DiesMali

I'm gonna second The Grave-Pig, which is a touch fruity from the fig, but also delightfully earthy-mushroomy. Must-have for patchouli lovers.

In the bottle: Brown leather and rosin. Nice. Wet on my skin: Soft, lovely brown leather with sun-warmed fir and cedar bark, little bit of green from needles. Dry: This is really, really nice. Soft, musky-warm dark brown leather, sun-warmed fir and cedar - mostly bark, little bit of needle green, and rosin, which I think is contributing heavily to the "evergreen bark" feel of the fir/cedar. Once it dries fully, it's close to the skin and is a "my skin but better" sort of scent. Soft, warm, comforting, little bit fuzzy. ❤️

In the bottle: Gentle, feminine rose. Wet on my skin: Pretty, standard clove-tinged rose. This is really reminding me of something else in my collection... Dry: This doesn't change a whole lot as it dries and wears, so what you smell at first is pretty much what you get! It's probably the "least unusual" of the Liliths I ordered this go-round, but it's very pretty and I like it! It's in the same scent family as Crucifixion and In Time of Plague, and is actually very much a sister scent to the latter. It's a lush, velvety rose-tobacco blend tinged by gentle not-spicy clove. Red rose and tea rose forward, smells "round and red." Very pretty, would be a good scent for a professional award dinner or something, where you want to make an impression and smell great but also need to be traditional enough that the older folks don't side-eye you too much.

In the bottle: Sticky-sweet, overripe mashed banana. Wet on my skin: Sticky-sweet, overripe mashed banana that quickly fades to a perfect, lightly spiced, warm banana bread. Dry: Mmmmmmmmmmm, banana bread. If you've ever smelled a really good loaf of freshly-baked banana bread with a little spice to it, you've smelled this. It's perfect.

In the bottle: Pancakes! More like pancake batter in the bottle. Wet on my skin: MMmmmmm, pumpkin pancakes. Or pumpkin bread. And just a whiff of coffee. Mmmmm. Dry: Okay, this is already shaping up to be one of my favourite foodie scents in a while. SO GOOD. It's true-to-life, doughy, warm pumpkin waffles and gingerbread, or spiced pumpkin bread (pumpkin-gingerbread?) with a hint of hot cocoa and black coffee. This smells like an IHOP meal at midnight, on a -10*F winter night, when my dad and I used to stop and have breakfast for dinner after our holiday Chorale concerts, which are now cancelled by COVID indefinitely. When pumpkin pancakes are in season, of course. Heck, it's making me a little sad now...but also really, really hungry.

Came off the mail truck today, so may revisit later! In the bottle: That's some THICC patchouli. Wet on my skin: THICC, sharp oudh and earthy-woody aged patchouli, with a hint of blood musk. The combination is actually rather leathery on me at this point. Dry: This perfume is not for the faint of heart, or of nose. It's also definitely something you should not get if you hate patchouli or oudh. If, like me, you like some stanky dirt patchouli, you're going to like this. This scent is basically "freshly risen from the grave zombie noblewoman who just had her husband for a midnight snack." Thicc, woody, earthy, leathery patchouli-oudh-blood musk with just a tiny hint of dried fig to keep it from being nothing but blood-spattered soil. It was almost too much even for my skin when wet, and I wear patchouli extremely well (I have at least 64 full bottles with some kind of patchouli in them, if that says anything). The first few minutes were concerning, but it's fine now! Still a very patchouli-oudh-musk scent, not a whole lot of sweetness. If you like stuff like Zombi, Nosferatu, Graveyard Dirt, and other zombie/ghoul/grave type scents, you'll probably like this.

Fresh from the mailbox, so may revisit later! In the bottle: Smells exactly like rich, un-set cheesecake batter in the bottle. Like when you first pour it in the crust, when it's still warm and liquidy. Wet on my skin: Less like cheesecake now, definitely custardy-rich flan and vanilla cake batter. Dry: Being a massive metalhead myself (I'm listening to my friend play through 3 full Insomnium albums on his guitar and playing along with some songs on my bass as I write this), I had to get this. And I am not disappointed. ❤️ Rich, warm, eggy-sugary-creamy-vanilla cake batter and flan. Fairly simple, but delicious, and smells exactly like what it says it does. Yummmmmm. I don't like to eat white cake that much, but this is delicious to smell.

Fresh out of the mailbox, may revisit later! In the bottle: Kind of weird and chemical, probably from the sweet almond and probably from spending all day on the mail truck. Wet on my skin: It retains that weird chemical smell for a couple of minutes, but thankfully it then fades and allows the warm, sweet honeyed almond to take over. Dry: This is mostly a warm, gently honey-sweetened almond with just a hint of spice, and it smells very much like a Middle Eastern almond pastry dessert I had once. Also somewhat baklava-like, as ellocentipede mentioned above. There's a teeny bit of sweetness from the fig, but it's not really identifiable as fig unless you really sniff deep and analyze it. It's a little sticky-sweet, but the scent overall is fairly close to the skin and doesn't have a lot of throw, so it's not at all overpoweringly sticky-sweet. The myrrh and cinnamon are mostly there to warm the scent, and I don't think this is a blend even most cinnamon-sensitive people would have much trouble with. Warm, dessert-foodie honeyed almond pastry with just a hint of spice. Nice.

Fresh out of the mailbox, so may revisit later! In the bottle: Pale, sweet pinkness. Wet on my skin: ...Pale, sweet, creamy pinkness. Dry: This was the biggest risk of my Liliths order, and oh man, I was a little worried about that ylang-ylang in particular. So, I've performed the Carmina Burana in full 8 times since 2004, and I NEVER get tired of it. It's my favourite thing to perform, especially since I'm a mezzo-soprano who can still reach all those fun high notes to sing soprano 1. So, when I saw this, I HAD to get it, no matter what notes were in it. This is a poofy, creamy, sweet cloud of delicate silvery-pink. It's floral, but definitely more of a floriental than a Western white floral, and sweet, but not overly so. Almost a little marshmallowy. All of the notes are there if you look for them, but mostly it's just that beautiful, gossamer cloud of poofy silvery-pink. Beautiful. ❤️ I'm so glad I got this.

Fresh out of the mailbox, so may revisit later! In the bottle: Slightly sour, dry wood with a metallic hint to it. Wet on my skin: This smells like it could be something from the Mommy Fortuna carnival section of The Last Unicorn scent line. Slightly metallic, smoky-sour, resinous teak wood. Dry: Yeah, standing by that statement that it could be a Last Unicorn scent, specifically from that midnight carnival section (and actually has some notes in common with several of them). It's atmospheric and moody, not a "pretty princess" scent at all. The sourness fades as it dries, but it remains somewhat dry and acrid, but not unpleasantly so, and on the masculine side for sure. The tobacco + metal + wood actually combine to give this something of an old-fashioned smoky gunpowder feel...and this scent is something of a "feel" scent more than a smell scent, if that makes sense. As it wears, after 20-30 minutes, a piney sweetness from the pine resin starts to come out more, and I'm reeeeally liking this at that stage! This smells like a Renaissance Festival in the evening. I like. Edit: this has now been on for an hour and a half, and it's sweetened considerably with that pine resin + tobacco. Most of the smokiness and acridity burned off after the first hour, and now it's rich, piney-sweet resinous wood with an afterthought of smoky metal.

I haven't worn this since I tested it after arrival, because I had a feeling aging would help it immensely. My instinct was correct! Reviewing with over a year of aging at play. In the bottle - This, in the bottle, smells like something that would have been at home in The Last Unicorn collection. A light but somehow also deep/dark floral, with something cool and a little aquatic about it. Wet - It goes on like in the bottle. Gentle jasmine and magnolia are evenly mixed, gently wafting closely about me along with a cool, watery pine. Dry: When I first bought this, it went on a little too strong and a little too soapy. So, I stuck it in the drawer to age and promptly forgot about it, naturally. Even though it was alphabetically organized along with the rest of my bottles. Anyway, it's been aging about 1 year and 3 months, and the floral notes are MUCH more manageable than before. Florals can sometimes be hit or miss on me, and this went from miss to hit! When dry, it's a gentle, fuzzy blanket of magnolia and jasmine (jasmine slightly more forward than magnolia) over a cool stream of pine resin. It's fairly close to the skin and unobtrusive on me; a scent for when you might be brushing past people in a crowded hallway or career conference and want them thinking well of your personal hygiene. That almost makes it sound boring, but it's not! It is very pretty, and I'll definitely be moving it into rotation for when I want a good springy/summery floral!

In the bottle: Spicy-musky leather. Wet on my skin: The musk + leather in this take on an almost vanillic quality on my skin, for a few minutes. At that point, it's a gorgeous, chewy, spicy leather-musk blend. Definitely gingerbread and molasses type spices, but this isn't a gingerbread-forward scent while wet. Dry: ...Or while dry. This is a very masculine scent on me, which I am totally fine with! The leather, patchouli, and dark musk are smooth, deep, and dark, and the gingerbread is more of a supporting role. There's this incredibly sexy, chewy, and spicy molasses gingerbread underneath the smooth, dark leather/patch/musk combo, giving it a little bit of grit. The almost vanilla-like sweetness to the leather + musk combo does linger on my skin, but becomes more obviously leather as it dries. This is a very, very sexy scent. This is something a large, intimidating, but also very handsome Viking-looking Scandinavian death metal band member might wear to a winter holiday celebration with their significant other.

In the bottle: Thick, spicy, slightly earthy coffee. Wet on my skin: Thick, sweet, spicy, slightly earthy roasted coffee beans. Dry: First, I should say that oudh, vetiver, and patchouli are all notes that almost invariably work well with my skin chemistry. Patchouli is the second most common note in my bottle collection, behind vanilla, and both oudh and vetiver have very healthy representation as well. So, this scent pretty much was guaranteed to be a winner on me. AND IT IS. It's absolutely gorgeous. A rich, sweet, almost chocolatey or caramelized black coffee with spicy oudh and smoky vetiver, and a layer of earthy patchouli beneath the rest. It is definitely a sexy scent, probably best suited for dates or post-dates. IfyouknowwhatImean. The only possible negative I can find with it is that it's somewhat short-lived on my moisture-sucking skin, but I don't mind reapplying since it's just. so. gooooood. Yummy.

In the bottle: Salty aquatic cologne. Almost like one of those really really nice aquatic candles you'd find in a high-end oceanside rental condo, actually, but in perfume form. Wet on my skin: This is very much a masculine, salty aquatic cologne as it goes on my skin. It's allll musky-salty sea water and kelp right now. Dry: Okay, so I took a risk and blind-bottled this because of the reviews that stated things like "homicidal mermaids" and "Murmaider II: The Water God" (BRB gonna go play some Dethklok on my bass). Aquatics tend to be disappointing on my skin, especially the kind using grapefruit as a base. Here, however, I am not at all disappointed. After a few minutes of smelling like Jason Momoa as Aquaman, it settles down and becomes somewhat more unisex as the floral elements join the musky, kelpy salt water. Out of all the flowers in this, I'd actually say the orchid is the strongest of the three on me, then the jasmine, and just a hint of lily. None of them are particularly strong on me, however, and the floral notes are evenly matched with the salty black musk and kelp. Jasmine can amp on my skin a little (I still wear it tho) and lily tends to go soapy, but it appears that those properties have been well and truly reined in! I'm so glad for that, and that this is an aquatic that actually works well on me! It's a dark, cool, slightly dangerous sort of scent that wouldn't be out of place on a homicidal mermaid...or Jason Momoa as Aquaman, I suppose. We're equal opportunity here. This scent lasts ~5 hours on the backs of my hands/wrists and ~6-7 in the crooks of my elbows. That's actually very long-lasting for an aquatic on my skin, so another bonus there.

In the bottle: Woodsy cocoa. Wet on my skin: Thick, smoky, rich DARK chocolate. Dry: If you like dark, dark chocolate and smoky vetiver, this is a blend for you. This is like 70%+ cacao, bitter and almost a little dusty, with the vetiver and other notes coming in to making it this a rich, thick, boozy-smoky dark chocolate blend. This isn't really a foodie chocolate at all, nor is it perfumey. This is NOT a sweet bonbon at all, at least on my skin. It is...just really, really unique. I have nothing else like this in my BPAL collection. This is about as dark and masculine as chocolate ever gets, but if it's too dark for ladies who order it, don't be afraid to slather a male S.O./relative in it if it ends up not being your thing! After it's been on a while, the cocoa starts to fade into the background, leaving a smoothly smoky vanilla-vetiver-benzoin behind, with the champaca and vanilla continuing to make everything a little boozy to my nose.

In the bottle: Wet leather? Wet on my skin: Black leather and Snake Oil, with the leather taking the lead. Dry: This one is going to need some aging, and probably should be worn on warm/sweaty skin to get the full benefit of the Snake Oil, at least for me. As it is, fresh from the Lab, it's an oiled, musky black leather with Snake Oil spicing things up a bit. I'm not getting much of the black amber, sandalwood incense, or ambergris as individual notes, except as contributors to the overall "feel" of spiced oils anointing the black leather and its wearer. It's darker and richer than Western Diamondback, my other SO/leather blend, but it doesn't last as long. It's actually quite nice as it is, but I think I'm going to stick it in the BPAL drawer and let it age for a little while before putting it solidly into wear rotation.

In the bottle: Sharp moss and rose. Wet on my skin: ROSE. Deep, dark, almost-purple/black red rose, with some gorgeous woody/herbal moss. Oh, it's niiiice. Dry: This is instantly in my top 3 rose scents. It's so, so pretty. I had a suspicion that it might be, because my #1 favourite rose blend (Beauty the Aggrieved) also has oakmoss and non-ink "dark" notes. This is a dewy, luscious, velvety deep red rose, almost purple like other reviewers have said, with a woody, herbal richness from the moss, and another almost oudh-like note that must be the ink. This is, as far as I remember, the first BPAL ink scent I've tried, and I have no regrets. Surprisingly, I get none of the "dill pickle" weirdness that some red rose notes start off with on me (ever since I got my IUD), which is very nice. As it wears, the rose keeps its spot as the primary note with the oakmoss and ink supporting it and darkening it up nice and good. Mmmm. The only trouble I have with this one is that, as happens with some rose-forward scents, my skin amps it like CRAZY. I'll definitely have to be careful with when and where I wear it, because two drops (one shared between the backs of my hands and one shared between my forearms) seem to have scented the entire room I'm sitting in, plus some of the hallway. Probably something that would be best worn at an outdoor event or as a nosegay in a metal concert full of huge, stinky dudes.

In the bottle: Quite similar to salted caramel, interestingly. Wet on my skin: Sweet, creamy beeswax and a lightly salted nut note, along with something else I can't identify. Ti leaf, maybe? It still smells a little caramel-like. Dry: As this dries, a whiff of the sandalwood incense joins that sweet, creamy beeswax and the perfumey note that I think is the ti leaf. The slightly salty roasted nuts aren't as prominent now, becoming a background note. Now, the honey emerges from the beeswax, and that sweetens the blend. Once it reaches that stage, my brain finally stops trying to read it as salted caramel, for the most part. It's not quite gourmand, but also not quite perfumey, but it is very nice and I'm happy to have it. I don't have many beeswax blends in my collection, so this is a nice addition.

In the bottle: Slightly herbal marshmallow and honey. Wet on my skin: Sweet, honeyed marshmallows and a wisp of lotus. Dry: Wildflower honey and marshmallow, primarily, with the amber and teak providing a gentle but solid base so the lighter notes aren't overly light and fleeting, and also not excessively sweet. The lotus and cherry blossoms contribute more to the floral aspect of the honey than they do as individual notes, but I can pick them out if I take a deep, analytic sniff. There's also something a little bit...musky/salty, barely there, but I definitely get something like a salty skin musk (sweat?) underneath the sweet marshmallow and floral honey. It's not unpleasant, though--exactly the opposite, in fact. I really like this perfume. It's quite beautiful, and my ONLY complaint is that it isn't very strong on my skin. Some aging should fix that, so I'm not too worried.

In the bottle: Lemon meringue pie! Wet on my skin: This smells for all the world like lemon bars and a hint of lotus at first. Within a couple minutes, it's like eating lemon bars while drinking lotus-infused green tea (I actually have some green tea with lotus flower, and it does smell like that). Dry: As this dries, the lemon curd fades a little and it instead becomes a creamy, lemony white tea with lotus wafting about atop it. A hint of that sweet dessert lemon does remain, but stays close to the skin in a blend that already seems to be more of a skin scent than a throw scent on me. It's a fairly soft and simple scent, and will be excellent for days when I want to wear a scent but need it to be unobtrusive and fairly undetectable more than a foot or two away.

In the bottle: Fig and tea. Wet on my skin: Soft, creamy vanilla tea with a bit of figgy sweetness. Dry: This is a subtle, fuzzy scent on me. It's a slightly lemony, honey-sweetened black tea with equal parts creamy vanilla and creamy fig, and a suggestion of warm, sun-dried hay making everything just a little bit golden. There is a surprising amount of throw for such a gentle, subtle scent, and I keep catching whiffs of it as I am typing and thinking "Oh man, that smells nice." The way the fig milk, honey, and vanilla combine together gives it a slightly bubble-gummy pinkness, making it a cousin scent to Poor Monkey. If you like tea and/or Poor Monkey, you'll probably like this. I like both, and mmmmyes. Glad I sprang for the full bottle!

2019 version. In the bottle: Sweet, honeyed Snake Oil. Wet on my skin: Heavy on the sugary vanilla cream, lighter on the Snake Oil. The latter is definitely present in it, at this stage. Dry: This is a scent that is more than the sum of its parts. Because I know Snake Oil is in the blend, I can pick it out, but a less familiar nose might not be able to make the distinction. On my S.O. loving skin, the S.O. takes a backseat to the sweet, creamy honeycomb, which has a distinct thick beeswax + honey feel on me. There's actually something slightly leather-like, like the really soft brown leather from Blood and Judgment So Well Commeddled, but I think that's a trick of my skin + Snake Oil. So basically, it's a slightly spicy, soft-leathery creamy honeycomb, and it's really quite lovely. My only issue is that it doesn't last terribly long (under 2 hours) before fading into a honey-sweetened "skin musk," but that will probably improve with some aging.

In the bottle: Buttery coconut. Wet on my skin: Buttery coconut and marshmallows! Tiny whiff of lilac starts to come out as it dries. Dry: I honestly had no idea what to expect from this, because it's pretty far out of my normal "style." It sounded so good that I just HAD to try it, however, and I'm glad I did. That buttery marshmallow coconut with a hint of lilac combines to form a sum of parts that smells, on my skin, like I doused myself in Lucky Charms marshmallows and a bit of the sweetened milk from the cereal bowl. It's unlike anything else in my collection, and I adore it.

In the bottle: Heavier on the orange blossom, amber, and carnation here. Wet on my skin: This starts out with a pretty good amount of poofy, spicy-ish orange blossom, amber, and carnation, quickly joined by that blood musk and a hint of cognac. All the notes are present at this point, but definitely more on the spicy floral side while wet. Dry: I got this partly because some of the notes reminded me of another Luper love I didn't get enough of, Daruma Doll, and I was hoping for a cousin scent. This is a bit more floral and less effervescent, but once it dries and has been wearing for an hour or two, it *is* the cousin scent I was hoping for. The orange blossom and amber remain key players for some time, with the carnation spicing them up, and the blood musk and cognac taking a back seat and mostly adding a soft base that prevents the florals from running away. At some point, the florals and amber retreat somewhat, bringing the blood musk and cognac to the front, gently sweetened by amber and a waft of summer flowers. This is where it becomes the cousin scent to Daruma Doll. I like it through all of the stages of its evolution, however! This is a scent that, in my opinion, would not be out of place at some kind of upscale art gallery event where everyone is sipping cognac and admiring abstract Oriental-themed floral paintings.

In the bottle: Resinous, tobacco-tinged vanilla with some spice. Wet on my skin: This is already fantastic, ooof. The Snake Oil isn't super apparent at this stage, unless I inhale deeply. Rather, it's this gorgeous, smoky, rich blend of vanilla, tobacco, ambergris, and oakmoss, with the SO supporting everything with that familiar base of sensual spice. Dry: This looks like it's my favourite of the Lupers I have ordered so far this year. There is a detectable base of Snake Oil beneath a masc-leaning and absolutely fantastic haze of smoky vanilla, tobacco, black amber, ambergris, oakmoss, and oakmoss in that order. They're all detectable if you search for them, but blend so beautifully in the throw that it's a delight for the olfactory sense. It's all rounded out and pushed to the masc side by the oak, oakmoss, and ambergris, with the oak providing something more of a supporting "polish" to the other notes rather than being a main player in its own right. Now that it's been on me for a bit, I think I can say that this is a bit like if a bottle of Snake Oil and well-aged (not fresh) Hellfire had a baby, wearing a hat made out of Antikythera Mechanism. If you like at least two of those three scents, you'll probably like this one.