ShadowEtienne

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.

Got an imp of this as a freebie in my very first forum order, and while it's something I'm not sure I would have picked up for myself, it's got a lot of promise in terms of things that I like. Dragon's blood is a note that I had a bit of wariness towards, but I've loved BPAL's in the Lunar New Year scents, so I'm at least open to the idea of it. I tend to like spicy scents, and BPAL's clove and black pepper notes have been my friends in the past. Cinnamon is a new note for me, and I know that it can be an irritant to a lot of people's skins (and my skin is known for being very reactive, on the other hand, it doesn't necessarily agree with most people's about what is a problem). I find myself very curious though! In the imp: sharp bright spices, surprisingly sweet cinnamon takes the forefront here, but I can smell that clove and the prickle of black pepper. The dragon's blood is there but very quiet in the imp providing something slightly resinous to the sweetness. On initial application to skin: there's a burst of cinnamon and clove, still quite sweet, more than I would have expected with a name like Wrath. No initial negative skin response, so that's good. As it starts to dry: It reminds me of how the kitchen smells when making a spiced simple syrup. Sweet spicy cinnamon and cloves are definitely the dominant elements here, but that slight prickle of black pepper remains keeping it from becoming cloying along with the hint of a resin that I'm not sure that I could pick out as dragon's blood at this stage. On dry down: This sits on the verge of being too sweet on my skin, but just on the safe side. The cinnamon is a very bright light sort of cinnamon on me, and the clove is sweet and bright as well, not dusty or dry as it can sometimes be. The black pepper remains just the slightest prickle of a note, but it's important in holding back the sweetness from being overwhelming. The resinous dragon's blood note has opened up some to help warm the scent further. I think that I'm going to stick by my assessment of spiced simple syrup, but in a good way! Overall, I like this. Not necessarily a bottle's worth of like, but I'm definitely going to keep the imp around and see how much I use it. I could see this going into my "I want to add spiciness to this" layering rotation.

Like all of the Lunar New Year scents I've had the chance to try to date, this one has strong associations with the little lacquer trays of dried and candied fruits put out during the Lunar New Year, this is part of what I love about them and why I'm trying to collect them. Hemp was a concern note for me, so I'm very glad I was able to get a decant of this to test! No itching or sneezing, and no noticeable hemp scent to me, so I'm relieved. The citrus is definitely a strong note in this. On me, the blossoms are less forward than they are on some of the other Lunar New Year scents and the resins are a stronger component of the scent. This lends itself to a slightly more sour and woodsy scent, though it's still fresh and floral and brightly fruity. It's not my favorite Lunar New Year scent, but it is lovely!

I was fortunate to get a decant of this in my quest to collect the LNY scents. This has been somewhat rice cake heavy but one embedded with dried or candied fruits. This year I made some of my fa gao with dried lychee embedded in them, and this is remarkably reminiscent of that (minus the bit where I didn't get the texture quite right). The citrus and lychee are definitely prominent along with the rice cake element. It's not particularly floral or resinous on me, though those elements are there in the background helping to balance the scent. This, like all the LNY scents, is reminiscent of the little lacquer trays of dried and candied fruits that we'd put out at LNY, but with that lovely kick of the rice cakes in the mix.

I was nervous about this one because melon and I don't historically get along (I'm mildly allergic to raw melons, cooking them fixed the problem, so candied melon doesn't have the same issue association as fresh does). Since this is obviously aged at this point, the decant that I got has had the chance to settle and balance itself, but I think that I've also been lucky in what amped on me. There's a light waft of the candied melon once the scent settles on my skin, but it adds a pleasant tart sweetness that plays well with the rest of the scent. On my skin, coconut, kumquat, and tangerine are the stars. There's definitely that nice balance of the various blossoms adding a floral element as well. Like all of the LNY scents I've gotten to try to date, this has a strong sensory memory for me of the little lacquer trays of dried and candied fruits set out at LNY, and this particular tray has some candied melon on it. I think the soft background resinous notes are holding the whole scent back from diving off the edge into too sweet.

I have finally acquired a decant of this, and I am delighted to be able to try it! I have loved all the Lunar New Year's blends I've tried so far, and I am especially excited about this one because it is my year! In contrast to the very peachy Wooden Goat and this powerfully citrus Fire Monkey, both of which I love, this is lighter and more floral on my skin. It is still the scent of the little lacquer platter of candies and candied fruits set out during the Lunar New Year that all these scents are reminiscent of, but this one is outdoors under the fresh early peach blossoms, plum blossoms, and peony. I am delighted that Water Snake is immediately one of my favorite LNY scents, and am now to be DISO bottle(s).

This is a rich, nectary, juicy lily scent on me. A still growing flower, with gentle notes of the greenery of the plant lurking underneath. Lily definitely amps on my skin to this big juicy note most of the time, and Black Lily is no exception to that, but it is an excellent example! It's a fairly simple scent, with the one main note, but it's also a deeply complete scent with lots of layers to that lily. It's got that slightly sharp/spicy element that lilies can have, and both sourness and sweetness. I reach for this in the imp often, and will likely be upgrading to a full bottle as soon as the imp starts running low.

I am sort of sad that I discovered this long after it was discontinued. I have two imps from lovely friends who have been into BPAL much longer than I have and had it floating around in their collections. Tiger Lily is one of the scents that showed me that Lily is one of my absolute favorite scent notes. It's vibrant sun-warmed nectar-rich lilies in a field, and a soft sunny overlay of honey that just ties the warmth of the scent together. Lily always comes out such a big rich note on my skin, and this is no exception. It's a pretty sweet lily, but with that subtle spicy/sharp note that lily can sometimes have keeping it from being cloying. If I didn't have such a limited amount of this, I would wear it more than I do, and it's definitely on my wishlist of bottles if I could ever find one to buy from someone!

On me, this is a minty snow note first and foremost, it lacks the creamy nature of this year's Snow White, though every so often I can detect a tiny waft that makes me think of it. There's a whisper of what smells like dried roses, but it's mostly hiding under some dirt and moss. Those two aren't loud enough to make me dislike the scent, but they're prominent enough to make me uncertain. I like mint, quite a lot in fact, so a minty-cold scent isn't a bad thing, but this isn't the minty scent that I'm going to reach for. I was the person in my local group order who liked it the best, so I've ended up with the bottle, but I don't see myself reaching for it often, and I suspect that at some point, someone who likes it better will get the bottle passed along to them.

This is a sweet, bright lemon, and like others have mentioned, has an almost fizzy quality. There's definitely also elements of soft syrupy notes of blackcurrant and blackberry. Everything in this is bright and juicy, and it makes for a very light, joyful scent. Effervescent is indeed a good word to describe this scent! I feel like this is going to be a scent that translates well year round, and has notes that would make for a very good drink year round.

This smells lovely to me in the bottle, spices (cardamom very present, nutmeg there but quieter) and some florals that I struggle to identify in the bottle. On my skin, I think that it comes a little unbalanced from the bottle. The nutmeg gets louder and a little sour, and the cardamom doesn't quite keep up (unfortunately, I love cardamom, it's part of what drew me to Mama-Ji as a scent I might like). The florals make themself more distinct here. I'm pretty sure that there's carnation and some very gentle rose, both of which I'm fine with but don't sway me one way or the other. There might be a little bit of jasmine in here, but not much (and for me, not enough, I think that it would make the scent work for me if there was more). I'm going to echo the people saying champaca as a probable note, that's one that sometimes gets a little odd on my skin, and while it's not a strong note, I think that it's doing it here. I like the idea of this scent more than I end up liking the scent itself on my skin. I've been playing around with layering it with things that will help balance out the notes that aren't working on me, and I've had some luck, but I'm not reaching for it much.

This is the newer version. A soft, dusty/dry clove is definitely the predominant note of this in the bottle, but as soon as it hits my skin, the deep, syrupy black currant comes out in equal strength (reading other reviews, I must amp the black currant). It's sweet and spicy and definitely reminds me of a mulled cider, but one made of black currant. For something with only two listed notes, it's a remarkably complex and well rounded scent on my skin. Sweet and spicy and a little bit bitter and a little sour all and once, with that drying note from the clove. There's nothing cloying to this sweetness, which I appreciate. This is an excellent scent for layering, and I love blending it with flowers or with fruity scents that need a spicier note to be good on me.

I hesitated over this scent at first, uncertain if I would like it enough to be happy with a bottle (and with no one in my circle of friends who also like BPAL who wanted to share in a bottle with me). I'm glad that I circled back and bought a bottle! I love cardamom, it's one of my favorite notes, and I love that here, it is not a sweet note at all. The cardamom and caraway are a beautiful combination of sour spice, but sour in the best way. The charred sandalwood is a woody bitter note that accentuates the beautiful spice notes without overwhelming them. On my skin, it's in fact very subtle, and this is mostly about the cardamom-caraway duet. This has been among other things an excellent layering scent for me when something is too sweet for my tastes but otherwise smells good. It definitely stands up to being worn alone as well though.

This is such a delightful scent, and while a little out of my comfort zone when I initially picked it, I'm so glad that I went for it! The cassis and cardamom are the stars on my skin. It's a warm, resinous, woody, spicy scent, and I can definitely tell that the clove is in there too. The waft of rose smoke really adds a layer of depth to the scent as well. This is not a juicy or bright cassis note, but instead one that smells more like a spiced jam or cider. It's deep and rich and still somewhat sweet, but definitely not too sweet. The bay is definitely present too, adding a layer of herbaceous greenness that helps keep the scent out of too dark and smoky for me to enjoy. This isn't an every day sort of scent for me, but when I want something resinous and woody, it's definitely one of the first things I reach for.

This is a rich, spicy-sweet anise forward blend on me. The sage brings a fresh herbal note, and the bergamot a slight touch of citrus freshness, but the anise is the star. That was what I was hoping for because I adore anise. It's not cloying or licorice-like here, but fresh and bright because of the other notes. I wear this one quite a bit, and it's on my list of Menage a Trois scents that I really wish weren't LE.

This is a rare scent where amber works in a way I like on me, and it's made me open to trying more scents with an amber note listed, though it's definitely a hit and miss note for me. The jasmine and honeysuckle are both the rich smell of the flower in humid night air for me, but wafted a bit away from their original flowers and mingled in the air. There's a nectary scent to it, but not as strong as it would have been right up against the flowers. It's fresh though, even if the flowers are powerful in their scent. The amber brings a warm slightly resinous note to mingle with the flowers some and grounds it a bit and warming it up. While this isn't my favorite jasmine yet, I do like how this mingles jasmine and honeysuckle, both of which I like quite a bit!

I get so much jasmine from this one, with some hints of other white and tropical flowers lurking underneath. Gardenia, plumeria, carnation, what strikes me as possible the floral part of the ginger plant, and I'm pretty sure orange blossom. There's a lot of good floral stuff going on here. There are some spice notes underneath, possible from the flowers that can go spicy (like carnation) possibly from some white pepper and cardamom (those are the two spices I'm picking up), maybe a little ginger. There's also some green notes and resinous notes lurking deep in the scent keeping it grounded to my skin. It's fresh and rich and has some elements that remind me of Machu Picchu and Pele, as well as some elements that remind me of New Orleans. I'd agree with someone's comment above that it feels like it might have been a prototype for a Wanderlust. It just has that sort of vibe to me too! I like this one quite a bit, though I need to be in the mood for something strong with a lot of throw when I put it on!