warriortwo

This is a scent that I probably wouldn't wear on my own. No surprises there, since Snake Oil and Dorian don't work for me, or in most hybrid blends. What this smells like is when you're hanging out with beloved friends and one of them smells great, and they give you a hug and their perfume transfers to your hoodie, and so you have this really nice scent memory. Basically it feels like a hug from Beth. It was better described a few reviews up, that it's like getting to hang out with the Barrials on their winter vacation. That said, I can't stop huffing my wrist, and wondering if maybe I DO want to smell like this. I'm hovering between "the decant will be enough" and "I absolutely must find more".

This is not working for me. Something I can't place is going kind of sour on me, maybe the stone or the lavender "smoke". I loved the description of this, but I also just tested Endless Corridors and THAT has the beeswax + smoke vibe that I think I wanted here, so I might have to go upgrade that one.

This is a weird one. My first thought was to look for oudh or civet, because this has a definite funky funk, like someone who hasn't washed their hair in months. Now that I see people mentioning chlorine, it IS kind of like that--a sharp, salty ozone note. But I still smell the funk. Not a good funk.

This reminds me a lot of The Infernal Lover. Red musk and carnation with a touch of honey. Both scents are pretty but dry down a little funky on me. I have a decant of this which I may hang on to, but I don't need more than that.

This scent came so close to perfect. Smells fantastic in the bottle and on the skin--a gorgeous autumn blend of fresh tart apple and wood--but once it's dry, the oudh comes out and gives it a sort of rubbery quality. Bleah.

Definitely smells like going shopping for a Christmas tree. I'm excited to find this because every Christmas I wish for this exact scent in candle or pomander form and it's hard to come by something this authentic. I will save this and mix it with some vodka to use as a room spray around the holidays.

Poo. Poop. Stinky laundry that is starting to mildew (and also smells like poop.) I am starting to recognize that oudh and I are not friends.

Ooh, I love this. Do you ever smell someone walk by and they smell fantastic, and you just want to ask them what perfume they're wearing? Sometimes, someone will have freshly washed hair, or a guy is wearing a woodsy cologne that melds perfectly with their skin chemistry. When wet, this reminds me of clean shampoo, lightly peachy and apple-y. When dry, it's close to the skin, and I get whiffs of something musky and inviting. This is what I always want men's fragrance to smell like when I wear it, but it never does. If I inhale deeply I get a little dab of honey. Rose, apple and peach can all go screechy on me, so this is a surprise love. Full disclosure, my secondhand imp is probably aged several years. I will need to try a new imp of this to see how it behaves.

All I get is burnt rubber, in the bottle and on the skin.

I don't get the beeswax blast everyone else does. I can detect beeswax, but there something beneath it that seems clean (like clean laundry. But not fabric softener or detergent, just well-worn clothes fresh from the dryer) and slightly spicy. The spicy bit reminds me of clove cigarettes, which conjures a vivid memory of 14-year-old me, waiting in line to see Depeche Mode in the mid-80s and envying the cool, well-dressed, older goths smoking in the parking lot. The amber aspect doesn't remind me of any amber I've ever smelled and doesn't go powdery. Rather, it's almost sweet and perfumy. An interesting scent with good throw and staying power, so much that I had to wash it off before bed.

Whenever a scent reminds me of something else, I tend to zero in on that and I can't pick out any other notes. This one is all oakmoss which reads MEN'S COLOGNE, one of the fancy ones you can find at Sephora. Great throw and sticks to the skin like glue, even after washing and rubbing off with alcohol.

The "clean laundry" scent that is in Apocalypse Box is very different from Blue Blankie (one of my favorites, where the "clean" note is subtle but unmistakable). It really evokes the sense of thick flannel pajamas washed with fabric softener. Musky and a tad masculine. The lavender is hard to detect on its own, but it's definitely in there as a backbone to the laundry scent. I smell the cardboard too. Dry and clean with surprisingly good throw and staying power; I could still smell it very clearly after a shower. Unfortunately, it's not for me. I smell like I used a too much fabric softener, and not my favorite kind.

This starts with a green sap that is intense and very bitter. Like, nose-scrunching. If I had to guess, this smells like crushed ivy, but I'm not super familiar with most of these notes. I don't recognize any grass, pine or hazelnut. The bitter note disappears, leaving a fuzzy, narcotic scent that reminds me of amber or opium, maybe even cashmere. For a patchouli/rose/lavender lover, this is super weird. Does not remind me of forests I recognize; growing up on the West Coast of the US, this shouldn't be surprising, but I am always looking for a forest scent evocative of camping trips and forest hikes.

I've been avoiding this imp because it smells like an industrial solvent when wet, but it was the last one left to test, so I took the plunge. It's intense. I'm getting spearminty ozone with a hint of gasoline. There's a tiny bit of spicy man cologne, but mostly it smells like something toxic. Off to scrub.

I cannot overstate how passionately I love this one. Full disclosure, I love jasmine and ginger out in the world, but it's not always a winner in perfume; it all depends on what it's blended with. This one is a magical combination. It has good throw and staying power and I keep catching whiffs of something akin to a gingery incense. Despite the apricot and vanilla (the latter of which I can't detect), this is not a foody or sweet blend. Heartbroken that it is has been discontinued!

I looove this. I get a lot of neroli and incense--this smells just like a hippie clothes store I used to go to in the Haight-Ashbury and it makes me think of the flowy tops and skirts, and the hanging crystals that reflected rainbows all over the store. Bright and sunny and pretty.

Upon the Sea of Glass, glowing with the perfection of spiritual union and the radiance of true wisdom, rests the throne of God. A scent of inimitable purity, crystalline grace, and limitless light. Creamy white floral and a citrus I can't identify. Smells like a very expensive hand lotion. The imp I got may be significantly aged, but I don't think I will seek out a new one.

Ava is a little frustrating, because if I put my nose to my skin, it's a bit sharp and the notes clash. There's something in there which smells like ashes. However, when I go about my business, I find myself catching whiffs of something fun, and I remember it's there. It's got that same amberish sweetness of a perfume like Tabu, or a BBW scent from years ago called Sandalwood Fig. Much like Ava, it's kinda cute, sexy and dangerous at first, but soon becomes annoying.

Today I was craving leather. Blind bottled this last year and I wasn't sure about it, but today it's my jam. Clean, bright leather (my favorite perfume note), and clean, ever-so-slightly spicy fir. Unisex leaning toward masculine or "tomboy" 😏. So thankful for the Liliths for bringing me back to BPAL after a long hiatus. I look forward to reading her adventures each year, and I'm finding all kinds of treasured scents now.

This one smelled like diaper pail on me. Considering that it has some of the notes found in baby powder scents, this does not surprise me.

Darn it! I liked this in the vial, but it all but vanishes on my skin. The oak was lovely and has me reaching for Etienne de Boray Oak, which delivers a stronger and long lasting dose.

We have an herb shop called Lhasa Karnak here in Berkeley and this smells like being there. For me it's a comforting, welcoming scent. Cedar usually overpowers for me, but in this it's a soft scent that brings to mind the wood shelves in the old houses that I spent my summers in, with various hippie relatives out in the woods. Shelves overflowing with books and knick knacks obtained from world travels. I used to want to live in a house like that. I will keep this to remind me.

Soil notes don't do it for me at all, but after about 15 minutes they tend to disappear, so I'm trying to decide if this is worth it. Once the soil is mostly gone this is earthy patchouli and vanilla, and gives me that warm, fuzzy "BPAL" feel. I also get that touch of coconut, but not enough (as a coconut hater) to spoil the blend. I wonder how close this is to Banshee Beat? Alas, this is more readily available. Definitely going in my pile to keep testing.

Ay yay yay...I am getting a stinky note, not unlike when my cat expresses his anal glands...is this the oudh? As it dries, it seems to take on a sharpness that reminds me of a snapped flower stem, fresh and green and sappy. This deepens into a dark and spicy perfume, though I don't get strong honeysuckle or rose (except perhaps the stem). It's not unpleasant, even with the slight fecal note, but not quite my style.