ralenth

Sweet, creamy beeswax with a hint of vanilla. As it dries, it cans a subtle soft skin musk, reminscent of Tamamo-no-mae, but creamy instead of fruity. I will need a bottle of this for sure.

Soft blackberry, dripping beeswax candles over a soft backdrop of snow. As it dries, it gains a bit of a sour sweet milky note on my skin. I had such high hopes for this.

Source: Lab bottle.

 

Wet: Dark stone, slight damp with deep resinous notes. Midnight Bell is ominous and foreboding and just a wee bit sexy.

 

Drydown: MB takes on a smoldering twigs aspect over the stone note.

 

Dry: Smoky-sweet woods - MB has completely morphed out of the original aspect on my skin.

 

Overall: If it had remained like it did in the wet stage, I would have been all over this one.

Source: Lab bottle.

 

Sharp, aggressive green tendrils. It sweetens up a bit on the drydown, but it is still mostly greenery. I catch traces of violet in the background. It doesn't really smell like most other BPAL violet blends that I have experienced. It's far too sharp for my tastes, though.

Source: Lab bottle.

 

In Bottle: Warm, crumbling sandalwood, slightly sweetened.

 

Wet: Hot and gritty, woodsy musk.

 

Drydown: Powdery overtones begin to emerge and a strange sourness that I had not anticipated.

 

Dry: Baby powder laced vomit. I have never encountered this sort of reaction to a skin test before. Wow.

 

Overall: Definitely a skin chemistry failure for me.

Source: Lab bottle of 2009 Resurrection.

 

In Bottle: Hawaiian Tropic like whoa.

 

Wet: Coconut with a hefty dose of peppermint.

 

Drydown: The peppermint recedes, but the coconutty sunblock remains, though slightly sweeter than I would expect.

 

Dry: Super sweet coconut - just not meshing right with my skin chemistry.

 

Overall: Coconut blends are hit and miss with me. Unfortunately, this one fails on my skin.

 

Warm, smoky and sweet - it's the scent of a spice market built on scorched sand.

Source: Lab bottle.

Wet: Almost sweet pea single note. Light, delicate and airy.

 

Drydown: Berry infused lemonade, for the most part. The sweet pea has receded into the background. It's a very realistic, juicy berry note, not the weird plasticky sort that I get out of most perfumes.

 

Dry: Soft, powdery, feminine.

 

Overall: Not my speed, but very pretty.

Source: Secondhand bottle.

 

Wet: Sharp, salty aquatic. I can taste the warm sea water with a single sniff.

 

Drydown: Burgeoning green floral, tempered by the saltiness, with bright flashes of ozone chasing across the top.

 

Dry: Sweet, salty aquatic floral with tinges of powderiness as the day wears on.

 

Overall: A little goes a long way here. City in the Sea is a nice aquatic, but I have similar enough ones already in my collection.

Source: Secondhand bottle.

 

Wet: Sweetened cinnamon with an underlying earthy musk.

 

Drydown: Still warm and spicy - reminiscent of Saw-Scaled Viper without the cassia bite or the Snake Oil.

 

Dry: Dark, a little dusty, with a warm softness menacing underneath. Killer teddy bears waiting to grab your ankles from beneath the bed, perhaps?

 

Overall: It certainly isn't the haunting, macabre perfume I was expecting, but it seems nice enough to linger in the "retest later" pile.

Age: Brand new lab imp arrived last week.

 

Preconceptions: Dark, sexy, but probably will fail due to rose.

 

Wet: Super fruity, wine note!

Drydown: Sultry myrrh takes the reins, with swirls of deep muskiness. Lilith certainly isn't for the faint of heart. The wine note lingers in the background.

 

Dry:Sharp, green roses take over everything. I was really hoping I would finally escape, but alas.

 

Overall: Dratted roses ruin everything.

At first, the Curator was sharp and medicinally herbal. After a few minutes, it settled into a spicy resiny yumminess. It isn't particularly dusty on my skin, but smells like a spicier version of Ü.The throw is decent. I may need a bottle of this.

Wet: Softly effervescent white wine with tropical fruit undertones.

Drydown: As it dries, it smells a bit like fizzy satsumas. It's light and bright, and not at all boozy.

 

Dry: sweet, with little bits of bubble, but a tinge powdery.

Overall: Lovely and summery in the initial stages, but unfortunately, it isn't quite me once it's dry.

In the bottle, Baghdad is a warm, sensual incensy night in a hot desert. Unfortunately, on my skin it smells much like in the bottle except with a sharp green tinge. I didn't realize there were roses in this! As it dries, it's a muddled spicy green mess. Sadness.

At first, Epistrophia is like a fruitier version of the GC Belle Epoque. Unfortunately, after thirty minutes it morphs into candied violets crushed into baby powder. It's definitely not for me.

My bottle is about a year and a half old at this point.It's a lovely snowy floral with soft musky undertones. As the day wears on, somehow it melds into something even more glorious. Definitely a go-to on a hot, scorching desert day.

In Soviet Russia, apple bites you. SGA is tart, green apples frozen by winter's chill. There's a soft, sinister muskiness underneath, but predominantly I get the lovely BPAL snow note that I adore.

For the first hour, I could have sworn Jerusalem Cherry Infused Honey was Planting Moon without the dirt component. Crisp and green, it's like a stroll through a well-tended vegetable garden. After an hour on my skin, it faded to a soft powdery honey on my skin. it's not for me, but I know just who my partial bottle is going to.

Dark, slinky champaca and musk tempered with sweetened resins. Panther Moon smells like trouble in a bottle. I'm going to need more.

Spicy plum pudding with flecks of brown sugar - far less jammy than Alice's Evidence. A bit of buttery smokiness from the suet rounds it out nicely. Definitely a tolerable foodiness.

Soft, creamy cherry blossoms with slight musky undertones. Delicate and lovely - total keeper!

Bottle: Bright tropical fruits and caramel.

 

Wet: Tart dropping oranges swirled in caramel.

Drydown: Holy sugar! It's caramel drenched pez candies.

 

After 30 minutes: It's sweet with faint tinges of caramel. It's not as overpowering as the drydown stage, but it's definitely a liquid sugar high.

 

Overall: Too sweet and foody for me.

2010 Vintage:

 

Bottle: Jasmine! Eek!

 

Wet: Tart green apple.

 

Drydown: The tartness fades and a soft floral background swells up. Soft, pretty and summery.

 

After 30 minutes: This is primarily a jasmine blend, as others have said. It does have a light fruity tinge to it, which I think makes it considerably more wearable for non-jasmine lovers like myself.

Soft, creamy pear with quite a bit of staying power! I put it on in the early afternoon and I could still smell it the next morning.

At first, it's soft peach blossoms with a bit of crisp white tea underneath but as it dries, Peach Moon becomes dusky and sultry. It isn't quite the dripping sexy peach musk that I get from Josie. Instead, it's more of a sophisticated, elegant naughty: like a quirked eyebrow and a bit of a smirk.