Aldercy

Saw-Scaled Viper smells almost precisely like Bengal to me. Bengal is a favorite, so no complaints there. But there's also something more... something more woody and potent about it. The ginger is particularly delicious, with hints of fizzy ginger ale as well as hot gingerbread. The Snake Oil influence is low, in my opinion. It is REALLY spicy though, and almost burns my eyes when I sniff it! And there is some slight irritation at the application site. I've never had a problem with spice notes before, so this stuff would probably ravage anyone with allergies or sensitivities. I do quite like the scent, but I'm not sure any more than Bengal, which is just mellower enough to not upset my skin and eyes.

Snake Oil with sugar cane, frankincense, champaca, opoponax, labdanum, and hyssop. Pure Snake Oil for a second, followed by a tidal wave of sugar. There's also an odd hint of powdery grape, which I do not care for (I see others are mentioning it, too, which means this is not temporary insanity on my part, and the grape note likely won't go away...). I feel like Temple Viper could do better with age (this oil is apparently from July), but it's not what I was hoping for. I expected Snake Oil plus a load of smoky resins... and that's not what's happening on my skin.

Smells just like peach Jolly Ranchers wet. All juicy peach and glassy sugar-- luckily, peach is one of the few fruit notes that smells "right" on my skin, so no complaints so far. As it dries, it takes on a slightly more floral edge and the blood orange slithers in. The result is a well-rounded, bittersweet concoction of dark orange, breezy white flowers, and the same succulent peach candy.

Very blackly spicy and spiky in the opening, but it settles a little on the skin and the chamomile and leather (kind of a "hide" scent as opposed to silky, cured leather) peek out a bit. There's a hint of salt spray among the animal musk, sharp cypress and charred spices. Overall, it remains a very bloodthirsty scent-- dark, ancient, rusty, serenely vicious.

Mm, I like the combination of the sooty, gritty, spiced resins with the herbal fruits and florals. I think I can get a sense of almost all the notes. It's white gardenia, dry thistle, woody pear, and astringent lavender all smoked and aged in the fumes of labdanum and frankincense. The gardenia is not heady or perfumey at all combined with the more wild, natural plant scents and the dark, peppery incense. Kind of like the clear, windy scent of a vegetable garden (a bit like The Witch's Garden) but awash in fragrant woodsmoke. It's a serious, studious, unisex scent to me, and quite beautiful.

This is one of those that's so well-mixed that I can't actually tell what I'm smelling. Pirate Moon is slightly tropical, slightly woody, slightly resiny/sultry, slightly citrusy... but nothing stands out over anything else. Red musk usually jumps out on me, but not in here. It's like the heat of the leather, musk, tobacco, red sandalwood, etc is all perfectly countered and downplayed by aquatic or creamy fresh notes. Definitely a summer scent.

Fresh, waxy honey and soft chamomile. It's very natural and unassuming-- like a calmer, more herbal version of The Lights of Men's Lives or Ichabod Crane. It's like thin, morning sunlight with a slightly dusty, papery overtone.

Oh, black coconut, you are so full of win. And, patchouli, you are so full of fail. I love the strange, smoky sweet, fibrous woody density of black coconut (frilly, tropical suntan lotion it is not), but the patchouli is just so sharp and overpowering that I can't deal with it. Some patchouli accents might have gone over well, but Goblin has too much for my tastes.

Dusty chamomile buds, hay, aged amber, spices, and a dash of peppery citrus... yep, Leo is delicious. It's the quirky, hyper sister of The Lion (who, by comparison, is a square-jawed, straightforward fellow). Yeah, "quirky" is definitely the main adjective I'm coming up with for this. A tiny bit of walnut (definitely wood, though, not nut) starts to come out as it dries, and the citrus has even more of a bite to it. Very nice.

How is it remotely possible that I like this? I pulled it out of my "Frimps I Don't Expect to Like But Will Force Myself to Try" pile and put it on without re-checking the notes. I immediately thought "Lilac and citrus" and was shocked to see that those notes have nothing to do with the listed description of Pannychis. Sandalwood, blackcurrant and lily are always monstrous failures on me, so I have no idea how they're not ruining this particular blend. And here's the weird part-- I hate lilac notes too (smells like diaper) but love the actual flower. Pannychis smells exactly like a real white lilac bush (sans diaper), with some creamy citrus (maybe grapefruit) and a dash of lavender. I have no idea how this is happening, but it's kind of fantastic.

Shango is all about the warm banana at first, which is so unique and interesting, but it fades pretty quickly into something dominated by dry, blistered red chili with a little coconut and pineapple. Coconut and pineapple are not my favorite notes, but they're not amping or turning into tropical wax fruit, so this is wearable. I like the chili pepper quite a lot actually, and wouldn't mind trying it in some other blends.

I'm almost terrified to try this (but feel Halloween deserves something rare). A wonderful forumite (whom I hereby recommend for sainthood) frimped me a full decant, and I'm worried I'll love it.... Oh, not what I was expecting. Buck Moon has a hint of an aquatic note and is slightly floral... it keeps warming and warming and warming, though, until it's a golden, musky, slightly spiced aquatic floral. A little like Ivanushka and a little like Falling Leaf Moon, but more ethereal than either. It's a feral, forest scent but filtered through a glassy, starlit lens that makes it feel far away and fairy-like. It's not at all masculine to me. I see why people love this, and if I could get my hands on a bottle I would, but thankfully I'm not tearing my hair out over it.

I find that some oils smell odd if I rub my wrists together really ferociously, but rubbing them together in light circles doesn't seem to hurt anything and probably does help warm it up faster. However, I've since taken to not wearing BPAL on my wrists at all anymore (neck & chest FTW). I still rub it around very gently, not really trying to rub it in, and I'm pretty happy with the results. I do love the wand caps though. I just have two, but I really think I'm going to buy enough for all my bottles the next time I put in a lab order. They pick up a good amount of oil and just glide across the skin really nicely (without the scratchiness or imperfections of some plastic imp wands). Everyone should try it at least once, even if it turns out not to be your favorite application method. I have taken to tipping some imps upside down directly on my skin (I have a few that are mysteriously without wands and I just couldn't figure out how else to do it), but I have yet to ever try it with a bottle. Besides sounding a little scary, I think it would be more oil than I want.

This is one of those nonsensical scents in which I love all the listed notes and yet somehow hate the resulting perfume. Faustus is metallic, chemical, mildewy BO on me, and I really don't know why. It's more violet than anything, but a very, very corrupted violet.

2007 vintage, so I can't say if two years of aging has changed this significantly, but I think it's close enough to know whether I need a bottle of this year's.... El Dia de los Reyes has a similar chocolate note as Gelt-- it's a dry, black, chunky chocolate, almost smoky or incensey in its intensity. A little goes a long way, for sure. These Yule chocolate notes are the only ones that seem to work on my skin, as everything else is plastic Tootsie Roll wax on me. There's only a little coffee relative to the cocoa, but it too is strong and black-- there's no creamy fluff nonsense interfering with this coffee. No cinnamon at all, but I do get some grainy, malty brown sugar warmth (though it does not sweeten the blend very much overall). Possible 5ml!

Not actually sure which year this is. Wow, I was absolutely positive I would love this, and it just is not so. All Souls smells strangely greasy on me, like animal fat smeared with berries and sickly sweet potpourri. Nothing remotely resembling incense comes through. Not sure what's going on with this skin chemistry catastrophe, but I think I'll test it again later just because I'm in such disbelief that it's really so weird...

I don't smell milk (a beloved note) or any sort of grain at all... I do get some honey, but it's actually mostly a watery, cold cherry-almond. Like diluted Jergen's lotion. Which heads toward serious baby powder as it settles on my skin. I've been looking forward to trying Dana O'Shee for a long time, so this is a disappointment for me. Oh well.

Very similar to Libertine to me-- a translucent spiced rose musk. Classic, sharp, smart. I have a feeling this will dry to pure rose, however, and I really do feel like I've got this sort of scent taken care of with Libertine.

This is one of those frustrating scents that if I directly take a big huff of it, it's bad (like old, slightly fermented men's cologne), but if I sit still and just let tiny whispers of scent find their way to me, it's really good (sweet, strange resin and... can it be?-- some enticing mystery note that I also get from Leipreachan. Is there some rarely used gold accord that appears in both, perhaps?). Like many resins, I think this one could do with a bit of aging to richen up properly and maybe help take away that initial sting of ratty cologne.

The Lights of Men's Lives is completely pure, sweet, liquid beeswax. A more sugared beeswax than I expected, but it's still very natural and fluid. With a tiny dash of fire... but no smoke to speak of, which is fine in my book because I have a fair few smoke blends already. I think I could layer it with Priala for a darker effect if necessary. This is exactly what I wanted from Hanerot Halalu and didn't get-- except this is GC. We'll see how much play the imp gets, but I think it could be a bottle purchase.

Don't think I can muster a skin test of Mabon, as I just have an almost dry sniffie (courtesy of a lovely forumite), but... in the decant, it's kind of a creamy... floral... spiced wine... cider. It's a little sour for a moment (that's the blackberry speaking to me), but when I pull away a lovely "after-smell" hits me. I wish I could elaborate more. I'm very glad I got to smell this one, but more glad that I'm not totally in love.

Cinnamongingerplum! Alice's Evidence is a very decadent, foody blend without being cakey, sugary, buttery, goopy, etc. It's a rare find that I think anti-foodies could really enjoy. I don't smell any rum, but most everything else is there. The fruit notes are rich and chewy-- not light or candylike-- and this is coming from someone whose skin doesn't play well with most fruit. The foundation of the scent is slightly gingerbready, but with a hint of smoked bark that keeps it from feeling too much like dessert. There is a small twinge of waxy plastic, though, which makes me think this oil just needs to age a little bit.

I too immediately thought of Mlle. Lilith, though I don't find Vasilissa as sweet (the former reminded me of Smarties). Jasmine, amber and pink musk with the parched dryness that all sandalwood (except red) seems to lend to a scent the moment it touches my skin. I keep experimenting, but I just don't like that almost sandpapery texture to a scent. Kind of falls flat for me. Vasilissa is certainly wearable, but it's just not as special as I'd hoped.

Do I need another frankincense blend? Yeah. I do. No. 93 Engine is a great peppery, warm brown frankincense with some lighter resin notes and a glaze of lemon water (not aquatic, just a very diluted, thin lemon-- which is good because I amp it). It's complex, woody, energetic: I feel like this is a serious but productive scent... good for accomplishing things. A great steampunk scent (slightly gritty but still elegantly beautiful) and a great scent in general. Thoroughly unisex, in my opinion. Would be to die for on a man, but I do not feel uncomfortable wearing it myself.

You're so lucky to be one of the chosen few! Vetiver hates so many people... I love it ultra-aged, but it's really acrid fresh. Vetiver is a labor of love for me because apparently it must sit for three years before touching my skin.... I don't think the dirt scents have a noticeable vetiver note. The vetiver probably would have exploded on my skin if there was more than a drop. They really smell like garden earth, and I don't know how Beth does it. You should still check them out though because they're lovely. My favorite vetiver blend is very old Serpent's Kiss. Oh, man, it is delicious dark red, spicy, earthy vetiver love.