annemathematics

I snagged this because I was curious about the "wheat stalks" note and hoped that given the simplicity of the blend, it'd be a grand teacher. surprise! the scent is worth checking out because it's gorgeous! lightly spicy clove cologne, all of the notes cooperating in harmony. refined throw but good longevity. this isn't a heavy scent. it's very much spiced breezes in an autumn field. hours into it, I close my eyes and huff and can sense the wheat stalks swishing in the wind. and it's wheat the grain; without suggestion of yeast or loaf. so simple yet utterly perfect and brilliant. the beauty extracted from wyeth's paintings in a way that leaves their melancholy behind.

this reminds me of the soft brown of fallen needles and fertile earth and moss at the foundation of a forest's mighty trees, signalling their strength and health. it's cozy and comforting. a shade of burgundy not achieved with notes of musk or wine, but instead from bark and root and berry. the throw is solid without being brash or showy. my only [minor]quibble is that after about five hours, the scent morphs and the forest becomes kind of rubbery, with an unexpected sweetness emerging that isn't as engaging as the earlier versions of the scent. regardless I am still a fan of this.

very evocative [lightly-] smokey black-sticky soil in a sunless evergreen forest scent. I love this. everything about it is nocturnal, powerful, slightly primal. the air around the hunter in the susan cooper's the dark is rising book would smell like this. ancient magic swirling about during a rite. swooon!

ugh I love this so much, but I'm at a loss as to how what I smell can be translated into words. it's smooooooth. it's all about the blend, everything working together in a way that individual notes don't really stand out. what casablanca says rings wise and true: mediterranean blend. smooth and regal and stately, with a benevolent authority. muted lavender with bay and petitgrain swirl only slightly above the other notes. the leather is muted, smooth. the oakmoss isn't dry or dusty, the ambrette not suggestively musky, the cedar not amping on my like it usually do. everything is collaborating and cooperating in totaly harmony from first application to final fade out hours later. while I had hoped to like this, I didn't expect it fall for it as hard as I do. I enjoy wearing it. calming yet energizing. classy and confident. neither specifically masculine nor feminine but rather perfectly complimentary to whatever vibe the wearer needs it to be.

i looooooooove this one. it feels like an Indian-style musky rose attar. I'm a big fan of the lab's roses and ambrette notes, and this scent flaunts them wonderfully. the throw is enough to reach out and invite neighbors in closer. it's lasts and lasts. with some rose perfumes, the rose element fades after a few hours, but the queen of love's roses never quit, never falter. gorgeous!

i love the lab's ambergris, and this scent shows it off more purely than any other scent I've had the privilege to try (missed out on the SN alas) beautiful sparkly ambergris with a touch of herbal carrot seed. I like powdery orris, and while I'm sure that the orris does temper some of the watery/syrupy/liquid qualities of the other two notes, this blend isn't dusty or dry or powdery at all. it's very pretty and I love it. also appreciate the heartbreak of the winning story. thank you, beth and mel c! nice throw and last for hours and hours. just what greed-mongers appreciate.

I just have soooo many evergreen forest scents already, that I really don't need another...ha! what I am saying? I DO have a lost of forest scents, but this one is just so big and bright and pretty, the sap so bright and potent and gleaming. i kept coming back to this imp and wearing it always brightens my heart and makes me smile. the waft is moderate and it fades after a few hours. the forest sap scent stays true for the duration that it lasts, and doesn't morph into anything other than magical forest. compared to other evergreen scents in my collection, this one is all about that virile fresh sticky sap. brighter and truer and cleaner than the juice in my other bottles. I adore this.

the official cologne for metrosexual lumberjacks? this is indeed a lovely sexy thing. beautiful deep pine with a surprisingly subdued vetiver (more syrupy and less smoky than the vetiver in midnight reunion with his lost wife) over a spiced shadow of leather. I love love love the opening, when the pine is strong and rich and proud and beautiful. it's still nice when it dries down to a dark, grassy* clove-stained leather, but that opening! I'd wear the wet scent always and forever, but the drydown is something I'd prefer to snuggle up to on someone else. *vetiver-style grassy, not lawn grass

oh man, this is such a little beauty! wet it is a gentle yet complex blend mostly focused on the dry vanilla, given warm depth from the cypress, herbal richness from the fennel and brightened just-the-perfect-amount by the orange. everything is boosted by juniper, making this feel clean but not (to me) pushing it anywhere near the realm of bath product. as it dries down some of the complexity recedes and what remains is the *perfect* dry vanilla-anise goth juice. ugh it's light and simple in a way that suggests youthfulness of spirit, the fluttery gentleness of a butterfly's wings. good for layering but also perfect on its own. I adore anise-y smells when they are strong and in your face, but this isn't that at all. the anise here is very light and lends support to the vanilla, which is dry and not foodie. it reminds me of the vanilla from mummies of mexico city, sans incense and death. *perfect* vanilla-anise goth juice!!!! huzzah and thank you, beth!

Blood-soaked soil, scorched cypress branches, and faint remnants of Baphomet's temple incense. still fairly fresh from the post: i suspect this will going to shift as it settles, but right now in the bottle it's heavy, almost swampy rich soil. black and oozy. On the skin it is a much lighter in feel. it dries down with the dirt note supporting cypress and a subtle cinnamon. There's a bit of resin weaving in the back and I can't tell if it's dragon's blood, frankincense or both. (def DB, can't tell if there's frank there or if I'm imagining it). i love me some bpal dirt scents. the dirt note in this one is much more integrated into the scent as a whole, vs standing out and commanding all of the attention. everything in here harmonizes to something warm and rich and actually not that heavy (for a blood-soaked dirt scent!). this is very pretty.

“I have a brother. They say, you put us together, we are like one person, you know? When we are young, his hair, it is very blond, very light, his eyes are blue, and people say, he is the good one. And my hair it is very dark, darker than yours even, and people say I am the rogue, you know? I am the bad one. And now time passes, and my hair is gray. His hair, too, I think, is gray. And you look at us, you would not know who was light, who was dark.” “Were you close?” asked Shadow. “Close?” asked Czernobog. “No. How could we be? We cared about such different things.” You would not know who was light, who was dark: iron and amber, gold-limned white musk and ink-gloomed dark musk. On me, the opening of this is very much about the lab's black musk. Think Haunted after you've stripped away all traces of femininity. Streets of Detroit sans urban grit. This feels like a smeared greyscale watercolor of Dream from Sandman. Beautiful, ethereal, but a little pale, melancholy. The musk retreats and a faint smear of metal remains behind. It all hums close to the skin, almost but not quite fading away completely. It's very pretty. I wager a bit of time will boost its strength but I like how ghosty it is now.

We lost our darling Pugsley many years ago, but Lilith swears that she can hear his ghost barking at the mailman to this day. Dedicated defender of the household, bane to all small birds. We miss you, Pugsley. Black tea, tonka bean, and licorice root with sweet black musk. just like when you walk into the pound and see all the adorable candidates for rescuing...you want to take them all home with you but then there's THE MAGIC MOMENT when you lock eyes with one pup and know you've found your one? well, this happened to me when I visited the goblin dungeon pound and learned about pugsley. not only is each and every note a super winner in my book, but seeing the combo hit me smack dab in the heart and I could hear the pupper angels howling magical approval as well. puglsey is a divine black musk scent, the watery tea note making it feel light and ethereal and translucent but due to that musk it's also deep and dark and rich. yes..things that might be opposites are true all at once. that's bpal magic for ya, folks. less feminine-perfumey than last year's weenie Raven Black gloss, the musk here is a little bit purrfectly* powdery and warm, dark, stunning. the licorice is light (coming from someone who loves strong anise/fennel/licorice etc) and the tonka just quietly does it's tonka thing without clamoring for attention. who's a good bean? oh yes you are, tonka! yes you are! good throw and lasted a few hours...and after that a ghostly waft would pop back in to "visit" and say hello whenever I moved my head. fabulous scent from a wonderful surprise update. thank you, puddin and goblins * strange irony: this is the bpal that best resembles how my cat smells. he's not sweet with honey nor cedary clean. he's a 'lil musky goofball!

Herewith we present the public with a most accurate, well executed likeness of Dr. Henry Slade, the celebrated medium and clairvoyar who has so confounded science, startled orthodoxy, given the lie to old beliefs, and lead minds into new channels, through his powerful mediumship. As the pubic are always anxious to see the faces of extraordinary men, they will scan carefully the likeness here given. – Pomeroy’s Democrat, September 20, 1873. Bay rum and lemongrass with black pepper, cardamom pod, pine resin, red sandalwood, and cedar. the bay rum and lemongrass give this a centerpiece of rich magical voodoo oils, surrounded by a very light hint of spices and an absolutely swoonworthy woods combo. the whole blend is fantastic, gorgeous, amazing, kinda classy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmSRcOUmLK8

this has a candy-like sweetness when first applied, dries down to something that smells like a department-store-esque kind of blend. verbena-focused, with a swirl of frankincense and a twist of angelica. the rose is so meshed in that it's hard from me to single it out. I tried this on a random whim for the theme and the angelica, and upgraded to a full bottle. good throw and lasts over twelve hours on me. there is something very happy and carefree about this scent. wearing it brightens my mood! bpal: the best medicine

very beautiful dark liquid purple smooooooooothness. although I don't work with this aspect of the fool in my actual tarot card readings, this scent jumped up and down at me as I read the release. it's a total winner of a blind bottle and my favorite fool scent that I tried. I wouldn't classify it as feminine, masculine, unisex...it's honestly kind of like the tao, in that it evokes many things but yet cannot be boxed in or labeled. I put this beauty on when I get home from work, and the scent washes the day clear away and brings me into my own dark, magical, beautiful space. the throw is good and it lasts until I go to sleep; fittingly, all traces of it are gone the next morning.

a smooth rich blend of resins and woods. cedar always amps on me, and I can easily suss it out here, but it's so nicely swaddled in frank, cypress and myrrh that I feel like this was the role cedar was born to play: to fill out this masterpiece and anchor all of the magic. I can't not huff myself when I wear this. I also love layering it with the lighter crescent moon.

spicy musky deliciousness with my favorite bpal frankincense at the base. love this. the first time I tested my magician decants, this scent kept wafting out at me and making me mash my nose in my wrist and huff like it was the air i needed to keep on living. fits me like the perfect little black dress. a 2018 favorite. gracias, beth!

The Magician's Garden is rose of sharon and lily of the valley and despite that simplicity of notes, it's an elegant stunner. chionophobia is another lily of the valley/muguet fave, as is the snow queen hair gloss, shards of looking-glass.

a sweet plump creamy vanillic base under a fleeting hint of rose. the rose quickly recedes and I have something close to carnaval diabolique's hope or frau bei der selbstbefriedigung bath oil. I felt a tinge of disappointment due entirely to my hopes and expectations that this would be a stronger and darker rose blend. shoving aside said expectations, this is a nice and accessible vanilla scent for those who only want to flirt with the rose note and not spend the night together. very pretty and feminine.

a sleek and lanky amber anointed and washed with juniper. some ambers feel like syrupy labdanum, but this feels closer to frankincense tears to me. very light touch of non-smokey sage. this is a bright and happy resin blend. light and bright, not at all heavy. it's pretty on its own, but I wear it layered with the pillars as the combo sets me in a magical space.

this is a very bright and cheerful honey. youthful and comforting. easy to wear in that it doesn't morph or go raunchy on me (please note that I do adore morphing and raunch, but the straightforwardness of this means I can wear it with ease in different public situations aka workplaces and on the town alike) I like to put this on when I get home from work. just like it's name, it honestly is soothing. true to the card it represents, mixed in with the calm is the soft joy of anticipation, much like the freedom one feels when starting a nice long road trip or vacation. light-to-moderate throw and it's gone completely the next morning.

I'm going to add Advice of the Dead, Witch's Tea Party and the Magician's Garden as scent suggestions to this thread.

smokey marigold floral scent. smells like fancy department store perfume for the occult scholar. there's the barest hit of soil only at the beginning, which is the most resin-heavy stage. elegant yet slightly musty (like a fortune teller's unwashed heavy brocade curtains). if dia de los muertos is the jubilant scent of the maiden, this is the waft of the crone's wisdom, having replaced the bright creamy sweetness with dusty flowers and a memory of myrrh smoke. the sophisticated scent of a secret-keeper.

This to me is the classic bpal amber with the oooomphy deliciousness amped up to eleven. The spice is subtle and adds complexity. This is rounded and big and gawgeous. I feel almost guilty getting so much happiness from a perfume formulated in dire times, in response to federal government atrocities. May the ugly reality we're fighting against also end so beautifully. This has a low throw, but it's warm and strong in the tiny perfume aura. Lasted a few hours only but I gotta confess, the review is based upon testing it immediately after the post office handed it to me. It's a beauty that fans of bpal amber will adore and slather. Free the individuals and families locked up in cages! Abolish ICE! No human is illegal! Seeking asylum is not a crime! All power to the people!

Black pepper and vetiver with cardamom, blackened vanilla, and tobacco absolute. in the bottle, this is the dark chewy-ness of vetiver is boosted by the dark chewiness of tobacco. the smallest hint of spice and a gasp of sweetness from the vanilla. this swarm of flies is thick black oozing, tar like and so very dark. it will blot out the sun. when applied, a nicely spiced vetiver is strongest just out of the gate, but the smokey tobacco and vanilla come forward more with time. there really is a feeling of "buzz" from the pepper and tobacco against the vanilla and cardamom. the drydown is lovely. the vetiver softens and the scent is still dark and spicy and rich but it's softened considerably. the sweetness of the vanilla balances the smokey notes and the buzz quiets down until it feels...almost sparkley? this is one for vetiver lovers. it will not make vetiver converts. it is one of my favorite plagues and one of the darkest scents that I find to be everyday wearable on me. eta to correct my last paragraph: is you are a lover of dark scents but have been iffy on vetiver, this may be the scent that leads to your loving this deep and sticky note. the vetiver has shifted so that it really melds incredibly with the tobacco. the spices add so much without any of them amping. I've had this for less than a month, and it's only gotten better. deep, rich, spicy but balanced with just a gleam of sweetness from the (nonfoodie) vanilla. I have to come out and say I LOVE FLIES. bring on the flies!