LavenderCoffee
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Everything posted by LavenderCoffee
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The Lantern Bearers is giving me some serious indole attitude in the wet phase, but I love the payoff, and honestly I kinda like the funk too. It feels like maybe an odd alignment of lemon-plum-orchid, like one of the puzzle pieces is not quite in the right place, but then it clicks, and it's gorgeous. I'm such a sucker for an orchid like this one, and it never lasts very long on me but I don't care, especially alongside this dreamy lemon amber. It gives me maybe a half day of wear, or it could be an evening going out scent, if I was still an evening going out person.
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a little "how it started, how it's going" breakdown of my Yule overindulgence
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most folks, myself included, are probably not browsing BPAL for a typical "perfume" blend most of the time. my motto (maybe the lab's secret motto?) is give me something warm, lusty, strange, or musky, but this all of those things! it makes me want to saunter down the stairs in my sweatpants as though I'm cosplaying clementine pennyfeather, repeating her preposterous programmed dialogue. this is maybe in my top three favorite things BPAL has done with a cherry note? of course I'm not super into cherry in perfume, and this probably isn't a typical use of it. the cherry and sugar maple sap do not remain in their expected candy-sweet realms. and I don't think I'm usually seeking out teak either, but whatever alchemical secrets and/or rough hands have been employed here, these notes have been wrangled together into a gorgeous foil for the perfumes of imaginary bawds. there might even be some sawdust on the floor? it's very UNF to me. in summary: sexy, nicely balanced, and dare I say SFW. I suspect it would smell good on a wide range of people as well, whether you consider yourself more of a bawd or a gentleman caller on any given day. swing open that saloon door and give it a go.
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I am unexpectedly but completely in love with this blend. the TL;DR: a cool sweet carnationberry that wears beautifully all day. A Doll's Doll is delicate and gently sweet without being overly sugary. what in the world does a snowberry smell like? I'm not entirely sure. it's not evergreen to my nose, but I agree with Geminirubyshoes that it seems to mash up with the carnation into a blush of something like a doll's idea of strawberry. I'm calling it carnationberry even though that doesn't make any sense! it's just the right amount of carnation to put the pink in your cool porcelain cheeks, where it lingers perfectly for hours on end. also, for anyone who treads lightly around a BPAL snow note: I'm not getting snow, or at least this doesn't wear like Marshmallow Snow or Snow White in my experience. both of those have a drydown that disagrees with me in the same way, and this is decidedly different.
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I need to retest this, and I don't love posting partial impressions, but I had to share one thing I absolutely loved the first time I wore this: after the initial burst of juicy grapefruit, the scent of fresh grapefruit pith lingers alllll day. That zesty freshness you get on your hands after you peel a citrus fruit has been magically trapped in this bottle. Of course then there's also a lovely black licorice in the mix, and I failed to retain any useful or coherent information to share about how they work together but! I think if you're interested in both these notes you will dig this blend.
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I can't hang with Dorian. I want to, but my skin chem seems to shift it into a higher register than I can tolerate. Now, make a Dorian donut filling, and that is apparently something I can do. That's what this one smells like to me: instead of a lemon filling, it's a lemony vanilla tea filling, surrounded by pillowy soft musk and a suggestion of fried dough peeking through the haze of powdered sugar.
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I haven't tried all of this year's dead leaves scents yet, but so far this is my favorite dead leaves scent! This has the perfect dry crunchy leaf, exactly as advertised, gorgeously rounded out with a hint of leather, cardamom, and just the right amount of molasses sweetness. As with Witch Milk, I don't get much of the milk in this one at all. The woodmoss and bergamot were the two notes that gave me pause when I first read the description, and as this dries town I get a sense of them plotting a coup in the wings, but they seem to be content on the periphery for now.
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Oooh this is a good one. Feels like a bonus entry for last years witches in art history collection. It isn't milky or cloying on me. After the ooomph of sweet creamy honey subsides, the mandrake and black pepper come to the fore against a murky but cozy backdrop of smoky witchy goodness.
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myrrh is the prominent note, forming a soft and familiar base. I don't think I have anything else with papyrus in it, but I'm getting a sense of the reed aspect of the note here, and it perches on top of the resins. as with most oils the scent evolves differently on exposed skin - my wrist is giving me a nice warm vanillic benzoin, but the crook of my elbow is where the papyrus is most apparent. not sure I would call it papery at all unless someone told me it was supposed to be papyrus, but with that word in my head it does seem to fit.
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Finally got my hands on a bit of this to test. The wet scent is way too sweet for me and at first I think I'm safe, but then the drydown is so incredibly tempting. A familiar, comforting smell, almost a person smell. Funny considering this one is the mummy! I really like this one, I think it's worth wading/waiting through the condensed milk.
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This snek is stronk! The oil itself is an alarming opaque orange, the color of the label. The musk is indeed prominent right from the start, which is lovely if you are a fan of the SO musk, as I am. Throw in dark sticky molasses and gingerbread spice, and well, it's a delight all the day long.
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I suppose we must know that the scent descriptions are not guarantees: they are an art form unto themselves, enhancing our appreciation of the scents. this one seemed least likely to be deceptive, and I was very excited to get a whiff. but even though I know better, I must confess I nearly cried to discover this oud is NOT INDOLIC. it is gorgeous, of a light, nearly sweet perfume quality, and absolutely not what was advertised. luckily I was able to get over my devastation at the loss of what might have been, and come around to the devastating loveliness of this unusual blend. light on oud and light on gingerbread, somehow perfectly and unexpectedly complementary. for me it is very delicate, low throw, and addictive. if anyone else is getting the darker, more provocative oud from this I am super jealous, but imo we got the switcheroo. still encourage the oud crew to check this one out!
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continuing down the path of reviewing last year's yules: this is fun and I love it. the snake oil aspect is not as recognizably snakey early in the wear for me, but it still delivers in terms of waking up the next day smelling like snake oil. the up front experience is sugary and donutty and musky in a magical way, and one that works for me in a way that Please Scream Inside Your Snake Oil did not. throw is more muted than other SO blends but still enough throw to waft around and make me smile all day.
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I was certain I had reviewed this! I enjoyed it when I first received it, but now a year on it's really come together. The soft brown leather is at the center of the scent, retaining just a hint of the tangy tanning which sits nicely with the accent of fir. The chocolate and vanilla team up with the amber to form a gentle cloud of sweetness. A lovely yule-ified (family friendly!) unisex leather scent.
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Noisome Clockwork Tin Locomotive
LavenderCoffee replied to sfsassy's topic in Black Phoenix Trading Post
This scent is delightfully unique: fresh and slightly cacophonous but in a fun way. The mint and tea are prominent, vanilla is a supporting player rounding off the edges, lubricant sort of surfaces and slips away. The anise is warm and herbal, quite restrained in my opinion, and I would love more of it. I'm not getting much of from the liquor notes. You can kinda smell a smell like a smoke machine in the mix, it's got that humid smell, but it's not smoky. Nostalgic, fun, low throw. -
I don't feel like I know amber very well as a scent note - any the various forms of it, so I was happy to receive a sample of this. I do know I've had some amber scents go a bit powdery on my skin in the past, but this is not one of those. It's warm toned and very gently sweet, and I agree that there seems to be a bit of spice at the outset, but it dries down into more of a golden glow. Wears quite well but stays close to the skin.
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As with most oils, this behaves a bit differently depending on whether I wear it on exposed skin or not. On my wrist the punchy cedar and sassafras recede more quickly leaving a creamy vanillic experience, tinted warmly with the aforementioned notes. In the crook of an elbow or under the shirt, the sharper cedar lingers for an extended period. I like the combined effect and the "just right" throw on this (a personal scent cloud) in addition to the holiday sweet treat vibes.
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New to antique lace, but I must say, I see the appeal. The leather blends right into everything, very light. And I really enjoy the warmth of the caramel musk! It tiptoes right up to the point of being almost too sweet, but then it settles in and wears so beautifully - quite long lasting for me, with just the right amount of throw. Pretty, nostalgic, sepia-toned.
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I received my batty snek on 6th November, and I remember she was maaaad as hell about being confined in a box and transported across state lines. The leather came across more synthetic black than brown and made me nervous. However! Since then she's recovered from the shock quite nicely. I definitely get brown leather, and there's a slight animalic edge as it dries that really sets it apart from the sleeker Snake Skin - maybe a bit of a different musk in the mix. Takes a bit, maybe 20 mins, for the sweet vanilla to pop out, but the combined effect is intoxicating. This wears well for me now, but as with many SO blends, I think it will continue to improve.
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Dang RoseThornAndOak really nails it with the dark carnival pumpkin vibe. I'm getting the same thing: vaguely sweet, a bit of popcorn, but also dark and sticky. Like hanging out with a pumpkin carny hitting a vape. Kinda dangerous.
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This is way nicer and subtler on me than I thought it would be. It's mostly brimstone and dark amber sitting on a nice leather chair, and not particularly spicy or leathery. Not even excessively smoky. Just kinda smoldering. Whew.
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Is petrol meant to smell different than gasoline? freshly applied it does not smell like filling up the tank, imo - something more like paint thinner maybe. thar be fumes but not the fumes I seek! I do however get a nice scorchy sweet pumpkin as the fumes die down. smells great when it's dry.
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Dead Laves, Shortbread & Crystallized Ginger
LavenderCoffee replied to zankoku_zen's topic in Halloweenie
my skin just devours this. a sparkle of ginger on application disappearing into a memory of leaves and cookies. it's absolutely gorgeous but I'd have to slather it. -
when I first tested this one it went a bit soapy, and now a week later it's mostly the same. I don't wear pomegranate well, however, so ymmv.
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Dead Leaves, Chocolate & Toasted Hazelnut
LavenderCoffee replied to zankoku_zen's topic in Halloweenie
very chocolatey at first, but then the toasted hazelnut and the leaves pop out and it really gels together into its own scent. it arrives in a lovely warm autumnal spot, more like a favorite sweater than a candy bar.