theseagrows

i warily purchased a decant of this, knowing i am not an apple over, but loving the other combination of notes, hoping they would be dominant. as soon as it's applied it's all apple, which is both sweet and tart. after a minute or so a hint of the jasmine tea peeks through, which gives it a boozy edge for some reason. it smells like apple liqueur or vodka or something. awhile later i get some ylang ylang which adds a creamy quality, and imo, improves the scent on my skin. still, there's a lot of apple there. in the end this is a boozy apple floral on me. it has too much apple for my personal tastes. i'd classify this as a youthful fruity floral.

first i get the jasmine incense, patchouli and rose sandalwood. it's mostly jasmine and sandalwood i'd say. something smells like cucumbers (?) on my skin. that sort of tart smell fades off after quite awhile. the champaca blooms later on and really adds more volume to the incense. in the end it's mostly incense and sandalwood with a melange of florals. i like it but it's not a love.

i wasn't sure about lotus, it's one of those notes that sometimes works better than others but is never terrible on me, but i love creamy florals and that's why i wanted to try it. at first i get the lotus and vanilla cream. it's very soft, then i get amber and mallow later, which just adds more depth and creaminess but doesn't change the scent all that much. i really like this one a lot but it so soft on me that i probably will not spring for a bottle. i think this may be a good bedtime perfume.

this starts with fur, amber and rice. a little while later i get more champaca and amber and the rice is adding a sharp nutty note in the background. also something is turning a little like cat pee on me unfortunately. i often cannot do super foody notes so i am guessing it's something in the basmati rice accord. after awhile that finally wears off and i am left with mostly fur and amber.

i get a lot of oakmoss with some sandalwood backing it up. it's very fresh smelling, and because of the oakmoss, this has a vintage feel to it. after awhile it gets fairly soapy, and i get maybe a tiny hint of vetiver, but this is primarily oakmoss.

at first i get amber fur, opoponax and something mildly spicy here. in all honesty it's reminding me of a cinnamon roll to an extent. not to say it's sweet and foody but that's what it brings to mind. later on i think i get more of the myrrh and fur. the scent is definitely very evocative of the name! i had high hopes for this one but it's just ok on me, and after the drydown i get a slight rubbery/plastic thing happening. not sure where that's coming from as generally these notes work fine on me.

i am wary of sweet foody notes as well as goat's milk (sometimes bpal's turns to urine on me ) yet figured hey, why not try this scent? i guess the possibility of a lovely vanilla cashmere honey drew me in. so, it starts off with something foody- kind of nutty. i think it's honey dust oddly enough because this happened in another scent with that note. behind that i get mostly vanilla cashmere which is really pretty. after 5-10 minutes i get some marshmallow, but luckily not too sweet, and that nutty note fades off. also the goat's milk amps up but is behaving nicely and adds a creamy element. dries down to a creamy honey/vanilla cashmere with a hint of white chocolate. i really like this one and this seems like a cozy sleep scent to me.

i get mostly tobacco flower, ambergris and lavender and do not sense any oud, though bpal's white oud is one i can wear, thankfully. i do love hag grey and there are definitely similarities here. in a nutshell, this smells like hag grey with lavender to me. while i like lavender, it's not an absolute favorite note and now i am wondering about the other notes combined with other florals and how that would be, hmm. anyway i digress...this is really pretty and the ambergris + tobacco combo is just lovely.

this one starts off with beeswax and something almost light and clean smelling but not aquatic. that quickly dissipates and i get the vetiver which sort of oily smelling, then smokier, then that sort of lighter feeling comes back...but i think it's just the vetiver going through stages maybe (?) it is definitely reminiscent of a candle being snuffed out and the dying smoke in the air. i like it, it's evocative, but not really wearable for me. may be a better room scent for me...

this starts off with a strong butter cookie sort of thing with lavender, then the white chocolate comes through more. i'm not big into foody scents but this one sounded lovely and i am starting to get more into white chocolate scents. i like the lavender and chocolate but the cookie part is just way too buttery for me, and i seem to amp that note the strongest. oh well...i'm sure it's beautiful on the right person.

i mostly get boozy woods with a hint of carnation. i just love these sort of scents in winter. it brings to mind an old study with a roaring fire while it's cold outside. warming and cozy. really like this one and i'll definitely keep my decant.

this is sharp and medicinal like others have said, almost like a really strong scented cleaner with a hint of florals in the back. or pine sol, that's kind of what it's like, but maybe slightly less intense. so it smells fresh and traditionally masculine. i don't seem to get any leather here at all. maybe a tiny smidgen in the dry down, which is a lot less sharp. thankfully. glad i tried this one but it's not really me.

at first i get something citrussy, and i'm not sure what that is. then i get white musk and a rubbery note. i am almost wondering if my decant was mislabeled. it basically remains that way, with no florals or vanilla to speak of. i am so confused here...should probably track down some more because something here is amiss. even in the spray vial it smells like an intense lemony/citrus note. 

i've wanted to try this for a looong time and finally got a decant of it. at first i get mostly rum, champaca and a white floral note. there is also a hint of nuttiness in here, from what, i don't know. the nuttiness and white floral aspects die off and i think i am getting a lot of ambrette and then the frankincense really amps up and turns to pencil shavings on me, as the lab's frankincense note often does. then it dominates and all i get is pencil shavings with a hint of champaca. it dries down to vanilla, champaca and is still dominated by frankincense. the frankincense finally lets up when the perfume is almost faded away and this point it's a pretty smoky vanilla-champaca. unfortunately overall, my skin chemistry is not playing nice with this one.

for the most part i avoid foody scents but i enjoy bpal's white chocolate note a lot. i knew it'd be really good with these notes and it doesn't disappoint! i really love the combo of all the notes, the chocolate is stronger at first with the other notes backing it up, and those notes are just a soft creamy melange supporting the chocolate. i find this one really comforting yet sophisticated. definitely in the same zone as the first love fades too, which is one of my favorite atmos ever. so glad i got a bottle recently on etsy 

damn, this is even more beautiful than expected. i love all these notes and to see them together is just perfection. this is primarily a creamy vanilla ylang ylang with hints of carnation and benzoin. this will be especially gorgeous in spring and summer. 🌸 if you love creamy white florals, this won't disappoint.

in the beginning i get a lot of balsam and oudh which kind of reminds me of bpal's black musk a bit. after a minute i get a bit of smoke, then later some amber, warming things up. it's mostly a smoky balsam on me. i get the cinnabar and maybe some woods later, with a little hint of beeswax. the rose finally comes through after it's been on the skin several hours. it's quite pretty. but for me, it's a resiny balsam for most of the time.

i love this one in winter. i get a lot of pipesmoke and firewood with hints of leather and brandy. such an ambience to this one! love it.

i received a frimp of this. in all these years i've never tried it. it starts with a toasty hazelnut backed up by something green and slightly soapy...guessing it's oaklmoss/cypress. it gets greener and soapier as the hazelnut wears off. it's a mix of foody and fresh-kind of odd. the cypress and oakmoss end up dominating-it's a green, soapy traditionally masculine scent. nice to finally try even though it's not my cup of tea.

so glad i finally found some of this it starts off with sweet woods and resins. it's a sweet polished wood with something a bit golden and creamy, almost like honey or beeswax. later on i get something almost fruity too. this is sweeter than i was anticipating to be honest. it's a very comforting scent, i think it'd be great in fall/winter.

i smell mostly red musk and vanilla i think. for just a 'drop' of red musk, it is quite strong-the strongest note in fact. after a few minutes i get a hint of the oudh i believe. overwhelmingly tho, this is vanilla and red musk. it's pretty, and later turns into a lovely creamy vanilla scent. i like it at that point the best. glad i finally got to try this!

right off i should say i am not an apple/fruity fan but was intrigued by the other notes in this, so figured WTH. in the very beginning i get apple, wisteria and orchid. not terrible but a bit too sweet for me. a minute or so later, the apple fades a bit and the wisteria gets bolder. i like this better. then later the orchid takes over and i sense all the other notes, primarily orchid. it goes through a shampoo-like phase, clean and floral, then it gets more incensy, like an orchid incense with apples. a solid like but not a love from me. i actually would prefer this as an incense, rather than a perfume, come to think of it.

this starts with cacao, vetiver, opoonax and some musk. it's earthy and slightly animalic. awhile later i think i get a hint of queen of the night, and the cacao has died down a bit. it ends up a kind of damp vetiver for while, then turns into a vetiver-cacao combination with a hint of florals, which is kind of intriguing. on me. i wasn't sure about this one at first but am liking the drydown quite a bit. i'll have to try it again.

this starts with a clean sandalwood incense and ti leaf. it's clean and woody-very 'spa like' to my nose. after awhile the honeyed saffron takes over and it's really nice, and dries down to saffron and ti leaf, though it's quite subtle, i can see how it would be good for layering, but i'm not really into layering...anyway, still a pretty scent but also gives me a bit of a headache? so i'm not sure about this one. i think it's too cologne-y for my tastes.

this starts with green tea, cedar and green mandarin-a woody, citrussy tea scent. it smells fresh and classic. a minute or two later i get a hint of rose, and it's a bit sour in this. luckily it's subtle. i love rose but bpal has some rose note that goes sour on me at times. i think i get even more cedar because this turns quite woody and green on me. it's like irish spring soap with woods on me...not really what i was expecting! was hoping for more rose and honey in this. oh well.