inurbanus

Sometimes I allowed my thoughts, unchecked by reason, to ramble in the fields of Paradise, and dared to fancy amiable and lovely creatures sympathizing with my feelings and cheering my gloom; their angelic countenances breathed smiles of consolation. But it was all a dream; no Eve soothed my sorrows nor shared my thoughts; I was alone. I remembered Adam’s supplication to his Creator. But where was mine? He had abandoned me, and in the bitterness of my heart I cursed him. Amiable and lovely creatures: honey and rosewater with fig, patchouli, night-blooming jasmine, and white almond. I wasn't really sure what to expect with this one. I love figgy and almondy scents but jasmine can easily ruin promising scents, so it was kind of a toss up. I'm happy to say that this scent is elegantly blended and that the jasmine behaves itself. I'm getting a mixture of jasmine and light rose (it's not very strong at all) perched on top of creamy fig. It kind of smells like what I imagine an old-fashioned boudoir table would smell like, dribbled with rose water, jasmine perfume, and sweet powder. Off the top of my head, I can't think of a BPAL scent that compares with this, but it has elements of Miller V. California and Honey Mone. It's different but I like it.

Live thy Life, Young and old, Like yon oak, Bright in spring, Living gold; Summer-rich Then; and then Autumn-changed Soberer-hued Gold again. All his leaves Fall'n at length, Look, he stands, Trunk and bough Naked strength. Eternally evolving, blooming in power and grace: acorns, oak leaves, oak bark, and oak sap rising through a mist of traditional lunar oils. I got my Oak Moon bottle today and decided I needed to test it ASAP. For the first hour, it's definitely wood. Not being exceedingly familiar with oak, I can't say if it's accurate. It's a rich, earthy wood that smells very slightly of cedar and has a subtle sweetness. I was worried that this would be too strong but it actually has the perfect amount of throw. It's deep but not overwhelming. What I really like about this scent is how naturalistic it smells. It's definitely does not smell like a shop with lots of oak furniture. You can smell soft earth and forest foliage along with the wood. This actually reminds me more of the Lab's other dirt scents than it does wood ones. As for the lunar oils, when they appear, they really enhance the wood - they smell fruity to my nose but I can't really identify what kind of fruit. Berries, maybe? Some kind of rich, round fruit. As a whole, this scent really lives up to its name. I predict that a lot of people will be very happy with this.

I really had no idea what to expect from this one but the notes sounded good, so I went ahead and got a bottle. Straight out of the bottle, this is very strong tobacco flower and teak. It's a pungent combination and I don't particularly like it - it's so smoky that it makes my nose tingle. However, after about 15 minutes, this disappears and is replaced by a lovely, unusual perfume. It's a creamy combination of sandalwood, vanilla, teak, patchouli, and tobacco flower. After it calms down, the tobacco flower is gorgeous - it's a full, slightly fruity aroma that complements the vanilla and woody notes perfectly. I agree that this resembles Black Lace, but with a twist. Brown Lace, maybe. It's fabulous and I can't wait to wear this throughout the cold winter.

At first the patchouli is way too "gnarly" for my taste (which I kind of suspected would be the case!) but after about a half an hour it mellows into a smoke and resin scent that I can tolerate a lot better. Unfortunately, the notes I was really interested in - the cocoa, tobacco, and vanilla - don't make an appearance. Maybe I didn't roll my bottle enough or maybe they'll come out in time as this ages. I'm willing to wait and see because I have a feeling that this could be really amazing with time.

I'm fairly neutral on the Lab's leather notes - sometimes it does wonderful things (like in Miller Vs California, Mmmm!) and sometimes it smells like a chemically mess. The leather in The Arabian Dance is deep and smoky but it blends really well with the coffee. Luckily, it doesn't smell like a big mug of the stuff (which would be too strong for my taste) but has a lovely, lightly roasted aroma. It's like inhaling the aroma of coffee and spices in a coffee shop. I can't speak of the hazelnut except that it's unobtrusive but I have a feeling it was contributing to the yumminess of the coffee note. Usually, I wouldn't go for something like this but it is really good. Love it!

I usually don't have good luck with the Beaver Moon scents but I keep buying them because they always sound so good. To my surprise, Beaver Moon 2011 actually turned out very nicely on me - it starts off very peachy but gradually the peach burns away, leaving a thick slurry of strawberry and glaze heaped over cheesecake. The strawberry note isn't super realistic - it's the smell of strawberry lollipops, gummy candy, and pie filling. It's sweet and thick and leaves just of a dollop of cheesecake recognizable underneath. It's definitely the best strawberry scent I've ever smelled from the Lab. I'm very happy I went ahead and got a bottle of this. It's super yummy.

A maddeningly festive blend of warm, buttery rum, cocoa, coconut, vanilla and a jolt of peppermint. It’s a sweet, decadent, slightly silly scent, reminiscent of rum-laced holiday cookies. I tracked down a bottle of Spooky after making macaroons - I was hoping for something creamy and coconutty. Actually, this smells like Elegba, which is a mixture of coconut and sugary rum, and tobacco, without the tobacco note. It's got the standard BPAL rum note with a swirl of coconut (although I wish there was more of it, being the coconut fan I am) and a little drizzle of peppermint. The peppermint is not strong at all, in fact I would like it to be stronger since it's so weak here. Personally, I don't think I'm such a huge fan of the rum note but I like the scent as a whole. It smells like something you'd find in a coffee shop, either on the cookie rack or near the flavored syrups. Yum.

Fresh out of the bottle this is a lush mixture of lily threaded with jasmine. I really like lilies and wasn't sure about the jasmine note in this but the two work very well together. Lily always smells kind of icy and distant to me but the jasmine does a really nice job warming it up and grounding it. Every now and then there's a little glint of spiciness from the clove but it's pretty subtle. After a while, the vanilla and musk become much more prominent and the scent develops a powdery feel. The lily is still there, but it's become fuzzy and indistinct, almost like it's wrapped in fog. Overall, this is a very pretty lily blend and those who like white florals should definitely try it.

In the bottle this is a wonderfully juicy, sugary honeydew melon. On the skin, the honeydew remains but there's also a bracing, briny seaweed note that comes out as the scent develops. The two notes create a very interesting olfactory contrast - sweet and salty, Yemaya makes me think of the ocean without being a literal aquatic. I think it's very beautiful but I can see a lot of people being weirded out by this. If you like sweet fruit scents like BPAL's Earth Rat or more seaweedy scents like BPAL's Cthulu or Villainess's Pearl Diver, I definitely think you should give Yemaya a try.

Oh, man. WILF. I've heard so much about this one! Well, I totally agree that it has a Snake Oil vibe. It's got the same luscious mixture of patchouli and musk but there's an additional note that strongly differentiates the two. I also smell the vanilla note that others have mentioned but it's different than any other Lab vanilla note that I've experienced. It's deep and syrupy, almost alcoholic, like vanilla extract. It plays with the base notes in an interesting way. At first I thought it was cherry or some other fruit note but once some of the other top notes calm down I could identify it. Overall, this is a good blend but I think I prefer Snake Oil a little more. There is something a little overworked about this that slightly turns me off.

This is a review for the 2009 Yule release. I was not really sure what to expect when I bought this. Individually, the notes sounded wonderful and I always wanted to try this after the famous Lab auction. However, I didn't really know how the snow would mix with the wood and resin notes. Well, it does smell a little jumbled at first but after a couple of minutes everything calmed down and I really liked the result. Rich, warm wood lit with heavy amber and a dusting of crystalline snow. At first I didn't care for the way the slushy mint of the now mixed with the wood but after I got used to the combination I really dug it. It smelled like an Aveda product, and since I really like Aveda, I was a happy camper. I can't wait to wear this again. It's gorgeous and unique, definitely one of my favorite Yules.

I was really hoping to get amber and musk from this but on me the florals were the strongest notes, especially the rose. There was a little flurry of orange at the beginning which I really liked but it disappeared quickly, as top notes are want to do. I guess I hoping for more complexity from this. It smells like tons of others rose-scented blends from the Lab and while I like rose, I was hoping for something special from this.

I needed some sweetness in my life today so this was an excellent choice. This is definitely CANDY, specifically a mixture of Starburst and jelly beans. Orange is the most prominent scent but I can smell a melange of other fruity notes underneath. I don't get any mint from this, for which I'm thankful. I think it's perfect the way it is. For me, it's pure happiness in a bottle.

Like a lot of others have noted, the first couple of minutes are very harsh. Personally, I don't smell vetiver but kush, which kind of smells like "new car smell" to me. Luckily, it soon calms down, revealing a glossy black base of wood and creamy mallow. It's very nummy and smells just like I wanted the Antikythera Mechanism to. I can see several different BPALers being drawn to this - those who love smoke and woods, those who love creamy-foodie blends, those who like their perfumes comforting, those who like their perfumes sexy, and just about everyone in between. This was an impulse buy for me and I'm very glad I decided to go for it.

Just took a bath with my beloved CCBBO and decided I needed to do a review of it. I smelled this in person at Dark Delicacies last year during a trip to California but too concerned with buying perfume oil to get a bottle. Dumb! Luckily, I was able to get a bottle off of Ebay so all was well. In my opinion, this is one of the best foodie scents the Lab has ever produced. Buttery scents usually go rancid on me but the combo of buttery shortbread/cake, white chocolate, and a little bit of cranberry is wonderful! It really does smell like something I could just pick up and eat. I'm really intrigued by the white chocolate note - usually, white chocolate smells waxy to me but here it's creamy and fabulous. Maybe because it's backed by cocoa? Whatever the reason, it's divine. I've got my fingers crossed that the Lab will release a corresponding perfume oil one day.