forspecial_plate

BPAL Yule breakdown 2010......”interest scale” of 1-5 Edited after more thought, 10/23 (bold means decant ordered) Klara....”Honey dusting powder, mandarin, iris, ylang ylang, tea rose, and carnation” Pass. 1/5 Herr Drosselmeyer 2010....”Pipe smoke, sweet leather, woods and linen” Pass. Never was very interested in this one. 2/5 Harlequin And Columbine.....”French vanilla, red currant, sage, balsam, rosewood, mandarin, lemon peel, pomegranate, and cedar” Probably pass, maybe a decant. 3/5 The Soldier.....”Red musk, vanilla cream, black tea, black pepper, leather, and pie” Has potential but I don’t like black pepper in perfume. Makes me think of Lawn Gnome? I think I'll have to try this, so I guess I need to look for a decant. 4/5 Grobvater Tanz.....”rice porridge, candied fruits, heavy cream, powdered clove, and Lebkuchen” Have to find out what Lebkuchen is. This might be good, I have been wanting a candied fruit scent lately. 4/5 The Nutcracker.....”frankincense, black mission fig, and galbanum” Oooh, this sounds good....I’m not always crazy about galbanum but it can be okay in the right proportions. Love the simplicity. This is possibly a bottle unsniffed. Thinking about it today. 5/5 The Clock Strikes Midnight.....black currant, frankincense, blue musk, mugwort, and wisteria” Awww....I love the name and concept! Too bad the notes don’t appeal. Might be worth a sniff. 2/5 The Rat King 2010.....”Dust, wood and feral musk with a fang-sharp undertone” Never was really interested in this one. Might be worth a sniff. 2/5 The Waltz Of The Snowflakes.....”vanilla-laced snow, graceful and sweet, with fir needle and black pine bark” I’m all over the pine! Very interesed! 4/5 Ebenezer Scrooge....”neglected leather, oakmoss, tonka bean, black pepper, cumin, and vetiver” Potential.....but again, black pepper. Hmmm. 3/5 Christmas Eve In The Counting House.....”Creaky wood, thick fog, and dying embers” Hmmm, maybe an ozone scent? Love the concept, I’m interested. 4/5 A World Of Fools......”Figgy pudding with a stake of holly through its heart” Yes! I must smell this. 5/5 Marley’s Ghost.....”grave-cold phantasmal iron links” Well, the metal scents are a little harsh sometimes....too cologne-like....but this does have some potential. Worth a sniff. 3/5 Incessant Torture Of Remorse.....”opopponax, lavender, blackberry, patchouli, olive leaf, myrtle, and white cognac” No clue. There is potential here. 3/5 The Chained Phantoms.....”ice-limned white wine grape, balsam of peru, and chamomile” This sounds good, but it sounds like The Shivering Boy and I already have that, and don’t wear it enough. Possible decant though, pending reviews. 3/5 The First Of The Three Spirits.....”Shimmering white amber, voluminous vanilla, white musk, zdravetz, and summer flowers” Sounds pretty but not really for me. Might still be worth a sniff! 3/5 A Cold, Clear Winter Day.....”Winter tuberoses bending gently in a crisp, cold breeze” I think I can pass on this one. 2/5 The School.....”In the corner of a desolate, dismal schoolhouse, all lonely stone walls, beeswax, and dusty wooden writing desks, stirs the scent of gold coins hidden in forest outside Baghdad, waves crashing against the hull of a Salé pirate ship, the lofty halls of Pépin le Bossu’s court, and a wild child’s home in the woods” Ooooo.....this has a lot of potential.....definitely worth a try. This could be a good 'work' scent, and possible bottle. 4/5 Mr. Fezziwig’s Ball......”Mince pie, dark beer, a well-loved spruce wood fiddle, and bow resin” Sounds really good if the beer is not too strong. 4/5 A Golden Idol.....”antiqued amber, English lavender, vetiver, and tea rose” This would have potential except for the tea rose. No thank you. 2/5 The Second Of The Three Spirits.....”Pine boughs, plum pudding, spiced pears, sugared chestnuts, punch floated with oranges, boughs of holly, and myrica berries” Wow, that sounds awesome. Kind of like Knecht Ruprecht, which I love, but maybe even better? 4/5 Bob Cratchit’s Hearth.....”Glowing firewood and sherry-cobbler” Hmmmm....not even sure what sherry-cobbler is. Is this a boozy scent? Could have a lot of potential if it’s not too boozy. Edit: sherry-cobbler is sherry with orange. Still think this might be good. Reminds me of Philosopher's Meditation. 4/5 Christmas Eve On The Moor.......”Windswept moor grass, grey moss, mud, and stone warmed by a small, comfortable fire” Think I can pass on this one. 2/5 Ignorance And Want.....”Bog myrtle, wormwood accord, carrot seed, lovage, Roman chamomile, orris root, myrrh, and patchouli” I want to try this. Could be another 'work' scent. 4/5 A Game Called Yes & No.....”Mulled wine and marzipan” I think I can pass on this one. It might be nice enough but the mazipan could be a little candy-dusty. 3/5 The Last Of The Spirits.....”Blackcurrant, myrrh, and vetiver” Maybe. Just maybe. 4/5 An Altar To Cold, Rigid, Dreadful Death....”Black cedar, frankincense, and dust” Has potential, might be kind of harsh. 3/5 Shadows Of What May Be.....”A deserted, dismal grave: upturned earth, overgrown grass, and dead weeds” I think I can safely pass on this one. 2/5 Changing The Shadows.....”vanilla, orange blossom, white sandalwood, mate, red tea, and carnation” Sounds very pretty! Maybe a little girlie. Edit: I think this will be one of the more popular, maybe sought-after scents. I will keep an eye on reviews, in case it becomes hard to find some day. Wouldn't want to miss out. 3/5 Whoop.....”crisp winter air, shimmering amber, sweet honey, with a touch of pumpkin pie, pine cone, cranberry, and bayberry” Oooooooh, I want to try this. Sounds totally yum! 5/5 Autumn And Winter.....”Bitter currant and dry leaves. Winter wind at dusk” Might be good......I like leafy scents. Worth a try. Decant first. 4/5 Chanukkiyah 2010.....”Olive oil, beeswax, glowing amber, sweet sufganiyot, pomegranate, and fig” I never tried the previous one. I’d like to try this. 4/5 Egg Nog 2010.....”Sweet brandy, dark rum, heavy cream, sugar, and a dash of nutmeg” The previous Egg Nog that I tried disappeared instantly on my skin leaving behind almost no scent at all. Those notes sound good, but I probably will pass on this. 2/5 Gelt 2010.....”Dry cocoa and golden amber!” I’m not a fan of cocoa scents. My friend really likes this so I know I can always sniff hers if I feel a burning desire to. 2/5 Gingerbread Poppet 2010.....”Warm, cozy gingerbread spiced with nutmeg, clove and cinnamon” The last version of this was just a little harsh for me, a little too scorched. I still have my decant of that and I’ve barely worn it at all. I think I can pass this year. 2/5 Haloa 2010.....”Wine grapes, pomegranate, myrrh, frankincense and olive leaf, and the warm scent of offertory cakes” I love Haloa! Yet another scent that I don’t wear and appreciate often enough. I only have a decant from way back when. Could be time for a bottle? 4/5 Jacob’s Ladder 2010.....”golden amber, galbanum, benzoin, ambrette, rockrose, costus and tonka” I tried this waaay back in 2006, and I remember that it went straight to powder. Now, I have come to appreciate powdery scents a little more. Still, with so many other wonderful things in this update, I think I can pass for now. 2/5 Jolasveinar 2010.....I have enough Jolasveinar. It’s one of my favorite scents and I don’t wear it enough! 1/5 just because I have more than 5ml already. Lick It Vigorously......”This is a candy cane perfume, minty, sweet and sugared” Never was really drawn to these, although I love the name! 2/5 Midnight Mass 2010.....Possible bottle, one of my favorites. Never bought a bottle before but I have 2 older decants. 4/5 Noche Buena 2010.....still have some of this from before, don’t wear it very often. The lily comes close to being soapy but I still like it. Pass this time around. 2/5 Peacock Queen, Rose Red, and Snow White 2010......have decants already, don’t need more. I do like Snow White an awful lot but I don’t wear it enough get a botte. Winter-time.....”Sweet, soft snow” Interesting! I would like to sniff this. 3/5 Woods In Winter.....”Wild hemlock and juniper berries scattered in the snow beneath leafless trees bedecked with glittering icicles” I am all about woods! Hope it’s not too much like November. Maybe another 'work' scent. 4/5 Yule 2010.....tried an older one, didn’t like it so much. 2/5 The Last Unicorn......I can skip this whole section. Never read this story so it doesn’t carry any associations for me, and none of the scents sound all that appealing to me.

100 [Previously reviewed at the top of this page] .....and I get a totally different impression of this one! If I didn't know I would guess it's a vanilla Chaos Theory, not amber. It smells like lemon vanilla cream with some ginger. I do get a little of the dusty note that Juushika mentioned, but other than that you'd think I have a totally different scent here! This is like a dessert that I would want to eat. Lemon ginger cream pie or something. Yum! Must be a white or light amber because I'm not getting powder at all, just a faint flat dusty-ness. Who knows.

I have mixed feelings! I nearly bought a bottle of this unsniffed because the list of notes sounded just about perfect, and there was no way it could go wrong. Well, I'm glad I tried a decant first, because it does sort of go wrong. I can smell the potential beauty (I pretty much have to try most things with pine), but a large component of this scent turns soapy for me. It's undeniable. It goes a little powdery, too, for which I'm blaming the sandalwood because it does that to me sometimes. I have no idea what's soapy, though, maybe armoise? It's wormwood or angelica and it's the only thing I can think of that might turn soapy like that, especially since there aren't any florals? I dunno, just the combination of notes, I guess. Anyway.....this stuff is strong, lasts a long time, and is tantalizing me with its potential for greatness. Even though it kind of went hyper-soap on me, I am still tempted to get a bottle. I guess I just don't want to accept that this isn't going to work? And I do want to say that if I actually found soap that smelled like this, I would want a lifetime supply.

I'm in agreement with a lot of what was said before me. This year's Lupers were an odd bunch, and this is one of the more odd ones. At first it goes on like a floral perfume, but with something dirty underneath. As it starts to warm on the skin, jasmine comes out strong. Ahh, so this is what it's like for all those people who can't tolerate jasmine! It really tries to drown out the other notes. So far this is a powdery floral that reminds me unfortunately of a cleaning product.....with some dirty notes underneath that I can't quite pin down (probably the red musk and ambergris....but more than that, too). Then something odd happens. As I'm sitting here typing and writing, I can smell the scent from a foot or two away, and I can tell the other notes are trying to come out. There is a tangy sort of wood note combined with the fruit. At this point I'm starting to like the scent, right when I was about to go wash it off. Then it just goes on like that. Up close, too floral, a little sour, some powdery rose. But the throw is trying to seduce me. I'll keep my decant, for a while at least. Very strange scent.

Chilly florals and amber, but a non-pine chilly. Not sweet like Snow White, but more spicy and something weird like anise (maybe the cardamom). Lily is behaving and not turning to soap. This is somewhat elegant and perfumey. Does remind me of Absinthe because it threatens to turn rubbery? But I've never tried the prototype that others are comparing it to. The olive blossom echoes back to Haloa but this is totally different. I like it!

I'm in the "love it" camp. Red musk can be too sharp and gritty. Honey can be cloying and powdery. Put them together and oh my gosh.....they balance each other perfectly. To the reviewer above mine, you are not losing your mind. I smelled coconut, more than once, and I think there's some kind of vanilla-cream note that is impersonating coconut. In fact, that cream note is stronger than any honey that is in this blend (your sniffer may vary, of course). I posted this elsewhere but to me, this is a total head-shop incense perfume, in the best possible way. If I had a honey musk incense that smelled like this I'd be in heaven. As it is, I'll be buying a bottle of this before they leave town! I wouldn't wear it to work, and it's not for every occasion, but this will hold a special place in my collection.

The Infernal Lover reminds me of a beautiful, delicate but complex, spicy/musky honey incense. This might be the only 'headshop' scent I ever need.

I can do black musk sometimes but not always. This smells like black musk and spices, and I was a little surprised that there's no clove, because this reminds me a lot of Hell-Gate Of Ireland. Maybe the spices and rum are tricking me into smelling clove. Anyway, I like the Hag even better, it's a little more full-bodied and complex. I love spices and vetiver is a friend of mine so this is good! I cannot smell blackcurrant at all, so maybe that will come out with time. For some reason I can't usually pick out rum in any scent and this is no exception. Overall, a very nice spicy scent that I'll get some wear out of.

This is an odd scent. It is complex and I'm smelling things that aren't even there. I could make a whole checklist of notes I smell and notes I don't smell, but I won't. When I first put it on I smell tomato, and I'm not sure where that comes from. Basically I smell some deep fruits and spices, but as a whole there is a 'deep' quality here and I can tell there are a lot of 'supporting' notes. After some time passed I smelled a more floral and herbal aspect. Basically, this smells more like an atmosphere scent than a perfume to me, and this is coming from someone who likes to walk around smelling like a craft store or candle store. I might be able to wear this but I think it just needs to be put away in a box for a while, like maybe a few months. It could be one of those scents that totally wows me after it has had time to mature just a little bit. It could be that I'm just not 'getting' it right now so I will try again later.

You just never know, sometimes I end up loving the ones I didn't like at first. I'm talking about Serge Lutens Chene. I wore it a few more times and pretty quickly fell in love, and now I have a full bottle on the way. Way to splurge! No more big perfume purchases for me for a while! (yeah, right....)

Notes: bergamot, grapefruit, cocoa bean, tobacco, incense, Russian leather, tonka bean, grey amber I better review this now because this is the 2nd time I've worn it and probably won't try it again. It's not terrible, just not for me. Basically it reminds me of Miller Vs. California. It has a very similar mix of leather and fruits, and there is even something papery, maybe the grey amber, or something about the incense notes. Sometimes incensey blends smell sort of papery to me (Heavenly Love And Earthly Love). Not a lot of cocoa bean or grapefruit that I can detect, and the bergamot is more of a suggestion of fruit than a specific citrussy note. Anyway, this is actually a nice scent. I think I just don't like leather scents all that much, with a couple of exceptions.

^^Can't help you with those questions, but I'm sure someone else around here could! However...speaking of leather.... I'm noticing that Avant Garde by M. Micallef has a resemblance to Bpal's 413 U.S. 15/Miller Vs. California. Avant Garde notes: bergamot, grapefruit, cocoa bean, tobacco, incense, Russian leather, tonka bean, grey amber Miller Vs. California notes: Leather, cognac, fig, ripe berry, and cream, stuffed into a plain brown paper bag .....so, one is a semi-hard to find LE (Miller Vs. California), and the other is prohibitively expensive. Not sure if that really helps anyone but I thought I would point it out! : ) They're not dupes by any means but the mood is similar.

This isn't working for me.....goes on smelling weirdly like bubble gum, then a lot of black pepper comes out....too much black pepper. I want more myrrh! This is reminding me of either Hastur or Ligur which I can never remember which is which, and I didn't really like either one of those. If you like that particular kind of dark scent you should try this. I can appreciate the complexity but to be honest I think I need to wash this off. : (

Serge Lutens, Serge Noir...."patchouli, cinnamon, amber and black woods"......once you get past the alarming cumin wet stage (even though it's not listed, lots of reviews complain about a BO vibe in the beginning), there is a bpal feel to this scent. I would say it's a cross between Brimstone and Sin. I liked it but bpal is better and more complex!

Notes: "Chinese citron, Haitian vetiver, Antilles sandalwood, amber". Given the notes listed (and the price tag), I was expecting to be really impressed.....and I'm not. Don't get me wrong, this smells good. Nothing offensive about it. It's so smoothly blended that I can't pick out one single note, except maybe amber, but only because I know it's there. But this really didn't 'wow' me and I wouldn't go hunting down a big bottle. I would put it at the masculine end of the spectrum, clean smelling, but not hyper dude-fume. I wouldn't be surprised if there are women who enjoy this. I'll enjoy the rest of my sample!

For oakmoss I recommend Cathode..."Ambergris, Spanish Moss, oakmoss and three electric mints", and Omen...."oakmoss, juniper berry, myrrh and patchouli". There are others but those two are pretty good for the mossy experience. There is also Bad Luck Woman Blues....."Keep that bad luck woman away with a blend of Spanish moss, black pepper, mullein, sweet sage, vandal root, cypress, cigar tobacco, and a puff of goofer dust cloaked by a swarthy cologne of vetiver, lime, dark musk, caramel accord, and lilac". One of the best mossy scents, if you can find it!

Mini-breakdown..... $10,00....."A dry masculine and memorable scent featuring a smooth yellow amber, bay, bay wood, a drop of tobacco flower, a very tiny amount of lavender". Sounds good but just doesn't grab me. I dunno, Possets are so inexpensive it might be worth a try. I do like dude-fumes, and I like bay. We'll see. 301...."a multiplicity of my favorite musks and cashmeran". Not much to go on there. Could be good, I looked up cashmeran and all I could find is that it's a synthetic musk. Moving on for now.... Black Hole...."Vetiver and black pepper, lavender and earth, a "black" patchouli, a slight slight slight bit of tarragon". Again, sounds okay but not shouting out "buy me, buy me!". I'll watch reviews and keep it on my list for consideration. The more I think about it, this could be a good one, but I do have a few scents like that already. I never even wear Void Moon or Winter Solstice, which I should because they're both really great scents. Dank...."sweetbriar makes an appearance lending it's zest to the whole, while root oils hold the bottom half down, particularly vetiver and ginger. There is a splash of booze and a few autumn plums in the mix to give it an air of being a luxurious rest rather than drippy". This sounds good too, unless it has that galbanum-like note that Fabienne has been using lately. I don't like it and it could be one of the 'root oils' mentioned. I'll have to sniff this before risking a whole bottle. Dark...."A thick and perfumy blend with a heavy dose of Frankincense to start off, black musk and fig. No greenery with it but a good layer of an almost burnt sugar and an animalic undercurrent which somehow becomes very light and sweet when breathed out". This sounds appealing....yet again.....could have that green rooty note that I don't like. Maybe I should just ask her what it is? Phantome...."A very light and transparent scent with a subtle amber as a base, Sicilian lemon zest, a drop of cognac, and the tiniest amount of menthol (you really would not notice it if you were not looking)". Okay....getting more and more promising....this sounds pretty good. Sounds kind of sophisticated and ethereal. We'll see. Specter...."Amber and fennel, put together in a thoroughly unexpected way". Now we're cooking with gas....this sounds really interesting, and it's high up on my list of what to seek out and at least sniff first. Spirit....."A strong dark chypre with a lot of incense and resin to it. Frankincense, myrrh, copal, fir resin, and labdenum. Yet this is a certified Western European chypre. It is lovely, dry and captivating. Neither warm nor cold, like a spirit with a 10,000 mile stare". Oooooh, this sounds really great. This has the most potential for an unsniffed purchase. I could always use another good fir scent. The only thing holding me back is if this were major dude-fume, which can be a turn-off. I like butch but there's such a thing as too butch. Possible bottle? That's all I got for now. I skipped the kitties because they will be at the Possets/OAR party at Fabienne's studio, and I'll be able to test first. I'll report back on those.

Notes: saffron, mandarin, cardamom, lychee, aromatic woods, immortelle (or everlasting flower), patchouli, oak moss, amber, incense This smells good, but it's kind of a hyper-dude-fume to me. I admit that it softens somewhat after it's been on the skin for a little while. I love this kind of scent, but this particular one is just not for me. It smells good but it's way too butch for my liking. It's warm and woodsy, a little spicy, just a little powdery amber, and something almost like leather which might be saffron playing tricks on my nose. Frank Los Angeles 2 is my go-to scent for woods and spices, and luckily I have a full bottle of that, so I don't need more of this. Edit: This does sweeten up considerably after a few hours, and I think what I'm smelling now is mostly the immortelle and incense. It's much nicer now but takes a long time to get there.

I was searching for a word to describe this, and I thought of 'crystalline'....then I saw that it's already in the description! This isn't like a lot of other wintry scents. This reminds me of a babbling brook in a winter forest, but there's not really any pine or woods. It's more like the crisp air of the forest. Also this is different from most of the typical aquatic scents, but I'm not sure how to express how it's different. Finally, I am picking up on some spices, maybe ginger, and possibly some kind of furry musk, but just a little bit. This is a lot lighter than Wolf Moon '07 but the spirit of the scent is the same. This one is more gentle.

Notes: cedar crystals, wood sap, black thyme, oak, immortelle, beeswax, silver birch, rum absolute and tonka bean I'm getting mostly sharp woods, verging on sour like patchouli sometimes does to me. I can sense thyme, just a little. I like woody scents but lately I've been more in the mood for something a little sweet and spicy. Maybe because it's almost fall? I like Chene but won't be hunting down more. I'll keep my sample in case my scent moods change again back to more intense woods.

The dark, of night. Teak, frankincense, caramel, oakmoss, red currant, labdanum absolute, bitter clove, patchouli, star anise, tobacco, and black musk. Drat! I've worn this before and thought I really liked it. I haven't had problems with any of the notes listed except possibly black musk. But I'm wearing this today and all I can smell is a vague powdery sour patchouli. I know it's the black musk that's turning powdery because it does do that sometimes, but generally I like black musk more often than not. This scent is barely there which is really odd, given the notes. On paper it seems like it would be really strong, but like I said it's just a faint wisp of a scent. Olfactory blind spot?? I may hold onto the decant because I remember liking this before, and maybe I'm just having an off day with it.

I think Sin was reformulated slightly. I have an old imp and a newer imp, a little different, and I don't think it's just due to aging. The old one is a darker reddish brown, and the newer one is light reddish gold. "Thoroughly corrupted: amber, sandalwood, black patchouli and cinnamon". When I compare them side-by-side, the differences pop out. The older one has a powdery sweet note that I'm guessing is the amber. The newer one has a more woody scent, which I guess would be the sandalwood. It's possible that it's an aging thing, but they are different enough that it might be a reformulation. I kind of like the newer one better.

There are a very small number of bpal scents that I disliked so much they "ruined" my nose for a while even after washing them off. This scent is like that. It starts out brown and crumbly, a very potent incense scent. Normally I love the scents that smell like incense, but this one just rubbed me the wrong way, a lot. It's way too sweet, reminding me of something high and.....sorry but rotting is the word. There is a gritty, crumbly undercurrent that reminds me of civet. I love fir but it doesn't save this scent for me. And just like in Black Lace, the Indian musk turns super soapy for me. So, yeah....had to wash this off, couldn't get it to go away, and couldn't even put on something else to cover it. Very, very strong. There was one other scent that ruined my nose like that for hours afterward, I want to say it was Sepulcher but I'm not completely sure. Needless to say, Aperotos Eros is not for me.

This smells industrial and.....dirty on me. Bpal's leather note is pretty touch-and-go for me, and to be honest fails more often than it works. Even Quincey Morris turned on me last time I wore it, I'm sad to say. I don't know....I just didn't like this. Kind of a grimy car mechanic smell which I like the idea of, and I like Mechanical Phoenix, so I feel like I should like this. But maybe I should be grateful since it's apparently hard to come by. Not for me!

This is very strong when I wear it. It's mostly leather with some spicy musk, almost like red musk but not quite as red. Still, this reminds me a little of The Red Rider. Reminds me of oakmoss, too. This is one of those scents that is just too strong for me even though it smells good. It just overpowers me but I still wear it every once in a while.