SophieCedar

OMG. Smells like the polyester santa-clad xmas decorations and tree skirt stored in my parents' basement! Someone out there HAS to make this their signature scent. Please? I wanna see you pick someone up at a bar...Target: "wow you smell great...purrrr...what is that scent??" You: "Its called Musty Santa Costume". I mean COME ON. Its perfect.

This hits all the markers for someone kinda like me... but not. Like someone recommended on a dating site that makes you scrunch your nose, curse the fucking algorithm formula, and cry you'll "never meet anyone!!". Makes me wonder if I'm not conveying some aspect of my personality clearly...maddening! Anyways, before I start pulling in Schrödinger's Box and the Theory of Relativity here, on to the review. Plums, snow, calla lily. Done. Its a super straight forward scent and very loud throw. I'll treasure my decant.

2016 If I could write a haiku, it would be for Jacobs Ladder. I suck at poetry unless its on the fly verbal, plus just woke up with a missing voice so I have a few things halting my concentration, here.... Some years, the amber is gloriously warm, like The Lion. 2016's Jacobs Ladder is one of them. Get a bottle.

Any fans of Midnight Mass or other resinous blends should not pass this up. Its like going to happy church...think like if a Roman Catholic mass concluded with virgin pina coladas, a big group hug, and everybody got to wear that cool ass robe for sec. The coconut snow is wonderful with frankincense and white patchouli. Drydown is where its at. That's when I say "BOTTLE". ETA: why did I capitalize pina coladas? I mean I know the drink deserves some reverence... but really....

Holy mother of apricot. I like this. 1st impression: sexy apricot fabric softener. Like that new stuff that smells all resinous and high-end.. you know, with the weird commercial of women drinking champagne and hosing their huge house down? Its not apricot is AHHPREECôT.

I can see why people are going nuts over this one! It could've been released as Antique Doll's Lace via DD and I wouldn't have known any different. Its smooth polished vanilla with lovely light wispy tobacco and a sweet cognac backdrop. Wonderful. Bottle worthy for sure. Lab: 4. Wallet: zero.

Ayyyeee chiwawaaaa... yum. Very close to Golletes. Like Golletes and the pastry note from Huesos de Santos together. Giddy, bubbly, dreamy, delicious. Another check on my hoarding list. I totally didn't expect to loose so many dollars to the lab over yules... man I'm surprised this year!

Ooh man. This is a total winner. Its sweet creamy vanilla with a frankincense and herbal base. Perfection The petitgrain and coriander stay in check. I asked for more scents with unusual herbs, specifically thyme, and maaaaannnn did I get it. Hoarding.

2016 The 2015 release of Poor Monkey was smooth mostly fig milk but soooo faint. This. 2016 is excellent. Much stronger and more notable on everything. Its perfect. Opens with sweet yet earthy pink lotus, sandalwood incense and ylang ylang. Settles into a sweet resinous wonder. Overall, soothing, pleasant, comforting, pink, ylang ylang fig scent with nice grounding notes. Very balanced. 2016's version will be my hoarding scent. Even if lupers disappoint me, I'll still have this to roll around in.

Due to the citronella I almost wanted this off my skin immediately...however being a TAL-ish blend just rode that thought out and kept in mind that this is not a powers of attraction or comfort scent. Drydown is pretty frikkin gorgeous. Its light herbal green/yellow wonderfulness. The lavender chamomile tulsi and mugort are harmonious and the most notable, on my skin. Lemongrass is keeping it fresh and a little citrusy. Wish I had this scent when it came out considering I was going through the worst time of my life. I coulda really used it!

Wait, that's the official name of this stuff? SIDE NOTE- this is the 1st I've seen the Squatty Potty commercial. Jaw. Dropped. Amazed. Thank you. Scents: Bob Cratchit's Hearth, Picture Books in Winter, Woods in Winter (not too snowy), Hunters in the Snow (almost no snow, just a wet kinda crispness. Mostly firewood), Winter: My Secret (no experience but sounds good and resinous like samhain)

Has anyone tried DeVos' Unicorn and experienced a kinda sweet laundry correlation?

Completely accurate. Sweet, light pink rose with a touch of watery dew. It gets stronger in the drydown..woot! Debating a bottle. Feel like if I don't grab this one I'll regret it.

Uhhhhh....don't think I'm weird but...this smells like San Francisco Soap Co's old Raspberry Glycerin Soap. (Its an extinct company from my wee days in the 90s, who's formulas got bought up by a small german soap making co....The Body Shop still has a strawberry soap of the same formula, for comparison) Drydown: Its gotta be the fig. Whatever is in this, it turns to all raspberry fig perfumed pastilles on me...this is some backwards magic, eh? anyways, I LOVE IT. Bottle worthy for sure!

Something reminded me of the "old books" smell from bpal... have I unlocked the secrets of how they formulate old books and parchment notes??!?! Saffron is notable, as well as jasmine sambac (which I call The Nice Jasmine). Orange flower continues to brighten into drydown.. this is a lovely frankincense old books smell. But, sweet old books, not moldy ones.... Anyone loving these 2 notes should definitely give this a spin!

I agree with everything LizziesLuck said: about it conjuring an association to scherezade, smelling of red musk instead of db, and being totally bpal. Its kinda like Scherezade Light. Its that pervading, sensual, mysterious scent that filled the 20 ft radius of my newly growing bpal stash back in 2009...oh the memories!

This is my favorite of the Phoenixes. Sweet, resinous, bright, charming, glowing. Granted I'm a fool for anything with mallow, but it really shines in this blend. Mallow deepens in the drydown, as the neroli and orange blossom burn off, but its still delightful! ETA: In regards to drydown, I must remark that I've never seen magnolia more beautifully gilded in my life. This is multiple bottle worthy!

Wet, this is a lot of cocoa, as everyone says. But, drydown I actually get notable coconut and black sandalwood + lots of musk. Chocolate takes the backseat. Let this be a testament to variation by skin chemistry!

Yes, there's cedar. Yes, davana and tobacco flower. Overall scent impression is clean, clear, white rays of light, symphonic wood and floral. But, the surprising thing is the effect it has on my brain. Makes all my thoughts scatter like shining a flashlight on cockroaches in the dark...literally that's the best explanation I can come up with. Honestly this is some of the best aromatherapy I've had recently.

I waited to review this because when arrived, it was super champagne. Glad I did! Whatever melon blossom means, its awesome. Overall scent impression is light green, joyful, sweet with a bit of citrusy champagne effervescence. Definite mood lifter! Its like chugging a glass of orange juice, for your brain.

The 1st note I get is dried sage..guess that's part of the incense pack. Drydown offers a bit more dried rose. I didn't get much oak wet or dry. Overall, this is a solemn lovely sage and dried rose scent. The incense is dry, not gummy or musky. Very calming and airy. I really like it!

For me, this is a light oriental sweet vanilla lavender. The tonka is notable and benzoin not too dry. Pretty dreamy, actually. Good for nightmares, sleep, anxiety. Great for the office, as its subtle and agreeable to a wide audience. Mellow enough that you won't get chewed out for spritzing that nasty rug under your desk by that annoying coworker with an allergy to everything, including working and you.

For me, the notes go exactly in order of how they are listed. Its a color impression of light golden brown and smells of warm toasty nut meat and hay with a sweet musky vetiver base, just amping it up and making all of it stick around. Fans of Molly Grue and Sympathetic Crone should give this a try.

Ok so not sure what happened here...but this is skin chemistry magic. Wet, its sweet apple and silky sweet honey. Drydown? AMAZING. Honey musk. Pure sweet heavenly honey musk. I just ordered 2 bottles.

Ooh. I like this. In perspective, its a sweeter version of Spanish Moss. Less citrusy, less sharp. More tomb-y, more earthy, more green. If you're looking to build your rainbow spectrum of moss scents, this is the connector between spanish moss and oakmoss.