DiesMali

In the bottle: Dark, smoky pine pitch. Wet on my skin: Scorched, dark wood, pine pitch, and bonfire embers. Dry: For years, I've been looking for a really true-to-life "bonfire in the woods at night" sort of scent, and I do believe this is it. This isn't a roaring bonfire, though - it's in the hours after the bonfire has peaked and begun to burn low, when the air is filled with smoke and ash and the air around you starts to get chilly now that the night breeze can cut through the fire's warmth. The pine and oak logs in the heart of the fire have burnt to charred husks, and clumps of gooey pitch blacken and then explode into sparks as new logs are added to keep the flames from dying. There's a little bit of spicy greenness from the pine needles and moss, but mostly, this is a dark, heavy, smoky-burnt wood scent. Very very atmospheric and scene-setting. This isn't gonna be something you want to wear to smell pretty, but if your aesthetic is "that creepy lady who just walked out of the creepy, dark forest and started floating above a group of terrified villagers," this might be your thing. It smells like this photo (plus more fire):

In the bottle: Sharp, chemical, and weird. Wet on my skin: This goes on smelling pretty weird, but don't be scared (like I was the first time I tried it)! The initially startling "crack" of sharp ozone and crackly electricity-smell mellows out pretty quickly, and it's actually a pretty cool scent progression. Immediately, it's that sharp electrical ozone and cool, medicinal benzoin, and I don't know HOW they managed to bottle the scent of a crack of lightning, but they did it. Dry: As this dries down, it mellows out pretty quickly into something dark and moody. That initial blast of chilly-electrical ozone-benzoin lasts for maybe a minute or two, and then roll in the blue clouds of indigo musk, tobacco, and opoponax. It's very much a grey-blue scent on me, and although it isn't in-your-face aquatic, there is an aquatic feel to it due to a hint of salty tang pairing with that ozone. The blue benzoin in this is definitely one of the medicinal, "chilly-vanilly" benzoins when paired with the ozone. That said, I actually bought this primarily for the indigo musk, which doesn't disappoint! It's a sweet, dark, smooth musk that is a somewhat rare treasure in BPAL releases, and I don't even really know how to describe it to anyone who hasn't tried it before. The tobacco in this is sweet and dark, like the tobacco in Hellfire, and the opoponax serves mostly to blend in with the benzoin as a sweet resin once everything's settled in to the skin. Overall, this is probably leaning toward the masculine side of unisex, and iI can't stop sniffing myself as I sit here in this cloud of "dark, cloudy blue." There have only been a couple BPAL releases since 2015 that might even be scent cousins to this, so it's also something that might appeal to folks looking for something a little unusual that is neither foodie nor floral.

In the bottle: Clean, citrusy tea and a little bit of something creamy-sweet. Wet on my skin: This goes on as basically a true-to-life but also perfumey Earl Grey tea. It's bergamot-heavy and the sweeter, creamier notes take a minute to come out. Dry: For the first few days I had this, the honey, cream, and marshmallows were the strongest notes, with just a bit of citrusy tea. Now that it's had a couple weeks to sit, the Earl Grey tea is the strongest note! As it wears, the tea starts to fade and I get more of primarily the toasted marshmallow, with the honey and cream adding some light, smooth sweetness. Eventually, after a few hours, it smells noticeably like Lucky Charms marshmallows. It's definitely the bigger morpher out of all the Liliths I bought this time around, but I like all the stages. It has sort of a "classy classic with a twist" feel to it for the first couple of hours, and then turns into something more cute and playful. As I suspected it might be, it's fairly perfumey, and like a lot of tea-based scents, it fades fairly quickly on my thirsty skin. Lasts ~3-4 hours before all I get is a faint whiff of sweet cereal milk, and then it's gone an hour after that. I can see this one getting a lot of use in the spring, and maybe it'll last longer when there is more humidity in the air!

In the bottle: Syrupy chocolate! Wet on my skin: This goes on mostly as chocolate-glazed cake donuts and a little bit of sticky maple. It's already quite realistic at this point, and smells like I just popped open a box of donuts and warmed up a couple of them in the microwave. Dry: This scent isn't super long-lasting on my skin, sadly, but it's nice enough that I don't mind having to reapply after 3 hours! I definitely get more chocolate than maple from this all the way through, but the maple is more present for the first hour or so. The chocolate donuts in this are specifically thick, bready cake donuts, not lighter, fried pastry donuts. I also get the glaze, which is chocolate glaze to my nose! After this has been on for a while (1.5+ hours), the maple and glaze burn off a bit and it becomes one of those dark chocolate cake donuts that has just a light dusting of dry powdered sugar. Dry, bready chocolate cake for the last hour and a half or so. It's really very nice, even if a bit short-lived on my skin!

In the bottle: Thick, sweet, boozy cream and a little bit of mixed resins. Wet on my skin: This goes on much sweeter than I anticipated when I ordered it, because I guess I didn't realize bourbon cream is an actual liqueur and that it's sweet like Irish cream. It's fairly boozy when wet, and the bourbon cream note is definitely the strongest on me for the first 10 minutes or so. I can smell the frankincense and sandalwood as well, and they get much stronger as it starts to dry. Dry: This blend took a couple days to settle down after the first test, and this is now the third time I've worn it, one week later. The thick, sweet, boozy bourbon cream now settles down fairly well after it's been on for 10-15 minutes, for which I am grateful! It is sweeter and less dry than I think I was anticipating with the listed notes, but not in a bad way. After the bourbon cream, the most prominent notes are sandalwood and frankincense, and I can pick out everything except the hazelnut, which seems to be combining with the oak to give it all sort of a woody, dry-gourmand warmth. It isn't outright foodie, but there's definitely something edible and sweet in it. The ink is hard for me to pick out specifically, because I've only tried BPAL's ink notes once before, but there's a whiff of something both sweetish and a little bit bitter, and I think I recognize it as ink because that's what is in the note description. Overall, it's a very "comfortable" type of scent, with the liqueur-sweetened woods and resins, and it wouldn't smell out of place if it had been released with the Yules rather than the Liliths. Golden-brown in tone, warm, and the descriptor "ecclesiastical gourmand" comes to mind. It's really nice, and I suspect a little bit of aging will go a LONG way with this blend.

Like MamaMoth above, this is my favourite of the Liliths I ordered! In the bottle: Dark, sweet, slightly fuzzy, and "purple." Wet on my skin: As this goes on, it's primarily that black amber and candlewax, with a little bit of aquatic saltiness and vanillic sweetness. Black amber is my favourite type of BPAL amber, so this is off to a good start! Dry: This. Is. GORGEOUS. After having my order for a week now and wearing this blend a few times already, I'm considering a backup bottle, which is very, very rare for me. It's a little bit reminiscent, in the best sort of way, of an old Bath & Body Works favourite called Black Amethyst, which I wore through my college years (long before discovering BPAL). It's very well-blended on me, but the black amber, vanillic tonka-candlewax, and honey dust are easier to pick out than the other notes if I inhale deeply. The driftwood gives it a little bit of aquatic salt, but probably not enough to scare someone who dislikes aquatics, and the patchouli is a sweet patch that darkens everything and gives it a bit of earthy sweetness. I can't actually specifically pick out any lavender at all, but I'm sure it is doing something in this glorious purple cloud. Overall, this is a "more than the sum of its parts" perfume, and the vibe to it is sort of gritty-rocker-goth-chic, if that makes sense. I could imagine Joan Jett or Grace Jones wearing something like this. NICE. ...now, how many bottles are left?

In the bottle: Warm, spicy resins! Wet on my skin: This goes on spicier and more resinous than I think I was expecting, but in a good way! Amber, rose resin, galbanum, and clove bud are at the forefront, and I can tell the notes beneath those are rich and complex. There's something about it that reminds me a little bit of The Midnight Carnival, from the OG Last Unicorn line. Dry: This doesn't change a whole lot as it dries, aside from mellowing just a little bit. It's a bit smokier and spicier than I'd expected, but again, in a good way! Warm, spicy, and really pretty. The amber, rose resin, galbanum, and clove bud remain the more prominent notes, and the cardamom, chestnut, and fig add some extra warmth and a little bit of sweetness. The fig in this is dried rather than fresh, juicy fig, and is definitely more of a supporting note than a main player, so be aware if you were hoping for a juicy fig-forward scent. It still reminds me a little of The Midnight Carnival, and I think that must be the galbanum, because it's fairly prominent in both scents and gives them both sort of a "magical bonfire smoke" sort of feel (at least, on my skin). It is slightly on the masculine side of unisex, which is something I personally don't mind at all. Overall, glad I grabbed a bottle of this! I bet it'll be even better after some aging.

In the imp: Cologney bergamot and vetiver. Wet on my skin: This is almost a perfect balance of bergamot and smoky grasses once it's on my skin, and it is very much into "traditional mens' cologne" territory at this point. Dry: This blend doesn't morph a whole lot as it dries and wears, except that a bit of the bittersweet bergamot eventually burns off and more of the resin-smoked vetiver-hay combination comes out past the ~2-3 hour mark. I usually like high-end cologne scents, and I do like this one, but it's a bit too "traditionally masc" for me to really be interested in wearing it. There are only a few of those that I've tried from BPAL so far, and I guess we just added another one! Not quite my thing, but I can see older guys in particular enjoying wearing this! In fact, I'm getting a mental image of an ex-football player dad (the kind who'd consider Irish Spring to be luxury soap) picking out a "fancy" cologne to wear to his daughter's high school graduation ceremony and a nice family dinner afterward. Definitely a nice potential gift for dads and grandpas. Maybe drag kings, too.

In the bottle: Heavy PURPLE flowers. Wet on my skin: Heavy PURPLE flowers and a little bit of musky smokiness. Dry: The lilac and wisteria in this, along with the vanilla, are so well-blended as to create their own new flower with characteristics of all three, and all of the other notes are this supporting haze of red-grey-purple musk with threads of silvery smoke and fragrant oakmoss. BPAL's indigo (especially indigo musk) note is gorgeous on me, and I specifically seek out new blends using that rare jewel, because they're literally always just beautiful. This is no exception. It's a "classy classic" sort of dark floral with that uniquely BPAL edginess to it. Picture an ancient mother-daughter vampire countess duo played by Dame Helen Mirren and Cate Blanchett; Helen Mirren's classy-classic vampire countess wears this perfume, and Cate Blanchett's edgier vampire countess wears A-Rovin' from last year's Anniversary series. Also, this might be the most PURPLE scent I own.

In the bottle: Almost aquatic, vegetal, musky cologne. Wet on my skin: There's something in this that is very similar to the vegetal cologne notes in Pumpkin Chypre, a Halloweenie from a few years back. Unfortunately, that one never did work on me. This is better than that one so far, but it's still kind of oddly soapy on my skin, in a "handmade artisan soap" sort of way. Dry: I was hoping for more spice and smoke from this, and I might let it age for a few months and then come back to update this review, because I really wanted to like this more than I do so far. It's not bad, but it's also still got that odd, soapy feel to it. I remember now that currant is in this blend and is certainly the culprit there, as currant notes (and other berries) tend to push scents toward being like fruity-herbal Herbal Essences shampoo or body wash on my skin. Ginger can be either spicy or "clean" on me, and this seems to be a clean ginger note, which probably also contributes to the Herbal Essences feel to this. Overall, this is a fairly clean-green, smooth, chypre-like blend on me, and I must admit that I am a bit disappointed. Hopefully some aging will bring out the tobacco, myrrh, and pepper and dirty up that currant and clean ginger a bit.

In the bottle: A sweet, almost tangy wood scent. Wet on my skin: About the same as in the bottle. It's an almost cologney, sweet-tangy-shiny wood scent. Dry: I'm gonna admit right here that I'm not sure what in this is the lacquered bamboo, as I'm not familiar with those notes yet. This is slightly smoky, slightly salty, and also a little sweet, and is very much a "sum of its parts" sort of well-blended scent. If I inhale deeply, I can quickly pick out the smoked vanilla, oak, and a sort of spicy-tangy wood that must be the lacquered bamboo. The almond blossom, tonka, and amber sweeten it and give it this very smooth, almost cool feel, and I'm not entirely sure what the mushroom smells like by itself, but there's something in there giving everything a softer, slightly earthy-musky feel after it's been on my skin for 15-20 minutes. After this point, it doesn't change much through the rest of its wear, and it doesn't have a whole lot of throw even though it lingers for quite some time. It's on the masc side of unisex, at least on my skin. Overall, this joins the ranks of "very high-end cologne" type scents, which is something I personally enjoy!

In the bottle: Dark, almost liqueur-like chocolate. Wet on my skin: This goes on as a rich, dark, almost musky cacao with a hint of woody incense. Dry: This is a dark, slightly spicy, and fairly uncomplicated scent. Rich, dry cacao with spicy copal and a breeze of dry, almost airy-lemony palo santo. The cacao is definitely the leading note both in the bottle and on the skin, as the first thing I smell at the start of a sniff, but the copal and palo santo join it pretty quickly and are equally important to the end result, which is a well-blended, dark, masc-leaning cacao scent. I'd say this one is on the masc side of unisex, at least on me.

In the bottle: A somewhat nondescript haze of mentholic evergreen and musky moss. Wet on my skin: This is actually fairly quiet as it goes on, but then blooms into this warm, dark, earthy, spicy haze after a minute or two on the skin. Dry: This is definitely what most people would consider to be a masculine scent. There's a green spice from that mentholic-piney wood and ti leaf and a red spice from the mahogany and red pepper, and underneath that is this gorgeous, almost tea-like earthiness. Almost like black tea leaves and tobacco mulched into rich, dark soil. The mahogany in this is the same rich, dark mahogany from A Hailstorm of Knitting Needles, and there's almost a salty quality to the hinoki, which is a new wood to my nose. After it's been on for 30+ minutes, everything is settled down into the skin and now it's a smooth, very well-blended "masculine earthy woods" scent, with mahogany, oud, and tobacco being the most easily discernible notes. Overall, it's in the territory of very high-end mens' cologne, like the kind I'd smell on opera singer friends at the opera-night afterparties where they schmooze with the wealthy opera patrons, which isn't something I personally mind at all. There isn't a whole lot of throw, and this would be a good scent for a "classy" event where you want to smell good enough to be memorable when you squeeze past someone, but not enough for it to linger in your wake. Like...a fancy opera afterparty.

In the imp: Clean, sweet, slightly soapy florals. Wet on my skin: This goes on very much lily and pear, with an undertone of sweet pea. Dry: As far as lily and/or pear blends go, this is actually a well-behaved, inoffensive one on me. Youthful and light, pretty, and sweet. My skin often blows up pear and lily notes into "entire mortuary worth of flowers" and/or soap, but here, it's fairly quiet, realistic flowers and a hint of juicy pear. I can pick out lilies, honeysuckle, and sweet pea if I try, but overall it's a well-blended bouquet. I think the white musk and some hints of 'green' stem notes in the flowers must be taming this just enough that it actually works on me! There's a slightly powdery quality to it as it wears, and that is (to me) reminiscent of the thick, fuzzy yellow pollen you get in those big, floppy lilies of various types. The scent overall isn't really something I would wear more than once in a blue moon, as fruity-florals are not quite "me," but this is really pretty and I'll be happy to have it on my skin while (re)testing it! Might pull out the imp from time to time, who knows.

HOLY HECK HOW DID I NEVER TRY OR REVIEW THIS BEFORE? OMG. I'm gonna preface this review by stating I need a bottle of this yesterday. In the imp: Thick, dark, spicy-musky anise. Wet on my skin: Thick, dark, spicy-sweet anise with a musky, feral edge to it. Oh, it's gorgeous even at this early stage! Dry: This scent doesn't change a whole lot for the first hour or two. It remains that thick, dark, sweet anise with a feral musk, now with the dark vetiver forest and deceptively soft clumps of lichen and oak leaves, which combine to be quite reminiscent of oakmoss. These are all notes that are generally good to great on me, and SOMEHOW I skipped trying this one for years, even though I got my first imp of it in...2015. Oops. Anyway! I like this even better when dry, because those oakmossy oak-lichen and vetiver notes are *such* a fantastic complement to the sharp, spicy-sweet, feral duet of anise and civet. It's a dark, dangerous, probably seductive blend whose seductive properties I wouldn't mind testing at some point. At least, I'd be seduced a bit if someone I was getting to know wore this. Maybe it'll work the opposite way...? Time to go order some GCs this week, I guess! Black Annis can't ride alone.