Teamama

Blind bottle, no regrets!

 

I was hoping for a close relative to Love 2013 http://www.bpal.org/topic/80430-love/. Allegory of Chastity does not disappoint!

 

On application, the throw is STRONG. The bergamot's bitterness is noticeable in all the creamy, floral, vanilla sweetness. Teapapa asked if there was vetiver in it (!) That phase dies down pretty rapidly.

 

Once dry, I have an impression of rosiness, and of jasminniness (we need a word for this in English,) and tartness from hips and bergamot, but they're subordinate to the vanilla cream, like flavorings. The vanilla cream is impressionistic; a strong sweetness that reminds me of the smell of vanilla fondant.

 

After about an hour, A of C has medium-low throw, and moderate wear length. The rose hip & bergamot are a little more noticeable at this point.

 

I love it, and bought a backup bottle.

Warning: this review is not going to be helpful to anyone, due to the reviewer's clove-amping problem.

 

Malice smells fantastic & complex in the imp. I like the way myrrh and patchouli wrestle with ylang-ylang. The clove is subtle, and warms the other notes.

 

And, the moment Malice touched my skin, the ylang-ylang, patchouli and myrrh folded their tents and stole away, leaving me with nothing but clove and a hint of nail polish remover.

Taurus was a blind bottle must-have, containing the holy Trinity of rose, jasmine, and sandalwood.

 

In the bottle: Bitter rose.

 

Wet: Rose & jasmine are in front. The proportion of each is just right, for me, balanced so that neither one dominates. The sandalwood, pepper & patchouli add a spicy, slightly bitter layer to the blend.

 

Dry: The sweet florals have stepped back, and the wood & spice are to the front. The sandalwood and rose are combining in that smooth, sexy way that I love.

Starstruck Taurus is somewhat similar to Dawn: Priestess.

 

My kind of fragrance, for sure! Very glad I got my bottle.

Brown Jenkin for sure, The Little Wooden Doll, Rakshasa, and Volcano in Springtime from the 2016 Lupers. Of the 4, Brown Jenkin seems to have the greatest proportion of sandalwood.

Australian Sandalwood single note is a dream come true. And I'm liking Paramatman. The orange blossom is pretty strong at first, but the sandalwood lass and lasts.

Mmmmm! Enticing is right. French Love has a lot in common with Dragon's Milk, but it's more complex and less candy-like on me.

 

In the bottle: Pink amber color. I can smell vanilla, dragon's blood, cinnamon, and lilac.

 

Wet: Sweet! I can smell all the above notes, plus a light musk. The cinnamon comes out a little more, and the floral backs off. It's a little powdery, in a sexy way.

 

Dry: Sexy. Light, close to the skin, and totally fantastic.

 

Respectfully snipping Ina Garten Davita's review because it captures a lot of what's working for me:

 

The longer it dries and blends with my chemistry, the more addictive it gets.

Final Analysis: To call this sexy/sophisticated/seductive just won't do. Perhaps a few of these might capture the essence of French Love...alluring, attracting, attractive, beguiling, bewitching, captivating, charming, come-hither, desirable, drawing, enchanting, enticing, fascinating, flirtatious, inviting, irresistible, magnetic, provocative, ravishing, siren, specious, tempting.

 

Note about aging: My first encounter with FL was an aged imp via a forum purchase. It rocked my little cotton socks, so I bought a bottle from the Lab, and it wasn't the same AT ALL. I looked for "French Love" in the Aging BPAL thread, and found this. Hooray! I searched, and found someone on the forum with an aged bottle for sale, and sure enough, it's the same magic that was in my aged imp!

 

So, if you test an imp of FL and are totally underwhelmed, age it--this scent becomes bewitching with a little aging .

This is the BPAL blend that changes the most on me, day to day, that I have encountered so far. Depending on what my skin chemistry is up to,the orange blossom can smell almost ammoniac for a couple of minutes, when fist applied.

Paramatman was a gamble, because the orange blossom in Ravenous burned my cheap flimsy skin something fierce. The orange blossom in Paramatman, fortunately, does not burn.

In the bottle--sandalwood & STRONG orange blossom, like orange blossom water used for cooking.

Wet, the orange blossom dominates for a couple of minutes. The balance then shifts slightly in favor of delicious sandalwood.

After drying, a wee little bit of Nag Champa emerges as the orange blossom retreats.

Subtle, and full of my BFF Sandalwood. I like this a lot (some days more than others.) I'm glad I got a bottle.

Bottle purchased from a forumite. Wow, this is EXCELLENT!

I was worried about the possibility of the bergamot & mandarin notes burning my cheap skin. Fortunately, the patch test resulted in no burns, just a magnetic and joyful scent.

 

The jasmine is my favorite fresh summery BPAL jasmine, and is the easiest note to distinguish. The musk, mandarin, bergamot, rose, carnation & lily of the valley are exquisitely blended together, it's hard to pick them out individually without huffing.

 

LOVE Moscow, very glad I bought a bottle.

 

Edited to add: When wearing Moscow in a scent locket, only use a wee bit. All-day strong!

Sassafras, sweet vanilla, some herbs. Very nice, soft, reminds me a little bit of Love's Philosophy.

Yummy to the Nth degree. The honey note is similar to the one in O. Orange blossom is bright, but not as citrus-y as some BPAL orange blossoms. The Rose is bright, too, reminding me of the fresh Rose note in Cherokee Rose single-note (not a stately red rose type.) The sandalwood is subtle, and stays in the background. The whole is a very sweet, honeyed floral. My kind of scent .

Forum purchase. Oh, yum!

 

SB is fantastic. The coconut & amber are a sweet dream team, (mostly) taming the patchouli's animalic properties. The copal is pretty subtle, but it's definitely there. I'm starting to think I have an olfactory "blind spot" for the Lab's cardamom pod note, because I can't find it, and SB isn't the first blend with cardamon pod that I've missed it in.

 

During the wet stage, the patch is little bit raunchier than I like, but it smooths out a lot on dry-down. I'm looking forward to testing it on Teapapa :-).

Pumpkin Spice Everything perfume (2014) was strong on the clove. Strangely, the atmosphere spray & hair gloss were not - I got more of a mix of spices from them. I really like the clove in Clemence & WIld Men of Jezirat, too.

 

You might also want to look for things with a carnation note - it's quite similar & might be softer. Here's the thread: http://www.bpal.org/topic/21410-carnations/

 

Off the top of my head from the GC, Alice has carnation, milk & honey with a little bit of rose. Morocco is also nice but might not be quite what you're looking for.

If you amp clove, you might try Maiden. The carnation note in Maiden becomes clove on me, and takes over the blend. YMMV, because amping clove is my BPAL superpower.

Green, slightly salty aquatic. Complex and nice smelling in the imp. Once it touched my skin, it turned to a generic sort of "men's cologne" smell, which is about the best I can hope for with aquatics.

I got my partial bottle from a lovely forumite, age unknown. FYI, Pepper has just enough ginger in it to burn a wee bit on tender spots. Patch test if you're sensitive.

 

Wet, the honey, flowers and fruit smell closely related to Bilquis. Delicious!

 

Dry, the pine comes out quite a bit. After a couple of hours, Pepper's a very close match to Kubla Khan. Much lighter and fainter, though.

 

As a solo fragrance, Pepper is nice, but doesn't have a long wear. After my great success wearing Aziraphale & Crowley together, I look forward to testing Pepper with other Good Omens blends.

Sin is one of the "classic" GC scents that my skin chemistry drives into the ditch. In this case, the ditch is full of patchouli.

 

In the imp, Sin smells ultra-fantastic. The amber, cinnamon, sandalwood & patchouli are well-balanced, and it smells like my kind of jam to the max. Alas and alack, once Sin hits my skin, the patch becomes a wild rodeo bull, bucks the other 3 notes off, and tramples them into the dust. I am left smelling like I applied strong single-note patch. I tried an imp fresh from the lab, and an aged imp last spring, and both of them again a year later. Same results.

 

This is the only patchouli blend from the Lab that amps this way on me, thank heavens.

Dragon's Blood has magical properties on my skin. A little DB domesticates notes that I can't usually wear. Ladon is MY white musk scent .

 

Wet, the apple is a little high-pitched, but once it dries, the full range of notes are present. Apple, apple blossom and hyacinth are really beautiful together. White musk (which ordinarily smells like the worst sort of cheap nasty body spray covering stale BO on me,) is soft, warm, and grounds the blend. A real GC treasure.

Maiden is beautiful in the bottle, with a lot of complexity. I am jealous of all who can wear it.

 

On my skin, the beauty lasts for maybe 8 minutes. Then my skin turns it into clove single note.

 

Stupid skin.

The Cat is hard to pin down in the bottle. I couldn't pick of the notes out except a hint of honey.

 

Wet on my skin, it's a sweet herby-woody melange. The aromatic cedar teams up with the benzoin & honey to smell almost like root beer for a bit. There's also a near-citrus scent in there at the start.

 

As it dries, the musk begins to warm up and do its stuff. This is my favorite kind of BPAL musk; warm and furry. The cedar is warm, too, and sweet rather than sour and sharp.

 

As The Cat dries, the honey keeps everything smooth and sweet, and provides that animal hint. Very cat-like, very enjoyable.

 

ETA: Lasts all day :-).

I bet this smells fantastic on a lot of people, because it almost smells fantastic on me. That musk and smoke! Unfortunately, my skin causes the cranberry and smoke to start fighting each other. The result is kind of plastic-y. Not for me.

From a forum purchase.

 

I LOVE the Lab's Moroccan Rose enough that I took a chance on ETAIP, despite the "morning dew" note. Aquatic notes usually turn bitter on my skin. Not this one! Yay!

 

In the bottle, I mostly smell Rose & sweetness. The sweet smell isn't honey, it might be fig and pomegranate? But only if the pomegranate has been made into syrup.

 

Wet, I smell Rose with a hint of lemon, and sweetness.

 

Dry, the Rose is in front, pomegranate and musk are next, and the chamomile, hay, fig, honey, and dew are somewhere in the background.

 

Sweet and light, not a lot of staying power. Very wearable. I'm glad I got it.

I LOVE Violets, but Violet scents don't love my skin. Alas, BVC continues my losing streak with the fragrant purple charmer. (I will have to get over my sad by lying on one of the huge patches of Violets in my parents' lawn and letting the honeybees walk all over me.)

 

In the imp: Violets "bruised" by patchouli, and green notes from the oakmoss. I didn't notice the currants. Smells good!

 

On my skin: Powdery attar of Meh. Everything flattened out, and wilted like moist cardboard. Why, skin? Why!?

I bought my bottle from a forumite, and I adore it.

 

Love is delicate, with medium throw. The rose & strawberry are evenly balanced, and VERY sweet. The cream stays light and fresh on me, a little less buttery than my experience of Boo (YMMV because I have the HG, not the perfume oil.) I only get the tiniest hint of marshmallow.

 

I do not get any of the plastic or green stem notes that some reviewers noticed. I'd like a second bottle: it's that good!

2016 WD: Delicious is right! Snake Oil, Tonka, leather, and sage are prominent; red sandalwood is in the background. So satisfying! Tonka & Snake Oil are an ideal pairing; serpentine sweetness coiled around a leather, sage & sandalwood base.

WD feels warm and sweet, which is just right for a fat ole Diamondback coiled up basking in the sun near some sagebrush. I love WD the animal, and I'm glad I got a decant so I could fall for WD the fragrance. I wish it lasted longer on my skin; after about 4 hours WD is just a sweet hint of SO.

Western Diamondback is a real pleasure.
Edited to add: one year later it is even better! Smoooooooth.

2016 is my first experience with Wulric. Love!

 

In the decant: Sharp and musky, with a hint of cocoa. The lavender, vetiver, & birch tar definitely make themselves felt. Sneezy!

 

Wet: Those sharp scents are prominent at first, giving a "bite-y" feeling to the musk & cocoa. They slowly diminish in throw, allowing the musk and cocoa to take center stage. The vanilla is very subtle.

 

I don't know enough about clary sage and cistus to pick them out, but they're both supposed to have leathery & amber characteristics, so they must be responsible for some of the sweetness and leather in Wulric. I am extremely familiar with cardamom husk (every Christmas, busting open the pods to toast the seeds for fattigmann cookies.) I can't detect it in the decant or wet phase.

 

Dry: Over time, Wulric becomes primarily sweet musk, lavender & cocoa, with the rest of the notes in the background. I think I can finally smell the cardamon pod, but that could be self-hypnosis.

 

Wulric's cocoa separated a lot in my decant, and Alumina gave me some good advice about dealing with the sludge here: http://www.bpal.org/topic/87133-carnaval-diabolique-discussion/page-66?do=findComment&comment=2620726

 

Wulric is a major morpher. My daughter HATES the bright, sharp, bitter smell of Wulric when it's wet, but made off with a cotton sweater I wore while testing my decant, "because it smells so good!"

 

Edited to add: I get compliments nearly every time I wear Wulric.

 

Edited again to add: When worn in a scent locket, the sharp scents don't fade for me (bleh!) Gotta wear Wulric on my skin.

Cottonmouth 2016 is inducing a really intense scent memory for me. The green notes combine with the Snake Oil to smell like summertime by the Yakima river. The Yakima flows through the desert in Eastern Washington. The bitter greens are reminiscent of desert trees and grasses, along the riverbanks. I can smell sunshine through dappled leaves, water on stone, and shade. Entrancing!

 

The floral notes in Cottonmouth are pretty low-key on me. I'm getting Snake Oil with a lot of green. It's not "lush" green; more like the slightly bitter green of willow bark, or desert plants.

 

I REALLY like this! My budget must include funds for a bottle of Cottonmouth!

 

Edited to add: 7 months later, the balance of the notes has changed. The greens have receded to the background, so Snake Oil is more prominent. The florals are still low-key.

It has has also become STRONG. Seriously, Cottonmouth has huge throw, and lasts all day.

2016 Faith, lab purchase with her twin Hope.

 

Alone, Faith is a delicate, dry violet fragrance. Not a lot of throw. I go along with the reviewers who have compared it to candy. If Necco Wafers came in violet flavor, they'd smell like Faith.

 

I'm not going to wear Faith alone. Firstly because violet is pretty far down on my list of notes I love, and second because Faith + Hope = WAY better than either one alone. I wore Hope on one arm, Faith on the other, and was surprised and seduced by the interplay between them. I'm much fonder of roses than violets usually, but I'm going to wear these together, every time.

 

I wish there was a way to review H&F together. They're "nice" by themselves, but together they're exponentially better! I encourage everyone who gets H&F to trust Beth on this one, and test them together before deciding to re-home one of the twins.

 

Edited to add: worn together, H&F are REALLY long-lasting. 10 hours.