MamaMoth

the banana disappears before i can finish saying banana, which is a little sad because it was pretty fun and whimsical while it lasted. but what i'm left with is likely a much more wearable perfume: soft, sweet vanilla incense and powdered sugar, with just an undercurrent of well-behaved rum and a mere suggestion of a sassafras-like spice. a very soft and gentle scent overall.

baby's first sufganiyot. yep, i can see what all the fuss is about. this is the same savory-salty--dough and jammy-sweet fruit as snake oil jelly donut, so yay for point of reference. the blackcurrant gives it an edge to me, though. as it settles in, it loses a lot of that sticky sweet jelly-like tone, and takes on a musky dark-fruit perfuminess. it's still sweet, don't get me wrong. and the savory dough note is still hanging out in the background. but this is not nearly as foody as i thought it would be. i was not expecting this to go so deep. that's one sexy donut. brb, layering this with snake oil.

black musk can go kind of flat and oily on me, and that's happening big time here. the sand reminds me of an almost buttery almond type note, which i'm also not fond of. this one is a scrubber.

opens with a clean, spa-like plum that is reminiscent of the lab's wild plum note. as it settles in, it gains a little depth as it starts throwing off a lightly spiced fig. the fig is dry and airy, not that sweet chewy fig that i love. this one is light, clean, and fruity. lasted about 20 minutes on my skin before disappearing completely. i think i was hoping for a more nc-17 fig and plum blend, and this one is definitely g rated.

i didn't necessarily care for honeyed mushroom and incense, but i thought it might be an intriguing component in a more complex blend, so here we are. i can sense something hm&i-adjacent down in this one's dna, and i definitely like it better as an accent. it's gingery right on top. the patchouli and benzoin are subtle, just giving it that resin-incense vibe. but something in this goes kinda flat and savory-stale on my skin. i think the cardamom, ginger, and mushroom are combining to make me smell a bit like a curry. oof. not for me, this one. but i will be watching to see where mushroom sprouts up next. i'm not giving up on it just yet.

this is a hard one to pin down. that's a lot of notes, which can sometimes overwhelm my poor snoot. this one is complex and layered, and it's hard to pick apart. but it's fascinating seeing how different notes pop for different people. on me, red musk, cacao, and tobacco seem to take the forefront. there's a spicy-red tone, i'm guessing from that red tobacco? just a hint of honeyed sweetness, but most of the sweetness seems like it comes from the tobacco. as it dries, the vanilla rounds it out and cushions the spice. there's a patchouli backbone, but it's not really coming forward. leather always scares me but it's not popping out for me in this one. it gets a little bit of a powdery incense vibe in the background as it dries down further... frankincense? who knows at this point. beyond all that, there's a lot more going on here that i can't pick apart at all. but this is really nice! i am undecided about picking up a bottle, which usually means i can skip it. but i bet i will use up my decant.

this goes on with a discordant jumble of raspy vetiver, bitter cacao, tobacco, and some florals. then it resolves into this smooooooth cashmere-like vetiver thats earthy, resinous, and tobacco-sweet. some of these notes have the potential to be harsh or overbearing, but this is so very velvety and soft. total earth mama. she could be fiercely roused if the need arose, but right now she's just gently cradling you to her breast.

love this! i've been on the hunt for a good blackberry-forward perfume, because i love the note but haven't been sold on the blends i've found it in. this is the blackberry i've been looking for. the blackberry comes storming out of the gate initially. it's LOUD, deeply tart and sweetly juicy, maybe a hair of wine-ishness to it but more like a blackberry wine cooler, not really boozey at all to my nose. almost immediately it morphs into a wonderful blackberry musk with very strong support from amber, patchouli, and fig. to my nose, the amber is the powdery perfumey kind, and the patchouli is earthy, not overly woodsy. it's just a fantastic mix. i never picked up on any tea or bergamot, but i think they're all tangled up in the blackberry, keeping it bright. great throw and wear time, too. i put a little on before bed last night, and it was still going full steam when i got up this morning.

So it turns out i really love sarsaparilla (and sassafras, and even licorice to a degree. all your rootbeers are belong to me, basically.) outlaw gave me a little pause because of the leather note, but i'm so glad i was gifted a decant from a super sweet bpaler because this is just so damn great. leather can sometimes go very badly on me... but when it's good, it's good, and this is a good one: brown and soft and suedey. the star, of course, is the sarsaparilla. syrupy and sweet, a little spicy, a little rooty. dried down, the sweetness backs off a bit and it takes on that fuzzy effervescent spiciness. it's extra creamy and backed by snuggly, well-worn leather. this is such a comfort scent. i thought it might be similar to anti-saloon league, but i find them very different. i do get some similarities to still life with dooting skull, which i also love. but they're different enough that i need them both.

yeah, there's something sharp and acrid here that's definitely not doing it for me. hella metallic, so spot on with the inspo. but oof. as it settles in, that sharpness thankfully dulls. now it's a pretty nice musky oakmoss with just enough of the sharpness left to pique the nose. to me oakmoss always smells like it's for the gents, and this is no exception. coupled with that brutal opening salvo, this one is a solid miss for me.

85% snake oil, 15% dark roasted coffee beans, like that smell that hits you when you first walk into a coffee house. no punkin to be found, which i'm pretty ok with. is it spicier than snake oil, or are snake oil's spices just resonating differently because of the coffee addition? undecided. in any case, it's certainly not a pumpkin spice bomb, which was what made me hesitant to try it. since it's a latte, i was hoping for a creamy aspect, but there's nothing like that. but it's pretty great. it's a darker snake oil, but not heavy or gloomy. something about the coffee actually gives it some lift, maybe akin to huffing coffee beans to reset your sniffer. as it really settles in, i wouldn't even say it's discernible as coffee anymore. maybe just a lightly roasted snake oil. not a huge variation from snake oil, but a good'un.

this is delightful. silkybat with creamy sweet lemon and just a tiny touch of red berry. silkybat reads as lemony sweet patchouli to me anyway, but this one leans into the lemon and amplifies the sweetness in a dessert-type way. the patchouli here is lighter than in silkybat, but identical. starts off more fruity buttercream grounded by patchouli, but the patchouli gradually gains volume on the skin until it takes the forefront. delicious from start to finish!

starts off as a dry mineraly vanilla with some bitter cacao hanging out. nice so far! i amp tobacco, and here it comes now. leathery and sweet, mixing nicely with that chalky vanilla and cacao. but here's where it goes wonky. that mineral twang overtakes the vanilla. it overtakes the cacao. definitely getting the permanent marker comparisons. marker and tobacco. it's not wholly unpleasant, kinda oddly compelling actually, but not what i'd call perfume. eventually it goes back to being a dry vanilla/cacao/tobacco. it's actually pretty nice. but a smelled sharpie can't be unsmelled, and i can sense it still lurking in the background.

when i first tried this, "sugared red poison" summed it up nicely. the poppy tar had a bit of a dark floral skew on me, and without some darker elements to play against it pushed this one a little out of my comfort zone. i tried it again today, a few weeks later, and i'm getting little to no floral impression, which i like much better. now it's reading as a complex sweetness, faintly red-tinged, with a little darkness to prop it up. it's deceptively simple, and i think it'll wear wonderfully during the hot summer months.

robust, chewy, sweet tobacco backed by sandalwood. i'm detecting a clean woodsy sandalwood and a little of my favorite one, that perfumey almost skin-musky sandalwood. skews a little masculine at first, but sweetens up. the tobacco in this is so good!

chalky vanilla and cognac. just a dab of mild tobacco filling it out and sweetening it up, but it's very subtle. i like this. it doesn't make my heart race or anything, but i can see myself reaching for it when i want a nice vanilla variant.

i've never tried og endless corridor, so i have nothing to compare this to. but if this is a mistake, please keep making them! i wish my mistakes turned out this great. (they never do, alas.) mostly dragon's blood, musky and resinously sweet. grounded by some really lovely well-behaved vetiver, which is doing a great job of tempering the sweetness. just a touch of beeswax and a wisp of smoke. nothing metallic that i can detect, so that might have aged out. it's fantastic, and so quintessentially bpal-smelling to me. i wore this for two days straight when i was testing it, and immediately tracked down a bottle.

i really was not expecting to like this as much as i do. but i shouldn't be surprised, because when reviews start saying cola resin, i usually love it. sure enough, that almost sassafras-y labdanum is front and center here. i don't always get cola when everyone says cola, but in this instance i certainly do, and i love it. the sandalwood is a touch dry, which is usually not my preferred kind of kind of sandalwood, but it plays so well here with that sweet almost fizzy labdanum. they balance each other very well. grey musk is new one to me, and in this instance i don't actually find it very musky at all. it's more like a thick grey fog overlaying the other notes. it's making this blend just a touch cologney, skewing it slightly masculine, though not so much so that it couldn't be enjoyed by all genders imo. there is a somberness to this one; a chilly aloofness. it will rest next to the scales of deprivation in my collection, which i wear when i want to feel unapproachable.

though it's very rich and sweet, this is not gourmand at all to me. that might be down to aging. primarily a deep, woodsy-type patchouli and a beautifully sweet, perfumey, almost spicy oud that are thoroughly meshed into one creature, which i hereby dub patchoudi. lots of creamy rich vanilla, but i never would have pegged it as goats' milk in particular. no honey to speak of, but i'm sure it's bringing the sweetness. this is verrah verrah nice. i have some similar things, so i don't feel a compulsion to track it down. but if i spot it in a destash, i will no doubt snatch it up.

2019 decant soft, lightly sweet cake and soft church-y incense. the currant is lightly tart and fruity, as opposed to say eat me, in which the currant is dark and almost chocolatey. eat me light, with incense. gentle, sweet, and soothing

lavender can be a problematic note for me, as oftentimes i find it too herbal, astringent, and domineering. but i love this, and it works perfectly in this blend. the lavender is herbal, yes. but lacking the astringent bite. it's fluffed out by the vanilla, and warmed up by the cardamom. both the lavender and the cardamom have a citrusy undertone where they mesh so gracefully. the cardamom spice gives it a pleasantly warm, dry throw. and YES, this IS related to paper phoenix! especially when first applied, there's a sweet vanillic lavender/lemon/tea vibe to it, with cardamom standing in for pp's pepper. but as it settles in further, it morphs into something related to the vanilla husk, nutmeg, and hay trio, which i also love. how it can be related to all those things is clearly some kind of sorcery. but since i do indeed adore those things, this is a huge win for me, and i'm forced now to go on the hunt for this.

this is wonderful! starts off with a snoot full of black pepper, but quickly settles into a sweet honeyed oud and vanilla, with a little zing of pepper. the oud does remind me of patchouli... a little woody, a little resinous, deep and rich. but with a musky quality. the toasted honey is just a wee bit smoky around the edges. dead sexy. surprise hit of the lupers for me.

comes on strong with the resins like WHOA. has a little of that opening resin funk that i find sometimes which promises good things to come. as it dries, the fruit comes out. i think there's probably plum here. what else? idk, the fruits are hard to characterize. they're probably delicious and poisonous. definitely not fresh, sweet but not sugary candied either. like dried red fruits that have been rehydrated in honey water, maybe. there's a honeyed sweetness but no actual honey smell. goes a little cologney as it settles in, but the good kind of cologney that is drop dead sexy on any gender. sweet, deeply resinous, darkly fruity. slinky and mysterious. it's a definite mood, and i am so here for this one.

a lovely, vanilla-forward scent. looking at the list of notes, one might assume that vanilla would be working in the background to smooth them out, but not this time. in this one, all the other notes just serve to color the vanilla's character. there's a fluffy sweetness, a touch of white/green floral, a sharpish resinousness, and a little dry woodsiness. every listed note makes its presence known, but the vanilla reigns queen, and all others are just working in her service. restrained but not demure. simple but not plain.

opens as gooey sticky vanilla cake batter with a potent cardamom that almost has a citrus twang. dries down to lightly cardamom-spiced dry white cake. that almost-but-not-quite citrus something-or-other is still present, actually more noticeable as the cardamom spice burns off. (i think it's just the nature of cardamom, i've just never smelled it so clearly before.) i really like this stage, and i've been craving a WHITE (not yellow) cake blend, which this definitely is. but this stage doesn't last long on me. after an hour or so i'm left with a faint spiced vanilla, and that's where it firmly stays.