follis

Yeeep as described. I was super curious about this one because I enjoy both notes but wonder how it would be to wear alone. It started off really strong but mellows out. I definitely think this would be lovely to layer under something. It's a pepper sandalwood, lasts 3 or so hours but no more on me.

This gives me an initial vibe of dirt and black musk, but once on, the orange, myrrh, spices and wood emerges but in the form of a blend. I can see how the fig accord comes about in this but it's not a prevalent fig. If anything, it leans more towards the citrus. I didn't think I'd actually fall for this scent but oh my gosh. I was worried about the amber being heady, but this scent is actually a really lovely bright scent. It has a nice throw to it. Unfortunately something is veering slightly bitter on me, so while on it's lovely, it also has something that stops me from 100% being in love. Perhaps the tarragon-- I love anise though so I'm not sure. It seems to disappear during the dry down. I'm really glad I tried this and I'll have to try it again. It's a lovely radiant scent, and I have to say it seems to layer nicely with Nocturne Alchemy's Bastet Amber.

Wet: I'm not too familiar with Chrysanthemum smell but I definitely get carnations, that lovely peppery "floral" over tart plums. On: Ooooh the plums sweetens up on me! It does remind me of their grape note but more deep. The peppery carnation mellows out here . There's something else that's almost... Cottony? In feeling rather than smell. Musty almost. Maybe it's the Chrysanthemum. It gives this scent a wholesome solidness to it. Dry down: Similar grape vibe still. Slightly peppery still. I think my skin is absorbing this a lot so I might need to put on more if I plan to wear it. 3+ hours: It's still there but it's a soft grape/vanilla. The spice seems to have disappeared on me. If I breathe deeply I get a whiff of herb/green. 4 hours: Ahh now it's basically gone. Low throw overall so although it lasted a while I feel I may have to slather this one to wear it. This is more of a foody scent than a floral one. I don't like traditional florals and this is not one of those. Really lovely overall.

I am testing an aged 2018 imp that came directly from the lab. Either the imp was only partially filled or the oil had condensed over time (none has spilled or been used) as it appeared to be quite low in fill. Bottle: This, smells, yum! Very syrupy. Wet: I am really liking this fresh. It did seem to lift my mood but perhaps simply to the candy content. I can see why people are saying strawberry bubblegum or mixed candies! It's fruity and I hope this doesn't go medicinal on me. On: This is quite a creamy feeling scent. I am getting a touch of a medicine note I often get with cherry or raspberry but it's not awful and not overriding the rest of the scent. Dry Down: Ok so that medicinal note never stayed. The throw on this is quite strong and lovely. It's French Vanilla with strawberry fruit notes, and ice creamy vibes. Yum! I'm definitely keeping my imp and am now considering a bottle for my already too large collection haha! Hours later: I still had a whiff of this, mainly as a very slightly fruitier French Vanilla.

(Resurrected) Wet: ...Sweet plastic. How. Maybe it's the salt water taffy. Based on other reviews I'm glad to know it's not just me. On: As it dries the plastic disappears (thankfully) but so did the rest of the scent. I don't know what happened but my skin just ate this up, so I layered it with some more. This time I can smell the caramel, cotton candy and apple emerging. As it morphs more, a hint of cake and vanilla (the way BPAL Single Note Vanilla gets that beautiful perfume vibe on me). It's a really enjoyable and a quite lovely foodie. Initially low throw but as it dries the throw improves too and becomes quite strong. I however, unfortunately still get a sinister hint of plastic in the background, sadly (although at this point it even gives me salt vibes). Dry down: Lovely French Vanilla with caramel. I can still smell it a few hours later. The plastic seems to have mostly dissipated. I still smell Midway a few hours later close to my skin. I don't think I can get over the initial weird chem going on at the start though, so it's love but ill-fated 💔

I am reviewing a decant that is not labelled with a date, and based on how it smells I assume it is the updated release. Wet: Chocolate, cream, hint of medicinal cherry for some reason. (Other people mentioned lillies but in any case it's a dislike). On: Similar to wet but less foody. My skin chemistry is not as kind to this blend, especially the chocolate which was better wet. Drydown: urgh more cherry. Hint of milk chocolate. This unfortunately ended up plastic.

(2007) Wet: Hmm I can't pick it. Interesting. Gingerbread spice-ish and cookie-ish with something underlying. I'm guessing it must be the nutmeg. On: Ick this is a bit gross and plastic. It doesn't really smell like any of the notes specifically. Perhaps it hasn't aged as well or I don't like the smell of egg nog? I will say I can't quite remember egg nog but in any case this scent is not boding well on me. I'm going to wait for drydown to review this properly... Oh wait nevermind it's just too much. Washing off it goes... (A lot of food scents actually work well on me... This one did not )

Woooah heady resin. I'm not a huge fan of Dragons resin in general to be fair. Just testing this because I was generously frottled this and will be giving it to a friend. I can tell there's honey in this but yes it's less "golden" interestingly. As it warms the pear blossom emerges. It does feel like a creamier scent but it's not really gourmand. Definitely still too heady for me but settles nicely in the dry down. The only similarity to Dragon's Bone is the blood resin and even then I find it very different. For some reason the other notes amped the resin in this on me.

Unknown imp age, peachy in colour. Wet: treacly florals, slightly alcoholic On: Such a strange mix... I don't really know what to say to this. Ok so my partner just said it smells like the burning plastic hair from a doll. I agree. Yes we know what that smells like haha! I was going to wait and see for dry down but urgh couldn't stand the plastic. Gotta wash it off.

Wet: Vanilla and... Grass? Maybe meant to be moss. Red currant. On: Mmm. Creamy vanilla, red currant and patchouli with a hint of moss (vetiver?) This is a lovely blend. Dry down: Unfortunately red currant never lasts as fruity and well as it does fresh on me (can turn slightly plasticy). I can smell the moss and patchouli (not the marijuana type, one of my favourite things about BPALs patchouli) and maybe a hint of dark bitter sweetness from molasses. It lasts a while and every now and then I get a whiff of the fresher red currant note on me. I'm pretty certain I'm going to need a bottle to at least wear in a locket. It's gourmandy but not overly sweet. Beautiful.

Wet: Vanilla musk base? Not the usual honey note I expected (which I don't always like). Quite yum and creamy. Tiny hint of pepper. On: This is a bit more of the familiar honey, but with the "pink pepper" it actually has a sweetness and creaminess I mentioned before, that I really like. The pepper isn't overbearing but gives the scent a bit of a spice feel. Dry down: Ahh. Back to the usual honey note with a hint of that pink pepper, but then after a longer period I'm getting the usual playdoh note on me I'd love to see how this ages over the years though (should help with the playdoh being less prominent), especially with the honey, so I'll probably try it again and update this at some point. It's definitely a more interesting honey scent.

Wet: Red currant and lemon peel stands out the most. On: This is a lovely fruity and sweet scent over patchouli. It has creamy feel to the scent. Some slight bitterness from the lemon peel. Good throw. Dry down: Some remaining zest and patchouli. Unfortunately low throw from here. Next day: So I had some accidentally smeared on my sleeve and when I wore my jumper the next day I could still smell it. This would be lovely in a scent locket! It smells more like what it was when "on"-- beautiful.

Wet: hmm definitely a mix, I can't pick anything standing out more than the others yet On: This is nice. Hint of orange and tobacco leaf. Cinnamon just in the background but not overpowering. Definitely a blackened vanilla. I'm not familiar with myrrh as a single note so I can't speak for it. It's a little low throw. Dry down: It didn't really morph much on me. The blackened vanilla and tobacco, cinnamon hangs around at the end with some slight orange in the background. It's not love but I'm glad I tried it.

Wet: dark, slightly peppery, gingerbread. On: Sadly short lived gingerbread (which I should have expected) as it turns into just spice without the ginger. I'm getting nothing else but spice from this (including pepper). It doesn't really remind me of pfefferneusse mainly because the icing sugar note is being overpowered. Dry down: Slight sugar and spice. A bit more like the cookie but this particular blend is not really a nice combination on me unfortunately. Not for me.

Wet: Blackcurrant bubblegum o.o On:...dough? Um. Weird. Hint of blackcurrant but it's just... Odd. Dry down: Burnt rice. Same kind of smell I get from Bread and Butterfly Ressurrected and sadly dislike. Mixed in with blackcurrant dough... And then some kind of plastic-jelly like note. Unfortunately just odd on me.

Wet: smoke, brown musk On: This is mainly brown musk and smoke. Hint of dust in the background if I breathe deeply. I can't really pick any of the other notes. Dry down: So this smells more like a fireplace here in terms of feeling more like ash but still just mainly brown musk and smoke. Hint of mahogany. No chai that I could tell or really much books (which I was really looking forward to)... Or cat. I did not receive a book with this as I purchased it second-hand.

I'm not overly familiar with these notes other than sandalwood so it was a bit of a impulse purchase. When wet I could smell the florals, sandalwood and musk individually but together it's a nice blend. Slightly green and citrus fresh (neroli?). Something peppery. It dries to a quite creamy vanilla/sandalwood with citrus notes and a hint of floral in the background. Good throw.

woooah medicine. Very pine, with eucalyptus with a hint of orange. This ends in a pine orange scent. Much less eucalyptus and more woody orange. Not for me but I wanted to try it! Strong throw, medium wear.

There's a sad but funny story about this one! It accidentally leaked in the mail and emptied itself onto other imps-- sad, but strangely, really fitting given its name haha! After I let it settle I had a smudge enough to do a single test. Wet: Green, salty, slightly floral On: As it dries it surprisingly smells more like tears but with a smudge of floral. I'm not good with picking flowers but it's maybe a white rose and carnation. Dry down: This ends as quite a nice blend. Nothing stands out too distinctly but it seems almost vanilla-ish at the end with the green edge and a very light floral.

Wet: Milk and honey and for some reason I thought there was a touch of tobacco but on me I realized it might actually be the cakes. On: This is very warm honey with a touch of cake... I'm not specifically getting any wine. It's a very warm scent and is buttery, but not the kind of foody I generally like. Dry down: It's slightly boozy here and dark. Although I don't mind honey aged, I feel like this combination of cake and honey just doesn't work on me, or at least, is not my preferred foody scent. I can't pick what it reminds me of (another scent that smells very similar to this) but it's almost like cake that has the balance wrong-- too much molasses to bitterness or too much lemon and extra sugar thrown in to balance it (but is actually making it worse)... just something that I unfortunately can't pick and isn't for me. I'll update this if I ever work it out! It does however have a good throw and long wear.

Wet: Candied mango? Definitely not fresh. It makes me think of sugared and dried mango pieces... I might go eat one later. On: Similar, but a little less "mango essence" and a touch more fresh mango. I did in fact go eat one of those dried mango pieces haha! Dry down: More of the same, low throw. It has an edge to it that always makes me think of plastic-- the same way coffee goes on me, unfortunately.

Soooo dark. Brown musk (at least from appearance). Slightly resinous, a touch of sweetness and warmth and something I can only describe as green (but that's not right either). As it dries it's quite astringent on the nose but eventually settles into a smoother musk. Good throw.

On me this is initially a mix of all the noted fruits-- very citrus. As it dries there's the champagne note which to me really reminds me of floral soap (especially on this occasion) and is over-powering on me and the fruits. Not for me but good throw and long wear.

This is initially nutty chocolate and smoke (for some reason?) on me. I surprisingly do not get a strong sense of mint from this (I normally amp mint?) but there is a tiny bit of freshness/cooling sensation to it-- it's very subtle. I couldn't pick the oakmoss but there does appear to be some cedar at the end during the dry down, which mixes well with the chocolate and nuts. I surprisingly did not get a specific plastic note at the end of this which I sometimes do from chocolate. Hmmm! Perhaps it's being masked by the other notes? My first time reviewing it I thought there was something musky at the end but I'm not certain the second time round. Overall it's an interesting blend that surprisingly works. As with most chocolates on me this is low to medium throw.

Wet: Amber-like. Definitely orchids and a touch of floral vanilla. On: as above. Strong. Verging on soap area (florals) and hopefully it doesn't go there... Dry down: the same. Strong. Slightly soapy, okay wear. To be fair most florals go soapy on me. Worth trying though.