dawndie

I am trying the 2006 version, thanks to the lovely valentina!

In bottle: dusty florals

On skin: blast of flowers, almost making me sneeze

Half-hour later: patience is a virtue with this one -- the slightly sweet honey combines beautifully with the champaca flower, which is quickly becoming a favorite floral (nothing can beat the BPAL Rose, however ). Amber is dusty and instead of disappearing it's hanging out with the flowers and honey

In conclusion: I love almost every BPAL blend with honey, and this doesn't disappoint. It's sweet without being too foody, dusty without being too sneezy, floral without being too migraine-y. Really nice!

In bottle: butterscotch pudding

On skin: lots of sweet foodiness, but nothing overwhelming. It's reminding me a lot of Monster Bait: Closet (cake and blackberries)

Half-hour later: more resiney and mellow, not so foody

In conclusion: I really like the "wine grapes" as a fruity element, they seem to add sweetness and light without being too overwhelmingly sweet. It ends beautifully, incense with an extra jolt of sugar and lurking fruit.

I love the Carnaval Noir throwback labels!

In bottle: fresh apple juice

On skin: fruit and herbs. No Snake Oil that I can tell

Half-hour later: very creamy fruit, with a bit of dusty amber. I can barely pick out the Snake Oil base, it's not as strong as I'd like at this point, but I'm impatient

In conclusion: it took a couple of hours for the Snake Oil to become recognizable -- there's no "where'd it go?" disappearing act with this one! I'm so glad these many variants are being released and I want to try more!

Glasya was discontinued soon after I placed my first order with the Lab. Of course, I received a frimp afterwards and really liked it. When it was Resurrected, hooray!

In bottle: strong dark red floral

On skin: bubblegum! But that's dragon's blood on me. While most of the Ars Draconis blends are too much for me, the other florals here (especially rose, which I love) calm the DB down

Half-hour later: Ah yes, there's why I kept the frimp for over 2 years -- the musk darkens the florals and resins and it's so drop-dead sexy. This one lasts and lasts on me too, it's dreamy

In conclusion: While the description sounds way too harsh, this is another surprise blend that impresses and amazes. I'm so glad I finally have a bottle!

In bottle: lemon drops with powdered sugar

On skin: lots of lemon mixed with some light florals

Half-hour later: mellower citrus, but darker. I don't sniff coconut or vanilla or musk straight-up, or anything outstanding really, but it's a nice blend of the lighter citrus with those heavier notes

In conclusion: I keep getting "incense" vibes, really fancy citrus-type incense, like if Trappist Candles made garden incense to go with their verbena candles. Such a lovely blend!

This is the first of the new Yules that I've tried.

In bottle: light creamy flowers

On skin: blast of mint, then lots of creamy white flowers. This reminds me a lot of Black Opal, which was nice but ended with a too-sharp floral note (iris?). This is a sophisticated floral along those same lines.

Half-hour later: ah, there's that Snow White reminder that many others are getting -- along with the nice florals, ice-creamy vanilla that stays close to the skin, but not overly foody. YUM!

In conclusion: this is a stunningly lovely blend, and while I hope Snow White makes a gracious return I'm pleased to have this bottle

OK, here's the Texas guy for the (adopted) Texas gal!

In bottle: sour, acrid juice of some kind

On skin: yum, there's that Dead Man's Hand leather that I love love love The black leather blends (DeSade, Whip, etc.) are too processed and "city" for me, if that makes any sense. This leather is warm and well-worn. This is sweeter than DMH (which seems watery and clear to me, if I had to visualize), which must be the additional fruity pear. I'm almost moaning, this smells so nice.

Half-hour later: creamier with the smooth vanilla nearby

In conclusion: hands-down my favorite of the OotD series -- the few others I've tried have been very floral and feminine, even drug-addled Dr. Seward. This is more masculine, but something I would happily wear on a daily basis. LOVE!

In bottle: grape cough syrup

On skin: quick blast of floral, then lots of grapey winey goodness. Not just sweet fruit, but my favorite boozy undertone (like Bordello, Madrid, Red Queen, etc.)

Half-hour later: stronger dustier florals come out -- myrrh smells "dusty" to me, and I can pick out the powdery lilac. If I sniff real close I get the dark grapes, but the diffused cloud around me are these pretty florals with an alcoholic tinge

In conclusion: I was a bit nervous about the proliferation of florals, but I should know by now that it's going to be so well-blended that I shouldn't worry. Another interesting boozy blend!

In bottle: chemical cocoa

On skin: the cocoa is more sophisticated than the original 13, it reminds me of the perfumey bite of Stardust, but more foody

Half-hour later: yum, the cocoa is more creamy but nothing else stands out, it's so well-blended. If I look for the orange rind, there it is, but it doesn't jump out at me

In conclusion: I like this blend more than the original 13 (2005 version), this seems more grown-up and ooh-la-la. I wish it were stronger and lasted longer, or had more of an "oomph!" to it, but not every blend can knock me on my ass with how great it is I'll keep the bottle for now and see if it amps as it ages.

In bottle: musky fruit

On skin: morphing, woo! Berries that appear and disappear almost immediately, and then the tobacco leaf takes over. These seem like "raw" leaves, freshly cut and already hanging up. Then it sweetens up with the pomegranate. So weird, the dramatic changes of this one

Half-hour later: it's calmed down considerably, but it's creamy and sweet and musky and earthy at the same time. No strong pine, thank goodness

In conclusion: I made a plea to be Tricked, because both oils sounded great with one exception in each: Trick #1 had black leather and Trick #2 had pine, and both of these have overpowered blends in the past. Trick #2 is so beautifully blended, however, and I'm pleased to have this bottle.

In bottle: vague chemical flowers

On skin: floral at once, but not overpowering

Half-hour later: the musk strengthens, but it's not Smutty Musk, it's gentler and girlier. The "Eastern spices" (I'm thinking of Morocco) are barely present.

In conclusion: I have to give a shout-out to valentina who combined Smut and O and named it Smut-O-Rama. When I read this description I thought, "Yay! Smut-O-Rama!" but this obviously isn't the same combo. It's a pretty, slightly spicy floral, but doesn't rev my engine as I hoped.

In bottle: buttery BPAL-ly pumpkin, which smells like fresh-baked bread to me

On skin: wow, the orange really pops on this one. It's not super-sweet like juice, it's more tart with the peel. The pumpkin's hanging out in the background, just chillin' yo

Half-hour later: the ginger is a really nice combination with the orange peel. I don't know why the pumpkin turns out so strong on me, but the citrussy zip keeps it zippy instead of bakery

In conclusion: I bought the Pumpkin Patch last year and liked the first 3 (cider, cocoa and pomegranate) a lot more than the other 2 (sandalwood and woods & ivy). I guess I like the "foody" pumpkin blends more, as they seem to meld together better. The Queen is a beautiful melange of pumpkin with the orange and ginger. Worth a bottle!

In bottle: creamy butterscotch-caramel (what's the difference? I love them both)

On skin: blast of butterscotch, then lots of tumbling apples with creamy sweet butterscotch underneath

Half-hour later: as long as I keep my wrist away, it's a heady creamy blend, like Miskatonic U. with apples instead of coffee. Up close, unfortunately, the coconut is stronger and tends to smell fake to me. It's not overpowering though -- the apples and caramel are great in the forefront

In conclusion: Creepy needs room to move and groove; it isn't a sniff-up-close blend that works on me. But I thought the same about Spooky and I love my 2004 bottle the more I have it, and I can see that happening with Creepy too. I'm glad I have a bottle

In bottle: apple cider. Can I drink this? I shouldn't

On skin: lots of rolling tumbling apples; no big surprise from the sniff from the bottle

Half-hour later: mmm, still lots of apples, but they're diluted with something watery floating on top which must be the cranberries. This keeps it really interesting, not too sweet or potpourri-y. This is the grown-up punch at the Halloween party -- apples and cranberries with vodka

In conclusion: I love the Halloween scents -- my favorite time of year, and my favorite bunch of LEs. I'll be wearing this one a lot this season

In bottle: slight woody incense

On skin: the woody incense is there for only a flash, then it's a real jumble of florals

Half-hour later: still lots of floral with a woody undertone, like a bouquet sitting on a rustic chest. Neither the florals nor the incensey nag champa is overpowering, it's a nice combination

In conclusion: this is like a more floral Hellion to me. It seems more feminine than the name implies -- I wanted something more masculine and drug-addled

In bottle: fruit and nothing else. I like fruity scents well enough, but I don't want to smell like a giant melon or something

On skin: lots of green juicy fruit. No nuances for me, but it hasn't gone too soapy or cologney so I'm happy.

Half-hour later: it was driving me crazy with what this reminded me of; finally after rereading the description I realized: it's like one of my all-time favorite old skool shower gels from Bath & Body Works, Seaspray! I haven't smelled that in forever and this was a welcome surprise.

In conclusion: this isn't the bottle I'm grabbing when I'm in a dark brooding mood, but I like it!

In bottle: pungent, like a Vicks Vaporub variant

On skin: black licorice, but not as anisey. I don't like anise or licorice notes, but this is not as harsh.

Half-hour later: nice resins and musk. If I had to compare to other BPALs (as I tend to do, heh) this is a masculine version of Mme. Moriarty, swarthier versus sweeter and creamier.

In conclusion: another nice unique LE, and I'm glad the masculine tones didn't scare me away. A keeper!

In bottle: patchouli, slightly sweetened

On skin: yummy sweet incense. The dark fruit really balances the smutty musk and patchouli.

Half-hour later: dead ringer for the Snakes (Charmer and Oil), sophisticated incensey fruity YUM

In conclusion: another top-of-the-line BPAL blend. This was the first CD bottle ordered and it's a guaranteed winner. I'm in love!

In bottle: piercing alcohol, woo! Very traditional "perfumey" like Stardust

On skin: wow, a really heady (not headachey) floral. The musk is dusty and smutty and keeps this from being too twee and ethereal.

Half-hour later: not much morphing (hee, I typed "morphine" at first ), the musk anchoring the floral. This is such a well-blended scent that nothing specific is jumping out at me, like "wow! jasmine!" or "phoo! vetiver!" If there's ginger, it's existing just to slightly sweeten the musk.

In conclusion: another interesting rule-breaking Lunacy, and I'm glad I have a bottle.

I got the bottle in a swap with Copia. Thanks babe!

In bottle: pretty vague wood, like walking through Home Depot

On skin: the incensey resins appear full-force. I'm bad at reviewing, because instead of conjuring pretty images on their own, I compare scents to other BPALs I've tried, which may or may not be helpful Hey, it's helpful to me! This reminds me a lot of how Cathedral starts, lots of woody resins.

Half-hour later: still lots of resins, almost sticky on my wrist. Cathedral ended up more pencil-shaving "woody" on me, and P&P stays pretty true. This is very much like Midnight Mass with resins instead of "church incense."

In conclusion: a nice counter-balance to Midnight Mass. Not quite the "Ecclesiastical Doom!!" that the description promises, but I like it!

This is my favorite Moon label so far, it's so unusual and beautiful!

In bottle: perfumey apple

On skin: lots of dry herbs. I definitely get the sage (which I recognize from Corazon, it's very distinctive) and what must be the "dusty wheat." I do smell apple sweetness in the background.

Half-hour later: this hasn't morphed much, lots of dust and herbs and apples

In conclusion: this blend really blew me away with how evocative it was of "autumn." I'm glad it didn't morph on me because it's beautiful as it is! A definite keeper :heart:

In bottle: light grapefruit

Initially on skin: lots of citrus, then here come all the stampeding florals. Look out! I’m not a big florals gal, but I'm not overwhelmed.

Half-hour later: amber and honey warm up, hooray! But it’s a tug-of-war with the spicy carnation.

In conclusion: ELF and Litha will always be linked in my mind, as they are both sunny summer florals released closely together. Litha has a slight edge as the carnation in ELF amps on me and it's not one of my favorite notes. All in all, a nice warm floral blend.

In bottle: faint bubblegum

Initially on skin: I really get the rice wine right away, boozy and sharp. Plus no bubblegum, just a sweet candy smell without being too foody. Mmm, I love the ginger candy action

Half-hour later: more green and herby with a little bit of ginger candy. This stays close to the skin. Not too heavy, and really nice for summer.

I'm on a never-ending coconut kick and ordered a bottle "blind" from the Lab.

In bottle: sourish cream. Uh oh, this is how Milk Moon ended up on me, like sour breast milk

Initially on skin: more cream, which sweetens as time goes on. If I sniff real close it teeters on "yuck" but if I stay further away I begin to get a very pleasant waft

Half-hour later: luckily it stayed on the sweet side and didn't turn. Today, even in this extreme heat (107 in Dallas) it floats above my skin in a nice creamy haze. It's not suntan-oil, vacation-time coconut, but this is how I imagine natural island skin balm to smell -- from my previous life as a Fijian princess

In conclusion: a great scent for summer!

Ah, a nice summery blend!

In bottle: sweet candy

On skin: lemon candy. With Embalming Fluid I got lemon drop candy, very tart and sweet, and this isn't as punchy. The honeysuckle pops in soon after application, and makes it seem more natural (instead of coming out of a blue-and-white Lemonheads box).

Half-hour later: more "herby," in that I'm getting a lot more of the mellow florals without being headachey and too flowery -- I'm smelling the mature honey and daisy and wild thyme. Nothing too strong, it's very "sunny."

In conclusion: I've lately been pawing through my bottles for a nice summer blend (I have a lot of dark brooding lurking ones) and this will be great! I'm very pleased to have a bottle.