PancakesRaichu

2024 Yules version This IS the perfume that I have been looking for! i have tried several smokey BPAL perfumes which haven't quite cut the mustard (for me): -SHEREZADE is super hot sexy but too "hot" and intense for me -SPECTRAL ARMIES is such a lovely gunpowder but fades so so quickly on me, even after ageing. However, HEARTHFLAME AND INCENSE is just perfect. I haven't loved a perfume THIS MUCH since PYRAMID OF SKULLS (despite the notes being very different). The Hearthflame is clean and the incense is friendly. This is manly but a very refined manly. For someone who wears cufflinks and smokes pipes. Of course, perfume shouldn't have a gender and I am certain that anyone could rock this.

Ahhh....the BPAL Yule with the prettiest name. I certainly have my thoughts fresh from the mail today. First of all, this is NOT a rose (scented) perfume. It is more of a visual thing in this redition. There's a bit of a fizziness in the bottle and fresh on skin...but on me, that aspect fades after 5 minutes. From the get-go, this is very reminiscent of Lush's Karma perfume but less aloof and hippy-esque. Like Karma without the patchouli...but angrier. The orange is bright and bold and.....red hot angry, with cloves. The cloves smell so lovely and smokey on my skin. As it dries on clothing, the orange becomes very happy and cheerful. A bit of clove keeping it steady in the background. I predict that this is going to be the sleeper hit of this collection.

So pretty! This is elegant and lovely. This is so so similar somehow to BUGBEAR DOULA. This starts off almondy-rose and then smells a bit lemony. There also seems to be something refreshing and green in the background. In fact, this smells like if BUGBEAR DOULA and THE POINSETTIA GOWN had a kiss. As I have not used Snow White yet, I cannot make a comparison.

This starts off as what I would describe as "slutty marzipan". I know that is a bit vague, but if you have this scent, you will know what I mean. Then the marzipan burns off after a few minutes and you can smell the cocoa nibs with a bit of pumpkin spice. It really morphs into something really subtle and also somewhat "cute."

This reminds so so much of a body lotion from an indie brand which unfortunately does not currently ship to my country (shipping charges of no fault of their own). It was such a lovely one! It was called "Ghost Train...Gettysberg" or something like that. This smells so smokey, so sophisticated. It literally smells like a secret never to be told. Yes, you could quote me on that. "Smells like a secret never to be told" -PancakesRaichu

This smells like a bookshop to me. Quite a new and clean one. I may be getting "clean" from the lemon. And "paper" from the sandalwood. This perfume LITERALLY smells like the page of a new book. It smells melancholic somehow. As if someone had been crying and refuged to a bookstore to read fiction and "escape." I LOVE this perfume and I am excited to see how it ages. It's sad, but comforting. Sometimes perfumes give the complete opposite to what one would expect. Don't go sleeping on this one! It has potential!

Dusty, feminine, beautiful. This isn't too complicated and that really works. If you wanted something to wear for Valentine's day but you want something a little cheaper than anything in the limited edition Lupercalia releases, this is the general catalogue that you want! But do you know my favourite thing about this? It smells very, VERY similar to THE POINSETTIA GOWN (at least on my skin). It was my first ever BPAL and oh, I miss it so! 😢

This is an EPIC ROMANCE of a scent. This is erotically eating After Eight chocolates* whilst drinking red wine. It's romantic, and it works (at least for me). It stays close to skin but lasts all day. This is not just sexy, it's stunningly beautiful! It makes you feel loved! It makes you feel desired! I know that chocolate is not a scent note here, but if you have eaten an After Eight, you'll know what I mean. *I'm in the UK. Does After Eight exist in the US?

Awww yeah, this is a lovely mixed bag of scents which blend together in such an interesting way! If the colours of pops of lime green shapes against a black void had a scent, it would be this! Even though apple is not a scent note here, it feel close to an imitation of someone who never smelt apple. As if it was a fruit that became instinct and of almost mythological status -an idea of what an apple smells like to someone who has never held one! This is fruity, the nicotine is very apparent although not too strong....I feel like this is a great "smells so interesting that you could wear it to work but not so daring that everyone else would panic and wonder what it was." I wear this perfume to work. I love this perfume. It isn't very strong so far (but mine is only a few weeks old so far) and yet it lasts all day. It's interesting, it's exciting, it's intriguing, it's BPAL. Would it be enough to cure Mrs. Van Houten?

Oh this is....lovely! Yes, there is a clean soapyness...but NOT a cheap bar of soap. This, THIS is the posh bubblebath with matching-scented hand soap that one might get for Christmas. A gift that may typically be gifted to someone's mother, but would be much enjoyed with the entire family; including a teenage son who is otherwise impossible to please. I am not currently a mother to a teenager while writing this....although this IS the image that I get with this scent. I usually hate "clean" scents, but paradoxically I love anything minty. This opens as very white floral on me (which usually isn't my thing...yet I LOVE THIS). It does get softer as it fades. If this 'Weenie is any indicator of what we have in store for the 'Yules, then I'm SUPER excited! 👌

The most flirtatious bergamot you will ever meet! For me, the tobacco really grounds it. This scent has a real autumnal vibe! On my skin, both scent notes are equally dancing together. This is pungent but equally really pleasant! This is beautiful! This is the scent of a posh and well dressed elderly man. The dapper fellow somehow smells good even when he sweats. (As someone who identifies as a young female, this was a nice escape into being a completely different person!). I do believe that scent has no gender! However, I'm regarding this as a "When one wears this scent, who does it make you feel like you could write a story about?" Does that make sense? Dammit this perfume is a posh cologne-y scent but somehow that bergamot just winks at me! 😉

Oh this is so so lovely! For me, it smells just like New York Cheesecake (which happens to be my favourite ever dessert). This is very vanilla-forward for me which I love. It's so creamy! The oats are definitely there. For me, this scent feels like I'm eating a vanilla cheesecake and that someone else in the kitchen is cooking fresh porridge on the stove (probably my brother, as his porridge is the best!). Cardamon is definitely there present while wet and dry for me but not overpowering. The honey is probably there but it hides behind the other scent notes for me (and I my skin usually amps honey). Honestly, when my favourite vanilla perfume from another brand (which I wore exclusively for six years) lost its magic for me, this would have been a great replacement! The smell lasts and the throw is decent for me but I want it to be stronger! This will probably age wonderfully.

I bought this second-hand and aged beautifully from someone in 2021 (making the perfume oil nine years old). The throw is fairly decent on my skin but it doesn't seem to last much longer than an hour. I used the entire quarter of this bottle partial in one day in order to make a Christmassy jumper smell really Christmassy. Well...not such a great success. The smell DID linger on my poly blend all day but it didn't smell very strong. In my opinion, a strong and long-lasting mint scent (with a vanillary sweetness) which is much better is GREEN TREE VIPER from the Carnival Diablique section of BPAL.

All I can smell is the calla lily on first application (but no complaints as it happens to be my favourite flower). Later on, I can sense the wisteria and the sandalwood. Sadly it goes from fresh and clean-cut to floral and soapy.

Holy moly! I don't usually like "green" scents but on me, this smells like a delicious salad at first application. A salad of; clean lettuce leaves, crunchy celery and a bitter kick of rocket! Within the first 5 minutes of wearing, the lovely sweetness of the amber starts to release itself. The rocket-appearing scent turns to a lovely fresh pine (usually I HATE pine scents but not this time). As it goes to ten minutes on skin, it really does feel like the smell of the grass and trees in my local forest. Usually I get more excited for limited edition scents but this....THIS is one of my favourite general catalogue scents so far. I am sure to upgrade to a full bottle!