filigree_shadow

Very sweet, snowy pine trees. I used to say "all BPAL snowy scents smell the same on me," and I'd just swap them away, because I wasn't crazy about the snow note. Well, I like it now. But... they kind of do still smell the same on me. With slight variations. I like this. But I don't think I like it better than Snow Maiden or Snow Flakes. It's almost too sweet. If I didn't already know I like those other two, I'd be very interested in this one.

I had this stowed away in my "try again" box for a long time... and I don't remember why. Maybe I thought the ginger would die down a bit? I think I can smell all three: chocolate, ginger, butterscotch. But, on my skin the combo is not exactly appealing. It smells like sour chocolate. Oops. I'm sure it's the ginger -- it just doesn't agree with me.

I vaguely recall not liking this a whole lot when I first got the decant, but of course that was years ago, now. When I got it out of my "try again" BPAL box today, I put it on and got a huge blast of blue-smelling lavender. I thought, "Oh. That must have been what I didn't like." Used to hate lavender. I like it now, strangely. But now, this perfume doesn't really smell like lavender anymore. It did for about 20 seconds, and then it turned into a sweet milky soft scent... almost chalky. Like baby aspirin other reviewers mentioned, but a lot softer and prettier. Normally, I do not age floral or herby scents. Resins, sure. Woods, yes. Florals? No. However... this one seems to have improved. Interesting.

I've no idea why I wanted to try this one, since yuzu is one of my worst death notes, and frankincense very often is a super killer for me. But... this? Quite pretty, actually. The Lab's peony note is one of my favorites of all time, and I can definitely smell it in this. This is sweetly pretty and kind of cute. This is surprisingly awesome. One of those shockers that you're pretty sure will be awful but you try it anyway... and it rocks. It's kind of cheerful and happy and pretty, and I sort of love it.

Dark and smoky, for sure. Very definitely gives off that smoky reed scent that I get from the really good vetiver notes. The cacao over the top is pretty amazing. Just the right amount of light sweetness. I'm a huge fan of the Lab's copal, but I don't smell a ton of it in this. Which is odd, since historically my skin amps it (which I love). Interesting, unusual, mysterious, gorgeous. Fantastic.

When I got this bottle I thought it would be great, and I sort of liked it but not hugely. I figured I'd age it for a while and try it again. Weirdly, I think I actually like it less now. When I first put it on, I get a weird licorice-like overtone. Like anise. Or maybe herby in some way. I rolled the bottle a lot to blend it up and tried it again, and still got the strange anise scent. It definitely wears off when the oil is dry, but I'm still not a big fan of it. I ordered this bottle straight from the Lab and it's been sitting in a box for 5 years, so I know it hasn't been tampered with. I suspect my skin chemistry is doing something funky to it.

I like Celeste. It does remind me of Love's Philosophy, and Antique Lace, and Morocco... pretty much everything everyone has mentioned. It's like a musky version of Love's Philosophy and a more vanilla version of Morocco. Sadly it does that overwhelming thing on me that Love's Philosophy did. It smells really good, but there is something about this scent that I get tired of really fast. I don't want to smell it for four hours. I'm tired of it after 15 minutes. I never end up wearing scents like this, and it always kinds of pains me to give them up because I like them... in super small doses. I might keep my bottle around for a while to try one more time to wear it and see if it works.

Yeah, if you don't like vetiver, skip this. For those of us who like that reedy, smoky grass scent -- try it. This is the really nice dry smoky kind of vetiver, not the dank basement kind. The pepper dries it out a little more and gives it a little bite, and I think the patchouli is smoothing it out slightly. But I don't smell any grapefruit at all, and to me this smells almost like a vetiver single note.

Mmm, this smells great. Soft, resiny, sweet, and deep. I can smell the patchouli in it, but it's not overwhelming, it definitely smells sweeter and smoother than usual. I guess my little decant here is at least 5 years old at this point, so it's fairly well aged, and as you know those resins, wood, and leather notes get better with age. That certainly seems to be the case here, as this is outstanding. Sweet, pleasant, deep, soft leather.

This smells like mostly incensey resin to me. People who like resin blends will probably like this -- it's similar to others that are also good. Not as dark as Schwarzer Mond or Minotaur. Definitely smokier. I have trouble with BPAL's ambers turning to powder on me sometimes, but this one isn't bad at all.

I like the combination of soft lavender and lemon that I smell in this. I'm a chiropractor and I do soft tissue work every day, and although I like the scent of this and even the feel of it, I wouldn't be able to use it at work. It sinks in too quickly. I might be able to add it to the oil/lotion I usually use, for the scent, but on my skin the scent didn't stick around very long. The oil definitely did soften my skin, though. It feels like good quality.

Sweet, very slightly fruity (in a round way -- the fruit is not easy to place) dry chamomile. Warm, pleasant, sweet, and kind of clean-smelling. I very definitely like this. I'm not totally sure how often I'd wear it because it's out of my usual comfort zone, but I do like it. It for sure is more of a spring/summer scent than a fall/winter one, though. So right now isn't the right time of year for it. I should try it again in a few months. This is one of those BPAL blends that I come across from time to time that is very unusual -- it doesn't remind me of anything, and I don't think I've smelled anything like it before -- but it really smells surprisingly very good, and it makes me wonder why people don't wear scents like this. Like why does everyone and their sister wear some department store perfume day after day, wouldn't people want to smell like this, if they knew they had the option? I feel like people would want to smell like this. Unusual does not mean bad. At all.

I smelled this without knowing what was in it, and I was sniffing pretty hard and couldn't place the notes. I was having a hard time guessing what's in it. After I looked at the notes I thought, "Oh. Yes. Lilac. Now I smell it." The olibanum is behaving itself, which is super rare for me. This is a very nice dry, only slightly mossy, smoky floral. I like it. It's pretty. Not in-your-face at all. Definitely a night-time scent, for me. Not a day scent.

I'm not totally sure why I even have a decant of this, because a lot of the notes in it aren't my favorites. I'm betting I wanted it because of the saffron, which is both unusual and a favorite of mine. I think I can smell the saffron in it, but the amber is a little powdery, and I'm not a fan of the incense in the combination. Also, something about it is a bit pungent, and I'm not sure what that is. I'm glad I tried it but it didn't work out for me.

I was hoping this would be a knock-it-out-of-the-park scent for me, because I like almost all the notes. Red patch tends to be a no-no on me, and I don't like gardenia. Other than that, I was hopeful. As with all red musk blends, this smells very strongly of red musk on my skin. Apart from that, only kind of a dry floral overlay. It doesn't smell as complex as I expected. Kind of like just a particualarly dry red musk. Another reviewer mentioned a grapey scent, and I get that too. I have like a billion red musk blends because it's a favorite note of mine, but this isn't my favorite combination so the decant will be moving along to another home.