DevilsCandyCane

When this first arrived, I was very unsure - the tobacco smelled soggy and squidgy, and it was a bit weird, but now I've had the bottle for a week, it's settled down big time, becoming absolutely lovely, and I can imagine it's just gonna get better and better! Vetiver is a note I'm dubious about, and it was the Gamble Note in this blend, for me, but here it behaves perfectly - it's smoky, wonderfully smoky, but it doesn't go to BBQ sauce town, which is always my fear! Not a single smoked sausage in this one! The tobacco is no longer soggy, and has now become rich, brown, and sexy-masculine, which is exactly what I hoped for. The dark chocolate is barely there, just a perfectly blended hint in the background, a dark, bittersweet richness, but this certainly isn't a foodie blend. Overall it's smoky as hell - I always want more smoky blends from BPAL, so this is seriously my happy place, it's a proper campfire smokiness, beautiful, beautiful woodsmoke, with a hint of sexy, dusky dark chocolate in the background, and the rugged motorcycle jacket wearing badassness of the tobacco. ...I'm actually getting a little nervous as to whether one bottle will be enough Very, very glad I hung onto it to give it time to settle - if the tobacco smells a little whack on arrival, definitely don't make a snap judgement, it gets gooooood!

This scent seems to be reeeeally unpredictable on my skin, and I'm not quite sure what to make of it! The good bits - the rose note is gorgeous, in my collection so far I only have pink and white rose scents, which are beautiful, but it's a very fresh, light, innocent rose. This rose is much muskier, darker, sexier and more mature. There's a smokiness to it, and it is genuinely incensey - when most scents are described as 'incensey' here, I never get it, most people seem to mean frankincensey churchy smells, whereas when I say incense I mean pagan shops burning nag champa, and this nails it - it smells like a goth's bedroom, and I adore it - there's the dark romance of the blood red rose, the velvety gloom of the indigo musk, and a gorgeous waft of freshly lit incense. Now, on the bad side, occasionally the musk here goes way too animalistic and smells a bit like a dog's bottom, which naturally, I can do without , and it's bloody devastating mixed in with such a gorgeous scent! Last week when I was testing it though, and repeatedly getting the poopy dog note, I was on my period, and now I'm not, and my skin's being its normal self, thank Cthulu there's not a poop to be found! I can see it being a serious skin chemistry gamble though, this scent - I really need to test it in my scent locket and see what happens there - if it's a raving success I'll come back and update this review! Overall - gorgeous incensey goth roses...but with occasional unwanted visitations from Poop Musk. For me, never to be worn while period-ing!

And a third from the Purple Snails that I adore!! The lavender is centre stage, to begin with, and I actually thought I hated lavender, but in this it's just beautiful, it's so natural - we have it growing in our garden and it's just like the scent of it freshly crushed between your fingers on a summer's day - no artificial old lady knicker drawers here! The strawberry candyfloss is coming out more and more as the bottle settles, which makes me very happy indeed, and again it's so real, just the soft, melting sugar strands of candyfloss, not overly sugary or sticky, as light and gentle as candyfloss itself, with just the subtlest hint of strawberry. The hay remains in the background, surprisingly - my skin generally amps hay to hell and back, but here it just gives it this gorgeous hint of outdoorsyness, and it somehow smells nostalgic, old fashioned, like a vintage country fair. I cannot put into words how beautiful this scent is - it smells very innocent, and very happy, and very summery, like a perfect rose-tinted memory of a long ago summer's day. Huge round of applause for Beth, with this one, seriously - just wow! You've converted me to lavender, and cured my phobia of hay notes! I can see this getting a loooot of wear on chilled out, stoned summer days at the park. Big love

A honeyed lilac fougere with a drop of lime. Another epic win for me from the Purple Snails collection! I've had this bottle a week now, and after settling, it's become a little more complex - initially it was aaaaaall honey, and the best sort of honey there is, very similar to my coveted Pussy Moth (first comment on trying it, "Damn, this smells like pussy!", followed by much immature sniggering ), and also quite close to White Bees Swarming, minus the frostiness of the latter. Now it's settled though, I didn't think this would be possible but it's actually even frickin' better. EVEN FRICKIN' BETTER!! It has become a fougere now, there's a clean elegance to the honey, and just the teeniest smidge of lime - I would never say lime without seeing the notes, it's so subtle, but it just adds a hint of citrusy coolness to that gorgeous soft honey. For a fougere, I would still say this is 90% feminine, as a scent, it's not particularly gender neutral, but damn, is it gorgeous. As it dries down on me, the lime does become more prominent, but the honey is still centre-stage. At this point it edges a little closer to gender neutral, that citrusy cleanness coming out more. In the main though, it stays fairly true - softest, softest honey, snuggly and light and beautiful, that same cloud of angelic, radiant honey that floats around me when I wear White Bees in my extensions . In short, if you appreciate a bit of Pussy or you adore White Bees Swarming, you need dis scent!!

I absolutely love this, it was an instant 'I NEED A BACKUP BOTTLE!' scent! I first tested it blind, and weirdly my impression was peppery, heady wildflowers - it smelled like my Gran's overgrown, beautiful Twickenham garden in summer. I'm not a florals person at all, but this is just beautiful, it's bright and happy, but spiced and sexy all at once. When I looked up the notes I realised I could identify it as dark chocolate (I agree with the above, it's similar to the new Candy Butcher, but a lot less in your face - it's barely foodie or chocolatey at all, in overall vibe), with just a subtle hint of sweet clove, and I'm pretty sure it's the pink pepper with the vanilla tar that somehow gives the wildflower impression. I wish I was better at naming flowers, because it is, it's exactly like sticking your nose into the most gorgeous, fresh flower - heady and deep and sexy without any artificial perfuminess, and I find it so amazing that it has this impression from such totally unexpected notes! I see myself wearing this a lot - it smells like sexy summer nights, I could wear it clubbing, I could wear it at bedtime - I like variety too much to have a 'signature scent', but this is just, wow, if I was a signature scent person I would need far more than two bottles! The Purple Snails collection has been blowing me away left right and centre, but this is my favourite of all so far!

I nearly didn't order this because I thought weinerbrot meant sausage bread and I was like...fucking SAUSAGE BREAD? I want to smell like a sausage?! Not really! I'm so glad I mentioned this by chance to someone who corrected me, and I realised I had to have it! This scent is very strong, and lasts a long while on me. Initially it's almost like maple syrup, but thicker and darker, and spiced - I'm not keen on wearing maple syrup as a scent but this is gorgeous, it's far more complex, and probably the most realistic freshly baked foodie-cake scent I've ever encountered - it's actually helping my diet along because I find it satisfying to sniff (other people might find it makes them hungry, I'm a bit odd with food scents!). There's something in there that smells like oven fresh raisin cookies, the caramelized pecan I think is what gives that rich, dark maple syrup note, and the 'pearl sugar and soft cinnamon' is a perfect description - the cinnamon in this is perfect - it's not fake and burning, it smells just like the gooey melted cinnamon-sugar atop a gleaming cinnabun. Really warm, cosy, comforting and realistic, yet that damn cinnamon is actually sexy - I would go out wearing this scent, it's not too cutesy foodie, I can genuinely see people actually liking it in an 'I'm not sure if I wanna eat you or fuck you' kind of way In conclusion, gorgeous - so SO glad I wasn't thrown off by the sausage bread thing, and that I got a whole bottle!

Only the second of the Laces I've tried, and I quite like this! On initial application there's a lot of effervescent champagne, and almost a hint of lime, which combined with the vanilla smells a bit like cream soda with limeade in it, which is a little peculiar if not unpleasant. After maybe 10 minutes of drying though, the fizz has died down, and it's much smoother and softer, the vanilla is really sweet and creamy, there's a hint of cognac, and it's quite a sweet, simple, happy little scent that I think I'll wear a lot in summer. A bit sad that I'm getting no opium, or smokiness with the vanilla, but maybe those will emerge as it settles, since it only arrived today. As it is though, it's clean and sweet, with an intriguing mixture of creamy vanilla and slightly fizzy champagne, and it definitely smells like a really fun, happy summer scent. Glad I got a bottle!

I really like this, and am in an agony of indecision over whether I need more than the half-bottle I bought! I feel like this scent should've been in the VILF collection - I messed around layering a few of the VILFs with Graveyard Dirt SN, to make more of a grave-rising vampire, and Cicuta's combo was quite similar to this, so it's lovely to have it pre-bottled! Usually I do not like florals with dirt - I don't like Zombi, or Deep In Earth, but this just has a hint of dry, crumbling rose with equally dry, crumbly dirt - it's not the rich loam of Graveyard Dirt, it smells much older and more peaceful, a sort of half-forgotten graveyard on a summer's day kind of scent, and I really love it It smells of peaceful, dusty death, like a cemetery full of fallen war dead who've been sleeping too long to be pissed off anymore, and they don't mind the kids playing around their tombstones. It's very pretty, with just the tiniest edge of strange creepiness, and I think it's perfect. Will have to see how I feel in a few more days, as to whether I need to hunt down more!

I'm glad somebody said poop before me! I have no idea what note is to blame for this, I've found it in other BPALs before (possibly Darkness?), but it's this perfumey stench that really, literally smells like poop or a dog's ass, and it just never gets any better. The perfuminess is a little similar to Opium Poppy, but that one stays in the 'dark and sexy' area without falling over into asshole-town, whereas this one, sadly, goes right to asshole-town and crawls inside it. Scrubbed off, thank god I didn't go for a full bottle!

I really couldn't make my mind up about this the first time I tried it, but now it's had a week or two to settle, I'm absolutely in love with it! It's perfectly gender-neutral, almost masculine leaning, very dark and badass, but sweet at the same time - a similar vibe to Interfector, which I also love. The spiced rum and clove with the birch tar almost give it a slightly Christmassy feel, like an evil, boozy pomander On the first day this arrived, the leather was very dominant, and almost a bit nauseating with the boozy sweetness, but now it's settled the leather's barely there, right in the background, and the overall impression's much more harmonious. With the tobacco and birch tar it's very thick, dark, and smoky, overlaid with the spice of the clove and the sweet booziness of the rum. Love, love love!! It's just so badass smelling, but at the same time really comforting - I will be wearing this a lot, and may well have to hunt down a second bottle if my infatuation continues!

First again! Didn't have much luck with the single notes this time around, but this one, is awesome! I wasn't sure on initial bottle opening - first impression was a little too eucalyptusy-mentholy, where I've been a much bigger fan of the really true to life pine in The Jersey Devil, but actually, on skin this rapidly calms down, and turns into a perfect frickin' Christmas tree scent! Gives me weird memories of crawling under the boughs of the Christmas tree as a little kid, lying there on my back staring up at the lights, and if I found fallen needles I'd snap them in half and sniff them, and this scent is exactly that - freshly snapped Christmas tree needles - that blast of distilled childhood Christmas-scent you get, and it's so lovely It definitely is a single note - there's no creative extras with this one, but it does its thing perfectly, and I'm definitely intrigued for the layering possibilities! I (stupidly, arghh!) didn't go for the Snowdrift scent, but I'd bet that one + this one makes a really fabulous White Christmas layering cocktail! Think I'll be wearing this a fair bit over the holidays - much as I love sweet n sticky Yuley scents, on a day when I'm surrounded by family members and stuffed with chocolate, sometimes it's nice to have a scent that's quite crisp and clean, but still seasonal, and this is perfect (and oh, crap, I have GOT to try this layered with Lick It, holy balls - maybe that'll make for a snowy tree-thing! ) Tl;dr - THUMBS UP!

Favorite pastime: stealing candles from children. Such a scamp! Beeswax, strawberries, and bits of hard candy. Oooh, scary, I'm first! ...and I'm having to edit this review, because much as this scent is still very, very sticky-sweet, for some reason I found myself reaching for it again today, and I think it's growing on me! Previously I said: "Anything with beeswax in is an automatic buy for me, and strawberries too - hell yes! Sadly though, the 'hard candy' is the killer here for me. The strawberry note is very similar to Strawberry Moon '12 - which I love - that same sweet/tart effervescent pink, fresh zingy strawberry, but whereas in 'Moon it's got the grasses and sap to balance out the sweetness and keep it really fresh and mouthwatering, in this the additional sugar-hit of the candy, plus the richness of the beeswax, tilt it wayyy over the sweetness edge, and it's just toooo strongly candied and cloying for me I think a lot of people will like this though - it's definitely very fun, very childlike (kinda reminds me of a toy in the 80s that was strawberry scented...I forget what toy it was, but it smells a lot like that!), and it's got great throw and long wear time, but for me it's sadly a nope :ghost:" ...but now, today, I'm quite liking it! Beeswax does always seem to need ageing, and today it's just a little more deeper and golden smelling with that beeswax note, less honey-sticky-candified. It's such a happy smell! Nose, you are incredibly indecisive, but I guess I'll be keeping this guy for a while, and see whether he continues to grow on me!

Arrived yesterday from the Etsy site! This is definitely up there in the top three most Christmas-tastic BPAL scents I've ever tried, it's just got everything! The main drydown scent on me is all wood-smoke, a hint of pine, and a splash of something warm and spiced, like mulled cider, in the most soft, fuzzy, realistic way - it really smells like a laid back, cuddly Christmas in some movie-set-perfect log cabin out in the snow, it's so gorgeous! Applying more, when it's fresh it's sweeter and juicier, the apple cider hasn't gotten so spiced yet, and there's almost a hint of big fat squidgy cranberries, and also piney Christmas tree, but very soft and true, not remotely eucalyptus-y menthol-pine. Then it dries down, and out comes the lovely woodsmoke, and the spice - the spice is almost like sniffing a year-old pomander, that sort of dusty-soft comforting clove and cinnamon with a hint of orange, which is what I so wanted from this year's Pomander SN but was let down by - this scent has all that and more, and I adore it! Cocoa Pink do a scent called Cozy Cabin in the Woods which is similar to this, in terms of the notes, but I found that one really became plasticky and nauseating after a while, whereas this definitely doesn't - it's much softer and more realistic, and the final drydown of clinging woodsmoke, pomander-spice and a hint of mulled cider never becomes sickly and obnoxious, it just stays comforting and Christmassy and beautiful. Big love!

A melancholy, deep scent, poignant and brimming with nostalgia. The perfume of sugared plums over a breeze of winter flowers. 2007 version, freshly acquired from Etsy This is sweeter and more candy-berry-like than I'd expected, but I really like it! It reminds me a little of a plum version of Strawberry Moon, that same zingy fresh berryness, but...plum. I'm on a big plum rampage recently, and this is a lovely addition - the other plum scents I own are quite sexy musky plum, whereas this is a more cuddly, comforting plum. There is a tiny hint of wintery coldness there, but only a hint, and only the slightest of florals, perhaps a little similar to the vague, non-offensive, barely-there florals in Snow White? Overall, pretty, candied, cuddly plum, fairly non-specific in terms of season - doesn't feel a definitively Christmassy sort of scent, would probably be nice in summer too

For me, this is a huge hell no! I didn't try the perfume oil in this scent, purely the bath oil, and I don't think I will even try it in the bath, because...just...eww, god no - it smells like an old school lunchbox that's been left to go stale over the weekend, like squashed, sweaty cheese sandwiches. If I tolerate that stench and stiff a little closer, I can smell a faint hint of frosting in there, but the over-riding pong is sweaty, stale, borderline mouldy cheese sandwiches No pumpkin, no cupcake, just rotten cheese. I don't often meet BPAL bath oils I dislike, so this one is an unpleasantly stinky surprise - minus 50 out of 10!!