Do All the Good You Can

[wendyb1063]

Lilith has been involved with our humanitarian and philanthropic work for several years, helping with fundraising events like our food, toy, and feminine napkin drives; she has taken the initiative a few times now, setting up her own fundraisers for the UNHCR and Pasadena Humane Society. This year, we decided that shes old enough to do the footwork, and she volunteered with us twice in serving those currently experiencing homelessness. This photo is from Christmas Day 2017: Lilith spent several hours helping us distribute food, toiletries, and sleeping bags in Hollywood.

Madagascar vanilla and sweet patchouli with Yule pine, white fig, and almond blossom.

Initially, this is a blast of almond/cherry and patchouli. Almond never seems to last long, and this is no exception: within an hour, this is a truly lovely, soft scent. It's a warm, slightly powdery, slightly sweet vanilla and patchouli, with only the faintest whiff of pine or fig or almond. Don't confuse this with Banshee Beat: this is clean, gentle patchouli and a very mild, non-foody vanilla. This is a gorgeous, quiet scent that fits its name quite well.

[paperflowers]

I wanted to LOVE this. It has everything in it that I love, especially the almond. But this is my least favorite of the lot that I bought. The initial scent was french fries, saltiness, something weird. A fast food restaurant. Even when it's left open for a few minutes, it doesn't get any better. It almost makes me have that gaggy lump in the back of my throat. What the frig? I want a do-over! (haha)

[missnix]

This is beautiful! I recently re-tested The Illustrated Woman with sadly the same results (too much pine, not enough vanilla) and I think this is what I wish TIW would be on me.

 

I love pine and forest blends in general, but recognize that pine as a note can often overrun everything else. Do All the Good You Can somehow avoids that problem; the pine is present, but doesn't hit you over the head and turn into Christmas Tree SN. The patch is smooth and not gnarly, and the blend as a whole has a sweet vanillic aspect that is very much present and very beautiful. I really dig this, and will carve out a place for it in my cluttered forest blend collection (probably right next to The Most Magnificent Christmas Tree and A Lady Tall and White).

[zankoku_zen]

Banshee Beat-esque patchouli, vanilla, with the addition of fig and pine on wet. The pine is sort of mintiness, but it dries down a vanilla patchouli with fig blend. Medium throw and wear length.

[Jenjin]

I had to put on a bit of Banshee Beat this morning to do a comparison, because these two are certain relatives. The patch in both is undeniably the same. A lot of people will probably shimmy right past this one because of the pine note, but fear not adventurous collectors! After the initial blast of sticky, almond forest, it smooths over and gets blanketed by the exotic vanilla patch. It actually dries down with more sweet, delicate vanilla than BB and I would call this a clean, 'upscale' hippie in comparison.

Edited October 3, 2017 by Jenjin

[doomsday_disco]

In the decant: Smooth patchouli, possibly the one from Banshee Beat/Revenant Rhythm, with a touch of fig and almond.

 

Wet: The patchouli reigns, followed by the cool pine note, which I think may be the one featured in Golden Priapus. But then the fig emerges, so that it is mostly patchouli and fig on my skin, followed by the pine.

 

Dry: Still mostly patchouli, fig, and pine.

 

Verdict: This one is pleasant, but I prefer A Moment in Time for a patchouli and fig scent. The addition of the pine is really nice, though, so I think I will hang onto my decant and wear it again around Yule. Maybe the vanilla will come out more with age!

Edited October 23, 2017 by dementia_divine

[LizziesLuck]

Wet: Sweet pine (not the sharp acrid kind that smells like cat pee on me) and something that smells like almond/cherry? Oh duh, after looking at the notes again that'd be the almond blossom. I was expecting a vanilla and patchouli combo, but this is all about the pine and sweet syrupy almond on my skin. It's quite lovely! Just not what I was anticipating. I do get hints of patchouli, but it's not dominating. On my skin, it's not the same patchouli as Banshee Beat, though there are similarities. It's got the same smoothness and sweetness, but it's drier and earthier on me than BB patchouli. This is great though and getting better and better as it warms on my skin.

 

Dry: It goes through a brief phase where it DOES smell like BB patchouli, but it's short lived. It fades out to the dry, dusty patchouli smell I dislike (smells like dirt on me) mixed with a sweet fig note that I really love. There are things I love about this scent, but overall it's not for me.

[strick9]

I had to wear this one a few times before deciding if I liked it or not. I do indeed like it, and i like it A LOT.

 

Wet, its very very sickly sweet with almond and fig- slight bit of pine. I come to expect this from BPAL almond scents, so it's normally not a huge concern for me because the almond dries down pretty nicely.

 

The patchouli in this is really rich and almost wet pipe tobacco-ish. I suspect that's the melding of the patchouli, fig, and vanilla, and I dig it. The pine here is SUPER subtle. Like you maybe got some sap on your hands and rinsed it off and have just the faintest smell left. It actually tempers what could be a seriously sweet blend on me, and makes it just a touch astringent and much easier to wear.

 

I can't stop smelling my wrists. I've had it on for about an hour, and I love it. This is my third time testing it, and assuming it doesn't go bad, I'll order a big bottle.

[ramblingrambler]

I knew this one would be lovely with some aging, and I am so glad I set it aside upon its release and retested it today.

 

New, it smelled somewhat similar to the Wiley Gasser’s immediate gasoline scent, which I attribute to the predominant pine. It settled down to a sweet cherry almond with no patchouli at all. I wasn’t impressed, but I knew the notes would work for me if the pine would recede and behave itself. (Almost as a rule I can’t do pine. I hoped I was right about this one, that the pine would fade, and something beautiful would emerge.)

 

Almost eight months later, I was right. It is on its way to being glorious. The pine is (unfortunately) still there, particularly in the first ten or twenty seconds, but it begins to dry into a scent reminiscent of Banshee Beat. The patchouli has finally decided to come out and play, and it is so lovely with the addition of vanilla (again, of Banshee Beat), fig, and almond.

 

I am going to set this aside for another eight months to a year to see what happens, but if it keeps this up, I believe it has the potential to be just as incredible as my beloved Banshee Beat/Revenant Rhythm.

[theseagrows]

first off i get sweet patchouli, almond and a hint of pine. after a few minutes i get the fig and the vanilla, sweetening the scent up. something in this gets slightly rubbery, probably the fig. it's not too bad though. after about 15-20 minutes it gets so pretty. i'm not sure what notes are standing out now, but it seems like patchouli, almond and pine and i am liking it. i think this will be especially great in winter.

Edited August 3, 2018 by theseagrows

[highgarden]

I get the patchouli and a bit of almond/vanilla, but over two hours later and it smells like sunscreen. 🤔

[tinyvulture]

Strong almond note to start with. Very faint pine and patchouli. Morphs straight into vanilla and fig. That was such a quick change! The almond's still there, but very soft. The pine and patchouli disappeared. It's very pretty and I'd also love it as a bath oil.