LadyMedb

I bought this unsniffed just based on the above reviews - I have a lot of issues with white florals, but if they lend towards "humidity" and "creaminess", it is ON. This one is no exception to that rule - it is so sweet and gentle, and not at all sneezy or dry. The amber and vanilla lend this scent a bit of richness and depth, and the white musk does not turn to dryer sheets. Overall, it kind of reminds me of the department store scent Gaultier 2 from ten years ago (a big amber-vanilla-musk deal), but more feminine and balanced and far better conceptualized. This is a deliriously feminine creamy white floral that brings out all of the best of gardenia and tuberose, while remaining grounded and a little mysterious. Highly recommended to anyone who is willing to even think about a white floral for a second.

I get some pretty sharp incenses (though maybe the sharpness is the "metal" note) and a citrusy feel when I first apply this, but once it settles down, it becomes warm and inviting and sophisticated. I've been on a bit of an iris kick lately, so this fits right in with other perfumes I've been wearing a whole lot. Iris. Incense. Easy. I'll probably reach for this a lot over the next few months.

This is a delicious, light blend. My skin eats it rather severely, so I'm glad I bought the full bottle, because slathering is the only way to make it really show up on me. I wish it were a little stronger so I could appreciate its complexity a bit more; however, as it is, I get delicious coconut and tonka, with a hint of amber, soft and close to the skin. It's as well that there isn't a lot of bourbon vanilla in it for me, as that note can go to go play-doh on me. Overall, I really like this scent - it's the kind of thing that I catch at the edge of my perception all day and appreciate over and over again.

This is a ninja in my bottle collection - soft and delicate, but actually secretly sensual. The amber and vanilla are so close to the skin, and the jasmine tea is a soft whisper, though an insistent one. This is calming and sexy at the same time - I love it, especially since I usually prefer very bold and strong accords, and this really provides a lovely contrast. It fades a little quickly, but if I apply a little more than I usually would for a BPAL at the beginning of the day, it serves me well enough. I am a huge fan of this one.

So, as mentioned above, I wouldn't have tried this because of the lily scent. Since calla lilies on their own don't have much of a scent if any (and they're not really lilies anyway), I was pretty sure any interpretation of their scent worth mentioning would be *extra* lily. Well, I happened upon a spare bottle of this at Healthy Living last year, and found that I was totally, 100%, wrong. The white floral-ness of Gwyneth is the rare kind I *like* - moist like dewdrops on jasmine in the summer, and not at all astringent or soapy. The rose (NB - I am a rose lover, but my rose-hating friends like this one because the rose is soft and sits well in the composition) and the coconut blend together beautifully to produce a humid tropical dream. It's not at all fruity or cloying, though. It's like relaxing on a quiet exotic beach on an island that is always in bloom. I keep thinking I'm not going to be in the mood for Gwyneth, but then I open the bottle and all of this happiness comes out.

I bought this hoping for the note that was in The Death of Autumn, and it's definitely there, but, when amplified, it goes kind of ozony and men's cologne-y, at least on my skin. That's sad. I liked the earthiness of DoA and some Beth's other autumn leaf blends, and it just isn't as prominent when the leaf note is taken on its own. It's still an amazingly evocative autumnal scent, so I decanted an imp out of my bottle for myself and swapped the rest. Oh well.

Visions of Autumn I is a cool, dry, spicy cedar scent with a hint of peppery spice. The oudh adds a bit of fruitiness to it, but it still remains, as mentioned above, standoffish and sober. Yes, there is a hint of amber, but it smells like it's coming from far away and you can't quite reach it. I think this is a lovely thing. It is straight-down-the-middle unisex and very wearable, yet also intensely evocative of cool autumnal breezes. I am definitely holding on to my imp of this, and am debating a full bottle.

Oh dear, another lovely rosy incense from the Lab, just when I was starting to become picky. This is all rose geranium (which smells like red roses and dry wood) at first, but then that rosy scent settles down to blend effortlessly with the patchouli, and, especially, the warm brown leather. Opopanax gives it an extra sweet-resinous drydown. There is only a slight hint of the violet leaf, which is fine by me. I usually find geranium to be quite bitter, and I actively enjoy rose when it's done properly, so this is kind of a dream blend for me. It is like a drier, rosier and - as one would expect - more autumnal Leather Phoenix (which is my all-time favorite, by the way). It is rich and earthy and majestic at the same time. If you do not like rose, you probably will not like this blend, but if you do at all, it's a nice anchored, incensy rose, and well worth trying. I went for a full bottle and cannot wait for it to arrive. This is easily my favorite out of this year's new Hallowe'en blends.

I finally bought a bottle of this after hanging onto a precious decant of it for almost 4 years. I absolutely love this scent. This is a deep, velvety incense rose, not at all soapy on me, but instead lush and rich. I don't really get more than a hint of the patchouli, but the myrrh is soft and sweet, the sage adds just the right amount of edge and variety, and the overall composition is just so seamlessly blended. Yes, it's a bit like a few of Beth's other incense roses, but I collect that sort of scent from BPAL, and I am fairly sure I like Priestess better than Rose Cross or even my beloved Blasphemare Reliquary. This is not to be missed if you like rose in any way. Actually, even if you don't like rose, Priestess might be worth a try - my rose-wary boyfriend quite liked it on me! Hoping this sticks around, because if it doesn't, I'm going to need at least one backup bottle.

So I got a brief glimpse of chocolate and spice when I first put it on, but it settled down to pure Tootsie Rolls on my skin. Even my boyfriend thought so!

This just smelled buttery and sugary to me, like frosting or sugar cookies. I barely got a whiff of flowers, and I couldn't detect any leather at all. I thought it was really pleasant and sweet, but I'd never wear it.

Easily my favorite of the Phoenixes, which is odd, because I love resins so much. This is a lovely light vanilla-amber that isn't too foody, and has a lovely close-to-the skin sophistication lent to it by the oudh. I'd probably have jumped on a full bottle if I hadn't just bought La Lugubre Gondola, which is also lovely and ambery, but darker and more to my usual taste. As things are, I'm hanging on to the imp and seeing if it turns out I can't live without it.

Very, very incense-headshoppy. I especially like the warm franken-myrrh. However, this is nothing that the lab has not done before (I miss my bottle of Cathedral, and this is reminding me to buy more!), so I'm not as captivated as I want to be.

UM SO IT'S THE BEST ONE I feel so weird reviewing this now, because I've been through a sample or two of it over the years and I've always loved it. It's been on my wishlist forever, but I finally bought a full bottle at Healthy Living when passing through Burlington this past weekend. I am kind of sorry I waited so long on this purchase. Other than Scheherezade, which I ultimately sold because the bottle I had was not as nice as the imp that introduced me to it, Sin is actually the only true "BPAL classic" of which I have ever bought a full bottle, and it is easily the "BPAL classic" that smells the best on my skin. Sin is everything I love about Scheherezade and Snake Oil, but it's not soapy and astringent like the former is on my skin, and it doesn't go to play-doh like the latter one unfortunately does with my chemistry. Plus, CINNAMON, especially on first application. And not red-hots cinnamon, but lovely cinnamon stick. The drydown has just enough red sandalwood to make it sexy and earthy (but not enough to make it soapy) and it blends seamlessly with the delicious, dark, subdued patchouli and the cinnamon, which decreases a bit as the scent dries. It's delicious incense going to ash, mysterious inside-of-an-old-aromatic-wooden-box, a mug of something potent and hot and spicy...you get the idea. Sin is comforting and dangerous at the same time, and I get loads of compliments on it. So this is one of my new-old favorites now. Love.

Beautiful rich and warm jasmine, complex and juicy in the bottle. However, I could tell immediately that this is the sort of jasmine that goes plasticky on my skin, so I had to pass. Someone else will really love this though!

I love this scent!! It starts out pretty overpoweringly patchouli/tobacco (apply sparingly!) and dries down to the deepest darkest wood/resin combo in BPAL existence (I love opoponax). Yep, it's pretty one-dimensional in its darkness, but it's sweet and enveloping and comforting. Behind every fear is a wish, and so this is a wish for darkness. So beautiful. And I'm really pretty obviously starting to love tobacco accord, too. Who knew?

Dark, yes, but kind of sour and powdery, and really not a fan of my skin, which is weird, because usually vetiver is so nice on me. In this case, it's just all sourness and muddle. Argh. Oh well.

Super-sharp leather in this one - I'm assuming the styrax comes into play there - and at some point it goes unrepentantly sour. I'm sure this will work wonderfully on skin that is not mine.

Sharp and scary in the bottle and for the first two seconds on your skin, and then it becomes sweet amber resinous harmony, all depth and sugar and beauty. Really well-blended - though amber is the main note, this is darker than plain old amber, and just hypnotic. I bought a bottle, and am wondering whether it should have been two instead.

Delicate, sweet rose incense, like a distilled version of what you'd find burning in an Indian grocer's. Shadowy pinks with lots of resinous depth swirling underneath. Not at all a screaming rose - this one whispers. Love it. My only possible issue with it is it might fade too quickly - I'll have to check.

It is spicy and red musky, and therefore dry and sweet/sour at the same time. I really enjoyed this scent, but I already have Fenris Wolf filling this niche, so I figured I'd pass. It might smell better on my boyfriend than on me.

Really nice. It starts out fruity-spicy-holiday-candle (not in a bad way) but dries down to a pleasant incense-mellowed light peach. It's just mysterious enough that it suits my "scent personality", but it's also the kind of scent you can wear anywhere and not be overpowering. It does disappear a little bit quickly, but not to the point where I'm frustrated with it. Overall, this is a really nice everyday go-to fruity incense - comforting and unexpected at the same time.

White sandalwood, rice flower, honey, black pepper, and oakmoss. This was kind of like incense-flavored mochi ice cream on me - largely a sweet, honey-rice affair with just a hint of earthiness. It is quite light, which is fine, but I was hoping for the oakmoss to be a little more prominent, or for the sandalwood to do more than just contribute to the overall sweetness of the blend. In short, I was hoping for a little more body to this blend, so I'll pass it to someone who can better appreciate its lighthearted nature (appropriate to the artwork I suppose)!

So I have the 2005 version of this, and it is one of my very favorites. It was nice to be able to purchase another bottle so that I don't have to be so sparing with it! My 2012 bottle arrived in the middle of a Nor'easter, so I had a chance to slather it on and go out in the snowfall. Wonderful sensory overload. Snow Moon begins with a blast of fir and birch, but dries down to sweet and soft florals, with a faintly rosy heart. I notice the only difference in the note list between this and the '05 version is daphne...to my nose, the only palpable change is that this bottle is fresher and ever so slightly more floral than my 2005 one. I appreciate this, because it smells a little less Christmas candle-y and is therefore more universally wearable. If you would like one of Beth's "snow" blends without smelling too much like candy or straight-up pine trees, this is absolutely the blend for you. I am typically a resin and resiny-floral wearer, so this is very nice as a change of pace. Also, a lot of the other snow blends have gone plastic-y on my skin, and this one never has - it remains fresh and balanced and totally magical. *And from my experience with the '05 bottle, Snow Moon is also lovely as a cool-down in the summer.

Oh dear. I didn't need to have to hunt down yet another full bottle of something discontinued. Ghosts in Love smells absolutely unremarkable to even clumsy - like scratch-n-sniff rose - in the bottle. On skin, though, it just opens up into this well-balanced poem of a scent, and I can't stop sniffing my wrists!! It is, for lack of a better description, a smoky floral...like someone made a high-quality incense out of a proper churchgoing lady's perfume. It is sophisticated and sweet and absolutely to die for. Luckily it didn't go soapy on me, though the white sandalwood did threaten to. I think this is because lily of the valley and rose tend to be good on my skin, and the smoky tobacco and oude and carnation scents kept the scent deep and interesting. This is a mesmerizing scent. I hope someone has a spare bottle somewhere! EDIT - FINALLY got a partial of the 2011, and a full bottle of the 2013.