fenharel

opens with dry and dusty cocoa, the body of it is largely incense - a classic, BPAL, champa incense. the tea aspect is subtle, i'd say it gives the scent a nice body on the drydown. i really like this scent however it is majority incense, with cocoa and tea as backup dancers

this is lovely! one of my personal favorite lupers. light, fresh, fruity green apple but with a musky floral backbone that keeps it from straight up smelling like fruity shampoo (not that it would be bad) unfortunately the throw and wear time isn't great but it's gorgeous while it lasts

2020 version I was a bit worried about the caramel as I’m not usually one for those sort of gourmand scents. In this, it works, and I freaking LOVE IT!!!!!!!! Red Lantern is GORGEOUS. In the bottle it’s ooey gooey caramel with a backbone of tobacco and spice. Fresh on the skin it’s mostly caramel and then after a while it settles into this absolutely stunning rich, sweet, spicy, sexy cloud. It’s so well blended it’s almost hard to pick out the individual notes, at this stage. I’d say tobacco is at the forefront, then those Asian spices, the amber gives it a perfumeyness that I think saves it from being a sickly sweet gourmand caramel on me, and if I close my eyes and sniff real hard I get a little coconut. Throw and wear is perfect, present but not overpowering and if I put it on before bed I can still smell it in the morning. Red Lantern is BPAL at its best, and I may need a backup

ok so, i had a bit of a journey with this one, and now i finally feel like i can give it a fair review. beeswax and honey are two of my favorite notes, and combined with lavender it just sounded lovely. i was really disappointed when i got it and, fresh from the mail, it was.... candied yams. dead ringer, candied yams. i felt like i was at thanksgiving dinner. regardless of whether or not candied yams smell good or would make a good perfume, it just wasn't at all what i was expecting or wanted from this. after a week or so of letting it settle closed on my shelf, the lavender came out, sharp and herbal. but it was still candied yams, just with sharp and herbal lavender now. i could tell the scent had potential but at this point it was not something i could ever see myself wearing and enjoying. i'd heard of people sort of force-aging bottles by leaving them open, and i figured i had nothing to lose. so i left it open for a few days, with the rest of my bottles in a shaded area at room-temp. i would check in on it periodically and when that sickly sweet but weirdly savory brown sugar candied yam smell was gone, i put the lid back on. now, NOW, it's gorgeous. it's herbal honey, sweet and fresh and rich and of the earth. the honey note is similar to Honey HG, and they pair wonderfully together. the beeswax gives it a backbone that keeps it from being sickly sweet (like O turns on me, for some reason.) NOW i'm getting the scent i expected when i ordered it. this is the first BPAL i've ever force-aged like this, and it worked in this case when i was chalking the bottle up as a loss anyway.

idk how else to describe this except headshop musk. it's definitely an oriental musk. it's not heavy or incensey but it is rich, deep, and complex. it conjures up so many memories for me and makes me feel fantastic. musk lovers need this - i got a decant and then a bottle

I AM LITERALLY FREAKING OUT OVER THIS ONE!!!!!!!!! it smells like really good expensive salon shampoo. kinda like Paul Mitchell Awapuhi Ginger, only with lavender. it's definitely a sharp herbal lavender and the mugwort just gives it this..... depth. this greenness. complexity. GOD it's gorgeous. i'm not sure i would even say this is a sleep scent, it's oddly energizing for a lavender. it makes me feel clean and fresh down to my very soul. we're gonna need multiples of this one

mmMmMMmM this is delicious. i get mango and tuberose in equal parts, a combination that is warm and sensual and fun and playful. it has a sort of honeyed aspect to it as well. sexy and glamorous and understated. i will get a bottle and tuck it away for warmer weather

sweet and tart and a little spicy. not quite ripe strawberries rolled in Fun Dip atop dollops of fluffy buttercream frosting with a cup of lavender tea nearby. glad i got a decant but won't be getting a bottle. it's very sweet and very busy

it smells like how McDonald's Sprite tastes. this is a good thing

A gentle symphony of wildflowers, sweet and fresh. Cool, damp grass. Sweet and rich vanilla/tobacco/cognac lace gives the scent a backbone and emerges more when dry. Neither the jasmine nor the tobacco are overwhelming, as those notes can sometimes tend to be. This scent is very well blended and balanced. The throw is WILD, though. My skin eats oils so I usually apply by tipping the open bottle over with my finger blocking the top. For this I just dabbed the little bit of oil that gathers on the inside of the cap, and it was more than enough.

YUM!!!!!!!!! if you like Jiaolong (one of my top 5s of all time,) you'll love this!!!!!!!! Melted vanilla bean ice cream swirled into thick black coffee. Yes, the coffee has a subtle but noticeable spicy note to it that the the coffee in Jiaolong does not. It's also less heavy and masculine than Jiaolong. Perfect throw and good wear time - I put this on before a long day of running errands and it lasted for about 6 hours. I might need a backup bottle of this

2019 version: soft, warm, comforting. the vanilla and cream combine to give it a distinct custardy feeling. There's no coconut in it but something about it reminds of me suntan lotion or sunscreen, in a good way. The saffron gives it a rich, sturdy base that keeps it from being one of those' clouds of pure sugar fluff' scents. I don't get any medicinal, plasticy, astringent or wintergreen smell as mentioned in previous year's versions. I also don't get any sort of 'curdled' note which I sometimes get from cream heavy scents and was worried about - for instance, Snake's Kiss, which I was very excited about, smelled like cottage cheese on my skin. Perfect throw - I can smell it even when my wrist isn't shoved into my nose, but it's not overwhelming. Think I need a bottle of this

Antique Lace's marshmallow fluff folded in with cake batter, Zorya P's cool musk and pale flowers, a haughty backbone of cognac and elemi. I do not detect coconut or tobacco leaf (thankfully, for me) but can tell they're adding to the fragrance as a whole. When I first tested it, it had MORE of a high end perfume feel to me than either Antique Lace or Zorya P. However, after letting it rest for a day, for the first few hours it is pure sugary vanilla fluff, to a greater degree than even Antique Lace. The drydown retains the high end perfume feel. This is a beautiful scent. A future classic, and I'm so glad I snagged a bottle.

it's so interesting to see everyone's different interpretations of a scent. wet for me this is a thick, heady blast of juicy berries tempered by a mild, pleasant white floral (that must be the jasmine - lighter than i've ever smelled it before) with a zippy green twist (and there's the lime.) it definitely has the air of a high-end, commercial perfume. what's really interesting for me is what happens as i wear this throughout the day. first of all, it has fantastic throw and staying power. it's not overpowering but i can smell it for several hours after application as though i'd just put it on. but over time this turns into something really stunning on my skin with a distinct like... sparkling honeyed note? there's this moscato they sell at Trader Joe's called Sara Bee that to me is essentially like a light sparkling mead. that's exactly what this smells like on me. moreso than ANY other champagne, effervescent scent i've tried from BPAL. i think it's a strange effect of all the notes combined. i love it. i'll probably be snagging multiple bottles of this.

aahhhhhhh. i wanted to love this one because i loooooove red musk, but.... i couldn't. i had to wash it off with the quickness. something about it smells just like kitty litter to me :cry2: