Ennikar

Iris/orris can be tricky on me, but I ended up enjoying this a lot. Orris/iris, for sure, comes out hard and as it dries down I thought I was getting a strong black pepper. Looking at the actual notes, I'm fairly certain that's the patchouli and/or black musk, out here to have a good time. Drydown is still slightly floral, maybe a touch powdery, but much more about the dark & musky notes.

Freshly on, I get wafts of something very mildly citrus-y, something floral, and something distinctly almond-y. The overall impact is a little fruity, but despite the foody notes list, this is very far from a gourmand - or at least, it's more of a "traditional perfume-y" gourmand in that it has aspects of vanilla, almond, fig, and floral honey, but definitely doesn't smell edible. Dries down to a slightly sweet, floral vanilla/almond, just a touch sharp but not quite soapy or powdery. When I got it, I was worried it'd be too "busy" for me and all the nice, pretty notes would blend together in a way that felt nice and pretty but wasn't terribly to my tastes, and that is indeed how I would describe the end result. I'm not sad I tried it, as it's for a good cause and all, but I don't think Obergefell V. Hodges will be sticking around.

As soon as I put this on, I get a wet rose. Like, florist-fridge rose, drying down just a little soapy - I bet that's the moss and the yew, both of which can feel a little soapy-sharp to me. It does smell a little wet, a little fresh, but I personally don't get much earth out of it past the first couple seconds. As it dries down, it does seem more like geranium rather than rose... just fresh, clean geranium.

The big note I get out of this is geranium. Big ol' true geranium note, punching you in the nose. I am, in general, a fan of geranium; I like the sharp, decisive floral and herbal aspects of it. This one is a lot, though. There's something a little incense-y floating around (maybe the dragon's blood?), as well as something else, something almost bitter (coffee?), what could maybe if you squint be pepper and rosemary, but they just add complexity to the geranium and take it away from the "earthy" or "fresh" type of floral. It's sort of addictive, and a good scent for a prickly green witch... but I have no idea whether I actually like it. Other reads: to my great surprise, both people who have caught whiffs of this have described it as "nice". One waxed poetic: "That's lavender, right? Some kind of lavender something, and then... nougat." ("Nougat???") "Yeah. Not like super sweet, but... nougat-y. Like there's lavender and also someone is making a snickers. But not as sweet as that sounds."

I'm a bit surprised to find I never reviewed this, because it's something of a favorite -- the "I don't wear it all that often but it frequents the shortlist" type of favorite. Big jasmine note, yes, but it's a pretty, soft, slightly sweet jasmine. The patch + incense + vetiver + oud combined are still slightly less strong than the jasmine, but take this away from the "ultrafemme floral bomb" impression that big jasmine can have. I keep thinking it has cardamom in it, which it doesn't... probably some sort of "amber incense" illusion? Other impressions: "I really like it, but wouldn't wear it. Any guy I date needs to be okay with smelling like flowers so he can wear this". I've had about five other people at least bottle-sniff it, including some who are usually tough sells, and all of them at least thought it was okay to good.

I'm a fan of the spicy, bay-rum-ish brand of masculine scents, so I took a shot on a decant leftover of the Marquis. The bay rum and massoia bark are lovely, warm and spicy, and just a little sweet. I don't get much opium or wool, but those aren't notes I'm super familiar with and they tend to play more in the background, so that's not unexpected. However, I did eventually end up parting with my bottle, because besides the big spicy-masc part of the scent I also get a big ol' hit of leather. I like the smell of real leather, and this is a very good warm-soft-older leather note, but I have also discovered over time that it is easy for leather notes to be "too much" for me. After the leather calms down a bit, an hour or two in, I enjoy it a lot -- but there are other scents, even other BPAL scents, that can fill the niche I want without the hours-long detour through leatherville. Other opinions (the guy I gave the bottle to): "Oh, that's good. That's really good. Leathery and spicy... that's a sexy smell. That is a smell that says 'I'm here to f***'." He's also a fan of "The Man in Black", even when other people tell him it smells like a shoe store, so it's safe to say strong leather notes don't bother him.

"Flaxen" indeed. Reading the notes, I was expecting a darker, smokey-spicy scent, but this is pretty, light, and a touch sweet - almost fruity. Mostly amber and a touch of dragon's blood; the incense here is very much unlit. The spices are pretty quiet, but they must be there, because something here says "gourmand" to my brain even though I can't put my finger on what. It's pleasant, wearable, very unisex -- but I don't quite know how I feel about it or whether I'll keep or destash. Most of the scents in my collection have a distinct niche, an image or "vibe" that they evoke, and I have no idea what Flaxen Flame's "place" is.

I bought this after reading the previous reviews as part of a hunt for a good carnation scent (I shall soon run out of my favorite), and this delivers. It's not super complex, but it's definitely carnation, a kinda-sweet-but-not-too-sugared, creamy-but-not-foody, very wearable, unapologetically girly style of carnation. Not aggressive at all, or even too spicy. Wears for a few hours at least.

Tested ~36 hours from the mail. Very weird, in a way I think is good? The previous reviews seem contradictory, but they made sense as soon as I tried it on skin. There's a ginger opening, but like a relatively mild wet ginger straight out of the ground, and the beets smell like the ground during rain. The overall impact is indeed both clean and earthy, spicy but not aggressive. I'm usually very not into soapy stuff, but this works. The blood musk is doing something, I assume, but it's very quiet, I only get it mildly in the drydown. Overall it's, well, interesting -- both pleasant and not something a person should ever smell like. Ended up on my "atmospheric" shelf rather than the "fruity/fresh", "spicy", "pretty/floral", "aggressive", or "masculine" shelves. Late drydown, it's a pleasant, slightly spicy musk. The throw on this is good, and the longevity is pretty extensive, still a few inches of throw after 10 hours.. Other impressions: wet, "that's got some spice on it", a few minutes dry, "there's a little bit of dryer sheets but not in a bad way? And something else balancing it." A couple hours after application, someone noted they wouldn't have called the ginger.

Jammy fir first, second, and third, in line with a Thyme's Christmas candle, and a very slight edge of smoke fourth. The smoke comes out more deep into the drydown, but this one is a conifer bomb and aspects of that stick around all through the wear. The fir is so sweet and, well, jammy that my partner immediately described it as "fruity". It's bright and idealized in a way that most of the lab's "plant" smells usually aren't (or at least the ones I try aren't), but that doesn't mean I'm disappointed - it's, well, happy. Not totally what I expected, but I can see its niche.

When it's first applied, I get not-quite-soapy gardenia and semi-medicinal labdanum. They both stay present and pretty balanced throughout the wear time, but the soapy-and-medicinal vibes calm down pretty quickly in favor of a fresh, tropical gardenia and resinous (not woody or smokey, in my opinion) backing. The balance shifts back and forth with time. This isn't, like, a revolutionary take on these notes, but so long as you like both you'll probably enjoy it. The main drawback for me is just that it's pretty quiet - low throw, middling wear length.

Very "classic BPAL", which is to say, strong, ashy incense, very dark and almost bitter. Tobacco and leather are detectable, but the vanilla and clove don't come out much at all. There's a minty/mentholic note in the bottle and up front that fades quickly. The lingering effect is almost cigarette ash - doesn't smell like cancer in the way straight-up cigs often do, but probably still polarizing. Ultimately not sure how I feel about it, but I'll say that it's a cool interpretation of the name without being completely unpleasant.

2011 version. Dragon's blood isn't a listed note, but my impression is extremely dragon's blood - could be that's part of the blood accord or just the incenses. The floral and herbal notes seem to have died down with age, leaving mostly a warm, cozy, unlit incense style scent (not sure which; personally I still have trouble differentiating frankincense and myrrh). It does feel a little new-age shop. Very unisex, no sweet elements but also not terribly dry or "raspy". Decent throw and longevity. Second opinion: "very green, but not like... a super fresh, plant-y green." (this tester often reads incense as green). It's pleasant, especially for cool weather, but with my personal taste not sure whether I'd grab it over "spicier" masc scents like Mr. Jacquel or Schwarzer Mond.

I love wood, nutty blends, masc blends, and even dirty patch, and have recently allowed myself to admit I like unicorns too, so I tried really hard to like Of The Unicorn. I can smell what others love in it (woody patch, soft ambrette and orris), but for me in the year of our lord 2024, something (I assume the agarwood) has gone funky in a way I find distracting and, well, not good (to be clear, not rancid - just not to my taste). I don't usually have issues with the "fecal"/indolic thing, so it was an unpleasant surprise, and it might just be a me issue because when asked others have said it smells good on me, but I will sadly have to stick with less mystical patchouli blends.

At this age, the clove and patchouli seem to have basically smoothed out in favor of salt, kelp, and juniper. I don't think that's bad - it seems like they wouldn't mesh very well if the clove was prominent. What remains is somewhere between a realistic cold ocean and, well, soap in the vein of Irish Spring. Maybe it's the name, but I do feel a sense of power and drama in it. I might keep it if it were a bit louder, but it's pretty low throw and I don't think I'd reach for it much.