boomtownrat

A big reason I wanted this was because I love Hela and Cate Blanchett but I also had a feeling all the notes would be wonderful together. I always want to try musk and amber scents if I can, and to have them together was irresistible.

 

Musk is the main attraction as The Queen of Hel dries on my skin. It reminds me of another musk that I remember from the '80s but can't quite place. The leather is a beautiful complement to the musk and the green amber floats around it all like a glowing cloud, truly luminescent as the description says (how does Beth do it?). It's soft, like zankoku_zen said. This is Hela when she's feeling a little more mellow, not on a rampage.

 

I feel a bit stronger and more confident when I wear this, like I'm wearing bad-ass black leather armor.

The only patchouli-based scent I've tried that was this dry and woody was Malediction, but Dragonsplaining isn't nearly as stanky and loud as that one. It doesn't smell like a cookout, but rather, more like the fire before you've begun to cook. I get no sweetness from it, but it's slightly green at first. It's really not cedar itself but the smoke, just as the description says.

 

Worn only on my wrists, its throw was plenty noticeable but not overpowering, so I'll probably not wear it on my throat or behind my ears.

The hilarious name and label art had me halfway ready to buy this even before I looked at the notes, but I had to think about it to make sure it wasn't just because it made me laugh. I'm happy that I decided to ask my friend to pick it up for me, because it's even better than I thought it would be.

The patchouli-geranium combination is like a cousin to Sic Erit, one of my favorite BPAL scents. DBR doesn't overpower the other notes, as it can sometimes do on my skin. Black pepper makes an appearance in the beginning and smoothes out as it dries. Agarwood blends with the mellow, soft patchouli. Everything is well balanced and I can see this getting better with age.

Sweet, woody resin fragrances work on me better than almost anything, so I'm not sure why I ever hesitated over this at all. The name and label art are just bonuses. I just hope someone will ask me what I'm wearing.

I'm not sure what kind of honey this is, but in the bottle it's a little funky and combines with the patchouli in a slightly sour way. I think the "sticks" are actually a note in this, not just straight up honey. As is usually the case, the way it smells in the bottle isn't how it smells on the skin.

When I apply it on the back of my wrist it reminds me of what Feed Me and Fill Me with Pleasure smelled like when it was fresh. On the inside of my wrist there's nothing I can compare it to, but the cinnamon is much more present. It's the most well-balanced combination of notes when applied on my throat, more like Feed Me.

This is not the gnarly black patchouli, but more of the woody red kind. I might find it safe to wear around people who don't like patchouli. It's not loud at all, but I'm sure it's going to deepen with age.

When I open the bottle, a waft of pink bubblegum jumps up into my nose to make me smile. On my skin, the bubblegum is at the forefront until it dries, when it becomes a sugary version of Snake Oil. If you love the original Snake Oil, then I think you'll want this, too. I'm thinking of buying another bottle before they come down.

I've never met the Barrials, but I can really tell there's a lot of love and happiness between mother and daughter in this scent.

I've never tried the original Silk Road, so I can't make any comparisons.

 

When I got my bottle yesterday, I couldn't wait to try it. I tested a bit in the crook of one elbow last night, where I got a hot ginger, neroli, and cinnamon combination, but it had only been off the mail truck for a few hours at the time. Today I'm wearing it on the backs of both wrists, where it bursts forth with cinnamon, cassia, tea, a little sandalwood, maybe some sweet frankincense. For the first half hour or so it reminds me of a less overpowering Poison with a tea note instead of the fruitiness that I normally smell in Poison. After about two hours the cinnamon and cassia have stepped back a little to make way for tea, ginger, sandalwood, and frankincense. The throw is less strong at this stage but it's still wafting.

 

It's somewhere between the sweet softness of Morocco and the spicy headiness of Baghdad. For those who have smelled Economic Recovery, the Black Friday/Cyber Monday frimp from a few years ago, this is like a sister to that.

 

At first I was concerned that it might give me a headache, as Poison could sometimes do when a lot of girls wore it in high school, but it doesn't. In fact, I'm compelled to keep smelling my wrists to figure out all the layers of notes. Still, I will apply it sparingly because it goes a long way, and I'll give it an hour or so to settle down before going anywhere if I know I'll be around people who might be sensitive to perfume.

 

This seems like the kind of oil that will age wonderfully.

Original Umbra is one of my favorite BPALs, but I didn't discover its aged magnificence until after it was discontinued. I've only had a single imp that I was afraid to use more than once every few months until this resurrection was announced, and it became a holy grail. When I saw the announcement for this resurrection, I squealed and bought a bottle right away, with plans to buy more after I pay some bills. I'll be buying backups for sure. The bottle arrived on Monday and I couldn't wait to smell it, but I let it rest for a couple of days before I gave it a try.

The overall effect of Umbra - Resurrected smells a bit like you're storing sticks of real cinnamon bark in a cedar box. Based on what I can remember of the original when it was fresh, the cedar is a little more prominent and there's probably less vetiver. This isn't overpowering on me, but I'm going to apply it sparingly because it's kind of dirty, like the original. (If you prefer clean scents then you probably weren't looking at this anyway.) I feel it will be a nighttime and weekend scent, when I've always liked to wear the original, and probably best saved for the cool months. It's got the potential to smell a little too dirty when body heat amps it.

This is an empowering yet calming scent that I think will work on any gender.

Since late 2011 I've been holding onto the same imp of the original Baghdad that I bought off an eBay seller as part of a lot of imps and decants. As a newbie to BPAL at the time, it seemed like the best way to go. On that first occasion, I made the mistake of applying original Baghdad on both wrists and on my throat, giving myself a terrible headache. My husband, who has a bad sense of smell, said it was strong even from across the room. After that experience, I knew I couldn't handle more than a single dab of Baghdad on one wrist.

Baghdad - Resurrected was deceptively quiet when it was wet on my skin, but I'm glad I wasn't fooled into applying more. Once it dried, I got the heavy, heady perfume that I get from the original Baghdad. I caution you against putting on your regular amount until you know how Baghdad - Resurrected affects you. Yes, this has a narcotic effect if applied too heavily. I think it must be the Bulgar rose, as that's the only note in this that I haven't smelled in something else.

As this ages, I imagine it will be nearly identical to the original Baghdad. Just like the original, something in it reminds me of a perfume that my mom owned but found too strong to wear--Cinnabar, if I remember correctly. This one bottle is going to be more than enough for me, since I will only be wearing it sparingly and probably on special occasions, when I want to feel sophisticated. This is perfume fit for a pair of silky black harem pants and a simple black blouse, or a little black dress. If you're looking for an elegant perfume in BPAL form, consider Baghdad - Resurrected.

I want to enjoy Kumiho because I love most anything ginger, but that tea note really is sharp, biting, and crisp on me, turning this initially light scent into a potential brain spike after it dries. Almost without fail, fragrances that other people describe as "clean" are bound to trigger migraines or push me right to the brink of one before I wash off the scent. My skin turbo-charges both the white tea and the ginger. Both of these notes have worked for me in other BPAL scents that contain sweet, round, or dark notes to smooth over the astringency. I may try a test layering with something sweet, something vanilla, like Snake Oil or Morocco.

This is the 2018 reissue.

 

On my skin, Hal is a fairly short-lived whisper of jasmine and honey with a base of wood. I want it to last longer, to speak up just a little more without getting too loud. With time, or perhaps on a hot day, maybe that will happen. Having said that, this is the quality of jasmine that I wanted. I'm sure it will work wonderfully for those times when I want to smell of jasmine without knocking myself or anyone around me for a loop.

As a fan of Streets of Detroit, Haunted, and Goblin, I immediately added this to my cart upon reading the notes. It turns out that the OLLA scent that Hyakki Yagyō reminds me of is Kit. Somehow, it's putting me in mind of a softer, lighter Kit with coconut. It's not demonic on me at all, but there's a suggestion of incense somewhere in a back room of a dimly lit old house late at night. This truly could've been an OLLA scent, so if you missed those, you might like this as an adjacent type of scent. My nose might be broken, my skin chemistry might be wonky, or it might be true. In any case, I love it. There's not as much throw as you might expect, but it lasts for hours.

My bottle has only settled from shipping overnight, but I was impatient. I'm a poet and I've wanted a poetry-inspired BPAL scent for a while now, so I've been hoping that Scraps of Poetry would be something I could love.

When I opened the bottle yesterday, all I could smell was a zingy citrus chypre and yellow bergamot. In the 22 or so hours since then, it's softened up but those are still the two notes that dominate in the bottle and on my wrists. There's the tiniest hint of lavender. I'm not sure how clove bud differs from the usual clove note, but I don't get anything that I recognize as clove. Citrus and bergamot seem to dominate every time I wear them so your mileage may vary.

For me, this is more Elizabeth Barrett Browning than any other poet that comes to mind. It's a soft, golden-pink, almost powdery type of floral that would be nice for wearing at a wedding. Many of the sharper, heady florals are a problem for me, but none of those notes are in this one and it isn't setting off any headache alarm bells. It doesn't have a ton of throw, so it's the kind of floral that shouldn't bother the people around you as long as you don't slather.

I'm sure it's going to change somewhat, but Scraps of Poetry doesn't strike me as the kind of fragrance that's going to age into something dramatically different. I don't think this is very "me," but I'll keep it and see how it changes once it settles.

Champaca and sweet amber wrap me up like like a warm hug when I wear this. All the other notes play more of a supporting role. If you're concerned about it being too strong, too dirty, I can say that there's nothing overpowering or dirty about Wynter Wakeneth Al My Care. I find it comforting and beautiful. It's only going to become more stunning with age.

The "Frostbitten" note in this is instantly recognizable from the bottle of Frostbitten Dorian. I've never tried Snow White, so I can't speak to that aspect of it.

 

I own several bottles of Snake Oil from various years, as well as bottles of several Snake Oil-based variants. For me this is the lightest Snake Oil of them all, though it does stick around for hours.

 

When it's wet, this is like sniffing a memory of Snake Oil at the edge of a snowy pine forest. I'm not sure where I got the pine note, but it's fleeting. For a brief time during the dry-down things turn a bit sharp, going all Snake Oil spices without the vanilla. Then it settles into a light, pretty, chilly vanilla with a trace of the Snake Oil spices. I believe that skin chemistry and where I apply it both make a big difference in how it smells.

 

Edit on December 22, 2017: Just a day or two after I wrote this review, I noticed that if I'm warm when I wear this, the scent transforms into something similar to a body lotion that I used to love from Bath and Body Works called Sinful Vanilla. I have wanted a BPAL equivalent to that for six years, since I first got into BPAL. This is better because it doesn't have any of the chemical undertones of the lotion. Now I'm definitely going to need more bottles.

Frostbitten Dorian is the kind of BPAL that you could use to enable someone who is used to more commercial perfumes. It's not that it's perfumey, but it's quite sugary, a bit floral, and a bit light-musky. There's a hint of tea with lemon, but on me, the sweet snowy note dominates the blend. (I've yet to try Snow White, so I can't say how the snow note compares to it and will defer to what the other reviews say.) Something in it reminds me of Lick It Softly, as though they're siblings: one musky-floral and one minty. If you think Dorian could be sweeter, try Frostbitten Dorian.

 

As for me, I think I need to wear it on my wrists and not my throat, because it does have a fair bit of throw on me. Wear length is hard to gauge, but I put it on in the early evening and it was still going strong close to midnight when I went to sleep.

 

This would be good for work or any social gathering where I don't want to overwhelm others with a heady scent. I could see this being perfect for a winter wedding.

 

Edit 1/8/2018: After almost a month, I'm finding Frostbitten Dorian is getting too strong for me to wear because it makes me feel like I'm going to get a headache. I'm not sure if it's ageing that way or if I'm in some kind of hormonal phase (or maybe it's the unusually cold weather). I have wiped it off to get to the sweeter, more wearable late stages every time I've tried to wear it, which I've only done four times at most. Maybe it would be better on my husband.

The Lion had been on my must-try-eventually list for years, but somehow I had never bought it. I'm so glad that the Lab frimped it to me, because this is an instant love.

 

In the '90s I wore amber essential oil often, so I associate it with black eyeliner and deep burgundy lipstick, World Serpent Distribution and Projekt Records, striped tights and ripped fishnets, alt.gothic and Take a Bite. Amber is my twenties in a bottle. The Lion brings all of that back to me, because I get pure amber oil with just a trace of cinnamon and a memory of saffron. There might be a ghost of clove in there, or that might be my brain telling me so because cloves were, of course a huge part of '90s goth.

 

When I place another Lab order, I'm going to need a bottle of The Lion. It continues my streak of successes with the Mad Tea Party.

This represents 2011, the year I got into BPAL. I got the bottle yesterday and let it rest until tonight before giving it a skin test, but I did smell it yesterday and it has settled down quite a bit since then.

There's something in Pottery Phoenix that I smell in all of the other anniversaries I have. I looked up all the others and there's no listed note that they all have in common, which leads me to think that either I'm just interpreting them all in a similar way or there's a common unlisted note in there somewhere.

Pottery Phoenix is a warm, sweet skin scent. It's blended well, so no one note dominates. I see myself wearing this more in the colder, darker months because it's the scent equivalent of a fuzzy blanket and my favorite spot on the couch.

Blends with fewer notes usually work best for me and this is no different.

Fresh from the mailbox, this is like a slightly less loud Baghdad. It's a scent for nighttime, to be worn sparingly. About five hours ago I dabbed a small amount on one wrist, rubbed my wrists together, and still have a waft of slightly heady, resinous, spicy rose that is plenty potent for me. One bottle of this will last me forever.

I bought this because I like Baghdad, and because I have an ancestor named Melchior. It's not the sort of thing that I will wear most of the time, but if I want something sophisticated with a lot of presence, this should be excellent.

 

For now, neroli and clove are the stars of this scent, with a base of opoponax and vetiver. It's not a patchouli-heavy fragrance, though time might bring that note forward a bit more. I feel that the orange blossom and lemon make the briefest appearance when it's first applied. It's kind of cozy and appropriate for cooler weather, without a lot of throw, but it has good staying power on me. Even though there's no wood in it, I can feel the wooden floorboards that creak beneath the narrator's feet as he goes about the week before committing the murder.

There's something familiar about this, maybe like a soap that I once used, and yet it doesn't actually smell at all soapy. It feels somehow more expensive than it is. I think it would suit all genders.

I have to say that I don't get any impressions of madness, but maybe I'm just a little too familiar with madness to notice.

Valuable, Powerful, Deserving is a beautiful skin scent with staying power. It's not at all creamsicle-like on me. The amber, wood, and orange blossom combination reminds me of a much softer sister to A Bright Flame Between Two Jacinths, which is one of my favourite anniversary scents. I love what it represents and I think it's going to be perfect for occasions when I want to feel more powerful or sophisticated.

 

Edited on 6/29/2018: I reached for this today as a kind of security blanket, since there is even more reason to protest. It's no longer similar to Two Jacinths at all, and I'm getting more of the vanilla in "vanilla oudh." There's also more amber, which is always a good thing as far as I'm concerned. It's still not a creamsicle but it's closer than it was. I don't have anything else like it.

I'm a red velvet cake fiend. Eating too much of it is bad, but I'm also happy to smell like it. So far the most authentic red velvet cake scent for me has been Cake Smash, but I've only got a decant of that and I'm hoping for something more readily available. Heck on Wheels was a blind bottle purchase directly from the Lab.

When I open the bottle it's just like unwrapping a big, fat piece of pink bubble gum. The red velvet cake note from Peppermint Cream Cupcake peeks out just a little when I put it on, and it's almost like a cupcake with a layer of bubble gum-flavored frosting. If I stick my wrist directly under my nose there's a sort of faintly musty smell, but the throw is a pink and red sugary cloud. I find that it's truest to the description if I apply it in the crooks of my elbows.

On the day it arrived, I was so excited that I couldn't wait for it to settle. I can't say how close that was to what it's going to be as it ages, but I can tell you it's got a medium throw and lasted for at least six hours. On a side note, I put Do You Like Clowns? on while there was still a trace of Heck on Wheels, and they're not bad together if you really want a sugar overload.

Most of the Lab's foodie scents get more foodie with age, at least for me, and the bottle only arrived two days ago. Everything that's sweet smells pretty different on me depending on the time of the month, the weather, what I ate, and even my application method (sweeter when I dab it on with a finger than from the rim of the bottle). I may well be editing this review sometime down the road.

While still wet, this is a bitter, deep red apple soaked in liquid evil. It's just the thing for a spring day when you want to smell just a little unclean.

 

Unfortunately, as it dries there's something that gives me The Quease, a surefire indicator of an impending migraine. I had to wash it off quickly to keep it from going any further.

 

Those first few minutes were wonderfully tart and made me feel a bit like a bad girl pretending to be good.

Something about Snake Skin smells like Snake Oil + cherry--not the cough syrupy kind of cherry note, but real cherries. I think this is my brain misreading the combination of the leather and the vanilla, because when I huff more deeply I can tell that it's leather mixed with Snake Oil. The notes are blended perfectly and I believe it's going to age as fantastically as all the other Snake Oil variants I've tried.

 

It doesn't last as long or have as much throw as regular Snake Oil does on me, but while it lasts, it's infinitely huffable. This will definitely be a multiple-backup purchase, just as I thought it would be.

 

ETA: Almost a month later, the cherry is still kind of present, but it does smell like Snake Oil plus leather. It's still more subtle than regular SO. I'm still gonna buy a second bottle, maybe more.

 

Edited on 10/10/2017: I no longer get any cherry from Snake Skin, but what I do get is so good I don't know if words could do it justice. If you wanted something that smells like Snake Oil has soaked into the neck of your favorite leather jacket, I think you should get your hands on a bottle of this now. After eight months it's already this good. Just thinking about what a year or more will do for this scent, I wish I had bought more than two bottles.

If you're like me and you can't wait to smell your BPAL as soon as you get it into your hands, don't worry about Mors Syphilitica. Yesterday she was still upset from what must have been a rough journey, but she had a good night's sleep and now she's sweet and well behaved.

I know there's no orange blossom listed in this, but somehow that's what I get at first. That must be the saffron. Just one dab on one wrist wafted through the air beautifully, all sweet and feminine, but not exactly girly. By the time I got to work the woods emerged. Now it's closer to the woody skin scent that I was expecting, so I added a dab to my throat to see how it might smell on a different part of the body. The sweet, orangey overtone is still there, but it's much softer now. I suspect that it's going to morph into the woody undertone over the course of the day.

Even though there's something familiar about Mors Syphilitica, it isn't like anything else I wear even though I have fragrances with all of these notes. Red sandalwood comes out in Mors Syphilitica the way it does in Wanton, but I can't wear Wanton because it's too heady. Saffron is also in Scherezade, but takes a back seat to the screaming red musk--Mors Syphilitica is closer to what I wanted Scherezade to be, I think.

Most of my favourite fragrances have only a small number of notes, and this turns out to be true again. Mors Syphilitica is a red sandalwood scent that doesn't shout. It's sophisticated and wearable even for someone like me, who can't take a strong perfume.

Normally I only review something after I've worn it at least twice, but if I have a strong reaction (negative or positive) I won't wait. I'm reviewing Fake News on my first wear because it's remarkable.

 

The bottle is fresh off the mail truck, but I couldn't wait to try it so I rolled it a few times and dabbed some on the back of my right hand. After I was sure I could wear it, I dabbed a tiny bit on the back of my left wrist and my neck. You may think that's a lot for a patchouli scent, and normally it would be. With Fake News the effect isn't so overpowering. I think people can definitely smell me, but it's not shouting like other patchoulis do.

 

Fake News smells more upscale than my many other patchouli scents. The pink pepper pod is spicing up the patchouli, which is not the earthy, dirty-hippie kind. At times there's something Obsessionesque about it, which I love. I think that's the pink pepper and white tobacco.

 

#occupywallstreet is the protester chanting in the streets, and Fake News is that same protester who went on to a career as an investigative journalist. Fake News can go to parties that #occupywallstreet would get kicked out of, but that subversive spirit is still there.