JakkieTreehorn

So this is fresh out of the mail two hours ago, but I couldn’t resist. I’ll be curious to see what rest and aging does. In the bottle it’s not a strong scent. It’s definitely chocolate but not super sweet and deeper than a milk chocolate, but not bitter like a good dark chocolate. Wet it blooms immediately and the butter comes out but the chocolate gets much stronger too. It’s definitely fresh homemade chocolate buttercream frosting. Much sweeter now than in the bottle. Dry so far is about the same. I definitely prefer this to say Bliss. It’s just a bit less simple and deeper but still super sweet which is what I want in my gourmands. EDIT: This lasted right into bedtime, but after a few hours it was just a very subtlety sweet skin scent. I feel like this will be a go to warmer weather scent for me. Most of my faves are what other people might find cloying and too sweet so not what I generally want to wear when it’s hot out. This will be a nice alternative to my lemon and coconut summer and spring scents.

This was a surprise but for me as I’ve yet to find a BPAL with lavender that isn’t too lavender for me. This is right up my alley. As mentioned above it definitely starts out coconut milk heavy and smells a tad tropical. It’s still very soft at that stage though. But it turns into a lively buttery, nutty slightly sweet gourmand that feels more sophisticated than my usual faves that pound you in the face with cloying sweetness. The white sandalwood and the smidge of lavender make this a really soft and lovely blend that is similar to a lot of other faves but also completely different. I received this in a swap and I’ll be getting a backup for sure. This is the sophisticated hazelnut I’ve been trying to find for a while now!

This is way different than I expected but in the best way. It is SUPER reminiscent for me of The Strange Old Woman and The Pancake Bell which are my two all time fave dark and spicy gourmands. I no longer have any of either of those for comparison so can’t say how close they really are. But, now that I’m out of those this will definitely be my go to spicy syrupy dark winter scent. I can’t wait to see how this gets with age.

So I avoided this one, because caramel is terrible for me. It either turns to burnt plastic or rancid butter. I decided after reading reviews that I was gonna blind bottle it even though I promised myself I wouldn’t do that anymore lol. Im SO glad I did. It is SUPER buttery in the bottle, and it does stay somewhat buttery, but it is also sweet and smooth a d for some reason actually reminds me a bit of Obatala. I think the cream here is similar to the milk note in Obatala. Obatala has always been number 2 in my all time favorite scents list, so this one shot right to the top too. It’s like Obatala without the Coconut and sweeter and warmer. It is amazing. I’m getting a backup for sure.

I was sure this would be a slam dunk for me based on the reviews, but sadly it was not. In the bottle it is almond with a bit of a sharp chemical smell in the background. Wet it is nice sweet almond and for a minute as it dries I get some yummy bakery goodness. BUT, for me this goes down hill really fast. It smells exactly like a freshly shampooed puppy....straight up fluffy puppy and dog shampoo. Then it goes through a phase of spicy dry cinnamon and fig. I thought it was going to get better, but then the final stage is super strong spicy dog shampoo. I had to scrub it off. I’ve tried multiple times over some months with the same result.

Eh, not crazy about being the first to review something, BUT I freaking love Japanese milk bread so I was pretty curious about this one. Holy moly. In the bottle I’d probably drink this if I didn’t know it was perfume lol. It’s buttery and slightly sweet and definitely smells like a nice moist yeast roll with a hint of spice. Super excited so far! Wet I get the same initial blast of buttery yeast roll but the anise starts coming on making me super nervous. At this stage hoping the anise calms down a bit and heads to the background, as now it’s an anise scent with a background of buttery yeast bread. On dry down the anise definitely plays nicer and calms down. Up close I get a delicious buttery and slightly sweetened anise scented yeast bread. From afar though I don’t get the anise, just frequent whiffs of pretty damn realistic milk bread slathered with butter. I have a feeling this is going to do beautiful things as it ages and the notes hopefully become less distinct from one another. I bought two bottles of this hoping it would be backup worthy and it definitely is...one of the more unique scents I’ve tried in a very long time! ETA: Came back to add that this got sooo much better later on. I could smell it though the sleeve of my hoodie! Not in a strong perfume way as it doesn’t smell like perfume. It’s just this amazingly comforting savory foodie scent. This is like dopamine in a bottle 😍

I was super excited to try this one. I’ve been searching for an almond that I actually like to wear and so far have only found ones that smell great in the bottle but underwhelm once I’m wearing them. In the bottle this is delicious realistic marzipan with something tangy in the background though I wouldn’t be able to identify it as honey. Ooohh, wet this is sweet golden honey and marzipan. The honey is super bright which is keeping this from being heavy and chewy like most almond goes on me. Dry this is a nice light bright honey with a little bit of almond in the background. It’s nice, but not sure it’s a keeper for me.

So I have been pretty strictly foodie all my life due to serious sinus issues and most other scents causing terrible headaches. I do however love amber and some patchouli if it’s not overpowering and have found Sin to be my new favorite. I also love snake oil. So far I’ve struck out with other resins but I’d love to find some new smellies that aren’t foodies. I really can’t do floral at all. If I can smell the floral note it will be impossible for me to wear. Are there any other scents similar to Sin that might work for me?

Bastet didn’t work, which I was super sad about. Nasty Woman was way too much too. I have thought about the Amber and Cardamom. The others you mentioned I haven’t checked out yet!

This is really nice. Obatala is one of my all time favorite scents and I definitely see why people are making comparisons. I feel like they are two sides of the same coin. Obatala is cool and refreshing while Penny Rolle is warm and comforting. It’s definitely Shea dominant on me but with a bit of a dry note from the sandalwood and just a hint of spicy cinnamon. I’m a huge fan of super foody scents that a lot of other people might find too syrupy or cloying so I find this one pretty mild in comparison.

I love this. On me it’s exactly what the description says, spicy black coffee with just a tiny bit of sweetness.

I love this. I’m really only into foodie scents. Halfling is my favorite followed by King Cake. This doesn’t remind me at all of Halfling as I love that one because it’s so nutty. Wet this smelled so much like King Cake to me. I live in Vermont so pure maple syrup is a staple here. King Cake reminds me and everyone that smells it on me of Maple Syrup. Whatever that top note is seems to be the base note in King Cake. So where King Cake stays that syrupy sweet maple on me, Cockaigne gets spicy and a tad boozy mixed with the maple syrup. And it has a lighter throw on me than King Cake which I can only wear sparingly in the winter So I don’t overpower every room I’m in. So this is definitely a keeper for me. I like it more and more too each time I wear it.

I’m not sure at all how to review perfumes. I was introduced to indie perfumes many years ago by my dear friend Courtney who now runs BPAL Vermont lunacy. There has never been a better smelling person in the history of people than this magnificent lady lol. I have MANY allergies and thus was averse to perfumes for my entire life...and then came my friend Courtney smelling like a goddess among creatures in a way that I cannot describe. Her scent was something out of my fondest childhood memories, yet I had no idea what it was. I admired it for YEARS, just thinking my own scent was subpar. When I finally got the nerve to try BPAL it changed my life....I’ve never smelled something so wonderful....I’ve had the same scent locket in my car for nine months and everyone that gets in my car still sniffs like a crack whore in heat lol. My husband commented tonight on what he referred to as “the scent of my childhood that he just can’t seem to make place.” We have been married for 7 years. He got used to me not wearing scents because of my allergies, and he is utterly hooked. I’ve never had a person smell my neck so many times lol. I feel like Snake Oil and Sin are pretty similar though. I feel like Snake Oil is a bit sweeter while Sin is all bad all the time. Either way.....grrrrrrr.....sex in a freaking bottle!

I really love this one too. For me I get an awesome banana top note that fades really fast on me and I’m left with a light tropical coconut with a hint of banana...I can see myself wearing this a lot in the summer! I do get a hint of the chocolate later on as I wear it!

This is sooooo good! It will definitely be in heavy rotation for me. The honey is a much different honey than in other BPAL blends I’ve tried. This is by far my favorite honey from them so far. It is creamy and chocolatey and so good! No floral note with the honey which is how I prefer it!

I was super excited when I put this on. It smelled like yummy almond and cardamom. Dry down is not good for me though. Something about the lotus and Egyptian Musk together I think were problematic for me. I am interested to see how this ages though as I typically like scents with strong musky or woody notes only after significant aging. I’m hoping this might be smoother and that the notes will blend together once aged.

I dont get any coconut or Hazlenut at all which was a bummer as that’s what I was hoping for. On me it’s all floral musk which is always a no go for me. As someone who absolutely loathes florals though, this is one of the only ones I’ve tried that didn’t give me a raging migraine. It was as pleasant as a floral can get for me.

Since Obatala is a favorite I thought for sure this would be right up my alley. It leans too aquatic for me though. I find Obatala to be much sweeter and more fresh smelling. This was a good test though in that it helped me further determine which notes and types of scents work for me. This did smell exactly like a salty, coco nutty day at the beach, but alas, too much salt for me....this felt more like sweaty chasing after the kids all day while Obatala feels more like lounging in glorious solitude on a boat 🤷‍♀️

This was my first try with a more straight forward aquatic. Obatala is one of my favorites, so I hoped I’d like this. And I do love the smell, just not on me. This smells great and is very much the kind of scent I like on my hubby, but is much too masculine for me and my foodie loving nose. It is very refreshing and effervescent! I might try to make him wear it even though he hates oil bases 😂

This is very strong pecan. It smells exactly like the wooden bowl of nuts that my grandmother used to always have in her kitchen...whole nuts in the shells. It’s definitely a heavy scent I’ll wear in the fall and winter, and I like it layered with vanilla to balance the dark woodiness a bit.

I loooove this! In the bottle it’s all nuts and butter. Wet on my skin it’s about the same. Dry it’s just like real powdered sugar with a hint of nuts in the background. This is definitely a keeper for me.

Late to the party on this one...my husband loves banana, so it has grown on me leading me to think I should try some BPAL banana scents. In the bottle I smell mostly butter. Wet on my skin it is so yummy! Banana and butter and a bit of pie crust. Throughout wear I get alternating wafts of banana laffy taffy and rich buttery banana. I really love this! I think this will layer really well with some vanillas too!

This is my new favorite. It's all comforting and cozy for me as it somehow smells EXACTLY like my grandmother's house always did (I guess because there was always a pot of coffee on and cinnamon potpourri all over the house). I get no booze which I was a tad bummed by until I realized it's like my gram's house in a bottle. I'll have to scour the swap boards for more of this.

I am not generally a huge fan of fruity smells even BPAl, but this is amazing. In the bottle it smells exactly like fresh, super juicy raspberries. Wet on my skin is about the same and dry still is very bright, fresh and juicy smelling. I'd like to have a bottle of this!

This is exactly what it says it is, which I couldn't be happier about! Definitely a favorite that will get heavy use! Snake Oil and honey, yum!