inkstone

Courtesy of the Oblation Caravan! In the imp: Ozone. Wet: Sweet ozone, if such a thing existed. It smells like the air does after a summer rainstorm. Drydown: Wet trees. Final thoughts: This is a very pretty scent. It's not sharp and harash at all like I expected an ozone scent to be. This is definitely my favorite of the Oblation blends.

The continuing travels of the Pumpkin King! In the imp: Pumpkin. (I realize that's an incredibly "duh" statement!) Wet: The pumpkin turns buttery and creamy in this stage. It's gorgeous. Drydown: It's that gorgeous buttery pumpkin mixed with spices! Final thoughts: *dies* I absolutely love this! This is autumn in a bottle. I really like it much more than Samhain. I realize the chances are slim but I so wish this would come out as a general release in some way or form. I'm so very glad I got the chance to try this.

Courtesy of the Pumpkin King circular swap! In the imp: Foody. Wet: I've lost my mind. I smell something spicy in it, similar to the spices found in Gingerbread Poppet. Drydown: Chocolate, the gingerbread spices and nuttiness. Final thoughts: This is very, very nice. I'm not sure it's something I would wear, but it's something I like to smell!

Courtesy of the Pumpkin King circular swap! In the imp: Foody wood. Huh? Wet: Cinnamon wood. It's a darker Hamadryad. Drydown: It clings very closely to my skin at this stage. I get whiffs of alcohol, but I'm not sure what type of alcohol it is. Final thoughts: Oddly enough, this fades very quickly on me. My skin apparently loves it and sucked it all up.

Courtesy of the Pumpkin King circular swap! I didn't even realize this was a Black Broom Exclusive until I wrote up this review! I was thinking it was a catalog BPAL voodoo blend. Anyway-- This is spiced oranges! Definitely spiced oranges! Unfortunately it turned to soap during the drydown phase so I couldn't form any other impressions. But it's a shame I didn't note down what day I wore this. I should have paid more attention to see whether or not it had any beneficial effects.

Courtesy of the Pumpkin King circular swap! This is so strongly foody on me, I was bowled over. It's a bit too strong for me. It's almost entirely cinnamon and clove. I can hardly smell the pepper at all. It does very much so remind me of cider. I'm not sure I smell the apple, but it's definitely spiced cider. It's a nice blend. A shame it was discontinued, but it'll be interesting to see what the reformulation will be like.

Courtesy of the Pumpkin King circular swap! The Hesperides are what I consider vaguely soft foody. It's not as strongly foody as other blends from the Lab, but it's not entirely a fruity scent. The reason why I say this is because when I first put it on, I got a chocolatey almond-type nut smell. The caramel apple smell didn't really start coming out until the drydown. In the imp, it was very dry, which looking at the description now I can see why--it's the wood. This is a very autumn-type scent. It's nice and I'm glad I got the chance to try it.

Courtesy of the Pumpkin King circular swap! Jack II I tried this at the same time at Jack I (but on the other arm) so I could really see how similar or different they were. There is definitely a difference. On me at least. I realize skin chemistry plays a big role there. Jack II is lighter and not as deep and smoky as Jack I. The peaches come out more strongly, which makes it softer and lighter than its counterpart. On me, Jack II faded much more quickly than Jack I. It has a similar pumpkin smell in the imp, but on me, they're fairly different. I have to say that I preferred Jack I more.

Courtesy of the Pumpkin King circular swap! Jack I This is deep, warm baked pumpkin pie. I can definitely pick out cinnamon and nutmeg from the spices, but I suspect there may be more there. It's smoky and foody and utterly delicious. Who knew I'd be such a foody girl? I never thought I'd be before I got into BPAL and now look at where I am! There's a sweetness that I think is peaches or something, but I'm not sure. I really, really like this and am so very glad I got the chance to try it!

Courtesy of the Yemaya Circular Swap! In the bottle: Very, very fruity. It's definitely melon, probably honeydew. Wet: I get that odd saltwater tang that's been mentioned previously. There's another note that's very familiar, but I can't identify it. Drydown: Fruity melon over an aquatic background. I understand the similarity to watermelon in this stage. Final thoughts: I really like this blend! Such a shame that it's a Black Bloom Exclusive!

In terms of mint scents - Spooky, as you've noted. Undertow and Shattered, which are similar in smell on me. I prefer Undertow over Shattered though. Frost Moon is a beautiful, creamy mint. Mad Hatter, which didn't smell all that masculine on me is extremely minty. However the pennyroyal didn't come out on me at all, so how minty it is may depend on how much pennyroyal comes out on your girlfriend's skin. Nine Mysteries (currently unreleased) is pure peppermint from the get-go, but it morphs a lot in the drydown. It didn't last that long on me and I remember it not smelling much like mint at the end.

I've always gotten an email from the Lab confirming my order, separate from the email that Paypal sends. However, the Lab sometimes has email problems and the email goes astray/gets eaten/etc so I wouldn't worry too much about it. As long as you see the transaction in your paypal account, you should be fine.

I snagged a bottle of this from the lovely Sigh. In the bottle: Water-drowned florals. Wet: Definitely aquatic and floral, but whatever floral it is has a very sweet note. It's almost fruity and I can taste it in the back of my throat. Drydown: Hmm... maybe that floral I'm smelling is heliotrope then? Final thoughts: This is soft and comforting. It's floral and aquatic, but over an almost creamy base that reminds me vaguely of tonka bean. I don't think it's tonka bean, but it has that same creaminess to it. Very nice.

Yeah, they smell nothing alike on me either. Unfortunately, they were also both disastrous on me.

In the imp: Florals. Wet: Florals, florals, florals. Drydown: You guessed it. Florals. Final thoughts: In a weird twist of fate, the cherry didn't come out on me at all. I was really confused because it usually does. I don't know if it just couldn't compete with the florals on my skin or my skin's misbehaving today. This isn't really me though, so into the swap pile it goes.

This was a giftie from the Lab. In the imp: The metallic edge of dragon's blood, sweetened by somethign fruity. I think that's a currant, but it could also be the fig mixed in. Wet: The musks come roaring out with the dragon's blood forming a base. This stage isn't bad, per se, but I'm not fond of it. Drydown: This balances out into a nice mix of fruity sweet, red musk and the bite of dragon's blood. Final thoughts: I wasn't sure what to make of it in the wet stages. Had it stayed there, I probably wouldn't have liked it. But the drydown stage ended up into something nice. I also feel very strong and calm wearing this. I see comparisons to Blood Lotus, but as that blend turned to oily pencil shavings on me, this smells very different. The wonders of skin chemistry.

In the imp: Fruity florals. Wet: Berries and plum over dark, violet smoke. I can only assume that the smoky note is from the opium. Drydown: Mostly the plum and the lilac. There's a similarity in those paired scents to Kitsune-Tsuki, but the smokiness adds a certain depth. Final thoughts: This blend is both light in scent, but dark in tone. I wasn't sure in the wet stages because the smokiness bordered on off-putting, but the drydown's very pretty. It's very similar to Queen of Spades, so people looking for QoS replacements should definitely give this blend a try.

In the imp: Tangy apricots. Wet: White musk and the fruity blast of apricots. Drydown: Mostly apricots in this stage, but there's that vague bitterness that I associate with orange blossoms. Finals thoughts: I like this and I'll be keeping the imp, but in terms of peachy/apricot scents, I think Tamora is the big winner for me.

In the imp: Light fruitiness! Wet: Wow! Pretty pears mixed with plumeria. It's tropical and I really like this! Drydown: Doh! The champagne note came out and drowned out everything. Now I know for sure that this is the note that thwarted me in Bon Vivant. I just smell like bubbly alcohol now. Final thoughts: Such high hopes crushed by the drydown! Champagne's nice, but really, that's not all I want to smell like.

In the imp: Milky tea with a spike of ginger. Wet: Very strong black tea scent and the ginger comes out sharply. It does smell vaguely like lemon, but I know it's coming from the ginger because usually true lemon does something very noticeable and unique on my skin. Ahahaha. Drydown: Very creamy on the drydown. But I think that's creamy from the milk. Oddly enough, the vanilla and honey don't come out so strongly on my skin. In this stage, it's mostly milk, tea and ginger. Oh, and the pepper too because whenever I sniff my wrist, I sneeze. Huh. That could be a problem. Final thoughts: This is a very nice, comforting scent. I really like it. It's creamy, but on me, it's not too sweet. Then again, I like sweet and fruity blends so by comparison this isn't that sweet. Unfortunately it makes me sneeze, so I have to pass it on.

Agony and ecstasy: black leather and damp red rose. In the imp: Lush, red roses. Wet: Damp, lush, red roses with something darker in the background. Drydown: Wow! The leather came out fairly strong in the drydown. It's like smelling rose petals scattered across leather. Final thoughts: I was a little unsure about this in the wet stages, but this is really nice. Definitely a slinky scent. This is also the very first leather scent I've tried so I wasn't sure what to expect. It's nice. Definitely keep the imp. Mm-hm.

In the imp: Golden peach with something faintly sharp. I'm not sure what that is. Wet: First, I get a whiff of the white musk. Then I get a whiff of the peach, but the bergamot adds enough of a bite to drown out the sweet, sweet heliotrope. Drydown: In the initial drydown, the sweet peach and heliotrope comes out for one brief, glorious moment. Then the oakmoss comes out and eh. It becomes musty and not pretty. Final thoughts: This is a very summery scent. I'm not sure I'd call this sparkly. I thought Tamora was much more sparkly in that sense, but someone recommended this to me since I loved that scent so much. I wanted to give this a shot because of the peach, but I admit I was leery of the bergamot and oakmoss. Apparently I was right. This is also much lighter and elusive than Tamora. It fades pretty quickly on me.

In the bottle: Minty coconutty goodness! Wet: Boozy chocolate with a blast of mint and some coconut hanging out in the background. Oddly enough, it's actually smoky in this stage. I want to say that's the chocolate that's adding that dimension. Drydown: Definitely coconut over a background of chocolate. There's some mint peeking out here and there when I sniff at my arm. Final thoughts: I wish the mint would come out a bit more, but I'll have to try this again. I'm currently on my period so my skin chemistry is a little off from the usual.

I have to second this. Siren smells very strongly of jasmine and vanilla on me. It all but drowns out the apricot. Your skin chemistry may do something different, however.

I absolutely adore Tamora. I ordered Fae and Thalia in my last order so I can't compare them, but Tamora is so pretty.