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SUGAR SKULL 06 In Bottle: Boozy Spicy Candy On Skin: I’ve been excited for this blend! I love Sugar Skull, especially the 04 version, so I was waiting to see if this years was more like 04 or 05 before I ordered a full bottle. It does seem less boozy on my skin than in the bottle whereas 05 was almost all booze on me. It has the wonderful sweetness of both past years, but seems to be much lighter sadly. I love the gooey sweetness of 04! This year it seems to have more brown sugar, it also has quite a bit of spice. Whereas the past 2 years have been more candy like, this one seems slightly more foody and bakery like. But still, it IS Sugar Skull without a doubt, I know it when I smell it! I still have one bottle from 04 and 2 bottles from 05 so I think I’m set for now but I’ll keep my imp for sure just to smell the differences. Moderate throw but short to average wearlength.

SAMHAIN 06 In Bottle: Spicy outdoors On Skin: This smells very similar to the last version of Samhain. It has the dominant spices followed by the fir. It’s like you’ve been walking in the woods and have just come inside and entered the warm kitchen full of baking. You still have the smell of ourdoors on you (the damp wood and fir) but you mostly smell the yumminess in front of you! Pumpkin pie in the oven complete with nutmeg, and a cup of hot cider with clove, allspice and apples just waiting for you. This scent is very warm and comforting, a perect fall scent, especially if you want to make people think you’ve been baking. Light to medium throw, average to long wearlength.

DIA DE LOS MUERTOS In Bottle: More sweet yum! On Skin: This scent seems less floral than last years. I get a more sweet foody feel from this scent. Last years was very much floral and decaying leaves. This years seems like candy, smoke, and sweet honeyed florals. I can’t really smell the chocolate… I love the festiveness of it and how colorful it feels. Very fall-like and very Day of the Dead. A gorgeous blend!! Low throw and short to average wearlength.

PUNKIE NIGHT In Bottle: Apple! On Skin: This is a beautiful fall scent. I expected overwhelming pumpkin for some reason, but it’s not even listed as a note. I smell apples in all forms… fresh and crisp, then warm pie, then cider… how exciting!! The cranberries add to the festive feel and make it even brighter. The mulling spices in the cider bring wrmth and just a touch of spice. This is the perfect fall room scent. I wish I had had a bottle earlier this year. We’re moving into winter now so I want to use my winter room scents, but this would be perfect for next fall. I love the mood and feel it evokes… instantly inviting. It has a medium throw and long wearlength.

DR. JOHN SEWARD In Bottle: Foody yum On Skin: This is a very sweet scent! I smell something kind of like cakes at first… quite foody. But then I smell a light fruity floral. I can smell the sweet tonka and ginger and the poppy smoke offers great depth without being “smoky”. I get a nice resinous base with a sandalwood undertone. This is quite a unique scent! I don’t think it’s really masculine or feminine… The white pepper is kept in check as well, just a bit of spice. I do like this scent and the feeling it evokes. It has a fairly light to medium throw and a short to average wearlength.

LUCY WESTENRA In Bottle: Soapy floral On Skin: I smell the rose right away, slightly sour. The white musk adds a clean soapy note. The florals are the strongest notes by far, a big beautiful bouquet. The blood orange is sour and fruity and almost not noticable around all these bold florals. The frankincense offers a soft incesne that helps cut through the extreme florals. I’m actually shocked when the scent starts to fade right away. A blend that started fo floral and strong has faded into a soft and very subtle floral blend. It’s pretty but much to subtle for me, I like stronger fragrances. Very feminine and to me it doesn’t really fit it’s description. I don’t find it corrupt or seductive, to me it’s more innocent and plainly pretty. Overall it has a light throw and very short wearlength.

QUINCEY MORRIS In Bottle: Sweet and smoky leather On Skin: I smell leather right away and it is sweetened by the vanilla and pear beautifully. I love how they meld together… it isn’t sickly sweet or fruity or pure leather, it’s all of them combined to make a gorgeous scent. I also love that the leather is not dry or dusty, it’s well oiled, well taken care of leather. It reminds me of my husbands newest leather coat that he babies. The tobacco gives a smoky rugged background while the musk and cedar offer a deep, dark base. This is super masculine, but soft and comforting. I would love to snuggle with my husband wearing this blend. It has a pretty light throw as far as the notes it has in it, but the wearlength seems to be about average.

THE CARPATHIAN MOUNTAINS In Bottle: Strong menthol On Skin: Wow! One breath of this cleared my sinuses right up! I get a major menthol with a waxy raspberry flavor that screams at me. I’ve got it: Vicks Vapor Rub meets cherry/strawberry/berry flavored chapstick. This smells very medicinal on me, I can’t imaging wearing this as a fragrance. So… I tried it in my oil burner. It smells much better as a room fragrance, not half as medicinal. It’s very minty and forest like with sweet fruity and floral undertones. It has a fairly strong throw and long wearlength.

COUNT DRACULA In Bottle: Dark smoky cloves On Skin: This is a scent I instantly don’t like. Sorry Beth!! It goes all wonky on my skin… and I just can’t bare to smell it. The clove is strongest followed by the ginger. Usually I like ginger but this ginger is pungent and is not my friend. The other notes in the background are beautiful, most obviously the leather and black musk, two notes I love. I think I would love this scent if it didn’t have the ginger and clove, but it does so I can not love it. Sorry. It has a strong throw and I’m note sure of the wearlength because I had to wash it off.

CARFAX ABBEY In Bottle: Dry woods On Skin: This is a very woody scent, dry and powdery in feel. Just smelling it makes me feel like I need to apply lotion or something because my skin feels like sandpaper. The smoky incense is heavy but pretty. I smell sawdust and dried out flowers. The scent is also quite sour and sharp, not sweet at all. It reminds me of old things… old and forgotten. Personally it is not a scent I would wear, but it’s pretty and someone who likes dry woods and dry florals may like this. It has a light throw and short to average wearlength.

WILHELMINA MURRAY In Bottle: Soft resins On Skin: This has to be one of the most delicate scents I’ve ever smelled. Very sweet and girly. The Daemonorops resin and myrrh are strongest, sweet and sticky followed by the deep dark musk. For such a delicate scent the dark notes seem odd but they really are tame in this scent. The tea rose is usually very sour on me but here the other notes really sweeten it. The blossoms are soft too and I think I smell a little heliotrope in there. The blackcurrant seems to be the faintest note, I don’t really get a fruity or berry note from this blend at all… just a hint of pinkness. The throw is very, very light and it fades after about a half hour on me.

R.M. RENFIELD In Bottle: Sharp sour incense On Skin: This scent packs a whallop! It is very in your face, it is very sour and earthy. The scent is dark and also quite sharp. I get the exotic neroli and the very earthy moss. I get a slightly aquatic feel from the moss too, like that dirty water scent in Zombi. The cumin is that sharp spicy almost metallic fee which adds to the sourness and the patchouli is light but smoky and adds to the earthy feel. I don’t really small the Balsam unless Balsam of Peru is really sour because I can’t pinpoint that note... it’s sour like rose but I don’t see rose listed as a note. All in all this scent is much too sour and sharp for me, it made my eyes water like crazy. It has a very strong throw and long wearlength.

JOHNATHAN HARKER In Bottle: Lemon tea floral On Skin: Wow, this is strong! It’s three dominant notes are sadly notes that almost never work on me: verbena, tea and lavender. This smells very strongly of lemon tea with a dose of very sharp lavender thrown in. It smells like this tea I drink when I’m sick called “Throat Coat”. Well I don’t like tea and I don’t like being sick and that’s what this scent reminds me of. The sandalwood is lightly woody in the background, but very much dominated by the other notes. If you like tea, try this scent for sure. Strong throw and average to long wearlength.

THE BLOODY SWORD In Bottle: Clean masculine cologne On Skin: This is a very masculine scent to me. It is quite sexy, the leather coming out right away and an icy tone from the steel. The Dragon’s Blood is surprisingly light on me, just barely there but sweetening the scent. The black pepper offers a nice spice… the myrrh and fire warm the scent up and give it beautiful smoky depth. The labdanum and benzoin are soft and slightly sweet. All in all I love how the sweeter darker notes tone the brighter cologne like notes down. I think it’s a good scent for a man who wants a more subtle scent and doesn’t want to be too perfumey. It has a light to medium throw but sadly fades pretty quick.

JOLASVEINAR In Bottle: Sweet snow and earth On Skin: The Christmas pastries come out right away followed by a sweet piney note. This scent is very cold in feel but also has a warm side with the pastries and florals. The dirt and moss keep the scent from being too bright or clean. All in all, this is very much a “mishmash” that works very well!!! I like that the other notes tame the pine and keep this a winter scent without being pure forest. It has a light to medium throw and short wearlength.

BLACK ICE In Bottle: Ozone perfumey On Skin: This is a very masculine scent and quite perfumey, it reminds me of a masculine version of Ice Queen or Snow Maiden. I do like it, it seems silver and balck in tone, dark and sharp. It is very cold and I do get a dangerous feel from it. I would love to smell this on my husband. I get clean ozone and a light earthy edge. The image I get from this scent is kind of like a romance novel: feeling cold and wet coming in from the rain and into the arms of some sexy stranger. I love it! It is a light scent with a short to average wearlength.

KNECHT RUPRECHT In Bottle: Pine, apple and almond On Skin: I smell Christmas Tree evergreen right away and it gives the perfect forest feel. The the tart apple and sweet cherry tone of the almond come out… so sweet and fruity. It is a great holiday scent, I feel in the spirit right away from just a couple sniffs. It is not a scent I’d wear, but I love it as a room scent, especially since my X-Mas tree is artificial so I miss the smell of a real tree. It’s a very nice blend for Yule. It has a medium throw and long wearlength.

THE WINTER OF OUR DISCONTENT In Bottle: Spicy woods On Skin: I smell the clove right away, it always loves to amp on me. The woods are dark and full and the smoke drifts through each note lightly coating them. The nutmeg and clove give the scent a sweet spice while the orange gives a lightly tart note, the combination makes me think of X-mas right away. Something about oranges, cloves and nutmeg is instant holiday feel. The myrrh offers a nice incense that also sweetens the scent, while the musk adds to the darkness and gives the scent great depth. This is a great scent for a villain, so wicked and mysterious. It is also quite light so even if you’re a bit put off by dark or smoky scents you should try this since it’s a “lighter” dark scent if that makes any sense. It does seem a bit more masculine. I think it’s beautiful but a bit too smoky for me. It has a light to medium throw and average wearlength.

SNOW-FLAKES In Bottle: Eek! It’s Numb! On Skin: This smells like Numb to me. That is sadly a bad thing, because to me Numb smells like foot ointment. I’m sad because from the reviews I’ve read I’ve seen Snow White, Blue Moon, cucumber and all these wonderful things brought up and I smell NONE of them here. All I smell is foot medication. That herbal, minty chemical medicated smell… with maby a bit of violet or lilac thrown in. Very powdery and very light. I LOVE Snow White, it’s one of my favorite Yules and I have to say I don’t get even the slightest resemblence to Snow White from this scent. Luckily as the scent develops, it loses a little of it’s medicinal feel but still never turns into a scent I’d wear. If you’re a fan of the BPAL scent Numb, try this one for sure. Light throw and short wearlength.

LICK IT AGAIN In Bottle: Candy cane On Skin: This is pretty darn to the point, it’s an extra sugary candy cane. Delicious peppermint blended so well with sweet vanilla sugar. I love it! It is quite tamer than last years Lick It which was a bit too pepperminty for me. It’s not exactly a scent I’d wear, but I LOVE it as a room scent. I think I need to get a bottle just to help me start getting in the Christmas spirit. Yum, yum and another yum! Light to medium throw, short to avergae wearlength.

PORT-AU-PRINCE In Bottle: Almond On Skin: Almond screams out with it’s telltale cherry scent. The clove is second, very spicy and slightly metallic. Clove is a note that 9 times out of 10 hates me. Here is just the case, it is overwhelming the scent and it’s metallic feel just gets stronger and stronger and combined with the bay the spice just gets funky on me. The butter rum offers a delicious sweet boozy note in the background, but I can’t get past the clove. It does fit the description though… it’s very exotic and I can feel the whole “port feel”. Sadly it is not me and it’s off to the swaps. Strong throw and long wearlength.

LE SERPENT QUI DANSE In Bottle: Pure sweet innocent flowers On Skin: This is the most cute, sweet little innocent scent. The violets are dominant followed by the super sweet vanilla. The gardenia is milky white which gives the blend a creamy undertone. This smells like a violet icecream. It is so nice! I normally am not a fan of violets but mixed with the vanilla and gardenia I have been won over. It is slightly *sickly* sweet, which for me is not a problem since I love sweet scents… but if you get overwhelmed by seetness, this may not be for you. Medium throw and avergae wearlength.

JUKE JOINT In Bottle: Sweet boozy love On Skin: This bourbon is decadent… deep and boozy but not “I’ve been drinking all night, cut me off”. The sugar sweetens it and makes it quite delicious. I get a very musky smell from this, and slightly resinous… wow! What in the world? This is a dark, powdery, slightly smoky scent. The mint is very light, just a hint of it showing through. I’ve seen other people compare this to Snake Oil, and I’d have to say I agree. A much lighter version of Snake Oil. But that same sweet, resinous, soft feel. It has a very light throw and a super short wearlength. It fades after about 45 minutes on me.

INCANTATION In Bottle: Sexy dark and scary On Skin: I saw vetiver in the description and almost didn’t want to try it, but wow! This scent is really sexy!! The woods are indeed very dark and take on an almost leather feel. The vetiver is earthy, but in a good way and not too dry or powdery. The lemon rind offers a beautiful bright note that creates a gorgeous contrast to the scent. This is a very masculine and rugged scent. I want my husband to wear this… right… now!!!! It’s freaking amazing! I am so happy I tried this scnet and am hoping my husband will like it as much as I do. It has a strong throw and short to average wearlength.

BESS In Bottle: Sharp herbs On Skin: This is super dry and powdery in tone, it made my nose get all twitchy. The herbs are very strong and sweetened slightly by the grape spirit. The rose provides a sour yet bitter note and the sourness is amped by the lemon peel. I don’t get any orange flower from this… All in all this scent is much too powdery and sharp for me. It actually gives me a headache so sadly I had to wash it off. Medium throw and not sure of the wearlength since I washed it off.