doomsday_disco

The first thing I get from this is the glassy, frozen snowdrop, with glassy being a very adequate descriptor. It is quickly joined by the powdery, cool, glacial musk. The whipped cream is present, but it is not sweet or even remotely foody. This is so dry that it made my nose feel dry every time I smelled it during the first few hours! I kept thinking this was somewhat reminiscent of something, and I think it's the snowdrop note. I believe it's what gives The Serpentine somewhat of a Snow White vibe, and trying this has also made me think that snowdrop is one of the floral notes in Snow White. But this does not feature any of Snow White's sweetness, as there's no sweet, creamy snow note here. I do think that this is evocative of a glassy icicle in a winter wonderland. I am not sure that I'd wear it -- it's very dry -- but I am glad that I was able to try this!

I could tell just from the initial sniffs of the decants I ordered that this one would be a highlight of the Winter Travelogues for me. Beware: Pickpockets! is like Gobo without the vanilla cream. The sugar and citrus notes are the stars of the show here, and I swear there's a creaminess to the sugar, like in Gingerbread and Lavender Sugar. The petitgrain is not problematic whatsoever, and the peppermint is well-behaved. I can feel it cooling my skin, and it lends a light, refreshing, coolness to the scent, but there's no intense mint here. The citrus has some longevity to it, too! I can still smell it on me after several hours of wear. If you ever wanted the sugary citrus of Gobo without the vanilla cream and don't mind a bit of mint, Beware: Pickpockets! is for you. Gobo is one of my favorites, and I am trying to tell myself that I don't need a bottle of this because they are similar... but I am not sure I will be able to restrain myself from obtaining more of this sugary citrus beauty.

In my early BPAL days, I received a sniffie of this, but I hadn't actually been able to try it until recently. I tested this twice, and both times, Sachs was a vanilla-forward scent on me. I got much more vanilla than chamomile, and I am not sure if that's just due to my skin chemistry or the perfume's age (I am not sure how old it is). It's mostly bourbon vanilla and vanilla bean on me, and the vanilla bean just has a touch of smoke (which I'm happy about, because I had expected it to be a smokier vanilla from that sniffie I once received). The chamomile is present, but content with its background role. I'd say Against Idleness and Mischief has more chamomile in it than Sachs, but again, that could just be because of my skin chemistry or the age of the oil (since I see other reviews mentioned the chamomile being medicinal, and it's not like that on me at all). I am thrilled to have gotten to try this. It's another unimpable GC win on me, and definitely bottle-worthy! Now I just hope that, whenever I do get a bottle, it will be just as awesome as the scent in this decant...

La Joconde is a clean and uplifting citrus scent. The pink grapefruit and bergamot are the stars of the show at first, with a bit of sage and white musk in the background, but the white musk asserts itself over time and ends up becoming one of the most prominent notes. After a few hours, the white musk and bergamot are the dominant notes on me, followed by the pink grapefruit, with just a hint of sage in the background. If you're wondering how this compares to Beware: Pickpockets!, which also features pink grapefruit, this one is much cleaner and lacks the oomph of Beware: Pickpockets!, which is still going strong on the citrus after three hours of wear. They are different enough to warrant trying both, but if I had to choose between the two, I'd choose Beware: Pickpockets! hands down. I really enjoy this, but I preferred the scent during its first hour of wear, before the white musk became a main player. I probably don't need a bottle (unless I decide I want more to wear in a locket -- I'll have to see how much damage the other Winter Travelogues do first), but I'm definitely going to hang on to my decant!

Like VioletChaos, I can smell the leather in this outside of the bottle. So yeah, it's strong, especially on the riding crop leather. I let it settle for several days to see if the leather would calm down and I'd be able to get more notes from the bottle sniff. Nope. In the bottle, I can only smell the leather and clove. On me, the leather notes take the center stage, with the clove and tobacco following in their wake. Then the clove ends up retreating into the background as a wisp of sweet opium smoke and tart red currant emerge. It ends up being a smoky leather scent, with a bit of sweetness from the opium and the tartness from the currant, the same dried currant found in Resistance, for many hours. Then, the clove returns, and the incense wafts up, making it a smoky, incensey, leathery lace. But it's not that lace-y on me, because usually, after a day of wear, the vanilla from the lace will be one of standout notes on me, but that wasn't the case with this one, though I am sure it is in there helping to tame some of the other notes. Maybe it will come out more with a little rest? Although I was worried about the plum, it was not an issue for me. I think that may be because I amp currant, though. I knew this lace was a gamble, so I am going to give it more time to settle and retest it to see if it has changed. At the moment, though, I feel like this lace may not be for me. There's just not enough vanilla present to tame the strong leather, sadly.

There were so many Liliths and Yules that called to me in 2016. Sadly, this one did not make the cut... BUT IT SHOULD HAVE. It is the most glorious cardamom-infused vanilla frosting and yellow cake scent. I want to lick my arm! Unfortunately, the cardamom doesn't stick around for the entire wear -- it fades after about an hour, and only a whiff of cardamom remains -- but the remaining vanilla buttercream and yellow cake scent is still delicious. I am thrilled that I got to try this one after all. I shall cherish my decant and maybe try to find more of this at some point in the future.

I was interested in this when it was available, but I think I talked myself out of it because I already had Hope and Fear Set Free for a frankincense and vanilla blend. The white frankincense is the most prominent note on me, but the vanilla-infused benzoin gains strength over time. It's a light, vanilla-infused resin scent that is actually more like the vanilla oleoresin of the Trading Post's Bourbon Vanilla bath oil (which I am now out of) than Hope and Fear Set Free (which has stronger frank and vanilla notes). I am so glad that I got a chance to try this one after all! I really like it and will definitely be hanging on to my decant.

The Rat Speakers is super herbal and earthy. In the decant, the patchouli, sage, sandalwood, and lemongrass stand out to me. On me, it's a blast of sage, followed by patchouli and lemongrass, both of which increase in prominence with wear. The patchouli, lemongrass, and sage remain really strong on me, but after several hours of wear, I am able to pick out some of the fig leaf in the background as well as some dusty sandalwood. I'm not really getting any of the leather, but that may be because this decant is very old and this is what the small amount of oil has aged into over the years. It's too herbal and earthy for me, but I adore Neverwhere, so I am really happy to have gotten to try it!

I am so glad that I didn't succeed in trying to resist this lace. I am testing it after letting it rest for a day. In the bottle, I can smell the vanilla cream, tea rose, cognac, and a touch of light tobacco. Those are the notes I get on my skin as well, but the tea rose is stronger on me than it was in the bottle. (I'm beginning to think maybe I amp rose lately, but I don't mind, because I enjoy rose!) I am actually somewhat reminded of Pediophobia from the 2016 Yules, but without the porcelain and with a creamier vanilla and the addition of rose. This is warmer and pinker than that scent, but I'd put them in the same scent family. It takes about an hour for any coconut to emerge, but it never ends up being a main player on me. The vanilla cream becomes stronger over time, and after several hours of wear, it's mostly a billow-y vanilla cream musk with a touch of tea rose. I adore sugary floral scents, and I am so happy to have this vanilla-heavy, rose-touched lace in my collection.

Lightly spiced pumpkin ice cream! The description fits perfectly: it really smells like lightly spiced pumpkin ice cream! It smells delicious. It isn't like any pumpkin ice cream that I have ever tried because it is lightly spiced. The various kinds of pumpkin ice cream I have devoured are more heavily spiced than this... this is a creamy, vanilla pumpkin scent. The pumpkin and vanilla notes smell wonderful together! I normally use bath oils as after-shower moisturizers, but it was cold today, so I decided to try this one out in the bath as well. I used this with half of a Christmas Kisses bubble bar from Lush and a Jacko bath bomb from Lush. This bath oil was stronger than both of those scents, and it scented the whole bathroom. I didn't even use very much of it! It also made my skin feel more moisturized than it normally would after a bubble bath. As an after shower moisturizer, I get a bit more of the spices on my skin, but it still smells like soft, slightly melted creamy pumpkin ice cream. 'Tis amazing!

Albert Bierstadt Ponderosa pine, mountain big sagebrush, black locust, pinon pine, white fir, fragrant snakeroot, and Rocky Mountain sage. Just from the bottle, I can already tell that this is exactly what I was hoping for! I spent most of my life in Montana and also lived in Colorado for a few years, and now that I live in the desert, I really miss the smell of those evergreen forests. I have Elf HG, which I love, but it has more of a spring and summer vibe, and I’ve been wanting a darker forest hair gloss to wear with scents like Golden Priapus, Theoi Nomioi, and some Yules that I have with the pine-y snow note. So this was the scent I was most looking forward to from the Trading Post Weenie update (part one)... because it's a darker evergreen forest scent WITH GOATS ON THE LABEL. This hair gloss did not disappoint. When I smell it, I am transported back to those wonderful forests. There’s a blast of pine at first, and it remains the main player throughout, but I do get the sage behind it, and after a while, some fir. I feel like the sage becomes more prominent after a few hours of wear. While some scents become light after a few hours after being applied to damp hair, this isn’t one of them, and I imagine that the scent would have even more longevity and strength when applied to dry hair, as that’s usually the case with most hair glosses. I am thrilled that this is a thing. If you are wanting forest-scented tresses, don’t let this one pass you by! I absolutely adore this and am so glad that I leapt for a bottle.

I initially cut this from my decant list because I reminded myself that I generally don't go for floral + resin combos, but then I couldn't stop thinking about it. The name, the wilted roses, and the lace aspect called to me. I was debating blind bottling it, but I ended up ordering a leftover decant. If I had gone the blind bottle route, I would not have been unhappy. The first thing that leaps out at me from Reflections Under Bereavement is the resinous smoke note, which is actually a pretty light incense smoke (I get more frankincense than opoponax). Then the rose note emerges. It does not make think of wilted roses, but something like fresh pink or tea roses. There's an astringency to the rose note that is evocative of tears, in the same way that the herbal rose geranium gives off the impression of tears falling onto soil in Deep in Earth (but of course, there's no rose geranium here!). The vanilla resides in the background, adding a light sweetness to the scent, and it is indeed the sugar-spun vanilla from the lace family. The rose softens over time, so that after several hours of wear, it is a gentle rose scent with an even lighter resinous smoke and that lovely vanilla. I really like this and am not sure my decant will be enough!

This was originally cut from my decant list, but when I saw a leftover decant available, I had to grab it. In the decant, I mostly get the oakmoss and patchouli, backed by the lavender. On me, the oakmoss and lavender are the stars of the show, with a gently earthy patchouli. The lavender really does have a misty quality to it, and it's really nice, but eventually the oakmoss asserts itself and becomes the dominant note, backed by the lavender, patchouli, and a touch of the white oudh, which just contributes a woody warmth to the scent. I agree with VetchVesper's comment about this being a gender-neutral chypre, although in the end, it leans a little masculine on me due to the oakmoss being so strong on my skin. I do not think that I need a bottle of this, but I plan on keeping the decant!

When I was new to BPAL, I attended a meet and sniff where I was told to take any imps that I wanted. There was an imp of Black Opal in the pile, but I didn't take it, because I knew that it was discontinued and beloved. After that, I thought I would never get to try it! Well, I found a half-bottle (it's a cobalt!) for sale recently and jumped at the chance to buy it, knowing I may not have another chance to try it again! I can see why this one is sought-after. It features a cool (but not chilly or minty), mineral-y vanilla (or something vanilla-like, like tonka?), possibly a touch of coconut, and I think what may be a silvery musk. There's definitely some kind of musk at play here. At first, I thought it reminded me of Pediophobia from 2016's Yules, with its vanilla and porcelain, but that one is sweeter and not as mineral-y. It did go through a phase of being very sharp and perfume-y, almost hairspray-like, as Balame mentioned. Fortunately, it managed to mostly veer out of that phase and return to the scent I described. I really enjoy the mineral note and the vanilla, although the sharp, perfume-y stage was kind of alarming. Maybe it just needs more time to settle? I will let it rest and come back to it in a few weeks. I think it's really pretty and unique, but I hope that the sharp, perfume-y stage was just a fluke because it traveled across the ocean or because of hormones.

I saw a bottle (!!!) of this for sale in a non-BPAL sales group recently and had to grab it, even though I was trying to be on a low-buy. I love clove, and I know that coming across the old single notes (especially a whole bottle!) is pretty rare. This is a spicy type of clove, but it's not a cinnamon-y clove like Indonesian Clove SN. It's actually pretty gentle and sweet. It stays fairly close to the skin, but that may just be due to its age (I mean, it has to be 14-15 years old now). That said, it hasn't disappeared after several hours of wear. I vastly prefer it to Indonesian Clove. This one is much more clove-y. I will happily wear this on its own, but I think it will also be nice to layer it with some other scents from which I wish I got more clove. I am so happy that this beautiful cobalt bottle made its way into my collection. Now I just have to remind myself to use it and not just sniff and hoard this beauty.

[No additional description provided.] I am going to apologize in advance for this review, because I don't think it will be that helpful re: the snow note. In the bottle and on my skin, Frostbitten Cheshire Cat is strong on the Cheshire Cat component. So much so, that while I can tell it is indeed Cheshire Cat plus something, it is hard for me to identify what that something is, because the Cheshire Cat has decided to curl up on top of it! This is a grapefruit PARTY on my skin, so if you are a grapefruit lover, and you like Cheshire Cat, you should check this one out. It takes about an hour and a half for it to calm down, and when it does, I still get a lot of Cheshire Cat, but the Frostbitten component is becoming more noticeable. I am still having trouble pinpointing what it is underneath all of this Cheshire Cat, so I will just give a list of things that it is not: it is not the sweet snow note from Snow White; it is not the slushy snow note of Skadi; it is not the intensely minty snow note; it's not the sweet, powdery, pine-y snow of NYC Snowball Fight; it's not the powdery, wintergreen or spearmint-y snow of Winter-Time, and it definitely does NOT have the same snowy component as Frostbitten Zombi, so trying one Frostbitten this year won't really give you an idea of the rest. If anything, it might be a white musk snow, or maybe that's just Cheshire Cat's dark musk mingling with whatever comprises the snow note. If I sniff really close, I get a bit of coolness from the frostbitten note, but it's light, and I never had a cooling sensation on my skin with this like I did with Frostbitten Zombi. I was hoping for Cheshire Cat plus Snow White's snow note. That is not what I ended up getting, but I am still happy that I grabbed a bottle, because Cheshire Cat is one of my favorite GCs, and I love grapefruit.

I am reviewing the scent only. This starts off as an intensely herbal blend. Mugwort, lavender, and bay are the notes that stand out to my nose. It is somewhat medicinal, but very relaxing, and smelling the scent during this phase really did evoke this feeling of submerging oneself in a dark pool of water. It's definitely not something I would wear as a perfume, but I thought it would make a nice, herbal sleep scent. I say 'thought' because then the oudh showed up, and it is a variety that makes me think of a dirty red patchouli type of oudh, like the kind in Half-Elf. The end result was oudh, backed by the herbal notes (especially the mugwort and bay). It still feels relaxing, but I am just not feeling the herbal oudh scent that it morphed into on me. But at least it wasn't an orris party on my skin? I'm glad I got a chance to try this, but it's not something I could see myself reaching for again because of the oudh.

The fir needle, lemon peel, and frosted apple blossom are the first notes to make an appearance on my skin. It's bright and crisp, and the lemon peel and apple blossom end up being the dominant notes. It takes a while for the silvery musk to make its presence known, but after a few hours, it joins the lemon peel, apple blossom, and fir on the center stage. I am not able to pick out the mugwort. It does have a bright, silvery, lunar feel, evocative of moonlight. I am not sure that I need a bottle just yet, but I do think it is really nice and that I'll probably want more of it at some point down the road!

This was my one Yule blind bottle atmosphere spray purchase. And it did not disappoint! I love the smell of evergreens, and now that I live somewhere without them, I always feel pulled toward coniferous scents. The pine in this is a lovely, bright pine. It reminds me of the pine in either Schwarzwald Atmo or Blue Spruce and Snow-Capped Pine Atmo, but I no longer have the empties to sniff to say which one it is for sure. But if those were up your alley, this will be, too. It doesn't smell like pine cleaner or like a pine branch slapping you in the face. It's just a beautiful, realistic, bright pine scent. I am so glad I bought a bottle!

In the vial, the notes that stand out to me are the sheer musk, sandalwood, champaca flower, and rose. On my skin, the champaca reigns, and behind it, there is this herbal-resin-floral mix. It smells clean, powdery, incensey, and somewhat bitter on me. Then the rose sidles up to the champaca and also becomes a main player. I was really hoping for vanilla musk and florals, but on me, it's a somewhat powdery incense-y champaca with some rose and sheer musk (minus any vanilla) scent, with the resins, and frankincense in particular, being rather prominent after several hours of wear. I think there's too much going on here for my skin chemistry to handle, hence the powder, and florals plus resins (without any sweetness) are not really my cup of tea. I'm really glad I got the chance to try it, though!

Thanks to the lovely forumite who sent me a decant of this to try. In the decant, I only get the cherry and almond. Those are also the first two notes to emerge on my skin. Then the rose water joins in and quickly becomes one of the dominant notes. The honey ends up joining in not too long after that, but the rose water and cherry continue to reign. They remain the dominant notes throughout wear, with touches of lemon peel, sugar cane, honey, and balsam. No vanilla bean on me, sadly. My skin seems to have run away with the rose water note, so I am not getting the honeyed vanilla cherry almond goodness that I was hoping for, but it is nice! I may retest it again in the future or try it in a scent locket, because this one has potential. I bet this would be really wonderful on someone with different skin chemistry.

In the decant, the notes that jump out to me are the lavender, violet leaf, tea, and lilac. On my skin, those are the notes that I get at first as well, with the lavender and gunpowder tea being the most prominent, making the scent pretty astringent, with some violet leaf thrown into the mix. Violet is a note that often stomps on other notes and makes things a sweet, powdery mess on my skin, but so far, violet leaf doesn't seem to be doing the same thing. Then the lilac joins the party, and overall, it reads as a sharp, purple scent. It doesn't take long for the lilac to steal the show, and it remains the dominant note after several hours, with some tea, lavender, and violet leaf behind it, and just a touch of saffron. I think this is evocative of its name and inspiration. I feel like it would be too sharp to wear during the day, but I may try using it as a sleep scent, as I do like it, but don't think it's something I'd reach for very often. I don't need to hunt down more of it, but I plan on hanging on to the decant!

This is the grapiest BPAL I've ever tried. And although grape isn't something I want to smell like and is a note I typically dislike in a perfume, I have to say that this is the best grape perfume that I've tried. At first, it's a strong, candy-like grape, like grape hard candy, but then it smells like grape juice, with perhaps some musky oak behind it? There's definitely a woody note lingering in the background. I probably wouldn't wear this, but I am really glad I got a chance to try it! I am going to send one of my imps to a friend, who enjoys grape scents, artificial or otherwise. I have a feeling she will love this!

I was really hoping that this would be Dandelions and Concrete mixed with Snow White's sweet snow note. Alas, it's the sweet pine-y snow note that's present in this scent (the same one found in this year's Frostbitten Zombi and scents like NYC Snowball Fight and Marshmallow Snow bath oil). It is very strong on the frostbitten component, with some green dandelion and asphalt behind that. Then, the white musk joins in, giving it somewhat of a cologne-like vibe. The piney snow note never goes away, but it does soften after several hours of wear. The scent has a warmer feel to it by that point thanks to the musky ambrette seed that now resides in the background, and a hint of sweetness from the blackcurrant bud (the same one found in Bubbles and Unicorns). I am glad that I was able to try this, and I am happy to have supported the cause! But I have enough scents with this snow note already, and I prefer the original Dandelions and Concrete because I get more dandelion from it (unlike this, which is mostly about the snow on me), so I don't think it will be staying in my collection.

I'm not sure which year I'm reviewing. This started off as a floral snow with a hint of berry, but it quickly took a turn for the worst in the same way that Winter Landscape did on my skin, so perhaps they share the same snow note. I was really hoping to enjoy a nice daffodil and snow scent; alas, the hoarfrost just doesn't agree with my skin chemistry.