BPAL October Lunacy 2019- Death and the Maiden
I felt like it was time to write up these gorgeous scents again. Here we go!
The balmy evening air was a perfect frame for happy faces under the full moon. Perfect for breathing in all the glorious Halloween smelly treasure things. A smaller gathering than normal for a Weenies release, (the fires I think, and Oddities Market happening) but still buzzing with fun and happy swoons over the Halloween scents and catching up and chatting over pizza. There were also silent movies!
Remarkably, there was no smoke in the air. Tom was resplendent, as usual, in a red number that made me think: Shopping Spree Pretty Woman, but make it Necromantic. In short: Fan-freaking-tastic. Right along with Beth, in a spell of magenta swirled hair, Sara’s amazing Bat dress, and Brian’s luxuriant beard! It was wonderful to see everyone and get hugs from the lab and familar folks. This is truly my monthly comfort…these wonderful people. This gorgeous energy and recalibrating each month after the stress of …..:::gestures:: everything out there.
This Halloween release is. HUGE. And Gorgeous! I didn’t smell everything and can’t wait to get back there next month to really spend time with all of these again.
The word for this month that kept coming up as a through line for this whole release is… Elegant. Whether something reminded me of another scent, yet a refined black-tie remeniscence, or all the scents in Order of the Dragon II, that seem like a bevvy of haunted ladies floating in diaphanous gowns, down darkened gallery corridors…… Everything had a refined nuance to it. Some Halloweens are esoteric, some are campy, some are gustitory, and some are a lovely soiree…. like this one!
Except - the DangerNoodles! They’re adorable and wonderful and so Fun.
So here’s what I got my nose into so far and the favorites that *My skin wears well.
(Disclaimer: everyone’s skin and PH and preferences are different, so this is a completely personal and subjective opinion, mileage may vary, I don’t work for the lab, yadda yadda…) If I don’t list them, I didn’t get to smell them …yet!
Everyone have their party clothes on? Okay - Let’s go!
Apple Sugar: Pure wonderful heady, sweet sugared Apples! Apple scent collectors… welcome to your heaven.
Are You Digging On my Grave: Adorable! This is a morpher right in the bottle! It’s like it’s puppy breath is wiggling around in there and tumbling over all the other notes so you tease them out each time you smell. It’s pure Beth magic. I loved it and would think it will smell amazing on masculine energy (in a fluid pendulum of differences) skin.
Cozy Pumpkin Sweater: Are you kidding me?! So Gewd!! This was the one everyone was ooohhhing and ahhhhing over all night, and rightly so. I may have to get a bottle next time. Perfectly wonderful pumpkin and cinnamon spices, with a gorgeous cozy cashmere note that so many of us love so much. This is going to be another iconic scent like Antque Lace.
Empty House:
An elegantly gourmand scent…Foodie chic and sexy. I know! That sounds odd to say, but trust…this is such a very awesome scent. I wrote hearts. <3
Fall, Leaves Fall: Again, Chic. Dead leaves * and their branches and that lovely herbal Aveda mystery note (*not tea tree or rosemary!) that combines to make this wonderfully high end, dressed up Dead Leaves. I really loved it.
The Listeners: Lovely yuzu, tempered with mugwort, wafting through a haunted lane…. Yuzu lovers….. do not sleep on this gorgeous lass.
Pistachio Pumpkin Truffle: Amazing!! Easily my favorite gourmand of the night (so far). So deliciously well balanced, with the foreward note of toasty nutty pistachios inviting you into a full bite of the rest. This lingered in the air because so many folks were passing the bottle around and sharing soft yummy noises.
The Shadowed Veil: Leather note lovers…..rejoice in this unique, esoteric haunt of a potion. Intriguing and lovely, the written description holds true. I’m looking forward to trying this on my skin next time, even if I have to make a deal with an ArchFey.
DangerNoodles!! Agghh!!!! SO cute! A super fun call back to the Stage Blood etc collection from a few years back, this whole set just brings instant smiles and happy repeat huffing to all the light hearted but totally delicious scents. Of course my favorites were Blood Squid Snake Oil, and Wax Vampire Teeth Snake Oil becuase I love most things red, or red musk and juicy. This is bright cherries bobbing in a dark vat of snake oil. Amazing! Every single one smells exactly as good, and true to name, and as fun as you’d expect. Caramel Apple Snake Oil is :::chef kiss::: The bottle art is The most bestest fun!
Samhain: This year, witches dressed this up with a new satin flying cloak. At least that’s how this blend smells this time round. A bit more elegant yet still vibrant, ephemeral in a dark, veil crossing, working way. (where some years it was more earthy or more bright) It’s beautiful.
Pile Of Leaves 2019
All the leaves…. just.. All of them. If you’re familiar with the dead leaves collections, you’ll know that they’re all morphers, with the leaves strong in the bottle, but on skin and in the dry down, the other notes bloom and dance around in the leaves a lot more. It’s one of the things I love about these collections.
Dead Leaves Green Cognac and Tea Roses Attention Rose Note Lovers!!! This is a masterpiece. It’s going to be one of those iconic Rose scents people cherish for years. I’m calling it now. The tea rose is lovely and rounded by the cognac. It reminded me of Moon Rose without the powder. (ahhh I miss it)
I loved all of them and I came home with DL Vetiver and cedar.
DL HAIR GLOSSES Dead Leaves and S’Mores is Amaze!! Another foody scent no one could put down, but not too sticky sweet, just truly glorious. Everyone loved them all. I know this doesn’t make it easier to choose. And most years there are one of two I dont’ understand, or zeroes out in my nose… this year.. we all just kept swooning one after the other.
Pumpkin Patch
These were all so fun and good, we just started to get silly with smiles and grins as we all passed bottles around. I didn’t get to smell all of them.
Devil’s Night in the Pumpkin Patch Super good and spooky, eliciting grins and giddy coos.
The Lurid Library in the Pumpkin Patch So great! BOOK note lovers - this is a killer add to your collection! Old books are floating in an arcane dance all around the midnight pumpkin patch.
Songs of Autumn
These were all really Lovely, and a complex filigree of notes. Song of Autumn IV Apples! Apples and hay and a whisper of honey.
Song of Autumn V A Fall quadrille of intertwining notes. Curled brown maple leaves in cool late day amber air, crunching down and mashing on the ground with blackcurrant and bits of patchouli root. A whisp of black pepper, perhaps as well. A serious storytelling morpher on skin. It’s fascinating! I came home with a bottle of this beauty.
Song of Autumn VI
Seppia colored, dry barren earth leads these notes, with a breath of weathered dry wood. A lovely difference than other wetter, loamier earth notes in other scents. Earth and Dirt note wearers will dig this. :::sunglasses on::::
Order of the Dragon II
This is a collection of lovely, diaphonously begowned ladies, wafting down empty mansion halls. Finely dressed and haunted. Or ghosts visiting them as they walk. All of these carry themselves elegantly, but differ vastly, in fantastic ways.
Kisses For All I need a bottle. I just do. A beautiful red musk scent melded with mellow honeyed roses and lingering sheer sweet vanilla that stays and stays on your skin like a ghost, when all else fades.
Lucy’s Eyes Oh …. oh My…. I softly said as I smelled this for the first time. Truly beauiful. Calling all Edith lovers…. this is like a shawl wrapped faintly acquatic Edith ….light.
Wax Cylinders Ohhh so gorgeous. I wrote: Super elegant black tie seance. This reminds me of a version of Table Turning, or (mixed with?) Psychodynamic Discharge. (one of my favorite of the Spiritualist collection) I have hearts all around this one in my notes. I get the polished to a sheen, mahogany and soft brown glove leather, with gilded slightly warmed wax. Not so much like bees wax candle notes, but something softer, smoother. This is really lovely and I can’t wait to smell it again next month.
The Blood Is the Life
Two hearts adorn my notes here. Underline of the word “wine” , and the word “grapey” (and I mean grapey like the young wine in Soothing System, not in jam) . Wine leads this bottle to your nose. Lurid and juicy, freshly spilled… with the blood and myrrh rounding it to a softer, lilting, balanced beckoning.
All The Meaner Things This is a gorgeous, fitful creature. I get florals in this first, even though they’re not listed. And delicious musk. My notes say “ a haunted floral, lonely hall” I think because the ozone in it, gives it the visceral sense of space and air.
Death’s Head Moth The color brown. A saddle brown slash of the nagarmotha and oudh, dusted with clove husk and permeated with a whisp of ash. Nothing sweet here, but the fascinating peppered iridescence of this dark portented moth.
Kaffeeklatsch
It starts with “Here’s to friends being a light in the darkness” which of course, makes me misty. (this YEAR, y’all, right?!) All of these are gorgeous, some are already sold out and no idea if there will be a restock before they go away. If they do…. Coffee Note Lovers… Do Not Sleep on these. All of these truly are comfort in a bottle. All of them. The faves are Black Coffee and Cinnamon Buns - natch…. Black Coffee and Books - ohhh my heart! Cafe’ au Lait and a Wool Blanket - exactly what it sounds like with that amazing cashmere/ antique lace-ish note loghtly wrapped around it. It’s like VR scent-mancy. Butterscotch Latte - because Delicious! I mean really… it’s amazing.
Yule 2019
So many gorgeous scents. Beth’s collections just keep growing, it’s goram prolific, as if it wasnt’ already. I didn’t get to smell a lot, but I loved Brumation - Cola De Mono Gluwein (sold out) - like delicious, comforting apple cider punch. The apple note and lovers and holiday spice note lovers will adore it. Krampus - is softer this year, wrapped in a cozy scarf. I love him so much, and try to get one every year. Lick It With Consent - is bright and chilly this year! A more forward minty candy cane with a pointy end this time! I am Minty and Charismatic! Lump of Coal - Tom led me over to smell this with a flurry of fun. And yes.. drag me anywhere to smell things this good! Gorgeous fudgy brownies. Folks who love The Other Hot Chocolate will absolutely love this.
The Moons My Own - Simply gorgeous. I kept needing to put my nose back in the bottle to huff it. Refined, and ethereal and lovely. Fresh moonlight and winter dreams. Nas Gadol Haya Sham - is more refined this year, it also comes in wearing a cozy scarf. A touch softer, imbued with more candlelight…and hope.
The Pointsettia Gown - Everything Tom’s written abotu this sc ent is so true. So soft and lovely and feminine. An instant old-world classic.
Sitzmark - So good! Delicious and yummy and full of yes, please, I want some.
Sweet Potato Musk - Y’all… Y’ALL….. she’s back!…. This amazing fun darling of scents. She’s a bit more blended this time, not quite as pure-foody, and still as wonderful as ever. A gentler gourmand, if you will. I still have my original bottle and keep it near by to huff it with a holiday nostalgic smile.
The Winters -
All of these are so So lovely. Graceful and moonlit, and sometimes ethereal and always reminiscent of (to me at least) winter ballets. My favorite of the bunch, and everyone elses, because it sold out during the night (but a restock will happen) was: Winter Trees - I love the scent of pines, but I normally can’t wear them on my skin. I amp the pine too much. But this is a forest evening drenched in moonlight dream. There are glints of sweetness and pale notes of wood and the whisper of flowers in snow. I cannot even…… I immediately went back to my days as sugar plum fairy and heard those notes of music in my head. She’s a gorgeous bottle and I can’t wait to get one soon.
I feel like it’s been a real, nasty, rollercoaster of a year for so many folks, myself included, and I hope these scents give you a sense of comfort, ease, peace and beauty, to look forward into the new year. Thank you Beth, Ted, Brian, Tom, Galen, and the whole lab, for all you do. Happy Holidays everyone.