lizabelle

This. This is the best hair gloss. If the trading post ever tops this I may just swoon so hard I'm unable to review it. When I ordered it I wasn't even really aware it had opoponax in it--I read "red apple and blackened vanilla" and was already sold. In the meantime opoponax became one of my top five favorite notes, and I saw someone mention this gloss somewhere on the forums, so when it came and had opoponax I was beyond thrilled. I'm still beyond thrilled. It starts out with a super-ripe red apple, and thick, sweet honey. At first the opoponax sort of blends with the honey, but over time it makes its presence known separately and turns into the dark, sweet, resinous note I adore. The honey is pretty constant throughout the wear, and the apple sticks around for a shockingly long time. This gloss also has incredible throw; some HGs I can't really smell when I'm just sitting there, because I have very short (like, ear-length) hair. This one I can, even when I'm not moving or actively trying to get a whiff. I'm very glad of that, because all the whiffs I get are incredible. If I can track down an extra bottle I may have to stock up!

Yet another HG I ended up getting because the notes list sounded perfect for me. If this was a perfume I'd probably bathe in it--maybe I'm lucky it's an HG because it'll last longer this way! This starts with the most perfect green apple ever. I seriously thought there was a freshly-cut apple in the room, even though I live by myself and have no apples. The bergamot is sharp and a bit sour combined with the apple, but I don't mind it because of the way it balances the sweetness of the flowers. They are soft and almost powdery, with some creaminess coming from both blooms, I think. Nothing at all indolic about them, and the fruit keeps a crispness to the whole thing. It strikes me as a very spring/summer kind of scent, overall very fresh and wearable.

I wasn't expecting it, but this might be my second-favorite bath oil so far (after Hidden Purpose). As with the other BPAL/BPTP gingerbread blends I've sniffed, this is a very bready gingerbread--no cookies here. It's also more spicy than sweet, which gets no complaints for me. At the start there's a dusting of cocoa powder over the gingerbread, like a garnish, which surprisingly is very nice. Over time the gingerbread fades and the coffee makes itself known; the final stage is like ground coffee mixed with cocoa powder and left to just mingle that way. It's dry but amazing. It's also one of the most powerfully fragrant of the bath oils I've tried, and it lasts a long time on the skin. Totally worth it if you like the listed notes!

I had to get this when it appeared in the etsy shop, because it pretty much sounded perfect for me. (Actually, at least half the HGs do...) It's heavy on the dead leaves and resin, but there is a dark, bittersweet undertone that seems to be a mixture of the cacao and fig. I hope that particular pairing is in another scent sometime, because it's beautiful. I can see this going with quite a few things I own, simply because it's so dark and smoky--I'm wearing it with Bestla now and they get along rather well.

I honestly can't decide how I feel about this. On me it's very dry and powdery, almost dusty, and I'm not quite sure what's doing it. If you didn't show me the label on this one and asked what RPG scent I thought it was, I might guess Thieves' Rosin--I haven't smelled that one yet, but this definitely has a powdery resinous quality. There is a bit of woodiness but I couldn't pick out the woods as oudh and sandalwood, which are normally very distinct on me. It's a very blonde/off-white kind of scent; blonde woods, soft resins, powdery musk. Not really my thing.

Just when I think I've smelled the full spectrum of BPAL's honey notes, there's somehow another one out there. This one is utterly gorgeous and I'm wondering if it's in anything else. Story time: we have an agriculture fair where I am every year, and when I was a little girl they had a full room of honeys you could taste. (They also set up the room so the bees could freely fly in and out and the honey could be collected without harming them. Very cool.) This is an exact match for FRESH, light, and sweet wildflower honey. There's a fruity tone, here, and a dandelion leaf thing going on, but they come across more as aspects of the honey than separate notes. It's basically a honey SN on me, but a gorgeous, complex, beautiful-spring-day honey that I would just about bathe in. Get in my cart right now, you!

I wish I liked this better, because Jabberwocky is one of my favorite poems. Sadly, this is way too pine-heavy for me. There's definitely some eucalyptus in here, making it cool and a bit sweet, and the orange oddly enough comes in later rather than being a top note like usual. It's definitely more an orange peel than the flesh of the fruit. I'm getting a strong scent memory from this of a potpourri my parents used to put out around Christmas, which was basically all pine and oranges with some cinnamon. Cinnamon might actually improve this for me, or something else to balance out all that pine.

Crushed roses and blackcurrant tarts. Wow! This is a surprise favorite for me from the Mad Tea Party collection--Dormouse is still number one, but this might be number two. The cake note here is almost identical to the one in Mari Lwyd, and similar to the one in Eat Me; it's heavy and currant-rich, almost closer to scones than true cake for me. The roses here are pink and yellow, and similar to Cherokee Rose SN on my skin. Almost lemony, fruity roses (although many of BPAL's roses end up rather fruity on me) with a sweetness I've only smelled in other "pink" rose scents. The overall effect is that of a true tea party, with little cakes on a pretty table in a rose garden. I love it!

I am so glad I tracked down a bottle of this! I, frankly, had no idea what ambergris even was before BPAL, let alone what it smelled like. After a few months and many imp tests, it's become a favorite note of mine. Enter this beauty. It starts with a fresh sea air kind of quality, salty but not obnoxiously so. Definitely a marine scent, but there's also borderline-floral and fresh laundry tones that occasionally weave in. I also do get brief moments of a candied citrus--maybe candied lemon peels? Somehow every time I smell BPAL's ambergris notes I'm reminded of salt-coated driftwood, which is the image that's coming to mind with this. It's very soft, very complex, completely wearable on its own but I bet it would layer beautifully. I don't find this to be overly masculine, more unisex and likely a morpher on each person, but ymmv of course.

What is this "slight" business? This is a soft, sweet, creamy vanilla dessert. Custard through and through. I can see where some people might get plastic out of the sharp undertone, but to me it keeps it from being too sugary--it's a lovely hint of the bean coming through. It's almost vanilla candle-like, and I mean that in the best possible way; it's soothing and rich but not overpowering at all. I had hoped this would be a bit more boozy, but I still like it a lot and I can see it layering well with nearly everything I own.

Another amber bomb on me. I'm guessing this is a darker amber than is in most BPALs (...or it's just aged significantly), because it's not as sickeningly sweet on me as, say, Coyote or Bastet. There's definitely musk in here, too, but beyond that I couldn't say. It's giving me the impression of an old perfume, but not in a good way--like something thrown into a drawer and forgotten about for at least a decade. Hopefully someone else will enjoy this imp more.

Um, wow. I keep waiting for the amber in this to turn on me but it isn't (doubly surprising because of the saffron). This is gorgeous! As others have noted this is not a dry cedar at all but a rich, warm one that blends in so well with the amber that they almost become one complete, resinous note. The honey and heliotrope are sweet but not too sweet, similarly blending in enough that it's hard to pick the scent apart. It's perfectly blended and nothing takes over or sticks out. Overall this reminds me a bit of a deeper, sweeter Palmyra.

Immediately after trying this I was sure I smelled lilacs, but apparently I'm way off. Now that I'm looking at the notes I can smell the rose (which is very red and very velvety), but it still does have that lilac edge. Could be the orchid mixing in with it, which is not a combo I've smelled before. I'm not sure what mariposa or mahoe smell like, but it all blends together into a lush, deep floral. Definitely a "nighttime" scent, if you believe in that sort of thing. The cigar smoke is faint on me but adds just enough bite that it's not like I've gone out and rolled in flowers. Beautiful.

As I wrote in my review of Third Charm, I waffled between this and that before finally settling on a bottle of Third Charm. As it turns out, they are sisters. This is dark, musky, and smoky whereas TC is sweet, dark, and herbal. Both have a definite witchy quality, and an outdoors-in-autumn quality. This is very reminiscent of being outside on a cold night with fires around, but less playful than Devil's Night--it's bitter and a little foreboding. Over time it morphs on me to be even more like Third Charm, with a honeyed tone that's more gooey than sweet. Absolutely lovely.

2007 version I'm starting to get the feeling that Weenies are my thing, even more than Yules and Lupers. I like the others, of course, but I've now tried so many Weenies that are just magic. This is one. It's mostly buttery cakes and currants, similar to the cake note in Mari Lwyd, but there's a soft smoky note like the one in Devil's Night threading through it. It's definitely evocative of a fall festival, and I love it.

Clean, rainy, and pretty. I love fresh grass notes so I had to try it, but this is more a rain scent than anything. It is aquatic, and it's hovering right on the edge of soap on me, but I think it's not going to go off. This is a very fresh and wearable scent, and really comforting.

Ash bark, Kashmir wood, tonka bean, clary sage, Spanish moss, cocoa absolute, King mandarin, galangal root, and matcha tea. I'm in love with this. It's a woody scent for the wood-phobic. It's Yggdrasil's smoky, sexy cousin. The woods are present but not overpowering (and, by the way, can we have more ash notes? and kashmir wood, for that matter), and the sage and matcha keep it green without being a green perfume. The tonka, cocoa, and moss create a dry, smoky base that makes the whole thing so rich; it's hard to describe how well it all blends but it's much more harmonious than I would have guessed from the notes. I may have to hunt down a bottle, because my nose is glued to my arm right now.

2016 version So, here's the thing; when I ordered a decant of this I didn't actually expect to like it. I figured it was one of those classic BPALs that you just have to smell. I am so very pleased to be wrong. This starts with a kind of molasses/dark varnished wood note, then the wool comes in. I have no idea how the lab does these things, but it seriously smells like a well-loved blanket. There's also something coal-dusty going on here, like the ash note in La Befana. The overall effect is surprisingly warm and comforting, and most of all wearable. I love it!

2016 version This is very different than I expected from the notes--I was thinking sharp, green herbal but this is sweet, gooey patchouli on me. I think this must be red patch (my favorite); it's very similar to the one in Fake News, prominent and perfumey. I could have sworn there's honey in here, because whatever's tricking me into thinking so is a complete dupe for the one in Third Charm. In fact, if Fake News and Third Charm had a baby you'd probably get this. It's dark, honeyed patchouli that almost has a molasses quality. I won't be hunting down a bottle desperately right now, but the next time it comes around I'm definitely getting it!

What a beauty! This starts out drier and less sweet than I expected--there's definitely vanilla and cardamom, but it almost smells like there's tobacco or something in there too. It's very earthy. I tend to amp fruit so once the apricot comes in it takes over, but I can't complain too loudly--this is a bright, juicy apricot that's the twin of the one in Four Seasons: Winter. Underneath the opening forms an interesting, almost coffee-like base. Completely unlike anything I've smelled before.

Oh, wow. This is going into my cart immediately. On me this is all sweet, fresh herbs--I get no myrrh or honey, to the point that I'm very surprised to see them listed. Frankincense is absent, too. There's a lot of fennel and a lot of thyme, which mix wonderfully together. I don't know what mugwort smells like alone, but I'm guessing it's blending in with the other herbs; this smells a bit like a clover field in the middle of summer. It's utterly beautiful.

I was afraid of the amber in this, but it turns out I don't need to be--BPAL's apples love me, and I them. This is very cider-heavy on me, which I am not complaining about at all. There's a wine note here but it's much softer than I'm used to, and it does indeed smell wooly! There's something sharp and herbal in the background, almost like wet moss or the start of green mold. I don't mean that to sound unpleasant; it's a really interesting note unlike anything I've smelled before. I get no flowers and no treacle, which I am a bit sad about. Probably not a bottle purchase for me but I may keep the imp.

Azathoth is the blind, idiot god who sits on a black throne at the center of Chaos. His scent is high-pitched and screeching, both impenetrably dark and searingly bright with the clarity of madness: tangerine, saffron, vetiver, black amber and cedarwood. This is dark, dark burnt incense. Not burning--this is the ashes. I get the burnt tone of vetiver I've smelled in lots of BPALs, with some extra smoke in the background that smells like a bonfire/controlled burn on a cold day. It's stark and reminiscent of the opening of Djinn. Eventually the cedar comes in and makes it slightly warmer and softer, and the amber develops even slower. This is not a powdery or sweet amber, and just serves to make the whole thing even darker and gooey. Together they almost smell piney at a distance, and the whole thing continues to smell like aromatic woods being burned. Surprisingly nice!

I had to try this one because of the interesting notes (green coconut!), but once it's on my skin this gets kind of strange. It's muddled and I can't really pick out notes--unfortunately I can't say that's a good thing this time, because there's a weird fuzzy, almost mildewy kind of tone to it. It's not quite floral, not quite fruity, not quite aquatic, not quite traditional perfume/cologne. It's familiar in a way but I can't place it. I think it might be reminding me of something I smelled on some guy who left a bad impression on me. I'll pass!

I'm so confused by all the "sweet" reviews. It kind of smells like the lime/musk "cologne" note that's in every men's cologne nowadays, with an overtone of...disinfectant? It smells like a hospital--I even see fluorescent lights in my head when I smell it.