from the sandalwood and amber, but I'm not getting much in the way of sweetness from it; I expected some tropical type sweetness from the vanilla orchid and ylang ylang combo but I'm not getting that at all, I only noticed it when I was spraying it on me - I could hardly notice either the vanilla orchid or the ylang ylang once everything had settled on my skin for a few minutes. Balsam is the missing ingredient for me - I'm not picking that up at all.

This really is quite lovely - sadly, it doesn't stick around for very long at all on my skin, and the subtle tones of the individual notes flatten down and lose their vibrance after a while - I would need to be re-spraying this every couple of hours to really enjoy it through a whole day. It actually lasts longer in my hair than on my skin, and the vanilla orchid/ylang ylang sweetness is more noticeable in my hair than on my skin. But it has a smooth, dusky, fresh and alive vibe about it that in my mind goes perfectly with du Cœur Libéré des Ténèbres - being free from the heart of darkness - it's beautiful, and I would buy a BIG bottle of it if I could

May I just take a moment to profess my love of black coconut? Oh black coconut, how I love thee. I love your dark and gnarly heart, your outer crust of woodsy goodness, and the intoxicating aroma of your sweet meaty insides. I love you in Goblin, I love you in Boneshaking Velocipede, I love you in Snake Charmer, you're the star of Red Lantern and I seriously LOVE you big time in Death Adder.

So.. Body, Remember. Did I mention that I love black coconut? It's so good here, SO GOOD - no hint of suntan lotion or Malibu cocktail silliness - nope, this is the black coconut I love - dark and gnarly and sexy. This one was an interesting gamble for me, because if my love for black coconut is right on the top notch of the scale from one to infinity, my love for sugar cane is as far away from that as possible.. I don't like sugar cane at all, and the feeling is mutual. Sugar Cane has ruined many an otherwise fine BPAL (Pet Magah Bird comes to mind) - and when I first put Body, Remember on my arm I feared it was going to do it to this one as well. But no! Screw you, sugar cane - my beloved black coconut kicked your ass!!

Ambergris is an interesting player here - its sweet, woody tones are a nice compliment to the black coconut and is probably what's stopping this whole thing with the sugar cane and all from being too sweet.. I was really worried this would end up going all sweet on me, but it didn't. The muskiness of the ambrette is also a nice addition, it tempers everything nicely - this is one of those blends that reminds me Beth has some serious genius when it comes to making the smellies. Champaca flower, which completely spoiled Narrow Opening for me, is not bothering me at all here. Am I going to buy a bottle of this? Yeah, I am. I might even buy two bottles. Or seventy six bottles. I loved Harigata II from last year, but where that one was a soft, sweet, pretty type of sensual; the cute blonde surfer boy.. Body, Remember is the hit-you-right-in-the-gut type of sensual; the tall dark and handsome kind. I loves it.

I just can't stop raving about how good the black coconut here is, and how much I love it. I mean seriously, if I had testicles they would be aching with longing right now. Black coconut - I love you, and I want to have your little black coconut babies and live with you in a black coconut house, leaving only to take rides along the beach in our black coconut car to collect more black coconuts.

Wow - the jonquil here is really sweet, very heady indeed. When combined with the black musk and black sandalwood here, and the sweet hint of honeycomb, it gives me a super-sweet but super-dry powderiness. It never quite gets to baby powder status, but it's definitely powdery/dusty.

Clove? Are you sure? Not in my decant.. nope, it's just not there. And frankincense, which usually amps horribly into screeching lemon nastiness on my skin - well, that's not the case here.. I can hardly smell it.

This is one of those BPALs that isn't really one thing or the other on my skin - it's just a nice smell. It's not musky, it's not dark, it's quite sweet and flowery - it's just nice, but rather unimpressive in its niceness. As surlygurl said - it's.. pleasant. But I don't really do "pleasant" - I like my BPALs to be unique and unusual and intense, and Liaison just isn't any of those things. So to me, it's vaguely unsatisfying and pretty forgettable. I was hoping for a more dangerous liaison, but instead I got a disappointing liaison. Ah well.. can't win 'em all

The brightness of the champaca flower in combination with the waxy bright resin of the frankincense are the first things I notice in Narrow Opening when it hits my skin. The two together produce an a bright, golden toned floral-like fragrance, which sticks around for the first 10-15 minutes and is quite heady in an almost smells-like-baby-shampoo kinda way.

Thirty minutes in, and that initial floral business has faded away a bit.. the rum is here! I don't think the rum is able to do its usual spicy boozy thing though, because that frankincense has amped up quite a bit (my skin always amps that one) and it's really keeping the rum in check. Same with the leather - it's there, and I am picking it up as a fresh/sharp kind of leather rather than the worn/snuggly kind of leather - but it's really struggling to get out. Bourbon vanilla.. where are you? I'm just not loving this one at all - the things I wanted (rum, leather, bourbon vanilla) are not here, and the things I didn't want (champaca, ambrette, frankincense) won't go away!!

So here I am.. it has now been on my arm for 2.5 hours, and what have I got? The teensy tiniest hint of vanilla, and the barest suggestion of a sweet floral. But I'm really stretching to find those things - there's hardly any scent remaining on my skin. Overall, there's nothing about Narrow Opening that makes it stand out from other similar BPAL blends.. and I doubt I'll ever feel an urge to wear this one again. Totally not my thing

Yikes - when I first put this on my arm, I was overcome by the vetiver.. bourbon vetiver, you say? Vetiver from the Bog of Eternal Stench, I say. During the first ten minutes of wearing The Balcony, I seriously contemplated washing it off - it was just.. vetiver overload. But oh, I am wise to the evil sneaky ways of vetiver, and I know that often there's a soft smoky sweet vetiver hiding underneath the gnarly bog-like VETIVER - it's like it puts up a challenge - "Oh, so you think I stink now? Can you handle it for ten minutes? Well can you, punk? Because if you can, if your nostrils are strong and you have the balls to stay with me, I'll reward you by changing into something glorious." So yes, ya smart ass - I can handle it. I have the balls, and I have the nostrils. You don't scare me. And, true to its word, the vetiver does calm down within about 10-15 minutes and tones down its gnarly bog-like first impression.

The Balcony reminds me very much of BPTP's Lucy, Kissed - Lucy was "diabolical voluptuousness", and this one is definitely "voluptuous darkness" - they share the same lovely black/dark rose, and the same warm snuggly patchouli. The Balcony has a sweeter tone, probably from the honey, and the vetiver gives it a smokiness that Lucy, Kissed doesn't have, but overall I would put them in the same category of fragrance. This one is dark for sure, but also very organic/earthy with all that patchouli and vetiver business going on - organic/earthy/smokey. The honey is very much in the background on my skin, as is the rose. One hour after it's been on my arm, I end up with a faintly smokey hint of dark rose.

This is a good one - anyone who enjoys these voluptuous and dark kinds of blends will probably love it. And I'm sure it's going to age like a champion - that vetiver + red patchouli combo should meld into each other beautifully over the years. For me, The Balcony doesn't eclipse any of my other favourite BPALs in this style - and ultimately, although I am appreciating the vetiver.. it stays a bit too strong for me to truly enjoy.

Hi guys - just a quick comment about recommending other companies' perfumes in this section. Some time ago we got to the volume of posts and membership where opening this section up to other companies' scents was going to make it a big free-for-all mess. It's not something I even issue reminders for, but periodically I bump the post that's here: http://www.bpal.org/topic/42782-please-bpal-recommendations-only-in-this-subforum/ Feel free to contact me with any questions, concerns, etc.

oh whoops.. sorry ivyandpeony, I don't think I knew about that rule so I see why you (re)moved my post here - my apologies

beachbabealways - I can't remember now what I posted here originally, it was something along the lines of Motley being the best rhubarb EVER, and Heroine being sadly very un-rhubarbish on me, and same with Lawful, but maybe you'll have better luck with those two.

I wish rhubarb would show up more often though, it's such a beautiful sultry fragrance.

Hiya Quillifer

I notice you're in the UK, so as a fellow international BPALer (I'm in Australia) - I might be able to help soothe your concerns a bit

It's not unusual for it to take over four weeks between placing your order and the Click N'Ship notification being sent - some of my orders have taken twice that long (although to be fair, they were for multiple bottles, rather than imps). From what I understand, the Lab processes all the international orders together, to make it easier for filling out all the forms and getting the boxes shipped out, so generally they take longer to be done than the US orders. It sounds like your first order was very fast - maybe your second one hit the Lab at a time when they were super busy so it hasn't been processed quite as quickly. So I guess what I'm saying is.. it's not unusual to be waiting four weeks (or longer) after ordering before your CnS comes through - that first order of yours was freaky fast if you received it "weeks ago" after placing it around Jan 25/26 - with this second order you're currently at four weeks between order placement on Jan 27 and today, so this time period you're experiencing now is pretty normal for international orders.

Having said that, it is unusual to not receive any reply at all to your emails - sometimes they can take a little while to respond (the Lab runs on a small number of staff and I know they're always very busy) but if it's been more than a week with no response, that is a bit strange. Are you sending to answers@blackphoenixalchemylab.com? And you've checked the spam/junk folder of your email to make sure nothing's landed in there? If that's a 'yes' on both counts, then I'm not sure what else to suggest - if it's been over a week since you sent your last email then I guess the only thing you can do is try them again. But, as I said earlier, your order is probably just fine - this is just how long it takes for things to happen. Even US orders can take over a month at busy times.

Sorry you're experiencing this frustration, but it's a whole different story when you're international - unfortunately, you'll need to get used to waiting around this long for your orders to be processed and generate the CnS and then finally arrive... that's just how it works. I know it's not great, and it's hard to be patient, but it is what it is.. and the wait is always worth it once your order does arrive! One tip I would give you is to check out the For Sale section here on the forum - people sell imps at very fair prices, and usually ship them out pretty quickly too - so that's a great way to get your hands on the nice smellies without the long wait for Lab orders

I hope your goodies get to you soon!!

I get the 'fragile' aspect of the description for Mourning Lace - on my skin, it feels a little uncomfortable.. like it's hurt, it doesn't want to be touched. The vanilla blossom is very melancholy and sad - the clove, oak and myrrh are trying to keep it upbeat but it's still sad. Who knew a perfume could be sad.. I'm surprised.

On full dry-down, I find the clove perks up nicely - it's not overly clove-y, but it does have a top note of bitterness with a touch of sweetness that balances nicely with the oak and myrrh. Frankincense is lurking around underneath everything, but it's not very present to my nose. The green cognac is more fresh than boozey - it's the same kind of green in That! The Terror From Over There, but without the peppery wasabi. The clove + resins combo is nice, but I'm not finding it particularly enjoyable in combination with the green vibe - and it's just a bit too much clove for me.

This is similar in tone to Black Lace, but Mourning Lace substitutes the sexy for the solemn.. however I remember Black Lace was described as 'funereal elegance' and I guess that's what I'm picking up as the similarity between the two. Overall, I find Mourning Lace to be haunting and sad.. and uncomfortable. It's not even that I don't like it - I do, it's a lovely fragrance - I just don't like wearing it, it's kind of a little creepy and unsettling. This is possibly the weirdest reaction I've had to a BPAL so far.. but I'm curious to see how this one will develop with age, so I'm going to hang on to it for now.

On my skin, Pink Lace isn't as 'pink' as I expected it would be. Disappointed, am I? Oh hell no.. I'm very happy at this turn of events! I already have a couple of girlypinkpretty BPALs (L'Essence De L'Engougement and Vasilissa come to mind) so I am not at all upset to discover that Pink Lace isn't as sweet and innocent as it makes out

I instantly recognise the same tea rose + white cognac combination that I got from Sybil - that delicious deep, warm and slightly boozy duskiness of the two together is very much present here, but where in Sybil there was a lot of other stuff going on around those two notes.. not so much in Pink Lace. The other thing I recognise is the same champaca incense as the one in Halloween: Las Vegas - deep, rich and sweetly smokey. The strawberry here is upfront and vibrant - it's a kinda tangy, rich strawberry rather than a soft and sweet strawberry - it's almost verging on a grape-like tone, like purple rather than pink but I suspect that's due to the cognac and champaca incense influence. The vanilla was a little hard to find at first, but once the initial boozy vibe settled down - there it was, and it's definitely vanilla with strawberry, not strawberry with vanilla. The tobacco gives it that familiar feel that I know so well from other members of the Lace family.. here, it's probably most similar to how the tobacco is in Tattered Lace.

So.. overall, Pink Lace on me is boozy strawberry incense. It's like Keith Richards in a dress. Good times

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Hmm.. on spraying this into the air, I am greeting by Mr Cinnamon. HELLO, Mr Cinnamon! This isn't Mr Crappy Candle Cinnamon though, this is Mr Cyril Casanova Cinnamon.. the very sophisticated exotic and spicy hotnaughty kind of cinnamon that tickles your nose and can loosen the elastic of yer knickers. The type of cinnamon that dresses in a three-piece suit with a fob watch tucked into his waistcoat pocket, and tips his hat when he says hello. Polite cinnamon. And if you like Monsterbait Underbed, you'll like the cassia in this one - my first thought was of Underbed when the cassia in Kypria poked out from behind the cinnamon - it has a nice soft sweetness but a definite spicy tone.

The only problem with the cinnamon & cassia twosome is that they are very dominating - pretty much all I got from Kypria for a good while was C&C. And in case you were wondering - that's C&C being cinnamon and cassia, not Cheech and Chong - I would know if those two had been in my house because my bowl would be empty and there would be pizza boxes on the floor, no beer left in the fridge, and mysterious stains on my couch.

It was only when I had left the room for about 15 minutes then walked back in that I found the true beauty of Kypria. Oh.. Egyptian musk, how I love you - I love your clean, pure, gentle beauty - you are the goddess of musks, and you rightfully belong in this Aphrodite spray. And bourbon vanilla is the God of all vanillas, in my opinion. Thank you both for showing up - I'm so glad you made an appearance, but I wish there was more of you. Unfortunately the elegant beauty of Egyptian musk and the sumptuous richness of bourbon vanilla are no match for C&C, who have apparently forgotten their manners and taken over the show.

I really wanted Kypria to be all about the Egyptian musk and bourbon vanilla - I was hoping there would be only a hint of the cinnamon/cassia. To be honest, I would have liked there to be no C&C at all, but that's just me and my love for EM and BV. If I had to put numbers to it, I would say my bottle is 85% cinnamon/cassia and 15% Egyptian musk/bourbon vanilla.. and sadly, that's not what I was hoping for - I wanted the reverse of that. Kypria is really beautiful - a gorgeous spray, and it smells all kinds of awesomesexypants, but just not what I was hoping for.. and I'm saying that not as a criticism, but because hopefully it will be helpful to others who come here wondering about the balance of notes.

Oh - and as mxtine says, don't get this on you, or on the cat, or on Cheech and Chong if they happen to be visiting. It's a stinger, for sure.

Why isn't there more love for this one? Whassamatter with you all.. did those scary notes put you off? Did you think this would be all pepper and clove and pepper and clove? Well.. you were wrong!!

I don't think pink pepper has ever let me down, and in here it's particularly gorgeous - slightly spicy, but with a definite 'pink' tone.. kinda like spicy bubblegum as other people have said. I'm not really picking up any black pepper at all, and the clove is very subtle.. it's there, but it's in the background and very mild. I can definitely smell the dark chocolate, but it doesn't smell 'chocolatey' at all - it's just there as a base note really.

As gorgeous as this is, I have to confess to a slight disappointment because I really was expecting it to have a lot more POW than it does - it doesn't really match up with the whole 'cacophony of madness' theme in my mind. The myrrh and labdanum are hardly there at all to my nose, and the dragon's blood is also barely there - just a hint of it, but hardly noticeable. Unfortunately the staying power isn't great - it fades pretty quickly on my skin - but that could be because I've over-huffed it right off my arm

After about 30 minutes on my skin, the pinkness and the whole bubblegum thing has gone away and the chocolate has gone powdery.. but in a good way, it's dusky and gorgeous. I actually really love this - it's not like any other BPAL that I've ever tried, but there's something about it that is very intoxicating and sexyish. I think I will need a backup bottle of this one!

Oh.. this is such a pretty one! I was concerned that it would be overly sweet and candy-like, but it really isn't. YAY!

Like violetblue, I also picked up a sour tone to the orange blossom when I first dabbed it on my skin - but thankfully that went away pretty quickly and then everything else was revealed - the vanilla, the pink candies, the strawberry sugar - all in beautiful balance, all very soft and lovely, all good!

The orange blossom is the most obvious note at first, but as with all the other flavours in this conconction it's soft and dreamy. The vanilla has a hint of creaminess, but it has quite a dry tone which keeps it from being too icecream-ish. I see the comparisons to Celeste in previous reviews, but the vanilla in Celeste was ghastly on me - sour and sharp - so for me, this one is not Celeste-ish at all. The pink candies and strawberry sugar come into play much more after about 15 minutes on my skin, which is how long it took for the orange blossom to fade a little - and unlike some previous BPALs I've tried, the strawberry here is not plastic or artificial - it really does smell like fresh, juicy strawberries. The staying power isn't great, but it does hold its fragrance nicely as it fades.

Is this "the intoxication of the first kiss"? Hmm.. I'm not sure - I think it belongs more to a young girl scoring her first smooch in the school playground, rather than to a grown-up woman intoxicated by her first lusty kiss - it's just full of sweetness, fluffy bunnies, young romance, unicorn rides and a kind of innocent girliness. It's the perfect BPAL to wear for sharing a milkshake with your love whilst holding hands under the table outside at the cafe on a sunny day