Jarek

I got this partial bottle from a wonderful forumite. It was one of my first blind bottles and I really like it! In the bottle I get the woods and maybe some pepper and a bit of pear, maybe. I wanted this largely for the woods so I'm pretty happy about this. Wet on my skin it's mostly woods, I looked up champaca and I think some of that comes through as it dries, I don't pick up much pear or jasmine, maybe a bit of pepper. This definitely makes me think of bronze beings, not Ares but it does seem to evoke the colours of polished bronze. As it dries further I think I do smell the florals a bit more but they do fade, maybe some jasmine but definitely what I've read champaca to smell like ("creamy floral"), maybe something sweet which could be the pear. After a few hours the remaining smells are the woods, moreso the sandalwood but still some cedar, a hint of creaminess but that's mostly gone. I really love this one and I'm so glad to have a bottle, it makes me very interested in future Lupercalia releases too.

A chilly, bright perfume: flurries of virgin snow, crisp winter wind and the faintest breath of night-blooming flowers. 2024 version I have been very curious about the lab's snow and ice and cold notes. It was only partly through making an order I checked the reviews and discovered mint is a possible inclusion. I'm not the biggest fan of mint, but I do like some blends with it, and I was still so very curious so I decided to give it a go. In the decant vial it's a little sweet but not in a sugary way, quite a light scent, a touch of florals. Wet on my skin and I'm smelling the mint, but there's other things layered with it, it's not like smelling Mad Hatter with the "paroxysm of pennyroyal", but it is more noticeable than the mints in Vicomte de Valmont. At least to me. The florals are there but very light, and there's a light breezy/airy sort of scent which is also kind of sweet (I did just try Machu Picchu yesterday so I'm primed to pick out that sort of more I think). As it dries and evaporates over the day the mint and sweet stay, the florals gradually go away, the air/wind scent fades a bit too but hands around longer than the florals. There's more to the "snow" than mint, but I always find mint very overpowering to my nose (and tongue), a little goes a very long way for me. So while I can tell there's more than the mint, I can't make out what. It lasted a really long time, I could still smell it on my wrists six+ hours later and I didn't need to put my wrist up to my nose either. It's a pretty nice scent! It was a bit of a gamble for me with the mint, and I don't think I'll be getting a bottle of it, but I think it was definitely worth trying a decant. I mean, Vicomte de Valmont is one of my absolute favourites. Snow White for me is very pretty, long lasting, I like a lot of it. Not sure if I'll keep the decant or not. I'll definitely try it again though. Edit: Omay I've re-applied and the coconut, vanilla, maybe a bit of almond, I see what others are talking about now. The mint is much more subtle in the decant and freshly applied on my skin. It just becomes more noticeable with time as the other stuff fades, but the rest of the... I think vanilla, possibly coconut, may fade a bit but also sticks around with the mint. I do like this more freshly applied, and I may like it more after some reapplications. I'm glad I'm giving it further opportunities. :3 Efit 2: So I like it even more with further applications, even though the mint is still pretty noticeable to me it's very nicely blended with everything. I don't forsee getting a bottle but I'm definitely wearing out the decant, and I might order decants again in the future.

In the decant vial it's fairly light and a bit floral and sweet, but I was wondering if it was going to turn out to have low throw and maybe not last as long, like the scent I trialled yesterday. Wet on my skin though that's much less of a worry. It starts out fairly light still but within a minute or few it really blooms. I can make out fruits, aquatic notes, "breeze", florals, and the amber is countering the sweetness of the rest of it. Eveything is really well balanced. Medium throw on me. Dry down: This lasts a fair amount of time for me, I can still smell it four/five hours later, though the fruits are largely gone and so is the breeze. The florals and amber are still there. I really like this! I think I will add it to the list of things to get a bottle of. :3

I smelled something quite green but to me it didn't smell like cucumbers or grass? Anyways. In the decant vial it is a bit, I want to say sharper, not strong but stronger than on my skin later. At first whiff I wasn't sure I'd like it. Wet on skin: still green of some kind woth a zing but whatever it was that had me uncertain about liking it vanishes within seconds of applying it to my skin. I don't know if mine is aged and this used to be stronger, but it doesn't have very much throw. But I do really like it, even if I can't quite place it. Drydown: this didn't last very long on me! I was reapplying within an hour or two until I had to get ready to go. More of the same though the "zing" crisp kind of component smooths out, and what's left is a bit more... not quite watery, still green, but sort of watery green, but it doesn't smell like an aquatic? I don't know! I still like it though. If it stayed longer on me, I'd get a bottle.

In my decant vial, and wet on my skin, I smell lavendar and a thick syrup kind of smell that is a bit sweet but less like sugar and more floral. And the lavendar isn't just quite lavendar, but I'm having difficulty quantifying how. It's very nice though. Drying a bit, maybe an hour after application, the syrupy smell is still there and the lavendar is still there but it's richer, there's more depth to it. Maybe a very very light soft smoke? Nothing acrid. Very floral and sweet. It's still lavendar but not quite so. It fits the name well but I find it interesting rather than discomforting. :3 Quite enjoyable. A few hours after application, the floral-syrupy smell is faded though some floral sweetness remains, and I can pick out more elements of the fougère now, like probably some oakmoss. The lavendar is a touch faded and so is the soft (sweet?) smoke but both still present. A good amount of throw at first but has dropped off to medium throw now on me. I really like this one. It smells unlike any fougère I've tried from BPAL before but is still noticeably fougère, and it's just delightful. I think I will definitely try to aquire a bottle of it.

In the decant vial, it's pretty woody. Maybe a touch of smoke. Wet on my skin the woody smells predominate, with some spices from the cardamom and black pepper. Wverything is blending really well that I'm finding it hard to pick out notes, but I think the samdalwood and white cedar are there, with a touch of smokey from the vetiver but it's mostly a woody vetiver. I don't smell much ambergris but I rarely do in the start of ambergris perfumes, I figure it can take a while to show up on my skin. Dry after five hours it still has some decent throw, the spices portion is nearly gone but there may be some left and I'm just not as familiar with the cardamom. Cedar is still here but the sandalwood has faded, vetiver is largely gone but I think the orris root is still around. Parts of it anyways. Strangely the ambergris hasn't become prominent like I'm used to, I can tell it's there but it's more boosting everything else rather than coming forward and doing its own thing too. The overall effect is very nice. Everything is well blended. I quite like this one, though I'm going to let it rest at least a week before trying it again and deciding if I want a bottle. Waering the rest of my decant for sure. Edit: the more I try this the more I love it. The ambergris is a bit more noticeable to me now but it's definitely more in the background than I'm used to, it's nice though. Very nice. I looked up orris root too and I think it also really stands out in the initial stages with the woody smells. It is a bit fruity in a way. But not like a gourmet. I didn't get a bottle at the start of February, but I am going to get one at the start of March.

I am supposed to be waiting, I just received this in the mail today, I have a bunch of scents that have been waiting a week to try out! But there's a few decants I just HAD to know what they smelled like, and this was one of them. In the vial I was getting the lemon pith, maybe the violet leaf, and the aldehydes. Those are pretty unique! I had no idea what to expect with those. I'm really just guessing it's them. On my skin immediately I wasn't so sure about this one. Something seemed off. The aldehydes? The mineralic musk? White lavender? I love so many notes in this, but an unfamiliar with a couple, and I am certainly unfamiliar with the variants of the familiar notes. What's up with my skin? But in the space of 60 seconds that was most entirely gone and what I was left with us very unique and pretty enjoyable. There is lemon pith, and maybe I can smell lavender, and I'm not sure I smell the ambergris yet but it may be lurking. There's a whole lot more to this scent though and I'm liking it! Dry, some hours later: the lemon pith is pretty much gone, and I thiiiink the aldehydes too, which leaves me with the musk, some lavender, possibly patchouli, and of course ambergris. Ambergris had been becoming more and more apparent as this wears longer in my skin, but it's not super prominent like I find it to be in other things I've smelled with it. Much more blended. I quite like it at this stage too. It continues to be unique. I am undecided on if I want a bottle yet, but I'm going to let this settle from travelling and also let the scent grow on me a bit, see what I think in a couple weeks or so. I'm definitely keeping the decant and wearing it, I like it that much! Edit: Almost a week later and I've trialled it again and I like it even more. I think I will get a bottle of this. If not this upcoming month, then surely the following. Edit 2: Trying this again some weeks later and I'm so in love with it now. In all its stages. It lasts at least four hours or more with a medium throw still at that stage. I did not get a bottle of it yet but I'm definitely going to at the start of March. Edit 3: Ambergris is more noticeable than I found it before, in the vial initially and then as it dries moreso, but it's still blended with everything else. The musk especially layers with it to create this lingering ambergris-mineralic-musk blend as it dries that's quite divine.

I bought a decant of this one based on the fact I love BPAL's ambergris, and reading the other reviews of it from this very thread. I have zero experience with orris root or carrot seed, but I have researched them in order to hopefully better determine what I'm smelling. In the imp: largely what I read to be likely carrot seed, with a bit of the orris root maybe. I don't detect much ambergris yet, but I'm used to that note blooming on my skin especially as I wear it for a while. Wet on skin: yeah it's kind of light almost floral, not green, a descriptor I found says "fluffy" for carrot seed and I can see that. There's a bit woody/floral, sort of, and some early hints of ambergris. As it dries: here comes the ambergris, which I love love love. It compliments the other notes really well. More of what I think is the orris root comes forward, woody, earthy, rooty. The fluffier notes are fading a bit. A few hours later: still very much ambergris, and a lot of what I think is orris root. A bit of what I think is carrot seed is still present, though that might be the almost-florals of the orris root. It's so heavenly. I really love this scent. If I get the chance to obtain a bottle of it I'm definitely going to snap it up. It doesn't have a whole lot of throw but I can still smell it a decent amount some hours after application without having to put my wrist to my nose.

The scent of calm waters just before a raging storm, limned with achingly-beautiful blooms, an icy scent, but somehow warm, and mirror-bright: bold gardenia, crystalline musk, muguet, water blossoms, clear, slightly tart aquatic notes and a crush of white ginger. I have allowed my decants to settle for a week after arrival and this was the first one I tried. I love aquatics and very much wanted to see what this would be like on my skin. In the vial: flowery aquatic. Neither overpowering. Definitely living up to that "bright" descriptor. Wet on skin: I don't have the knowledge or skill to pick out what water blossoms are in use, and I don't know yet how to tell apart lily of the valley/muguet, or gardenia, but they all blend together very very nicely. It's sweet and tart and just beautiful. I'm not getting much musk but a bit of the ginger is coming through to give it some spice. A couple hours later: I just couldn't wait to review this perfume, I love it so much! I don't find it has a lot of throw but it's definitely still present a couple hours later. The aquatic notes have faded a bit and the musk is coming through, the aquatics haven't quite gone "laundry" but the scent is very "clean", the musk and the ginger are white, clear, crystalline. The florals have faded a bit as well but it's still well-blended and balanced. I started out loving this and I still love it. An easy addition to my desired bottles wishlist. :3

A combination of three musks, with splashes of dark myrrh, vetiver and mullein. My imp is aged 2+ years, from a men's imp pack I bought in 2022. At first I wasn't really a fan of it, though I didn't hate it. I'm not sure if it's simply grown on me, or if it's the aging, or both, but I like it a lot more now. In the imp it's smoky and a bit sweet, musky. Wet on my skin it's a bit earthy, sweet, it's fairly musky, there's a smoky scent in there, it's a musky smoky dark blend of smells that I find fairly appealing but used to not be that great for me. As it dries some of the musks recede but others remain, the earthy smell remains, it's a bit less sweet, the smoky scent retreats some too. This is almost four hours after application. I expect it will change more. I'm not sure I will reapply, though I do enjoy the initial scent burst. I do like it, maybe not enough to get a bottle, but certainly going to wear out the imp. Like I said I did not like it much at first, so I haven't worn it as often, but I do like it after some aging and I'm interested to see where more aging takes it. Edit: Really enjoying it six hours or so after application. I'm not sure if I'm correctly assessing this but I think the musks have gone a bit powdery, still musky but powdery now, I find it really pleasing. Smoky is almost entirely gone, a bit of sweet and earthy. And a lovely red-ish powdery musk.

I got an imp of this with my 2022 men's imp pack order. In the imp it's pretty smoky. Wet on my skin it's still pretty smoky but I can smell the musk, and especially the leather up close. As it dries the musk and smoky scents start to fade, and I get more leather and some vetiver without the smoke. But some black musk is still present. I don't dislike it, but I don't think it's really for me, unfortunately because I do tend to like more masculine scents, and leather in a perfume can be good to my nose. I won't get a bottle and I won't finish wearing the imp.

Dragon's blood essence, heavy red musk, Indonesian patchouli and swarthy vetiver with a drop of cinnamon. In the imp and wet on my skin it smells pretty dragon's blood forward to me. I can put my nose close up to myw rist and smell the rest of it, especially the red musk and patchouli, but further away it's mostly dragon's blood. Which I don't mind but I'm not the biggest fan of, personally. Drying down more of the other notes come through, it's musky and spicy and a bit of woody/earthy from the vetiver & patchouli. I like it more at this stage, but not enough to get a bottle I don't think. I am interested in how this smells with an aquatic though so I might try layering on some Cthulhu to see if I like that more. Edit: I really like it layered with Cthulhu. :3 I think I will wear out the rest of the imp while layering it.

Orchid, white musk, and bergamot wafting over juniper berries, with a gentle touch of soft, earthy patchouli. This is a four+ year old imp from my Fougère pack. In the imp and wet on my skin, most of what I can smell is the orchid. Maybe also the juniper, I'm not sure. Almost no musk and definitely no patchouli. Previous attempts with this one have left me feeling it was "too floral" but turns out I like plenty of florals, so I really think this is the orchid. Drydown some of the other notes are coming through, like bergamot and juniper. Still not getting patchouli or musk really. I like it better with the bergamot and juniper. I like most of the notes in this perfume, but I guess orchid just isn't really for me. Will not be seeking a bottle, and I will give away this imp as I've used it a few times at least. Not many. Edit: Is this what folks call "amping?" Maybe my skin amps orchid. Huh!

Edit: I have an imp and a partial bottle but I'm no longer comfortable reviewing Neil Gaiman scents. I still really appreciate Beth's work on this though.

In the imp and wet, the minty smell of the pennyroyal is quite strong. I normally like things labelled "gentleman's cologne" but this one starts out too minty for me. I'm not thr biggest fan of mint, both thr taste and the smell can be pretty overwhelming for me. As it dries however, the minty pennyroyal fades more and balances out with the rest, the lavender-citron and the black musk make more of an appearance, and it becomes something I enjoy a lot more. I'm wearing out the imp, gradually (I got it as a frimp in 2020), but I'm not getting a bottle. I have encountered other BPAL with mint notes and enjoyed those, so it's definitely a proportional thing. And it's entirely personal, like, I find it hard to get past the mint to smell anything else, and others might experience more of the blend right away.

Fighter & Ranger: the only two RPG scents I currently have, both frimps, Ranger is four+ years old and Fighter is two+ years. I love Ranger on its own and want a bottle, but Fighter does seem lacking a bit and mostly leather or leather and steel. I like Fighter but ndot enough to get a bottle Except... layering. Layering these scents is pretty amazing. I will have to obtain background+class+alignment imps to go the full way as intended, but this multiclassed character is a pretty great blend to my nose. I can't detect much buckskin in Ranger, so the leather in Fighter really takes that element and heightens it for me. The trees and woods and everything else in Ranger really add what I feel Fighter is lacking. I'm not so sure I would bottle this particular combo, but I do like it more than plain Fighter, and for me it's definitely worth checking out other RPG scents in order to see how they layer too!

Frimp aged two and a bit years. In the imp and wet, leather and steel. Maybe a bit of musk, though if so it's not a musk I'm familiar with yet. Dry on my skin there's a hint of "blood", and this is the coppery scent of actual blood, not dragon's blood. It's very leather forward and stays that way. Which I don't dislike, I quite enjoy it for its own sake, but I'm not sure I enjoy smelling like this all the time. I've worn it on some days because it is pleasant but it's not something I want a bottle of. I am curious now about layering it with my only other RPG scent though, so today I'm going to do that and report back in the thread for combos. :3

A master storyteller who possessed unfailing courage and compassion, a sharp, quick wit, and a true understanding of human nature. Saffron and Middle Eastern spices swirled through sensual red musk. I received a frimp of this two years ago in 2022 with an order I made. At first I wasn't as into it. I'm still not very sure if spices are my thing. But I love saffron, and it does take on a bit of an incense quality, and having tried Snake Oil I can definitely smell the similarity in spices there as well. The musky smell is also nice. This scent has really grown on me. It makes me think I should give my Snake Oil imp another chance or few too, as that one might grow on me more. In the imp and wet the spices seem more forward to me, once dry I get more of the musk coming through. It smells noticeably like musk but a different variation than I've smelled musk in before, which has mostly been white or black musk, or just 'musk', all from BPAL. I haven't worn this one for long yet today but as I recall both the spices and the musk scents linger, but more of the musk continues to come through. I think I can pick out saffron but it's blended really well. I think I will add this to the list of bottles to get one day. :3

I got an imp of this with my Men's Imp Pack back in 2022. I liked it a fair amount when I first tried it, and it grew on me more too, to the point I would like a bottle of this one too. :3 In the imp and wet I get a lot of tobacco and what I'm presuming is the black amber, but also maybe the oppoponax? I don't really get leather yet. Lovely blend though Dry I can detect a bit of leather coming through but it is well blended with everything else. I can tell this is meant as a masculine scent, it smells dark too. It's got some throw to it, though I find most BPAL scents not super-prominent unless I accidentally put too much on (for me this is a feature). But it goes a little further than some others.

I got this with my Men's Imp Pack in 2022. I did like it to start but it's grown on me even more, especially now that I can pick out some of the notes in it. It's harder for me to say what it smells like in the imp and while wet. Maybe incense and wood? Dry on my wrist there's still some incense and wood, but I can pick out the leather and the parchment. Both are pretty subtle in this blend, on me anyways. I'm less familiar with tonka, though I think I'm starting to get it, as it's been in a number of scents that I own Imps of. I don't often ascribe gender to perfume but this one definitely smells like something meant to be masculine. Which is interesting because based on the notes you'd think this could be more unisex. But hey opinions are going to vary on that too. :3 Anyways I really like it, and onto the list of things to get as bottles it goes!

"A fastidiously clean scent, with a dash of pipe and cigarette tobacco. Faintly beneath, you catch the fragrance of a smear of greasepaint, a stray horsehair, and a whisper of Moroccan leather and rosin." I got this as an Imp in my 2020 purchase of the Fougère Imp pack. I wasn't sure how much I liked it at first, and didn't wear it very much. But it steadily grew on me, and now I would like to get a bottle of it eventually. I don't perceive the tobaccos as smoked, I wouldn't like them if I did. To me they are fairly fresh, processed for the cigarette or pipe but u lit and uncharred. They really form the backbone of the scent in the Imp, wet, and when it first dries. I also smell the greasepaint, and on drydown I think I smell horse/horsehair. Some whiff of horses, maybe. After wearing for quite a few hours all of those are dialled back some and the leather and rosin come through more. To the point that I think they've always been there, but now they're just more apparent as the rest has evaporated some. Nicely balanced. There is something "fastidiously clean" about this scent but it doesn't smell like a cleaning chemical or anything soapy. Despite the tobaccos there's a distinct lack of earthiness, dirt, smoke, etc. There's something a bit almost astringent about it. But I really really like it. Because of how this one grew on me, I am willing to try other scents that maybe didn't appeal right away another time or two before really making a decision on them.

I received this as a frimp in 2022 with my BPAL order (an Imps Ears pack). I wasn't too sure what to think at first but I find it really lovely and would like to get a bottle. In the Imp and wet I can really smell honey, like long before I started developing any kind of sense for notes and before I looked up common classical ingredients of Kyphi, I was sure I smelled honey. There's a lot more to it but that's quite notable, it's not super sweet though. Just. Golden. Warm. I can smell myrrh too, because I'm familiar with myrrh from making my own incense blends. This is apparent wet but becomes more apparent when dry. The honey fades a bit but is still there. I do get a wine smell but it's like. Honeyed wine. And I only picked that out after looking up classical ingredients of Kephi, so it may or may not be in there. I'm not sure what else, there's definitely more to it, after reading some of the other reviews I think maybe there's some rose, there's something either floral or plant-like in there, it's not just resinous myrrh and honey, but I am not knowledgeable enough to tell you what else is in this. It's honeyed incense with some additional elements and it is so very lovely to my nose. After six or seven hours it's faded to be mostly an incense kind of maybe slight rose/wine but mostly it's the myrrh now, but even that's faded a fair amount. Kind of spiced? Still lovely.

Received this one as a frimp back in 2020 with my first ever BPAL order (an imp pack). I haven't ever been a fan of it, really. Which is a shame because I would normally love all these notes. Wet or dry, the peach doesn't quite smell like peach to me, just sweet and fruity but not peach. Maybe a little bit of peach candy after it's been on my wrist for 30min? Which wouldn't normally be a bad thing. And I normally really like musks, ambers, and especially patchouli. But for some reason this combo just ends up smelling like dirty smoke on me. Not even in a way I enjoy. It just doesn't work with the sweet candy smell at all for me. Wet or dry. I used to sometimes wear even my lesser liked Imps as I figured I should after spending money on them, but that was years before discovering the forum and swapping culture, anyways it seems very silly now. I only put this on to review it, I might actually wash it off now that I have. It's not absolutely terrible, it's just not for me, and that's okay. I'll save my partially-worn Imps like this one for, like, a free giveaway or something. It's good to see that others can enjoy what I do not. :3

I got an Imp of Whitechapel in my Fougère Imp pack back in 2020, and it too is one of my favourites from the pack. I'm a bit more familiar with musk scents now than I was when I first got this, and the white musk plus citron & lime definitely stand out in the Imp and wet on my skin, with a hint of floral notes. As it dries and is worn on my skin the lilac really becomes more noticeable though the white musk still hangs around and the citrus scents evaporate a bit but are also still present. All the notes work really well together and I agree with the folks who say the citrus doesn't smell like cleaning product, it's just a fresh smelling citrus. Love it. Adding to the list of things to get a bottle of one day.

I got this as an Imp in my Fougère Imp pack back in 2020, and it's one of my favourites. I am used to smelling it without paying much attention to the different notes, but I am going to try and describe them here. In the Imp and wet on skin, the sage and lemon peel and lavender are more apparent. I'm not usually a huge fan of lavender but as a fougére and in this blend it is very nice. Once it's dried down it smells more wood-y, though less than what I'm used to sandalwood smelling like, but still very much wood, and also the vetiver and probably labdanum. The lemon peel is nearly gone, the sage is still apparent, the lavender is still present but more muted by the wood and vetiver but has more throw than the wood and vetiver, oddly. (I have researched fougère, so now I know part of the wood scent comes from that!) Like I said I really like this one and it's definitely on my list of bottles to one day obtain. I'm not as enamored with it as I am, say, Vicomte de Valmont, so I wasn't entirely sure, but I have gone back to this one repeatedly and I suspect it will be my next empty Imp after Vicomte and Cthulhu.