ShadowEtienne

I was very dubious of this in the description, but it was acquired as a very very full frimp in a group order. The fullness is relevant because I got some on my fingers as I was opening it for a curiosity sniff. In the imp, it was baffling but fine? But the scent on my fingers opened up leaving a note that reminded me of the incredible apple wood note from Birnam Wood. So I decided to take it home and give it a longer test. On my skin, the foremost note is that apple wood sweetness enhanced with a backing of honey. There's something earthy or loamy in the background which I suspect comes from that fermented mushroom, but it's not prominent. There's also a hint of a sort of savory fruitiness which might be the pumpkin rind note. This is definitely all about the apple wood/rootstock on my skin, and I'm happy about it.

Like standing in a clearing in the woods, specifically a mixed deciduous and evergreen wood a little up into the mountains or hills in late autumn on a dry day (where it's been dry for at least a few days because nothing smells damp). There's a good mix of trees, but they're all layering over each other, and the green herbal smells of the underbrush are mingled in with them. There is no one tree or herb that is yelling to be heard, but the overall blend is very evocative of a place.

The jasmine in this is blooming gloriously at night, filling the garden with sweet and rich scent. The honeysuckle is a softer note in harmony, sweetening it and adding its own richness. Juicy wild plums and citrus fruits bring sweet fresh tartness too this, like they have just been cut and peeled to provide an evening's refreshment in this lush garden. Orris and benzoin give a soft earthy and resinous backdrop to the scent, grounding it in its garden and making the scent feel like it is in a real place and not some dream garden. This is rich and beautiful and one of my favorite jasmines I have tried yet!

Peach and moss can be iffy notes on me; and ambergris, incense, and pomegranate are still kind of unknowns that have not been consistent in my small sampling. Cardamom is however my favorite spice, so I came in hoping that this would work but dubious. I have lucked out! Peach and pomegranate combine to make a tart, fruity, juce-like layer on which the rest of the scent seems to drift. The incense and moss team up for a green and lightly smoky note that keep the scent from going sickly sweet. The ambergris is a quiet soft creamy element that smooths over any rough edges from the rest of the notes. The star of the show on my skin, to my delight, is a toasty, sweet and smoky cardamom. Every other note is supporting it and really making it shine. I think this is the best possible outcome I could have from these scent notes.

The verbena is fairly forward on me, and it is definitely a lemony verbena. It's well balanced and backed by a warm resinous wood (probably the olibanum and sandalwood) and a smoky wisteria (probably that would be wisteria plus incense). The ambergris isn't particularly noticeable on me, but there is a sort of creaminess to the blending of the scent that I can probably attribute to it. I'd describe the overall effect as being a citrusy herbal backed with resinous and floral notes. I like it and am glad I took a small risk on it skin chemistry wise because these aren't notes that always work well for me.

This is soft and lovely but present on my skin. This scent evokes a small pond with mint and not yet flowering violets and winter jasmine growing around it, with a frozen crunch around the edges and soft fluffy snow falling silently into the water. There are aquatic elements to the scent for sure, but they are calm and still and gentle. I'm not getting much of something I'd identify as incense, just some drier notes that add to the herbaceous elements of the mint and violet leaf. This is a wintery smell that promises spring in the future because by this sheltered pond there are small delicate green things yet, and the cold of winter has not overtaken all the water. I'm really enjoying it in the warmer months that I'm sampling it in because it is evocative of chill without being clashing or glaring against the weather.

On my skin, there is a warm but soft wood note, like well used teak furniture, and the waft of rich black tea, well balanced with a cool fresh sea breeze's salty note. Like sitting somewhere overlooking the sea with a cup of tea. The dried rose petals are a faint background note on me, adding just a touch of something floral, like a bunch of dried roses across the room but in the flow of air. The rose scent definitely seems to be carried on the salt air from some distance. It's lovely and comforting as a scent, and I really like this element of sea breeze that sort of ties the scent together.

A feshly peeled, sweet, juicy orange. The whole orange is there, the zesty oils of the skin, a hint of pith, and the sweet juicy tartness that one gets biting into the first section of an orange after peeling it. I'll likely not wear it solo much, but this is absolutely going to be what I reach for when I want to add citrus to something (which is often).

I don't think that this one is playing nice with my skin chemistry. It smells like still sodden driftwood, just washed up and not dried and sun bleached yet. The orange blossom is almost fully overwhelmed by soggy salty wood.

This is a scent that is very true between the imp and my skin for me, and that is a lovely thing. It reminds me of salt water in a protected bay or cove on a still day with only the slightest breeze ruffling its surface. There are white florals blooming across the water (some sort of lilies I think are in there, it shares some notes on me with Prague and other lily scents). Theres definitely citrus, possibly grapefruit, hanging out in there as well. Definitely a soothing, bright scent! I'm happy that I'm getting to give this a longer experiment with the imp I got. May end up being a bottle scent eventually.

Unsurprisingly for my skin, lily of the valley is the foremost note here. It's a delicate yet somehow also sweetly spicy floral on me, and is as always a scent note I love. Champaca was the note I was potentially uncertain on here, but it's supporting and rounding out the lily of the valley with some richer, deeper florals - adding something almost reminiscent of a jasmine on me (this pleases me). The sandalwood is subtle on my skin, but adds a nice slightly dry woody note to the mix that helps ground the scent. It's tied together as a slightly floral-spicy scent that smells like perhaps it is being wafted through the air after having been applied to an old softly scented sandalwood fan. Glad I got this, and will happily use my bottle of it, not likely to get a backup bottle unless I find myself reaching for it a lot while it's still up on the site.

This is sweet in a delightfully tart way, but not too sweet. There's also definitely a bright fuzziness too it. It reminds me in many ways of a gimlet, and made with a gin I like, gimlets are one of my favorite drinks. There is an undertone in there definitely reminiscent of ginger, which makes me think that it's one of the implied botanicals in the gin, and it adds a lovely bite and freshness to the scent. I'm very glad I decided to get some of this before it was gone.

This is a freshly peeled, bright juicy tangerine and manadrin orange, juices mingling together as they're peeled. The fruits are sweet and sour and perfectly ripe, and their skins are aromatic with the oils that scatter when peeling citrus right off the tree. The orange blossom note is quieter, but adds a distinct, airy floral note that keeps this from smelling sticky. It's bright and fresh and refreshing and definitely something that I see myself reaching for in warm weather or when I want to layer in some floral citrus in something else.

I suspect that this is going to be one of those jasmine notes that is divisive. It works well on my skin, bringing to mind the sweet richness of jasmine slowly drying in the sun. The gardenia brings a subtle note of sweet freshness that makes the flowers smell more alive. The mallow is a sweet earthy and herbal note that does remind me just a touch of homemade marshmallows I've occasionally encountered at farmers markets. Overall, I like this, but I might be experimenting with layering in spices or citrus (or both) for a more complex scent.

This is a very green yuzu forward scent. It's rich in notes of the rind, and it smells fresh and not quite ripe. The floral orange blossom note of the neroli is light, but present. The mandarin orange keeps the bitter elements of the green yuzu from overwhelming the citrus pleasantness. It's the sweetest note in here. Overall, I really like the balance of this, and it is reminiscent of grapefruit in its combination of notes, while still having it's own distinct elements. I could see it being a little divisive as a scent. I personally love the overall freshness of this scent on my skin.

I was sure enough on the notes of this to blind bottle it before there were any reviews, and tea and lilies have not let me down. On me it is true to the notes if perhaps not to the mood implied by the title. This is the scent of drinking tea outdoors on a spring morning with dew on the lilies blooming in the garden, and a bit of tea has spilled on a crisp silk crepe but it is mostly dried. The combination of teas may be contributing to how the lilies smell alive and growing and freshly bloomed on me. There's something very fresh and airy about the scent, but also something elegant, perhaps because it does smell distinctly like silk as part of its scent profile. I may honestly have to consider a second bottle of this before it goes away.

I first sniffed and sampled Fire Pig from a friend who had been into BPAL much longer than me a while back, and it was the start of my obsession with the Lunar New Year scents. The scent in the bottle, but especially on my skin, is a vivid scent memory of little lacquer platters of dried and candied fruits put out during the Lunar New Year by my foster family and at community events. With the windows open to freshly blooming trees and vases of cut flowers in the room. I've managed to acquire a bottle from a lovely forumite and it is as I remembered it and so so lovely. On me the tangerine and lychee are especially punchy, carrying the scent, with a strong supporting cast of the rest of the citrus. The gentle waft of florals mingle well, but peony and peach blossom are both recognizably there and fitting to the scent. The resinous notes lend a warm backing to the scent. I love this scent so much! It's not my favorite of the Lunar New Year scents I've tried to date, but it's certainly up there, and I'm so glad to have a bottle of it.

I am in general a bit obsessed with the Lunar New Year scents, so I ordered 2 bottles of this on release. I'm very glad I did! Like all of the Lunar New Year scents this is reminiscent of the lacquer trays of dried and candied fruits my foster family would put out for Lunar New Year. This is definitely one of the strongly citrus leaning Lunar New Year scents with some beautiful bright orange notes. The floral and resinous elements are in the background but do provide balance and keep it from going too sweetly fruity. I really enjoy the sticky rice cakes note. It's quiet but present, like there's a fresh tray of Nian Gao out of the steamer, but I've not actually gotten one yet, just getting the waft of them across the room.

I dithered over getting this for a long time, but with it going away decided I would regret not getting a bottle. In the bottle: Crisp winter florals and a minty snow note. I can definitely pick out the snowdrop and hellebore. The gardenia is pretty quiet, but probably rounding out the floral elements. The amber is very quiet but warming the scent up just a little bit I suspect. Fresh on the skin: This is very minty and snowdrop forward on me to start with, pretty true to in the bottle. These are notes I'm very much into, and it's definitely a crisp wintery outdoors sort of scent. On dry down: Crisp morning in late winter when the snowdrops and hellebore have put out their first flowers and leaves but are surrounded by frost. There is a very distinct mint element to this snow, perhaps fresh leaves are on the mint plants in the garden and perhaps there is a wintergreen shrub nearby. There are other softer background florals, and the amber seems to be more a conduit for the rest of the scent than anything else. It's a lovely late winter garden scent that is very evocative of that specific time of year.

I was lucky to get a bottle of this in a forum order. Resins (often), jasmine (always), and violet (often) are scents that I love, and this sounded like a delightful combination. In the bottle: Sweet violet with a hint of resinous incense and not much jasmine showing yet seems to be how it reads to me. I will be interested to see how that opens on the skin. Fresh on the skin: Fresh, sweet still growing violet. There is a soft warmth from the resins and just the barest hint of jasmine to start with. Already more jasmine than in the bottle which is a plus for me. On dry down: The jasmine opens up on me. It's a light, dewy early morning jasmine blooms note that balances nicely with the violet. It's sweet and soft, and very alive. This is a subtle scent on me and could easily be overpowered, but it's soothing and pleasant as well. I think that this fits its name very well, it does remind me flowers on a misty morning.

I am excited to try the decant I got as part of a forum order of what looks to be apples: the entire tree. It smelled great in the decant from my first quick sniff, and I am really curious how it will behave on skin. In the decant: A bright sweet almost caramelized woodiness with rich juicy apple notes and a light burst of barely there florals from just barely blooming apple `blossoms. The skin and pulp of the apple are distinct notes here. Fresh on the skin: This is beautifully balanced and absolutely every element of apple from the tree to the buds and blossoms to the fruit. There is almost a spiciness to the wood that really rounds out the scent. On dry down: The overall notes continue to improve their balance through the dry down phase, but the notes themselves remain delightfully relatively unchanged. This is a very complex and very focused scent. It's the whole apple tree in all its elements, and the apple wood note in this continues to truly delight me! I honestly may need to keep an eye out for other things with apple wood as a note specifically.

I am super fond of lily scents in general, they tend to be big and juicy and rich on my skin and I seem to amp the various lily notes a bit as well. I was very excited to get a chance to get my hands on a decant of Hairy Toad Lily (and what a name!). In the decant: This is a very fruity and fresh lily, but definitely a lily! I get a hint of apple as some other people have mentioned, but in the decant the fruity juicy lily is the star of the show. Freshly applied: A very fruity juicy lily, bright and crisp. There's a tartness and hint of apple to this that is very refreshing and bright. There's also some greenery to this, that's the whole lily plant, alive and growing, not just the cut flowers. On dry down: This stays pretty true to the scent when wet as it dries down. It does develop a tiny touch of the slight spiciness that lily sometimes develops in a way that just supports the bright juicy floral nature of the scent to begin with. That hint of crisp apple that carries through helps keep it fresher and brighter. This may end up having to go on my list of discontinued GCs I want more of.

I was gifted a decant of this in a forum order. I'm intrigued to try it, but definitely go over the list of notes with a bit of trepidation. Licorice in all its forms and orange blossoms are scents I love. Lemon peel and sandalwood and dried jewel-tone fruits are good in theory but sometimes hit and miss in practice on me (and a lot depends on which fruits). Patchouli has historically not been great on me, but I'm interested to see how it does in a mix with things that might keep it under control. In the decant: very sandalwood forward, but a nice sandalwood, not sure how the other notes will play out because in the decant it's just screaming sandalwood at me. Fresh on my skin: that's still pretty dominantly sandalwood. Getting a tiny hint of licorice (yay) and a bitter lemon peel (this is lemon peel going a decent direction on me to start off with. I do not smell the fruits at all, or the orange blossoms (sadly), or the patchouli (I'm OK with this). On dry down: There's a sour grassy note that has become a small part of the backdrop of this scent that I suspect might be the patchouli, and that part isn't really for me. The sandalwood has remained dominant, and while I can enjoy sandalwood in a scent where it is a note that is well balanced, I don't want it as a predominant scent a lot of the time. Still no fruits or orange blossoms, though the licorice has remained present and friendly to me. I don't think that the balance of this one plays nice with my skin chemistry.

I was gifted a decant of this as part of my first forum order, and it's definitely not something I would have picked up to try of my own accord. Fig is something I'm very iffy about, I don't like them as food, and I don't particularly enjoy how they smell for the most part. So I'm going into this with trepidation. Everything else here is very much my jam though, so I'm willing to give it a tentative try. In the decant: Mostly blackcurrant and some softer mulberry and a hint of an icy-fruity-floral that my brain wants to call lily and coconut but that doesn't seem quite right. Not smelling fig at all (good for me), not smelling the licorice (sad for me I love licorice) Freshly applied to skin: Oh the licorice is there! It's quiet, but present, a background note. I am pretty sure that there is a little bit of a lily or snowdrop note in the slush of this because those amp on me (fortunately I love them and they are a juicy vibrant note on me) and it's working to convey the slush. As a snow/slush note, it reminds me of Snow White a bit. Still no fig (we will see if I've lucked out and this works for me). Definitely very blackcurrant forward, which is excellent, that's a note I love. On dry down: I think that I have indeed lucked out! The fig has stayed silent. I like this snow note, it's one of the more floral ones, and I'm still getting that creaminess to the snow note that I somewhat associate with coconut. Blackcurrant is lovely in this. The licorice has remained a supporting background note, but it is pretty! I'm very glad that I've gotten the chance to try this one, but I don't think that I'd go in search of more (though I'd probably take it if someone like handed it to me). Good to know that fig sometimes behaves for me.

I was gifted an imp of this along with my first forum order. I was a little wary of it because gin and I have a mixed relationship (some gin and its aroma and flavor I love, some is horrifically awful to me, this has very little to do with its level of fanciness). In the imp: it's a bright herbal and a little citrus (probably lemon) scent, definitely smells a bit boozy Fresh on the skin: I can smell something akin to juniper, none of my death notes from gin are immediately rearing their head, but the balance is a bit weird on my skin to start with As it starts to settle in: The most notable note to start out with is probably that sort of lemony, more like the mixing of skin oil and juice on the skin after juicing a lemon than the scent of it in a drink for me, but it's held back by drier herbal notes and something that could be juniper but also could be a more generic evergreen. Definitely feels like this one is going to take a moment to settle. On dry down: ... this is going lemon cleaning product a bit on me. A nice lemon cleaning product, one I'd use! But that's not what I want my skin to smell like really. It's not offensive, and I could see how it would be a lovely scent, and also how it could balance differently and better for someone else, but I don't think that it's for me.