Carved Wooden Bawdy House

[Jenjin]

Let your fingers wander along this ornately carved teak banister, polished to a high gloss by the rough hands of countless miniature clients being led upstairs to taste trickles of sugar maple sap, illuminated by a cherry-red light and suffused with decadent, lustrous perfumes.

Edited December 24, 2023 by Jenjin

[LavenderCoffee]

most folks, myself included, are probably not browsing BPAL for a typical "perfume" blend most of the time. my motto (maybe the lab's secret motto?) is give me something warm, lusty, strange, or musky, but this all of those things! it makes me want to saunter down the stairs in my sweatpants as though I'm cosplaying clementine pennyfeather, repeating her preposterous programmed dialogue. 

 

this is maybe in my top three favorite things BPAL has done with a cherry note? of course I'm not super into cherry in perfume, and this probably isn't a typical use of it. the cherry and sugar maple sap do not remain in their expected candy-sweet realms. and I don't think I'm usually seeking out teak either, but whatever alchemical secrets and/or rough hands have been employed here, these notes have been wrangled together into a gorgeous foil for the perfumes of imaginary bawds. there might even be some sawdust on the floor? it's very UNF to me. 

 

in summary: sexy, nicely balanced, and dare I say SFW. I suspect it would smell good on a wide range of people as well, whether you consider yourself more of a bawd or a gentleman caller on any given day. swing open that saloon door and give it a go. 

[Failmingo]

I reviewed this in an Instagram video not long after receiving it in the mail. Happy to post a written review update to say: I have NOT stopped wearing it since then.

 

In the bottle this is a gleaming wet cherry doused in sap -- not overtly maple-y like the finished product we buy in the store, but the raw stuff from the tree itself -- with some dark, polished woody undertones. It doesn't smell foodie per se, more like a posh atmosphere where delicious treats are served.

 

On the skin each of these notes bursts forth and becomes richer, more complex. I don't know what the "perfumes" might refer to, but I can tell it's contributing to the "warm, lusty, strange, or musky" mentioned upthread. If it was JUST "wooden maple cherry" I'd probably still be so down, but the overall combination of notes (specifically mentioned and otherwise) really does give this a seductive, otherworldly glow. Something to taste, not to eat. Something to kiss and hold, but not to love. Warmth, but no light. Amazing!

 

On me it's just *this* side of femme, which I love, but on someone else's skin it could be extremely va-va-voom. Like I'm truly getting burlesque show backstage vibes from it, which is where I truly feel at home. Over time the fruit dries out a bit and it's a gently sticky/tart, woody scent oozing with mystery. 

 

 

[doomsday_disco]

I'm going to have to spend more time with this one.

 

I get a ton of teak from this, which is somewhat sharp at first, and it's accompanied by a really nice cherry note, and something smoky... which I think may be vetiver, or maybe it's something else representing the 'rough hands' or 'lustrous perfumes.' I am not getting the spices, musks, or heady florals that the Lab typically uses in scents with this sort of inspiration, and there's no overt maple here -- really, just a little sap -- so if you're not big on maple like me, don't let it scare you away from trying this. Eventually, this smells like velvet drapes (by that I mean, there's a resin with a velvet-y quality to it) infused with a much lighter cherry.

 

Fans of dark, resinous scents with cherry should give this a whirl. I'm not big on the smokiness that I get from this, but really like the velvet and cherry notes and want even more of this cherry. So I'm going to give this a full day of wear with Blood Kiss hair gloss in order to make up my mind on this one.

 

ETA: I've slathered this on as my scent of the day twice since I initially reviewed this. I do get some maple from this when slathered, which is mostly noticeable during the wet phase of the scent, but it is still not as intense as straight up maple syrup, and it has the stickiness of the sap with it. The smokiness is also more quick to fade when slathered.

Edited January 31 by doomsday_disco

[OxfordComma]

Ooh! I'm gonna agree with pretty much everything stated above! The maple sap is sappy, not too sugary-sweet-syrupy. The cherry is dark and shiny, like a Dark Sweet. I would've guessed oak in here for the wood note, it reminds me vaguely of Alviss. As it dries, there's a sense of being in a room with loads of other people. You're at a party and there's trays of fancy sweets, and the scent of all the mingled colognes and perfumes are wafting in a subdued, non headache inducing way. A fancy shindig at the bawdy house. Decadent and lustrous is very apt. Throw is pretty solid, applying just to the crooks of my elbows, I can easily smell it just going about my day. Longevity is at least 6 hours on me.  

[DiZZysTARdust]

omg i went back and forth over this but i am SO SO glad i scooped a bottle before yules came down. in the bottle this is like artificial cherry syrup. the cherry takes a step back when applied to become more of a supporting note. the teak is very recognizable as it’s a favorite note of mine but to me it doesn’t make the scent very woody or masculine. if anything i would say the sweetness of the cherry/syrup notes and the teak combine to make this pretty gender neutral (tho hard to say because a lot of stuff feels gender neutral on me). and the throw is AH-MAZING, i was sitting here after applying the test patch waiting for it to dry more and it just keeps wafting around me. i’m in a cloud of sweet teak deliciousness 🖤