forspecial_plate
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Everything posted by forspecial_plate
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White Chocolate, Orange Blossom, Sugar Crystals, and Champagne
forspecial_plate replied to Jenjin's topic in Lupercalia
On me the orange blossom is the strongest note followed by the white chocolate, with the suggestion of champagne and sweetness in the background. It's kind of sweet and sour. I really like this even though it's not what I expected, it manages to fall into the comfy and cozy category for me. The champagne note is not at all like it is in the 2 Sufficient Champagne scents I have (Snake Oil, and Blood), where the champagne stands out above all else. The orange blossom reminds me a lot of Vixen and if you love that scent I would recommend trying this. -
Strong and sharp on me - I like these notes but it would have to be about half this intensity for me to enjoy it. I'm mostly getting a citrus + champagne scent with some floral accents but not strong rose - I think the violet sugar note is actually coming out stronger than the rose. I like how it smells, maybe I can handle like teeny tiny dots of it on my skin. I will try that.
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This was an unfortunate fail on me, I wanted something kind of bright and zingy, frosty and refreshing. On my skin, I can tell there is snow and something gin-like, but there is something musky about it too. Whatever the muskiness is makes this into kind of a muddled mess on my skin. It's just not appealing on me. : ( I'm blaming my skin chemistry because I'm not getting as much gin or juniper as the other reviewers talked about. It's more like musky snow on me.
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Just applied: vanillic and lightly floral, the mallow is coming through but it's more floral and less lavender than I expected. Actually if I didn't know there was lavender I'm not sure I would notice it. This reminds me of Witch-Birds except this doesn't have whatever the "corrupted" and weird note was that disagreed with me in that scent. I could imagine wearing this in early spring. It didn't change much for me over time, I layered a little Row of Trees with it, and they compliment each other well.
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This starts off kind of an herbal incense lavender on me, it's hard to describe. After a while it's more like a medicinal resin. I think the lavender mostly faded at this point. It's kind of interesting but also borderline too medicinal. I don't know - it's just not grabbing me for some reason, although it should be. I'll let it age a while and try again at some point, just not quite willing to give up on it yet.
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The rose is amping too much on me and it's what I think of as "sour" rose. I smell just hints of the other notes. Overall it's too sharp and a little soapy, a little like a sour rose incense. Was worth a try!
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I love this too, my decant had to rest for a while, when I first tried it it was too strong, the patchouli was a little sour, and it just wasn't working well on my skin. After a couple months this has settled down a lot and it's a lot more agreeable on me. The patchouli is still strong but I do feel the notes are well balanced, even though the patchouli stands out, I can smell the leaves and prune doing their thing in the background. I think patchouli is the star, on my skin anyway. Dang it! I had marked myself safe but now I may need more of this.
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On me this is a light but lively candy + amber scent, just a little plasticky in the beginning, but as it dries the plastic fades, a little something milky comes in, it just gets nicer and nicer. It's fun! I always liked Trick Or Treat but it was just so light it kind of disappeared on me, this is light also but it has loads of staying power. Hours later it is a skin scent but still here, and it has this amazing "bronzed" quality in this stage that I am loving, like a sweet golden amber. I think I'll get a full bottle, because this decant isn't going to last long the way I've been wearing it!
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Black Rose, Nutmeg, and Smoked Amber
forspecial_plate replied to Jenjin's topic in Duets & Menage A Trois
I wasn't expecting this to smell like Djinn but that's exactly what it made me think of! (But I could be the only one). Maybe that's the nutmeg, because later the amber comes out stronger mixed with a dark powdery aspect from the rose I am guessing. But I agree the rose stays mostly well hidden in this scent. Something about this reminds me of the cheesy horror movie Burnt Offerings, with the scary lady hidden away in the bedroom upstairs. It's moody and atmospheric! -
I am not sure how to describe what I'm smelling (and full disclosure, I don't know galbanum or balsam very well). On me it's kind of springy and plant-like, and for the first 20-30 minutes I swear there's a phantom floral note just peeking around the edges, but I can't really say which flower exactly? Something white. Also I felt this is what I wanted the Petrichor trio to smell like, but that one is heavier on me like big drops of rain. This seems more delicate. But later the phantom flower disappears and it's more like a fresh green mountain breeze kind of scent. It's still light and almost makes me think of a green tea perfume. I do recognize the ti leaf from Ti Leaf & Champaca Petals but this smells softer and less perfumey to me. This smells "matte" to me if that makes sense to anyone, lol. I am not sure if I can pick out the balsam, it's not really standing out to me here. Maybe a little woodsy tang in the later stages..but it would be like a blonde wood sap kind of note. I'm seriously considering a full bottle of this because it would be a great unusual scent for spring. I haven't quite figured out if I love it or if it's just more of a weird fascination thing.
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Clean men's cologne. I got a decant because the notes reminded me of Hessian of the Hollow, I always loved that and regretted not getting a full bottle. This is totally nice and smells like a traditional men's cologne, almost like Hugo from Hugo Boss maybe? Which does have moss and sandalwood in the base notes.. Or Eternity, something like that from the 90's. It does bring to mind Hessian of the Hollow, somewhat, but this seems cleaner and less spooky. It also reminds me of something else recent, one of the painting scents, but I can't remember which one... I'll edit if I remember it. I do enjoy this, I just don't know if I really should get a full bottle or not. I'm having to narrow down my Halloween choices here and I'm kind of torn on this one. I will say this - I was a little worried about the moss note going "aftershave" or just amping on me but it's totally well-behaved, not sharp or obnoxious at all (I have had issues in the past with moss).
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Oh. Oh, my. This decant was added last minute, on a whim. I have a few other gingerbread scents and just wanted to try this for fun. Well, this is really really nice! It's the familiar spicy toasty gingerbread note, just a little scorched, but I can smell the custardy creme brulee (especially if I sniff up close), just peeking out a little. I didn't expect to be considering a 5ml bottle but here I am doing just that. Yummmmmm.
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Lemon Peel, Frankincense, and Mastic
forspecial_plate replied to Jenjin's topic in Duets & Menage A Trois
Starts out bright lemon peel, blending seamlessly with the resins. I think the frankincense is very smooth and the mastic - I think - smells almost creamy to me. The lemon peel fades a lot, pretty quickly, but the overall lemony feeling lasts. This reminds me somewhat of the lab's "gold" scents, and also the "sun" scents that I've tried, a little bit. Also I think this might be the same frankincense in this year's Midnight Mass. So. Smooth lemony resins, kind of glowing, bright, but also soft and mellow. Overall low sillage on me and it fades to a close skin scent after a little while. I will keep reapplying for that striking lemon peel opening. -
2023 - This year's Sugar Skull reminds me of pastel fruity marshmallows. It's light and fluffy, somewhat like past versions but lighter and more fleeting on my skin. I compared it to the 2007 version and that one has a presence of scorched sugar + incense that is not in this year's scent. I like this. I think we moved back closer to the past years but it's also kind of updated. This one seems more "safe for work" but carries on the spirit of the older ones. I feel like it's a reformulation rather than an aging thing. Sugar Skull is one of my favorite bpal scents and I love smelling all the different variations year after year. ❤️
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Weirdly I don't smell a lot of dead leaves in this dead leaves scent (but I know that's how it goes sometimes), I'm getting the slightly bitter light smoke note that I recognize from some other bpal smokey scents, a little bit leafy perhaps, with a kind of old paper note in the background. Also weirdly I get some flashes of bright lemon here and there. After some time the smoke fades and I think the paper comes out stronger, at least I think I recognize it from Bookcase Passage. If you love the paper aspect of that, you might do really well with this. Overall it's less burn-y than Burning Book single note or even Dead Leaves On Fire, it's a little more comfy-cozy to me but still spooky and atmospheric like the reviewer above mentioned. I like it through all stages and I enjoy how it dries down, not sure if I need to upgrade my decant to a bottle but I'll be thinking about it.
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This is nice, I really like it! I got a decant on a whim but I actually like this more than the original Perversion. It's a sheer scent on me, light, sweet, and airy. I really don't get much leather at all. I think mostly I smell the caramelized tonka and black musk. A really nice surprise, and yet another one I'm considering upgrading to a bottle.. And I haven't even received my bigger batch of decants yet!! *cries*
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Well, it's pretty simple, Bpal's pumpkin note with a realistic gasoline note. I was feeling brave this morning and put on a good amount for testing. In the very beginning there is something about the gasoline note that is earthy, like there's a tiny bit of dirt in it. But really it's pumpkin and gas. And I like it?? Seriously after about a half hour I grabbed my decant and put on more. Like, a full real amount, more than just a test. I like this! It's so weird. It doesn't really smell scorched to me, it's almost - medicinal maybe? Kind of like tiger balm? But again, it's pumpkin and gas, it's just that simple. It doesn't have nuclear strength like some pumpkin scents can have on me. It fades a lot after a couple hours. But I think a decant will be enough for me because I'm not sure I would wear this very often, even though I do like it. I'll see how often I end up reaching for it.
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This was the Bat most likely to win for me, and I was right! On me it is on the lighter side but it's a bit of a sexed-up Cathedral. At first I didn't think it smelled like Cathedral at all, but today I compared them, one on each arm. Cathedral has always been a little woody, and a little waxy to my nose, with the rich incense notes swirling in the background. Well, Batty Cathedral is strange because I get very little leather, but I smell a weird (unexpected) fizzy note like champagne. Maybe the leather is just playing tricks on me? But it reminds me of the sweet fizzy note from Visiting the Temple from way back. So maybe it's the incense I'm smelling? Whatever is going on here it is fabulous on me, it's like Cathedral has a chic cousin, with a gin and tonic in hand. It's a lighter scent as I mentioned before and after a couple hours it's more of a skin scent on me, so I may have to upgrade my decant to a bottle. Which maybe I should have done in the first place, lol.
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This started out as a nice, warm scent with a lot of dead leaves, but a little sweet and spicy too, and I was enjoying it. But slowly over time, after an hour or so, an aftershave-like note or notes started creeping out, and got stronger and stronger until it was just too much and unfortunately a little obnoxious on me. I don't know if it's my skin or nose or what, but in this case I will blame the oakmoss, I know it has turned on me before. I had only tried on a small amount but the aftershave feeling really amped up and this one just isn't for me. It seems in the past, when this happened to me with a couple other scents, they were pretty popular with other reviewers so I think this one will find its fans too!
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This goes on fresh and brighter than I expected, not bad, kind of pleasant and spring-like on first impression. Later on it settles into a perfumey powdery scent that is disagreeing with me. It reminds me a lot of Witch Birds, perhaps it's the same sandalwood note? I don't know, something is rubbing me the wrong way. I'm glad I got to try it, but this was an unfortunate fail on my skin!
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Well, this is beautiful. I'm getting a soft cypress, blackberry and myrrh scent. The cypress note is stronger out of the gate and it's a little pine-like, but that quickly takes a back seat to the blackberry and myrrh. It's mostly a blackberry and myrrh combination that is soft, pretty and quiet. The woodsy/rooty elements must be very subtle. It goes on that way for a long time, and I love it! Could be kind of a softer cousin of Blackberry Moon. I might have to get more of this.
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This works pretty well on me! When I first put it on, it does remind me of a fall themed candle scent. I think I'm mostly smelling the fig note at first. But after a while more of the amber comes out, and the candle impression fades. So, it's mostly fig and amber on me. It is a light scent. A couple of times I thought I smelled a "band-aid" note, but that's not there today. Also yesterday I would have sworn I smelled a faint campfire note, maybe that was the leaves playing tricks on me. This does make me think of DL, Vanilla Bean, Pink Fig and Brandied Dates from last year, but I have NOT compared them directly so I could be wrong. But it does seem like a similar fig note, to me.
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This is a beautiful lightly fruity tea scent on me. It reminds me of a fall cousin of Moon Blep. If I tried this without knowing what it was, and someone said "it's Witches' Tea", I would say, Yes! That is just what it smells like. I don't really get a strong blackberry note, it's more of a vague fall fruit & tea scent. After a while I think I'm getting a very light vine or wood note, unless that's just the power of suggestion and my brain is searching for something thorn-like. This is my favorite so far in my first batch of Halloweenies. The only downside is that it's so light it mostly disappears after a while, on my skin. I do love lighter scents, so I know there will be days when that is just what I want.
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This one was an unfortunate fail on my skin. It goes on and reminds me of a crisp, clean, myrrh and linen scent, not bad, I kind of liked it. There's a little bit of violet, no plum. But when I sniff up close I'm getting a faint hint of something sickly sweet, more on the exhale, that's like - I don't know, rot or something. Kind of similar to Little Bird's experience in the above review. Once I noticed it I couldn't ignore it, and eventually had to wash it off because it was giving me a queasy feeling. And then I could still smell it! I don't think this scent is for me.
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There's some funkiness for a while but it's not like... bathroom funkiness, it's more like the typical funkiness I get from ambergris (which to me smells different from oud's infamous funk). Also somehow I'm picking up a bit of a narcissus feeling here even though it's not one of the notes. Maybe THAT'S the oud, I'm not sure. But later on it smooths out a lot and it's more of the wistful seaside salty breeze that I was hoping for. It is an herbal woody ambergris scent, like you would expect from the notes, but very smooth at this point. I think I would enjoy even more salt in this and might play around with some layering options. I do like this and I'm glad I took a chance with it. It does remind me of Bedroom a lot, I might not need both of them, I'll have to try them a few more times.