aoiphe

Starts with a minty ozone, then settles into a sweet mint with melon. Refreshing and light, perfect for summer.

Rose, rose, rose. I'm a spice fiend and could barely find the carnation and cloves in the first hour, then all rose after that point. Someone else will love this.

Wet: lots of wet fruit (definitely feels red - more like pomegranate than fig). Intense yellow oil. Quick dry down to the classic smooth BPAL red musk/amber/vanilla blend - dark and smooth, sensuous and complex. The amber isn't powdery and the black vanilla isn't smoky. It swirls and softens in about half an hour and then stays quite stable (though still fairly sweet) for 8 hours until it fades. This reminds me a lot of Madame Moriarty (2006) Inez (2008), Raven Moon and aged Snake Oil variants. Definitely a keeper, and will probably age well.

GCs Bast Bow and Crown of Conquest Crowley Dorian Hunter Lyonesse Mouse's Long and Sad Tale Mr. Ibis Plunder Snake Oil The King's Daughter The Cat The Lion TKO x 2 LEs After the Winter (2021) Amber and Cardamom (2021) Amoretti LXXV (Luper 2021) And Though They Are With You (2022) An Incubus Leaving Two Sleeping Women (Pickman 2011) Autumn Cider (Weenie 2011) Beeswax, Cedarwood and Bourbon Vanilla (2021) Black Amber and Sugar Cane (2021) Bezoar (CD 2011) Body, Remember x2 (Luper 2019) Butterflies, Flowers, and Jewels Attending (2013) Caligraphy Practice (Luper 2012) Cardamom and White Sandalwood (2021) Clemence (CD 2010) Egg Moon (Lunacy 2010) Feed Me and Fill Me With Pleasure (Luper, 2013) Frankincense and Ginger Root (2021) Green Tree Viper (CD 2010) Gypsy (Metamorphosis, 2010) Habu (CD 2011) Half Elf v5 (proto, 2011) Harp of Cnoc I'Chosagair x2 (Bards, 2010) Hay & Clove (2019) Hod: Resurrected (Anniversary 2009) Hungry Ghost Moon x 2 (Lunacy, 2006) Hope and Fear Set Free (2013) Inez (CD) In Templum Dei (OLLA 2021) Leather Phoenix (Anniversary 2011) Leave Her Johnny (2021) Like a Girl (2020) Liquid Gold is in the Air (Weenie 2020) Lillith de Milo (2019) Lugubre Gondola (2013) Luke 10:25-37 (2021) Metal Rabbit (2011) Michael Casts Out All of the Fallen Angels (Weenie, 2012) Mme. Moriarty, Misfortune Teller (CD 2010) Mourning Cloak (Metamorphosis, 2010) Nightingale (2022) Pallas Athene (Salon 2011) Palmyra (2015) Pericardium (2019) Perfectly Normal Childhood x2 (2020) Phoenix at Midday (Anniversary 2012) Plunging into the Hellmouth (Luper, 2022) PRC12 (proto, 2011) Pickled Imp (CD 2011) Pumpkin V (Weenie, 2012) Quaeris Quot Miki Basiationes (2013) Rabbit Moon (2021) Raven Moon (2012) SERKET v5 (proto, 2011) Snake Smut (Luper 2021) Sonnet d'Automne (Weenie 2011) Sunyashniki (2022) The Diamond's Gong (OLLA, 2018) The Dream is Big Enough for Everyone (2018) The King's Daughter (2011) The Smiling Spider x2 (Salon, ?) The Sportive Sun (2007) They Shut Me Up in Prose (2019) Third Charm (Weenie 2012) U Mutter Museum (retail) Vanilla Husk, Nutmeg and Hay Absolute (2022) Western Diamondback (CD 2011) WILF (Forum only, 2011) White Sage (SN, 2013) Womb Furie (Luper 2010) You May House Their Bodies (2022) Young Pine Saplings (Luper, 2011)

Well, 10 years on and this bottle is still going strong. It has aged nicely: a deep, spiced amber (though the orange note has vanished). It's got heft - I can smell it after 24 hours on my skin.

I'm a spice fiend, but not a lover of the gourmands. This is a big slap of cardamom, blindingly bright, toothsome and chewy (not dry or dusty). The foody notes are only playing a supporting role. Ordering a backup bottle.

A sheer resiny vanilla, with a tidy spice anchor. Peg this one for an absolute stunner, but unfortunately short in wear time, even with slathering. This is a milk note that played surprisingly nicely (usually the cream note goes to plastic on my skin). Lovers of Hod Resurrected, take note - this doesn't have that spicy carnation note as in Hod, but is otherwise very similar.

Wet, this is prominent vetiver with a fruity note (the red tea?). Drying down, I get tea and smooth dark woods, with an almost soapy undertone. I'm intrigued, but this isn't my most favourite incense blend ever.

I think this may be my holy grail amber. As Beckie said above, this is very similar to the GC Lion, without the spices. This Gondola has a sweeter, more woody, rounded overtone. Seems to have less of a throw than the Lion, which is my only complaint. May just have to slather copiously.

I like to call this one "Trip to the Forest Library". It's such a morpher, and has two distinct stages: the wet/initial drydown phase of green balsam, then the awesome leather vanilla phase that starts about 2 hours later. This lasts all day for me (unusual for my chemistry with BPAL) and is also office appropriate. U FTW!

WTF? Soap, soap, soap. No sandalwood and bleakness here. (2012 version)

You also might want to consider Wake from the Land of Dream series earlier this year. Huge slap of grapefruit, orange and lemon.

High hopes dashed. Juniper stomped all over everything (boozy gin note?) for the first 5 minutes, then an artificial fruitiness in the drydown. "Soap" says my DH, and I don't disagree. Glad this seems to work for so many other people.

This is a review crossed with a story, with a strong dash of "different people's chemistry". This is a beautiful blend on me, all grasses, hay and cardamom - love in a bottle, even if it fades quicker than I'd like. I wore this to the horse races this weekend (who doesn't need a little extra luck on a full moon... and I had a bit of success!! ... but that's not the story). The story is that I brought a wee decant with me, and my friends decided to try a little on themselves. One friend - Hay Moon immediately went to sweet, dusty powder, straight up, no change over time. The other friend - Hay Moon blossomed into a heavy spiced amber. Gorgeous, but she wanted the hay. I've never seen anything react so differently to different people's wrists before. Pure chemical alchemy. And also luck.

Chiming in to say that this is all honey, beeswax and vanilla on me - and nothing at all like the released GC scent. Lovely for layering, not cloying at all. It does disappear after three hours or so, which is too bad.