queenshaboo

This fume is a revelation. Got it as a freebie lab imp and blind tested it and I gotta say this perfume is more than the sum of it's parts. I pride myself on having a reasonably ok nose but could not for the life of me distinguish the separate notes until I read the copy. Blind it was a morphing melange of facets that I've never encountered together before: facets of benzoin, sugarcane, exotic spice like to nag champa but without the woody notes, coumarin (hay) and even limestone in the beginning stages. Having read the copy I could distinguish the orange blossom, ginger and patchouli (patchphobes don't be afraid, I usually avoid but this is patch at it's best, melding all the other notes together in an exotic incense like haze but lacking that bitter green facet that I'm not overly fond of). The overall effect is that of a true skin musk, this smells of pure sex on my skin and it's amazing.

OMG This. Is. My. Holy. Grail. BPAL (and Book!) scent! I've been on the hunt for the Perfect book fume for so long! Rosewood, paper, tonka and leather are my fav notes and of all the bpal fumes I've tried (honestly only about 10% work out on my skin) one of the ones I liked best was Perversion. Dee has the same sweet tonka base of Perversion but overlaid with rosewood and leather that's softened considerably by the vanillic parchment accord, this isn't your bpal strong saddle leather note but a v soft book leather. I want to bathe in this. Wish it came in EDP because the stronger I smell of Dee the better imo!

Funny, I expected a resin bomb but what I got is woody wood wood wood. I get where the cedar comparisons come from but I think it's more likely that BPAL's sandalwood accord contains a bit of cedar in it because it's missing that cloying almost floral facet that tends to overpower the woodiness of pure cedar in my nose at least. For me this is quintessentially BPAL's sandalwood accord, so strong it's almost a single note but with a base of frankincense and myrrh just peeking out. Stays that way the entire time. Nice, but not as resiny as I was hoping/ expecting and I get no benzoin (my favourite resin!) nor any stone. I was hoping for an evocative scent reminiscent of a cathedral but on me it's just a v nice straightforward wooden chest of drawers scent.

Fruits and my skin chemistry are foes to the death! This had the same restroom freshener tang that a reviewer experienced. Instant scrubber, bah!

OMG I love this! Normally I prefer smelling like a cathedral than a garden but this is divine. Wet it's heady jasmine but not just the flower, it smells like the entire vine and it is glorious. Then it settles down to a deep ambery jasmine that seems to float over a grounding base of the rose; the frangipani lends an eastern vibe though I'm only familiar with it used as a tropical facet. Hubbo said "Amber and Potpourri!" lol but I think that it stays true and heady and only a little powdery, it reminds me of Jean Patou's Joy which I loved as a child, and which now I realise must have been an intentional reference given the name of this frag Definitely on my wishlist, will layer really well with my amber, oud and sandalwood single notes if the dry down becomes too powdery.

Wet I get a blast of jasmine and a soapy musk-like dragon's blood which mixes with light leather and tiny bit of smoke to make an absolutely lovely blend which I wish would stay forever, unfortunately it gives way quite quickly to dragon's blood jasmine soap, gone is the leather and smoke. Too bad this doesn't work on me, on the right person it would be beautiful.

It always puzzles me when people describe Dragon's Blood as "sweet" or "jammy" because I use Dragon's Blood resin in herbal spell work and it's a v astringent camphorous resin to my nose. Yes it does have floral and sweet facets but on the whole it's quite acrid and sharp with a nose clearing quality to it which I experience for the first 30 mins before it mellows a little to a more powdery resin though the sharp quality persists for quite a while. In the vial it's a light red/ padparascha colour so maybe I got a stronger DB blend or I amp it I guess as the sandalwood isn't as prominent as I was hoping but it does round out the DB nicely. It's a linear scent but I love unadulterated resin/ wood notes so this is DB and sandalwood heaven. Low to moderate projection and longevity.

Really like BPAL's leather note, but on me it's SUPER STRONG and drowns out everything so I can't even detect the sandalwood after 10 mins and lord does that leather note grow stronger and stronger. On it's own it's a bit much but I love White Rider layered to create different fragrances eg layered it with sandalwood SN, vanilla + white pepper oil, and Poesie White House garden (fig, musk, lemon) and it's glorious. The other notes tame the leather while the latter lends strength and longevity to the whole; can't wait to play with other combinations! As a standalone fragrance though I prefer the more balanced leather dominant frags in the Pleasures of the Imagination series.

First dirt perfume I've ever tried and In the vial: WOW it really is the smell of freshly turned loam (on a grave), I love it! All of a sudden I catch a whiff of cacao but it only lasts a second, more's the pity. Wet: it morphs quite quickly from that gorgeous red clay to a v powdery old school vintage perfume, something like Shalimar; peeking through I get hints of a lovely spice note, perhaps cassia? or Star Anise? it reminds me v much of the "soft ladies perfume" in Solstice Scents High Noon. The perfume is my least favourite part of this, something about the powder bothers me, would much prefer rose instead so will have to try to find a decant of Zombi, fingers crossed! I finally understand why some people love dirt notes, think I'm going to have to go down the dirt road myself for awhile 😏

What a surprise, it's nothing like I was expecting from the listed notes. I was expecting sweet resiny incense, I got generic laundry liquid/ baby shampoo. Wet there's a fruity note from the bourbon vanilla and soap from the musk. Can't distinguish the frankincense from the blend nor the "shiny armor" unless it's the frequent washing with baby shampoo that makes it so shiny lol. As it dried down the leather emerged which made it better but it was still baby shampoo + imperial leather soap so had to scrub it off as I HATE smelling like supermarket toiletries, I had to use these products growing up and my childhood was sufficiently miserable for me not to need to be reminded of it. Overall I find this one deeply disappointing.

Wow definitely the most evocative BPAL I've tried and it's very well done. I only wish it was more wood furniture and less wood furniture polish on me but the lilac is lovely, esp with the addition of osmanthus and rose which blend seamlessly together.

OMG this smells like HOT MAN, like nuzzling into the stubbly nape of the neck of a sweet broad shouldered lumberjack in his flannel shirt redolent of pipe tobacco next to a camp fire in a forest in the Pacific Northwest while drinking a rum Old Fashioned; not the soda water formaldehyde cherry horror they call an old fashioned in a shitty bar, but one made with 15 year aged rum, muddled tonka infused demerara sugar and chardonnay bitters. I want to eat myself.

Mostly it's a v balanced mix of orris, coconut and musk so much so it's hard to pick out the individual components but unfortunately Elizabeth's orris is death on my skin which amps that carroty earthy aspect so that it overpowers everything. To others that aspect is interpreted as "woody" but to my nose it smells like sour sick, I'm not sure why. Well at least I know I can't wear any BPALs with orris in it. Orris from other brands seems not to turn on my skin this way.

V lovely, spicy resinous florals with a backbone of soft velvety musk, after an hour or so it settles down to Nag Champa, no shit this is STRAIGHT UP NAG CHAMPA on me. If you're looking for a Nag champa dupe this is for you! Unfortunately I don't enjoy nag champa anymore, reminds me too much of my miss spent youth 😜

It's amazing how different perfume can be on different people, I'm guessing opium is what's causing the more negative reviews here but on me it tends to be strong and true, I think my skin tends to amp it, which is fine by me because I LOVE opium. I get the comparisons to YSL's Opium, it's definitely in the same family and, like the former, works great on my skin. Unlike others I don't find the narcissus here to be 'sweet', I interpret 'sweet' as gourmand or syrupy florals like osmanthus and rose, the narcissus here is more lily-like; on me Darkness is the v definition of a floriental. It's quite a simple scent, the strongest note is strong, heady, intoxicating narcissus with the opium giving it force and richness while the myrrh is undetectable till the last stages, when it lends a powdery sweetness in the manner of benzoin, the lemony quality that's usually present in myrrh combines so well with the narcissus that it's almost imperceptible; the myrrh here just lurks in the background like the skeleton underneath your skin. Florals tend to devolve to soap or powder on me and I'm not usually a fan of them in general, I prefer to smell like a cathedral or burning log cabin, but this is incredibly beautiful, and appropriate if I'm in the presence of more conservative company like at work or a family gathering. I'm going to have to get an FB of this one, I'M IN LOVE!