missnix

Upon the next stage, a primitive cage has been erected. It is made of heavy, dark sticks bound with strips of deep brown leather. The stage is as dark as pitch, and from the shadows, you hear soft hissing, spitting, and an ominous chorus of weird rattling sounds. You approach with some trepidation, and peer between the bars. Your attention is seized by writhing forms on the straw bottom of the cage. As your eyes adjust to the gloom, you realize that the floor is seething with serpents, dark and colorful, languid and large, swift and small. You hear a sultry chuckle, and you see bright, unblinking emerald eyes staring at you from the corner of the cage. A woman crawls through the snakes, her scaled body as sinuous and lissome as the creatures that share her home. She reaches towards you languorously with her sharp-clawed hands and sighs. A sensual blend of twisting, exotic, serpentine oils: black amber, oakmoss, green sandalwood, bergamot, jasmine sambac, gardenia, orange pulp, black cardamom, vanilla, blackberry, black musk, blackened vanilla husk, white honey, ti leaf, and ginger. I picked up Faiza on a whim, and I never got to try her earlier incarnation. She's lovely, and not at all what I expected. With all of the "black" and "blackened" notes listed, I was thinking this would be a dark and heavy scent. Instead, what I pick out the most are the lighter components; white honey, ti leaf, jasmine and gardenia (and fairly tame, gentle versions of those two florals to boot). It almost smells like a very nice, honey-sweetened floral tea, without being astringent like white / green tea scents sometimes are on me, and thankfully the honey does not go powdery or "off" on me like honey sometimes does. I think the sandalwood, ginger, and oakmoss are helping to ground it and keep it from being too sweet. This seems to me like a perfect warmer weather scent, because it's fresh and sparkling, somehow. I'm glad I bought a blind bottle, even if she's not what I was anticipating. Faiza has a bit of an identity crisis - she may play with snakes all day, but she'd be more at home sipping tea in a beautiful garden.

Electric cherry and iced vanilla. I love cherry and vanilla, but was concerned about the "electric" and "iced" descriptors. In the bottle, this smells strongly of a wonderful juicy cherry - a promising start. Applied, the iced aspect immediately dominates, and it's that cold, slightly minty note I know best from Yellow Snowballs. The cherry is a faint presence behind the cold note, and I don't really pick out the vanilla at all, except that sometimes the iced mint has a tinge of vanilla to it. About an hour after applying, the iced note finally backs down and I can smell the cherry a little bit better. But the scent is really fading fast at this point, and soon becomes nearly undetectable.

I'm another bourbon and apple fan (both consuming and smelling ;-)! Though I definitely sometimes have the same problem as Numanoid where the boozy notes can dominate a blend. In the bottle and freshly applied, I smell sweet apples and rich bourbon in good balance. So yummy. After application, the bourbon slowly fades and the apples come to the front. Happily, I was still able to smell this in my hair the next day and still going strong (approaching 24 hours now). A caveat though - I have a lot of hair and a LOT of hair glosses, so I apply extremely liberally. I'm an apple fiend and very glad to add this to my apple-centric hair gloss collection!

I read an impression in one of the Facebook groups that this is similar to A King Pursued by a Unicorn, yet different. I love King Pursued, so I was excited to pick this up. And it is very similar; the oak and amber sing and I love both of those notes so much. As this dried, I was able to tease out more and more differences, however. I think most people would classify King Pursued as masculine because of the strong pine note. Woman Dragging is the feminine version. I know rosewood is not the same thing as rose, but this ends up being a very powdery, perfumey, rose-like scent on my skin. As someone who does not like rose, I'm glad I got to try this but still prefer my bottle of King Pursued

When I applied Orion this morning, the leather and tobacco combo roared to the front immediately and I was worried that it was going to be too masculine for office-wear (I actually like a lot of unisex and even masculine-leaning scents, but am self-conscious when it comes to wearing such blends around co-workers). Luckily, Orion softened quickly and is just GORGEOUS now. Without the notes list at hand, I would have sworn up and down that chamomile was one of the main players - looking at the notes, chamomile is of course not listed, so I guess the fig, pepper, and cardamom are conspiring to trick my nose. The result is sweet, warm, fuzzy, earthy, rich, lightly spicy, and golden. Staying power has been impressive throughout the day so far, and after the initial masculine wave that softened, there has been barely any morphing. A big winner for me, and possibly my favorite of the Yules this year (I'm not done testing yet, but will be shocked if anything else de-thrones Orion for me).

I recently hunted down Apple X and was disappointed. This is the elegant patchouli-apple blend I have been looking for. Sadly, I've never smelled the apple-heavy version of Black Lace, but I do agree that this bears a lot of similarities to the other Laces I have experienced. It's sophisticated and perfume-y in the best way. The patchouli is indeed a sweet variety; it's jammy and reminds me of the purple / "fruit-chouli" patch that is common in more commercial perfumes (Mdme. Moriarty's patch also smells similar to this, IMO). This is in no way a criticism; I personally love the sweeter, more approachable patchouli varieties. The apple adds a freshness that cuts through what would otherwise be a very rich and heavy combo of patch, amber, and tobacco. I love BPAL's apple blends and have amassed a sizeable collection of them, but I'm so glad to have this particular bottle and will make room for it.

I've been striking out on LEs lately, so I applied Cardamom Cream Pumpkin Cake this morning with no particular high hopes. As I trekked into work, I kept getting sniffs of something wonderful, but still kept my enthusiasm on a short leash. Now, almost a full work day of wear and several compliments later, and it seems my bad luck has ended Cardamom Cream Pumpkin Cake is a warm, spicy, delicious blend. As others have noted, it is so dang nice to have a spiced fall / pumpkin scent that isn't the usual suspects of cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove. Cardamom is definitely the main player in this blend, with the pumpkin and cream providing a round and sweetened background that softens the sharpness that cardamom can have sometimes. I will have to death-match this against my current reigning cardamom champion, My Little Grotesque, to see who wins. ETA death match results: MLG is cleaner, simpler, sweeter; cardamom sugar / frosting with a bit of delicate white or yellow cake. CCPC is richer, creamier, warmer. I can't choose between them... x_x

This is beautiful! I recently re-tested The Illustrated Woman with sadly the same results (too much pine, not enough vanilla) and I think this is what I wish TIW would be on me. I love pine and forest blends in general, but recognize that pine as a note can often overrun everything else. Do All the Good You Can somehow avoids that problem; the pine is present, but doesn't hit you over the head and turn into Christmas Tree SN. The patch is smooth and not gnarly, and the blend as a whole has a sweet vanillic aspect that is very much present and very beautiful. I really dig this, and will carve out a place for it in my cluttered forest blend collection (probably right next to The Most Magnificent Christmas Tree and A Lady Tall and White).

The Lilac Wood was my lonely favorite BPAL lilac for the longest time. (Despite loving it, apparently I'm picky when it comes to lilac?) But now Cave of Treasures takes that honor, and in general is in my top 5 now ETA: Can't believe I forgot Ashlultum - she is also one of my very few lilac loves, although her other notes are at least as prominent as the lilac, which may be why she doesn't pop into my head immediately when I think "lilac"...

I've died and gone to tobacco heaven. Test of Strength is exactly what I was hoping it would be; a chewy, decadent, tobacco-forward scent. To me it smells like french tobacco, although that could be a slight illusion thanks to the other notes lending a sweet richness to the blend. I honestly can't pick out those other individual notes at all, really. This is as close to a French Tobacco SN hair gloss as I have, and I love it!

There are some BPAL oils that seem to do better when applied heavily, and Pink Moon '17 seems to be one of those. I was unimpressed on first application, but reapplied and was able to get a better read on this scent. Pink Moon '05 is my favorite of past blends (the only one I have not tried is the 2012 iteration). Pink Moon '05 is a beautiful balance of strawberry and mixed spring florals. Carnation is perhaps my favorite floral note, and while Pink Moon '07 has carnation in spades, to me it actually smells like an unimpressive, pale and thin carnation single note (I'm not really familiar with phlox, which may be why I don't detect it in '07). This year's Pink Moon is as expected a pretty, pink, feminine floral. I am wary of the narcissus / daffodil family but thankfully can't pick them up in this blend or '05. It starts off as a bouquet of pink florals, but as it dries it becomes more and more about the gorgeous honey and carnation combo. Miss Lizzie was a recent favorite of mine, and I can't help but think of Pink Moon 2017 as her pretty younger sister. The carnation is still full-bodied and wonderfully sweet and spicy, but a tad fresher and more innocent than Lizzie. The other notes (vanilla, strawberry, etc) don't stand out on my skin. But since I'm such a fanatic of this honey / carnation thing I'm totally fine with that, and so happy I have a bottle

I'm still pretty new to the Post's hair glosses, but of the 10 or so I have tried, this is a definite favorite, tied with my other favorite (which is admittedly, tonally very different) Eat the Cherries and Look at the Flowers. Young Man with Long Hair is elegant, dark, and sexy. The wood notes are strongest on me and they're rich, gorgeous wood... nothing even approaching hamster cage territory. There was a pronounced, interesting nuttiness to the woods at first, but it disappears after a while. Happily, the next strongest (and lasting) note is the tobacco which is closer to French Tobacco than the Bulgarian variety. I don't get a whole lot of the coconut or vanilla, but there is a sweetness that tempers this from being overtly masculine, so I assume that is their contribution. When I first wore this, I paired it with So Below and it was a gorgeous combination. Highly recommend this HG to anyone who loves rich woods and tobacco blends!

One of my biggest and most enduring BPAL regrets is that I was not around for the Blue Lilac SN, and it's nigh impossible to track down these days. Cave of Treasures scratches that itch, at least a bit. The blue lilac note is the focal point of the blend, and it's gorgeous. Incredibly lifelike and realistic, it also has impressive staying power (most other lilac notes disappear on my skin, but this is going strong several hours in). At times it's fresh and sweet, almost recalling a sun-warmed peony bloom. Other times, with help from the cream and cardamom, it more resembles a creamy, spicy tuberose. But these are just aspects of the blue lilac note, which comes back into focus with any deep sniff. On a slight tangent; with very deep inhales I get a curious almost fuzzy / tingling sensation in my nose - sort of like the feeling right before a sneeze, but I'm never close to sneezing. Not sure what that's about. If you're a fan of lilacs, run don't walk to the checkout for this beauty. It's by far the best BPAL lilac blend I personally have come across. It's warm, sweet, creamy, spicy lilac heaven! Both honey and cream can be a problem for me, but they are well-behaved in this blend (the honey is definitely pale and sweet as VioletChaos noted). So far, longevity seems to be good and for me personally the sillage is about average.

Really heavy / rich foodie scents can turn my stomach, so this was a gamble for me, but I was won over by all of your swoonings about marshmallow, and how this was marshmallow cookie pie minus the chocolate(!). Freshly applied, I was really worried. It starts off very decadent, with a heavy dose of butter and something that smells suspiciously like chocolate to me (chocolate fudge perhaps?? oh no...). BUT THEN, it dries down into the most beautiful, powdery (as in powdered sugar, not baby powder) vanilla marshmallow ever. It's more sweet, simple, and straightforward than Stekk, and I love it! It's even worth enduring that initial wet phase of buttery fudge overload.

If patchouli always smelled like this, I would have zero problems with it. Fake News is beautiful; it's sweet and faintly musky from the amber, and all about the wonderfully woodsy (almost exotic / spicy) patch note. Echoing what everyone else has said about how "expensive" this smells - it reminds me of a Tom Ford Private Blend scent. Somewhere in between Oud Wood and Tobacco Vanille because of its sweet, rich, decadent yet grounded patchouli. On my skin, I occasionally catch whiffs that are reminiscent of the best kind of creamy, spicy sandalwood you could ever hope to smell.

I had a wonderful swap with Soupy Twist for Mat Night! It was a blind swap, but based on the notes and reviews I was fairly sure I would like it, and I do! Out of the gate, it's a strong pine and snow note. It's pretty intimidating when wet, but dries down into a gorgeous scent on me. The snow note here smells a lot like the one in Snow White, but the pine and tobacco must be reining it in from plastic-land, because I definitely have that problem with Snow White and not here. The tobacco is sweet, chewy, and rich (my kind of tobacco) and I actually wish it stood out more. The pine and snow remain strongest in dry down, and overall make the scent unisex yet fairly sweet.

This is really gorgeous. I'm always disappointed that coffee is so often paired with chocolate in perfumes (I certainly understand why, but as someone who loves the smell of coffee but chocolate not so much, it gets frustrating) so I was happy to take a chance on this. It starts off with the coffee very much as the star player, but it quickly steps back and provides a really gorgeous background layer; it's rich and complex and makes the whole blend surprisingly elegant. I'm not as familiar with "indigo opium petals" (poppy flowers?) but there is a really beautiful top note that is a little sweet (maybe from the vanilla?), floral (but not in a typically "floral" way), and surprisingly perfume-y in the best way possible. I don't really detect any smokiness and the vanilla is not obvious, though I suspect it's responsible for some of the sweetness of this blend. This is well blended, fairly unique, and very wearable. It reminds me somewhat of the Guatemalan Volcanic Coffee Bean single note, and how that ended up being much more complex and beautiful than I was expecting - the coffee here is less forward than the SN of course, but the two blends are at least similar.

I picked this up with some trepidation; I love cherry but was afraid this would end up being the same sad story as Mr. Nancy - a scent that I love, except the buttery cookie note ended up being too much for me. Sniffing the bottle and wet on my skin, my fears seemed to be confirmed. Cherry Sugar Cookie starts off as a very buttery cookie blast. Luckily, at least for me, the butter note burns off pretty quickly and I'm left with the scent I was hoping for. It's a -very- sweet cherry, almost like cherry preserves or maraschino cherry as zankoku_zen said. It never veers into cherry medicine territory, but neither does it smell like fresh tart cherries. With time, the cherry slowly fades as most fruit notes do, leaving behind a suggestion of sweetness. The heaping dose of baking spices is the next most prominent note, and as the cherry weakens it comes more to the forefront. It's much spicier in general than I was expecting, and because of that it is firmly a colder weather scent in my mind. It's very nice and I'm so glad I have a bottle!

Very few perfumes have conflicted me as much as this one. I love every note... except for the anise which I almost always hate. Tuberose, lilac, and carnation are among my absolute favorite florals and it's so rare to see them together in a scent. I've finally decided that as this has aged, I like it more. The anise is still very much present, but it's pretty well tempered by the sweet creaminess of the florals and benzoin. And, I have to admit, it gives a certain elegance and uniqueness to what would otherwise be (to most people) a too-sweet pale floral blend.

Joyful Romp is beautiful! I picked up a decant, than a full bottle, from the second market so the blend was decently aged by the time I got my hands on it. First applied, it opens with a blast of an almost sour plum note that never ceases to concern me (is this the day it's finally gone "off"??) but that sourness fades away quickly. As others have noted, this is a strong blend with decent throw and lasting power. Once it's dried and settled on my skin, it's basically a gorgeous dark plum with some musk (the florals are not the stars of the show on my skin). To me, it seems like a cousin of Mme. Moriarty because of the whole seductive fruit and musk angle.

Has anyone sniffed both Tyrannophobia and Firethorn Berry Tea? I love the smell of black tea and berries, so really torn between which of those two I should get. Would love impressions / comparison from someone knowledgeable

I can definitely see why this smells like hairspray / hair product to most people. It's a very well-blended, sweet fruity-floral scent with low sillage that comes off as modern, feminine, and young (without being childish). I actually like that it doesn't project far, since that means it doesn't clash with my perfume as much. I haven't tried a lot of hair glosses, but this has been my favorite so far - but then, I go nuts for carnation in general, and that is definitely the strongest note in this. The cherry is not actually super pronounced for me, but lends a vague sweet fruit aspect.

I've had this for a few years now, and wear it every winter. That said, it's nowhere near a favorite because it's not at all what I was expecting; I don't hate it, but neither do I love it. It's very different from anything else I wear, and I now associate it with winter, so I guess I do enjoy wearing it this time of year. Based on the description, I would expect it to be lemon and mint. On my skin, it's always yuzu + pine that for some reason reads as fuzzy to my nose. It's not overly sweet, but bright and somewhat sour like yuzu typically is. Even though pine is not listed as a note, that is definitely the next strongest component of this blend for me, and it actually makes the whole thing more interesting than just a straight up yuzu-dominant citrus scent. I never really detect the mint, which is a shame. This is not your typical cold weather scent, so if those aren't your thing or you want to add a little diversity to your winter scent wardrobe, Yellow Snowballs definitely fits the bill. Tonally, it reminds me a little bit of Haus of Gloi's Rosy Cheeked winter blend, which combines grapefruit with rosemary for a somewhat similar citrus + green contrast.

Echoing everyone else, this is LSSB + spiced pumpkin. I happen to love Lemon Scented Sticky Bat, and am happy to have a version of it that is slightly more cool-weather appropriate. I wouldn't have thought that bright, sweet lemon sugar would pair so well with pumpkin, but it does! Honestly, this is more in the vein of what I had hoped this year's Pumpkin Sugar would have smelled like (minus the lemon of course).

This is a sweet, musky, perfumey blend on me. It's very strong and I agree with wendyb that it smells like something from the 80's. Oddly, I don't really get tobacco from this at all. I hope that will change as it ages. The vanilla musk aspect of this actually reminds me of Ava, a little bit (I just noticed they both share the word "brittle" in their descriptions too, which is appropriate). Pediophobia is sweeter, louder, and just generally more over-the-top / divaesque than Ava, which is so lovely and wearable on me. I think I will really appreciate this more as time goes on, especially if the tobacco becomes stronger with age like I hope.