forspecial_plate

Does balsam smell like hay? Because this smells like a golden hay/leather/musk scent. It's like the last warm breeze of summer before the leaves start changing color. (I don't smell any leaves, it's just an image that came to mind). It's really nice, I just put on a little to test but it ended up being my scent of the day. There's something kind of sparkly about it, not sure what that's about. I think this is a comfortable and uncomplicated scent for late summer/early fall. Glad I took a chance!

I am not really picking out separate notes here either! On me, this is a sweet ambery scent. After a while I can tell the teak is coming out more, it's a very smooth woody note. On me this is more sweet and springy than GV was (from memory). I don't smell much pear-like about it or any white tea, as far as I can tell. I think I'm mostly getting amber cream and lotus root, with teak coming in after a while. It's pretty straightforward and sweet on me (sorry, "sweet" is the word that keeps coming to me). But the teak note does elevate it into more chic territory, when it comes out.

I had better luck with this. It goes on light and sweet with the figgy pudding, and within a couple of minutes the vetiver starts coming out. The vetiver and patchouli, on me, make this scent a little bit cologney, but it's not a bad thing at all. I can't really pick out vanilla or myrrh, I think they are just blending with the figgy pudding and contributing some sweetness. I think this is kind of a comforting scent, sweet with a bit of earthy rumble. I like it and I really like the level of throw, which is light but not too light (just right, for me). This will be great when the holidays come around again but I think it can be worn just about any time of year.

I'm getting strong spicy sandalwood at first, then later I can tell the charcoal and aloeswood notes are coming out stronger. I didn't get strong clove but I agree with marared's quality Japanese incense comparison. I'm reminded of Pyramid of Skulls. I thought this might be more harsh and burning but it's warm, glowing and spicy.

This is really, really light. I love lighter scents and this is about as light as it gets (on my skin, at least). I do smell the vanilla. I'm reminded of Dead Leaves & Vanilla Incense from a couple/few years back. But instead of leaves this seems to have the tea note from White Rabbit, or similar. There's something slightly astringent in addition to the warm vanilla, and I think that could be the tea note. Can't really comment on the incense, it's just not standing out to me. If I sniff up close I am detecting a hint of something smokey, but that too could be coming from the tea note. I just got this yesterday, not sure if it will be any different when it settles. Just wanted to get an impression out there in case anyone was curious. Edit: this was my sotd and it's still a light scent, but it lasts a really long time - I can still smell it after 12+ hours!

This is beautiful! As far as orange scents, this might be one of the best (I only briefly tried Orange, a long time ago, so I can't compare it to that). It's not orange single note obviously but I feel the tea note (I think that's what kamairicha is...) and champaca blossom are very much supporting orange as the main player. There's a hint of white floral here and I guess that is the champaca blossom. I love the Lab's champaca note but I'm not getting a strong sense of it here, and it seems more floral. It is blended really smoothly with the orange. And I'm not sure I'm smelling the kamairicha at all. This will be great in warm weather, or any time I need a cheerful burst of orange. It doesn't change much in the drying stages, but it does last a long time on me.

On me this is pretty straightforward, it goes on with a burst of juicy cherry, and then gradually, seamlessly, the incense and sugar come in. I can't really tell what kind of incense it is, but when I sniff up close I think "white incense", for some reason. It's a clean, light incense scent. It's pretty much just what the name says! I like it and I'll enjoy this bottle. Might be great when the weather starts to warm up.

I recommend Lace Phoenix, to me it's stone and sugary incense, a mysterious and enigmatic scent. The reviews are kind of all over the place but a couple of others got stone too.

I agree, this is darker than I expected, and the champagne is more of a supporting note. Right now I'm undecided. The plum and blackcurrant (more the plum, I think) are coming off as sour to me, almost like an acidic feeling. It sweetens up a little after it's on the skin for a while. This is challenging and I probably should set it aside for a while. As it is now it's just kind of clashing on me, but maybe it will calm down with some aging. She's definitely not here to make me comfortable and as a concept I would call this scent very successful - there's a haughty feeling about it (or is that the power of suggestion?). PS - forgot to mention this turns weirdly powdery on me after about an hour. It's not in a good way. I'm going to blame the wild plum for all these shenanigans.

This smells like an ultra chic lavender + incense/resins scent to me. I agree with the other reviews so far. I kept thinking maybe it's similar to Incolumitas but I can't find my imp of that to compare them. But suffice to say this is just right for me as far as strength of the scent, and it might be the best yet for lavender + incense. Also I agree with the compare/contrast with Gaueko, I like that scent but I think this is even better. : )

Darn. I couldn't hang with this one. All I'm getting is hazelnut, and it's not agreeing with me. I mostly wanted all the other notes. I will put it away and try again in a couple months. I am interested to hear what other people think of it. Maybe I just amp hazelnut. Edit: I wore this tonight while waiting for new Lupers, and I have to say a year of aging has really helped, or else I'm just liking it more tonight, not sure which. There was a really nice extended dry-down and I kept thinking "this does smell really good", so I am glad I kept it around!

I wanted lily and here it is! When I sniff up close, I get the earthy ginger that RoseThornAndOak describes above. But on me the ginger is mostly just there up close. It's the same dry herbal ginger note that's in Sweet Ginger & Patchouli hair gloss. But in the throw, this is spicy lily. I think lily can be a little spicy on its own, and I love how the ginger just seamlessly blends with it here. This is not a very strong scent on me, but it is just right. My bottle is brand new and I can't wait to see how it ages. And I can't wait to wear it in spring weather!

This smells great, like an amped up Snake Oil on me, I never get much pastry out of it but it's a lot of musk and vanilla. One time when I wore it, I kept smelling a cannabis note but that hasn't happened again. I get the "sexy" vibe that other people have mentioned. To me it's a strong vanilla incense scent and I like it but it also kind of wears me instead of me wearing it. Still, there are definitely occasions where this will be perfect, and I'm sure it will age beautifully. Edit: You know, this doesn't JUST smell like stronger Snake Oil.....it's like Snake Oil punched up with a strong dark musk. It's almost cola or root-beer flavored, in my opinion.

FIRE FOR THY STEPMOTHER’S DAUGHTERS Vasilissa ran to the yard, and behind her she heard the old witch shouting to the locks and the gate. The locks opened, the gate swung wide, and she ran out on to the lawn. The Baba Yaga seized from the wall one of the skulls with burning eyes and flung it after her. "There," she howled, "is the fire for thy stepmother's daughters. Take it. That is what they sent thee here for, and may they have joy of it!" Flaming coals, hellfire, and blackened bone. First of all, Djinn is one of my favorite bpal scents, so I was definitely intrigued by the notes listed for this scent, and I even thought I had an idea of what it might smell like. How wrong I was! This goes on like a fruity floral, almost like lotus. If I sniff up close I can tell there's some fire and coals to the scent, but for whatever reason, my brain translates it into dusky, fruity floral. It's a little spicy, too, which becomes more apparent as it dries. How in the world does that fit this scent, given the notes, you might ask? Well, it works. It's a low and smoldering scent, very subtle but definitely 'there'. I'm sure this will vary from person to person, though (it might be really strong to someone else). But for me, it's subtle. Even though it's very floral, it has the mood of glowing coals. I think the 'blackened bone' comes out as it dries. It becomes kind of sneezy and spicy, and I wonder if it actually has a little black pepper, which is a note I don't care a lot for. Overall the scent doesn't change much from wet to dry, though. This reminds me of Corazon, without the herbs. They both have that low, smoldering, subtle quality. Stepmother's Daughters is a really fascinating scent. After having it on for a few hours, I started to get a little weary of it, so I'm not sure how often I will actually wear it, but it was really interesting to try. I don't know where I would wear this......definitely not to work. I'm really interested to read other reviews, because I know some people are really going to like this one.

I mostly smell ambergris and lavender. There's a little bit of a frosty feeling about it. I'm reminded a lot of The Air & The Ether, except this works out slightly better for me. I don't smell anything fruity at all, which I'm scratching my head about, but maybe it will come out more with age. Ambergris was a big risk for me as I usually avoid it, but I was really intrigued by the art. Here it is allowing the other notes to come out just a little bit more than usual (on my skin). With this scent, I can start to understand why ambergris fans like it. Kind of mineral, oceanic, clean musk thing going on. However between this and Air & The Ether, I probably don't need any more ambergris! : )

This does smell like the 2 scents combined (not surprisingly). The one thing worth noting, to me, the ginger stands out more than it does in White Rabbit. I don't usually wear either of these but I'm enjoying the combination here. I got it for my partner, he is a White Rabbit fan, but he thinks this is too powdery. So, I shall wear it myself. : )

Well, I don't like this, but it's more my own fault than anything. I knew going into this that I always avoid "brown", furry, or fuzzy scents. Like usually if I see brown musk I just skip it altogether. But - I love bats and couldn't resist this based solely on the art. I like amber, saffron cream sounds great, and I thought I might get lucky here. I mostly smell the peppery brown musk, and a little tonka (another note that can be tricky on me). I'm not getting the other notes much at all. I'm going to put this away for a while and try again in a few months. I do appreciate it for what it is, and I'm sure it's great on other people!

Rating by interest on a scale of 1-5, for a few selected scents... Cacao and Scorched Milk Perfume Oil - kind of interested, because it sounds like maybe the milk note from Snake Milk and I love that one. 3/5 Chocolate Chypre - not sure if chypre always works for me, but I'm definitely intrigued! 3/5 Femdom Perfume Oil An eagerly-anticipated whip crack of wild plum, champagne, and blackcurrant - I'm recently loving the Lab's champagne note, and I also enjoy fruity notes, so this is a no-brainer for me. 4/5 Silk Daffodil Perfume Oil Daffodil petals, spiced amber, and neroli - I'm somewhat curious except I think daffodil = narcissus, and I can't hang w/narcissus.. might try it somewhere down the line.. 2/5 Silk Tiger Lily Perfume Oil Ginger-splattered lily petals - now this one I am very curious about. Sometimes lily can be really nice, and paired with ginger, it has my interest. 3/5 Sister Death Perfume Oil A sorrowful white lily fougere shadowed by yew branches - another lily to keep my eye on. 3/5 The Morning Star Among the Living Perfume Oil Black fig encased in saffron-threaded amber - sounds interesting, 3/5 The Serpent in the Roses Perfume Oil Snake Oil dribbling across a cluster of amber-flecked, blackened rose petals - heck yeah I want this, I'm another of those who has been wishing for a rosey Snake Oil! 4/5 A Medley of Vulvas Perfume Oil Bourbon vanilla, pink labdanum, pink pepper, honey, and bushman’s candle absolute - I tend to steer clear of honey but this almost sounds like a sweet bubble-gum type of scent, in which case I would want to try it. 3/5 An Introduction to Illustrious Kabuki Actors Perfume Oil White sandalwood, vanilla bean, fig froth, and buttercream - I feel like I need to smell this, lol. 4/5 At the Tea Drinking Perfume Oil Kamairicha, blood orange, and champaca blossom - there's the champaca I love - need to smell this. 4/5 Call of the Geese Meeting at Night Perfume Oil A raucous honk of red currant snuggled in downy orris root, coconut, and sandalwood smoke - I feel this one is calling out to me too, somewhat. 3/5 Copulating Couple Mimicking a Pose in a Shunga Book Perfume Oil Washi, matcha, crushed mint, green bergamot, white moss, patchouli, and lichen - sounds nice as long as the moss and lichen behave. Possible decant somewhere along the way, although I've totally gone off buying decants lately. Four Penises Perfume Oil Amber cream, lotus root, white sandalwood, teak, pear blossom, and white tea - looking forward to smelling this, and I enjoy trying the "penis" scents, when the notes look agreeable, lol. 4/5 Highest Quality Vagina Perfume Oil Golden amber and vanilla milk, sweet almond, honey, and soft incense - looks very sweet and honey isn't always my thing. I'm curious, though. 3/5 Inspection Perfume Oil Black tea, smoked jasmine, cedarwood, sandalwood incense, and sweet sage - sounds pretty good, actually. 3/5 Kiseru Perfume Oil Red sandalwood, vanilla husk, and tobacco smoke - sounds good, would like to try. 3/5 The Tea House Perfume Oil Green tea, sandalwood incense, hinoki cypress, bamboo reeds, lemon petals, and plum wine - sounds good but maybe a little basic? There's a lot of competition for my attention with this update! 3/5 Yanagi No Arashi Perfume Oil Pale amber musk and linden blossom splashed by a torrent of coconut milk, hazelnut foam, and heliotrope - very interested, something about the combination of these notes is calling to me. 4/5

for my own benefit, so I know what decants and/or bottles to hunt for! I'm leaving out the ones I'm definitely not interested in. I think I'm going back to my old rating system, rating these on a scale of 1-5 to measure my interest level. Blueberry Sufganiyot, "Blueberry-filled sufganiyot, blooping blue with jelly" Maybe a decant just for fun, not a top priority. I know a friend who says she's getting this, maybe I can just try hers : ) 2/5 Hearthflame and Incense, "Crackling almond wood and the deep sweet smoke of burgundy pitch, Austrian amber resin, black copal, and frankincense" This has potential, but I sometimes don't like copal (not sure about black). 3/5 Jacob's Ladder, "golden amber, galbanum, benzoin, ambrette, rockrose, costus and tonka" I haven't tried this since '06 or '07. It really is my kind of thing and I'm surprised I haven't worn it since then. Possible decant. 3/5 Maison en Pain D'Epices, gingerbread house I've been wanting to try this since I first saw it, but never have tried it. Possible decant. 3/5 Mincemeat Pie, "Figs, dried cherries, and suet accord steeped in dark brown sugar, crystallized ginger, lemon and orange zest, nutmeg, allspice, and clove, embraced by an apple cider cornmeal crust" If this isn't the foody scent to end all foody scents, I don't know what is! Seriously, this is on my radar because it just sounds great. I occasionally do wear gourmand scents and this sounds like a really good one which I might enjoy. 4/5 Shattered Silence, "black cedar, yew berries, juniper and frost-crusted moss, crushed beneath a shaggy spectral black musk" This has some potential, I'm vaguely interested, will watch reviews first but possible decant. 2/5 Song of the Otherworld, "Sleet and champaca, fir needle and opoponax, blue musk and cypress, balsam and snow" Same as above, possible decant or watch reviews. 2/5 The Cross of Snow, "Cypress, Spanish moss, and clove bud with labdanum, Italian bergamot, and white tobacco flower" This has potential, not top priority but I love bergamot and labdanum, I'm just not sure about the tobacco flower. I'll watch reviews. 3/5 The Season of Ghosts, "bergamot, frankincense, rose geranium, ginger, lemongrass, and blood orange" I've had my eye on this for a long time, and never tried it. Possible decant. 3/5 Cadences and Shakes, "rosewood and rose geranium prickled with pink peppercorn, cardamom, white sandalwood, and frankincense" I am always saying that I love rosewood, and here it is. I should try this but somehow I'm not as excited as some of the other scents. Possible decant. 3/5 Mr. Morse's Seances, "polished teakwood, pipe smoke, sugar-clouded absinthe, vetiver, and rum musk" Well, these notes sound nice, this does have some potential. It could be too loudly sweet. Possible decant. 3/5 The Ghost of a Ghost's Ghost, "pallid oakmoss and earthy patchouli tumbling into a void of misty lavender, cistus, and white agarwood" All of these notes sound perfectly acceptable and nice. It could be good, it could be great, I'm just not sure. It's not screaming out at me but I may possibly try it. 3/5 The Mysterious Rappings Polka, "Rose musk with pink and black peper, a splash of bay rum, tobacco absolute, and toffee" This one is speaking to me. I don't know, just one of those strange mix of notes that could be really great. I am contemplating a full bottle. 4/5 Thought Photography, "Mercury-limned lavender, palo santo, and ambrette seed" Strong possibility, I'm definitely eyeing this one. 3 or 4/5 Gingerbread Oudh I'm interested, because I think it could be a nice semi-gourmand blend of notes. 3 or 4/5 The Lashes, in order : ) Second Lash, "Birch tar, tobacco, bergamot, ochre musk, and petitgrain" Possible decant. 3/5 Fourth Lash, "Black rose, Baltic amber, leather, white sandalwood, black pepper, and vetiver" Possible decant, 3/5 Tenth Lash, "Bitter almond, cacao, black cherry, patchouli, and labdanum" Strong possibility for a decant, I love 2 of the notes (patchouli and labdanum) and have known to like the rest of them. 3 or 4/5 Eleventh Lash, "Snow and black leather" This is intriguing me for some reason. I may even go straight to a bottle. 4/5 Twelfth Lash, "Blackened patchouli, sweet vetiver, labdanum, and honey" Possible decant, because of the patchouli and labdanum. 3 or 4/5 Schonperchten, "snow-spattered lavender, bourbon vanilla, white mint, and white amber" This could be my minty snow scent I was hoping for. Bottle or decant? 4/5

Dead Leaves, Vanilla Bean, Pink Fig, and Brandied Dates came to my mind immediately when I read your description, it might be worth a try, especially if you can find a decant for sale. : )

I think I'm mostly smelling the mandrake root. It's very rooty, but I can smell the other 2 notes too. There's a little bit of an "ashy" feel that I think comes from the champaca. It's not amping on me like I kind of expected it to. The patchouli doesn't stand out strongly to me. This doesn't change much from beginning to dry-down. It basically smells like what it is, a win in my opinion! It just smells like "bpal" to me, in a good way. Like it's a new and different scent but very characteristic of a classic bpal scent (if that makes any sense). Kind of like Tattie Bogle maybe? But I haven't compared them side-by-side.

When this was new I mostly smelled pomegranate with a little bit of Morocco. Now (about 3 months later I think?) it smells like Morocco with a soft pomegranate filter. It's more of a golden, slightly spicy scent. I'm not sure if it's going to stay this way, change again, or change back, but.. It's really beautiful, what a happy accident!

For some reason this smells like a light spiced fruity tea scent to me, moreso than fruitcake. But the bourbon note is definitely there and it reminds me of the same bourbon note from Spiced Cherry Bourbon. This bourbon works really well on my skin and keeps going for a long time. I get the 'oak barrel' impression. This also makes me think of Fearful Pleasure, but there's no apple here. As far as fruit - maybe it's kind of orangey? Maybe like a light maraschino cherry note? Hard to say. And I'm not getting much in the way of nuts. Overall it's on the lighter side which I am happy about, but it does last a long time. Over time the bourbon comes out as the stronger note. It's a lighter scent than Spiced Cherry Bourbon, and I think they are different enough that I can keep both in my collection. I'm from KY and in more recent years I've grown to like boozy fruitcake (always thought it was yucky as a kid), so I'm glad to have this, even though it's not exactly like fruitcake to me. Oh and one more thing, just from memory, this is reminiscent of the Fruitcake imp that the lab was sending out for Christmas a few years ago. I think this current one is a little lighter.

Warm vanilla hay, a little sugary, and a little toasty from the nutmeg I think. The hay note really elevates this into a chic place. It really works well on my skin, I'll be on the lookout for hay to show up in other scents. I don't remember if I got any lemon from this when it was newer, but I'm not getting that now. I was opening my bottle and dropped it on a hard floor. I'm very lucky it didn't break and not much spilled out. I didn't want to waste it so I rubbed it all over my arms, lol. It's not too strong, though, even with way more than I usually would put on.

For me, this starts as lemony sugar, a bright cousin of Sugar Skull (well, not the 2021 version, that's its own separate thing). As time passes this becomes a little darker and deeper, and I think what I'm smelling is molasses-tinged sugar (so, brown sugar I guess?), and the cocoa is coming through a little bit. I never did smell any rose. This is complex sugar and I love it. It continues to remind me of the older Sugar Skull, but different.