aoiphe

Wet, this is prominent vetiver with a fruity note (the red tea?). Drying down, I get tea and smooth dark woods, with an almost soapy undertone. I'm intrigued, but this isn't my most favourite incense blend ever.

I think this may be my holy grail amber. As Beckie said above, this is very similar to the GC Lion, without the spices. This Gondola has a sweeter, more woody, rounded overtone. Seems to have less of a throw than the Lion, which is my only complaint. May just have to slather copiously.

I like to call this one "Trip to the Forest Library". It's such a morpher, and has two distinct stages: the wet/initial drydown phase of green balsam, then the awesome leather vanilla phase that starts about 2 hours later. This lasts all day for me (unusual for my chemistry with BPAL) and is also office appropriate. U FTW!

WTF? Soap, soap, soap. No sandalwood and bleakness here. (2012 version)

You also might want to consider Wake from the Land of Dream series earlier this year. Huge slap of grapefruit, orange and lemon.

High hopes dashed. Juniper stomped all over everything (boozy gin note?) for the first 5 minutes, then an artificial fruitiness in the drydown. "Soap" says my DH, and I don't disagree. Glad this seems to work for so many other people.

This is a review crossed with a story, with a strong dash of "different people's chemistry". This is a beautiful blend on me, all grasses, hay and cardamom - love in a bottle, even if it fades quicker than I'd like. I wore this to the horse races this weekend (who doesn't need a little extra luck on a full moon... and I had a bit of success!! ... but that's not the story). The story is that I brought a wee decant with me, and my friends decided to try a little on themselves. One friend - Hay Moon immediately went to sweet, dusty powder, straight up, no change over time. The other friend - Hay Moon blossomed into a heavy spiced amber. Gorgeous, but she wanted the hay. I've never seen anything react so differently to different people's wrists before. Pure chemical alchemy. And also luck.

GCs Aziraphale Bow and Crown of Conquest Crowley Detestable Putrescence Dorian Hunter Lyonesse Mouse's Long and Sad Tale Mr. Ibis Plunder Snake Oil The King's Daughter The Cat The Lion TKO LEs An Incubus Leaving Two Sleeping Women (Pickman 2011) Autumn Cider (Weenie 2011) Bezoar (CD) Butterflies, Flowers, and Jewels Attending (2013) Caligraphy Practice (Luper 2012) Clemence (CD) Depart pour le Sabat (Weenie 2015) Egg Moon (Lunacy 2010) Feed Me and Fill Me With Pleasure (Luper, 2013) Green Tree Viper (CD) Gypsy (Metamorphosis, 2010) Habu (CD) Half Elf v5 (proto, 2011) Harp of Cnoc I'Chosagair x2 (Bards, 2010) Hod: Resurrected x2 (Anniversary 2009) Hungry Ghost Moon (Lunacy, 2006) Hope and Fear Set Free (2013) Inez (CD) Irrelevant and Disturbing Surreal Crawdad Dream (Forum only, 2010) Leather Phoenix (Anniversary 2012) Luperci (Luper 2011) Metal Rabbit (2011) Michael Casts Out All of the Fallen Angels (Weenie, 2012) Mme. Moriarty, Misfortune Teller (CD) Mourning Cloak (Metamorphosis, 2010) Pallas Athene (Salon 2011) Palmyra (2015) Phoenix at Midday (Anniversary 2012) PRC12 (proto, 2011) Pickled Imp (CD) Pumpkin V (Weenie, 2012) Raven Moon (2012) Samhain (Weenie, 2011) Sekhmet v5 (proto, 2011) Sonnet d'Automne (Weenie 2011) The Smiling Spider x2 (Salon, ?) The Sportive Sun (2007) Third Charm (Weenie 2012) U Mutter Museum (retail) Western Diamondback (CD) WILF (Forum only, 2011) White Sage (SN, 2013) Womb Furie (Luper 2010) Young Pine Saplings (Luper, 2011)

Chiming in to say that this is all honey, beeswax and vanilla on me - and nothing at all like the released GC scent. Lovely for layering, not cloying at all. It does disappear after three hours or so, which is too bad.

(another decant from shackjj) This is certainly not one for the floral/foody-loving crowd. I love me some vetiver-spicy-woodiness, so I had very high hopes when I saw this in the Pickman list. When wet, it's a slap of vetiver and champaca, which then dries to very masculine dry green woods. Too masculine for me. After two hours, though, it's soap. So... off to swaps...

I'm not a lover of foodie scents normally, but Autumn Cider is really a standout. Much more complex than Blockbuster (which is the only comparable GC I can think of), it stays true on my skin for 8 hours with apple in the foreground, with citrus, sweetness and spicy middle notes that even out the wear. I'm getting lots of compliments on this one. Must pick up a bottle before the 'weenies leave!

I get lavender and violets out of this. I don't wear it on a day-to-day basis, but this is my go-to scent for falling asleep at difficult times.

Thanks for your thoughts, Balame! I was already planning to pick up Pallas Athene when the Halloweenies are available, and now I have a decant of the Great He-Goat on the way from another forumite.

First impressions, wet - nutty spice cake. I can detect the lab's pastry note underneath coconut and cardamom or clove. A sharp wood comes through - I want to say its eucalyptus but not nearly as aggressive to the nose. On the drydown - musk and sandalwood, underneath a beautiful, dry warm spice. The nut fades away and the cola impression that others mention comes to the foreground. Not a lot of throw, it stays close to the skin and is very smooth and understated. I bought this on a whim from the lab's etsy site - so glad I did!

When I first started with BPAL (lo, those many moons ago) I was looking for a replacement for my beloved Usiku by Jo Wood (an organic perfume out of the UK which stopped shipping to North America, for some reason) with a 9-month expiration date. Notes: This blend went down to basenotes very quickly, but retained the cardamom, clove and ginger for a good three hours. Amazing sillage... Anyhoodle, I'm trying to find a BPAL replacement. I have tried, and liked: Plunder, Bezoar, Clemence, Pickled Imp, WILF, Snake Oil, Old Demons of the First Class, Sin, The Smiling Spider, Bengal, Kathmandu, Morocco, Port Royal and Sri Lanka. But none of these are quite doing the trick. Any recommendations?