wl552

PUMPKIN LATTE Espresso, pumpkin syrup, smoky vanilla bean, milk, raw sugar, and a dash of cinnamon and nutmeg. Fresh from the mailbox. In the bottle: Mmm! Pumpkin with a hint of spices and a whisper of vanilla coffee. It's not super sweet. Wet on skin: Pumpkin again, of course! ^^ But I'm getting more of the cinnamon and nutmeg coming up. Dry: Pumpkin has settled down with the spices and vanilla nicely. The espresso is giving this a deep, rich almost nutty note. The cream and sugar add a milky sweetness. Later: PL stays pretty much the same for the rest of the day. Maybe with just a little bit more of the spices coming up again, but they aren't too hot or biting. Overall: This is an OMG!scent. Makes up for any regrets I had not getting PPV last year. I resniffed my decant and honestly, Pumpkin Latte puts that one in dust by PL's awesomeness. I am seriously considering another bottle of this, which I rarely do. If you're afraid of the pumpkin or coffee notes, I'd say don't be. This is a well rounded creamy spice scent with just enough sweetness to keep the spices from misbehaving. I've had it on my skin for a short time and already am completely smitten.

YULE CAT The Yule Cat is a gargantuan Icelandic feline that feasts on indolent people who shirk their community responsibilities. Don't be lazy! - idle hands make for a very unpleasant Yule! Malevolent musk, a drop of infernal civet, vetiver, club moss, birch, goosefoot, and rowan. Make sure when sniffing Yule Cat straight from the bottle that you do the wafting thing you learned in chemistry class. I didn't do that at first and it's so strong, it burned my nose hairs and made my eyes water. I don't know what civet or really any of the notes smell like, but directly from the bottle, it's very strong evergreen wood. It's sooooo strong, I was scared to skin test this. But I did anyway. On skin wet: pretty much same as the bottle, but not quite as strong. I'm definitely getting more of the graininess of the wood. It's very... hmmm.... hard to describe... organic feeling, I guess. Drying on skin: It's calming down some, which is great, 'cause really. Yule Cat is potent. I think I might be catching some musk now, but still mostly a freshly cut wood kind of smell. Seems to be fading pretty fast, which is pretty okay with me. lol Dried Yule Cat isn't completely offensive, but I might consider layering this with something that might lend it a bit of sweetness, but that just my personal preference. Overall: very interesting, pretty potent and definitely NOT what I would normally wear. But it's actually turning out to be evocative of something that's teasing the edges of my conscience; I'm finding it inspiring in a way. Not because it's pretty or yummy, but there is a creepy darkness to it that makes me think of Hollywood villains.

MVJBA SUMMER SUMMONING SPECTACULAR Scorched baseball fields, black glots of incense, spilled coffee, and pancake residue. In the bottle, all I can smell is the sweet syrupy pancake. OMG! So yummy! Here's where skin chemistry really makes a difference - Wet on skin: it keeps waffling back and forth between the scorched fields and black coffee with very, very slight incense and *crying* no pancakes. Wait... *sniffing very deeply* Way in the background, I might be catching it... maybe it's wishful thinking. Dry: I'm getting more of the black coffee now on top of the scorched fields, but still not much of the pancakes. Conclusion: It's not awful and I might find occasion to wear it, but it's not a fav. (I couldn't find a review topic for this... I hope I'm doing this correctly.)

WHIRLING WIND MOON Swiftly walk o'er the western wave, Spirit of Night! Out of the misty eastern cave, Where, all the long and lone daylight, Thou wovest dreams of joy and fear, 'Which make thee terrible and dear, -- Swift be thy flight! Dreams of joy and fear: swirling dark and airy musks, mogra, plumeria, hyacinth, lily of the valley, dry white sandalwood, gardenia, pale amber, and oakmoss. This is impatient me testing right out of the mailbox. In bottle, it's very, very sharp. Not quite floral, but leaning that way. I'm going to guess it's the sandalwood and oakmoss. Wet on skin, a very sharp, dry floral. I would guess the sandalwood is what is making this feel dry and I'm beginning to come to the conclusion that I amp oakmoss. It seems like every scent that has it in it, I get an almost astringency. Drying, it's staying pretty much the same. The musks are trying very hard to peep out around that (still guessing) oakmoss. Hyacinths are one of my all time favorite flowers and I'm quite fond of lily of the valley. My mom always had them planted around our home when I was growing up and the beautiful, lush, sweet scent of them would waft on the air. I can't pick up either of these, unfortunately. I've got to run to the store. I'll pop back on here when I get back to see how it's holding up. So far, it's not really what I expected, but it's alright. To be fair, it should probably sit for a couple days and be retested. I'll hope the musks and sweetness of the florals come out more. Update: Back from shopping... the musks have definitely come out to play amongst the flowers. It's mellowed and become somewhat light, though I can still smell it quite strongly if that makes sense. Overall, WWM is less musk and sweet floral than I was hoping for, but it's pretty good. I don't regret my bottle, but I won't be looking for backups. Of course, that might change after it's sat for a bit.

DIABLE EN BOÎTE The crickets sing, and man's o'er-labour'd sense Repairs itself by rest. Our Tarquin thus Did softly press the rushes, ere he waken'd The chastity he wounded. Cytherea, How bravely thou becomest thy bed, fresh lily, And whiter than the sheets! That I might touch! But kiss; one kiss! Rubies unparagon'd, How dearly they do't! 'Tis her breathing that Perfumes the chamber thus: the flame o' the taper Bows toward her, and would under-peep her lids, To see the enclosed lights, now canopied Under these windows, white and azure laced With blue of heaven's own tinct. But my design, To note the chamber: I will write all down: Such and such pictures; there the window; such The adornment of her bed; the arras; figures, Why, such and such; and the contents o' the story. Ah, but some natural notes about her body, Above ten thousand meaner moveables Would testify, to enrich mine inventory. O sleep, thou ape of death, lie dull upon her! And be her sense but as a monument, Thus in a chapel lying! Come off, come off: As slippery as the Gordian knot was hard! 'Tis mine; and this will witness outwardly, As strongly as the conscience does within, To the madding of her lord. On her left breast A mole cinque-spotted, like the crimson drops I' the bottom of a cowslip: here's a voucher, Stronger than ever law could make: this secret Will force him think I have pick'd the lock and ta'en The treasure of her honour. No more. To what end? Why should I write this down, that's riveted, Screw'd to my memory? She hath been reading late The tale of Tereus; here the leaf's turn'd down Where Philomel gave up. I have enough: To the trunk again, and shut the spring of it. Swift, swift, you dragons of the night, that dawning May bare the raven's eye! I lodge in fear; Though this a heavenly angel, hell is here. One, two, three: time, time! - Iachimo, Cymbeline Act II, Scene 2 There are few things more disturbing than a Jack in the Box. A strangely sinister, unnerving holiday scent: redwood, bitter clove, tonka, hemp accord, and tobacco with peach blossom, black currant, and red musk. Oh no! I'm first on another Yule. In the bottle, it's very astringently medicinal. I was snorting so I could pick up what it reminded me of and it sort of burns at the back of the throat. Again, not what I was expecting when I ordered and not something I'd necessarily want to wear. But like with Yule Cat, I went ahead and put some on. Wet on skin: It's the red musk from Mircalla, but much smokier. Smoky is really the main thing I remember about first application. Drying: The smoky has wafted away and a dry wood is mostly prominent now. I really wish I knew what individual notes smell like instead of giving just general impressions. I don't know if this is the redwood or what. A sweetishness is still lurking, but it has a distinct woodiness. Specifically a dried out wood, not freshly chopped green wood. This stage gives me the impression it's just a tad on the masculine side. Much later this evening: All has settled down and Diable is just lovely. There's a soft sweetness to the deeper, rich tones of the scent that make it very wearable. I'm sure that has to be the peach blossom. Masculinity has went away and it's leaning more on the girly side now. Overall: I'm very happy that Diable hopped into my cart unsniffed. I've enjoyed all stages of this morpher and I don't plan on him just sitting around unworn. Added after I was thinking about it... I have a feeling that Diable will be supremely lovely with a bit of age.

WHEN THE WINTER CHRYSANTHEMUMS GO When the winter chrysanthemums go, there's nothing to write about but radishes. Lest the next few updates be dedicated solely to radishes, we've created this scent to keep the winter chrysanthemums alive. A gentle flurry of snow dusting the season's last chrysanthemums, illuminated by pale rays of winter's amber-tinted sunlight. To be honest, at first WtWCG is not what I was expecting, but waiting for the later stages is worth it. In the bottle: it's minty. Wet on skin: still pretty minty. *sigh* Drying on skin: mint with a hint of dried out flowers. A bit later: soft flowers glowing with the winter sunlight to warm them in the cold. Overall: if I can get past the mint stage, (I don't care for this kind of mint, there's no sweetness to it at all), WtWCG turns out quite lovely. I'm glad I took the risk and bought a bottle unsniffed.

Waaaaay back in the day, when I first got into bpal, my first purchase from another bpaler (I forget now who it was) frimped me a sniffie of AL. Not knowing any better, I sniffed it, didn't care for it too much, then passed it on with my first sale. That was quite a long while back. My scent memory, though, remembers... or thinks it remembers... how it smelled. Celeste smells almost just like it only without the weird tang I got from AL that put me off it. It's very pretty, though unlike the early reviews of cotton candy, it's smells to me like a heavily vanilla saturated piece of cotton. I usually can't do "linen"s and such, but there is something fresh beneath the not overly sweet vanilla. When I first tested it yesterday, I was underwhelmed, but as time passed and again for today's full wear, I'm enjoying the comfort and ease of this oil.

At first, all I could really smell was those little red hot candies with a hint of Something Else. I thought, okay, this isn't bad... much better than if the leather amped, which it tends to do on me... but not fantastic. I knew buying it that there was a distinct possibility I wouldn't like it due to the leather. At that point, my low expectations were met. I'd have it for the curiosity and see what happened in a few months. However! After about a half an hour, I sniffed it and thought, Ah! Now I'm starting to understand what the hype is about. The red hot aspect died down and the Something Else was coming forward. And thank goodness the leather still didn't go wonky! I don't know what exactly I was smelling; all I know is I'm a convert. I believe this is the only oil with a leather note I've been able to pull of so far in my scent journey. Spanked:Rev turned into this deeply sexy, glorious scent. This is horde worthy for sure.

This is for 2011's version. I don't find a whole lot of difference between this year and last year. '10 was knock you in the face grape bubble gum booze, whereas '11 starts off more of a warm boozy-ness that lacks the heavy grape note. By the time it dries, though, I don't really find much dissernable difference between the two; which I tested side by side this afternoon. I still love it to pieces, though, so no way I regret nabbing a bottle of '11.

Beautiful, beautiful scent. A light rice wine soaked sandalwood. Vanilla and musk take the backseat. I don't have anything bad to say about it except it disappears very quickly. It'd be perfect if it lasted longer, 'cause it's truly lovely.

I'm wondering if my bottle was mislabeled, 'cause all I get is a very, very heavy rose. Rose isn't a listed note, so this confuses me. I'm bitterly disappointed. I would've taken anything but this. Wood, yes. Red musk, yes. Spicy patch, why not? Woody florals, sure thing. But rose??? I amp rose like crazy and avoid it like the plague, I would've never ordered it if I knew there'd be rose. Not sure what to do with it. ugh

Bwahahaha! Honey, you are defeated!! You shall not amp on my skin in the face of the mighty Red Musk! I am absolutely thrilled! I love red musk and this could be a single note, but since I do amp honey to high heaven, (in a horrible way), it makes the red musk noticeably sweet. A dreamy, creamy sweet red musk. The red musk keeping the honey from going gross on me at the same time. I adore The Infernal Lover. If things work out, I'm definitely going to need a second bottle of this, no doubts. I have a feeling it will be highly sought after when it comes down.

Oh, wow, hmmm! In the bottle: a sweet, powdery, almost fruity cocoa. Interesting! Wet on skin: I honestly can't pin this down. The cocoa is laying low and I get a very sweet, but biting smell. Dry: Well. As the Mr. says, "shit, hell, damn, piss, f*ck"!! Honey, you better not amp, damn it!! Don't do it!! Gah, I can smell the honey and it's trying it's best to do that rancid thing it loves to do on my skin. If it stays down, it'll be okay, but it's not looking good. The honey is trouncing all the other notes... might as well have a note list like this: Golden Honey. If I sniff deep enough I might be picking up a little berry and what might be either the paprika or pink pepper or both. Later: Well into the evening, it's faded quite a bit, but I still get that honey note above all else. Overall: I'm not generally huge on the chocolate note usually, but in this case, I really would wish the cocoa were a bit stronger. The honey (when will I learn??) just refuses to cooperate with me. In this 13, it (the honey) actually is less bad than in some other oils, so overall it isn't omgtheworstthingevergetitoff, but I do believe I'll let it rest and see what happens.

Hmmm. Interesting! I think this is one where aging will benefit it a lot. On skin, I get mostly soft, warm, fluffy feather lined twig-built nest. That would be the wood/bark and possibly the bourbon vanilla and/or carnation. I'm not really picking up any clove, patchouli or bay. It's not bad, I don't not like it, but it's not completely stand out at the moment either. Again, I truly believe aging will really develop this into something I can love. I definitely don't regret my bottle at all.

This has been on my wishlist for quite some time, so I was thrilled to get a lab imp of it in my Twitter contest goodie bag. I was sooooo hoping the coconut would play nice just this one time. All the other notes looked so good, but curse ye coconut. I feel badly about reviewing this as I amp coconut every single time. The one positive I can say about Lamia on my skin (it smells lovely in the vial) is that the coconut doesn't go rancid on me this time... it mostly smells like cheap coconut sun-bathing oil. I wanted this to work on me, but it just isn't to be.

Lab imp from my Twitter contest goodie bag. I was really surprised by this one, as initially, I had no interest whatsoever. But it turns out to be a nice sweetish man-cologne. I'm going to put this on the Mr when he gets home this weekend. I bet it'll smell really good on him. It doesn't smell bad on myself, actually, but I'm not sure if I want to smell like I've been rubbing up on a (really good smelling) man unless I have been.

There was a lab imp of Witchblade in my Twitter contest goodie bag. I was absolutely delighted to get this as it's been on my wishlist since the line came out. I was a little leery of the metal notes in this, but my worries were completely unfounded. The red musk take center stage in this scent and I'm delighted. It's perfectly my kind of scent. It's a little sweet, a lot sexy with a waft of mysteriousness. I definitely need a bottle of this.

I won a goodie bag via a Twitter contest that included a bottle of Dungeon Crawl. (Thank you!!) Dungeon Crawl, in the bottle, smells like a crumbling concrete building to me. It's very harsh. Wet on the skin, it still smells like a dilapidated industrial building... which makes sense given the name of the oil. >< Dried, I'm picking the barest whisper of candle wax, but it's buried very far under the concrete/stone smell. Later, it's faded a lot. I have to sniff quite deeply. The harshness of the concrete is falling into the background. I get a sweaty musk note in there (kobold musk, yes!), a bit more of the wax and a teeny, tiny bit of almost-sweet incense (very nefarious incense!) it does have a hint of evilness to it. I was sort of hoping for more of the wax, incense and musk, but got more of the wet stone and rusted caltrops. I think I'll wear this on Halloween or maybe when I'm playing Diablo II LoD all night; it is absolutely perfect for that. Daily wear would scare the knickers off the old biddies at the grocery store in this small mid-western town. lol

Panther Moon. Rawr!! I knew, I knew, I knew I would love this! I want to roll around in it. When I first smelled it in the bottle and on my skin, there is a VERY strong resemblance to Snake Charmer: Res. So much so, in fact, that I pulled out my SC:R to compare. They are, to my nose, definitely kin. I can't really add much to the reviews above other than I adore PM. It's what I think about smelling like when I want to feel sensual, sexy and bold. 100% pure love. I wish I could hoard it.

I did a skin test when I first got my bottle and did get a little bit of burn and redness from the cinnamon. Today, I'm testing it from my dilution mix in an atomizer and not getting any reaction, thank goodness! Egg Moon is a beautiful soft, warm, a little sweet, comforting scent. Just lovely. I've never gotten more than one bottle of a lunacy, but this is one where I wish I would've taken the chance on two bottles. It is absolutely gorgeous and will get frequent wear.

Prop moon rocks: muguet, orris, white sandalwood, galbanum, cistus, and dusty vanilla. Right off the bat, I'm getting that dusty vanilla note. The dust isn't candy dust, though, it's like real dust from a library or the museum... not a dirty dust, but a clean dust, if that makes sense. The vanilla is most prominent on my skin making this waft very sweet, but when I stick my nose against my arm, I do get that metallic zing, which I don't really care for; so I'll just not sniff up close. I'm not usually one for dust, dirt, metals or that kind of thing, but somehow in SML, it really works. It's playing nice on my skin and I like how it caresses my nose, gently teasing. It's a wonder scent for all year round; I'm very glad I was able to snag a bottle unsniffed. Edited to add scent description since I started a new page.

LaurieB, are we the only ones who loves this stuff? Fairnymph, "psychopath... serial killer..." From start to finish, I get a soft, almost (freshwater) aquatic, almost sweet musk. This reminds me very strongly, though I haven't done a side by side, of Banded Sea Snake minus the saltiness. Like they're kissing cousins. BSS is one of my top ten favs, so of course Reptoid Dominion is going to be right up there for me also. Wearing it sort of makes me feel a little slinky and I like that. There's really nothing not to like about RD. I'm testing a decant and hoping like super crazy bad that I can pick up a bottle before they come down.

I'm not one for HEYTHAR!Citrus scents; they usually go kind of weird on me, but I'm sort of, kind of digging SwC in a way. Basically, this smells like someone crushed down some Lemonhead candies into a fine powder and dissolved it in lemon pledge as a carrier oil. That's not a bad thing, but I don't need a bottle; I'm a-okay with my decant.

I must be amping something to high heaven, 'cause all I get from this is dirt. Rich and nutrient filled as it may be, but still dirt. Dirt/loam as a perfume kind of makes me feel like I should run to the toilet to vomit. Most heartily NOT a bottle upgrade. *shudder*

I didn't know what I was expecting, but sniffing and then reading the notes, I should've known. This is definitely the sum of its parts. Men's cologne: check. Freshly polished wood: check. Ashtray (tobacco smoke): check. Neon discharge (which comes off as a very, very, very slight metallic tang): check. This would probably be yumalicous on a man, (will try it on the Mr when he gets home), but unfortunately, I just can't pull this one off... and I've been known to wear some pretty masculine scents. The Committee of 300, this time, is just too much of a men's club kind of oil. No need for a bottle upgrade. Edit: sure, I can spell.