BPAL Reviews XLII
I really need to stop using Roman numerals, because eventually it's going to get ridiculous. But I like the look of them, so . . . they stay until I no longer know how to count with letters.
Reviews of Phantasm, Languor, Venom, Shadow, Darkness, Delirium, Delight, and Bien Loin d'Ici are below.
Phantasm, Lab description: "This delicate, spectral perfume gives rise to an eerie distortion of of the senses. It bestows an ephemeral, ghostly, and truly haunting quality to your presence. Green tea, lemon verbena, jasmine and neroli."
Well, let's just say this doesn't sound like my cup of tea. In theory.
In practice, this is cool and light in the bottle, equal parts of all its ingredients. The verbena is an herbal lemon, and it sits in the center of this scent. The jasmine smooths over it, under it, giving it a floral sweetness. The green tea is an astringent, clean note that compliments the verbena beautifully. The neroli is gently floral without being too assertive.
This is spectral, indeed, a very light, very minimal scent, pale and indistinct.
On, the verbena lunges out to the fore, trailed by the green tea. The jasmine and neroli are sort of cowering in the corner, afraid to move too much. The overall effect is that of lemon furniture polish in a tearoom that has been strewn with fresh flowers. Nice, but a bit overpoweringly lemon-fresh.
It's persistent, too. I can't say I care for it overmuch, like I thought. It'd be great on me without the lemon. Sadly, that's a large part of its character, so I'll be passing this one along. Very clean, and would be good for those who like citrus scents or very clean scents.
Languor, Lab description: "An opiate torpor, soporific, trancelike, and sublimely languid. A poet’s morphine dream, a listless journey into a gentle dream and the precipice of intoxicated madness. Paperwhite and black narcissus, three lilies, black poppy and tuberose and a hint of hypnotic opium den haze."
This has a very traditional feel in the bottle. The lilies and narcissus are right out there, so delicate and lovely it breaks the heart, with the rose providing just a touch of warmth. It reminds me very strongly of the scent of my grandmother's bedroom (this isn't a bad thing). There is a bit of something incensey in the background, the opium, I think.
On, it keeps smelling like my grandmother. The throw is delicate, soft, and white, but up close it's a heavy golden scent, very much indeed like spiraling smoke. This does have a bit of a stifling, thick quality about it. The kind of heavy scent that feels like a hot summer day, when everything is warm and bright, and you just don't want to move at all. It's quite nice, actually, despite it containing a ton of things I don't typically enjoy.
In an odd twist, the flowers get fresher the longer its on. It started out as floral scented but now I'm getting the fleshy leaves, and that sort of meaty spicy smell you get from real pollen. This is probably the effect of the opium on the flowers. Very nice. The throw is refined and elegant, and it's not too strong at all. I like it.
Venom, Lab description: "Darkly seductive and lethally compelling: sinuous opoponax, galbanum, dark wild berries, a drop of lush jasmine and a sliver of lime."
Too bad they're not making this any more.
In the bottle, it's rich incense relieved by a subtle sweetness, with a cut of citric lime that keeps it from sugaring over.
This is really a masterfully blended scent. It's quite perfume-y, yet subtle and dark, much like the oil itself, which is a murky amber. The berries are firmly behind the jasmine, which adds a cool, light touch to the resinous notes. The lime is at the very top of this scent, not very assertive at all, just enough to keep this from being too low-pitched to really impress.
It does smell a bit like Dior's Poison at first, but this fades as the incense comes to the fore. It's a dark, murky, languid scent, dimly-lit, untrustworthy, and a bit creepy.
A remarkably subtle product of the perfumer's art, both rich and deep, and shifting.
Shadow, Lab description: "A subtly menacing blend of lemon verbena, white sandalwood and cedar, dimmed by droplets of the darkest patchouli."
Of course I only get around to trying this after it's been discontinued.
In the bottle: patchouli. Cedar.
On: lemon pledge on lots of furniture. It settles down to old lemon candy in a cedar trunk.
I'm not feeling the love for this one. This isn't a complex scent, and I haven't much to say about it. I smell like scenery. Or an attic. Not a sexy attic, either.
Darkness, Lab description: "Bottled gloom; the essence of oblivion. Blackest opium and narcissus deepened by myrrh."
Cold white lilies and the sinuous tendrils of opium; this is sweet without being foody in the slightest. An elegant but very dark and twisted scent.
"Opium" is an odd scent. It's at once high-pitched but dark. If it were a sound, it would be the upper ranges of a cello - rich and intense, resonant, but in a higher register. As a scent, it is attenuated, eerie, a little mean. It's an exotic ingredient, used to evoke the sensual, strange, and weird, and it does it well, here. When I say this is "light" I mean this is weightless, not bright. It's a clear, perfumey scent, almost traditional.
The lily gives it a funereal tinge, a cool closeness, lent an immediacy by its fleshy odor.
The myrrh is a round, resinous odor, one that blends very well with the opium. Its warmth, its fuzziness, offsets the lily's coolness.
The oddest thing . . . this is wonderful . . . the opium is the drift of the moments before sleep, the myrrh is the weight of blanket on body, body on cushion; and the narcissus, the drifting specter of a dream barely tethered.
And all that is just in the bottle.
It goes on with a throw like something has spilled; very powerful. There is an almost burnt element to it up close, the scent of incense strewn on coals and now reduced to crusted resin. Up close, it's stifling, almost savage. A thick, muffling aroma of drifting smoke.
The burnt scent increases . . . this must be the "blackness" in the opium.
It is not unlike a more intensely fuming Chrysanthemum Moon. It has that same air of the exotic and alarming. Darkness is cruel, though, where Chrysanthemum Moon is only fooling about.
I really like this. It's interesting, robust up close but intriguing from a distance, and, if not complicated, certainly deep.
Delirium, Lab description: "Non compos mentis, indeed! A contrary, conflicted scent, bubbling with merry madness. Contains apple, rose, and lemon."
Merry is a good word to describe this. It's very lemony in the bottle, and with the apple it has a very perfume-y edge. The rose is a bit soapy - probably the lemon - but quite fresh.
It goes on and the rose comes right out along with the apple, and a whiff of what almost smells like vanilla - this is a very creamy, smooth scent. It smells far less like lemon furniture polish than it did in the bottle. Here it smells like something edible, like little fancy cakes.
This is a very playful, light, clean scent that reminds me of having tea parties outside with all my stuffed animals. It's very girly, and just a little childish. It's also squeaky-clean. It smells soapy, but in a fresh and nice sort of way, not a yucky, cloying way.
It fades fast, there's no anchor here to give it any real "stick," and within an hour it's gone.
Delight, Lab description: "In ancient India it was believed that a specific combination of flower petals, when strewn across a couple's bed, would amplify desire and sexual pleasure. This blend is a blend of the same floral essences, refined into a gloriously sinful perfume blend. Frangipani, with rose, tuberose, and jasmine."
Tangy and almost pickle-ish scent in the bottle, it becomes sour on. I can't pick notes out of this. It's so floral my skin is rebelling, turning it to dust and vinegar. This is the queerest reaction I've ever had from a perfume, and is a far cry from "delight."
To make things even more fun, the drydown smells like my grandmother's perfume. Damn.
Alas, not for me. Since I cannot even review it effectively, this will be headed straight to swaps, where I hope it can delight someone else.
Bien Loin d'Ici, Lab description: "Red musk, benzoin, caramel accord, golden honey, and spiced Moroccan unguents."
Musk, honey and benzoin resin make this a warm but surprisingly open scent whose chief appeal lies in its sweetness.
On, it becomes more fiercely incense-y, spicy, like the incense section of a new age bookshop. This is a wonderful, soft musk blend with some real depth to it, supplied by the beautiful resin notes. The caramel and honey are influences only, not really topnotes. The whole thing is just beautiful.
Tiny scent icons are courtesy of Penance's BPAL Icons, Diana's BPAL icons, and Storme's BPAL icons.
Reviews of Phantasm, Languor, Venom, Shadow, Darkness, Delirium, Delight, and Bien Loin d'Ici are below.
Phantasm, Lab description: "This delicate, spectral perfume gives rise to an eerie distortion of of the senses. It bestows an ephemeral, ghostly, and truly haunting quality to your presence. Green tea, lemon verbena, jasmine and neroli."
Well, let's just say this doesn't sound like my cup of tea. In theory.
In practice, this is cool and light in the bottle, equal parts of all its ingredients. The verbena is an herbal lemon, and it sits in the center of this scent. The jasmine smooths over it, under it, giving it a floral sweetness. The green tea is an astringent, clean note that compliments the verbena beautifully. The neroli is gently floral without being too assertive.
This is spectral, indeed, a very light, very minimal scent, pale and indistinct.
On, the verbena lunges out to the fore, trailed by the green tea. The jasmine and neroli are sort of cowering in the corner, afraid to move too much. The overall effect is that of lemon furniture polish in a tearoom that has been strewn with fresh flowers. Nice, but a bit overpoweringly lemon-fresh.
It's persistent, too. I can't say I care for it overmuch, like I thought. It'd be great on me without the lemon. Sadly, that's a large part of its character, so I'll be passing this one along. Very clean, and would be good for those who like citrus scents or very clean scents.
Languor, Lab description: "An opiate torpor, soporific, trancelike, and sublimely languid. A poet’s morphine dream, a listless journey into a gentle dream and the precipice of intoxicated madness. Paperwhite and black narcissus, three lilies, black poppy and tuberose and a hint of hypnotic opium den haze."
This has a very traditional feel in the bottle. The lilies and narcissus are right out there, so delicate and lovely it breaks the heart, with the rose providing just a touch of warmth. It reminds me very strongly of the scent of my grandmother's bedroom (this isn't a bad thing). There is a bit of something incensey in the background, the opium, I think.
On, it keeps smelling like my grandmother. The throw is delicate, soft, and white, but up close it's a heavy golden scent, very much indeed like spiraling smoke. This does have a bit of a stifling, thick quality about it. The kind of heavy scent that feels like a hot summer day, when everything is warm and bright, and you just don't want to move at all. It's quite nice, actually, despite it containing a ton of things I don't typically enjoy.
In an odd twist, the flowers get fresher the longer its on. It started out as floral scented but now I'm getting the fleshy leaves, and that sort of meaty spicy smell you get from real pollen. This is probably the effect of the opium on the flowers. Very nice. The throw is refined and elegant, and it's not too strong at all. I like it.
Venom, Lab description: "Darkly seductive and lethally compelling: sinuous opoponax, galbanum, dark wild berries, a drop of lush jasmine and a sliver of lime."
Too bad they're not making this any more.
In the bottle, it's rich incense relieved by a subtle sweetness, with a cut of citric lime that keeps it from sugaring over.
This is really a masterfully blended scent. It's quite perfume-y, yet subtle and dark, much like the oil itself, which is a murky amber. The berries are firmly behind the jasmine, which adds a cool, light touch to the resinous notes. The lime is at the very top of this scent, not very assertive at all, just enough to keep this from being too low-pitched to really impress.
It does smell a bit like Dior's Poison at first, but this fades as the incense comes to the fore. It's a dark, murky, languid scent, dimly-lit, untrustworthy, and a bit creepy.
A remarkably subtle product of the perfumer's art, both rich and deep, and shifting.
Shadow, Lab description: "A subtly menacing blend of lemon verbena, white sandalwood and cedar, dimmed by droplets of the darkest patchouli."
Of course I only get around to trying this after it's been discontinued.
In the bottle: patchouli. Cedar.
On: lemon pledge on lots of furniture. It settles down to old lemon candy in a cedar trunk.
I'm not feeling the love for this one. This isn't a complex scent, and I haven't much to say about it. I smell like scenery. Or an attic. Not a sexy attic, either.
Darkness, Lab description: "Bottled gloom; the essence of oblivion. Blackest opium and narcissus deepened by myrrh."
Cold white lilies and the sinuous tendrils of opium; this is sweet without being foody in the slightest. An elegant but very dark and twisted scent.
"Opium" is an odd scent. It's at once high-pitched but dark. If it were a sound, it would be the upper ranges of a cello - rich and intense, resonant, but in a higher register. As a scent, it is attenuated, eerie, a little mean. It's an exotic ingredient, used to evoke the sensual, strange, and weird, and it does it well, here. When I say this is "light" I mean this is weightless, not bright. It's a clear, perfumey scent, almost traditional.
The lily gives it a funereal tinge, a cool closeness, lent an immediacy by its fleshy odor.
The myrrh is a round, resinous odor, one that blends very well with the opium. Its warmth, its fuzziness, offsets the lily's coolness.
The oddest thing . . . this is wonderful . . . the opium is the drift of the moments before sleep, the myrrh is the weight of blanket on body, body on cushion; and the narcissus, the drifting specter of a dream barely tethered.
And all that is just in the bottle.
It goes on with a throw like something has spilled; very powerful. There is an almost burnt element to it up close, the scent of incense strewn on coals and now reduced to crusted resin. Up close, it's stifling, almost savage. A thick, muffling aroma of drifting smoke.
The burnt scent increases . . . this must be the "blackness" in the opium.
It is not unlike a more intensely fuming Chrysanthemum Moon. It has that same air of the exotic and alarming. Darkness is cruel, though, where Chrysanthemum Moon is only fooling about.
I really like this. It's interesting, robust up close but intriguing from a distance, and, if not complicated, certainly deep.
Delirium, Lab description: "Non compos mentis, indeed! A contrary, conflicted scent, bubbling with merry madness. Contains apple, rose, and lemon."
Merry is a good word to describe this. It's very lemony in the bottle, and with the apple it has a very perfume-y edge. The rose is a bit soapy - probably the lemon - but quite fresh.
It goes on and the rose comes right out along with the apple, and a whiff of what almost smells like vanilla - this is a very creamy, smooth scent. It smells far less like lemon furniture polish than it did in the bottle. Here it smells like something edible, like little fancy cakes.
This is a very playful, light, clean scent that reminds me of having tea parties outside with all my stuffed animals. It's very girly, and just a little childish. It's also squeaky-clean. It smells soapy, but in a fresh and nice sort of way, not a yucky, cloying way.
It fades fast, there's no anchor here to give it any real "stick," and within an hour it's gone.
Delight, Lab description: "In ancient India it was believed that a specific combination of flower petals, when strewn across a couple's bed, would amplify desire and sexual pleasure. This blend is a blend of the same floral essences, refined into a gloriously sinful perfume blend. Frangipani, with rose, tuberose, and jasmine."
Tangy and almost pickle-ish scent in the bottle, it becomes sour on. I can't pick notes out of this. It's so floral my skin is rebelling, turning it to dust and vinegar. This is the queerest reaction I've ever had from a perfume, and is a far cry from "delight."
To make things even more fun, the drydown smells like my grandmother's perfume. Damn.
Alas, not for me. Since I cannot even review it effectively, this will be headed straight to swaps, where I hope it can delight someone else.
Bien Loin d'Ici, Lab description: "Red musk, benzoin, caramel accord, golden honey, and spiced Moroccan unguents."
Musk, honey and benzoin resin make this a warm but surprisingly open scent whose chief appeal lies in its sweetness.
On, it becomes more fiercely incense-y, spicy, like the incense section of a new age bookshop. This is a wonderful, soft musk blend with some real depth to it, supplied by the beautiful resin notes. The caramel and honey are influences only, not really topnotes. The whole thing is just beautiful.
Tiny scent icons are courtesy of Penance's BPAL Icons, Diana's BPAL icons, and Storme's BPAL icons.