kscha2017

This smells like a very specific spot in my area (far from CA) where pine, cedar, birch and oak trees give way to juniper and grasses, then sun-warmed sand dunes leading down to the cool lake. We used to visit this spot on field trips in grade school and it takes me right back to those memories. Love it.

I'm getting vibes of BPTP's A Fling in the Lagoon bath oil, one of my faves. Wet, I get lavender and lime. As it dries, I get mint and lime with a hint of lavender, maybe a splash of appletini.

Light, sweet, fresh, green. Joy, happiness, innocence, energy. Brings to my heart a lovely nostalgia for my childhood on a hot summer afternoon when my dad showered, shaved, and put on cologne before going to a family wedding reception.

Beautiful. First sniff brought strong vibes of Halloween. More sniffs made me think there is something that I have in the Carnival Diabolique collection that this reminds me of. The blood musk is strong, with (to my nose) a sweet incense quality to the ashes, along the lines of Midnight Mass.

The subject of our latest #BPAL7wordstory contest was Pride. The winning entry was submitted by Cam Collins: The alligator selfie was a bad idea A swampy blend of Spanish moss, green tea, green oakmoss, celery seed, cucumber, and murky black patchouli. I really love this. Very green, very black. Simultaneously bright/fresh, dark/dank. Perfectly liminal, it captures the scene that is the story. I can smell the precise moment when that exhuberant, innocent, determination and foolish pride change to surprise, realization of error, fear, and regret. This is a malevolent alligator! What were you thinking?! On me, the bright/fresh greens quickly fade, leaving primarily the mosses and black patch, but ever-so-often a whiff of the brightness bobs to the surface. I am so going to enjoy telling people about this ascent when they ask what I'm wearing!

Ohhhh, yes, I get where JazzieCazzie is coming from with the description of sweat/b.o. I got that initially upon application - kinda like an acrid, cold sweat (Not fear cold, but temperature cold). It lasted only a moment or two and I do think that's the weed smoke. It reminds me of Ask The Nearest Hippie without the vanilla at that point. Nag champa comes out nice and sweet and warm right after, chasing away the cold, acrid sweat. Lastly, patchouli comes in gently to blend with the nag champa and tame down the sweetness a bit. I can't smell any more weed.

What a nice surprise as a frimps in my order! Just opening it to sniff, I get something dark green mixed with something cinnamon. It smells really good, which surprises me cuz I'm not a cinnamon fan. It reminds me a bit of the ginger cookies my grandma used to make when I was a kid. I think I smell a hint of brown sugar, boozy vanilla/butter, and whatever makes Red Hots candy red hot. Maybe a touch of black patchouli too? It changes a little each time I sniff.

Wow, I got a decant of this because I already have honey and wax scents and thought a little would be enough. I dabbed a bit on and was immediately overwhelmed by the scent of a roomful of hot, sputtering, smoking candles. I smell such realistic candle smoke, I can barely believe my nose. I smell hot pools of wax and can almost hear the moment each candle flame is extinguished in a pool of wax and creates a stream of black smoke, one by one, around the room. It's as much an image, an atmosphere, a feeling of heat, as it is a scent. It was hot pools of wax and smoke for about 30-45 min on me before it tamed down to warm beeswax with a hint of smoke. I could smell it wafting around me the whole day at work. I love this so much. It's like a bigger, stronger, hotter, smokier, less holy, more horny/sexy Hanerot Halalu. Very suggestive. I don't know why I'm getting such strong candle smoke - it must be the white patchouli on me??

Dark and sexy, but also sweet and innocent, and a tad bit lonely. I keep getting the image of a lovestruck tiny gothy Valentine Faerie in a black velvet gown kissing the shadowy, forlorn dark moon. If you could make black rose baby powder, it would smell like this. It's lovely, calm, comforting, a bit wistful, a tad heartbroken. I would love this in a linen spray for my sheets and blankets. I think it fits the concept perfectly.

Wet, I get very strong spruce, sleet, and smoke. I don't pick up lavender or berry. Very masculine and winter-outdoorsy, but it mellows on drying. Did not last as long on me as some of my other spruce/pine scents but I'm happy that the sleet is just like the Sleet HG which is a favorite of mine. Great pairing.

I have never had King Cake. I must find some next year. It had better taste as good as this smells because else I will be disappointed. This smells like the best cake ever created in the history of cake. Almond, sugar, butter, and cream cheese. Like I rolled around on a real cake (the best cake ever created in the history of cake). I won't be able to wear this unless there is cake/cookies/torte of some kind within reach because it's making me hungry. Realer than real. Amazing. [Edit: I am not much of a foodie scent lover, but this is so good, I ordered a second bottle]

Got this as a free sample in my recent order. Oooh, I like this very much. Somehow, never came across it in the catalogue. Smells like the restored prairie I walk through at the nature preserve when all the flowers and grasses are at their prime in early August. Thank you, this is going on my To Buy list.

A winters cologne: a pale chypre infused with white sage, creeping mint, pine needles, and frankincense. This isn't going to be a very helpful review, but I am extremely moved by how much this reminds me of Christmas as a kid. Specifically, it reminds me of how my mother's winter coat smelled after we came home from midnight mass on Christmas Eve. There is the faint scent of a mix of sophisticated perfumes that lingered on her collar (chypre?), the smell of church (frankincense, I suppose), and the sense of cold air and snowflakes on the wool (mint, pine and sage?). If the picture on the label had a scent, this is exactly it. I would not call it "pretty" but it is full of nostalgia for me. It is also going to be the most perfect pairing for my beloved Frostbitten Malediction perfume from the Lab.

Nag champa, patchouli, and red sandalwood. Oh yeah, this is sheer perfection. A beautifully balanced blend, gentle and sweet. Just like I remember my favorite store in my college town where I used to buy incense, prayer shawls, Tibetan beads, henna, and Buddha icons. I usually only spray twice but I sprayed 5 times. I need all my stuff to smell like this: hair, skin, clothes, car, etc.

A dark, forbidding patchouli chypre with a sliver of soul-cold fir needle. I can't say much other than it's as described: patchouli chypre and fir. It is colder than cold! Icy, tomblike. It also, perhaps oddly, reminds me of the sassafras drink from Ren Faire (rootbeer and black licorice), but with something sinister slipped in. It's glorious and orgasmic. I need more.

Wet: Strong, sharp, bold, icy, sinus-opening lavender on me. My favorite! Like being outside on an early subzero morning, everything glittering with frost, so cold it hurts to breathe. As it dries: A touch of pine mixed in now, and a hint of chamomile way in the background. Reminds me of walking in fresh, powdery snow as the sun warms the air just a little. Completely dry and as time passes: A suggestion of patchouli, making it warmer and more comforting, like after you've come indoors from playing in the snow. This I would buy in 5ml bottles, definitely. Love!

Very pretty and rich, more "perfumey" than I was expecting, and quite strong on me. I get beeswax prominently with a tiny bit of honey (which I suppose is the olive oil). No smoke at all. This also gives me a strong flashback to a pink, wax pomander in the shape of a Japanese woman that my mom had for many years when I was a kid.

Malediction is my favorite BPAL scent. It smells just like the woods where I hike often. It embodies the notions of peace, adventure, renewal, and spirituality for me. Seeing Frostbitten Malediction offered for Yule made me cry with joy, and now that my order has arrived, I am crying again. This version is more beautiful than expected. I expected Malediction with an icy note, but this is Malediction with sweet snow. It's like walking in my favorite woods with fresh snow on the ground and light, sparkly flakes coming down on Christmas Eve. As much an emotion as a scent. The initial application, wet, was the typical strong, eye-watering Malediction with a hint of a cold note, but that quickly changed to Malediction with a note of sweet snow, and quickly amped to an almost snowy-cotton-candyish overlay with Malediction in the background. I assume this is the "Snow White" version of snow that fans speak of. The longer it's on my skin, the sweeter it's getting with the biting base of Malediction losing ground. Could almost be an olfactory interpretation of the miracle and mystery of Christmas - an innocent babe, laid in a manger, born to overcome the Adversary. After an hour, it seems perfectly balanced between Malediction and sweet snow. It's beautiful and perfect. Definitely a few more bottles going in my basket! [update: 14 hours later, I can still smell it on my wrist, and it's still perfectly balanced.]

I find that this is fast becoming the HG I reach for most often, and I'm not much for chocolate scents usually. It's a well-balanced blend of very good chocolate and what my nose says is Earl Grey tea. The patchouli is very light and lends just an extra little oomph to connect the chocolate and tea. The gloss has tremendous staying power as well - I smell it continually all day after spraying, and can wash several times with other-scented shampoo and it comes back!

This is the first BP item that I was in danger of drinking. I get primarily expensive dark chocolate, fresh cold carnation, and perfect plum, very well balanced so that they all appear at once and equal. I don't seem to pick up much myrrh or sage, but they may be hiding behind the chocolate and/or carnation to lend a bit more depth. Very rich and decadent, I find this a great companion to the Dark Chocolate, Black Tea, and Patchouli Hair Gloss.

Hemp and mossy soil soften and "blur" the sharp cologne bite of the dead leaves. Reminds me alot of Graveyard Dirt mixed with slightly damp, newly-dried autumn leaves. This is lazy, dreamy, floating, sexiness. Warm, but with a hint of unsettling coldness underneath. Once fully dry, I get a background appearance of something slightly bitter/sour - not sure if it's oudh or the dead leaves breaking through. It's not unpleasant, though it may be just a tad sinister/foreboding. Somehow it fits with the lazy-dreamy-floatingness. A scent for an irresistibly sexy male zombie, maybe? I am not able to pick out the frankincense by itself.

I would have sworn I reviewed this already, but apparently not. This was, I believe, the 2nd BPAL scent I ever tried (via a frimp from a friend) and it remains my favorite of all. Based on the name, description, and reviews, I never would have tried it because none of those things told me I would even remotely like it. However ... It smells just like the woods where I hike often. I'm frequently out there and stop mid-stride, thinking "it smells like BPAL out here," and wondering why because I know I didn't put any on before going out there. It smells like wet black earth, sunshine on brackish puddles, moss, mildew, musty mushrooms, pine sap, last autumn's dry leaves crushed into the dirt, rotting logs, decaying plants, and fresh air. And it makes me so happy. It's beautiful and perfect, how could it be "evil incarnate"?

Just sprayed/wet: I got strong allspice, and dragon's blood (I don't like this). Drying: Spicy dragon's blood with a hint of cotton candy (cheering for cotton candy, hoping it gets stronger). Dried: Dragon's blood and a hint of cotton candy (glad the allspice is gone, this is ok, still want a bit more cotton candy).

Lemony ozone and a distant hint of (purple) incense. Evokes a sense of nighttime and apprehension, somehow, and reminds me of being a kid at the outdoor theater late at night with heat lightning on the horizon. For that sense/atmosphere memory alone, I thank you. Then I tried this paired with BPAL'S Stormclouds Over the Midway and *swoon*. It's as awesome as I had hoped.

This is gorgeous, swoon-worthy even. So fresh, wet, the sense of dark, lush green plants alongside clear, fresh water. There is a sweet floral (rather like honeysuckle) that runs equally strong with the green and aquatic side. A hint of something dry and brown is off to the side. Having spent the morning along the shore of Lake Michigan, this smells nothing like it (which is good). It does, however, evoke quite vividly the tall grasses, cattails and wildflowers, along the riverbank that empties into the lake, at the height of summer - a place I visited earlier this week. This is a very uplifting, positive scent, bold and strong.