theseagrows

i received a frimp of this from a lovely decant circle. yep it's 100% black licorice from the get-go...there is a hint of toastiness to it, which i often get with foody scents. it smells more like fennel  than anything, i think. the amber is quite subtle. after a few minutes i get a lightness from the pepper, which adds an interesting element to licorice. the licorice is still the strongest note though.

i think this was a frimp, because i don't think i'd order this, though i like both notes in moderation/depending on the blend. at first the vetiver is a bit stronger but then the clove takes over and it's a spicy clove with an underlying vetiver that somehow feels like tobacco, haha. i think it's very nicely balanced. 

i received a frimp of this from a lovely decant circle organizer. it opens with cherry, currant and the fluorescent lightning which i guess is an ozonic sort of thing? i think the currant is actually stronger than the cherry here, along with the fluorescent note. it smells pretty odd on me and also ozonic/too sweet so just not my cup of tea.

immediately i read this as cherry, but i guess it's almond blossom. it's a quite sweet almond at first along with something kind of synthetic like vinyl or rubber. i love all these notes so i was intrigued on how they might work together. after a couple minutes i think i am getting narcissus though it does smell pretty warped with the almond. after awhile i get some opium which adds an incensy element, but overall it's a very sweet almond blossom/narcissus. i love these notes and it's better after about 45 minutes-at that point the almond has died down and it's more of a narcissus/opium with hints of heliotrope. 

i have a few of the lab's narcissus blends and prefer those to these...the almond blossom is just too sweet/strong for me. however, i love seeing a narcissus note show up more often!

oh man, this reminds me of my dad's artist friend, Laurel. she was a cool aunt figure i had in the 80s. she had this red borghese lipstick that smelled kind of like a waxy floral and this is what this smells like at first. total time traveling memories at first sniff for me.

clove comes in later giving it the goth garb. i love this due to my personal association and also i love a lipstick scent! dries down to a spicy, waxy nondescript floral which kind of seems like rose but isn't really rose.

this opens with leather and dusty pages. i also get something slightly rubbery, i think it's the ink. i was hoping for an ambery beeswax with hints of the other notes but no, it's the first three notes only until about 45 minutes later i get a bit of beeswax and maybe oakmoss. overall it's paper/ink heavy on my skin with leather. interesting, but ultimately not for me. 

in the vial i smell mostly a sweetish but not super foody vanilla. however, when first applied i get a dry tobacco note at the forefront with vanilla in the background. i also notice the dirt/patchouli thing others have mentioned. i also thought this would be a bit sweeter than it is. it gets a little more blended after being on the skin for a bit and the earthy note calms down a bit. it reminds me of several other scents i've tried but i don't remember them of course. i like this-it's cozy.

this is perfect for fall. it's woodsy with a hint of sweetness from apple/pumpkin and spices, without being overly sweet. really lovely for the cooler weather and feels very autumnal and festive for the halloween season.

i've been wanting to try this for YEARS. anyway, i get a lot of rose, lavender and a bit of sourness from the herbal note, which seems like geranium? luckily the bitter/sour thing wears off for the most part and i am left with mostly rose, violet and wisteria with little hints of lavender. i personally don't sense much lilac here. very pretty spring garden type of scent.

received a frimp of this! somehow i missed it but i really like it. i get a lot of wisteria at first, followed by honeysuckle and jasmine. it starts as more of heady hothouse floral, then turns more into a night blooming floral when the rose and iris come through. very pretty, i can see it working well in numerous seasons.

white chocolate is one of my few beloved foodie notes so i've been branching out and trying more of them. this opens with a lot of white chocolate along with sandalwood, after a bit of time i get a hint of mallow, and then later rose. the rose is more of a background note, not very prominent but adds a floral element. for a long period, i find this to be a creamy sandalwood with white chocolate-cozy. then it becomes sandalwood and mallow and leans almost musky to me. very good.

for me, the experience seems a bit different. this opens with slightly spicy lilies with a hint of the jasmine incense in the background. after 1-2 minutes i get a bit of a green lilac while the jasmine incense gets quite smoky. it's primarily that smoky jasmine with lilac for me. i find the incense to be quite strong, and while i like incense, it sort of takes over the scent for me, and i wish it was a bit subtler. it's not bad though, it is a nice perfume.

wow this starts off beautifully! i get a soft, somewhat powdery wisteria with a subtle musk that thankfully doesn't go too sharp. i also get a slightly subtle greenness. this is a gorgeous soft spring floral and i personally find it very comforting. i need to upgrade my decant to a full size.

for me this starts with honey, vanilla and lemon. honey/lemon are the most prominent at first, then after a few minutes i notice the musky amber a bit more. the musk seems to be sort of amping up the lemon a bit, making it slightly effervescent. several minutes later i get a lot more vanilla. i struggle a bit with it for the first hour, the notes aren't mixing great on me, though i love them all. it improves after 1 hour +. i get less lemon and more honey/musk.

for me this is a slightly dirty, spicy jasmine. at first it leans sliiiightly mothball, but then that goes away. i guess the spiciness is coming from champaca? i am unsure, but this is a pretty, heady jasmine. maybe it's incensey as the reviewer above said. it just adds a bit of depth to the jasmine.

this opens with rice and smoked vanilla. its very toasted smelling, i guess others read it as buttery? i can see that as well. i get a slight hint of yuzu after maybe 5 minutes, then i get jasmine tea a few minutes after that. it dries down to primarily jasmine tea and vanilla. thankfully, the rice fades more to the background over time. this is very pretty, i am loving the jasmine lupercalia perfumes this year.

this opens with orris root and dewy lilac, so it's very springy. after about 10 minutes i get a hint of magnolia which grows over time, but still the lilac is a bit stronger on my skin. it seems like a lilac soliflore almost, which has happened with other BPAL lilacs, so i think maybe my skin amps this note (?) which i am not complaining about because i love lilac. finally, deep into the drydown, i get more magnolia, which adds a bit of creaminess to the lilac though the lilac is still quite prominent. this is so pretty for springtime.

at first i get mostly green tea and mint with a hint of a mildly indolic jasmine, followed shortly by some sweetness from the lotus. after awhile it's a creamy jasmine with hints of lotus and violets. this is gorgeous and i think i need a bottle.

this opens so soft, just musk with honey dust. the honey dust smells kind of like maple as another reviewer mentioned. after a couple of minutes the amber starts to peek through, and the scent seems to get more golden. i find this to be warm and cozy but close to the skin, definitely. overall this is mostly honey dust on me, which really doesn't smell much like honey, but more like a soft maple scent. i have tried other scents with honey dust and it's the same. with these other notes being so soft it's fairly strong on that note. i prefer regular honey/beeswax i think, but i could see a lot of people liking this one. it's very cozy and sweet.

at first i get a lot of strawberries and marshmallow on a backdrop of cherry blossom cream. tbh i am not a fan of wearing strawberry notes, though i do think it's pretty, it's just too sweet for me. the other notes pulled me in though and i was hoping against hope that the strawberries would be subtle. but they are not. they are the strongest note here for me (which i figured, but i also wanted to go a bit out of my comfort zone.) anyway, it's a joyful scent-sweet juicy strawberries and cream primarily. i could see myself wearing something like this once in a great while but overall it feels too sweet for me. in a nutshell this is strawberry candy and fluffy marshmallow.

this opens with primarily lemon and a hint of soft incense smoke. something in here goes slightly sour on me (not just the sourness of lemon) but more how flower notes can go sour-sort of off. hard to describe. after maybe five minutes, i get a hint of the candle wax but it's kind of odd and almost medicinal smelling...i think it's what may be causing the slight sourness. the incense smoke gets stronger over time which helps a bit. overall, i think the wax in this is turning odd on my skin unfortunately, and my skin amps the lemon so it's extremely lemony and that tends to drown out the other notes.

i think i get vinyl and lipstick at first...it definitely smells like textiles and unnatural sorts of things. there is a hint of chalky sweetness along with something like a mild turpentine...this must be the lipstick and vinyl respectively. like the above reviewer mentioned, it does have a slight effervescence and is a bit mentholated. i don't personally seem to get much leather and overall the scent isn't all that sweet on me. it's more of a realistic vinyl scent. it's a really interesting one-i haven't smelled anything quite like it.

i get mostly cherry and frothed cream at first...it's a little toasty/cakey, which i can only handle in small amounts. after a bit i get the rose and marshmallow, the cake/crumb note has died down thankfully. i find it to be pretty sweet...reminds me of a strawberry shortcake doll, but with cherry (i can't recall if there was a cherry themed doll?) anyway, on me it's a plasticky doll-head sweet cherry marshmallow. i sense a bit of tea in the background but it's pretty subtle.

this opens with lemon blossom and a ton of sharp frankincense which smells like pencil shavings...this is one of BPAL's notes that sometimes goes wonky on me. after a few seconds i get some neroli and honey, then later the ylang ylang. it ends up being mostly lemon and honey, and this is not one of my favorite honeys i've smelled...it's a little weird on me-has a bit of a pee thing going on. between that and the frankincense, this one just isn't working for me, unfortunately.

i get a lot of sandalwood incense with some violet, frankincense, ti leaf and a hint of jasmine which grows stronger over time. on me this is primarily a dry, unsweet incense with a hint of unsweet florals. it's nice but i wish i got more of the other notes. the sandalwood incense is definitely the strongest note on me. the jasmine never overpowers and then deep into the drydown i get a bit more violet-it's a this point that i like it the best.

trying in cooler rainy weather: this time i get a lot of jasmine! along with the incense/labdanum. dries down to frankincense and orris mostly.