LavenderCoffee
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Everything posted by LavenderCoffee
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Very pleasantly surprised by this angel. In fact I was somewhat startled by the fresh rose scent when I first applied (with green bits and all!), but that was fleeting. I get a nice hint of spice in the wet phase as well, but it's not the kind I feel on my skin. I often think of red musk as a slightly darker, heavier musk, so I am delighted to find this blend is lighter and brighter, maybe thanks to the combined effect of red musk, honey musk, and mimosa. There's a lovely sticky honey happening through the end of the wet phase, and then after that I get to where the resins have been hanging out and holding things down, and it becomes harder to point to honey as the source of the lingering wisps of sweetness. The effect of the dry phase of the scent is warm and gleaming, rippling in the air like hot metal, but in an ethereal way, without the darkness and grit of the forge.
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Druids Cutting Mistletoe on the Sixth Day of the Moon
LavenderCoffee replied to Seajewel's topic in Limited Editions
I don't know what half these notes smell like on their own, but collectively they match the painting really nicely, and I like this a lot more than I thought I would. The hazelnut is most evident early on, but it recedes and finds its place in this magically clean and orderly forest scent. It doesn't have the throw of an evergreen blend (juniper and yew are very well behaved here) and it's neither crisp nor dry. It's wintry, but permeated with a soft living glow. I wish my house smelled like this. -
I was not sure about teakwood, but for me it stays in the background of the toasty caramelized vetiver. This vetiver smells like the khus note from the coffee/cacao/khus blend from last year. I like that blend better than this one, but if I missed out on it I would probably snag this.
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Coffee Bean, Oak Bark, and Patchouli
LavenderCoffee replied to Seajewel's topic in Duets & Menage A Trois
A smooth, subtle unisex blend. Oak bark scoots to the front after the first 10 minutes or so, but the coffee and patch fill in nicely around it, creating an atmospheric impression of a bookstore cafe. -
Black Pepper, White Sage, and Tea Rose
LavenderCoffee replied to Seajewel's topic in Duets & Menage A Trois
This black pepper note that has been popping up lately is tremendous. It's not "peppery" to my nose, but somehow it really rounds the edges off the other notes. I'm not getting much white sage and the tea rose is sleek and clean. I don't think it smells soapy but this could be the scent of an expensive soap. -
Questions about down dates/end of an LE series
LavenderCoffee replied to thekittenkat's topic in BPAL FAQs
I believe the officially discontinued items will have "in memoriam" in the URL: https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/product-category/in-memoriam/general-catalogue/ (Oddly it looks like Grief and Veritas are included here even though they can still be added to one's cart.) -
This is a fun scent in the bottle and freshly on, but it wears like cocoa butter on my skin.
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ICD category 37 refers to the class of surgical procedures where you cut into the heart, at least in the old ICD-9. The way this smells, it fits right into the 'everything is cake' trend: cut into this heart and find out it's full of luscious vanilla custard! This is some serious foodie goodness, even tho the label has old timey looking medical diagrams of the ribcage. The bottle scent is slightly boozy, but fresh on my skin I'm getting caramelization, cinnamon-y spice, so much sugary vanilla richness. It's not really reading as cake or pastry at this point, more like a spiced crème brûlée? As it dries, it transforms into more of a baked good, perhaps a spiced sugar tart, with a suggestion of a berry garnish. There's still kindof a custardy vibe even though there isn't an obvious dairy component. Hours later the sweet vanilla is still vanilla-ing, but it doesn't have a huge amount of throw for me.
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The lovely lab goblins dropped a 2010 Luperci into a recent order of mine and it is markedly different than the 2021 bottle I reviewed above. I guess things change a bit over 10 years, in addition to the nuance of batch variation! This Luperci feels a lot more dark and sexy, and there's still a nice amount of sweetness to it. I like how the juniper is more noticeable in this one, and I'm definitely not getting anything powdery. Would love to catch a whiff of this on a handsome so-and-so, but I like how it smells on me too.
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Chocolate, Cinnamon Bark, and Chipotle Honey
LavenderCoffee replied to Silvertree's topic in Duets & Menage A Trois
I love chocolate and I love honey, and I was very pleasantly surprised by how the chipotle and cinnamon bark fit in. It's got a nice chocolately throw and I think the spices and honey give it a bit of a warm, sweet musky quality. The cinnamon bark does make my skin tingle a teensy bit but it's not as intense as other spiced blends. Very nice wearable chocolate blend. -
I was SO SURE I did not want this one. "Red wine?! with MINT!?" but every other note was so terribly tempting, so I grabbed a decant. I can't stop sniffing it!. There is indeed a distinctly lovely vanilla minty phase: chilly minty on the skin, vanilla minty to my nose. As everyone has observed, it is like the winter snow and/or those deliciously pillowy after dinner treats as it sparkles and melts away. There was red wine skulking around in the mint phase, with more of a standard tannic red wine character, but after the melt, the wine no longer reads as a dry or dinner red. It starts jamming with the honey and the strawberries and it's so great. Vanilla still floats around the periphery of things. and it's still kinda chilly on my skin!
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I love this blend, it's a beautifully muddy forest floor situation. "richness and liveliness of river mud and shady evergreens" is 💯 I especially like adding some of it to a bath at the end of the day - it's like soaking in the mud sans mud.
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I love seeing other people's impressions of this one and how it compares to mine - for some this is the coconut bra, but for me this is totally the grass skirt! More specifically a dry, sweet coconutty grass smell. I've never huffed a coconut husk so maybe that's why I went to the skirt. Also coming across as more playful than seedy to me, and I dig it.
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Discarded Images goes on lightly sweet and hazy green - there's definitely a shimmery silvered quality to it. Lemon blossoms bloom in soft focus alongside bergamot, juniper. A soft leather warms its way into the background, deliciously mingled with mate, green tea, and green amber. I'm not getting anything dusty, although the combined effect of these notes is a bit earthy, in a fresh way. I'm not able to pick out anything recognizable as oud until the drydown, where it adds some welcome dimension, stealthily aligning with the leather. I hesitate to say that this is spa-like, because I don't mean that in a reductive way. It reminds me a bit of Bulgari's green tea scent (au thé vert) that I used to wear a whole lifetime ago, which I thought smelled clean/unisex/gorgeous/expensive. This is better: more grounded and less floral.
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My skin, or some combination of my skin and the oud, is making this almond sweet. Not cloying/overpowering, but noticeable, as the almond has a good bit of throw when first applied. I'm also getting a nice amount of black pepper and spices, and overall having a similar experience as MamaMoth described - it is indeed a bit bready! As with last year's Shadow Games I was really hype to try this, but it's not quite clicking into place for me yet.
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I haven't been much of a hair gloss person but my hair is getting long again and these notes called out to me. This is such a fun and delicious scent, I might use it lightly as a body spray as well!
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I went back and forth so much on whether I should give this one a go. I'm a cat person but this label is one of the cutest dog pictures I've ever seen. All the notes seem fine, but I don't usually want to smell like a massive sugar bomb. But most importantly, channeling my inner doggo, I really wanted to know - will I get the stick??! Well my tail is wagging because this stuff is great. The rich buttercream is there at first, but my skin seems to eat that part and then it transforms into smoky chai stick time, with just a dab of honey. Easy to wear, unobtrusive, comfy cozy.
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Tea Leaves, Vanilla Bean, and Incense Smoke
LavenderCoffee replied to Seajewel's topic in Duets & Menage A Trois
Oh, this is nice. Lots of vanilla bean richness when first applied, and then it mellows out and you can smell the tea, like putting your nose in a tin of black tea. Not getting the subtle anise note that I've picked up before in other BPAL tea scents - although that would be gorgeous with this vanilla! Plus there's a soft wispy smoke around the edges. A great skin scent and great for layering. -
Hellooo cinnamon bark! I tested this from a decant closer to when it was released, but today was the first application from the bottle I ordered. I did not hold back applying it to my underarms and ohmigosh it's a bit spicy under there now! Anywho now that my case of spicy pits is subsiding (sorry/yw), this gooped girl is all deliciously spiced cedar and carnation with a cuddly ambery black musk backdrop. There was more black musk when I first tested it, but not enough to prevent me taking the plunge on the bottle. This is a rare win for me in the black musk column and I will just need to remember to cool my jets on applying it to sensitive skin areas 😅
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This is unlike other BPAL roses and other Snake Oil blends in my collection. This is a bold rose, but I'm also enjoying the brazen amber, rising to the occasion: must be some generous flecks! I'm not really picking up on a blackened vibe from the rose, except that it feels very goth femme and I am wayyy into it, even if it isn't especially snakey yet. Edited to add: woke up the next day smelling the snake oil! Ok coming back in 4 months later: this is still. sooo. good. I can't help but think that the snake oil emerging late in the wear time is intentional. The serpent is lurking in the roses but you see (and smell) the roses first! Sneaky snek! I think the blackened rose reads more clearly now and I just love everything about this blend.
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Non Vider goes on with an enthusiastic punch of cologne-like blackcurrant. The wet scent skews to the higher register, and you could easily imagine this with a citrus fruit instead of the currant. As it dries, the purple-y garnet facet of the berry really pops out. I wish I could detect more frankincense and beeswax, but as it stands it remains quite sharp. These longing eyes are red from crying and in need of some sweet solace.
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This is so fun, it's a fuzzy chocolate moss. Certifiably chocolatey but also decidedly non-foodie and somehow refined. A gentleperson's chocolate scent, not for the children. It benefitted from a couple days rest and is now tremendously wearable, with average staying power and low throw.
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Y'all. How is this blend so freakin subtle? I spot tested it for two days after receipt, and still could not believe my nose, so today it is SOTD. Try to hide your tricks now, you sneaky sneef! This is unbelievable to me for two reasons: the leather/oakmoss combo, and of course, the black oud. The Empress and The Chariot from Liliths '21 has a kickin' leather/oak bark combo that has settled since release but is still revvingly noisy. Non Vider from this year's main batch of Lupers (review forthcoming) might still need some settling, but she has got some things to say! aaaand I guess black oud just has a bad rap. I love to smell all the wild weird ouds, but this is not one of them. Last year's Cacao/Black Leather/Incense was a no-go for me, and I almost skipped testing this one. But! I'm so glad I didn't, and here we are. Slinky sexy and subtle. The dark, cacao-dusted leather jacket scent of my dreams. Unisex, and doesn't even really skew masc to my nose, but everyone will have their own opinion on that. I want to smell like this, and I want other people to smell like this, and we will all be the sexiest chocolates in the box, ok? Ok.
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I admit that I saw cotton candy peonies and mashed the add to cart button, but now that I've tested this a few times, I'm asking myself how I missed rose cream! Thankfully it's a note I enjoy. It has a nice amount of throw, it's not as heady as it was paired with jasmine cream in Poinsettia Gown, plus there is definitely a sweet candy aspect to the peony that balances things quite nicely. So no, not a cotton candy scent, but appropriately playful/dramatic/silly like a massive silk peony blossom. I'm not picking up on any booze from the cognac but it has a nice smooth drydown.
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Abalone and Peach Blossoms does start out quite salty on my skin, but it shifts fairly quickly as it dries. It is somehow warm and sweet but also cool and aquatic at the same time, depending on which notes you catch in a given moment (an impressive interpretation of the label art). Sea salt, crushed abalone and grapefruit create a decidedly pink sea air vibe, and then peach blossoms and plum with just a breath of water lily bring some blushing sweet warmth into the picture. Once it's dry, it smells the way the inside of a seashell looks. I'm not usually into aquatics but I am really enjoying this one. It will be in the rotation for sundress season for sure. ETA: Five-ish months later this is still a stunner, and less salty to my nose. I am so impressed with this because I can't consistently do aquatics or pretty peachy stuff but I just love this one!