RoseThornAndOak

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.

Finally, a honey note that legit smells like honey! Honey usually turns to a powdery mess on my skin, but this smells more like a really nice, honeycomby, raw, fresh-out-of-the-jar honey. It is sweet but darkened a bit by the other notes, almost earthy/slightly floral in a way that makes the honey note seem more natural. I really like this and think it will layer well.

This is nice, it starts out with a blast of citrus, the bergamot I suppose and the juniper threatens to smell like a weird old pine box for about 30 seconds. The metallic note is definitely silvery and reminds me of Silver Phoenix a bit, which was nice enough but I ended up destashing. While I think I like this better, it's just okay on the skin as it dries. The vanilla lacey bits are there underneath the brighter notes, but its just not wowing me I guess. However it is reminiscent of Mouses Long and Sad Tale, Antique Lace, and Zorya, so if you are into any of those, consider trying this one! I like those better but I'll keep this around to see how it ages!

I had a very similar experience with this as theseagrows. It's almost a single note lilac, lightly powdered with amber in a pretty and soft way.

Very nice, fun, chocolatey Snake Oil. As with most chocolate blends the chocolate note sticks around for a while then fades, but leaves an aura of sweetness. I like this better than regular Snake Oil, it is softened a bit. I have heard SO described as almost waxy, and it is in a way here, but less extreme. I don't need a backup bottle, but I'll probably reach for my bottle somewhat often, especially as it ages. Another keeper!

Probably my favorite of the Halloweenies so far! I kinda went back and forth on this one, then Herbs and Altars posted her glowing review on Youtube and she was right! A lot of apple scents tend to go plasticy and off on my skin, but this works very well and is up there with Glittering Apple of The Stars as one of my favorite lab apple blends. I do get caramel, apple, and somewhat of a cookie note (especially in the opening), but I think it is more brown sugary with a lot of depth. Its sweet and dark in a way and very fall. I like it better than most of my pumpkin scents, actually! It has decent longevity on the skin as well. Glad to have a bottle!

Am I really the first to review?? Frostbitten Lust is pretty dope. I layered Snow-Flakes with regular old Lust and it was okay, but I had a feeling FL would be better and it was! Also Frostbitten Lust is the most Black Metal name for a perfume I can think of, so there's that ("FROSTBITTEN LUUUUUUUUUUUSTTTTT!!!"). Anyway, this is really, REALLY good. It has the red musk and other Lust note softened around the edges with the snowy frostbitten note. It is reminiscent of how well Frostbitten Snake Oil and Frostbitten Bliss turned out. It's sexy, creamy, snowy, and musky, without the patchouli being too harsh and I don't detect a pine slush note, and this is fresh from the lab. Nothing seems to top Pink Snowballs as a favorite snowy scent for me but this is WAY up there and yeah boi, this is gonna age well. Overall VERY happy I sprang for a bottle and I'm considering a backup! Edited: revisted this and while I love it, it is pretty strong, so I think one bottle will suffice and a backup is not needed.

I had a very similar experience to VetchVesper with this one. I got bitter tea, minty anise notes on top of pungent, dank, and dark patchouli. Murk I think is a good adjective. I really wanted to like this, it is very unique. If you like darker aged patchouli blends for sure give this one a whirl.

A honeyed toasty bread blend that doesn't go powdery as honey can do. It legit smells like honey on toast!

What's this? A milk blend that doesn't go sour on my skin? Wow! I definitely get marshmallow and bits of milk, the lavender is there but very softened. It's nice, I'll use up the decant for nighttime. ?