Assimbya

I was doubtful that this one would work on me, since any and all bpal red fruit notes seem to do unpleasant things on my skin, but I was determined to try all of the Erl King scents and so gave it a shot! And I'm glad I did; it's a pleasant, lovely scent which I enjoyed. On me it starts strongly as apple, but a pretty soft, round-edged apple scent reminiscent to me of Sjöfn (so perhaps that the apple blossom-like apple peel @Saeva was identifying); I got some faint florals behind it, but little except the apple. As it dries, there's an almost haylike grassy floral sweetness which I think must be the meadowsweet (a new note for me! though I think I may have smelled them in the wild) and then the violet comes forward and becomes the center of the blend. There's still apple, and a more diffuse fruitiness in the background, but it neither takes over nor goes artificial as the red fruit notes historically have. My partner compared it on me to Black Butterfly Moon which I didn't get at first because the floral notes strike me so differently and this one does not have the gothy exuberance of that lunacy, but I can see it if I squint; something about the purple floral of the violet mingling with the fruit, but none of them being overly sweet. There's a softness to this blend, though it isn't overly sweet, and a sense of the florals as distinctly wildflowers, unexpected flashes of color or scent in the middle of the forest rather than something cultivated and showy. Possibly I'm just being suggestible because of the inspiration, but there's something of the Northern European woods to this one, which I also felt in The Woodland So Wild. I can make sense of this in the context of the accompany lyrics, an alluring trap meant for a child made of fruits and flowers in the natural environment. I liked this a lot more than I expected to, though it's not quite my style and I can't see myself wearing it often; I'll keep and probably use up my decant, but will not need a bottle. It also made me curious to try more scents with meadowsweet as a note!

This is definitely an orris-forward scent to me; the orris-leather-vanilla combination brings to mind Porcelain Bat, but the leather is a lot more prominent in this one, and with the woodiness of the cedar and the heaviness of the tonka and red amber, it lacks Porcelain Bat's softly comforting energy. As it dries down, I get hints of the floral notes, but can't make them out specifically. This has a solid presence, but low throw; though it's not musky, the cedar-orris-vanilla creates a skin scent effect that reminds me of Like the Very Gods, though The Woodland So Wild is nordic and forested and pretty substantially masculine; the similarity is one more in the category they fill then in the nature of the scent itself. Though Porcelain Bat somehow managed to keep the leather from taking over on my skin, unfortunately I get more of it here than I like, and the whole skews far too classically masculine for me. I really like it on my partner (who likes and wears perfumes across all gendered associations), but it's not for me.

I have the 2024 version, but realized I never reviewed it! My dearly beloved Peacock Queen! Peacock Queen is the rose perfume of my dreams - deep, lush, smooth, rich, and purely itself. I experience it as very red. Unfortunately I can't wear Rose Red, which turns to acrylic paint on my skin, but Peacock Queen's beauty more than makes up for this. My other favorite BPAL (nearly) pure rose scent is Two, Five, & Seven, which is very different, but these complement one another so well - Peacock Queen is the winter rose to Two, Five's summer, the nighttime to its daytime, the sensuous elegance to its playful brightness. I love it and feel so lucky to have both. Unfortunately, Peacock Queen tends to fade pretty quickly on my skin - its longevity has improved noticeably with aging and I'm hopefully that it might continue to do so, but I do have to reapply if I want to wear it all day and I treasure its accompanying hair gloss as a longer-lasting way to experience the scent (I'm intrigued by the lotion this year for the same reason). I am finding myself often wanting to wear it this winter, when I don't feel as pulled during the summer, and it shows up beautifully in the cold, vivid and stark as a proud red rose holding on when the other flowers of the season have faded.

When this goes on, it reminds me intensely of the Ars Anni Equivalent No. 314, to the point that I think I probably could be fooled into thinking it was the same blend if I hadn't put it on myself - there's no milk note, but there's a definite creaminess, and whatever the florals are in Erl-King's Pale Daughter must remind me really intensely of the iris-mallow flower combination in 314. I wonder if perhaps there also may be ambergris in this one. As it dries, the differences between the two scents become clearer, though there's still a distinct resemblance. The Erl-King's Pale Daughter starts to show its aquatic features; there's a watery translucence which feels elegant and eerie, and something a little bit briny without being overpowering. It find it hard to identify the florals here; I can maybe get lilies if I try, but that might be my imagination based on the listed notes; I wonder if this may be the lab's waterlily accord which also showed up in last year's Cold Moon. Though there's no vanilla here, the creamy-musky-floral aquatic sensibility reminds me a little of Lyonesse, but made much more ghostly. This is a being who lives in the depths of still ponds, not in the ocean. I find this really lovely, and enjoy the elegant eerieness quite a bit; I could see myself wearing it a lot especially in warmer weather. There are also things I can't quite make sense of about it, and it's a perfume that I feel I need more time with to really understand. I might go for a bottle of this one, though it might too similar to 314 for that to make sense. But definitely glad to have my decant.

Wet on my skin this starts as pretty much entirely blackcurrant, very fruity and inching towards feeling artificial, as fruit scents unfortunately often can on me. As it dries, it becomes much more centrally a myrrh blend, and a lovely myrrh it is too - it feels to me like the same one from Black Butterfly Moon, and the effect with the still strong blackcurrant is similar to the blackberry + myrrh in that other blend, but without the florals which are a big part of Black Butterfly. The labdanum tar seems to be adding a sticky resinous depth and a bit of darkness, but overall this is all about the myrrh and blackcurrant on me. For that reason, it's a much more friendly, approachable blend than the description would suggest; it has a contemplative feel, but it definitely does not evoke a dirge to me. I enjoy this, and would recommend it as a relatively straightforward dark fruit + resin blend, but I have enough beautiful myrrh scents already. I would be more interested in this probably if it were a little darker and more uncomfortable, which it might be if the labdanum tar note were turned up a bit; I wonder if aging might bring that out and will keep my imp to find out.

This goes on mostly coffee beans to start, close to photorealistic and smoky, with a chocolate-y warm depth. The rose shows up first as a floral sharpness underneath the coffee, and deepens for me over the course of wear, gradually unfolding in vividness. I've been trying to identify which of the lab's other rose blends this note reminds me, since Bulgarian rose specifically doesn't tend to show up all that often in listed notes - it's in Two, Five, & Seven, but along with so many other roses that it can be hard to pick out! This Bulgarian rose notes feels related to the lab's tea rose, but deeper, lusher, and more adult, if not as deep as the Peacock Queen rose - I'd say that it's pink rather than red. This is a duet which does what it says it's going to do, and if you want rose and coffee beans then you should go for it! I was intrigued by the idea of the combination (I'm not a coffee drinker but do enjoy the smell of coffee beans), but the experience of actually smelling like coffee is not one I think I'm going to want very often. Our decant will stay with us, but I won't need more of it.

I got decants of all the Erl-King scents out of love for the poem/song, but was specifically hopeful about this one because both the lab's milk and honey notes tend to work very well on me. Unfortunately, something about this one goes very weird, almost sour on my skin; it doesn't smell like either of those notes usually do from bpal, and since trying it first the other day I've been trying to puzzle out what it does smell like to me. There's something that maybe could be a caramel, though @ND¢'s identification of rose petal jam or yeast both sound more plausible with what I'm smelling. Honestly, it maybe smell sort of fermented to me? Whatever it is, unfortunately I don't think it works on me! I'll give it a while to rest and retest it, but I am alas not hopeful.

I'm adding my voice to the chorus on this one - this is such a soft, gentle, beautiful perfume; very very much pale purples and grays. On me it goes on mainly a pale, crumbing mix of lavender and lilac; as it dries down the iris starts to come through along with musk and lots of distinct fabric notes, and the florals blend into something very gentle and pretty. I can't specifically track the tea or moss and am unfamiliar with the thistle note, but I do have a sense of them as a base notes grounding the scent and keeping it from just dissolving into a diffuse cloud of melancholy. Lovely and very soothing, but also holding its own. I am seriously considering a bottle of this one, despite having an inordinate number of lilac scents already; the florals + fabric combination is so pretty and special. I like lavender but don't find myself wearing it very often (except for the GC Twilight, which I use as a sleep scent), and this scent as at once elegant and comforting, the way the lavender is balanced out, feels like a lavender that I actually want to smell like all day. Definitely a standout from the Yules I've tried so far this year!

Full, rich, unapologetic floral. On me this is primarily jasmine and honeysuckle, in rather equal measure; lilac comes out more on the drydown, but is definitely secondary to the other florals for me. This is gently indolic, but mostly just very deeply floral; I can only detect the amber as perhaps adding a resinous depth. Sophisticated, billowing, and creamy. I very much enjoy this and am so glad to have obtained a partial bottle secondhand; it pairs especially well with Persephone's Ascent, but I love it with all my jasmine/honeysuckle/white floral perfumes.

Cool green grass with dew-touched lilacs peeking through, and just a hint of wood from the trees in the background; very very true to the description. There's something about this which feels rather sparkly to me, something in the cool wet greenness of the floral. Appropriately enough to the inspiration, this feels like an animation of an enchanted wood, the colors just a little brighter and more technicolor than the thing itself would be. I think this would be a good starter floral for someone who's scared of florals; the grass really gentles out the lilac, though they are distinctly and beautifully there. It's really delightful, but I personally don't often find myself drawn to wear it over my other BPAL lilacs (4! I am so lucky), all of which are rather more intense in their florals. I am really glad to have my decant and also to know that this is in the more permanent collection, as so many BPAL's gorgeous lilacs are LEs. For now I don't need a bottle of it, but I could see my feelings on that changing in the spring (and also if I ever run out of Blue Lilac & Lily of the Valley, to which it's probably closest of the other lilacs I've tried).

Resurrecting this thread as I continue on my floral completionist quest! I am now searching for a hyacinth-dominant perfume; the only bpal one currently available is Dawn: Mourning Victory, which I am up for trying, though there aren't many reviews for me to get a sense of how prominent the hyacinth is. (There's also the Erebos atmosphere & linen spray which I am curious about though, being a linen spray, it does not fulfill this particular wish of mine.) I'd love to hear if others have thoughts on the hyacinth note in that one, or if there are other hyacinth bpals from the past for which I should keep an eye out, as I certainly shall for those already mentioned in this thread.

You're welcome! As a dedicated lover of florals, I am happy to help in this arena. Given this context, I would definitely suggest Lorrainna and/or Nocturne for your mother, which are both pretty pure florals; Lorrainna in particular is so special. If you try Faustus for yourself, I hope you enjoy it!

From the GC, Nocturne (deepest violet touched with lilac and tuberose) is a lovely violet and lilac scent, with a delicate, ethereal sensibility. I was frimped it recently and have been really enjoying it! If you're looking for both of these notes together, I think it would be a great choice. Veil (white sandalwood, lilac, gardenia, violet, orris, lavender and ylang ylang) also looks intriguing, in a similar vein, but I haven't had the chance to try that one yet. For lilac, I cannot say enough good things about Lorrainna from the Skull Maskerade collection (an early 19th-century Italian perfume dabbed on black satin and lace – magnolia blossoms, lilac, orris root, and ambergris accord), which has become an absolute favorite of mine. It's elegant, smooth, with clear, resounding floral notes (both lilac and a gorgeous magnolia) and a depth underneath from the ambergris and orris. Lilac is one of my favorite notes and this is one of my favorite bpals with it that I've tried. The Lilac Wood (ageless trees, everblooming flowers, brilliant grass, a flicker of fireflies, and soft shadows) is also beautiful - as the name suggests, it's a greener, woodier lilac note. And the duet Black Lilac & Black Tea is still up if you want a darker lilac! I don't wear a ton of violet, but my partner frequently wears Faustus (frankincense and cinnamon, darkened by violet), and it's gorgeous on him, a darkened, mysterious, spicy violet note.

I love it! I definitely would agree with other reviewers that this is somewhat heavier on the carnation than the perfume oil version, but it's still recognizably Alice, with the other notes coming through clearly, playful and cheering and with a hint of a sharp wit. The throw and longevity are both strong. I was frimped a decant of this one, and went to buy a bottle very quickly as I knew I would quickly go through my tiny decant (and I like to save hair gloss decants to travel with) - it pairs well with so many of my perfumes, and its playfulness makes it a very appealing hair gloss choice for everyday wear. As a lover of florals and musks, my favorite hair glosses have ended up often being very elegant and sexy to me, which is a delight and I so much love having all of them, but it means that Alice really fills a gap for (I previously tried Razors in a Doll's House for this niche, but it ended up being rather too sweet for my taste). I am so happy to have a bottle of this now.

Glittering, aldehydic, pale amber; I agree with previous reviewers that it has an enrapturing salty-sweet combination to it which is both pretty and slightly mysterious. I suspect this would go sharp on my skin, so it's lovely to have it in hair gloss form, where it can shine alongside my amber-centric perfumes, which all have more sweetness or floral to soften them. This doesn't have quite so much throw or longevity as my other bpal hair glosses; it's a little subtler, but quite lovely. I ordered a squirt of this from the lab with my last bottle order, and am very pleased I did, though I am going to need to wear it some more times to decide whether I will get a bottle of it. I go through hair gloss so much more quickly than I go through perfume and so the bar for buying a bottle is much lower on these for me; I can tell this one is going to pair well with many of my perfume collection, but I'm not quite sure it feels a niche I need.

There's something about this one which just isn't working with my skin chemistry, and I don't know why - the combination of notes comes off as peculiarly artificial in a way that I find pretty off-putting, partially like candy and partially, with the woody frankincense and sweet vanilla, like a commercial room spray. Probably it's my skin's dislike of BPAL's red fruit notes, except I didn't know whether raspberry would be counted among them. Alas!

I really love this one; it's elegant and dark and gothy without being heavy, overpowering, or cloying. @VioletChaos's description of this as 'goth girl' feels right on target. I'm wearing it right now to rewatch some episodes of Penny Dreadful, and it feels like a perfect match, and not only because there's a pivotal scene involving orchids. 💜 I definitely agree with previous reviews that this one morphs quite a lot! Wet on me it's dark, juicy blackberry with just a hint of myrrh and floral, but as it dries the blackberry fades and the orchid note becomes central, with that dry, sophisticated edge that I find BPAL's orchid note always has; it mixes with a sharp, potent myrrh, thin enough to be slightly bitter as it grounds and blanches the florals. I can definitely track the tea rose (and I adore BPAL's tea rose note), and maybe a hint of tuberose if I look for it, but I would call the orchid the main floral note of this one. When I first wore this I thought I wasn't getting the vanilla at all, but now that it's rested for a while I think I can identify very dry, somewhat smoky, not at all sweet vanilla, which I imagine will get even better as this ages further. Black musk encircles all of it like a cloud, but isn't possibly to pick out quite individually. This feels in the same scent-family as some of the Carmillas from last year, but with a particular complexity all of its own; I'm glad that I blind bottled it, and will be delighted to continue wearing this one.

Wet on my skin this is very sharp, paperwhite-like narcissus; as it dries, orange starts to come through; on me it feels bitter and like the fruit or rind, not the flower; the narcissus remains very much dominant. I get a very thin vanilla undercurrent, but definitely subtle by comparison with the narcissus and orange. It's interesting that the description for this one describes it as warm, sensual, and lustful - for me the sharpness and bitterness of the notes evokes the name in a different kind of way; a grasping, envious kind of hunger. This is vivid and fascinating, in an unsettling kind of way; I appreciate the intensity of it, but it nearly turns my stomach, and I don't find it very wearable. I'm going to keep my imp around for a little while in the hopes of making sense of the strangeness of my reaction to it, but I don't think it's one for any kind of regular wear on me.

2025 version. Alas, this was all acrid dead leaves on me, with no florals or vanilla! I was so disappointed. It's beautiful balanced on my partner, with a gorgeous rose note, so clearly a skin chemistry problem for me. I'll try not to be too bitter about it.

2025 version A marigold soliflore! I was very tempted to blind bottle this, more than anything else in this year's Halloween collection, but I was reasonable and put it in my decant circle order. Having had some time with it now, of course I am predictably going to buy a bottle of it. I had a vase of fresh marigolds at home when I got my decant of this, so I got to compare - the match is not quite precise, but that's mostly because with fresh marigolds you get a distinct greenness from the leaves/stems, and more intense earthiness. It's recognizably marigold for me, golden and smooth and herbal and just a little spicy. The true essence of an autumn flower, separated from its environment and purely bright and cheerful. This doesn't have much throw, but lasts pretty well on me even without much resting time. This makes me very happy, and feels just perfect for autumn; I'm so happy to have such a lovely marigold fragrance in my collection.

This starts out as very citrusy on me, and I couldn't figure out what it was - chamomile? figs? I'm still not sure. It takes a couple of hours of wear until I can start to pick out notes, at which point I definitely get a lot of beeswax and chamomile, some hay, and an earthy sweetness which might be fig or saffron. It's pretty, definitely in an autumnal overripe sort of way, but not objectionably so; I would agree with other reviewers that it's pretty approachable within a more unsettling collection. I'd like to try pairing it with some honey-based scents, especially Against Idleness and Mischief which also has the chamomile. The aggressively citrus top notes on me make this one a little challenging for me, despite the pretty drydown, and it doesn't quite feel like me - I imagine this one on someome who wears a large hat and gardens and keeps bees. I'll keep and wear my decant, but I don't think I'll be getting a bottle.

This goes on sweet and drily spicy, the type of spiciness that cinnamon gives but also distinctly not cinnamon. It don't know if I would identify it as peppercorn without reading the notes, but knowing them I can certainly see it. As it dries, the florals come out, more the rose than the lily for me, and definitely dried petals rather than fresh ones. I do get something which feels like a costume shop to me, though I couldn't say how much is my imagination conjuring the description - the softened, indistinct sweetness of old fabric scraps and glue and glitter. There's something just a little bit plasticky here, not unpleasantly so, but enough to contribute to the sense of costume, of fabric flowers rather than real ones. This has very low throw, and pretty short longevity at least for now. This is something of a fond, comforting scent, and I've been finding I enjoy it more in the evenings; there's something that feels indoors and quieter in energy about it. I'm glad to have my decant and think I'll wear it on some autumn/winter nights, but it's not one I'll want a bottle of.

I suspect this may end up being a very popular and well-liked blend! It somehow does definitely manage to smell like plaster but...pleasantly so? Which doesn't seem like it should be possible, but somehow is. It has a very distinct textural sensibility to me - dry, powdery, chalky - but the combination of notes make this lovely and comforting, rather than unsettling. On me, it's definitely a showcase for the orris, with plenty of vanilla and some soft musk rounding it out. I was worried about the leather, which often amplifies on me, but it's subtle here, coming out only on drydown and really just giving some definition to the very pale other notes. There's something quite comforting about this, perhaps more the feeling one would want to offer to a scared little bat trapped in a bathroom than anything else. Solid wear-length, though I haven't tracked it too well yet. This is really beautiful, and I hope that it gets the appreciation it deserves! I'm not sure yet whether it's going to be a bottle purchase for me - while I really enjoy the orris here, I'm not sure it's one I'm going to wear all that often; I'll need to spend some more time with it to decide.

This goes on quite sweet on me, with a burst of almond blossom and nutty, sweetened heliotrope, with the narcissus distinct but waiting in the background. I was unsure about it at this stage - a little too almond, a little too sweet. But as it dries down the almond blossom recedes, and the narcissus comes through truly gorgeously as the center of the blend. The lab's narcissus note fascinates but has never fully worked for me - it has that paperwhite-like sickening edge (especially in perfumes like Langour in which is actually with paperwhites, bringing out that quality) which can't quite be described as indolic, but is somehow beautiful and queasy at once. I have several imps of narcissus-centric GCs which I've kept around because of that fascination, but never have quite found wearable, and I've wondered whether I would find a narcissus that I did actually want to wear. I think Interminable Grotesques may be it. There's a greenhouse quality to this narcissus, humid and sweetened, the perfume trapped within fogging glass. With the honey from the heliotrope, it reminds me of the stunning daffodil note in Flower Moon 2009, which is a gentler, more golden variation on bpal's narcissus, and one which has always felt closer to me to the true smell of the flower in nature (daffodil and narcissus, of course, being the same plant - their scent isn't noticeable most of the time, but is distinct if you actually try smelling a daffodil, or if you're fortunate enough to be in a place with overflowing beds of them in the springtime, amplifying their subtle fragrance). This is still much more indolic than the freshness of Flower Moon, which is definitely a field of wildflowers and not a bunch of blooms in a greenhouse, but there's a distinct resemblance. Over the course of wear, I also get what I could swear is a classic lily note rather than a lily of the valley - if I really look for it I can maybe find a sharpness that I could call lily of the valley, but I also get a very distinct stargazer lily which mingles beautifully with the narcissus. I don't think I can quite track the opium poppy yet, but it's perhaps part of the subtle sweetness in the background. This had quite long wear length, even just a day out of the mail. So: okay but not great when wet, really beautiful on drydown. I'll need to wear it a few more times to get a sense of whether I do want a bottle, and probably compare it with Flower Moon 2009 as well, but I think it might very well end up being a bottle purchase for me; it feels the 'wearable narcissus' gap which has been present in my flower completionist collection.

Reporting back dispatches from my jasmine quest for anyone else who may be on one! From my GC exploration, Nyx ended up being precisely the jasmine + rose combination I was hoping for! The myrrh is much gentler than in Wicked, and on me it's a beautifully balanced combination of both florals. Delight, alas, was not so for me, and ended up rather dusty and pale. Defututa is a fascinating scent, but I wouldn't call it predominantly jasmine - the champaca feels more central to that one. Tomie is beautiful, sinuously elegant scent with a thread of cool jasmine, but I would agree that it's not jasmine-forward, and I would probably describe its main notes as almond blossom and vanilla. I was also lucky enough to acquire three old LEs which have entirely satisfied my longing for a creamy jasmine - Eostre of the Dawn, The Night Priestess, and Mrs Emma Marsh (though the last is more gardenia than jasmine on me). Each is very different in sensibility and in the other florals the jasmine is paired with, but each in their own way showcases jasmine beautifully with the billowy creaminess I was longing to hold onto from my in vivo jasmine experiences this spring and summer. I know none of those are readily available, but I recommend them to anyone else who may be searching for a similar kind of jasmine! For cooler jasmines (either herbal or perfumey), I continue to love Twilight, The Presence of Love, and Cold Moon 2024. I recently tried the Cold Moon duet Jasmine Absolute & Champaca Petals which is a very pure and beautiful jasmine experience as well. A Cup of Tea on the Verandah, from last years Yules, has also been growing on me - as my decant ages the sharpness I experienced from at first has softened out and the jasmine comes out beautifully.