quantquill

I picked up a decant in a destash. It's oatmeal with gingerbread spices, very comforting. I don't pick up on the rice pudding (but that might be what I'm getting as oatmeal), cocoa powder or cotton candy, but I always amp gingerbread spice. I've got a lot of gingerbread spice perfumes because I like them, but I might let this one go and maybe someone else will get to experience allll the notes.

2025: Got a frimp in a destash purchase. Wow, never would I have thought a scent with leather could smell this good on me. I usually amp it until that new car smell exudes from my pores, but Batty Lace is more like aged vanillic parchment paper with a hint of caramel. Quite lovely. Will definitely use up the imp and may seek out more.

Just posted a review for the hair gloss, and I bought both the 5ml of perfume and the hair gloss, can report they smell the same on (the hair gloss has more projection, but the scent itself is the same to my nose). I'm delighted to report that it reminds me of a slightly more amber, slightly less sweet version of Dahlia, which has been my obsession for a while now. I know opinions are divided on Dahlia. To me, Dahlia is sweet vanilla and sugary vanilla orchid, all joyful and lovely. Catherine has more amber, less sugar, it's a deeper, more mature version of Dahlia. I don't get much (if any) resin and for those concerned about "melted and honeyed", I don't get honey, a hint of caramel maybe. Of course, ymmv. Maybe with time some more of the dark, resinous veins will pop out. Ha. What a win!! ❤️ It's a risk buying anything full size without an explicit note list, and I hope this review helps anyone on the fence to fall off one side or the other. I'm a little hesitant to say this leans more feminine than unisex, but I'm in my 50s and used to guys wearing pine and spruce and women wearing sweet and floral. However, I'd want to take a deeeeeeep whiff of any person wearing this scent. Kinda makes me want to snuggle myself.

I'm delighted to report that it reminds me of a slightly more amber, slightly less sweet version of Dahlia, which has been my obsession for a while now. I know opinions are divided on Dahlia. To me, Dahlia is sweet vanilla and sugary vanilla orchid, all joyful and lovely. Catherine has more amber, less sugar, it's a deeper, more mature version of Dahlia. I don't get much (if any) resin and for those concerned about "melted and honeyed", I don't get honey, a hint of caramel maybe. Of course, ymmv. I also bought the perfume, and it smells the same on my skin. Maybe with time some more of the dark, resinous veins will pop out. Ha. What a win!! ❤️ It's a risk buying anything full size without an explicit note list, and I hope this review helps anyone on the fence to fall off one side or the other. I'm a little hesitant to say this leans more feminine than unisex, but I'm in my 50s and used to guys wearing pine and spruce and women wearing sweet and floral. However, I'd want to take a deeeeeeep whiff of any person wearing this scent. Kinda makes me want to snuggle myself.

Ohhkay, someone just asked me about my thoughts on this one because there weren't any other reviews, and since I've made many purchase decisions based on forum reviews, I need to do my duty, lol. I expected this to smell fabulously fruity because of all the fruit notes + sandalwood musk. Sniffing the open bottle, that's exactly what I smell, currants and orange and spice, so good. Skin chemistry turns this to a fruity floral, like orange blossom (which must be the neroli). Maybe if this rests for a good long while, it will evolve on me, but I think probably not, since I bought it direct from BPAL in April 2025, tried it in Nov 2025 and again in Feb 2026, and from my notes, it hasn't changed. It is objectively a lovely scent, not objectionable, work safe, too, but I don't love florals. It's not you, Masks, it's me. You deserve a better home.

My skin plays with these scents quite a bit differently. No leather (thank goodness, because I usually emote "new car smell" with leather notes). The macadamia overwhelmed right out of the bottle, but that toned down in seconds. Now it's like someone spilled a bit of macademia oil on a batch of old parchment, while burning a beeswax candle a safe distance away from that stack of flammable paper, and in the breakroom down the hall, someone is biting into a fresh-out-of-the-oven crusty roll. Will have to see if this continues to develop because I can't eat bread anymore, and resent being reminded. And drool isn't a cute look on anyone.

Y'all. ❤️ Y'all, this is so good. The very first blast is Nutella. Within a few seconds, it settles into an absolutely amazing blended dark chocolate hazelnut hint of cherry marshmallows. I swear there's also some amber, keeping this from full-on gourmand. I can't believe I was so nervous to try this one because I tend to amp nuts, but this is just the perfect balance.

Yule 2024 bottle (from a destash). Received 12/17/25, tested 1/2/25. Sniffing from the bottle it's orange juice. Promising, I love orange juice. Wet: I know what this smells like. It's so oddly specific, and hard to pin down what it is. Hm. I think it's the frozen pulp from a can of orange juice concentrate, the scent when you dump it into the pitcher and then add warm water. Not intensely orange, but diluted mouthwatering orange. Ohh, oh, and also, the way the center of an orange tootsie roll pop smells and tastes. So nostalgic! Dry: A bit more "sweet tart" orange dust, which must be the lavender mingling with it. I love it in all stages.

Trying a 2020 Ajevie slink bought through a destash. I'm not a floral girlie but I love a good ylang ylang note, plus vanilla has my heart. And chypres are intriguing. And benzoin usually smells good on me. Still, it's always hard to tell what the combo will smell like. Most of the reviews are positive, and mine is no different. Wet: an almost SN ylang ylang, softened by the vanilla. Drying: I'm picking out the spicy carnation chypre, and it's a 'cinnamony floral' that's so rare for me to find, since carnation doesn't tend to pull spicy on me. The spice creeps out a little more, mingling with the ylang ylang, which is rich without being florid. Verdict: A lovely, elegent, spicy floral for people who don't like florals. It hovers 2-3 inches above my skin, so not much projection, that's normal for my skin chemistry. I have a chance to buy a FS in a destash and this is a much tougher decision than I expected. For sure, I'll enjoy my imp.

On my skin, this is sweet champaca cherry. Not yet getting vanilla, may show up in drydown, but it's already a winner. Yum!

I've been hesitant to try this because, well, absinthe. I didn't want to smell like a liqueur, my day job is teaching and people do be judgey. Lol But then I got the chance to try an imp and oh golly. Anisey lime and cardamom with a teeny bite which is maybe from the mint. As it stays on longer, I get a hint of men's aftershave, which kinda makes me feel like I'm in a warm safe masculine cave. Definitely full size.

Oh my gossssshhhhhh, Dahlia is beautiful. Got an imp from SurrealReality, trying to reduce my risk before buying a full size and now I'm thinking about adding 2 bottles to my cart. The vanilla and cardamom are warm, cozy, snuggly, with a hint of sweet amber and enough cardamom to pick out the note without it taking over anything. I love NAVA's Cardamom Sucre, but I love Dahlia more - it's more subtle, completely work appropriate, has very little projection but I get a teensy waft of the scent as I wave my hands around, exclaiming over the beauty.

I dabbed a little on using the lid's phenolic insert. Wet: Antiseptic + the powderyness of huffing a SweetTart. After 5 minutes: antiseptic has headed toward Band-Aid + powdery SweetTart I decided to stop being a wuss and really give this a slather on my wrist and see if I pick up something more. The good news is, yes! I can finally pick up the frankincense which was quite subtle in my teensy little droplet test. I'm also getting a lactonic note that offsets the powdery sweet scent. Normally, lactonic = bad for me, but this is a brief phase on the way to something better. After 10 minutes: NOOOOW the magic begins. Band-Aid has been ripped off revealing unblemished skin. Frankincense and raspberry beckon toward vanilla, "Come over and hang out!" Vanilla is somewhat shy, only allowing a tendril of attention, but I can tell that eventually, it will gather its courage and pull the whole group together. I think Vanilla-Infused Frankincense and Raspberry will grow into something beautiful and I'm looking forward to the journey. If you love these notes, give this one a try. It could be a skin chemistry thing (I'm on a new med and it could be affecting how it smells, ymmv and there may be no antiseptic band-aids for you). I hope there are more reviews in short order to give folks different perspectives!

Yay, I'm not the first to review! Thank you to feyofthefellwood for going first, lol. Yes, I agree, it's not creamy or sweet, it's earthy. What I expected: "sweet vanilla tobacco flower". What I got (Wet): Strong blast of patchouli My partner hates patchouli with the fiery passion born of some long-buried childhood trauma. We have a pact that I won't buy anything with patchouli. It takes about 10 minutes for the patch to burn off and let anything else out to play. Over about 30 minutes, it mellows into a sweetish vanilla-ish fruity flower. Then, for the next two hours I keep catching whiffs of something exotically beautiful and thinking, "oh, what is that?" and realizing it's me. If I put my nose to my wrist, I'm still able to smell the earthy/rooty scent, but what projects beyond my skin is completely different and beautiful. I'll give it some time to age and hope it continues to develop. Maybe leave the cap off the bottle to let it air out?

I received a super-aged half imp in a destash purchase, I'm not sure what year it is. Tried it on the inside of my wrists. Sweet, hint of sweet red wine, myrrh (lemony-ish). I would say there's an underlying honey-like note, but I can't pick out specifically "honey" or "flowers". Kind of reminds me of Opium or some other classical sweetly seductive perfume, except without the cologne note. I like it, but I predict my guy will say it smells like old lady because that's his default response to anything that smells vintage. Considering he'll be 60 this year, and I'm not far behind, that cracks me up. I think he has scent memories of women's perfume from when he was a kid, and he considered all adult women "old". Not much throw -- have to put my wrists to my nose to smell it -- but that's par for the perfume course on me, I rarely project scents. Someone has a 2023 bottle in a destash and I'm seriously tempted. Hm. ETA: Tracked my guy down and had him sniff. Him: I used to do repair work at this one hotel in town, and that smells like the hotel scent. Me: You mean the shampoo and soap they use? Him: No, hotels actually use a scent, and this smells like that hotel's scent. Tbh, that's better than I expected, at least he didn't say "ew". He has such specific scent memories! Ah, well, think I'll frimp the rest of the imp and hope the next lucky player on the Price is Right has better luck.

2024 bottle Alllllll of the notes work for me and I opened it with such excitement yesterday (after a few weeks of letting it rest). In the bottle, it's a faint smell, mildly dark and sweet. And then...It's even fainter when I put it on. This doesn't sound like anyone else's experience, and I picked it up in swaps, so possibly it went through a traumatic experience along the way that permanently affected the perfume? Or, more likely, I'm anosmic to something(s) in it. All I get is a faint dark fruit scent, with a slight hint of musk. How I tested: After patch testing on the back of my hand (and not being able to smell it), I slathered it on my arms, chest and neck, just before bed, hoping to bring out the scent. Even immediately after application, could barely smell anything with my arms right up against my face. I'm going to make someone else wear it and see if it's me or the bottle. Will update.

From Yule 2023: This is such a beautiful scent! I wish I knew what the individual notes are. Frank, myrrh, and... something sweet. Not headshoppy at all. An underlying incense note that reminds me of a childhood memory of being a guest at a church and just the smell of the whole thing. It's good but I can't pick apart the scents. Polished wood of pews, lingering incense from the censers (sp?). A hint of citrus in the sweetness. I kinda wish I could slather it on but it would overwhelm the room, as I'm getting wafts of this as I type and I don't slather. Peace be with you, and also with you.

This is a well-aged imp, the dark red-orange of iodine. Initially: "herbal orange smash" (awesome phrase, thanks, Estamets) with a hint of Tootsie Roll. Seconds later: gains an underlying industrial dishwater scent. 😭 Mugwort, is that you? Are you a classical herb of conflict, you naughty plant? Minutes later: still compulsively and repeatedly sniffing myself. There's something fascinating about this one. My brain can't believe that it smells like an orange herbal Tootsie Roll soaked in musky dishwater. Must check again. More minutes later: Mugwort is fainter but still there. It's becoming "sophisticated" (as another reviewer noted). Other spices (maybe a hint of cinnamon?) are appearing, and there's the red musk, finally! I loooove red musk. Go after 'em, red musk, kill those conflict herbs, you know you want to. Must smear this on my guy. Everything smells good on him. ETA: An hour later... no more dishwater. Just a gorgeously rich red musk with a hint of herbal orange. Despite being rich, it's faint. No projection to speak of, but that's okay with me.

Ohhh, no reviews yet? This one is gorgeous and the notes match up. I get a rich, deep, sweet candylike pomegranate with a hint of tart, a sexy kind of smutty honey, and a tint of sweet floral. It's not gourmand, and there's enough richness to avoid too much sweetness. Sorry I'm not better at explaining scents, but if you want a candy, sexy pom, give this one a try.

I bought a sample from BPAL at least a year ago, sniffed it and put it away for resting. (wtf, past me? we don't buy perfume when the notes aren't listed. Bad past me. Bad.) Trying it again a year later. Wet: Unripe apricot/ peach blend with some green twiggy stem attached, with a hint of almost-indolic jasmine, that pleasing hint of floral dirty diaper. Couple minutes later: Some baby powder has been sprinkled on the diaper, someone decided to eat half of the unripe peach, leaving the stem behind. Dried: A bit of vanilla joined the party, and everyone cheered. The powdered diaper has been put in the Diaper Genie, leaving a teensy hint that a baby was changed here recently. The peach is starting to dry out. The unripe-fruit-and-vanilla combo continues, faint but present. It's not a great fit for my skin chemistry, but it doesn't stop me from compulsively sniffing, I'm fascinated by the scent journey. Also, not dark. Not sinister. Not decayed. I'm envious that others are getting honey, sandalwood, caramel, myrrh... Hm, that scent combo sounds amazing! Past Me has a lot of explaining to do.

Purchased a decant from a forumite, and tried it today, mixed with unscented lotion and slathered head to foot. I love cherry scents and a little is not enough. Impressions: A lovely cherry-forward scent with an incense base (nag champa + something else, maybe copal? not strong enough to scream headshop). I didn't pick up on the cinnamon or the bourbon, though they probably combine to make the cherry rich and decadent. The cherry burns away quickly, leaving a pleasantly sweet, hint-of-cherry incense. I love it, and now I'll be on the lookout for more imps or a bottle. FYI: My partner said, "Bourbon. Let's go in my room and I'll lick it off of you." So, that's a win, given his usual comments on perfume tend toward, "It's okay" or "ew." Also interesting that he can smell bourbon, when I can't.

I've tried this twice (once a small patch test, and a few weeks later, on the front and back of both wrists). It's a pleasant scent on me, but everything blends into a "sweet sunny flower" without being able to smell distinct components. I'm not a fan of florals, I prefer more amber, more spicy, so I think this one should go to a more discerning home.

Yum, as expected. It's a tart peach with some greenness and a hint of candy sweetness from the pom. I purchased a partial through the forum, wasn't sure about the combo of geranium and musk with the fruits because florals can tend to take over everything, but this is lush. I have so many bottles I try not to get duplicates but could see myself slathering this one everywhere and going through it fast so I'll be on the lookout. It's not really a "perfume" scent. If I really slathered this on, I could see someone in the breakroom at work sniffing the air and asking, "did someone bring in peaches today?" As it dries down, the "fresh green peach" scent begins to meld with pom and spicy geranium (I don't really know what spicy geranium smells like, but I know pom, so...) and it's still amazing. I'd love body lotion and body/hair oil in this scent. Something about how fresh and green it is makes me feel happy.

I got a 2009 bottle of Faiza in June 2024, gave it a wear test on Aug 8, 2024. Objectively, Faiza is a lovely scent. My skin amps jasmine and gardenia, which I thought wouldn't be a problem with so many other notes. Unfortunately, it's a duo-note blend on me. Faiza has excellent longevity. Usually my dry skin gobbles up everything fast, but after an hour of heavy florals, I slathered on Sugar Me Sweet's Marshmallow Musk to tone it down. The delicate sugary musk tamed the florals, but I had hoped to experience the blackberry, vanilla, citrus, musk, honey, amber, bergamot, ti leaf, in addition to the Jasmine-Gardenia Show.

Received an imp as part of a destash and it's blackberry, currant and vanilla from start to finish. Love it! I would also have loved some incense, but I only put a dab on one spot to test it. When I do my normal all-over slather it may have more of a chance to develop. If it stays this lovely on the full wear test, I see a full-size in my future (thank goodness it's GC!).