sarada

This was the one of the Come and See quartet that I had most wanted to try and even contemplated ordering a bottle unsniffed until I seriously thought about that "cocoa" in the description and decided not to chance it. Cocoa may make life worth living when it is consumed in brownie form, but as a fragrance on my skin it just makes me think that I forgot to wash frosting off of my fingers. Sniffing this, I'm glad I didn't order a bottle. The notes sounded very close to Red Phoenix but this is much closer to something like Cerberus or 13. I didn't hate those, but I decided that I'd never wear them, and didn't keep them. Actually, in the bottle this reminds me of the smell of those root beer barrel candies, after you've been sucking on them for a little bit. Sticky, syrupy and just a little lemony. It really does remind me of Cerberus, a blend that I appreciated the artistry of but knew I wouldn't wear. Or it's 13 tinted orange instead of purple (the iris in 13 makes me think of purple, what can I say?) Really strong, lemony citrusy and a cocoa/root beer sort of smell. I guess I can kind of sense that there's something I like behind it...something smoky and herbal like tea or tobacco but I can never quite grasp it. Red musk, black tea, and tobacco are three of my favorite notes. I also dig herbs, and tonka, and I am OK with mandarin and maybe even saffron. But all I can smell in this is that sticky root beer barrel smell, a mishmash of candy crunched together with chocolate and a spritz of lemon or orange. Nonetheless I think I'll hang onto it to keep the full set of four, just for aesthetic sniffing purposes. It doesn't quite make me think of swords or war though, it makes me think of a candy store!

Burial was one of the very first scents I ever tried, yet for some reason I never reviewed it. My bottle is rather old now but it still smells about the same. When I first got this I was hoping for something like GothRosary's "Graveyard" -- it's different, but fulfills a similar green mossy need in my brain. Actually I remember when I first opened this my overwhelming impression was a sharp rosey smell. Mossy, mouldering wood, damp greenery and a sharp rose. It also reminds me a little of the scent of our old canvas tent after it had been rained on, and was dusty and slightly moldy in the basement. That's kind of a smell that I like though. Now, after sniffing many many other things, I can definitely recognize the sharp bite of juniper in there. Not so sure if those are roses or some other flower but it's predominantly a sharp green scent, anchored in place by an earthy base. The powdery scent that floats over top...I don't know what that is. It reminds me a little of nail polish remover. It isn't quite like Zombi though it might sound like it. Zombi is much more of a strong dirt and pungent rose scent. The rosiness is a little less overpowering in this and the dirt is subdued by the damp mossy greenery. I wound up keeping this bottle and not keeping Zombi, because this one doesn't give me a rose headache and doesn't stick to my clothing or hair for a week afterward!

I love the dark red color of this oil -- it makes me want to drink it. I'm craving cranberry juice now. Being from a town that has a cranberry festival every year, this was kind of interesting to me -- and I like a lot of berry scents when they have an incensy or earthy feeling to them. This is a very pungent, sweet-sour cranberry cocktail. Actually it does smell like a candle -- even down to being a little waxy. I don't smell lilies at any stage but it does make me think of some of the holiday cranberry candles that I sniffed this year. It would definitely smell great at the end of the year as a room scent. I'm not sure if I'd wear it though -- I do like the slight burst of power that the musk gives it, which is probably why this doesn't become candy on me. Ultimately, it makes me thirsty...and I smell a bit like a candle. Not a bad thing but probably not something I'd wear again. If you're looking for a cranberry scent, or a room scent that would be something like a cranberry candle, this is definitely the way to go!

Mantis makes me think of grass. It is green in color, first of all...but it is a very fresh, green smell to me, and the patchouli in the background makes me think of soil (though it is barely "smellable" in the blend to me) and then there's golden amber pouring over like sunlight. Again, very faintly. And I wish I had kept my bottle. I'm ordering another one I think. It's my favorite fresh green spring smell.

This is around the time last year that I started to plan for spring... Last year I was thinking lemony, citrusy and green tea scents but as it turns out they are so fleeting on me there's almost no point in wearing them. I think Dublin will stay as a big spring scent for me though (as similar as it is to Skadi, it's a little more springy), and Unicorn...what's left of my Cheshire Cat...and Arkham Revistied and Mi-Go for sure. Short-lasting or not they make me think of last spring! And Spirits of the Dead seems to be a good tea scent. I don't think I'll bother getting any bottles for spring though as I pretty much just wear my favorites all year. I think Snow White and Mistletoe will still be gorgeous fresh scents for the warmer months though!

Mmmmm.... Shh, I haven't tested this but I sniffed the bottle I got for my friend. I had to know what kind of rose it was. Any fears I had that it would be too similar to Rose Red are dispelled. To me, this is a dark, deep pink rose. In other words it's a slightly sweet, full bloom...and it is not overly spikey or powdery or, erm, headachy. Rose Red was a very cold green rose to me, and gorgeous but it does tend to get up in your sinuses. From sniffing this, I know that it wouldn't give me a headache if I wore it, but I simply don't wear rose scents very often. There are SO many ways to approach rose, though, which is why it's such a wonderful scent. If you love rose in all of its manifestations, try this! If you want a pure rose ~different~ from Rose Red, try it! If you found a lot of other roses too perfumey or powdery then this might also be worth a try. I'm glad I got a sniff!

I didn't order a bottle of this because of the narcissus and other floral notes. I am pretty sure that narcissus is the note that smells like chemical/hairspray/nail polish to me and didn't want to take a chance on yet another Lunacy blend that I'd have to get rid of (I've kept...only four Lunacy blends to date, and I've tried all but one). But oh hell. It's gorgeous. It's actually more like Dublin than Skadi to me, must be the white rose. It's such a ROUND note. So cold, so white and pale pale green. If you liked Dublin or its piney cousin Skadi, oh man, this is for you. I'm going to be kicking myself over here for awhile. But seriously, between Skadi, Talvikuu and Snow Bunny I think I have enough scents like this even though I love them all. They are all so similar, and just one tiny shade different from one another. The main reason to get all of them would be having all the cool bottle labels. I don't really get the florals from this and I definitely don't get the dreaded narcissus. Just that lovely round succulent white rose (which does not smell 'rosey' really). I'm never sure whether these are more aquatic, or woody, or slightly fruity, or what -- they're just, erm, snowy. Pale greenery and snow and just a hint of sunlight sparkling on ice. Sigh.

This is actually kind of how I wish that Incantation had smelled... Lemon and lavender seemed a bit out of place at first, in an otherwise resiny earthy blend (frankincense and vetiver are two of my reasons for getting up in the...afternoon, I love them so much). But they don't really announce themselves too loudly in this blend. The lemon peel is a square of sunlight falling on the floor of a dark chapel, but it never smells overtly lemony. It just adds a little light. Same with the lavender...if you like the fougere of Dorian or Old Scratch, this is a similar musky, faintly lavender cologne that just drifts around the edges. The frankincense is foremost on me and lasts the longest -- the other dark scents give the whole blend some body and staying power. Like the other Come and See fragrances, this is a fascinating experience and it's great to just let these scents develop on you and listen to them tell their story. I don't know if I'd use them regularly, but wow, they certainly unfold in a most interesting way.

I like this one and I have no idea where to begin with it. First, the thing that really struck me about this scent was how glassy and transparent it smelled to me. Most scents give me a synaesthetic color association but this strikes me as perfectly clear. Another review compared it to a clear stream running over rocks and that is also how it strikes me. I'm guessing that the slicing, clean scent is a combination of the citrus (lime, yuzu) and sharp mint with the cleansing lavender. A glassy blade or a chill dip in a stream. But underneath, there is soil. Rich, gritty, clean soil. I really love it when it starts to come out, later in the transformation. Sterile, but earthy. I don't know if I would wear this enough to warrant a bottle but it's a fascination scent and a real delight to experience. It has a very mineral quality to it, and I am so baffled by this "clean/dirty" association that I can't stop sniffing.

I don't really like many of the notes in this on their own, but you never know what things are going to do when they get together. This reminds me initially of a lighter Tombstone -- not as cedary, but there's that strange vanilla and leather thing going on. I am not wild about the leather note if it's too strong, but it adds a nice warm masculine touch in small amounts. Lavender and vanilla and this masculine musky scent together do remind me of Old Scratch as well but not as incensy and fragrant. This scent stays at a low, sultry simmer. This has all the swagger of Tombstone but instead of wearing chaps he's sliding into the saloon wearing a long Victorian coat and has a carnation in his lapel. Boy this does really come across as a Western scent doesn't it? The verdict for me is that it's too leathery, and while I can dig that in certain super-woody blends, in this particular one it is a little too cowboy but I think it would be great for guys, or girls who like leathery vanilla combos.

I've been trying to figure out how to review this for days now -- this is a fairly unique scent and I've tried about 500 from the lab. The only really similar one I've tried was Clio, and that is another recent addition to the catalog. This is like Clio...without the orange. Yet there is still something slightly warm and almost citrus/fruity hovering around this scent. In the bottle and freshly on the skin it is a very appealing light wood fragrance and yes it really does have a dusty smell. My boyfriend said it smells like old books in the bottle, and he didn't know anything about what this was supposed to smell like. I think it's the "parchment" note she's been using lately. But it actually makes me ~sneeze~ when I sniff it on my skin at first. The dusty wooden box smell is somehow dappled in sweetness and light, unaccountably, making it a rather friendly scent to me. I don't specifically smell musk of any sort, and certainly not anything sharp, but maybe I'm just interpreting that as a citrusy warmth. It's smiling at me, at any rate. It dries down to a powdery wood scent and a light musk clings to me after it dries. The bf does not like it when it dries on my skin because he said it smelled too powdery...but when I told him it was supposed to smell like dust and wood he said it made more sense. He usually doesn't comment on my fragrances, which is why I mention this....it had enough throw and personality for him to really comment on it. Unfortunately he didn't like it on me but I like it, so there! Really unique, but if you want it and can't get it, try Clio!

Clio was one I had high hopes for with the patchouli, parchment and heavy woods -- these are all good things in my book. And Clio is a muse that I can kind of groove with, being a bookish type person. I like this, but it's a lot lighter than I expected. Initially this reminds me very strongly of The Rat King! I haven't figured out how to descibe him yet in a review yet so I'll have to figure out a way to say it here...Clio is dominated at first by that thin orangey note, but beneath it the soft, pale woods and a very dry, dusty smell slowly grow in strength. I didn't realize that a perfume could so accurately portray the idea of parchment or dusty paper, but here you have it. I guess it's a thin, pale, powdery wood, though lavender can certainly add an impression of a faint layer of dust, in a very small dose. This is a little bit too light for me...I like to be able to smell things around me without having to sniff my wrist constantly. I think The Rat King is similar enough, without the strong orangey note in the beginning, that I will keep that as my soft wood and parchment blend but both of them are a very unique scent for the lab and unlike anything else that I've smelled before.

Let's see, I have Polyhmnia on my right wrist, and Clio on my left... The lemon balm in Polyhymnia is rather overwhelming and unavoidable, to the exclusion of almost every other note. There's a Burt's Bees lemon balm creme, I forget what it's for but I used to open it up just to sniff it. A strong, medicinal, sinus-clearing scent. Unfortunately it's not something I'd want to wear as a fragrance, though I love to sniff it to clear my head as a sort of aromatherapy. I don't get any red sandalwood, even when it dries down, except that I can still smell something mellow and pleasant once the lemon fades, which wouldn't be the case it it was straight lemon. I love rosemary, and that adds a slightly herbal touch but I don't really get anything else out of this blend. It dries down to a faint memory of the lemon balm -- I'd swear I had actually applied this as a paste, it's so strong, but I never really get the woods or other notes. They must be there, warming the lemon and keeping it from being too faint and fleeting, but I'm afraid this is going to bring about the usual lemony complaints. Polyhymnia is one of the muses that I most identify with so of course I will probably keep this and keep her in mind. Oh and it also reminds me of the blend Shadow, but without the strong woody/cedar stage that that dries into...a very pale wood maybe, that has recently been polished with lemon oil.

This is going to be an easy review -- it smells just like everyone said it would! I mourned the loss of Skadi this year, but between this blend and Talvikuu I think I will have enough slushy/snowy cold scents with a hint of evergreen in them, to keep me going. But this is different enough to warrant its own place in my collection. It's more of a sun-on-snow scent than a in-the-shade-of-snowy-trees scent. I was going to say "yellow snow" but that has an entirely different connotation, I'm afraid. I'd agree with the slightly grapefruity scent to this, and it's rather less piney than Skadi (which was just barely piney to begin with, to my nose). More sweet than the other forest snow scents, but just as slushy, cold and lovely. These kinds of blends never last as long as I'd like or have a ton of throw on me (only musk, amber and patchouli really latch onto my skin longterm) but I love splashing them on over and over again. Oh how I love the Yule blends!

Red Phoenix is just glorious. First of all, almost every note in this is one of my favorites: red musk, patchouli, plum and tobacco would all be ingredients in my ultimate dream blend. The only iffy one is cassia, but since Blood Moon worked well on me despite my not normally liking cinnamony scents, this seemed worth the risk. And while the cassia is strong initially, definitely warranting a Blood Moon comparison, it goes much more in the direction of Blood Countess for me, which is one of my all-time favorites. It's like...a slightly spicy Blood Countess, since the plum becomes very very deep, dark juicy purple on me, grounded by patchouli/tobacco and set into a sultry bed of red musk. Red musk has the unique property of just making any blend that it's in, automatically good on me. It's a burning, smouldering passionate fire just beneath the surface. It's like the coal upon which all of the other ingredients burn. This is one of those things that I could just never get sick of smelling, once it dries down and the cassia is just a faint spice around the edges. A slightly tart, voluptuous dark plum dribbling with crimson juice, and a sweet, earthy bed of musky incense. I know that this would be too much for a lot of people but it's just right for me. I will probably try to stick to having just one bottle, but this goes in the Top Ten limited editions for me, for sure...probably Top Five.

Spirits of the Dead has my favorite bottle label of the series, first of all! And based on the tea and woods notes I thought this would probably be a favorite. And I do like it -- though not for the reasons I thought I would! The lemony/citrus scent is the strongest in the bottle of course. I love The Unicorn so I know that linden must agree with me, but this smells far more citrusy to me than the Unicorn. Really, what it does is remind me (of course) is Embalming Fluid (as has been said before), but with a pale green impression rather than a pale yellow one. This is probably useless information to anyone but me, but if linden is a lime-like scent then it does make sense. It's a slightly sweet, even slightly smooth lemony tea but with a hint of lime. I really don't get the parchment or wood notes at all. On the drydown I don't either, but since there is still a dry, faint whiff of the lemony-lime after it dries, that suggests that there's a woody base....since woods stick to my skin. This is really not something that I would normally wear as a scent. As much as I love tea, tea scents like Dormouse and Shanghai have always been great in the bottle but vanish too quickly on my skin. But I'd really love to try some of this in an unscented shampoo or shower gel, I can see it being really stimulating, eye-opening and good for clearing the mind. Please make me keep this, because I really want to have at least one citrusy tea fragrance (in addition to my beloved Cheshire Cat and Kumiho that is) in my collection, for aromatherapy even if I can't wear it as a perfume without having to refresh it every 10 minutes.

WOW!! I can't wait to try the imps I ordered of the Come and Sees in a couple of days, because I have to have those bottles! Or maybe I hope I don't like them, because that would mean another $50 I'd have to spend. Thanks for the photos!!

2005 Previously reviewed the 2004, but I'm writing a new review for this year's. I'm so happy to finally have a bottle!! I never even used the imp I had last year more than a couple times because I didn't want to run out. Having tried a lot more evergreen scents from the lab in the past year, there's really nothing else quite like Mistletoe. It's the most pure, clear, perfect, crisp snow evergreen. It's not like an antiseptic pine cleaner, it's just the most natural green thing you'll ever smell. It's the exact smell of fresh evergreens that you have cut out in the snow and are forming into a wreath. This is a must-have if you like evergreen scents. I don't know if it's technically pine, or fir, or something else, but it's without compare. Now that I have a full bottle I can slather a bit and it does have a lot more throw and staying power than I had originally thought. This was the perfect scent to wear on Christmas!

This is the scent I was most looking forward to trying from my Christmas wishlist scents! I really like mint, but as a perfume it tends to "go all toothpaste" on me. This reminds me initially of the mintiest parts of Ice Queen (which at first I thought didn't smell minty at all but now it does.....aging, or just a changing perception?) I was concerned this would be too much like Tulzscha, which was a bit more aquatic and spectral, but no, this is quite different while still being a mostly-mint scent. It really ... radiates, for lack of a better word. The spearmint becomes stronger but remains cold and strong. This is a fantastically long-lasting, strong mint. And what on earth is it that gives scents like this that positively glacier-like edge? A frosted pane of glass, or a sheet of ice with greenery trapped beneath the surface. Cold, cold, cold. Icy desolation, or maybe toothpaste -- but I like it either way!

This was the one scent in this collection that seemed to sound like the no-brainer, hands-down favorite for me based on the notes. Except for my dubious feelings about lemon peel and a couple of iffy experiences with saffron it definitely sounds like me. I like it in the bottle -- I get a slightly herbal, light vetiver. I remember that lemon peel and saffron sometimes make otherwise good note combinations turn into cologne/aftershave when they hit my nose... But it's complex and appealing in the bottle...an enticing herb shop. On my skin it takes on a bit of a harsh, chemical smell though and dries to something rather grey and murky pretty quickly. It makes me think of the chemical smell that I get from Darkness and Hades, which makes absolutely no sense, but there you go. It puts me in the mind of hairspray even though it doesn't smell exactly like it. I think that lemon peel must be one of those things that screws up a blend for me. I think I'm going to try it for a couple more days before making a decision about it -- this is the only one of the scents I've sniffed today that didn't win me over right away. Four of my top 10 or 12 all-time favorite notes are in this blend, but still, somehow it just doesn't come together on my skin. After washing it off I get some of the gritty, ashy vetiver that I was hoping for but this still strikes me as kind of harsh and a little chemical. I'd like to like this but I have a feeling I'll be swapping it.

2005 Reviewed the 2004 before -- this is pretty much identical! I'm just posting a new review because they're from different years and I again have to say that it's pretty much a succulent crisp green stem/lily pollen scent to me. I can catch a glimpse of what I take to be the plasticky note at first, but fortunately it doesn't develop like that on me, or maybe I've just decided to ignore that and concentrate on the part that I like! I also wanted to mention that there is still nothing particularly creamy or coconutty about Snow White to me, personally. I feel very sick whenever I smell coconut, but I don't get that feeling from Snow White though there's certainly a...white sweetness about this. That doesn't mean I'm not insane, that's just the way my nose happens to interpret this scent. It's a succulent, crisp, refreshing white lily/green ivy, without smelling like a typical "floral." Really unique. Anyway, if you're like me and avoided this scent like the plague because of the coconut/vanilla/creamy comparisons, then try it thinking about crushed lily stems and a light dusting of pollen and it might influence your experience! I agree with the reviews that mention ivy as well. Very very fresh, crisp, sweet white with a touch of greenery and a whisper of palest yellow. As it dries I do get some of the gentle, warm sweetness of what might be vanilla but this would definitely be in the column of vanilla that I can stand (we're up to...five possible vanillas that I can stand now!)

My high-tech decanting equipment for that experiment was.....a 4-inch segment of regular drinking straw.

I did an experiment and found that about 12 drops of oil will fill an imp to about the label, and most blends only require about one generous drop to give me a nice application. With lighter ones I apply like crazy though. I rarely even get halfway through an imp before I panic and buy a bottle, so I don't really know how long they would last me if I kept going. That may be an experiment I need to force myself to do in the new year.

The Rat King is adorable!!! I hope I get him for Christmas!

I tried the Stations of the Sun a year ago, before I had developed a good BPAL sense and now I'm out to try them again. I remembered them as being somewhat golden and resinous, but in a dark, medicinal way. That is still my impression of Ahathoor though I can say a little bit more about it now that I'm more familiar with the lab's various notes. Resins, a hint of pepper, and a hot herbal undercurrent -- something vaguely menthol lurks in the background. This reminds me of one of the other ritual-type blends, either a Sephiroth or...actually it reminds me of Sol. It's not spicy, per se, but it has the pulsating inner heat of Sol. I've seen other people mention carnation...that would make sense, since that has a sort of spicy/heat quality without smell like a traditional spice. This definitely has the feel of a ritual blend. I'm almost certain there's frankincense in there. Maybe there's pepper or carnation. Some sort of menthol scent in the distance. But after wearing it for awhile, the frankincense dominates and it's an absolutely marvellous resiny incense on me. Okay, so now I have to try the other Stations again and figure out what I need more of! I've been missing out on a great resiny scent!