theseagrows

this starts off with a soft powdery mossy rose. i am liking this even more than i thought i would! i think i smell the ink after a few more minutes. it seems almost like a soft white leather note. this has a vintage feel to me and i like it a lot. a pleasant surprise for me. it ends up as a fairly powdery rose after the drydown.

when first sprayed i mostly smell leather, yay. i get something sort of fresh, i think it's black tea with some lavender. the other notes sort of bring up the background, this is like a lovely and luxurious leather scent that's still soft and not a super strong black leather...it's a bit subtler due to the other notes. i really like this one a lot. i have a candle by boy smells called 'mssr. blanchy' and it's kind of a soft leather floral scent. this one has a simiar feel to it to me, so if you happen to like subtle leather scents, i think this one's for you. i may have to get a full bottle. ❤️

when i smell the decant it's very subtle and hard to really get an idea of the scent. then on my skin, i get mostly tobacco with some tonka backing it up. after about 15 minutes i get a tiny hint of rose, but really it's primarily tonka and tobacco as the strongest notes.

this starts with a red musk chypre and a little hint of tuberose. after a few minutes i get a little oppoponax to smooth out and warm up the scent. it's basically ends up being a subtle red musk/tuberose on me. i do like it but i have on that's very similar that has a bit more oomph to it, so i will stick with that one.

two of my favorite notes, so you know. starts with labdanum and a hint of honey. there is an effervescence here, it's kind of like cola with honey, strangely enough, when these 2 notes mingle. also the labdanum turns a bit weird with my skin chemistry so i think i will have to swap this one. so promising, but i think my skin does better with labdanum in more complex blends.

i dunno why i decided to try this one, because bpal's black oudh note gets very barnyard-y on me but i was sucked in by the labdanum and was interested how that would work with snake oil. i can't really do snake oil but love a lot of the snake oil adjacent blends. anyway yeah, that stanky oudh is about all i can smell at the outset, with maaaybe hints of vetiver. after about 20 minutes the oudh finally dissipates (yay) and it's mostly labdanum with patchouli. it's nice and does lean a bit more traditionally masculine. the oudh is still there a little bit, in and out but not nearly as strong.

this is very subtle at first, but i smell the caramelized tobacco primarily, with something mildly animalic. a little while later i get a hint of oakmoss, but it's mostly caramelized tobacco and woods, and it's starting to lean more traditionally masculine. it's got a sort of warm toastiness to it. it's nice but not really me...and i can't really wear snake oil and get no real strong connection to snake oil from this. i don't seem to get the vanilla or ambergris at all.

hmm, what? at first i get something super nutty smelling...not sure what that could be at all. anyway, whatever it is, it's mixed with honey, amber and a bit of lotus. after awhile i get cherry blossom and mallow root and it's so pretty. for the most part the nuttiness has died down but i smell it subtly in the background a bit. this is mostly a honeyed cherry blossom, so pretty and springlike.

at first i get honey and immortelle with a tiny hint of lavender way in the background. the amber incense comes forth after about 10 minutes and it's mostly honey, incense and a hint of immortelle. this reminds me a lot of some of l'occitane's discontinued honey scents, which were favorites of mine. definitely a bottle (or more) purchase for me.

i was fairly sure i would love this one and i do. a beautiful, airy, slightly creamy non foody vanilla. yesss. i also want this in bath oil and perfume too. 😍

i received a frimp of this in a swap. it definitely starts out as effervescent lemon, remind some sort of cocktail with champagne. after about 5 minutes the lemon dies down some and i get blackcurrant. i don't tend to go for fruity scents but i like this better than i thought i would. it's a happy, light scent. perfect for spring and summer.

this is very sheer and soft, i have to sort of inhale strongly in order to fully smell it. i definitely get vanilla cream starting off, and seconds later i get the cognac, white musk and tobacco. it reminds me *a lot* of another bpal i've tried but i don't remember which. the coconut and tea rose are pretty subtle in this, just background notes. a very pretty, soft creamy scent, perfect for spring.

sacre coeur was one of my favorite places i went to in paris many years ago, so i knew i had to try this. at first i get steel and something a bit effervescent like champagne...not sure what, along with some iris. i get hints of frankincense, lily and rose but it maintains that sparkly character for me. it dries down to a soft lily-iris scent and is very pretty. i still get that somewhat effervescent note too. 

first off i smell leather and something mildly animalic. i think i get cognac too because there is something a bit sharp and medicinal, so i'm assuming it's that. a little bit of clove and opium comes through next with the vanilla lace in the background. after being on the skin about 45 minutes to an hour it's a really pretty vanilla with tobacco and incense, primarily. i don't get much fruits,, thankfully because they often go plasticky, especially plum. it's a beautiful, rich scent.

at first i smell stone and incense. maaaybe a hint of lavender but it's pretty subtle in the beginning. after awhile it pretty much dries down to just stone and incense. there is no beeswax to speak of, and i was really hoping for that note. i like this but it's not a love.

yeah, this oudh is stanky on me as others have said. i know bpal's black oudh doesn't work for me but i thought the red oudh did, so i assumed that's what burgundy oudh meant...guess i was wrong. this smells like butt with a hint of musk. i don't really get it, i've smelled non-bpal oudhs that aren't really like this at all, more like a leather scent, so that's what i am usually expecting. i tend to forget the bpal oudh note can be bad with my skin chemistry and in this case it definitely is. i so wanted to love this!

grape grape grape....it reminds me of grape bubblegum from my youth, almost exactly. after awhile i get some other hard to place notes. maybe a soft musk, also the grape itself softens quite a bit.

right off i smell chai and the fireplace, i think, with a hint of the cat's fur. this isn't sweet, milky chai, but is drier and more spicy. there is a bit of mahogany far in the background. this definitely does call to mind a library with a cat and roaring fireplace somehow. all in all it's a spicy woods scent on me.

at the start i smell black rose as the strongest note, along with some vetiver and maybe a hint of white sandalwood. after a few minutes, the scent warms up a bit with some amber, however rose is still the strongest note by far. after the drydown it's mostly rose, amber and sandalwood and it's very pretty! i was hoping for a lot more leather in this but i didn't get any at all. still, it's a pretty ambery-rose and i will keep my decant.

damn, i was hoping for an ambergris-honeysuckle extravaganza but instead i'm getting a pina colada scent...all milky coconut and hints of...pineapple?

got a frimp of this in a swap. this is a weird scent. it's kind of off-putting or disturbing, i can't quite describe why...just the scent itself and the images it conjures. it's definitely desolate, mysterious and there is an air of something that's gone wrong. there's a slight freshness, mixed with something old and musty in this scent...opposites. glad i got to try this, as i've never smelled anything quite like it, but i definitely wouldn't want to keep it. it evokes a mood and a vision and that is its strength and why i am continually astounded by beth's ability to do this. bravo.

i get something floral and animalic. i believe it am getting red musk the strongest, along with lily, balsam, benzoin and oakmoss. after about 10 minutes i get the vanilla and the red musk calms down a bit. at this point it's very pretty and i get some tobacco too. it definitely calls to mind the same mood as earlier vampire scents the lab has done, like lucy westenra, etc. it ends up being primarily lily, vanilla and red musk. it's more subtle than it sounds, and quite pretty! i like this a lot, but i get no leather at all. i was really hoping for more leather.

this starts off with a fresh rose, and almost feel like i sense another floral in there. i definitely get some creaminess, bordering on slightly foody. i guess it's amber but it doesn't smell like powdery amber at all. the patchouli comes through a bit later, but it's subtle. something seems almost a bit aquatic here, which is the strangest thing. i kind of wish that element wasn't in there, because i think i'd like it better without that aquatic note.

not sure why i decided to try this one, as i tend to dislike foody scents...maybe i was hoping it was honey and cream and that the biscuits were subtle, i'm not sure. 😅 the honey in this is like real honey...not the idea of honey but actual honey. i prefer 'the idea of' and stuff leaning more towards beeswax...perfumey honey, than the actual thing, but i commend bpal for doing this anyhow. even stranger, this is foody but on some level i'm liking it. it's very comforting, makes me think of shortbread with clotted cream and honey.

i had to track this down, after visiting the bone church 2 years ago. the bone church was truly one of the most amazing places i've visited in my life. though i know this scent might not "work" for me, i really needed to try it. it starts off a bit like a sour rose with pencil shavings...that's frankincense and rose on me at times. i believe i get rosewood and lily too, but they are more subtle at this point. after about 10-15 minutes the sourness dies down a bit and i think i get more lily at this point. after the drydown the scent is quite nice, just a faint rosy-lily with hints of rosewood.