fenharel

it's so interesting to see everyone's different interpretations of a scent. wet for me this is a thick, heady blast of juicy berries tempered by a mild, pleasant white floral (that must be the jasmine - lighter than i've ever smelled it before) with a zippy green twist (and there's the lime.) it definitely has the air of a high-end, commercial perfume. what's really interesting for me is what happens as i wear this throughout the day. first of all, it has fantastic throw and staying power. it's not overpowering but i can smell it for several hours after application as though i'd just put it on. but over time this turns into something really stunning on my skin with a distinct like... sparkling honeyed note? there's this moscato they sell at Trader Joe's called Sara Bee that to me is essentially like a light sparkling mead. that's exactly what this smells like on me. moreso than ANY other champagne, effervescent scent i've tried from BPAL. i think it's a strange effect of all the notes combined. i love it. i'll probably be snagging multiple bottles of this.

aahhhhhhh. i wanted to love this one because i loooooove red musk, but.... i couldn't. i had to wash it off with the quickness. something about it smells just like kitty litter to me :cry2:

GOD!!!! okay, I literally JUST put this on and rushed to write a review (so this won't account for wear time. I'll edit it later.) I'm buying a backup. Maybe two. This is GORGEOUS. STUNNING. Instantly jumped to my top 5. I will try my hardest to write an actual review and not just gush. In the bottle and fresh on the skin it's musk-forward. Truly a white/crystalline musk. It's a musk that has a fresh quality to it. The red benzoin and vanilla husk combine to back the freshness with something sweet and powdery (but not baby powder powdery. powdered sugar powdery,) and prevent it from becoming aquatic. it's sweet but not cloying or foody - less sugary/more musky than RPG Good. It's a simple blend, but very powerful. It's comforting. It's sexy. It's innocent. It reminds me of being a teenager, but it isn't kiddy. it's soapy but not - it doesn't smell like soap itself, but rather clean warm skin fresh from the shower, wrapped in fluffy white towels (but it's not a 'clean' scent like Dirty.) if you like Zorya P, you need this. if you like Antique Lace, you need this. if you have a nose, you need this. Everybody needs this. it's been a minute since i've had such a strong, overwhelmingly good reaction to a perfume. ETA: wear time is excellent. put it on before bed and can still smell it, a faint puff of vanilla musk, in the morning

This February, darkness will reign as we experience a month without a full moon: the velvet darkness of sweet myrrh and vetiver-laced patchouli, Madagascar vanilla, smoked ambrette seed, and blackened rose petals. I put this one on and almost fell out of my chair, it's so gorgeous. In the bottle and wet on the skin the myrrh dominates. It's sweet and powdery on it's own, and the vanilla lends even more sweetness. It's soft and fluffy and dark and rich, like a cloud in a black night sky. The rose lends it a soft sophistication - I can sense her standing off in the wings, quiet and self-assured, content to just be there without taking center stage. The rose is not a standout or easily identifiable note on my skin. Does anyone else think ambrette seed smells a little bit like oudh? Because that's the vibe I'm getting from it. As it dries down it transitions into pure, sweet, baby powder puff myrrh with a spine of rich patchouli. A beautiful scent.

Green tea, plum blossom, white musk, jasmine blossom honey, and lemon peel. This was probably the Shunga I was most excited about. It has all the notes I was craving for from Shungas - teas, fruit, and florals. Something light, fresh, crisp, and springy. I was a TEENY worried about the lemon peel because I tend to amp lemon even in scents it's not listed as a note in and turn everything to lemon Pledge. That's DEFINITELY not the case with this one, thank god! I was in love at first sniff. It's giving me a bit of Embalming Fluid mixed with RPG Good. You know, know that I look, this contains all the notes of Embalming Fluid minus aloe. The musk is the same sugary sweet musk from RPG Good, which I love. It's definitely more floral than Embalming Fluid - the plum blossom and jasmine aren't distinctly detectable to my nose, but they give the scent an overall richness and fullness that isn't present in EF. I really like this fragrance, unfortunately the throw and wear length aren't the best. Maybe I'll turn it into a perfume spray.

this is pretty close to a pure jasmine - before I got into BPAL I mostly just wore jasmine absolute, it's one of my all time favorite notes. This starts off as a sweet, tea-like jasmine and becomes a little more sharp and soapy over time. The spices are very subtle - I get delicate wafts of something sweet and spicy around the 3 hour mark. This has the same quality that I get from Pele of actually being humid. Like, when I wear it I can taste humidity at the top of my mouth. It's really weird and idk if anyone else ever has the same experience BUT this will be a fantastic warm-weather scent. It really blooms on warm skin. If jasmine is headache-inducing for you I would stay far away from this because like I said it's pretty close to a pure jasmine. I loooove it.

bubblegum??? pure, straight bubblegum. a little bit of generic floral on the back end. i actually like it but it's not at all what i was expecting and it looks like im the only one who gets bubblegum from it.

the Rose Jam comparison is apt, though Rose Jam has a lemon twist that this doesn't. It's pretty straightforward - velvety rose, vanilla, cotton candy puff. it goes through phases where one note will float to the surface, then another. there's also a very brief phase where i get whiffs of burnt hair/hairspray - that's mild and it doesn't last, so it's not a dealbreaker. throw and wear time is excellent. got several compliments on this one - it's great for wearing in public places where you don't want to wear 'risky'/difficult BPAL scents. it would be great for converting someone who usually uses commercial fragrances, too.

Oh, Jiaolong. How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.... The first time I wore Jiaolong, he was instantly a favorite. The musk is sweet, deep, dark, and boozy - yes, just like the musk in Smut. The coffee has a distinctly 'ground' quality - it truly is a coffee BEAN, not a brewed coffee. Initially I tried Jiaolong because I was searching for the perfect 'just brewed a pot of coffee' scent. Jiaolong is not that, but I love him very much anyway. The coffee note is a 'floaty' note - I can almost smell it better when I'm not trying, or when I don't have my nose shoved into my wrist. He's sweet and masculine without being TOO masculine. It's like someone melted vanilla ice cream (the really good kind that has little vanilla beans actually in it) and poured it over spent coffee grounds, and then topped it with a shot of Kahlua. I can wear him any day, any occasion, and feel powerful, competent, and happy. Throw is perfect and wear time is excellent (lasts even overnight)

bear in mind that i amp tobacco like MAD! this oil has three distinct phases on me wet: GREEEEEEEN!!!!! sparkling, effervescent, sweet, sun-warmed green. like having a picnic in the grass and you spilled some champagne on the ground and the breeze is blowing through the trees. i get the Irish Spring bit but on my skin, the sweetness of the Lace tempers it. i get the grass, sap, green cognac, and fig. but it's a green fig, not a ripe jammy fig. dry-2 hours: tobacco. just tobacco. it's sweet green tobacco. but it's tobacco. 2 hours-fade: the sweet Lace base. vanilla powder puff. a hint of tobacco. i bought this pretty much instantly without considering the notes too carefully. i've been trying to avoid tobacco because i literally amp it soooooooo much. but i really like this oil. it's great for spring, it's very unique. throw and wear length are decent, as well.

sooooooooo much citrus for me. the first time i tried it i thought it smelled like mashed potatoes. the cream note did something weird and savory. now it's sweet sugared citrus, mostly. if i shove my nose right in my wrist i can get the honey and Snake Oil. i've been wearing it in the evenings mostly because i'm not entirely sure if i love it or not, and yet i'm not willing to put it up for sale or swap quite yet. it burns my skin quite a bit, just like Snake Oil and any other SO-based scent do.

This month, an extraordinarily rare Blue Supermoon will rise and pass through the Earth’s shadow. During the full lunar eclipse, Luna will take on a blood red veil. This is the first time in 150 years that this triumvirate of Lunar phenomena will be visible in the Americas, and those in North America’s northern West Coast will have the best seats in the house for this show. Crystalline blue musk, juniper berry, white tea leaf, and mugwort veiled by wild plum, shadow-dark vegetal musk, black sage, tobacco absolute, and a shroud of blood musk. okay so this one is REALLY complicated - obviously, just look at that notes list! And the Lunar oils are always complex. In the bottle and wet on the skin it's sweet, juicy plum with a shroud of something minty (guessing that's a combination of the first four notes) and a little hearty musk in the background. Kinda gives me a fruity shampoo vibe, but with a dark twist (most perfumes containing plum or pomegranate just go fruity shampoo on me.) It's really weird, but it actually smells different on different areas of my skin? Like, whenever I test perfumes I do a little on the inside of my wrist and a little on the back of my hand. With this, back of my hand is pure sweet plum and inside of my wrist is sharp, cool, mint. As it dries, the blood musk blooms, sweet and warm and red. The plum stays and the sharp cold notes soften. A scent of extreme duality between red and blue, cool and warm. Surprisingly wearable.

okay, when i tested it straight from the mail i DID get a little bit of plastic. but after letting it rest and coming to revisit, that's gone. i am wholly unfamiliar with what orris butter or narcissus smells like, so this might not be the most technologically helpful review, but i'm gonna do my best! wet, this is sweet, creamy, and lightly floral. i do get a hint of green - must be the bergamot - and honestly, that's perfect. it keeps the scent from being too cloying or too heady. the throw is perfect - it's one of those scents that 'wafts up.' i feel softly surrounded in a pillowy cloud of fragrance, but i'm not self-conscious about offending others with it. i can almost smell it better when i'm not trying, or when i don't have my nose shoved into my wrist. the drydown is lovely - soft, powdery, sweet, floral, and green. this is the perfect spring perfume, and i love it.

[No additional description provided.] Just opening the bottle, the apple in this is SWEET and SHARP. A true candied autumn apple. Once on the hair, it softens a little bit as the patchouli becomes more present. It gives the sweet, crisp apple a light herbal kick. Overall it is much heavier on the apple than the patchouli. It's not the strongest hairgloss I've used, but I would catch whiffs of the scent as I moved around throughout the day, and it lasted fairly long.

got a frimp of this with my most recent order. it's really, really nice. it's fresh and clean and sophisticated and green without being too wild or dirty. it makes me feel like i'm sitting in a room at an upscale mountain resort, with the windows open and fresh linens and a cup of white tea and nothing but green outside a far as the eye can see

a thick, molasses-like combination of patchouli and tobacco, shot through with powdery woods and sweet bourbon vanilla. cozy, cuddly, and warm - but fortifying. i wear this one on cold days.

relatively simple, but absolutely lovely. three notes that work together in harmony - none overpowering the other, just complementing. the lavender is strongest when you open the lid and sniff the bottle, but it mellows out on the skin. the jasmine is not cloying - it's a herbal/tealike jasmine. in fact, while wearing this fragrance, i felt like i was drinking a cup of jasmine tea in a room with champaca incense burning, a window open to the lavender garden just outside. it doesn't change or morph very much while on the skin. it's beautiful, calming, and serene.

a really complex scent. somehow all at once green, fruity, resiny, and sweet. in the bottle and wet on the skin i get a very sharp, green, herbal kick - but backed by something heady and rich. as it wears, the honey and tonka emerge, warm and golden. oudh is a note that always gives scents a 'high end perfume' feeling, to me. this smells like a fancy, sophisticated perfume with a witchy twist. it's distinctly BPAL. my first forum exclusive. yay! <3

Probably my all-time favorite BPAL, as of yet. It's sweet, warm, beautiful, and calming. wet it's all beeswax, honey, and vanilla. it is a little sharp wet. but once introduced to body heat it begins to blossom. the honey is rich and golden and i can smell the flowers the honey came from. the beeswax is soft and pillowy and rounds out the whole scent. and the vanilla is pure, creamy sweet. there's a skin musk to it as well, like the scent of skin after a day in the sun. i don't know what the throw is like in regards to how well other people can smell me, but in terms of how well i can smell myself it's ideal. i often feel like my skin eats oils and i can hardly smell them. but this is one that radiates off me and wafts up and i'm just surrounded by this lovely cloud of scent. i will never be without a bottle.

[No additional description provided.] this is my favorite out of the three DL scents I got. The pink peppercorn in it is similar to the one in Fake News. it has that tickle-your-nose, sweet-but-spicy quality to it. Combined with the DL note, it is truly lovely and innately autumnal. A relatively simple scent, only two notes, that does not morph or change on the skin. Beautiful on it's own but I'm very much looking forward to layering it.

Never used the old version, so can't compare. Bought this from a swapper on 10/19/2017, label says 2016 so I'm guessing it's a little bit aged already. I absolutely ADORE this one. Reminds me a LOT of Snake Oil for the first hour or so - the red musk, vanilla bean, and patchouli leaf are strong while the fruits stay in the background. As it dries, the fruits come forward - sweet, juicy, and sexy. I'm usually not one for fruity scents but the combination here is perfect. This fragrance is sophisticated and sexy. It's definitely one of those BPAL blends that evokes the feeling of a high-end expensive perfume, only even better. I work in high-end luxury retail and this will be a workday staple for me.

Moreso than any other BPAL scent I have in my collection right now, in the bottle and wet on the skin for the first couple of hours this SCREAMS incense/new age shop, in the best possible way. the patchouli is a more fresh and herbal variant, the red musk is sweet and creamy, and the opium lends a spicy sharpness. as it wears on the skin, the vanilla and lilac come to the forefront. it's sweet and creamy and almost baby powder-y in a way i don't entirely mind. it reminds me a bit of Fake News in that it's sophisticated-hippy, but the overall feeling is very different.

i loved this one so much i bought a bottle after using my imp once. it morphs SOOO much on me but i love it absolutely every step of the way. in the imp: sharp black tea and clean, floral linen wet: black tea, linen, and the ginger comes in to play. i'm an absolute nut for scents with pepper in them - unfortunately, i don't get any here. it's clean, it's fresh, it's sharp, it's tangy. dry: the longer it's on my skin, the softer and sweeter it gets. after a few hours, it's almost unrecognizeable. soft, sweet honey and vanilla. i think i smell a LITTLE bit of the pepper, because it takes on a slightly spicy quality, like a ginger cookie. overall this perfume is so well-blended it's difficult for me to pick out any particular notes. i love it because it's fresh and clean without being too sterile. it's mild and pleasant without being boring. it's sophisticated and invigorating.

A warm, cozy, cuddly scent. A little bit of a spicy bite up front - that must be the 'warm brown fur.' It reminds me of Goblin, a little bit. Once on the skin it softens significantly to a soft, powdery spiced vanilla. The cedar gives it a solid base and keeps it from being a sweet/foodie vanilla. It's intensely nostalgic for me, for some reason. I like to wear it on rainy days, or before bed. It's comforting but not boring.

it just smells like Irish Spring to/on me flat, sharp, soapy. doesn't evolve on the skin. dissipates after about an hour. i will keep searching for my perfect aquatic