Auroraphobia

[Mollum]

Fear of the Aurora Borealis

Hellish shimmering streaks of unholy, alien light: electrically-charged lavender, yellow bergamot, agarwood, blue plum, and a peculiar, discomfiting green musk.

Kinda surprised that no one's reviewed this one yet, the Lab's description is so intriguing. This one caught my eye because I'm such a fan of 51 and its green musk, also the inspiration behind it. I'm fairly new to the world of BPAL and this is my first review so go easy on me

In the bottle: this is mainly lavender with a bit of bergamot and maybe something a little woody, which I think might be the agarwood.

Wet: The lavender, bergamot and agarwood really come together and remind me almost of an essential oil blend to aid sleep, quiet and peaceful, but that is held back by something bright and quite electric in the background, a freshness adding depth which i assume is the green musk. No plum yet.

Dry: The green musk has taken over a little bit, although the lavender is still quite prominent, and the plum has appeared! To my nose, it's not a thick, sticky, chewy, blue kind of plum, it's like a super fresh, green on the outside, yellow on the inside plum. Fresh and gorgeous and compliments the green musk perfectly, ties it all together.

I think this is a wonderful winter/spring scent, possibly unisex as well. I really like this, it's different and all the notes fit together really well.

[sarandipitee]

very soft to the skin, mainly green musk and faintly ozone lavender. The plum comes through after a while but I don't detect any agarwood or bergamot.

 

clean, simple, and good for everyday wear.

[sailthetethys]

Bergamot like whoa. This is all lemony tea with a faint whiff of lavender on me - unusual, since lavender usually dominates everything. It starts out as, like Mollum said, smelling sort of like an essential oil sleep aid, but then it wakes up into a bright, invigorating blend when dry. No hint of plum on me.

 

I really like this - it's very fresh and clean smelling without being medicinal or soapy.

[madscientistdh]

Well, I had to get a decant, of course; my middle name is Aurora. That being said, this scent never stopped reminding me of my grandfather's Barbasol. Not sure how I feel about smelling like him, but it's a clean unisex bordering on masculine scent, for me.

[joopjoop]

The green musk in this is definitely the same one as in 51 - one of my warm weather favorites.

 

To me this is a cold-weather and elegant scent, with lavender and the blue plum as the main complements to the green musk. I don't get much agarwood or bergamot - which is fine with me.

 

It does a good job of capturing the feeling of being outside on a freezing winter night and looking at the sky. It has that same airy, almost windy quality of 51, but much colder. I may just need a bottle.

[zankoku_zen]

Odd lavender and green musk. This starts off as a more intense and weird 51, and dries down to a heavy lavender with a sprinkling of green musk. Fresh, clean, and lavendery. Not what I expected at all. Medium throw and wear length.

[Little Bird]

I was excited for blue plum and green musk, but the lavender and ozone are dominating this scent on my skin. It's clean lavender and a hint of lemony bergamot at first, and dries down to a chilly, soapy lavender that leans masculine and herbal on me.

[SophieCedar]

Wet: citrus bar cleaner mixed with triple sec spilled on the floor? Am I back at a mexican restaurant when it opens the day after a heavily attended evening? I know this smell...

 

Dry: ozone, lavender, green musk, bergamot. Much more mellow. I actually like it. Whew

[LizziesLuck]

Wet: Bergamot and lavender come through the strongest, backed by a strong, sweet musk. It's clean and comforting.

 

 

Dry: Clean, cozy lavender and bergamot, with hints of musk (which I would not be able to identify as green if it wasn't listed as such). I find most clean scents cold and high pitched, but this is warm and soft, like slipping into clean, cozy pajamas. I like it a lot, and will love wearing it to bed.

[LiberAmoris]

Auroraphobia starts off with strong green musk, bergamot, and lavender. The agarwood and blue plum trail. There is something electrical and discomfiting about this in the way the eerie green musk is pierced by the lavender and bergamot like rays. It dries down to a spectral, citrusy green musk with hints of lavender. Really interesting!

[lizabelle]

When I was ordering Yules I put this into my cart and then deleted it about ten times. I finally ended up not getting a bottle because of some of the reviews here, but I should have gone with my gut. The lavender in this is so good; more herbal than the one in Mari Lwyd, helped along by the green musk. The bergamot is also prominent, sharp but not so much that it's unpleasant. The plum blends with the agar and forms a fuzzy blanket of a base (I'm not being poetic, it really smells like a fuzzy blanket), with the lavender and (somehow) plum forming the heart. Overall quite pretty, and it does give the impression of being snowed in somewhere very cold. I've never smelled anything like it.

[Lucchesa]

A BPAL friend of mine described this as one of her favorite masculine-leaning blends, which surprised me since I don't think of lavender, bergamot and plum as trending in that direction. I finally got the chance to try it, and it is quite a morpher on me. It starts out with lavender and bergamot doing the me, me, no, look at ME! dance. Clean, bright, happy vibes, not hellish at all. Things start to get a little weirder when the musk comes into play. I wouldn't have been able to pick it out as green musk either, nor could I identify a specific plum note, just a hint of fruitiness. The lavender lasts longer than usual on my skin, blending with the fruity musk, and after a couple of hours it felt very much like a citrus chypre, a cologney feel to it, and I understood where my friend was coming from. Wear time was pretty good on this, and I quite liked all the phases. Keep!