RoseThornAndOak

I received an aged frimp from a lovely forumite and this is gorgeous! Red musk is a player, but I get more of a dry desert sands, musks, and incensey spices from this, very sensual. This is more like what I wanted out of Morocco, which is nice, but goes plasticy powdery on me juuuust enough for me to say skip it. Scherezade never goes powdery thankfully. I'm on a Conan: The Barbarian kick recently and this is what I would imagine Valeria would wear. F*ing badass, sexy, sensual, spices, and musks in the desert wind. Do you want to live forever?

I'm not sure how to feel about this. Straight from the Lab in the bottle it was straight up smokey, creamy rootbeer. Uhhh...Excellent? About a week from then, I tried this on, and it was strong, heady, slightly smokey rootbeer with red musk. I didn't catch much fig, citrus, lilac, or even vetiver (kinda glad on that one). Later on the red musk peaks out and dries down mostly red musk, but inbetween I could smell a bit of chamomile if I searched for it. It doesn't really come off fruity or floral. It's mostly about the rootbeer and musk. It is an odd combination, and I have nothing else like this in my collection. It could be a very distant cousin to The Phantom Calliope. Hell, this could be a Carnival Diabolique blend. Infernal Rootbeer Stand? I'm going to hold on to it and see if it's like Van Halen, where you can't decide whether you love it or hate it. I decided to love Van Halen, so maybe Sissy the Ascendent will go the same way?

1 week fresh from the Lab. I get the dirt note first off followed up by a dry, incense note that makes this blend feel, very, very old. The boney note is dry, and the moldering shroud notes are almost papery like moldering, dessicated tobacco. It's not in an entirely pleasant way, but in a 'wow, this is actually creepy AF' sort of way. This makes me think less of Shakespeare and more of a vampire resting in almost sepian grey, ancient tomb with the walls crumbled to dust around him. Or maybe Gandalf in a library reading ancient texts. Beeswax may have been fused into the walls for hundreds of years. Very evocative. It reads slightly masculine but I still love it. I'm keeping the imp, considering a bottle. ❤️ For fans of Eshe, Antony, Zombi, Deep Midnight Perfumes The Crypt, or Whisper Sisters Haxan, although this really is its own scent.

For being a dirt scent I found this surprisingly light, green, fresh, and loamy. There's an almost crispness to it, too, like how I want the dead leaves note to work in manu Autumnal scents that never work. This is a good replacement, almost a cross between dirt and the Lab's beautiful oak note. 😃 Although I enjoy Whisper Sisters dirt note a smidge more, I'm so happy to finally find a bottle of this. It embodies more of the dead leaves and dirt you would find in a graveyard and I absolutely love it. Another thing, I'm grateful its not a patchouli dirt blend, as many dirt blends can be. It's fresher, lighter. So good. ❤️ PS : layers gloriously with Bluebonnet single note.

I wore this on the same arm as Graveyard Dirt SN, with Yorick on my other arm to compare. Wow this is lovely! Is that magnolia? Tragedy nailed it, bright dirt with Spring flowers. The earth note is kind of light, too and innofensive. It's pretty and feminine, not too powdery, surprisingly clean but all that said, decidedly gothic and romantic. Gorgeous! For fans of Zombi (its lighter than Zombi), Graveyard Dirt, Deep in Earth, Whisper Sisters Fresh Grave or Blood Red, and Deep Midnight Perfumes The Crypt.

This is beautiful! It starts out in the bottle and wet on skin as a cool, crisp floral very similar to carnation with green dewy leaves/grass. Gorgeous. It dries down to a scent more reminiscent of, yeah I agree, daffodil, hyacinth, or maybe tulip or hydrangea, somewhere around there, but with a purplish blue shade. It reminds me most of Grief, but I like this more! The only other BPAL I've tried with bluebonnet is The East, which while pleasant went dryer sheet on me. This stays floral and fresh without veering into that territory and I'm so glad! There is a short stage where if I get in close, I get a plastic, artificial vibe, but the throw doesn't carry it as much. This stage doesn't last forever thankfully. This is an amazing spring time floral. Plus it helps hurricane relief, so it's a win win. It's great on its own and I can't wait to layer it with Graveyard Dirt. I got hours and hours of decent sillage and lasting power when applied on the inner elbow. This might just be my favorite BPAL floral, and I don't say that lightly. ❤️ For fans of Grief, Slippery Poppy Tincture, Pele, Lady of Shalott, or Alkemia's Blue Ridge Skyline.

I like this better in the bottle than what my skin did with it. It starts out a very beautiful light aquatic similar in feel to Sunrise with Sea Monsters or Moana, a bit more of that, I kinda wanna say earthy, less soapy aquatic that is mellower than most. The pearlescent note smells expensive, light, and sophisticated. The orris and driftwood lend more of a dryness than an in-your-face powder, which I appreciate. I don't get much musk, but the pink read like a very light, inoffensive grapefruit. It just kinda, dudded out on the skin and was fleeting, unfortunately. However, I can tell this has potential for greatness, so maybe it will do better with some aging and it will certainly work its magical mermaid shimmer in a locket. Oh, in the bottle, it's fresh, juicy grapefruit, with swirls of aquatic notes, dry woods, sophisticated high-end, nonpowdery light ambers, and beautiful, dewy, soft lotus petal. Yep pink shimmery mermaid! Edit* okay yes, much better on clothes! Love, keep. Wait hold everything. Later, this turned into a sweet sugared dewy lotus in a pond of cool water type of skin scent. It is almost as if it was a lotus version of Hope and Faith. Very, very faint, but pleasant and pretty.

I don't have much to add that hasn't already been said here, the other reviews are bang on. Fresh from the Lab I get fresh greenery with a slight perfumey floral edge, enough to lift this from a purely atmospheric blend to perfume level while still maintaining a level of uniqueness. I do get a pollinous poison vibe, almost dusty and dry in a way, perhaps the manchineel "smoke". Not a smokey blend in any way, more of a green dust, but it doesn't make me sneeze at all, thankfully. There is something a bit sinister about it. I'll have to see how this ages. I sort of get the shroomies, they lend a sublte, dry earthiness to the blend. Although it is not my favorite green floral I like it quite a bit and very glad to have it! I think it would layer well with dirt notes, too and this is perfect for Spring. For fans of The Perfumed Garden, Lady of Shallot, Destroying Angel, Gap Grass, Alkemia Blue Ridge Skyline and Summer Dandelions, Sugar and Spite's Meadow, and The Strange South's Antebellum.

In the bottle, a honeysuckle jasmine blend, sweet, and fresh. On the skin it is *very similar* to the strong, sweet, creamy jasmine vibe of The Poinsettia Gown from this past Yule. If you were to swap out the rose for honeysuckle, you would have Eostre. I like them both a lot, there is an almost metallic note that really lifts these two to the next level. Fair warning, they are STRONG and somewhat cloying (Gracious those florals), so a little dab would do you. They both are reminiscent of a high end cold cream, but I wouldn't say they are too powdery really. The cream notes never go sour thankfully like many do. It is more sweet. Just apply very lightly. I was hoping to get a better idea for what Every Day You Play With The Light of The Universe would be like, and wasn't disappointed. I like The Strange South's River Song for a sweet honeysuckle the best, but this is still lovely and I'm sure Light of The Universe will be, too. 😃

Thank you BPAL for supporting people in need. ❤️ I'm getting a dry vanilla tobacco wood vibe very similar to The Antikythera Mechanism + cocoa and coffee, with light sage lending a dryness. If there is cassia it is very dry and light, lending to the dry feel. It's like a dark Antikythera Mechanism, and has an Old World vibe. I could see John Donne wearing this, or an ancient mariner, and agree that its perfectly unisex. Goddamn this is sexy and I freaking love love love love this! ❤️ ❤️ ❤️❤️ Later the hazelnut cream comes out with the vanilla. Awesome! Edit: about a month later and it just keeps getting better and better. I don't really get patchouli, it just adds to the overall dark woods vibe without being hippie-like. Where Eve is The Antikythera Mechanism's vampy sister, No Man is an Island is AM's darkly inclined brother. God its atmospheric yet wearable. So amazing. I might actually grab a backup of this, and I rarely get backups.

This is straight from the beautiful Lab, which I'm convinced has some aquatic wonderland off the coast somewhere where they trade with mermaids for Very Pretty Things. I agree with what has been stated above, Awake has a very sophisticated and sexy perfume vibe, only without the alcohol and plasticky notes. I'm trying to think what perfume it reminds me of, but is better than. When first put on it is dark, sweet amber with a smidgen of red musk, but doesn't have that oudh-like edge that red musk can have sometimes. The red musk is just slight enough to not stomp out the other notes. The amber is that rich, expensive perfume type, but not crazy powdery. As it dries down a slight, soft, smooth, silky aquatic note comes out that is not screechy or reading masculine at all, but just adds another...I don't know how else to put it, sexy expensive dimension? You know what? If this was a flanker to Dior Poison it would be called Mermaid Poison. It kind of reminds me of what I remember Amber Romance smelling like, too but with more depth and intrigue. It is not as heady as Midnight Poison, but Awake puts me in the same moonlight tryst sort of headspace. And yes, far more sophisticated than my pants and casual shirt *slips into velvet skirt* and I know there is a conventional that is closer to this in profile, but that is what's coming to me. I'm really enjoying this A LOT and think it will age well. If you miss wearing sexy, dark, classic night time, date night, noir type scents or found them to be a bit too much and wanted something similar that is not headache inducing or wanted something with more of a Gothic tone, give Awake a go. This is a soft, more wearable gothic Poison to me and I will cherish my bottle! ❤️ Edit: Next day Awake is still going strong and beautiful, and now reminds me of Narciso Rodriguez for Her, reading as a sweet, deep, musky amber with an orchid-esque floral. I've been wanting something similar to NR4H for a while and this is perfect! So pretty. Edit: year and a few months later, I totally get the similarity to Black Opal now, that sort of smoothed out shimmery stone vibe. I was a dummy andthe got rid of my bottle of Black Opal back in the day, but I think Awake works even better! @HerbGirl

2008 version: This shouldn't work on me at all: fruits go sour or plastic on me, patchouli can smell like stale cigarettes once on my skin, but this just defies all rhyme and reason. Its dark, sinister, cherry cinnamon and although there is patchouli, it somehow works perfectly, spookying up the atmosphere as opposed to just coming off like dirt, hippie, or Whole Foods. I gave my old bottle to a friend and it worked fantastic on him, so I started to miss it, and ordered another vintage bottle, and glad to see its back. This truly is one of the darkest, spookiest BPALS I've come across, its unique and, I don't know man, makes me think of King Diamond album covers and good memories of hanging out with friends listening to metal and going on random graveyard absinthe adventures. Very nostalgic for me and I will cherish it.

This is the 08 version. I found this to be a very dark, sultry, resinous musk with woods that don't go to pencil shavings at all! The woods add to the overall dry feeling to the blend. Feyofthefellwood was right, it is similar to Morocco. I like Inez much better, something would always go slightly off with Morocco. Just gorgeous dark woods. I do get the carnation, but it is very well blended in and read a bit like a soft spicey floral. Something in this has an ancient/antique vibe, the myrhh and sandalwood I think. She has aged beautifully (might be a vampire). It's very late night, sultry, grown up, and sexy. If you enjoy Morocco, Antikythera Mechanism, Eve, or even Rose Cross consider trying Inez. One of my favorites from the Carnival and the Lab. ❤️

This is lovely. Initially, it is a bit strong floral and sweet blend, with the jasmine getting somewhat cloying, but not too indolic to me. You can smell the rose and creamy notes as well, I picture a pinkish rose with a vintage edge. I would give the wet on skin and settling down stages maybe a 3.5 out of 5, but its final drydown is the star of the show, bumping up to a solid 4. Just gorgeous and well balanced, creamy, sweet florals. If I apply then rinse the spot with water after approximately 15-30 minutes, I can get to that final gorgeous scent a little quicker, but I like the other stages enough to not really have to do that often. I was afraid this would go sour, but so glad it didn't. Another definite winner from the Lab! Interested to see how it ages, too. ❤️ For fans of Katrina van Tassel, Hope, Alice, Cassia Aromatics Rose Milk, and Sarawen's Chocolate Rose. Edit 04/25/2024: This has aged beautifully. It has mellowed but retained its depth. Wow!

I very much wanted to write a glowing review for Xanthe today, but alas, fruit notes are usually iffy on me. This one starts out with a very pretty sugary guava and cotton candy and quickly goes sour on my skin and stays that way. The apple blossom does lend a nice clean, pretty floral laundry vibe that I do enjoy, if only it would be enough to overshadow the sour vibes. On the bright side I do really enjoy the opening, so this will be a very nice sugary, fruity floral scent with a creepy edge for clothing and lockets for me. I'll be needing something to freshen clothes anyway, and Xanthe is bubbly, sweet, and uplifting, so this will be perfect!

2015 Straight at the carnival gate there is a blast of lime! I guess this is where the limeade stand is. For being a creepy carnival, they do make sure to keep it clean. A few minutes in the limeade stand smell turns a bit lemon cleaner, but in a pleasant way. Later, I'm getting a clean linen/cotton type note with a hint if lime, with an almost fougere type vibe, but its mostly about the soft cottony floral note and light lime. It's just okay on me, but fans of Dorian might enjoy this, which I enjoy more. Overall very happy to have tried this one finally after trying so many blends over the years, this one finally crossed my path.

Oh my gosh this is pretty! This is the 09 version, and somewhat similar to La Befana...errrr 08? 09? same violet note + sweet, but minus the sootiness and fruity bits, although there is a bit of a dusty vintage note that i actually really really like! Its a very simple, sweet violet, like the reviewer above says, very similar to violet candies. I really love it, violet can be very iffy, and I think you have to enjoy violet to enjoy Faith, but this works pretty well. It is slightly play-doh like, but not enough to keep me from wearing it, I wouldn't say Faith is the worst offender so I'll be keeping it and will have to try layering with Hope. 😃 It is very soft, sweet, and calming like Hope is and comforting in a way, it's really helping me get though this virus shutdown when the world seems dark and scary, Faith says "there there now, keep the faith and remember also to enjoy the pretty things ". ❤️

This is from the old run, and very pretty! Hope is a very soft, maybe pink rose blend. It goes a little sour while drying down, but not enough to make this a swapper, this stage is pretty brief. Its just light sugary rose! Its not as sharp or stemmy as Rose Red, or as powdery as say London. I think dry on the skin, I like this better than Katrina. Hope is the sister that says not through words, but through her scent, presence, and simple gestures, that the world might be a scary place to be in right now, but she hopes everything might just be alright, and it's okay to stop and smell the roses sometimes. It's okay to be soft, playful, and hopeful, and try to support those around you and be a comfort to them. 🤗 Another winner from the Lab!

Naeelah pretty much summed up Spellbound perfectly. Very lovely red musk/rose/dragons blood type blend, not too crazy powdery but well blended. If the wine note in Blood Rose is wonky on you, Spellbound is a very wearable Blood Rose on me, absolutely perfect. It retains the incensey rose without the sour fruit! It is not listed as a note, but it reads very dragons blood, yet works better than most of the Lab's dragons blood blends on me. Also perfectly timed to be a reasonable replacement for Madame Moriarty as well. At some point over the past decade of aging the black currant note decided to go cat pee and ruin Mdm Moriarty during most phases and it was very sad! In walks Spellbound the enchantress, reassuring me "There there now, don't fret, I'm here now." 🤗 However this reads much closer to Blood Rose. This is up there with Frostbitten Lust and Flesh of My Flesh as a favorite red musk blend from the lab. Instantly going on the bottle list. fans of: Blood Rose, Tombeur, Madame Moriarty, Flesh of My Flesh, Lust, and La Lethe or Deep Midnight Perfumes Sangreal

Damn I forgot how good Coyote is! I have an older sample from, 08 maybe, well aged and a newer one, and there are subtle differences. The old one is soft, warm, and sweet, like warmed up sweetgrass almost, but also like soft leather, dried woods, sage, and sand. It's very comforting. The newer imp is very similar but smells a bit more feral and musky, where as the older one is dustier. I'm not sure if the formula was changed slightly or if it just needs more aging, but I do prefer the older imp.

I like it okay, the blend of strawberry and floral reminds me a bit of dragons blood or red musk, how they can smell fruity yet floral sometimes. It's threatening to go sour as most fruit blends do (damn skin chemistry sometimes) but its reasonably behaving? Ooo! You know what this reminds me of? Blood Kiss. Yeah! I think it will be better in a scent locket for me but it is a reasonably pleasant strawberry floral, not too much like fresh strawberries, but very much perfume-note, almost plasticky but not bad strawberry on my skin. I think it might be the same note in Bon Vivant, which works better on me but I might still use the imp up to keep my skin from turning it sour/plastic. 😃

Arkham is floral + soft woods (not super piney or anything) with a bit of an oceanic breeze on my skin. It's very creepy and atmospheric, like an old inn by the seaside that may or may not be made of driftwood, and there's flowers in the window sill, the moon is shining and the sea breeze is wafting in, but there's something very not right about the place. In other words its perfect.

This might sound weird but this smells like a vampire who is comfortable enough with her vampirality to wear cat eye glasses and drink a mai tai in a tiki bar in the tropics (only going to the beach at night, of course). Its sexy, vampy musks on top of a tropical drink and reminds me a lot of Upa Upa, which I sadly destashed recently and regretted it. This is spicier and muskier, but a nice and welcome substitute. Basically a sinister, tropical, demon chick who you might have seen driving a lipstick red '69 Mustang hitting up Florida death metal shows like Morbid Angel and Deicide. It has great throw, I could catch waffs of it throughout the day, so my little frimp will carry me for a while, but I may get more imps/partial, maybe a full at some point. I can't wait to wear this more in summer. Well done! Yeah skip it I'm getting a bottle.

I get a kinda spooky, interesting blood musk and honey blend similar to Moriarty or Kisses for Us All, drying down to a smutty funk. :[ Its okay in some places, but final drydown I am not liking. Will let it age some more.

This is my favorite of the OOTD blends, and up there with Madame Moriarty for being a favorite of the red musk blends. It starts out with red musk and slightly powdery florals, then dries down to a lovely floral vanilla amber w/ red musk running through it. Just Hell yes. Edit: Wore again today, the final drydown this time reminds me a bit more of the lace blends. Edit: I actually enjoy this better than Madame Moriarty. It doesn't have the troublesome black currant note. Exquisite.