wordortwo

I recently asked this question as well! Here are the answers I received: The Lab has a myriad of snow notes. There's the creamy, sweet Snow White one that some people get marzipan from and others get coconut. There's the slushy snow from scents like Skadi, a sweet evergreen-infused snow from scents like Snow Bunny, The First Soft Snow, Marshmallow Snow, and NYC Snowball Fight, a white musk sort of snow from scents like Schönperchten and Snow and White Musk Hair Gloss, and then there's mentholic snow from Nuclear Winter... you basically never know what you're going to get, because even with some Frostbitten scents in the past, there were several that had the Snow White snow, but others, like Frostbitten Zombi and Frostbitten Cheshire Cat, that featured different snow notes.

Testing a frimp of unknown age. This fragrance opens with - BAM - a bracing blast of spice, which I interpreted as cinnamon until I looked at the notes. For a brief time, sweet cherry vies for space. It's a good cherry - cherry liqueur rather than cough syrup - but still loses the battle. For about an hour, I'm in nothing but a sweet cloud of spice. Then the dragons blood takes over. So, to my nose, dragons blood resin smells like musty flowers and fruit candy. (It doesn't help that I, two decades removed from college, still associate it with dorm room incense lol.) It wears like a dragons blood single note after that. This is indeed a bold, sticky red scent. I have a feeling it smells very different on different people. But I can't do this much dragons blood, and without the cherry, it loses complexity on me.

Bottle fresh from the lab, 2023.This was not at all what I was expecting. Wet: Sweet lemon. Then lemon sugar cookie with royal icing. Pretty, tasty. Stays that way for quite some time. After four hours, it dries down to a delicious musk, with maybe a dash of coumarin, that is unfortunately whisper-soft. I've worn it quite a bit, but it doesn't knock my socks off. In the past, I had hesitated on buying this because of the word "sugared," and I think that caution was warranted. I think I wanted more astringent tea, and based on the fougere description, maybe more mossy or woody or herbal or lavender notes.

I could have sworn I reviewed this one! Testing a 2021 imp that is 1/4 full... I loved it then. I still like it, but I haven't worn it in quite some time. Wet: Rose. Then soapy rose. Then classy rose and cherry cough syrup. Finally it settles into silky wine and roses. Dry: An soft incense note emerges. Though the notes list dragon's blood, I will respectfully ignore that as I hate dragon's blood. So I'm calling it generic Incense. It takes this from soap territory to perfume land and creates an atmospheric quality. I can picture thick rose petals next to wine glasses empty but for a sip of something berry-laced, lightly tannic, and a tad metallic. Incense smoke sliding by. Sultry. (A note for other sober people: the wine note smells more like the tasting notes for some imaginary red wine and not like actual booze). The far dry down turns very mellow and honeyed. Unfortunately... the roses can go soapy and the wine can go grapey. And I kinda feel this scent is missing something. So, this is no longer a love for me, but I do enjoy it and I recommend any BPAL lover try it.

I don't have much to say about Baku, but that doesn't mean I don't like it. It is, as others have said, anise-tinged herbal lavender. Sometimes has a sinus-clearing quality. It is an excellent sleep scent. I keep an imp by my bed. Strong, don't over-apply if you actually want to sleep. I don't know much about the longevity, other than that it is gone by the time I wake up.

Step 1. Big loud sweet flower. Step 2. Big sweet flower bust open by ozone Step 3. Soft, clean, white clothing, sprinkled with herbs and drying in a blooming garden. Some days I love it, some days I hate it. Never dull, though.

Testing a 2023 frimp. Crisp, green, sweetly floral. I tested it before looking at the notes, and I smelled a very pretty green tea, something like sweet pea or freesia, something like luxury citrus hotel shampoo (that's not a knock). Crisp, buzzy edge I couldn't put my finger on (must be all that citrus). For me, this is all adds up to a really beautiful tea scent, with a well-rounded balance of the astringent, floral, lightly fruity aspects that tea can have. Came on very strong, faded to medium-light throw after an hour, disappeared by hour 5 if not earlier. Very nice. I'm not sure I will wear this that much, but I will wear it again.

Testing a second-hand frimp. Wet, I got the brief play-doh effect another reviewer mentioned. Almost plasticky, but not in the fragrance oil way. As it dries, I first get honey and then dry wood. My brain initially says "cedar?" But I realized that it is sandalwood. I really enjoy this combination. A little moody. By the end of the day, the scent on my sweater reminds me quite a bit of Death is Death from the 2021 Weenies, which is a sweet sandalwood incense with myrrh. On my wrist, what hasn't just rubbed off is vaguely fruity. This was low throw throughout it's life on the skin. It isn't remarkable to me, but very nice and I will wear it again.

Testing a three-year-old frimp. This was one of the first frimps I ever tested, and I remember thinking it was pretty and being surprised at how "mainstream" it felt. Then I didn't wear it for a long time. But both those things are still true, and I don't mean mainstream in a bad way. This is a big, bold fragrance, something sultry for an alien princess 🙂 Wet : blast of salty neroli with a squirt of mandarin juice carried on a green musk funk. A sliver of melon hovers above it all. Dry: white musk, clean and fresh and well-placed, becomes apparent for a while as florals rise over it. Blends into green musk. Melon persists. Surprisingly linear after that. Lasts about 8 hours, big throw. Almost too much.

Testing a year-old frimp. Wet: Sweetly evergreen. Bright. No booze. Dry: Sweetly evergreen, with lemon and frankincense. No booze. I think this is wearing quite close to my skin and is quite faded after four hours. This immediately called to mind memories of Gingerbread Invisible Man and Fatôme's Ruslan. The former is fizzy ginger ale and lemon (plus cookies), and the latter is frankincense and fir. This doesn't do much for me, though I can't say I was expecting it to work.

Oh this is lovely. Smooth, complex, rich without being overwhelming. A fresh, cool, green quality is twined around the lavender, and the cognac and ambergris ground and fix the top notes and give the whole thing a radiating warmth. Surprisingly not particularly animalic, though a bit salty. The green + ambergris puts me in the mind of Yule Cat, but this is much smoother and more interesting. (Edit: Seeing @doomsday_disco's review, I realized I had scents mixed up. Yes, the green bits remind me of Yule Cat, but the lavender + sweet ambergris is totally To a Wreath of Snow. But I still think bedroom is the more interesting 'fume.) I agree with other reviewers that this is evocative, and there is a wistful quality. Now I should say I'm testing this 8 hours out of the mail, so I will update if anything changes.

Like @Ghost of a Rose, I was taken by surprise by this fragrance. It green, fuzzy, powdery, with the scent and texture of sage. I do not think it smells like "moss-covered wood" - which I imagine as a damp, loamy scent. The moss and wood stand separate, since this smells more like fresh-cut wood and moss in the sun. The "dark musk" beneath it all is not BPAL's rich, heady black musk, but then smokey, stone-like variety in Tis Strange (another Shakespeare-themed scent). Robin Goodfellow feels very unisex to me. It is gentle, soothing, and balanced, one I could wear to work and to bed. Bottle-worthy. Thanks for the frimp, Labbies.

I tested a frimp of this one today. Hecate falls into a category of BPALs I think of as "un-fragrance." These scents are focused just on smelling good and they smell good just to smell good. They are not trying to win awards for being challenging. They aren't going to offend anyone, and everyone will want to hold you in a hug a little longer. Instead of pushing us to olfactory limits, Hecate soothes with an ancient perfume note: myrrh. This is the heart of this fragrance and endures after the marzipan becomes creamy almond. It is warm and balsamic and the musk makes it smooth. (This actually reads more like BPAL's "skin musk" note to me, rather than a dark musk). It is comforting and powdery in a velvety way. I'm on board with the whole "mama witch" vibe. I thought it faded after an hour, but it seems to have morphed or something. Definitely wears close to the skin after the marizpan phase is over, but that is exactly what I would want from a fragrance like this. I am not sure I need a bottle of this, but I am going to use up the imp. Probably a good work scent for me.

This is such a loveable scent... like that one easy-going, genuine friend who always smells good but you can't really put your finger on why... Jack is peachy, but not a summer peach; pumpkin-y, but not an autumn pumpkin. This is a summer-into-fall scent, sun-warmed pumpkin butter and peach butter. I wouldn't know there was nutmeg in this if the description didn't list it. This scent has no longevity. I mean, it is simply gone after an hour. I have thought about full-sizing it simply because I slather it on all day long every time I wear it.

I'm surprised I've never written about this one. I have a bottle purchased in swaps. Ava is one of a few perfumes that converted me to vanilla. I love the heady, fruity, sultry nature of tuberose, and blended with vanilla it becomes a little more innocent and pretty. The mandarin and almond add sharpness and creaminess. This is a grown-up scent that immediately brought me back to the 90s. Like @Cali I am reminded of Black Opium. (Edit/correction: I actually get Opium vibes rather than Black Opium). I don't wear this often enough, probably due to that big early 90s perfume association -- I remember those perfumes as big, brash, room-clearing scents. But Ava is more gentle than that.