spikyfairy

I wish I got more cocoa from this, it would be such a delicious combination. But this is pretty much just patchouli on me, nicely rounded out by the cedar & tobacco. That said, I am on my second bottle, so I must like it alright. Neither bottle has had visible cocoa sludge.

I like vetiver, and love all things smoky, so this was an obvious win.. & It's even better than I hoped! I never got to try Bonfire single note, but I think this will do me as a substitute! In the bottle, I can smell the dead leaves & vetiver.. Darkly spicy, slightly vegetal. Wet on me, it is all dead leaves for the first few moments, and I can see now why people say that note smells like capsicum/bell pepper, but that settles down quickly. The vetiver & a little patchouli emerge as it dries. It's a rather odd smelling at this point, but I like it. "Charred ivy leaves" was a good description above. There is not a trace of sweetness here, which is very rare for me and BPAL!! I usually turn everything sweeter. After about 5 minutes it resolves into a super-realistic bonfire scent!! Yay! Sometimes goes through a slightly cologne-y phase (thanks to the leaves) — but fully dried-down it is still mostly dark, dry, smoky, vetiver-y love.. Rounded out & very-slightly sweetened by the vanilla & patchouli, although the vanilla is not distinguishable in itself (massive plus by my standards!). Hours later, it is softer & more patch-y, woody with just a suggestion of powder-iness. Nice. After some months ageing, the above phases were more blended & smoothly segued, as BPAL tends to do I find. This is a very exceptional non-sweet-finish BPAL perfume, for me! This will be great for layering with other scents that aren't smoky enough for my preferences (like Witch Dance; which sadly I am out of), but I like it on its own as well. I am also confident the capsicum-like-dried leaves will improve & become more realistic with age, as I have smelled this happen before. Actually ending up with possibly too many of these deep-dark-smoky-maybe-manly scents, but I do love them. Very good throw & wear length, only requires minimal application.

This was the only Luper I bought this year, as it was a pretty sure bet. Smoky / woody / resinous is my jam, and all these notes are favourites, although myrrh can go a bit funny on me sometimes. In bottle: Some cloudy sediment in there, had to give it a good roll. Smoky / spicy resins, along with a slight 'shampoo' vibe I always get from balsams - damn scent associations! Wet: Ooh, this lurrrvely! Vetiver comes out immediately on my skin, quite strong, but tempered beautifully by the myrrh & balsam. Not getting much sage or cedar yet, but I expect they will show up later. Loving this! Smoky & dark with just a hint of sweetness from myrrh (& perhaps laurel? I'm less familiar with that note). Dry: Took a long time to dry on skin, & went through first a powdery, then a bug-spray phase as it did. Now it is much softer than when wet. The vetiver has toned right down & it is sweeter, mostly myrrh & an almost benzoin-y balsam. Still nice, but I liked it better when the myrrh was less dominant. After an hour or so, the vetiver makes a resurgence along with the sage, adding some extra smokiness. The cedar is there, but so blended in to everything that I have trouble picking it out. Final dry-down a couple of hours later was unfortunately mostly powdery, slightly sour/musty myrrh, but that is a chemistry thing & I am confident this will improve & gain complexity with age. Have only had this bottle a week or 2. Dark, smoky, woody and masculine, with a dash of resinous sweetness. Massive hit for me. I like vetiver, & I think this is my favourite vetiver blend I've tried so far!

Finally posting some old reviews from my notebook. This was pretty early in my BPAL experimentation, & I fully expected to like this scent. I love green, herby things! But this one had a serious fight with my skin chemistry, & was the clincher in realising I basically can't wear moss. In the imp: Clean, fresh, green. And just a little commercial-perfume-y. Wet on me: As above, at first. Then a series of unfortunate events! First the ginger flares up to unpleasantly peppery proportions (I guess I amp it?), then the moss tries to turn to dead bugs, as it does on me. Then both of them are overpowered by a very sweet fruitiness (that "drop" of fig?). Tea tries to keep the peace throughout. Dry: Mostly just dead-millipede-moss / dirt. Dangit, I thought I would like moss, but it does not like me. I suspect this would be lovely if you do not have this problem - I can just detect behind it the fresh green tea leaf, grass, & a dash of warm ginger I should be smelling. A massive fail, but a learning experience!

Borrowed from my man-friend's bottle because I was curious about how this would work on me.. These are all notes I like sometimes, but that can be very treacherous, especially amber & leather. In the bottle & wet on me, it's sweet & very perfume-y. Can't smell distinct notes at first, just POW! Perfume power! As it settles in though, I can pick out everything, although the tobacco is quite faint. Leather & amber combine forces as it dries down, in an attempted conspiracy to turn the whole thing to soap / teenage-boy-bodyspray. Dry, the very sweet oppoponax tones down. The leather is better on me than it has been in some blends, but I'm still not sure I like it. The whole thing is a bit Grandpa's-cologne, with some added resinous interest (maybe Grandpa is a closet magician). After a few hours, the perfume-iness has mellowed right out, but it's mostly powdery amber & sweet-resin-y oppoponax, just tinted by tobacco. Nice, & non-offensive, but not really interesting enough for me. I don't mind it on the boy.

Another frimp from my "test-ALL-the-things!!" phase. I did not expect to like it, as I'm not big on rum or coconut. In imp: Very, very sweet coconut, with a boozy tinge, like some revolting tropical cocktail. Wet on me: Sunscreen & clove?? Sweet &... buttery?! Weird. Bit like a boozy version of how Eat Me turned out on my skin, & not my thing at all. Not getting much in the way of tobacco. Dry: Not much change, although I probably didn't leave it on for that long.

Got this as a frimp when I was still in my must-test-everything phase.. Probably wouldn't bother these days; honey is pretty much always awful on me, and the whole thing is rather feminine & floral for my taste. In the imp, it's sweeeeeet! & a little powdery. Wet on me, it's just almost-overpowering sweetness, can't even make out what note is what. As it settles down I actually start to like it, even though it's still far sweeter & girlier than I would usually go for. The orange blossom is strong, and rather lovely, & I think I would actually consider wearing it if it weren't for the honey.. Which reliably starts going powdery & gross on the dry-down. An hour or so later, the orange blossom is gone, & the rose comes out a lot more. The remaining background powdery-sweetness reads as amber to me. So, rose-amber.. But still with a slightly icky tinge from the honey, which never smells like honey on me. This is nice if these notes play well on you, & you like sweet, girly florals. Can't see me wearing it personally.

I would also like to know about this. It was one of my very favourites. I even tried to make my own, since it seemed like such a simple combination.. But of course I have neither the ingredients nor the skill of BPAL, so it was kinda nice, but scarcely similar.

In the bottle: Woah, childhood flashbacks! Extremely-grape Hubba Bubba bubblegum! But with some freshness & sophistication behind it, if that makes sense.. Wet on skin: The grape candy note does start settling down immediately, balanced by an almost-bitter green that I guess may be the leaves? My nose cannot pick out blackberry from under the sweet grape (which I think is actually the wine?), but there is a grainy bitterness that very much reminds me of blackberry seeds. It smells like jam rather than candy or bubblegum now. Quite the throw on it, and the air around me is sweeter than the smell at my skin, which is bordering on sour. The sourness intensifies as it dries. Patchouli a no-show at this stage. Dry: The very sweet grape note grows stronger again, tempered by the bitter-green of the leaves. This leafy sort of note often doesn't work with my chemistry, and I'm not sure it is here - but without it this would just be straight candy. Still can't really detect patchouli, but I think it is back there helping the leaves rein in the sweetness. After a couple of hours both the bitterness & sweetness have calmed down, I think I can make out the patch, and it's all rather lovely. Lasting well & still strong, blooms nicely with body heat. Despite my initial surprise & that bit where it tries to go wonky on me, I do really like this. It's a dark, kinda-witchy scent that is wearable in warm weather, and I don't really have one of those. After ageing for several months, the wine is recognisably wine, and the whole experience is smoother. Whatever is making that "seedy" smell still amps & nearly ruins everything for a minute there in the dry-down, but amusingly grape candy returns to save the day! I am not usually into sweet or fruity, but I think this will get a lot of wear this summer. It is, appropriately, quite sexy. Edit some moons later: The grape-candy note has gone almost completely now - it's all very much wine & seedy-jam & leaves & patchouli.. Much more what I was expecting, & much less sweet, but surprisingly I find myself missing that bubble-gum note! Still nice though.

Beeswax, tobacco leaf, a whiff of smoke, and purple rose petals. Wax is such a tricky note on me.. I have had blends where I love it, but many others which it ruined. Need to double check whether those previous loves specified beeswax - honey reliably hates me, so I think that might be where the problem is. In bottle: Faintly sweet. Honey / beeswax. Already a bit worried. Wet on me: Huh, that is not what I expected.. Very earthy, almost getting a dirt note (as others have said). Maybe the tobacco leaf? It's not bad, but a weird combination with the sweet wax, to my nose. A bit sour at my skin. Smoke comes out as it dries & kind of ties things together a bit. Not much rose on me. Dry: On one occasion turned into pretty much straight-up maple syrup - very sweet but still a little earthy. The wax & rose & tobacco in cahoots I think. Beginning to suspect I might like these notes, but not together. On a second try, the sourness was much more prominent in the middle stage, settling down after an hour or so to pleasantly spicy (instead of dirty) tobacco with a touch of rose. Low in throw & wear length. Did not play well on my skin. Not a keeper for me ultimately, but a good lesson about beeswax. ETA description.

I've had it for a few weeks, it should have settled by now. I think it's just rather extreme batch variation. Such a different perfume I may not keep it, barring magical transformation with age.. On the plus side, someone who normally finds this blend too strawberry-hard-candy might really like this version! Edit to add: Haha, the Lab sent me another frimp of it with my last order! Be interesting to see if this one is different again..

I am (probably completely over-)paranoid about skin contamination, so I won't even apply from the lid. Roller-balls would bother me for the same reason. I use cut-up lengths of plastic drinking straw. As a terrible slatherer, it works great: you can put your finger over the end to get a good big drop (or not, for stronger scents). Also means none of my oils have had any skin contact at all, if I ever decide to sell or swap something. (I won't go into the OCD details of how I ensure the straw pieces are totally clean, as people will think I'm crazy! ).

Dang. After getting through a couple of imps of 'Tis the Voice of the Lobster, I decided I liked it enough to order a bottle.. But instead of the woods & red fruits I enjoyed, it is much more strongly musk & mandarin. Really don't like citrus on me, I am disappoint..

I bought this as a present for a boyfriend, but I often 'borrow' some when I'm staying at his house.. Really would not have expected this to work on me, due to the leather and white musk (and lilac?), but it's actually gorgeous! Like a less food-y / sugary Dorian, with more interesting top notes. That tangy purple sparkle over everything (lilac & ti leaf, I presume) is even keeping the leather in check, though it does get stronger with wear. Sadly I've noticed the sparkliness has been somewhat lost with ageing, but this is still a beautiful blend that I would consider a bottle of myself - for now I'm happy with just nicking some occasionally!

The personification of insanity, Mother of Manes, Goddess of Night Spirits, Mistress of Undeath, She Who Gives Life to the Dead. With Mantus, she rules the Etruscan underworld, and her scent is roiling chaos and churning madness, but because she is the mother of the Lares, benevolent household spirits, her perfume also bears an underlying gentleness, and, like madness, a strange sweetness. Screeching white musk collides with a howl of red musk, with sharp white grapefruit and pale strawberry leaf. This was a frimp that I did not expect to like - I generally hate citrus anything, and both red and white musk can go very loudly wrong on my skin. But for me, this is one of those crazy blends where a bunch of problem notes magically balance each other out somehow, becoming quite wearable & nice! In the imp: Strawberry cough-syrup... But in a good way?? Wet: Red musk storms out first and strongly, only to be immediately crash-tackled by white musk. They wrestle, and seem to be keeping each other busy & subdued - neither is amping like crazy on me like they often do. The grapefruit is subtle, but I think it is lending some tartness & helping keep the white musk natural rather than detergent-y. Likewise the strawberry leaf, though not really detectable on its own, is adding some fruity naturalness to the red musk. Dry: Much the same, although rather faded already. The white musk / grapefruit combo is making it feel almost aquatic. Strawberry leaf seems to be a leafy note that works better on me than many. After an hour or two, the red musk & strawberry dominate more. They are yummy together, if verging on bubble-gum.. The tarter, more aquatic-fruity notes are keeping it from turning to pure candy. Not much throw, but quite long lasting. After several hours it gets a bit powdery, which would be the red musk on me. I have had a lot of difficulty finding warm-weather scents that I like or that suit me, so I happily used up the imp over summer. The grapefruit did get a little more offensive with age, though, so I'm not sure I need any more of this.

A frimp I tried as an experiment: Vetiver & opium sounded promising, but I was highly skeptical about them combined with honeysuckle. I am not really a white-floral person. In the imp: Honeysuckle & something vaguely alcoholic - is that the vetiver? Wet: Honeysuckle & vetiver, sort of smoky-floral. Not bad at first, if a little weird. As it dries, a "burnt" smell is taking over - Maybe I don't like vetiver as much as I thought I did? Dry: The honeysuckle / vetiver combo is bitter & gross on me, and the opium is not helping matters. Sour and soapy and a bit rotten all at once. The vetiver does calm right down in time, & it fades to mostly opium on me after half an hour or so, with a little floral behind it. So, nice if you like the idea of honeysuckle incense, but not for me.

I know that BPAL's cake note doesn't work on me, but I wanted to try this frimp out of curiosity, & because I do love rose. In the imp it's all buttery pastry. Argh, do I even want to put this on my skin? Once I do: Yep, spiced butter. That's pretty much it, no currant, no rose, just the top layer of a crumble.. Once it's dry, the butteriness calms down slightly, and I can almost smell the rose. But it's still mostly pastry. I liked this a little better than I did Eat Me, but I just can't do these cake-y scents.

Lab frimp; the description was too intriguing not to give it a try.. I do tend to like smoky things. In the imp: Sweet & medicinal. Don't think I'm going to like this. Wet: Spicy floral, turning quickly to a sort of aquatic, but with clove? Halp. Almost certainly my nemesis dragon's blood in here too. This is a big nope so far. Dry: Not as sweet as I expected from the scent in the imp, but it is going soapy & powdery. Definitely lotus or amber or both in here, along with dragon's blood: all problem notes on me. There is nothing resembling smoke for a long time, and when it finally emerges it smells more like poppy or opium to me. The base is now next-thing-to-baby-powder, so together it's pretty awful. Nope from me. Weird powdery-poppy-fruity thing. It is quite light & pretty - I can see really liking this if you can pull off this sort of floral, but I cannot.

Lab frimp that I am trying for science: I have no idea whether most of these notes work on me, although I know I often don't like leather, and any sort of "herbs" can be iffy.. In the imp: Er.. a bit weird & salty - The leather? The plum? Wet: Opens with sweet juicy plum, quickly drowned out by a strange screechy green note. Almost smells like a cross between pine & liquorice, but I don't think it's anise? "Herbs" have been all kinds of weird on me lately. There was a hint of lilac at first, but it vanished as I seem to be seriously amping something in the herbs.. Dry: The bitter green has settled down somewhat, but now a slightly salty, clean leather is coming out, and I am not very keen on the combination. Verging on air-freshener territory. Plum is emerging more as it dries too, an almost-sour fruitiness on me. I can't pinpoint the lilac by itself, but mixed with the plum it smells a bit like dragon's blood does on me, which I don't like either. After an hour or so, all the notes are more balanced: clean leather, herbs, & a faint whiff of plum, tied together by a background of soft lilac. It's pretty, but a bit soapy for me. Continues to meld and improve the longer it's on, but there's still a salty edge (the leather or the plum, or both) that I don't dig. Not for me, but I'm sure for someone. Good throw & wear length. I think this is very unisex, but I do have slightly anarchic views on gender.

This was a frimp, which I quite expected to like, being fond of forest-y scents. I had not tried the shea note before. In the imp: Promising - herbal and a little creamy, not too sweet. Wet on me: Ooh! Kind of weird, but I like it.. Green herbs & spicy wood (the spruce I presume, I can see how it might read as pine to some, but it doesn't really to me). Can already tell this has the potential to go badly wrong, though: many herbal & "green" notes sadly don't love me as much as I love them. There is an almost bitter thing going on here too, which smells very familiar but I can't place it.. Not even sure if it's part of the herbs, or the wood. Dry: It has calmed down a little, but the bitterness remains - definitely the "forest herbs" clashing with my skin chemistry. I can clearly identify the spruce now, and I like its piney-spiciness. The shea is creamy in the background, but not going rancid like most milky notes do on me. I am also getting a touch of that weird & horrid phantom rotten-banana note I encounter occasionally - no idea what is causing it here. Went through a slightly soapy phase in late dry-down, then settled down to a pleasant soft, dusty, woodiness. I think this would be lovely if these notes work on your skin, but they don't seem to on mine. I passed this one on to a friend.

Frimp that I only tried as an experiment to see if I like lotus, which I am not familiar with. Already know I don't like dragon's blood. In the imp: Dark, reddish oil. Sweet, fruity-floral. Wet on me: Fruit incense at first, then dragon's blood starts doing that weird spiced-lilac thing it does on me & that I do not like. The lotus is not helping, its bubblegum sweetness is a bit sickly mixed with the fruity aspect of the dragon's blood. Dry: I think I do like lotus, now it's dried down - sort of a fresh, lightly sweet, watery floral. But it's totally drowned out by the dragon's blood, which I seem to amp, too. The experiment was a success, but this scent is not for me.

This was a frimp which was too intriguing to not try, even though I generally dislike aquatics. In the vial it is, yes, a bit aquatic and soapy. Wet on me: Salty soap, ugh! Then some kind of interesting moss-like note in there too - seaweed? (Note: does not actually smell like seaweed). I do find this... compelling, but it's also bordering on gross. Dry: I think I'm getting the melon others have mentioned. Mixed with a salty aquatic & some kind of green herbs. To me, it is a bit artificial smelling and almost nauseating, but I could see it being appealing if ocean scents are your thing. Late dry-down: Softer and less rank now, but still rather soapy on me. Not as "ocean fresh" bathroom cleaner as I was afraid it would be, but no thanks.

This was a Lab frimp. Disclaimer: Dragon's blood hates me, and the feeling is mutual. In the imp: Dragon's blood & jasmine? Fresh, sweet, floral. Well-blended, nothing really stands out. Wet on me: Something spicy that I can't quite identify, backed by dragon's blood. Spiciness dies down & the jasmine emerges as it dries. Dry: Pretty sure there's some anise in here, which was contributing to the 'spicy' earlier. Possibly clove too. I almost want to say vetiver, but I think that's the dragon's blood being weird on me. It's sort of a floral, dragon's blood incense now. Going a bit powdery. These notes do not work well on me. After an hour or so it's all settled down and is a lot nicer, but still a bit powdery. It's not bad, just very much not for me.

I often dislike sandalwood, and it usually seems to depend on what it's blended with. I also nearly always turn anything with a moss or dirt note into something very very rank & unpleasant. This, however, is one of those magic blends where those problem notes somehow balance each other out & everything just works.. The pine-y mastic, mhyrr, and I think even the moss really deepen & counter the overly-smooth, slightly sickly feel I sometimes get from sandalwood. I don't detect any rose at all really, but I anti-amp it, & I think it is there in the background adding some freshness. This one lasts a long time on me, & pretty much maintains it's opening balance for the first several hours.. But somewhat sadly it dries down eventually to mostly the "Greek incense" I think, which I'm not overly keen on - has a bit of an oily vibe, to me. Will definitely use up the imp, but not sure yet if I'll need more.

I originally got this as a frimp, and wondered why I'd never ordered it myself as it is right up my alley. I'm guessing the amber would have put me off, as I generally don't like it. But Cleric is now one of my favourites, and one of the only 2 GC bottles that I own. It's rich & deep & heady, and, as others have said, very goth! In bottle: Not much really, balsam & maybe a little frankincense & mhyrr. Wet: A rather sharp woody-frankincense at first, then the narcissus comes screeching in. The intense bit doesn't last too long though, and the resulting combination is glorious, to my tastes. Then the rose comes out and they all settle down together. Lovely. Dry: Frankincense often dries down to something very sweet on me, but the other notes are tempering it somewhat here - the balsam & woods adding some texture & bite. Gets a bit more floral towards the end, and eventually fades down to just a hint of sweet resins & powdery amber. I find this very potent when first applied, but the throw rapidly diminishes thereafter. Wear length is low to average for me, but seems to improve with age. I have noticed quite pronounced changes in ageing this one: I love it when fresh, but after about 6 months the amber becomes much more dominant & I almost can't wear it. If I put it away for another 6 months though, I like it again. Might need to get another bottle to cellar. Edit: Used up one bottle & got another.. This is the second time batch variation has thwarted me. This one is much more heavily resinous / head-shop incense, with almost no narcissus - I still like it, but nowhere near as much. And as it dries it turns to just sour / green rose & sharp frankincense: how Rose Cross smelled on me, when I was expecting to love it. Very disappointed.