Alethia

Thoughts before testing: Nine years ago today, I had my first date with my husband. The house I was living in at the time had two giant lilac bushes by the front door. When I opened the door and saw that unbelievably handsome man standing in the golden afternoon sunlight, I immediately fell in love with him. Since then, to me, lilacs smell like falling in love. Bonus points: I was wearing Antique Lace on that date, so the combination of vanilla and lilac made this an absolute no brainer of a purchase. Wet: Beautiful, realistic lilac blooms with just a hint of greenery. It immediately transports me back to July 2015. Dry: This stays pretty much a single note lilac on me all the way into the far dry down (an impressive 6 hours!). I don’t detect any vanilla or benzoin except as a faint hint about 2 hours into it and even then it’s just a suggestion of vanilla. Final thoughts: I wish this was more vanilla heavy, but the scent association alone is enough to keep this bottle. Maybe the vanilla will become a little stronger as it ages? Verdict: Keeping.

Thoughts before testing: I typically don’t like berry scents but the addition of milk and marshmallow made this impossible to pass up. Wet: Whew, Little Bird was right: the immediate wet stage of this is exactly like the bubblegum flavoring of medicine I remember from childhood. Dry: The medicine smell fades within 30 seconds and I’m left with a super sweet, super pretty strawberry with a good helping of marshmallow. Final thoughts: This smells exactly like sticking your head in a container of strawberry Nesquik while chewing on a marshmallow. I don’t really get any milkiness but surprisingly don’t miss it. This is pretty, even if it’s something I won’t reach for to actually wear. I’ll keep the decant but don’t need a bottle.

Thoughts before testing: This was almost a blind bottle when the Weenies dropped last fall, but the plastic in the description worried me and I decided it would be prudent to wait for reviews. After reading through this thread though, my hopes are sky high for a new favorite. Wet: Sweet, sweet vanilla amber. This smells good enough to eat. Dry down: For about 5 minutes, there was a weird screechy floral smell that made my nose crinkle up but it disappears and goes back to that beautiful sweet vanilla amber candy. Dry: I can’t detect any candy corn or mellowcreme, but that’s completely ok because this is absolutely gorgeous vanilla amber all the way through into the next day. Final thoughts: This is unreal. I’ve never smelled amber and vanilla like this. Even my husband, who tends to be neutral verging on dislike for most perfume, requests this one by name. Stekk and Antique Lace are the only other perfumes he’ll do that for, so this ghostie baby is in great company. Verdict: Hoarding.

Thoughts before testing: I am an absolute sucker for BPAL’s carnation. To date, I’ve burned through 2 bottles of the original Hod and one each of Hod Res and the Spanish Carnation single note. I like Snake Oil decently and my hopes are high for this being primarily carnation and spice with some snakey goodness in the back. Wet: strong Snake Oil with a really lovely hit of floral spice. Dry down: the carnation and spice are in equal measure with Snake Oil’s patchouli. This is really doing it for me. I keep getting whiffs of it and going “ooh!” Dry: I’ve never really gotten a lot of vanilla from SO, but after about an hour of wear the patch backs off and the vanilla comes to the forefront and melds really beautifully with the carnation and spice. Final thoughts: this lasted well into the next day on my skin, which is a rarity for me. Out of all the SO variants I’ve tried, this is far and away my favorite. Definitely my favorite of this year’s Lupe’s as well. It’s an immediate bottle, and I’m tempted to get a backup.

Thoughts before testing: I really, really love buttery, creamy scents and amber. Unfortunately after having my daughter in 2022, my skin throws anything with honey into the next town. So we’ll see how this goes! Wet: Ooh, this is a really pretty and warm floral amber. Sweet but not gourmand. It’s not smoky at all but kind of reminds me of a floral Light of Men’s Lives. Dry down: This definitely honey but it’s not overwhelming on me and the throw is reasonable. I’m thinking the amber is grounding it. This feels like Valentine’s Day to me. Dry: This is so beautiful. I get no butter at any stage but it’s so pretty I don’t even miss it. Final Thoughts: This definitely feels like a Luper instead of a Yule to me. It’s warm and comforting and just pretty. And it lasted forever: a solid 10 hours later I could still smell it. This is my favorite from the 2023 Yules.

Thoughts before testing: marshmallow is my forever love and I’m hoping this will be a Snow White marshmallow love fest. Wet: A big ol’ blast of pine and Snow White! Dry down: The pine is really taking over and is quite chilled smelling, making it reminiscent of Skadi to me. Dry: This eventually settled into a pretty Snow White with a heavy dose of chilly pine. It’s pretty, but no marshmallow. I’m willing to let it age for a while, but in the meantime I’m officially on the hunt for a marshmallow single note to layer with my 2006 bottle of Snow White.

Thoughts before testing: Peach is one of my forever love notes, best encapsulated in the discontinued Josie (honeyed peaches and magnolia) from The District. Marshmallow, vanilla, and cream are also big winners for me. It's like I wrote out this list note to create my perfect perfume. Wet: This is a dead ringer for the Yankee Candles Peaches and Cream. It's kind of artificial and cloying at the wet stage, despite smelling like something I want to eat out of the bottle. Dry down: The cream and marshmallow come more to the forefront and start to smooth out that artificial peach candle smell. At this stage, it's like taking a homemade marshmallow and drenching it in peach syrup. Dry: After around 2 hours, the vanilla and toasted cream really take over and turn this from "eh" to pure love. It's like homemade canned peaches got wrapped up in a slightly toasted marshmallow and then drenched in vanilla. Verdict: I've been out of Josie for almost a year now and have been looking for a peach to take it's place. This definitely fills the space and surprisingly I prefer this to the honey-overdose that Josie has. The vanilla/cream/marshmallow works better for me than sticky honey, especially given the hot climate I live in. Love this to pieces.

Thoughts before testing: One of my holy grail scents is Castitas bath oil from the Trading Post. It's notes are listed as rice flower, vanilla, and cream. But it's been out of stock for so long that I started looking for substitutes (and you better believe once it comes back, I'll be buying 5 bottles lol). I figured Lola Lee Loo would be a close contender more smoky and with a little more depth due to the fig, clove, and patch. Fingers crossed! Wet: Wow, this is stunning! It's a heady floral vanilla with just a hint of the clove/patch. The fig bloomed for about thirty seconds before retreating to the background and making the vanilla/rice flower more rounded and not screechy at all. Dry down: As it dries, the clove and patch get screechy for about fifteen minutes; you know, high pitched and nostril-assaulting. I decided to give it another 10 to see if it toned down at all and to my extreme surprise this morphs into a much more smooth vanilla with the edges of smoke and sensuality from the clove/patch combo. Dry: After about four hours on my skin, it's all smooth and creamy golden vanilla with just a hint of smoke and spice with a very light floral tinge. Verdict: My perfume sweet spot is best described as Morocco, all vanillas and spices and cream and sweetness without being foodie. Lola Lee Loo is EXACTLY what I've been looking for in a perfume. I didn't realize I needed a little touch of something smoky and dirty to really bring the spicy creamy sweetness to it's full potential. This is also lasted forever on my skin, taking a full 9 hours before I had to really try and smell it. The throw is low-medium and got me a bunch of compliments at work yesterday. I'm absolutely hoarding this one.

Eerie billows of spun sugar, fluttering white cotton, and sheets of cream. The first time I tried Boo I wasn't super crazy about it. My nose wasn't fully developed yet and it just fell kind of flat on my skin. But then I tried the 2010 version this summer and finally got it. I was really hoping that Boo would be back as a perfume oil this year. I never thought to even hope for a Boo hair gloss! So naturally I had to order it This stuff is SO GOOD. It's the beautifully simple Boo that I've come to know and love: a cotton-candy type sugar with extra backbone from the cotton and silky cream running all through it. It's slightly foody without being obvious, sweet without being sickeningly so. It smells pretty and I love it so. I put 6 sprays in my waist length, ridiculously thick hair this morning (and they were true sprays/mists and not squirts like in some of my earlier hair gloss bottles) but then wound up having to put my hair up shortly after I got to work. When I got home this evening I took my hair down and was immediately enveloped in this amazing sweet soft cloud of scent and swooned. This might be my favorite of the hair glosses so far actually. It's very simple to wear and just feels like me (as weird as that sounds!). I've also gotten more compliments on this than any other perfume/hair gloss I've ever worn. The first time I wore it, I had no less than 6 different people comment on how nice I smelled. And of course, the gloss itself is sheer perfection. It tames my frizz, smooths everything out, and makes my hair virtually tangle free. tl;dr review: Get this now. It's perfection in a spray bottle.

Sweet honey, white apricot, and a touch of cayenne pepper. Thoughts before testing: This was an instant unsniffed bottle purchase. I absolutely adore each of the three notes listed, but I am slightly concerned that the "touch" of cayenne won't be enough to cut the super sweetness of honey and apricot. Wet: Oh my god. This is fabulous. It's very much like March Hare, minus the sweet clove and plus the spiciness of cayenne. March Hare is one of my all-time top 10 blends, but at first sniff, I like this better. The cayenne pepper is more interesting than the sweet clove, and I think the addition of the honey is making this more unique. The honey and apricot aren't cloyingly sweet, and they're balanced nicely by the spice of the pepper. Dry down: The sweetness has backed off considerably and now it's a nice spicy/sweet scent. It's harder to pick out each individual note, but this is really beautiful. Dry: The beautiful spicy and sweet melding has stayed consistent from the dry down to several hours into the wear time. Final thoughts: So. Much. LOVE. Seriously. This wore for about 5 hours before I needed to really try and smell it. The throw is decent, but definitely not overpowering. I just don't even have enough words for how much I love this blend. I love that it's not a typical "fruity" perfume; it smells much more sophisticated and interesting to my nose, and I can't recommend it highly enough! Verdict: Hoarding

Thoughts before testing: I tend to vastly prefer fresh Snake Oil on my skin, so fingers crossed that this is new and not aged SO. Wet: Nutty? It smells like fresh SO mixed with a fresh jar of peanut butter. Big yikes at this stage. Dry down: Thankfully the weird peanut butter smell fades and I'm left with a beeswax heavy SO. I get almost no sweetness or vanilla; it smells like I mixed SO with The Lights of Men's Lives which is absolutely terrific. I think this is going to age beautifully. Dry: After about an hour, it mellows out to nearly straight Snake Oil. I'm really glad that I didn't immediately spring for a bottle of this. It's pretty but I think I prefer regular SO and quite frankly, I'm not willing to buy a bottle and hope that in a year it ages into something more than it is right now. Verdict: Keeping the imp, no bottle.

Thoughts before testing: Hopefully the champagne will prevent the cherry from going too cough syrup on my skin. Wet: Ooh, this smells like cherry Starburst (my favorite flavor). Dry down: The champagne takes over and turns the entire thing into a fizzy, pretty scent with just the slightest hint of cherry. This is super pretty. Dry: The cherry comes back for the final dry stage and mixes so prettily with the champagne, making it sweeter and more vibrant. I really like this. Final thoughts: I've been following BPAL for almost 10 years now and my collection is in a really nice place: not an overwhelming amount of bottles and a nice representation from all the major scent families with heavy emphasis on sweet/gourmand and spicy/warm scents. I don't have any cherry or champagne scents in my collection though, and I'm pleased as punch to have found this. Verdict: Upgrading to a bottle.

Thoughts before testing: At this point, I'm almost 10 years into being part of the BPAL family. In that time, my tastes have changed drastically and now I'm leaning toward the sweet/gourmand family (this would have shocked the 2011 Alethia). I'm hopeful that this will be warm, cozy, and sweet. Wet: Vanilla musk without being too sweet. It's smelling like a more linear Morocco to my nose at this stage. Dry down: Definitely smelling like Morocco: dry, warm, and pretty. Dry: It keeps the Morocco vibe all the way through the day (lasting an impressive 8 hours on my skin). Final thoughts: I find Morocco more interesting and less linear than this. It's definitely in the same family and this is a good thing for my wallet. Morocco might be my favorite BPAL ever and I have 4 bottles aging while I work through my current bottle. To date, I'm on my fifth bottle of Morocco. That similarity makes this superfluous in my collection. It's beautiful, but not as beautiful as Morocco. Verdict: Pass.

Thoughts before testing: Peach, musk, and amber are all wins for me so I'm hopeful that this will be the star of the 2020 Lupers for me. Wet: Yeah buddy! This is beautiful and kind of bright to my nose. The peach is sweet but not syrupy and the amber grounds it and keeps the whole thing from smelling like a typical fruity/floral. Dry down: That sugared amber is absolutely stunning. It's warm, sweet, and only slightly fruity. Dry: The peach stays quietly in the background while the amber shines. This is really beautiful and right in my wheelhouse. Final thoughts: I love this, but I don't know if I love it enough to upgrade to a bottle. I keep my collection tight to only those perfumes that I LOVE. I'm not sure if this is a LOVE, but it's definitely beautiful. Verdict: Keeping the imp, probably not upgrading to a bottle.

Thoughts before testing: This has been on my "to try" list forever so I was thrilled when it came back with the 2020 Lupers. I'm hoping that this is a sexy, smoky skin scent. Wet: Woof, very indolic coconut. If I didn't know better, I'd say this has jasmine in it. As I sniff, the indolic part starts to become almost plasticky? Dry down: The indolic smell is gone but the coconut is definitely smelling like plastic. This is so disappointing! Dry: After about an hour, the plastic burns off and it becomes this nuanced, beautiful sexy coconut. This is exactly what I was looking for! Final thoughts: It lasts forever on my skin. I was still smelling it strongly 9 hours later and it kept that sexy coconut vibe the whole way through. The first hour was rough what with the indolic/plastic stage. But there's a good chance it just needs to age that off, so I'm keeping the imp for now and strongly considering a bottle. Verdict: Keeping to age, look for an update in 6 months.

Thoughts before testing: Pink pepper is one of my favorite notes but cherry has been wildly hit or miss on my skin. I'm intrigued but fully prepared to write this off as "good for her but not for me". Wet: Strong almondy cherry. Very pretty! Dry down: The cherry burns off in the first 5 minutes, leaving a really bright and sparkly pepper. Dry: The pepper hangs around for a surprisingly long time. It took a good 5 hours before I had to really smell it. That pretty cherry never made a reappearance, sadly. Final thoughts: If this kept the cherry note around longer instead of being just a single note pepper experience, I'd like this a lot more. I'm trying to keep my collection ruthlessly pared down and I don't think I have room for a pepper single note. Verdict: Lovely, but not keeping.

Thoughts before testing: Josie (magnolia and honeyed peaches) is one of my favorite BPALs of all time, but now that it's discontinued and I'm just about done with my (third!) bottle of it, it's time to find a replacement. I get almost no magnolia, it's a straight up PEACH dripping with honey. So when I saw this bad boy in the Luper lineup, I jumped. All of the notes here are absolute winners on my skin and I'm hoping that this will be a home run. I should note that I use the Lab's bath oils as post-shower moisturizers and not in the actual bath. Wet: This is a super realistic, wet, fleshy peach. I absolutely love it at this stage. I don't get any honey or cream and that's ok by me! Dry down: The honey and cream start to peek out. Lordy, this is good stuff. It's like Josie but creamier (the magnolia could make her a little sharper than I'd like sometimes) and not as heady. Dry: Creamy peaches drizzled in honey. This is absolute perfection. Final thoughts: This is a worthy successor to Josie, particularly if you weren't crazy about the magnolia. In fact, I might even like this better than Josie. As far as longevity goes, this is a winner too. Using it as a moisturizer gets me a full 8 hours of lightly scented skin and if I try hard enough, I can still smell it by hour 10. This is rocketing up into my top 10. Verdict: Hoarding.

Thoughts before testing: I've been doing keto for almost two years now (and low carb for even longer before that) and Coke was by far the hardest thing for me to quit. So when I saw the description of this, I immediately tossed it in my cart. Marshmallow is one of my favorite perfume notes and I have high hopes that this will satisfy those damn sweet cravings that still linger even now. Wet: It smells like I smeared an ice cold Coke on my skin, all fizz and sweet Dry down: The marshmallow comes out a little more but mostly it's a fizzy Coke scent. I don't mind the lightness of the marshmallow here as I don't have anything in my perfume box that comes even close to a cola fragrance. Dry: That fizziness is just delightful and lasts forever. When I worked at the now-defunct Borders bookstore, our cafe would make a cola drink with vanilla whipped cream and raw sugar that tasted exactly like this smells. I'm shockingly into this. Final thoughts: I don't have anything in my perfume box like this and it's a definite keeper! Verdict: upgrading to a bottle!

Thoughts before testing: I generally steer clear of fruit scents but apple is an exception for me. Ever since the really beautiful Celestial Apples from the 2011 Weenies, I've been on the lookout for interesting apple scents. Apple and milk sounds just simple but intriguing enough for me to bite (pun intended ) Wet: Super duper realistic, crisp, juicy, sweet Honeycrisp apple with just a hint of milky goodness in the back. Dry down: After about fifteen minutes, the apple becomes creamy and the sweetness dials back just a little bit. Dry: The apple really mellows out and the creaminess becomes the star of the show. I definitely agree with those above saying it's sweetened like cereal milk (although without the fruitiness that was present in the Marshmallow Bunnies of Niflhel, thankfully). Final thoughts: Sweet creamy scents are my absolute favorite type of perfume and this is a stunner. The apple is to die for, the creamy sweetness lasts forever, and all throughout the day I kept getting wafts of this really amazing scent that I was continually delighted to realize was me. My husband is very into apple scents and went gaga over this as well. I have a lot of sweet/cream scents but nothing with apple so this is definitely a keeper. Verdict: upgrading to a bottle!

Thoughts before testing: I've been on the hunt for a grapefruit perfume forever so this was a no-brainer. Wet: Wow! Bright sweet grapefruit with a little honey and crisp apple. LOVE at this stage. Dry down: Ooh this is super fun and almost sparkling. The apple isn't "shampoo apple" and is actually really pretty when it's blended with the grapefruit. I'm in agreement with other reviewers that there definitely smells like honeyed plumeria mixed in. Not a complaint at all as I think this note is what's making me not miss a heavier grapefruit. Dry: The grapefruit starts to come a little more to the forefront and the plumeria/apple cider is a little sparkly all the way through. Final thoughts: I really love that this isn't piercing or sharp. It's just pretty and sparkly and a little sweet and different from anything else I've got in my perfume box. Verdict: upgrading to a bottle!

Thoughts before testing: I recently fell in love with the plum in Bathsheba so when I saw this, I immediately pounced. Wet: Slightly indolic but very pretty. Very well blended, I can't really pick out any individual notes except to go "ooh, pretty and fancy" Dry down: The indolic smell isn't going away which is weird because I usually only get this from jasmine. Beneath that, it's a sweetish resinous scent. Dry: The patch starts to really blossom after several hours on the skin. It's not gnarly or rooty but is really smooth and polished and warm. Final thoughts: That indolic tinge never went away despite a full day test this week. Maybe hormones? I don't know, but I also don't know if i liked this enough to try it again. Verdict: I'll hang onto the decant for aging purposes but definitely not a bottle purchase.

Thoughts before testing: Stekk from the 2015 (or maybe 2016?) Yules is one of my all-time favorite perfumes and since I've only got one bottle of that I'm always on the look out for marshmallow replacements. I'm hoping that this will hit that same olfactory spot. Wet: Wowza, nothing but super sweet Fruity Pebbles. Dry down: After five or so minutes, the Fruity Pebbles fades and leaves just a sweet slightly fruity marshmallow. Dry: Pretty sugar with just a hint of fruitless. FInal thoughts: Normally I steer clear of fruity scents but the fruit is so light here that I don't mind. There isn't enough actual marshmallow in this for me to jump for joy and Stekk is a lot warmer and fluffier so I don't think this will fill my backup spot. But it is pretty in it's own right and I definitely like it enough to keep the decant. Verdict: keeping, but not a bottle purchase.

Thoughts before testing: Snake Oil is one of my favorite love-muffins and I have high hopes for this one! Wet: Fresh Snake Oil and bright pink bubblegum for sure. The bubblegum is a sweet and a little dusty, like the bubblegum tape you could get in the 90s. Dry down: The Snake Oil starts to overpower the bubblegum and it's all I can smell at this point. Dry: And now it's just play-do This is extra weird for me because I greatly prefer fresh Snake Oil over the aged stuff. I've never gotten play-do out of Snake Oil so I think this is going to be a pass for me. Final thoughts: I like bubblegum and I love Snake Oil so I'm sad that the combination didn't work for me. Verdict: passing the decant along to someone who can appreciate it better.

Thoughts before testing: I first tried a frimp of Aeval in 2013 (you can find my original review of Aeval here) To date, I've drained that bottle and two imps and when it was discontinued I was so sad. My excitement when it was re-released this summer was enough to get me to order 3 bottles immediately. I don't have the original to compare against so I'll try to review this on it's own merit. Wet: YES. This is it! It smells exactly like I remember the original Aeval smelling. It's really pretty, clean, and sweetly floral. Dry down: The sage is crisp and clean and slightly green; the sweet pea is vintage and sweet. Dry: The musk finally comes out to play and blends beautifully with the sage and sweet pea. Final thoughts: This winds up being a really lovely softly sweet floral musk with a generous helping of beautiful clean sage. The throw is pretty much nonexistent and it doesn't last for very long at all (3 hours on well moisturized skin in humid Ohio) but neither did the original. Aeval was my go-to perfume for work due to it's close throw and inoffensive prettiness and I'm so very happy this was brought back. Verdict: Hoarding, with a potential fourth bottle on the horizon.

Thoughts before testing: I can't get enough of blends with skin musk, and vanilla + sandalwood is always a win in my book, so my hopes were high for Like a Girl to smell pretty dang good. Wet: Ugh so pretty. This is heavy on the skin musk wet and it smells clean and warm and just slightly sweet. Dry down: The sandalwood and vanilla come to the forefront and it definitely starts to smell like a sheered out Morocco. Still clean and warm but more sweet from the vanilla. Dry: The vanilla and skin musk intensify just slightly and this winds up being a vanilla'd skin musk with just a breath of resin to ground it. It's warm and clean and just barely sweet and I love it. This has moderate throw and good wear time (7 hours before I really had to try and notice it). Final thoughts: It's been a minute since I tried a perfume that made me think "Man, I smell PRETTY." Very feminine, very pretty, and basically what I want my own natural skin to smell like. Morocco has long been my favorite perfume, but the lighter and more natural feel of Like a Girl might be enough to claim the top spot. Verdict: Backup bottle needed stat.