Jump to content
Post-Update: Forum Issues Read more... ×
BPAL Madness!

doomsday_disco

Members
  • Content Count

    10,529
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by doomsday_disco

  1. doomsday_disco

    Ghost Cypress

    I get a blast of cypress and pine from this at first, but it quickly calms down and makes way for the floral notes, with a bit of moss and sandalwood behind those. I get more violet leaf with it at first, but over time, the iris becomes the dominant note, and it is sharp and perfume-y on me. There's still a bit of moss and dusty sandalwood beneath the iris, but the evergreen notes are nowhere to be found once the iris takes center stage. This was a scent that was frimped to me, and I am glad that I got to try it and enjoyed that initial blast of cypress, but sadly, the iris had other plans for me.
  2. doomsday_disco

    Dark Chocolate and Cherry

    This is the most disappointing scent I've tried in a long time, especially when it comes to expectation (two notes that should be full of win) versus reality (woe). I don't know if it is a batch variation, or aging, or what, but this one actually smells gross to me. It has a stealth corn chip-y note that I believe is champaca combined with boozy cherry. I don't get chocolate from this, and my partner thought it smelled weird and not like the notes involved, too, so it's not just my sniffer. And it didn't smell like there was any chocolate in the bottle, either. The corn chip note was so strong that I wanted to wash it off, but I couldn't because I applied it in the afternoon while I was still working and had to deal with it. I so wanted this one to work as I love chocolate and I love cherry, but this is the worst cherry scent I have ever tried from the Lab. I weep.
  3. doomsday_disco

    Manners Among Men and Women in the Red Light District

    The apricot is the dominant note for most of this scent's wear on me, backed by the woods, which I believe may contain cedar and sandalwood. It gave me the 'oh no, this oil might be going off and smelling like a pencil eraser' undertone that I sometimes get from old decants, but I think that was due to the cedar, and it was fleeting. After a few hours, the sake becomes a main player. I love the Lab's sake note. It's very bright and refreshing. Of course, it didn't remain sake-dominant: the apricot returned to reclaim its throne. But by then, it is mostly apricot and sake, with very little of the woods! I wasn't sure about this one initially, but the sake in this one is really nice and makes me think it deserves a full day of wear without several other scents being tested on my arms.
  4. doomsday_disco

    Pomegranate Turkish Delight

    I'm sad to say that this one does not remind me of Turkish Delight. On me, it's a very perfume-y rose with some tart pomegranate. There was a moment where I could smell the powdery exterior of Turkish Delight and the gummy texture of it, but it was sadly fleeting on my skin chemistry. It's not a surprise this didn't work out on me as I'm not big on pomegranate, but I'd still be down to try a sweeter, pom-free Turkish Delight scent.
  5. doomsday_disco

    Celeste

    Orris and I are generally not friends, but it is pretty tame in Celeste. I mean, it is very present, but the lovely vanilla note in this keeps it in check and prevents it from going vat of powder on me. The dustiness of the orris with the vanilla puts me in mind of some of the white sandalwood and vanilla blends. The orchid and saffron in this aren't loud; it is mostly about the vanilla and orris on me, but I think the saffron in this might be contributing to me thinking of sandalwood at some points when sniffing this scent. This is a pretty, musky, dusty vanilla, and I'm glad that I got to try it despite my aversion to orris. It's not something I need to hunt down more of, though (thankfully!).
  6. doomsday_disco

    Blueberry Sufganiyot

    My review is testing this based off of a tester. At first, I thought it was mislabeled? Because I got some strawberry jam from it with a very realistic jammy strawberry note, but with blueberry along with it. Eventually the blueberry overtakes any secret strawberry, and it is very much jammy blueberry with only a hint of pastry. I have not tried all of the Sufs (in fact, I skipped most of them as I generally am not big on berry-dominant scents!), but this one seems like it has less pastry compared to some of the others I have tried. I fortunately am not getting grape from it, but maybe that's just because it was an aged tester. I think this is nice, but not something I need to hunt down more of (phew!). 😅
  7. doomsday_disco

    Haunt 2021

    I passed up this one because the Lab's dead leaves and I are generally not friends, but a kind soul decanted some for me to try to make sure I didn't have regrets. This is indeed a blast of dead leaves at first, and it stays that way for a while, until the Snake Oil and Dorian emerge and eventually overtake the leaves. Then it's Snake Oil swirled with Dorian and just a little bit of dead leaves in the background. I was not able to pick up on the lavender, so I'll have to retest this one and really look for it next time around. Going off memory (no death match), this kind of reminds me of the way that Snake Oil and Dorian come together in Salzburg Krampuslauf, but with leaves instead of snow. The good news is that I, too, did not get a cologne bomb (or the dread bell peppers!) from the dead leaves accord in this, so I will have to decide whether or not I need more of this on my retest. ETA: Retested this last night. The dead leaves were stronger, stuck around longer, and did give me a headache, and I swear I got some neroli in the dead leaves accord, which would explain the headache. No bottle upgrade for me.
  8. doomsday_disco

    High School Hair

    High School Hair is mostly a musky wine on me. It's very wine-forward, with a bit of a grape-y note to the wine, with touches of chestnut and clove that are more noticeable earlier on than later in the day, when the musk takes over. To me, the musk is not red musk, but might actually be a musk infused with a merlot note. I seem to be an outlier in not getting cherry from this... which pains me, because I love cherry! The musk in this scent makes it too perfume-y on me, so I don't think I'd reach for it over Mulled Wine and a Wool Blanket, but I'm really glad I got a chance to try this!
  9. doomsday_disco

    Thirteen (13): January 2023

    I was here for the lavender, chocolate, and the purple sage I love so much from Colemanite's Phoenix, with the hope that the vetiver would not be a bully or a smoky variety and that the moss and thyme would play nicely on me. And blind buying this bottle paid off. This is a really earthy, yet wearable, 13. I find it to be very comforting. I actually took an afternoon nap while wearing this one and it was still going strong when I woke up. I think it would have lasted all night if I hadn't showered that evening! It's not strong on the lavender, although it's there in the beginning (most noticeable during the wet phase of the scent). I'd describe this as an earthy, woodsy, herbal 13 that's waayyyy different than the Plague Doctor 13 with its herbs and sugar (13 August 2021). I can smell the sage, lavender, moss, thyme, musky ambrette, rice milk, hazelnut, tobacco, and cedar in this, buuuut I'd say this mostly goes from chocolate + herbs + oak vibe (I think it's the way the moss combines with the vetiver, hazelnut, and cedar?) to tobacco swirled with chocolate and herbs by the end of the day. The rice milk really smooths things over and I think is what makes this scent smell so comforting to me. The cacao doesn't smell smoked to me (if you're worried about smoky scents), and the vetiver is a grassy variety as opposed to a smoky one and plays nicely with the other notes. I tested this after it had a day of rest, and I'm curious to see how this one ages. But I'm not sure mine will have a chance to really age, since I plan to use it as a sleep scent (even though it's not lavender-heavy!) because it is just so comforting.
  10. doomsday_disco

    At Martynesmasse I Kylle My Swine

    This starts off with the nuts being the most prominent. I get walnut at first, but then the nuts swirl together and I can't really pick them apart despite being familiar with all of them save for acorns (but I do think I have at least one BPAL with that scent note *checks* yep, Mare Forecunditatis has an acorn note). The cardamom is there on initial application, but it really is just a dusting, and it's very short-lived on my skin. The vegan honey in this is a pale, thin variety. I imagine it's like these bees feasted on sugar syrup instead of the nectar of flowers. This thin honey ends up becoming the dominant note, backed by the nuts, but the scent stays pretty close to the skin on me. I applied this at 11:30 AM and was already debating reapplying it at 2:00 PM, but I resisted the urge in case the scent morphed. It did not. It's now 6:00 PM and I can't smell it at all anymore. While this is a pleasant scent, I wish the cardamom had stuck around longer and that it had more throw and longevity. I'm going to set it aside for a few weeks and come back to it then, but right now, it's a like, not a love for me, and I'm being a lot pickier about what gets to stay in my collection. P.S. I almost started this review by saying that this starts off with a burst of nuts and then realized that was maybe not the best choice of words.
  11. doomsday_disco

    Rome

    Rome is mostly about the rose. It's a red rose, but not a super bold, velvet-y one like the one in Peacock Queen. I get touches of the cypress, chamomile, and juniper, but the evergreen notes are pretty quick to fade once the scent is dry, and the chamomile just can't hold a candle to the powerhouse of the rose. There are other roses I prefer to this one, but I'm glad I got to try it!
  12. doomsday_disco

    Chant D'Automne

    2019 version. This is mostly about the dead leaves on me, backed by the red musk, neither of which are as big of bullies as they usually are on me. The leaves don't go bell pepper or cologne, and the red musk is much softer than usual. These notes are swirled with the tobacco, and when the leaves calm down, it's mostly a slightly powder amber and tobacco scent by the end of the day, accompanied by some musk. It's a much lighter scent by that point, though! Although this is not a scent I'd reach for, it worked better on me than these notes normally would.
  13. doomsday_disco

    C. Auguste Dupin

    C. Auguste Dupin is heavy on the leather. It starts off really sharp and is quite the bully, but eventually, it smooths over once the lavender lime cologne emerges and smells more well-worn after several hours, long after the cologne has faded. The leather was way too much for me in the beginning of the scent, but I really enjoyed the lavender lime cologne and wish I had gotten more of it! While I don't think it is something I'd reach for over other leather scents in my collection, I am glad I got to try this one because I love the story and have been curious about this scent for some time.
  14. doomsday_disco

    TKSnow

    TKSnow is TKO on steroids. I deathmatched this with Frostbitten TKO, and that one is heavier on the Snow White snow note off the bat. With TKSnow, even slathered, it takes a few hours for the creamy chill of Snow White to manifest on me. The sweetness from TKSnow is mainly due to the amped up lavender (I think it is a Spanish variety) and sugary mallow, whereas in Frostbitten TKO, it is mainly due to the Snow White component. TKSnow is much stronger than Frostbitten TKO, but Frostbitten TKO is a lot smoother. You could happily own both of these if you're a slut for lavender mallow and Snow White and would enjoy them in different ratios. I've used up more TKO bottles than anything else from the Lab, and I've almost used up one of my three Frostbitten TKO bottles, so I'm really glad to have this one. And I'll probably grab back-ups of this, too, because I'm a lavender ho. And it had some serious staying power, too (I could still smell this on me when I woke up the following day after applying it at 8 PM the evening prior). I am m here for amped up, yet chilled out, TKO.
  15. doomsday_disco

    Snow Snake

    I'm getting an unlisted palo santo note (I was like, it smells minty and almost licorice-y but not? Oh, it's the Lab's palo santo! The same one found in TAL Security Blanket and TAL Soft Reboot). It is the most prominent aspect of the scent on me for the first few hours of wear, swirled with the chilly, creamy Snow White and just a hint of Snake Oil's patchouli and some musk. I do not get Snake Oil's spices and vanilla from this, and it is very snake oil lite on me. It's called Snow Snake, but to me, it is Palo Santo Snow White. It is vastly different from Frostbitten Snake Oil, so you can own both without worrying about them being too similar. I don't dislike this, but it is not what I was expecting. I'm going to set it aside for a month and retest after it has had more time to settle. Hopefully the snek will slither out by then.
  16. doomsday_disco

    Snake Oil Sufganiyot

    This is mostly powdered sugar and dark musk on me, sadly. I dig the powdered sugar, but I was really hoping for some of Snake Oil's vanilla and spices from this, not to mention a pastry note! I get no jam from this, and it is nothing like Snake Oil Jelly Donut to my nose. I'm going to set this aside for a month and see if I'm able to get more from this after it has had more time to settle. ETA: I slathered this on as my scent of the day yesterday, after it had two weeks to settle. While it's still mostly musky powdered sugar, I do get some pastry now and the Snake Oil spices are noticeable once the scent has been dry for a few hours. I have faith that this will age into something wonderful.
  17. doomsday_disco

    Carved Wooden Soda Shop

    I already have several scents in my root beer arsenal, but there was no way I was going to pass up getting this one. Of course, the immediate question when seeing the list of notes is, "How similar will this be to Tombstone?" The answer? It's not similar at all despite their shared notes! Tombstone is very warm and rugged. It features a warm vanilla, and a bolder, warmer cedar note. But Carved Wooden Soda Shop is a cool root beer. It starts off like root beer barrel candies on me with a hint of cool mint (but not peppermint -- perhaps wintergreen?) and a slight effervescence. There is a bit of a dry aspect to the scent, too, that could be from the cedar (I remember the cedar in the Cedarwood and Smoked Vanilla duet was a dry one), but honestly, if you hadn't told me that there's cedar in this, I wouldn't have guessed it were in here, and I wouldn't have known to go looking for it. Over time, a cool vanilla joins in and swirls with the root beer, and it eventually becomes the dominant aspect of the skin after six hours of wear -- although the vanilla ice cream is nowhere near as strong as the root beer was and stays close to the skin. There's a hint of the root beer in there, but it is definitely more about the float by the end of the day. As a lover of all things root beer, I'm really glad I grabbed a bottle of this one, and I can't wait to slather it on during the summer months.
  18. doomsday_disco

    Boozy Lemon Bars

    This features the limoncello note from Gingerbread Limoncello (which I adore) accompanied by some powdered sugar. Over time, the lemon gets less limoncello-y and more lemon curd-y, and there's still plenty of powdered sugar to go around. I don't get a ton of shortbread crust, so I wouldn't be worried about this becoming a butter party on the skin -- there are just a few crumbs. I love how prominent the powdered sugar is in this. I don't think I've come across a BPAL scent that is this powdered sugar-y since A Breathless Chuckle (from the 2016 Yules). If you like sweet lemon scents, you need this in your life. I'm so glad I grabbed a bottle, and I can't wait to wear it during the warmer months!
  19. doomsday_disco

    Toddler Holster

    Toddler Holster is very much about the brown leather, which is not the smooth, well-worn, and somewhat sweet brown leather found in some other scents from the Lab. It is really strong and dominates the scent for a while, pretty much only letting the fir needle cozy up to it for the first few hours, and refusing to let the other notes shine through. Eventually, the amber and vanilla do emerge, however, and it ends up being a much softer leather scent warmed up by the amber, a bit of vanilla, and a much lighter fir note (although the fir is still a main player). Curiously enough, I never get any of the chocolate, but perhaps that will emerge more with age. I'm going to let this one settle for a month and come back to it. I think it dries down into something lovely and will be a keeper, although I'm hoping the leather will smooth over a little bit and that the chocolate will come through.
  20. doomsday_disco

    In Silvery Accents, Whispering Low

    Yes, this is stunning! When I ordered this, I was thinking two things: 1/ This might be a more wintery version of Coffee Bean, Cardamom, and Vanilla Pod, and 2/ CAT ART. And this is a more wintery version of Coffee Bean, Cardamom, and Vanilla Pod thanks to the fir, but it is even more amazing than I imagined it to be because the warm, velvet spices don't cinnabomb me at all, because, as others have mentioned, they are the spices from Morocco. It starts off with the cardamom being the most prominent, backed by the coffee and Yule-d up with the fir, but over time, the spices from Morocco peak out and end up becoming the dominant aspect of the scent after several hours. It settles into a warm, cozy, coffee and cardamom-tinged Morocco swirled with vanilla, and it's amazing. If you're worried about the myrrh or smoke, I don't really pick up either, and it's definitely not a smoky scent, so please don't let those scare you away from trying this. This is definitely one of my favorite Yules that I blind bottled, and I'm not sure one bottle will be enough.
  21. doomsday_disco

    Snow Zombi

    I have all of the Zombi variants, so I couldn't stop now and had to grab this one. When Frostbitten Zombi came out, I think I hoped it would feature Snow White's snow note, even though I wasn't sure how those two would meld together. That one did not feature that snow note, but instead, the Lab's evergreen-tinged snow note. And Snow Zombi is so different from that, just from the bottle sniff, that you can tell there's no deathmatching required. They're different enough that you can justify owning both snow-covered variants if that were a concern of yours. While Frostbitten Zombi is really toned down on the rose and is like a winter walk in the woods, Snow Zombi really turns up the rose. It's like... the dried rose petals have been rehydrated by the snow fall only to then become frozen over. You know those berries that get frozen that birbs eat and then someone will catch a video of a drunk birb? This is like the rose equivalent of getting drunk off of frozen rose petals, because there's a booziness to them. I also get plenty of moss with the rose, and a little bit of dirt. There was a point during testing that I got a menthol quality from the scent, but it was short-lived, and I'm not sure exactly what caused it since Snow White does not contain a menthol note. As for the Snow White component... of the four Snow on Snow scents I've tested thus far (I've got two more to test, and two decants that will make their way to me in the future), this one is the lightest on the Snow White. Like, the chilly aspect is there, but I don't get a ton of the creaminess of Snow White like I have from the other blends (especially Knave of Snowflakes). Somehow, the Snow White mainly serves to chill and amp up the rose in this one. And you will get far more rose from this than from Knave of Snowflakes, but it's a different kind of rose (not a jammy one). This is the rosiest Zombi variant of them all. I like it, but at the moment, I think I prefer Frostbitten Zombi more -- maybe because I've spent more time with it. But I look forward to getting to know Snow Zombi more, and I'm curious to see if the Snow White aspect of the scent will become more prominent with age.
  22. doomsday_disco

    Snow White Rabbit

    While I love the Mad Tea Party and have bottles of many of the scents, White Rabbit is one that has been relegated to imp only status, mainly because of the linen. But I thought, hey, this is White Rabbit mixed with Snow White (which I adore), and MILK TEA BOBA!? This is as good as it could possibly get! So I blind bottled it, breaking my no-bottle-of-the-variant-unless-you-have-a-bottle-of-the-original rule. Well... first off, let me just say that there is no milk tea or boba in this, which I'm bummed about because I frequent one of the best milk tea/boba places ever almost every other day and I was really hoping to get a boba tea note from this. Alas. It goes on with the White Rabbit's normal black tea note, ginger, and honey, swirled with the creamy chill of Snow White, and I enjoy this phase of the scent. But then the linen pops up, and it goes wonky on me as it sometimes does. In this case, there's a phase where this goes very baby wipe on me and it overpowers the rest of the scent, before the Snow White asserts itself and is like, nope, we're not doing this anymore, and that funky linen phase passes. But then the scent mostly becomes all about the Snow White with only hints of the of the other notes on me. I think those who already have a good track record with White Rabbit will appreciate this, as long as they're not expecting any boba tea from this. While I'm sad by the lack of boba tea and my skin chemistry funking this up, I'm going to set it aside for a while and come back to it in a month to see if I have a better experience with it. It could be that I may just have to scent locket this one.
  23. doomsday_disco

    Snow Lion

    The Mad Tea Party is my favorite GC collection, and I was so excited to see a variant of The Lion that I leapt for a bottle. Snow Lion starts off with the creamy, chilly Snow White but quickly becomes amber-forward on me. The Lion's Egyptian amber is golden and spiced, yet deep (I realize that sounds kind of vague, but what I'm trying to say is that, while golden, it is darker and has more depth to it than some of the other golden ambers from the Lab). It reigns for most of the wear, and ends up being the most prominent aspect of the scent after several hours, a welcome warmth to permeate the gentle chill of Snow White that flits about the blend. If you're a fan of The Lion, or a fan of amber and don't mind a little spice, you should definitely give this one a try (especially since it has been out of stock). I'd say this is more Lion-forward than Snow White-forward in the end, and the Egyptian amber melds so nicely with the creamy, chilly Snow White!
  24. doomsday_disco

    Knave of Snowflakes

    I had Frostbitten Knave of Hearts and destashed that one because the Knave was buried beneath a snowdrift (seriously, it was all about the snow with very little rose or blackcurrant tart). So I'm glad that the Knave got another frozen incarnation and leapt for a bottle because I love the Knave and I love Snow White! And Knave of Snowflakes doesn't disappoint! I get the rose jam swirled into the lightly chilled, creamy Snow White, which does have a soft (non-bakery, and non-suntan lotion!) coconut component here that reminds me most of Snow White 2005. The rose is not a bully here and is rather subdued by the Snow White component (whereas with Snow Zombi, the opposite occurs!). I am not really getting the blackcurrant tarts from this, but it's so lovely as it is, that this is not a complaint. Although I am curious to find out if the pastry will emerge after some aging. I do think you have to enjoy Snow White in order to enjoy this snow-covered Knave. The jammy rose is not as prominent as the pink rose in Pink Snowballs (which also features Snow White's snow), so it's worth a try for those of you who like a little rose in a blend, but don't want a rose party. A keeper, for sure. ETA: I slathered this on as my scent of the day after reviewing it. With a slather, I could smell the black currant in the beginning, but not the pastry. I also have to add that there's an almost honeyed quality to it that I think is like... the nectar of a honeysuckle-esque (but not honeysuckle, and not heady!) flower from Snow White. And it has some staying power. I didn't wear a sleep scent last night and could still smell this on me when I woke up at noon.
  25. doomsday_disco

    Fire of Love

    All I got from this one was a strong, white floral -- hella throw, kind of funky at first, but then it loses that funk and goes a little soapy. It didn't really make me think of jasmine despite the funk phase, though, so I am not sure which floral I'm smelling for sure, or if there are a few here -- I would not be surprised if there were lily in this, as that crossed my mind at one point, but that doesn't tend to go funky on me... maybe it started off strong on jasmine and settled into lily? I'm not sure, but I really thought this would be a spicy one due to its name!
×