Mountaingrrl00

A russet chypre slathered in vintage patchouli and black tea with golden amber, hiba wood, and iris root. This one feels like an instant classic, sophisticated and gorgeous. I first smell the tannin-heavy black tea, the mossy chypre and the strong wood - an earthy but somehow sparkling combination. The patchouli then comes into play, and it reminds me of rich fragrances my grandmother's generation wore before hippie patchouli existed. The amber is sweet and has almost a citrus quality, which plays back and forth with the soft dryness of the iris root. The resulting combination is an assertive, long-lasting dress-up kind of perfume. It's definitely a nose-glued-to-the-wrist one for me.

PROGRESSUS Make a purchase at Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab on Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, or Cyber Monday, and receive a free imp of PROGRESSUS: a blend of Solar oils believed to generate abundance, augment success, and bestow good fortune, including golden amber, honey laurel, heliotrope, saffron, and Atlas cedar. Yum! This smells rich, appropriately enough. It's woody, resinous, and somehow metallic. The Atlas cedar is not a pencil-shavings scent, but has a real depth, anchoring the brightness of the saffron. There's a warmth from the amber and a sweetness from the heliotrope. I'm unfamiliar with the scent of honey laurel; I think it might be the sort of bay-leaf tinge I'm getting initially that contributes to the "metallic" impression. As it dries down, the resins and woods remain and I get more vanillic heliotrope, less metal. There's also something earthy that I can't identify, but love. I'm so glad I ordered when I did to get this lagniappe. It's delicious in a strong, dark-golden way.

I'm surprised I'd never reviewed this -- it's been one of my favorite BPALs for several years now. The fruity-floral aspect is breezy and sunny for sure, but there's such a lovely dark decadence underpinning it. It's tangy in the bottle -- I think that's the green cognac too -- and then as soon as it hits my skin the rich tobacco and vanilla come out and stay a good long time. The opium poppy note is faint, which is fine with me. I never knew I loved tobacco absolute so much. The way it blends in the drydown is the most gorgeous thing. I'm totally wearing this in the winter.

My favorite of this year's Weenies. It's hard to pick out individual notes, but the overall impression is of the Southwest US, the scent of canyons and the rosy colors of the rocks and the sunsets. Pretty but not sweet. Dry, airy, earthy, unisex, sophisticated, unique.

Soothes your nerves, brings calm to the household, infuses your space with a grounded tranquility. French lavender, jasmine grandiflorum, myrrh essential oil and oleoresin, rose petals and rose otto essential oil, jasmine blossoms, and frankincense tears. This smells so beautiful! It's a rich, heady floral-resin smell, so relaxing it's almost sleep-inducing, and I notice some notes in common with TAL Nocturne, but this is softer and more grounded .... a reminder to stop, smell the super-gorgeous roses, and share that softness and compassion.

Smoky-sweet-savory gourmand goodness, with mellow cognac, subtle hay-like nuances, a caramel creaminess and that super-sexy saffron-oud combo. Low to medium throw, long lasting.

Seconding the love for Sea of Glass. My other pick would be Zombi, which is such a lovely dark-roses-and-rich-earth scent.

I could swear there's sandalwood in here, the most beautiful soft musky kind. Must be the combination of other notes that creates this illusion. The rose is so pretty, like the waft from a rose bush, not at all sharp. The honey is also soft. I love this scent; it's like a warm hug from the loveliest woman.

I'm surprised by how much I like this. It smells like gardenia that's still on the tree, wafting on the air when it's warm but not hot out. Fresh, new, just sweet enough, beautifully rounded.

Globe fits this for me: A russet chypre slathered in vintage patchouli and black tea with golden amber, hiba wood, and iris root.

I'm looking for a passion fruit scent that doesn't go too sweet and syrupy. I love the tart, fresh, almost lemony facet of this fruit. Anything you'd recommend?

Surena Marie, if you can find some Paper Phoenix, I think you'd love it! A memory of Antique Lace, Formula 54’s pink pepper, and a splash of Dorian’s white tea and lavender fougere.

This does smell "alabaster" to me! It's a clear vanilla with soft floral and citrus nuances - very likable and accessible, sweet without being cloying. It seems especially well suited to springtime.

On me this is very Rose and surprisingly green. It's closest to the rose in Rose Red, with a hint of Zombi. There are resemblances to rosewater and carnation too. It takes a good long while for the apricot phase to develop, and that too has more of a romantic perfume feel than a gourmand one. I smell spicy fig leaves but not the fruit. Not at all what I was expecting, but a clean, feminine scent in its own right -- one I think will be beautiful for summer. Edited to add: Previous review was straight out of the mailbox on a cold day. Given ten days to settle, and worn on a warm day, the apricot and fig are much more recognizable and the whole scent much more to my expectation and liking. It really has a wow factor now.

Smells like a yellow-brown beeswax candle, sweet as autumn honey as first, then more of a beeswax smell coming in as it dries. I swear I get a whiff of a candle being extinguished -- I don't know how Beth does it -- and then the smokiness disappears and I'm left with a sweet, slightly incense-like beeswax. I'm not familiar with white patchouli but whatever it's doing here really works. This is a wonderfully evocative, sexy, almost single-note skin scent. Love it!

Thanks, Merun. I haven't tried Hellhound. Is the brimstone note noticeable? I've never liked the burnt smells. Siren sounds like a great suggestion - thanks!

This is rich, dark honey on me, mostly. The hazelnut gives it a foody dimension I like, but it's not overpowering. The wood and resins give it depth and make it last. It's all very yummy and sexy.

I'm going to try this again: 1. Pognophobia (mellow patchouli/honey/leather) 2. Queen of Clubs (dirt, vanilla, amber, currant, pomegranate, rose) 3. Insupportable Misery (tea, saffron, lilac, lavender) 4. Summer Lace (wisps of vanilla cream, caramelized tobacco absolute, white opium poppy, summer honeysuckle nectar, effervescent white mandarin, apple blossom, and green cognac) 5. Smut (musks, sweet boozy notes) Anyone have suggestions?

I am so, so happy to have gotten this as a PIF from the wonderful Little Bird. I'd overlooked the scent because of the CO2 of butter in the description. A lot of times when I've encountered butter and bakery scents, there's been something sickly-sweet, overbearing, even rancid. Not here! It just warms up the scent a little. The mandarin and apricot notes are so sunny and happy. It's a yummy, fun scent, not too complicated but a bit unusual, with a little bit of amber that's bubbly but a little bit grounded, too. I will treasure my bottle, especially as a winter pick-me-up.

This one surprised me. I put this on in the morning. It came on strong with the chilly evergreen and dark pomegranate, and felt very much like a winter/Yule-themed atmosphere scent. It took quite awhile for the pine to calm down, and I was getting ready to write it off as too sharp and green, but it turned warmer and richer a couple hours in, and by the evening I had a moment of "what's that great smell? Oh, it's the Fruit Phoenix I'm wearing!" By that time it was less fruit, more Snake Oil base and leather. Now nearly midnight, I'm huffing the dregs of that glorious end-phase.

This reminds me quite a bit of The Atrocious Attic from the 2007 Weenies, with its vanilla, linen and dried-bouquet nuances. The top notes of pink pepper and Earl Grey are fun in the beginning, though they don't last long. There's also something that reminds me of one of the early Lilith series, that baby lavender note. The whole effect is very soft and comforting.

I'm here to sing the praises of Stealthily, Stealthily as a lavender scent that's romantic and old-fashioned but not soporific. It's got a lovely French dusting-powder vibe with violet and orris aspects.

This one has some depth. Mmmm, that's true violet, shadowy purple and smoky green with soft orris and a sharp lavender. It's especially lovely after the lavender has had some time to warm up and calm down. It gets sweeter, but never too much so. Not quite a skin scent, but definitely one of those quiet florals that makes you want to get closer to it to smell more and catch all its changing facets. This is officially my second-favorite BPAL purple-flowers scent after Insupportable Misery.

The complexity of the chypre, in vitro, quickly turns to straight-up baking spices on my skin. The spices, especially the cinnamon, linger for hours. (I don't get any skin irritation from the cinnamon.) I am going to have to try this in a scent locket. Updated: I tried it on skin again after the imp had settled at room temperature for a few days, and what a difference! Now I am getting the moss, more of the butterscotch aspect of the pumpkin, and other more grown-up aspects of the blend. It's really quite lovely -- still very gourmand, but with some dark depths.

On me this is verrrrrry violet/orris, with a sugary, almost fermented tone. Other soft, powdery nuances surround it like a cloud. There's something a little bitter lurking under it at times, keeping it from smelling too simple/innocent. For me it came on strong at first, but didn't last long.