Back in the Recording Studio

[Seajewel]

Tonka bean, black amber resin, patchouli root, candlewax, lavender bud, driftwood, and honey dust.

[MamaMoth]

i figured this might be my favorite of this year's liliths, and so far i was spot on!  

 

initially, the main note i get is ambered driftwood... which registers to me as a gently dry, salty-ish wood with a perfumey amber tone.  just behind that is earthy patchouli, and a honey sweetness that reads as dry, not sticky.  as it warms up, it gets so smooth and sweet, with just a little vanilla (tonka? candlewax?) to smooth it out... everything is just so cohesive and nice!  something about the salt and honey dust (i think) makes this feel hella sexy, in a very sophisticated way.

 

i'm not an aquatics person, so the driftwood worried me a little before trying it, but it really is quite lovely. 

 

i never caught any lavender at all, which i am ok with. 

Edited October 8, 2022 by MamaMoth

[DiesMali]

Like MamaMoth above, this is my favourite of the Liliths I ordered!

 

In the bottle: Dark, sweet, slightly fuzzy, and "purple."

 

Wet on my skin: As this goes on, it's primarily that black amber and candlewax, with a little bit of aquatic saltiness and vanillic sweetness. Black amber is my favourite type of BPAL amber, so this is off to a good start!

 

Dry: This. Is. GORGEOUS. After having my order for a week now and wearing this blend a few times already, I'm considering a backup bottle, which is very, very rare for me. It's a little bit reminiscent, in the best sort of way, of an old Bath & Body Works favourite called Black Amethyst, which I wore through my college years (long before discovering BPAL). It's very well-blended on me, but the black amber, vanillic tonka-candlewax, and honey dust are easier to pick out than the other notes if I inhale deeply. The driftwood gives it a little bit of aquatic salt, but probably not enough to scare someone who dislikes aquatics, and the patchouli is a sweet patch that darkens everything and gives it a bit of earthy sweetness. I can't actually specifically pick out any lavender at all, but I'm sure it is doing something in this glorious purple cloud. Overall, this is a "more than the sum of its parts" perfume, and the vibe to it is sort of gritty-rocker-goth-chic, if that makes sense. I could imagine Joan Jett or Grace Jones wearing something like this. NICE. 

 

...now, how many bottles are left?

[Geminirubyshoes]

This smells like Christmas to me. I know that fir/pine/evergreen are not notes that are listed but maybe it’s the black amber resin? I’m not sure but it definitely has that vibe to to it when first applied. The drydown is dry and a bit akin to being dusty and I’m a big fan of dusty scents. I think it needs to sit for a few days before I try it again but I really like it! 

[LavenderCoffee]

For some reason I keep erasing the honey dust note from this blend when I try to think of the notes, and I'm surprised every time I test it at how sweet it is! 😂

It's such a lovely blend tho, and it's definitely not overly sweet or foodie sweet - it's dryly sweet. Ambered driftwood is also a prominent note to my nose, but there's so much supporting it. Honey dust and lavender floating over the top, funky beeswax and patch sticking it all together. Very happy to have this.

[feyofthefellwood]

Even though this doesn't share a lot of the same notes, it reminds me of last year's Philopannyx, which I love. Recording Studio is well blended and I have a hard time picking out specific notes (even the patch!) but it certainly smells sweetly resinous, dark, heady, and somehow purple. I think it's the black amber (🖤) combined with the patch, lavender, and beeswax that my nose is really enjoying. I'm wary of honey dust but here I think it's just adding a touch of sweetness. Very nice. 

[Llanval]

This one ended up a bit disappointing, in comparison to my other Liliths. My fresh from the lab bottle was under-filled, already at the label, and I don't get any driftwood or candlewax. On me, this plays out as sharp lavender, sweet tonka and a perfumey amber.  I think this would have been lovely if I'd gotten the driftwood or candlewax note to anchor the sharper floral notes. Still going to enjoy it, but I'm not willing to take a risk ordering another bottle to see if I get a different result. I'll tuck it away and see what 6 months does to it.

[doomsday_disco]

This starts off as an aquatic lavender on me with the lavender and salty driftwood strongest right out of the gate. It stays that way for a while, with the amber and patchouli gaining strength with wear and hanging out with the salty driftwood. I was beginning to wonder if any of the sweet notes would appear, but the candlewax did show up by the end of the day, adding a light, creamy sweetness to the driftwood, amber, and patchouli. Curiously enough, even though honey dust is generally my nemesis and tends to declare dominion over all other notes, it's really tame here, and seems to just adding a touch of dark, toffee-like sweetness behind the candlewax.

 

I also wanted to note that I, too, thought it smelled like Christmas for a bit, and I'm just like... where did that come from? But I'm not mad.

 

The decant is a keeper, but I'm not sure that I need more of this one (maybe if the lavender had stuck around...)

[MonBon]

Did someone toss a whole tree in the sea? It reminds me of 18-in-1's that feature images of stormy seas, renaming this Attack of the Christmas Kraken 🐙 I mean, tis the season.... 🌲 will revisit this scent at a later day, right now it's all I'm getting. Currently too icy, aquatic for me. 

[Teamama]

Mmm, tonka!  On me, this is primarily tonka being its sweet, brown, mellow self, all vanilla-like.  Lavender bud brings some freshness & complexity. The honey & beeswax sweetens it up just right.  The driftwood adds a pinch of salt, but thankfully isn't aquatic enough for my skin to grab hold of &  do its nasty trick of turning into dryer sheets.  The patchouli is mellow & rooty, & the amber anchors the blend. 

 

It's got medium throw, great longevity, & doesn't morph on me. I anticipate it will linger deliciously on sweaters & sweatshirts, like Wulric.

 

The decant blew my mind. I love it, so I bought a bottle + a partial. It's my favorite Lilith for this year 

[Poenari]

Finally getting around to testing my decant, and this is a surprise! I get an aquatic fir tree, as if there is a stand of old firs right at the edge of crashing waves with a sea spray in the air. It dries down to a resinous blend, still with the fir note. The honey dust gives it a hint of sweetness, but doesn't stand out as a separate note. I love patchouli but it doesn't come through here. This is very nice and not at all what I expected. 

[groovyrooby]

I think the resin - lavender - driftwood combined to make this extra 'fresh' to my nose. Woody, herbal, and almost minty with the lavender. It's not pine fresh, not aquatic fresh, but fresh in a really cold sense. Brown and cold. It's a big clash with my tastes. I needed something to sweeten or warm it up - wax (but like beeswax) or tonka or honey. As is - not my jam.

 

[Viiinylflowers]

At first I wasn’t into this- it had a lot of personally migraine activating tones to it and wasn’t what I envisioned.  
 

I let it sit for a few months ~ and finally worked up the nerve to revisit it.  
 

Its really come together, or maybe I just needed more time to get it ~ but what it smells like is the exact recreation of being in like a sort of dark cozy cabin/organic chic style kind of room (a recording studio that records like interesting acoustic acts maybe 😛 ) and there is some expensive niche candle burning on a piece of foraged driftwood turned into an artistic candleholder ~ and the candle has has semi seaside vibes, like it’s supposed to evoke a house on the sea with dried out gnarled driftwood and lavender bushes and an herb garden and whatnot, and a little bit of witchyness with the hint of clove. (Checks notes - I guess there’s no clove in this but I get a sort of sneaky warm ethereal bite of something in there) 

 

It smells more of hot wax/actively burning candle than other candle scents I’ve tried, like it evokes that warm glow in a room very well, and the way this hovers on me really makes me smell like I’ve been lounging in a room like that and the scent clung to my clothes.  A lot of the other wax scents I’ve tried smell more like honeycombish to me - but something about the way this hits just does it super realistically.  Like I can really smell that hot wax smell in it.  
 

this candle would maybe be burning in a secluded recording studio Stevie nicks would work in - but like in the height of fame.  Like it’s rustic, cozy, dark, and romantic but definitely a lot of money went into the place and some high profile acts record there and the wood is intentionally unfinished in the decor, maybe with some moss terrariums and stuff like that.  It does smell like a vivid memory, and kinda reminds me of the 90s a little, like my mom burning candles and doing witchy stuff but in more of a perfumey way from the sea and driftwood /floral notes.  
 

in short(ish) - to sum it up: the resins are more atmospheric than obvious, and create that sense of warm candlelit enclosed space to me (without being like a noticeable dark resin).  And the rest is like a “lavender herb garden home on the sea + salty bleached driftwood” scented candle actively burning and filling the room with that hot wax haze.  It even has that kind of muted vibe an actively burning candle gives off, with the wax haze over everything.   It clings to my clothes like hot wax moody floral lavender beach cabin Stevie nicks vibes.  A slight sneaky hit of clove or something is punctuating the notes subtly but that could just be the way this is sitting on me.  There’s a little poof of sweet dustiness over top too, but not too much.   🤣🤣🤣(ok that was long and weird but I’m tryin haha) 

In the end it’s not my favorite thing ~ i was more attracted to the resins and patchouli in the scent notes and it’s a bit too perfumey on me overall  - but it’s interesting and I like how it really pulls off that atmosphere.  

Edited March 23, 2023 by Viiinylflowers

[Minh Scent]

Oh, this is lovely!  It starts out with a soft floral (I am guessing the lavender buds) and then the tonka and resins appear. As someone who is not a fan of aquatics, the driftwood adds just the perfect pinch of salt.  As it dries down, the scent becomes more beautiful and complex, with the beeswax making a gentle appearance. I cannot pick out the honey or honey dust, but perhaps that is the overall sweetness (but not too sweet!) in late dry down, I am also getting that fir tree note a few have mentioned. This is one of those scents where it is hard to drag the nose away from the wrist, as it is a beautiful and changing composition.

[zankoku_zen]

Resin, wood, and candlewax and honey. Medium throw and wear length. 

[Little Bird]

This is more bright and fresh smelling than I expected.  It smells like honey scented shampoo and a crystalline, airy, cold sort of lavender at first.  I also keep thinking that I smell one of those tree shaped, pine scented air fresheners for cars.  Like something misty, sweet, pine-y and a little woody.  The driftwood, I think, is giving off a salty men's cologne and the dry wood part.  I don't really pick up on the resins/amber or patchouli.  This feels clean and icy to me, like a recording studio up in the mountains, tranquil and cool.  I also find it interesting that honey shampoo, lavender oil, pine air freshener, and aquatic men's cologne impressions would all tend to smell cheap and basic to me, but they don't smell cheap or off putting here.  It's a scent that actually smells surprisingly sophisticated and well put together.  It's a clean, confident scent to me.

[Lucchesa]

I am surprised I didn't reviewed Back in the Recording Studio last year.  It was the first Lilith I tried and set a high bar for the rest.  Cool lavender in the opening with what must be driftwood but definitely felt more evergreen to me (this does not tend aquatic on me, thankfully), but they give way to the warmer notes of tonka and amber and honey (dry not sticky).  I never get much patchouli, unfortunately, and it's not obviously a beeswax scent on me, but it all coalesces into something absolutely lovely and long-lasting.