Poenari

This is interesting. I can smell the cream right away, but it immediately folds into the vanilla husk, giving off a dry almost plastic smell. I think the sandalwood is also keeping it from going sweet. I don't smell any caramel. This actually smells just like my very old (1962) babydoll's skin. I am glad that I got a decant of it, but this one is not to my taste, so no bottle upgrade.

My bottle is from the original release in 2015, but I never reviewed it. It's chilly and rainy outside and I needed something dark and atmospheric to wear this evening. This has aged so beautifully. My skin always amps dragon's blood, which I don't mind, and it does do with this blend too. But the patchouli is melded with the DB, and the tonka and oak give it a dark sweetness. After about an hour, this is all blended into one dark smoky sweet blend and I can't stop sniffing my arm.

Ny bottle is well aged and I realized I've never reviewed it. This is glorious! The pumpkin spice blend is dominant at first, as it tends to be. Heavy on ginger even. Then as it dries down, the blood musk steps forward and brings out a jar of honey. After a while, this becomes the scent of sweet dark redness on a crisp autumn day. This makes me think of the scene with Mina Harker in that gorgeous red dress in Bram Stoker's Dracula - crisp red taffeta, spicy hot with sexual tension. 🔥

I have Silkybat hair gloss and love it so much that I bought a backup bottle of the original at the time it was live in the Trading Post, so I knew I needed at least one bottle of the perfume. I love that sugary patchouli blend so much that I also have bottles of Pumpkin Spice Silkybat and Frosty Silkybat hair glosses. I stalked the Bloodmilk site every time there was an update, but always just missed it. I was finally able to get a bottle in a swap for my backup of Krampus Lace. High price to pay, given the rarity and demand of KL, but well worth it to me to finally have Silkybat. Besides, I refuse to profit off Beth's hard work. So, Silkybat perfume is exactly what I had hoped. It matches the hair gloss and is all sweet sugary patchouli on me. I don't get the lemon/citrus from the sugar that others mention, more of a sweet white sugar. No matter, this is divine and I am so happy to be able to wear it with my hair gloss.

I tried this right after receiving my bottle last year. It had a green sour and sharp smell, and was not at all like I had expected. I put it into my box to let it sit, and pulled it out once or twice a month or two later. It was still a no-go. Set it back again. I pulled this out to try again without reviewing the notes first. Wet, it was still slightly sour, green, and I thought it was going to be time to let it go. Then it did what BPAL does... on drydown, it morphed into the familiar Lace base, with a dusty dry herbal overlay. There was a note that at first I thought was cumin, so I read the notes. Of course, it's the cedar! For some reason cedar and cumin smell similar in my skin. Usually in a bad way. Somehow, this doesn't amp and remains under the surface where I really have to look for it. After an hour, this has softened to a wearable scent for me. Hooray! The notes are well blended at this point, and I think the patchouli has stabilized them to a lovely blend. Keeping this and adding it to my rotation. Finally! And this is why I never let my bottles go.

Rose heavy with pomegranate, the slightest hint of red musk, and white flowers. This goes very sweet on me. Crypt Queen is one of my favorite BPALs and I can tell that this is related. Unfortunately the Princess is not nearly as good on my skin and will be better off in someone else's royal court.

I only have a decant of this. I somehow set it aside in a bag of decants without testing it. I sure wouldn't have forgotten this one! I have a lot of BPAL pumpkin perfumes and hair glosses. This little decant is just perfection. No real rum note stands out, but I think it is just perfectly matched with the Pumpkin Spice note. Maybe it's due to the aging, although typically I don't find that my hair glosses change with age. In any way, the pumpkin spice is not as cloying as in my PSE hair gloss or even last year's Pumpkin Silkybat, Pumpkin Scherezade, or Pumpkin Dragon's Milk. I have full bottled of each of those and only this little decant. Well, Imma have to hope that they age as deliciously as this one. Also, I do love to drink me some spiced rum and now I'm craving that.

OMG I pulled out my bottle and slathered away with abandon. I haven't worn this in a year! Why not, I say? This is delightful. A warm spicy musk. My skin amps clove so that is foremost, and that's a good thing. Frankincense is barely detectable on my skin for a change. This is woodsy, warm, and feels like brown fur. This scent isn't too heavy for summer; in fact it's perfect for these late summer days where I'm ready to begin pulling out my Weenies.* I'm going to put this into heavier rotation. Also, it reminds me somewhat of Spicebush Swallowtail and Fledgling Raptor Moon. I don't death match because I love to keep all my bottles and wear them. But my FRM is getting very low and now I have something in that familiar scent family to wear. *No Weenies were pulled in the making of this review.

Paul Laurence Dunbar was from and is buried Dayton, OH and his legacy is a huge part of local history here, and I immediately ordered a bottle. This beautiful poem is unfortunately more relevant than ever. My words are not sufficient to describe this perfume, but I can't stop huffing my arm whenever I wear it, and I've been wearing it lot since it arrived. Initially a sweet wisteria and lavender, then the sandalwood appears and keeps it from being too herbal or floral. The notes are so well blended that they mingle and waft, but with a big throw. This doesn't morph on me after drydown, just softens, but it lasts forever. When I wear it to bed, I can still smell it in the morning. If I wave my arm at full length in front of my face when first applied, I am enveloped in a soft cloud of the most beautiful, and yet somehow sorrowful, scent. Heart clenching indeed. This is amazing.

I love using this in the summer and whenever I need a burst of "fresh" air. Chilly, minty, sweet snow. I adore this one! Time to order a second bottle.

Warning: gloomy outlook and politics. The world is in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. In the US, we are in the early weeks of madness. My state's governor has been in the forefront of taking preventive action to protect lives, which he did in incremental steps over an almost two week period. But the orange cheeto in charge has been lying and covering up the reality, and things are going to get a lot worse before they get better. As the situation here began to evolve, I could feel my anxiety and fear increasing daily. I haven't been able to watch or listen to 45 since the election, as he makes me feel physically ill. I ordered this TAL to help me now, to get through these exceptionally scary times. Courage v45 arrived today, and I applied it tonight, after feeling my heart pounding in my chest and my anxiety rising due to what I read about 45's shitshow of a press conference today. The scent is mainly that of freshly harvested dragon's blood sedum, which I used to grow. I can smell a hint of orange, and a slight sharp whiff of ginger. But more important than the scent is the effect. It calmed me down, slowing that strong pulse I could feel in my neck, and I feel like I can relax for a bit and maybe even fall asleep in an hour or so. Beth, I can't thank you enough for creating this. We need all the courage we can get to survive this moron who is willing to let people die as long as his stocks do well.

This is a lovely scent, so comforting and calming. The lavender is foremost, followed by labdanum and a faint medicinal scent. I love to apply this as I am settling down to bed, about 30 minutes before trying to sleep. I find that taking some deep breaths and inhaling it from my wrists gives my brain a signal to relax, and can feel my body physically release. This is great stuff and I wish it was more widely available.

Sweet honeyed carnation, clove, and a hint of patchouli. There's not much more to be said except that it's wonderful! I love how the Lilith scents are gaining in their level of maturity as Lilith grows up.

I ordered a bottle for my husband, because he loves my Krampus perfume and his beard is in terrible condition. This is his first beard oil- he is very neglectful of his beard so I've been wanting him to try one of these. It only arrived yesterday, but I had him test it right away. His beard is all white and very dry and wiry. He used a few drops and it seemed to soak right in. He'll have to play around with the amount to use, but I hope he finally gets his beard into better condition. As for the scent, I sniffed it from the bottle and it is that great Krampus scent, but a bit faint so it won't overwhelm the senses being right under his nose. He loves the scent.

I have never smelled actual clove cigarettes and have never smoked, but I love the smell of cloves and from what I have read of the cigarettes, I imagine I would have loved their scent. So I was excited to get in on the first pre-order for this scent. When my bottle arrived, it smelled so good in the bottle that I immediately applied it to my wrist. Unffff.... so good! Smooth clove blended with a sweet tobacco. That's it, that all I got. But I love it. And my husband unexpectedly asked what I was wearing and could he try it. It not only smelled great on him, but for the first time ever in my BPAL life (starting my 15th year collecting) he asked me to get him a bottle. After I stopped laughing, I explained how LEs work, and said that I would try when they reopened pre-orders again. I was successful so now we each have a bottle. By the way, this one has hella strong throw on us with very light application! I'm usually one to slather and am grateful that I don't have to with this, so my bottle will last longer.

I have fallen in love with the Clove Cigarette scent from the BPAL/Thorns Clothing collaboration. For the first time ever, my husband also fell in love with it and casually asked me to get him a bottle of it. Since that is pretty limited and more expensive, I went in search of a GC scent that has clovey goodness. After reading reviews, I searched through my massive imp stash to find that I don't have a single imp of Old Demons. So I blind ordered a full bottle from the Lab - talk about faith. My order arrived yesterday and I immediately opened this one to sniff. OH YEAH! This is excellent! The clove is smooth and the Siberian musk is sweet. I had my husband skin test it, and it smells wonderful on him! On me, too! Spicy sweet musk, right up my alley. The musk here blooms with wear, but the clove... oh I love this. This isn't by any means a dupe of the Clove Cigarette scent, as it stands on its own merits, and is quite worthy of its own share of love. But for someone seeking an alternative that has that gorgeous clove vibe, this is perfect!

I was gifted a well aged bottle of Bezoar last year and although I tested it when I received it, I set it aside and forgot about it. I was in the mood for something different today so I grabbed this to wear and review. In the battle I could smell a blast of cardamom. Upon application, this scent is a very warm dry golden blend of woods and spice. My husband refinish is antiques and when I walk through his shop there is always the smell of sawdust from the sanding area, But also the smell of the various pieces of old furniture, made up of various types of wood, that has been worn and polished over the years. Add in the spice of the cardamom and you get Bezoar. The throw is not nearly as strong as I would expect from these notes. I would love this scent on my husband, but as he smells wood all day it is not one that he would love to wear. I am grateful for the bottle however.

I reached for this and sprayed it in my hair this morning with no idea what the notes were. I'm getting wafts of it around my head, so my impressions are based on that: all smoky champaca and frankincense. It's perfect for today because I was in the mood for something dark and smoky I will update and edit my review if anything changes after I try this another time.

Apparently I forgot to review this! We have no bathtub, so I use the bath oils as an after shower moisturizer. The consistency is nice and light enough to spread easily on damp to dry skin. The scent of this is just lovely. A sweet tart pomegranate with just enough clove to keep it from being too sharp. I love this in the winter, and it would have made a great Yule scent too!

Testing some random imps this week, and today I grabbed Snooty Rose. I have a love/hate relationship with the Lab's rose scents. Some are straight up soap on me, but when I find one that works, it works wonderfully. Snooty Rose is in the latter category. I got a blast of pure red rose upon application, and could immediately tell that this was going to be a winner. The rose is deep red, no greenery, lush and velvet. The sandalwood is perfect and grounds the rose, blending together into a thing of deep beauty. I think the oud is blended in so well that it adds to the depth without standing out. I can smell a hint of plum too, but no bergamot. This scent is a big winner and I'm glad that I finally tried an imp! I know I have several more of them stashed away, and will be getting them out in the spring.

In my 13 years as a Bpalista, I had never tried Black Phoenix! I added an imp to my last order to remedy that. It has that uniquely BPAL smell; is sweet and a little sticky, starts out with a blast of cherry cola that dries down quickly on my wrist, leaving an undertone of incense. Very nice and I don't know why it's not recommended more often!

Pumpkin Spice Snake Oil - I have the 2017, and in the bottle this is going to be the same. Beautiful Snake Oil predominates the pumpkin spice, as it does in the 2017. I will be putting this in my backups to live deliciously. I mean age deliciously.

Dead Leaves and Chai- sweet dead leaves, slightly damp in the pile, and no tea. I can tell that the chai has softened the leaves note though. Keeper because I love the dead leaves scents. This one doesn't seem like the cologne version of the leaves note, either.

Red Hot Snake Oil - as expected. Cinnamon red hots over Snake Oil. And then on drydown, a hint of chili powder. Hope that part fades, as I don't care for those chili spices. But now I really understand the "red hot" part! 😂

Very much the pumpkin spice notes I love, over a golden amber. I love to use this one as a body spray. Lasts forever on my skin. Happy with my decant, but I don't need a full bottle because I have a lot of beloved pumpkin spice perfumes from the Lab.