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Everything posted by elissamay
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I love this one. There are echoes and shared notes with another of my absolute favorites, Streets of Detroit, so maybe that's why I enjoy Czernobog so very much. The mullein and vetiver bring this into a different direction, though. Mysterious, a little disturbing. Dark af. If you like Smut and vetiver, also try this one.
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If leather isn't your thing, this one is going to scare you. I like leather in blends, but I don't seek it out as a primary note. That said, how the eff was I not going to pounce on SNOOTY BAT? Obvi. OOB and while wet, this is intensely black leather. There is 100% no getting around it and no getting past it. And if that's your thing, you will probably really love this part of our programming. But, this leather note doesn't hang around at this intensity for long. In fact, it mellows out really quickly into a very much in-the-background hum as this one dries down. Once the leather calms down this is a beautiful blend of spicy-sweet clove incense. The patchouli is there, but it's not leaping forward to make this feel like a primarily "sugared patch" scent, like its assumed AI-fuel cousin Silky Bat. It's very well blended and smooth, with all of these classic BPAL notes melding into a cloud of Gothy, vampy, dark, yet sweet vibes. If you love clove and incense, and you dabble in patchouli and leather, this one is most definitely something to put into your cart. If you're looking super STRONG patch, that's not really what this Bat is, but you have lots of options for that vibe already (see Silky Bat above). If you love both of these things (like me), then snap up this haughty-ass mammal now before he's gone!
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Cherry Tootsie pop when wet, but it shifts into a cherry-spiked red musk drydown. Stealthily sexy.
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This is the kind of lavender I enjoy. Very realistic and herbaceous, and wrapped in warm amber and musky ambergris.
- 37 replies
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Everything @MamaMoth said, I echo! Several BPALists raved about this one, and I was anxious to get my hoardy little hands on it. I could swear there's labdanum in this, but alas, none listed. There's a fizzy cola quality for me in the beginning, but it smooths out into this incredible amalgamation of sharp and sweet, musky and woodsy, charred and resinous. None of the notes are screaming out individually (maybe the red musk, just a little, but this is a young bottle), so this blend is truly a magnificent sum of its parts.
- 4 replies
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- January 2023
- A Contemplative Quiet November
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Deep, rooty, indeed! When first applied, there is no patchouli to speak of (for me). I get the herbaceous, almost floral influence of the herbs and magickal plants listed, but the patch and the soil take a backseat. OOB and while wet, this is all green, herby, and maybe a bit of petrichor. But when it dries down, oh. The patch blooms into the patch of dreams. It's reminiscent of the chewy patch in Silky Bat or maybe Revenant Rhythm, but this isn't sugared at all. It's sweet, but it isn't sugared. It's rooty, dark, forest-floor funky patch, but sweetened with age and the wisdom of ancient mysteries. Maybe that sweetness is the "tar-like" descriptor, because it feels condensed to the essence of aged, sweet, and deeply intense patchouli. Staying power is epic, and the throw is probably epic as well, so apply this treasure sparingly. I applied just a drop from the cap, and it stayed with me for hours and hours, into the next day. The hoodie I wore smelled like that spectacular patch just from me applying a drop to my wrist. I cannot wait to use this as a signature scent for circling! So many thanks to the fairy who made it possible.
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Honeyed red musk and lots of spicy carnation. The peppercorn tingle is present, but not as notable as in other blends. The ginger lends a bite to cut through some of the sweetness to balance it out. Fans of The Red Ribbon would probably enjoy this. At the end of the work day, still very strong and nice throw.
- 6 replies
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- 2023
- Shungas 2023
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This smells so innocent, it's as if the person who passed this heart across the table was blushing with cheeks aflame, eyes darting away, and lashes aflutter. Wet there's some coconut, but it's got a sort of green and ever-so-slightly cologney vetiver vibe surrounding it. I've never smelled a BPAL "lace," so I don't know what to look for, but there's a sort of sheerness, a gauzyness to it all. I wasn't expecting a greenness to this one, but it really works so nicely with the coconut. Who knew a "fresh" vetiver coconut would be a thing? There's sweetness to the coconut with the sugared note, but it isn't cloying. It's fresh and sweet, and, yes, brimming with innocence. A voyeur in training, perhaps. Will be a really nice choice for spring and summertime.
- 15 replies
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- 2023
- Raunchy Hearts
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OOB: 100% red, scarlet, berry wine. I don't find the patch at all. If you love wine scents and berry scents, this is absolutely the definition of those notes. Definitely a sweet red wine like the port listed, red berries crushed and macerating. Not something dry, and not something spiced. A ruby red wine you drink for dessert at the culmination of a cold winter's day, settling in for the long night. On the skin: Still very much deep, dark, red port with juicy, crushed and macerating berries. Red wine and berry sangria, almost (but no citrus). The patchouli finally comes out to play when on the skin. It's there, but it is subtle, which is kind of bizarre considering it's patchouli, one of the most un-subtle of notes. It just lends a kind of bass line to this blend, but this is absolutely first and foremost a wine scent, for wine lovers, and for red wine and berry-forward blend lovers in particular. Hours later: Super potent, big throw
- 3 replies
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- March 2023
- Labors of the Months
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I don't know the Lion, but I really, really want to after smelling this gorgeous blend. Warm, radiant amber, chilled. The velvet flank of a lioness basking in the elusive winter sun, dusted by and sparkling with snow.
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This isn't a funky oud. If oud can be fruity, this is that oud. Fizzy labdanum with the tangy raspberry is a fun combo with the spicy carnation, and the tobacco is the adult in the room, keeping it all together.
- 12 replies
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I am a sucker for musk, so green musk was a little new to me but something I had to try. And I'm glad I did. Green apple tangy tartness grounded with sweet musky and vetiver vibes and a lovely earthy patch. I find the matcha in the early stages if I look for it, and it works so nicely with the apple.
- 11 replies
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I finally understand the champagne note hype after smelling this gem. Simple, sweet, and fizzy af.
- 10 replies
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Vetiver sweet tea! Must love vetiver, and it probably helps a lot if you're good with almond and oud, two other polarizing notes. The lemon peel adds a bitter brightness to a lot of heavier, more grounded notes. I love this one because it's unapologetically chock full of vibes that you either love or hate, kinda like me.
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Bloody, bloody pine. More pine bough than pine pitch, so if you prefer pine boughs and usually find pitch or resin, pick this one.
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Aqua-Net and clove cigarettes with whiffs of that gasoline/motor oil sort of vibe that I really shouldn't love so much. No idea when I would wear this, but it's a whole ass mood and memory.
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My favorite from this set of Halloween scents. The perfect melding of evergreens and magick. The patchouli keeps it solidly on the forest floor, while the musk and frothy ambergris are a ghostly, clinging fog infused with the whiffs of resins burned at ritual earlier and cooling in the cauldron. Spooky, dark, a little funky, but freshened by the evergreens. Love!
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This is so perfectly spot on to the description, both OOB and on the skin. If you love the smell of campfires, or you want to experiment with favorite scents *but make it campfire,* pick this one up. You cannot go wrong if the smokey, resiny, woodsmokey vibe calls to you. My fiancé claimed my bottle so it looks like I'm getting a second!
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I really am a big fan of the peppercorn note in blends. It hits here as you breathe in all this vibrant musk swoon with that tingle, numbing quality that tickles the nose just so. This reads as red musk, but it also reads as honeyed, and I'm guessing that's a combo of the honey musk and mimosa, maybe some of the benzoin sweetening. I didn't know choya ral, but I think I am getting it as a sort of dry amber quality. The frankincense is so necessary here, and has a lemony brightness that lifts everything up. I honestly don't find the rose at all. This smells like flame without heat or smoke. Like the essence of the light and play of the flames. Beautiful.
- 8 replies
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- March 2023
- Paintings of the Month 2022
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I don't know where to begin with this one, but I am really glad I added it to my Lunacy/Luper 2.0 order. At first, the frankincense is the star, lemony and sort of smoked, but it melds into so much beautiful amber, resinous warmth. Again, evoking warmth, heat, maybe even the liquid heat of the blood imagery from the incredible poem (but not truly what I'd consider a "blood" scent). I haven't smelled Lion, but from Snow Lion I imagine it to have that kind of radiant warmth that brings warm bodies to mind. The lion speaking in this scent's full description is warm, sinewy, radiant today as they muse on growing old. As it dries and settles, the vanillic benzoin appears with the mugwort. It's a faint herbal thread, not too camphor or astringent; not sure I'm finding the oak yet, but there is a sort of groundedness to it which feels like wood. Truly beautiful and evocative. Something BPAL is the absolute best at! Update: With just a bit of time, the mugwort has really blossomed. This one is just perfect.
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I haven't smelled Katrina Van Tassel; I'm a newbie. This is making me think of a grown-up, sex-positive Alice. There's an innocence and playfulness of the rosebud, but I agree with the image of going out to a carnival from @RoseThornAndOak Like Alice in her 30s dressed up in an Alice dress and went to ride the ferris wheel and play Skee-Ball, all whilst seeing whom she might take home as a prize. Very wearable and I think it will be a favorite.
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Hot damn. This is really giving me Snake Oil, but if Snake Oil had red musk. It's spectacular, sexy, dark, and addictive. P.S. - I'm not a huge fan of rose. If you are also not a huge fan of rose, but you do love Snake Oil and/or red musk, I would counsel you to give this one a go. The rose is there but it isn't overwhelming to those of us who just aren't that into it.
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This strikes me similarly to Horses from 2021 Yule (an absolute favorite), but with honey. It's resinous in a way that feels radiantly warm, but instead of just an amber resinous warmth, it's a honey-vannilic amber resinous warmth. The Bushman's candle is what I'm guessing I'm reading as emphasizing that vanilla note and feeling "amber-esque," and it's gorgeous. I agree that it moves toward beeswax, but to me it never quite gets there. Maybe the warm puddle of melted beeswax as the candle burns, since there is an ever so slight touch of smokiness, too--that may be the pepper. But if it's wax then it's warm wax, liquid wax, not a dusty candle on the shelf. So pleased with this one, and what I tested I could smell all day and into the next morning. Can't wait to give it a full application and wear.
- 17 replies
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- Lupercalia 2023
- 2023
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This one is ALL BITTER ALMOND and gorgeous OUD right out of the gate. If you don't like almond, stay away, but if you do like almond (like me), then COME HITHER. I need to give this one some rest, but initial impressions are that it's a beauty of an oud surrounded by the almond, and as WoolyBee said above, the spices come out as it dries down.
- 4 replies
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- Lupercalia 2023
- Shungas 2023
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I tested this one pretty much right out of the mail, but since it's one that so many are excited for I wanted to do a quick and dirty (lol) review. Initially when I applied a touch of this oil, it smelled very much like sweet coconut to me. I think that's the combination of the milk, almond, and honey reading as nutty sweetness, but either way, it is very warm and pleasantly sweet -- not cloyingly so. The amber brings the warmth like it is apt to do. I don't get incense in a smoky way, but I can catch a resinous hum in the background bringing some depth to all the sweetness. I will give this one just a little rest before testing it again, but based on my first impressions I am anticipating this one being a very beloved sweet semi-gourmand fav from this year's batch!
- 20 replies
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- 2023
- Shungas 2023
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