LizziesLuck

Love all these notes, except for the metal - and of course, that's what I get most of, sniffing it from the bottle. Wet: Yep, all metal. Which has a cold, cologney vibe which I don't enjoy at all. Where's the vanilla, white musk, gardenia, ambergris, ANYTHING?? Lol. That's my luck. Dry: Still all metal. *sigh*. I think I have to accept that I amp the crap out of that note. However, if this gets remade with the new acts of the Carnaval, I will likely try it again, so if the other notes can shine when fresh. 2017 version (I don't know why I keep doing this to myself, I need to give up on anything with metal in it ever working on me) Wet: Metal. Though unlike the older version, I can at least also smell the gardenia and tea in this, which makes sense, as they are both notes that I amp as well. It's still mostly metal though, which I really don't are for. Dry: The metal gets a lot softer, but it's still prominent, and it still smells like generic cologne to me, and I still don't like it. I need to accept that, lol.

I really love the combo of gourmands and musk (looking at you, Elephantine Colossus and The Soldier!) so I was excited to snag a bottle of this. Wet: lots of tea. Something that reminds me of pie crust. Bit of berry, bit of chocolate. Totally pleasant. Hoping the musk comes out! Dry: I quite like this, though I don't know how me it is. Really strong berry for a while, then it morphs to more of a berry-chocolate scent. I think if the musk had come out more on me this would have been killer. As it is, it's very gourmand, and have found myself reaching for those less and less lately, so I am likely to pass this on to someone who will truly love it.

Wet: Chocolate - check! Slush - check! The slush actually smells a little...dirty. Really this is as advertised though, chocolate and slush. I love the chocolate note in this, it's really gooey and fudgey, but the slush keeps this from being gourmand. Dry: Slush, and chocolate. It really is exactly as advertised. The snow note is bright and clean (none of the dirt I had originally thought was present) and the chocolate note is rich and lovely. It's really nice. But for whatever reason (though I love both the snow note and the chocolate note) I can't see myself wearing this. Disappointing! I don't know why it's just not me.

Wet: Mmm, yep, that's some gardenia alright, and it's not shy about it! Heady and intoxicating. The musk is a nice touch. And surprisingly the orchid is holding its own, and is gorgeous. Luckily the Frank hasn't stomped all over everything. This is a beautiful (strong!) floral. Dry: This is beautiful. A sweet, heady, tropical floral. I have the strong urge to layer it with coconut. My fave gardenia scent, by far. Could be because I love the orchid so much, and they're gorgeous together. The musk is subtle and understated, and the frank doesn't show up at all, which is fine by me. I love this, glad I took a chance on it.

Wet: There is vetiver in this. Maybe the wild woods? But this smells like honeyed vetiver, and it's SO GOOD. The vanilla comes through a bit too. That is way better than I expected, but I wish it was stronger. I keep slathering more on. Dry: Mostly honey, hints of vanilla and woody vetiver (not of the sour, smoky variety), This is really pretty. I don't get any rose, which is odd because I amp it. I guess I amp honey more. Which is fine with me, I love honey! This is a nice soft scent, subtle and sensual. I quite like it, and am curious to see how it wears all day - whether it has enough throw and lasting power.

Pine scares me, but the rest of the notes in this sound amazing, and I am so excited about the return to the old style of Lunacy that I had to have it! I gave it a few days out of the mail to settle. In the bottle this is rich and purple, fruity, a little tangy. I think it's mostly the mulberry I'm getting. There's hints of pine, but I'm hoping if I ignore it, it'll go away. Wet: Ermahgerd pine, what was I thinking??? Cat pee and menthol. Blaaah. With lovely purple fruits and Myrrh underneath, just out of reach. The throw is actually much more pleasant, more like a real pine tree plus fruit and resins (not the horrid thing my skin does to pine), but nose to skin this is horrid right now. Dry: Uh, this is so beautiful when it dries down! It's a cold, wintry, purple fruit scent with hints of Myrrh...so lovely. The pine eventually almost burns off entirely, the hints that are left just give the scent that outdoorsy quality. It really is lovely. Getting passed the cat pee stage was haaaard though. Considering aging this to see if that pine note settles down. The dry-down is worth not giving up on this right away. If you have no issues with pine going off on your skin, I bet this would be gorgeous start to finish.

Hi! Cake Smash was not discontinued, it was a limited edition, meaning it was only ever meant to be available for a limited time. Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab puts out Limitied Edition updates all the time - for instance: Halloween, Motherhood, Yules, Lupercalia and lots of other smaller updates in between. Cake Smash is from 2009, and was released as a "forum only" scent, meaning you had to be a member of this forum to purchase it. If I remember correctly, it was in honour of Beth (creator of BPAL) and Ted's daughter Lilith (I want to say her first birthday? Someone correct me if I'm wrong.). Later on, they began releasing whole updates in honour of their daughter (often called the Liliths, this year they were called Motherhood) each year around her birthday, which were available to everyone and not just the forum. This year's Motherhood line was just taken down not too long ago. Currently, Yules, Anniversaries (Phoenixes) and Weenies are all still available, with the Weens and Phoenixes set to go down on the 14th. Beth has explained that BPAL focuses on Limited Edition runs, because perfume components are often difficult to find a supplier for, long term. So they might make a scent, and a few months later not be able to get all the components. Having set limited edition runs allows them to release the perfumes they want, without fear of ticking people off with it's discon'd a few months down the road. This way everyone knows if something is LE, it's only around for a short while. Most Limited Edition scents do not return. There are a few (mostly Yule, Weenie and Luper) that "re-occur" yearly, or every few years. I have never seen any of the Liliths, or any forum only scents be brought back, so it is not likely that Cake Smash will ever make a return, but not impossible either. Your best bet is to snag a bottle second hand, here on the forum, in one of the Facebook groups, or on eBay. Cake Smash is a bit rare, but not so rare that it doesn't come up sometimes, you just have to keep an eye out for it. Hope that helps! And Welcome!

I find it amusing that I was so drawn to this scent, as I have been accused of having a thing for guys with beards...no pognophobia here! However, I have been desperately searching for the perfect patchouli honey blend for my skin, that will be as good as Tricksy HG is in my hair (it doesn't work on my skin, sadly). Wet: Hmmm. This is a drier, earthier patchouli note. Sweetened by honey, absolutely, but I can't really distinguish the honey note. I don't get any leather, which is unusual. Mostly all sweet patchouli. It's nice, but I want more honey. Dry: Yes, dry indeed. Dry, earthy, dirty patchouli, with none of the honey I wanted. WHY??? I refuse to give up. I am going to let this age, and the patch mellow, and see what happens. *sulks*

Wet: Really strong snow note. This is the same snow note as from Mat Night, to me (my favourite snow note). It's not minty, or piney, which I am glad for. It's sweet, and cold and clear. Not getting much musk yet. It has occurred to me that I amp this note, because everything containing it becomes almost single note on me (Mat Night, Kumari Kandum). I actually bought this for the blue musk, which is the only colour of musk I don't seem to own any of, but I can't smell it at all. Dry: Wow. I swear, there is vanilla in the dry-down. Like a chilly, sweet, vanilla musk. Not where I thought this was going at all, but boy is it lovely! It makes it much different than Mat Night, and worth keeping the bottle. I hope this isn't some crazy fluke and that it dries down like this every time, because this is beautiful.

I love sandalwood, but the rest of the notes in this could be seriously iffy on me. Still, love trying everything I can, so here we go! Wet: A blast of sour sandalwood, which quickly warms and loses all sourness. The sandalwood almost glows, it's so warm. This is almost straight wood on me. Like wood being baked by the sun, bleached white. Quite masculine, on me. Very pleasant though. Smells like nature and sunshine and happiness. Dry: Still almost all warm wood, just with hints of green from either the grass or sage. I don't get any of the Lab's sand note, which tends to turn into "generic cologne" on me. This is a really lovely, warm, wood scent. Unisex, maybe tending towards masculine, at least for me. Very very nice though.

OK, so jasmine is not my jam, but I was getting a decant of Lydia, so I thought I might as well try the others as well. Plus the other notes in this are totally up my alley. Also, still convinced one day there will be a scent with jasmine in it that I can wear. Wet: holy Hannah, so much patch! Of the sticky, gnarly, almost skanky variety. Then something aquatic (the moss?). I can smell tuberose faintly. Not getting any of the jasmine at all, which is ideal. Can't detect the lily either. Or musk really. This is almost entirely gritty gnarly patch, with hints of aquatic moss and tuberose. I am actually kind of enjoying it! Totally fits with the name, as it's very dark with glimmers of paleness. Dry: Hmm, it's mellowed out a bit. The moss is making it a touch cologney. So excited the jasmine never came out and ruined it - if you're like me and terrified of jasmine, don't let it stop you from trying this, I really can't detect it AT ALL and I amp the living daylights out of it. This is mostly patch, which has gotten warmer and richer, but also less gnarly as it dried. Hints of tuberose, which I actually wish there was more of, it's a lovely combo with the patch. I still can't smell the musk. Overall, a PATCHOULI scent for sure, with slightly aquatic moss and hints of florals. It's nice. Not for me, but really really nice. Glad I got to try it, thanks for decanting, z_z!

Thanks z_z for decanting this! <3 Wet: Yep, that's DARK. Like, gritty, grimy, kick-your-ass-and-look-hot-doing-it dark. I like it, but let me tell you, this oil is INTENSE. The patch in it is of the gnarly variety, but not so gnarly that it dominates. The musk is murky and blended really seamlessly with the labdanum and opium. It's actually really hard to pick out any notes at all. Having a hard time deciding how I feel about it. I like it, but enough that I would wear it? What setting would you even wear this in? I feel like you would have to have the right attitude to pull off wearing this. That being said, this should age gloriously. I would expect a lot of the sharp edges to wear down, and that it would blend even more seamlessly together. Hmmm. Dry: Once fully dry, this gets sweeter, and rounder, and a bit spicy, and altogether quite lovely. But I worry it is fading really quickly, and I have a feeling it is going to fade down to all dry patchouli, which I don't care for. I am CONVINCED that in a year, I will adore this, but I could be wrong. Not sure if I should risk a bottle or not. I should likely test again. So much promise, though. ETA: So glad I kept my decant - just retested it, and after only about a month, it's so glorious. Got a bottle. It's only going to get better! <3 The resins have really bloomed, they now sweeten the patchouli and keep it from dominating and being too dry. This is dark and rich and perfect.

This just came in the mail today. This was the scent I was most excited to try! I couldn't wait any longer, it's at room temp now, so I'm going for it! (Smells gorgeous in the bottle!) Wet: Oooh. This is spicier than I anticipated! I think the combination of white tobacco (sweet and dry) and cognac are providing a dry sort of spiciness to this. It's truly gorgeous. It does remind me of the laces, a bit. It has that feel, plus the vanilla/tobacco/cognac combo. It's a warm scent - warmer than I anticipated, but with this cool porcelain note (very faint) lying underneath. The white tobacco is quite different from any of the lab's tobacco notes I have smelled before. It's really beautiful. So many nuances. Incredibly complex smelling for a scent with relatively few notes. At times I almost get a bakery feel from that combo of the rich spicy tobacco with vanilla and cognac. Dry: I think I love it. I think it will age beautifully. All the notes are totally balanced, and totally more than the sum of their parts. Rich, a bit spicy, classic yet unique. Lovely.

Frankincense and I don't get on - he's a bully note on my skin, and stomps all over everything else. But vanilla cream, and all.... This is fresh out of the mail today. I should be letting it settle a bit more. Can't wait longer though! Wet: Mmm, the vanilla cream is nice. Hmm, doing that powdery, sweet-tart thing others had mentioned. WTF? Where is the fruity smell coming from? After applying a bit more (I have found to small an amount of oil makes my skin chemistry corrupt things worse) I get the lovely sandalwood and musk. Mmm. Much better. Still quite a light scent, but not powdery and awful anymore. The Frank hasn't taken over, and is just providing a light incense background to the sweet vanilla cream and musk base. The wintry musk is what was going fruity and powdery before. I can smell it clearer now, and it's like the lab's snow note, mixed with pale musk. I think this is one of those scents that is going to need some time to settle in the bottle, and also on my skin. It morphs with every sniff right now. Dry: Mostly wintry musk, which is quite lovely! Cool, crisp. Similar to a snow note, but not exactly the same. I had to check to make sure I hadn't confused this with another Yule, but no. This is the note my skin picks out of all those notes. It's nice, but not the vanilla cream I hoped for (it totally is in the bottle - thanks, skin chem). I'll likely try again after it's had more time to settle.

I am not helpful with the fruity ones, really, but Rose... She should try (from the GC) The Rose for another straight up rose that is GC instead of LE. Whip (rose and leather) Harlot (rose and cinnamon) Maiden (tea, carnation, rose) Spellbound (rose, amber, musk) Phantom (Myrrh, musk, rose, ylang ylang) to name a few. And for Chocolate (if she likes El Dia) she might also try Gelt while Yules are still live (amber and chocolate) or Bliss (pure chocolate) or Candy Butcher (oh so good chocolate and something intangible that makes it amazing). Unfortunately there really aren't any other GC coffee scents besides Misk U. There were are a few amazing LE ones if she's willing to hunt them down (Morning in New Orleans, Guatemalan Coffee SN, The Worst Pillow) or there's A Dusky Shroud which is a coffee scent available from the Post right now (mine hasn't arrived yet, so I couldn't tell you if it's good!) I would also just mention that A Shadow in the Elevator, which I believe has not sold out yet, is one of the most amazing plum scents I have ever smelled.

I'm afraid of iris. Sometimes it does this thing where it smells exactly like violet. But the other notes in this.....!!! I had to try it. HAD TO. Wet: Tiny hints of almost-but-not-quite-violet, but it's not bad. And the other notes come out quickly....ooooh that antiqued amber! I want that in single note! And the mallow and smoked sugar are to die for. The floral is almost gone already, and I can't believe my luck. This is way better than I hoped on me, so far. Dry: Argh, having such a hard time deciding how I feel about this! I ADORE that antiqued amber note, and the mallow and smoked sugar are present and killer - but that iris....it's powdery (but not really in a bad way) and smells so close to violet. It's not giving me a headache the way violet does though, nor do I find it overly sweet like violet, or generally repulsive, like violet....but I feel like I SHOULD. I think I need to wear it for a full day to really know how I feel about it. It's much better than I expected though! Ugh, that sugar note!!

A kind forumite frottled me a partial of this! I had JUST tried the new release, and found myself wondering how it would age, so this is awesome. I note the only difference in formulation is that this older version has tobacco, and the new one has "black tobacco tar". Wet: Oh wow, this is HUGELY different! Much more "sleazy cologne" whereas the new one is lots of bourbon and tobacco. This has lots of bay rum too, but it's behaving itself. I actually enjoy this as well, but find it a bit more masculine than the new formulation. I almost get hints of....apple...? Huh. Dry: This is so so different from the newly released Isaac! This is alllll about the sleazy cologne/aftershave, which is quite nice, but I think too masculine for me. I find the new version's tobacco and bourbon scent much more up my alley. It was really cool to compare these, though! I haven't gotten to try very many of the older Carnaval Scents, they came out while I was on hiatus due to no funds, so it's cool to try them now!

Wet: Dragon's blood. The very floral variety. Not getting much else (surprising, as others have mentioned jasmine, and I amp that to high heaven above all other notes, usually) Dry: Floral DB. Apparently I amp DB even more than jasmine. Pretty much single note on me. Not a fan, I like Dragon's Blood in scents, but not on its own, it's just not my taste.

Wet: Cinnamon and almond-pretending-to-be-cherry. Syrupy and candy-sweet. More almond than cinnamon on me, actually. Dry: The cinnamon comes out and mixed with the sickly-sweet cherry/almond. Not a big fan, I like Eclipse far better on my skin.

Wet: Nutty! And sweet, Quite yummy, actually. I had to look up the notes, as somehow this translated to nuts and honey on my skin. I think it must be the earthy patchouli combines with one of the other notes - maybe the fig? That makes this smell nutty. Really interesting. The floral notes from the ylang ylang are really nice. I like it. Dry: I had forgotten how candy-sweet ylang ylang dries down to on me. Not unpleasant, but sweeter than I like. It's a strange combination with the patchouli, which is now dry and earthy rather than nutty. I can't detect any of the other notes, I don't even get the sense that any of the sweetness is coming from the honey, it's just ylang ylang and really dry patch. OK, but not my favourite.

Somehow, I didn't really expect this to be straight up Dragon's Blood, but it is, on me. The Lab seems to have several DB notes, and this is the candy-sweet, slightly spicy, floral smelling one. Though I do like DB in some blends, I am not a fan of this on its own, at all.

I haven't really found anything that comes close. Bensiabel has a similar plum note, as does The Witch Queen, but they lack the depth of Lucille (to me). A Shadow in The Elevator maybe comes closest, but still not that similar. Some say Clytemnestra v3 is similar (no listed notes, but it's a dark fruity/floral.) I have both and don't find Clytemnestra comes that close. It's pretty hard to get your hands on anyway. Hopefully others will have some suggestions! I would love to find something as well, as I adore Lucille.

Last year when the Yules came out, I had not get realized how much I love beeswax, so I never tried this. Upon realizing how much I adore beeswax, I had to seek it out! Wet: Blah! That does not smell as I expected. This has a strange, golden, almost fruity scent. Smells like hot scented oil. Maybe menorah wax is different than beeswax....not sure why I didn`t think of that till now. This is rich, and sweet, and actually quite lovely, just totally not what I was expecting. Dry: More like what I expected, though still a bit different than the beeswax note in scents I have and love (Loved to Death, Bunraku Theatre, No. 93 Engine, Wan White Humming Hive - this is not the same beeswax from any of them). It`s very rich, sweet, still a bit fruity, and golden smelling. I do quite like it, but can`t see wearing it. I think I like beeswax as part of a scent, but maybe don`t want to wear it as a single note. This would be an awesome room scent though, and I may use the rest of this decant in that manner.

Wet: Both in the decant and then freshly applied to my skin, this is all sandalwood. Dry, and bordering on pencil shavings territory. I can pick up hints of tea (not sweet, as it usually is), but just hints, and only sometimes, almost like it might actually be my imagination.... Dry: The tea comes out and gives this a bit of sweetness, and also somehow makes it quite perfumey smelling. It's very very faint though, and lasts almost no time on my skin. Glad I got to try it, but I won't be needing any more.

I got a tester of this from a kind forumite. I have been wanting to test more of the old CD's that I had passed up on before - my tastes have changed, and I look forward to further acts of The Carnaval being re-released. This tester is really well aged, I can tell by how thick and syrupy it is. It looks glorious. Wet: Cinnamon at first, but then the clove comes through, and that's what I was hoping for. I have been craving clove lately. My skin does amp clove, so that helps. This is sweet, and a bit resinous, actually, maybe because it's pine sap. Waaay better on my skin than actual pine wood it. This is spicy clove glory. Mmm. Dry: Gorgeous. Rich clove, hints of sweet vanilla. No real pine to speak of, on me, but it has that resinous quality still, I think from the sap. This is amazing, and I only hope it's this good fresh, because I have every intention of purchasing a bottle if it's re-released with the next Act. I really hope it is!