RedPersimmon

Wet: Sheer lavender and bergamot with a drop of peppermint water. Drydown: Caramelized plastic. Y'all, I love me some lavender and bergamot, but that deliciousness quickly gave in to what I can only assume is the benzoin. The whole thing faded pretty fast, too, which is just as well because I really wanted to wash it off.

Wet: I get a buttery Nutella note, which dominates over the rose. Dry: A grounded rose with a some green notes here and there. Dry-down: A dark, nutty, slightly earthy rose. The nuttiness smells like a Ferrero Rocher hazelnut chocolate in this phase. I actually had some in the kitchen, so I took one out and sniff-tested them side by side lol. Average longevity and sillage. I thought that this would smell thin, but the cacao does a nice job of rounding out the sheer rose and giving it some depth. I liked Quatre, but there are so many good ones in this year's Lupers that I'll have to re-test them after they've rested to really narrow down my options. -ETA: I tested it again after 3 weeks and I like it even more now. The green notes are gone now and I think I'm smelling benzoin in the dry-down. And now it's mostly a sophisticated dry cocoa powder filled out by rose. Unlike the other Une Douzaine de Roses scents that I've tried, the rose note doesn't overpower the other notes.

Wet: Spicy green ginger ale with a bit of earthiness. Dry-down: Prominent honeyed ginger and cardamom. Then, a creamy ti leaf comes out and alternates with a spicy moss. At the end, it becomes almost a rose-y ginger. I love ginger and I like that this one starts off earthy and becomes cleaner as time goes on. It's understated and unisex and just gets better and better on my skin over time. Oh yeah, my bottle also says "Rapture" instead of "Rupture". I like the latter better. ETA: The rose at the end might have been One Perfect Day. I realized it when I took off my shirt and the shirt sleeve still had One Perfect Day on it from 2 days ago.

Starts off citrus-lily-cacao. It's full, sophisticated, a juicy yet restrained fruity floral. Not too sweet. A few minutes later, citrus-lily/orchid begins alternating with a soft peach-cacao. Dry-down is lemony resin. At the very end, the skin scent is spicy honey floral. This one morphs a lot and I like all of the phases, which is rare for me. Cock Stamen has broad appeal. I can totally see this in Sephora next to the other springtime-appropriate fruity florals. However, this doesn't have the headache-inducing overwhelming throw or the supersweetness of the synthetic perfumes. It's definitely one of my favorites of the 2018 Lupers and I will be getting a bottle.

The opening felt like lying down in the park with grass inches from your face. After about twenty minutes, I was left with a soapy oakmoss and a hint of white pepper, which stayed the same through the dry-down. Not a fan of that, but the opening zingy blast was really great. Reminded me of The Gap's Grass scent and I could smell each of the listed notes except for maybe dandelion sap (because I don't remember what that smells like).

Opening: Slighty spicy honeyed tea rose. Well blended. Dry-down: Gets a little powdery, but doesn't morph much after that. Ends as a soft balsamic rose. This rose isn't too heady and it's nicely supported by the other cast members. Great for the office. While wearing this today, I decided that the Lab's honey note OWNS me. I am its slave. I will do whatever it says. Average-strong sillage and average longevity. I liked it from start to finish. My favorite of the 2018 Lupers so far. Git in my cart!

Dry: Funky salty champaca. Dry-down: Champaca-dominant, slightly fruity. Musk comes out over time. Ends up a salty, nutty champaca with a hint of peach.

Wet: Coconut and almond at the forefront. Honeyed amber and teak wood bring up the back end. Dry-down: Teak wood alternates with honeyed amber and adds a smooth, spiced warmth. Got waxy at one point, and turned into spicy teak crayons. Lone survivor at the end was the teak. Didn't think it lasted too long on me, but it's hard to tell because all the notes vibrate at a similar, low level. I slathered in the beginning because I couldn't smell my usual dab on the pulses and ended up with a headache.

Snake Oil usually goes overly sugared rubber on me, so let's see how Snake's Kiss fares... Wet: Milky honeyed floral. Dry: The cream tempers the sweetness and I'm liking it better than Snake Oil because of that. Getting a sweet marshmallow orchid now. Dry-down: Becomes more sheer and the notes meld together, becoming a sugared orchid-vanilla musk. Quite lovely!

Wet: Lots of French lavender and bergamot. It smells zingy and carbonated, kind of like Sprite. I love this phase! Dry: The above notes soften and become honeyed and milky. Dry-down: Now it's a toned-down floral with hits of green here and there. At the end, the base notes put off a deep, powdery, bitter vibe. This phase lasts the longest. Low-medium sillage with medium longevity.

Wet: Sour, dusty rose with a hint of (indistinguishable) ancient spices. Dry: Getting a little honey in the background, although this is not a sweet blend. Smells like an old classic, like one of my mom's eau de parfums that she's had for decades. It's quite lemony-sour and I get a tiny bit of creaminess in the way, way back. This is Alice's less ebullient aunt. Medium-strong sillage. Average longevity.

I agree with everyone else saying that it's like Dorian without the musk. I blind-bottled this and it's quickly become my favorite everyday scent. I just LOVE the woody, non-foodie vanilla drydown. I think I prefer it on my clothes rather than on my skin, although it's still quite nice on my skin. It's got better throw and longevity on cloth. Even the opening, which in most fragrances are usually too sharp/strong on me, is nice. It's a good nighttime scent, but it would also be good for work, as it won't offend any coworkers. I love this so much! I'm considering buying a backup...

So, I've had my decant for about two months now and when I was wearing Canis Major today, I was getting a LOT of almond. Like, a musky, sweet, cherry-almond. Not getting a ton of vanilla, though--this is definitely not foody. I also get slightly soapy floral notes and then something in the dry-down that reminds me of the dry-down of Snow White.

Got a frimp of this from the Lab. Getting a ton of floral from this, like pressing my face directly into the stamen of a flower. Thought it was lily, but checked the notes and they said honeysuckle and jasmine. Not getting any cat-pee or decay. It's pretty straight-ahead, blooming flower to me. I didn't get the lemon or spice before I read what the notes were, but now I can smell them a little bit. It's pretty and ladylike. I can see a woman in a white dress and wide-rimmed white hat walking in a sun-filled garden. I've never been to New Orleans, but this blend smells very southern to me.

Got a frimp of this in my order a few days ago. Wet: Mint, whiskey, frankincense/amber vibe. Maybe a touch of vetiver. Super boozy. Drydown: I'm getting amber and a sandalwood-ish baby powder. Spicy-woody and a bit creamy on the back end. The bourbon is very strong and giving me a headache. I think this would be nice on a man who likes to drink.

In the decant: Minty forest. I'm guessing it's the oakmoss and lemon rind. Wet: Purple fruit, slightly sweet. Vetiver, patchouli, and amber gives it an earthy base with a bit of spice. Dry: Amber with a tiny zing of lemon rind.

In the decant: strong red wine vinegar and grapes. Wet: fruity, dark, sweet oudh. All the other notes take a backseat to the red wine vinegar. I like the rest of it, I just wish the vinegar would calm down a bit. Dry-down: the red wine vinegar fades over 20 minutes and Cassiopeia eventually becomes a grape-y oudh. Good throw, but only lasts a few hours. Edit: Tried it again at Starbucks two weeks later and it smells great mixed with the smell of the coffee bean-infused air! A rich, velvety, plummy oudh. My friend said that I smelled like merlot. The dark fruitiness stays at the forefront throughout and it's not dry or powdery. The notes are very well balanced and I can smell each of the notes in the description, but I can't tell where one starts and one ends. Okay, I just took another big whiff and now it smells like a big nug of fresh indica LOL. And no, I'm not stoned (right now).

2017 version, applied in 83-degree F dry heat In the Decant: Sweet florals, ozonic. Wet: Weak white florals, a bit of almond and coconut, still very ozonic. Bit of a dryer-sheet quality to it. Dry-down: Kind of like when you get out of the swimming pool and your nose is full of chlorine. Something like that. Also, getting that pineapple that others have noted, but it's not overly sweet. Powdery and atmospheric yet sharp if you get a good sniff. I would say Snow White's primary quality is ozonic. I'd like to try this out when it's actually cold outside, because that's probably its intended use. Low throw, even in this heat and after a sweaty walk through my neighborhood, but good longevity.

In the bottle, I get a ton of patchouli, vetiver, oakmoss and a bit of cedar. Earthy is right! Wet, tobacco and birch tar join the party. This scent just reminded me of the Tibetan incense that I bought from a hippie store in Berkeley a long time ago. It was super strong and I couldn't handle it, so I ended up throwing it away. As it dries, it becomes a teensy bit sweeter and I can smell the vanilla and tonka and leather accord. I'm sad that the damp tobacco smell is disappearing and becoming very dry. It's still bitter and earthy, though, with a hint of spice. This would smell fantastic on a cowboy. Basically, Crystal Phoenix goes from tobacco to leather. Medium throw.

In the bottle: damp, spicy, deep smoke and vetiver. Upon application, it smells like my hair after going to a friend's outdoor BBQ party, except without the smell of meat and the sweetness of the BBQ sauce. Very, very smoky and ashy. At this point, was afraid that it was going to stay ashes, but I'm starting to smell the patchouli with bourbon vanilla around the edges. I keep waiting for the sweetness to appear, but this one keeps its integrity. Respect. I've never smelled BPAL's dead leaves note before, but I think I have a good idea of it now. I guess I was expecting more of a sharp metallic smell, but it's more of the *idea* of steel that I get here. I'd like to try this right when summer turns into autumn. Just when it starts getting colder, and walking along the beach at night. I'm also curious to layer this with a deep raspberry or black currant or other tart dark fruit. Strong throw on me. Whoo, something in this is making my heart beat really fast. Edit: Had to wash it off. I think my brain was registering this scent as cigarette smoke (I don't smoke) and was involuntarily holding my breath, and maybe that's why my heart was beating so fast.

This reminds me of a cracked, faded, well-worn leather easy chair that's been scented by the cigar smoke of its daily occupant. I believe the occupant has a beard and a dog that sits at his feet. I get a lot of oudh, leather, and smoke. It's spicy with some sweetness in the background. When wet, there's a green herbal sharpness that vibrates on top. It really gives it that eerie feeling that fits the story.

I get a soapy blast in the bottle, but within seconds on my skin, I get the aforementioned purpleness and the iris and sage. This has low throw and now, just a few minutes after I applied it to the back of my hands, I can barely smell it. Oh wait! Now I'm getting the leather. Not getting much patchouli... but a little blackcurrant around the edges. It smells very clean but also very dry. Might be the ambergris--salty and dry. Interesting. The scents come and go and there's a dynamic interchange here where you think one note has gone away, but it comes back later on. I like scents with low throw because I easily get headaches from strong scents and with this, I forget it's on and then I smell my hand and it's like I have a little secret that no one knows about.

This is very musky on me. Animalic, leathery, sweet with a little cardamom. Medium throw. I applied it in 75-degree F weather (That's winter in LA for you!) and three hours later, it's become a woodsy, vanilla musk skin scent. The sweetness (fig?) in it does remind me of something in the night sky, but the leather and musk definitely bring things down to earth. Orion actually reminds me of a large, furry, winter animal. This could easily be named Ursa Major instead of Orion. Edit: So I've had my decant for about a month, and I think I'm obsessed with it now! In the beginning, it was an odd scent that I neither loved nor hated. I don't really like it when it's wet, but after the first 15 minutes, the tobacco-leather-musk-spice thing becomes sooo intoxicating: comfy and confident and sexy but not in-your-face. Out of the 2017 Yules, Orion ties with The Air and the Ether for my favorite but it's Orion that I crave the smell of. This is going to be my first BPAL bottle!

Quick in-the-decant review: Bitter, woody, spicy oudh. Pretty strong while wet. Edit: Smells like Sprite (the carbonated drink) while wet. I also get the red musk vibe. I'm definitely liking it better the second time around. I layered it with a non-BPAL, Briar Rose by Ineke (Black raspberry, bitter almond, exotic spices, black violet, patchouli and cacao absolute) and LOVED it.

Quick in-the-decant review: Damp, woody oudh. If this scent had a color, it would be red. Actually, maybe that's the cinnamon that I'm smelling. The Magis would do well layered, as another reviewer mentioned.