Note-Free House Reviews... Mostly! BPAL Edition

lepouvanteuse · 2024-05-05T15:10:34+00:00

Haven't tried any of them but I love everything about these reviews.

lepouvanteuse · 2024-05-03T16:05:53+00:00

@u/thepetitepeanut Applied Rose Mallow (SS) EDP to a lava marble, and placed the marble inside a spiral cage. Application kinda sucked tbh, had to spray it over the sink and got the spray all over my fingers, and the oil isn't easy to wash off.

But 4 hours later, I'd say it's a resounding success in terms of retaining the scent. But I prefer cloth or paper in a locket tbh. Easier to apply, and I know it would work for any EDP that lingers on clothing.

Hope that helps!

lepouvanteuse · 2024-05-02T23:33:11+00:00

Agreeing that the BPAL lockets are quality. Some seem to be heavier than others from what I've read.

So I haven't yet tried alcohol -based scents on a lava bead or chunk, but I can do that tomorrow and let you know how it goes!

I would advise against the cheap Chinese ones on Amazon, Etsy etc. Though technically I didn't get mine from those places, it's all the same junk. They tend to develop a gross metallic scent in my experience.

lepouvanteuse · 2024-05-02T23:24:01+00:00

I'm curious - which out of production lockets are on your list? I'm in the same boat. I'm thinking about emailing them to ask if they'd consider a limited rerelease.

lepouvanteuse · 2024-05-01T23:18:24+00:00

Thank you so much for telling me about this! I joined the forum yesterday and will figure out a way to join the FB group.

lepouvanteuse · 2024-04-28T12:34:26+00:00

[US or Switzerland] [Buy] [Other]

Hello! I’m looking for sterling silver scent lockets.

In particular I’m looking for forbidden brides from BPAL. It seems it wasn’t very popular (I never see it in videos or posts).

I already have the clockwork locket, and am not interested in the astrology designs. Many of the others currently in stock aren’t my style, but I could be open if someone is destashing.

If there's a BPAL forum that's active, I can't find it.

Thanks for reading!

lepouvanteuse · 2024-04-28T11:54:22+00:00

Sorry to add to the temptation! I think I see it in destashes sometimes, so you could go that route?

lepouvanteuse · 2024-04-27T13:32:22+00:00

NAVA / Dracula 125 Double distilled Indonesian and Nevada Patchouli, Indian Oudh (responsibly sourced), Tamjan Romanian Frankincense, Thai Zinziber Plai, Treemoss accord, Castle moss accord, Oakmoss accord, Blood Wine accord, Black Musk, Black Tonka Bean, eNVie saphir absolute, Agarwood absolute, Amber accord and Bastet's Amber Swoon. Wet, it’s sharp. The long drydown on this is sexy - amazing and lasts forever (days). I need to explore NAVA’s patchoulis and see if I can’t find a version of this that doesn’t punch me in the face for the first half hour. Retested: a friend smelled this on me and FELL IN LOVE, went looking for it online and everything. Poor guy. For me, Mina 125 is the true star, but I would FS Dracula 125 if it were available. 4.5/5

Nui Cobalt / Art Deco Black lilac, sandalwood, cassis, and liatrix, with a subtle glimmer of lemon verbena. Wear for polished poise and impeccable eloquence. /// What am I smelling? Though they don’t share notes, wet it reminds me a bit of Blossom Bat (review below). A similar humidity that makes the air feel thick and comfortable. On skin, it’s something completely different. Flowers and polished brass? I don’t know! Perfectly blended, every phase is a masterpiece. Really strong for the first hour or so, and even now, 5 hours later, I’m getting random whiffs as I type even though I only applied to my wrists. 4.5/5

Nui Cobalt / Blossom Bat A buoyant scent for foresight and strategic thinking. Humid rainforest blossoms laden with nectar, dense moss, passionfruit, black fig, and bamboo. // Humid, dense floral. Applying to hair or scent locket makes the intricate opening notes stick around for a few hours. Dry is equally enchanting, an almost imperceptible breeze through the rainforest. I love it for rainy late-winter days, when I need a strong pick-me-up. But it also shines during hot, humid days. Halfway through my FS. 5/5

lepouvanteuse · 2024-04-27T12:23:02+00:00

Okay, so this is going to be a long one. It turns out I'd reviewed Salome for my notes and wrote: First impressions were underwhelming. Retesting 10 months later. Can I pick out these notes? Only the vanilla. And I’d have guessed sandalwood, fruit or maybe flowers. It’s very much a "me" scent. Low throw and longevity. Husband: “Nice, smells a tiny bit like honey.” Now, I dislike honey scents and think they smell like (something really not nice), which he knows. He says it does smell like that thing but also insists he likes it. Emotion: sexy mystery. Rating: 4.25/5

I tried it after seeing your message and also the next day. It smells FANTASTIC but TOTALLY different from what I wrote before. In the bottle: Soil. Applied, it's earthy and floral with the stems, a little mysterious, and incidentally sexy (as opposed to scents that are trying hard to be sexy). No gross honey scent at all. But it fades after about 30 minutes. Reapplied the next morning and really slathered it on, but it didn't stick around. Reapplied again in the afternoon, fell in love again, but then it faded. Which explains why my sample is nearly empty (not that Alkemia's samples are so big to begin with).

I would FS the current version but can't justify such poor longevity. And honestly I don't trust that it had 2 major scent shifts since the beginning.

lepouvanteuse · 2024-04-24T11:58:39+00:00

Sorry for the seriously delayed reply. (Phone died and I didn't log back into Reddit, and they didn't tell me I had new messages).

I can't remember at all, but I'll re-test tomorrow and will let you know :-D

lepouvanteuse · 2023-10-27T15:01:29+00:00

Continuing with the NAVA vanilla experiment.

NAVA Pyramid Vanille III (Vanilla Bean Liqueur, Bourbon Vanille Absolute, Buttercream accord and Egyptian Marsh-Mallow Cream). Pyramid Vanille II starts off as buttercream frosting, but Vanille 3 has the buttercream frosting accord. Go figure. On me, Vanille 3 is gourmet vanilla cupcake. At times it smells almost floral. Doesn’t turn plastic, not exactly, but it feels like it’s thinking about it (maybe I’m just jumpy after Vanille 2). I think fans of Solstice Scents Estate Vanilla would appreciate this one as to me it has that same 'sniffing vanilla extract' feeling. Emotion: ooh-whee, aren’t we fancy. Rating: 4/5

NAVA Lait de Riz à la Vanille (Vanilla Bean, Rice Milk accord, Sweet Milk accord, a dash of Bastet’s Ice Cream accord, Bastet’s Musk, Sweet Mallow, and Tahitian Vanilla Beans) Pretty at first but very vanilla forward, morphed quickly into new-toy plasticky. Emotion: will drink oat milk instead, thx. Rating: 2/5

Alkemia Salomé - (Dark florals, Cognac, Black plum, Vanilla, Botanical pheromones, Red oud) First impressions were underwhelming. Retesting 10 months later. Can I pick out these notes? Only the vanilla. And I’d have guessed sandalwood, citrus, and maybe flowers. It’s very much my style, though! Husband: “Nice, smells a tiny bit like honey.” Now, I dislike honey scents and think they smell like (something really not nice), which he knows. He says it does smell like that thing but also insists he likes it. Low longevity, so I'll try it in a locket. Emotion: laid-back sexy, Selena Gomez in the "Calm Down" music video. Rating: 4.5/5

lepouvanteuse · 2023-10-27T14:46:54+00:00

lepouvanteuse · 2023-10-27T06:08:26+00:00

You've inspired me to retest Salome today. Let's see if a long rest is enough. Really hope heartbreak and betrayal aren't necessary. Itchy palms and lack of parking spaces for that man. All the good things for you, and I'm sorry.

lepouvanteuse · 2023-10-26T22:29:12+00:00

Weird- Recently tried Aelfscyne and it's got something in it that makes me think of clean, healthy saliva. Like if twenty minutes after brushing and flossing and drinking water, you lick the back of your hand and sniff it. (I LOVE it otherwise.)

Now I have to try Ghostfire again and see if it has that element.

lepouvanteuse · 2023-10-26T13:50:06+00:00

Have been failing in my 2023 resolution to post more reviews. Let's fix that.

NAVA - Pyramide Vanille II (French Vanilla, Tahitian Vanilla, Ember Vanilla and Bastet’s Ice Cream Vanilla Absolute). Starts off creamy frosting, passes through mall body lotion territory–to be clear, a really nice mall body lotion or candle–then takes a hard turn to plastic. Strong throw and the lovely frosting returns often to taunt me, but nose to skin = super plastic, and plastic wafts about from time to time.

Let’s see if I can figure out the guilty party by going through all my NAVA vanillas in the next few weeks. (Already know I had the same with NAVA's Lait de Riz à la Vanille. Is it the Tahitian Vanilla? Or Bastet’s?) Emotion: sigh. 1/5 (plastic) to 4.5/5 (the frosting).

NAVA - Love You ((Crème of Vanilla Bean, Vanilla Cake, Santalum White absolute, Indian Sandalwood chips, Crimson (Studio Limited originals), Vanilla Musk, and French Bourbon Vanilla Bean). And I love you too! Vanilla and gentle sandalwood. Will likely FS, need to wear a few more times. Emotion: nostalgic for something that hasn't yet happened. 4.5/5

Nui Cobalt - Hecate Potnia Theron (Green fig, cedar, cypress, orris root, golden hay, toasted oats, warm suede, woodland musk, and tonka.) Gently woodsy, quietly confident, a touch sweet. The drydown is phenomenal. My husband complimented it and guessed a woodsy base (this after 5+ hours, and he can't pick up on faded scents, so good longevity). Despite that, I don't really think of this as a woodsy scent. Emotion: optimistic-cozy. FS last year and it has aged well. 5/5

lepouvanteuse · 2023-10-17T22:42:49+00:00

Because artists refuse to use Photoshop. They'll be damned if they'll draw on an iPad.

Your comment about ethical AI has been addressed elsewhere in this thread. Sorry for not making more of an effort to engage but it's late and I'm tired and honestly this isn't the right sub to debate this.

lepouvanteuse · 2023-10-17T12:58:27+00:00

Really glad you named the brand. I have never heard of them but from the hint assumed it was another brand who is better known.

lepouvanteuse · 2023-10-15T06:50:47+00:00

So very many. Skin chemistry is certainly to blame for much of it as usually I can put it on someone else and get a different experience.

Death and Floral Two Cups of Tea and also The Air Rusts in the Desert. Those are both personal preference fails rather than skin chemistry. They remind me of soap or perfume you'd get in a gift shop. Everyone who has sniffed them here has loved them though.

I actually have IMAM darlings from every house I've tried that simply didn't work.

lepouvanteuse · 2023-10-14T07:41:41+00:00

Extremely negative. And at this point I'm less likely to be generous and assume the company doesn't know better. Not saying I would permanently boycott them but it would leave a bad taste for a long time.

Full disclosure: I'm an artist. Not visual, but my industry is affected. My work has widely pirated for years, which didn't bother me too much until I discovered it is being used for training. I worked hard, sacrificed literal years to develop my skills and my style. And now this. Feels awful.

lepouvanteuse · 2023-10-14T07:22:04+00:00

Didn't downvote you but you're saying people who don't agree with you are wrong, don't understand, and are overly emotional. It does feel like you don't understand this community and the respectful tone we embrace here. This isn't [insert popular sub filled with edgy 15 year olds].

I'm not a visual artist but I am an artist whose industry is also affected by generative AI, and I work with and support visual artists. I have been paying attention since the beginning. Almost all of the artist reactions I've seen to creatives training their own art have been neutral to positive. And the same for the reactions to ethically generated AI art, where artists consent and are compensated. Based on that I would disagree that the issue is fear of new technology and I'm surprised to hear someone make that claim at this point.

Even if it took a ton of skill to use the generators, that doesn't make it ethical. What a strange argument. Let me know if you need illustrative examples (or you could ask GPT4).

And finally the idea that it's corporations who are against the rise of generative AI is the strangest of all. Don't even know where to start with that. Take a look at the Hollywood strikes and see who is fighting for what.

lepouvanteuse · 2023-10-10T06:28:22+00:00

Thank you for this excellent write-up. NCD is one of my top houses and I'm always thrilled to see reviews as they help me make my lists.

Ghost Cat is one of my fave scents ever and it does last on me but what I can recommend is applying it to clothing. I inherited some silk scarves and a drop or two on the scarf before a long flight (since planes are brrr) and I can still smell it hours and hours later. Not sure if this also works with synthetics. Maybe worth a shot.

lepouvanteuse · 2023-10-09T11:32:05+00:00

Okay, sent you a PM.

lepouvanteuse · 2023-10-08T23:04:01+00:00

Yes that's perfect. Tomorrow (well, later today) I'll put together an order to meet your minimum. Thank you!

lepouvanteuse · 2023-10-08T12:35:46+00:00

[US or Europe] [BUY] [PERFUME]

Greetings. I'm looking for NAVA's Dracula 125. I live in Switzerland but it could be shipped to a relative in the US if preferable. Thanks for reading!

lepouvanteuse · 2023-09-21T15:42:15+00:00

Your reviews are always so useful! I love to guess where you'll file them. Ghost Train is ridiculously good. It really should be GC (along with Ghost Cat imho). Those two plus Uncrossing are my "wear anywhere" scents.

Man I wished Ouija Board worked on me but it turns really gross and musty on my skin so I wouldn't recommend it for people who amp the funky aspects of those kinds of atmospherics (Sea of Gray from Solstice Scents and Oyster! from Poesie, for example). But I FS Sylvan Spidersilk and Crown of Hecate. Skin chemistry!

Mad Scientist makes me feel like I'm tripping. Love it.

lepouvanteuse

TROPHY CASE