Astarial

Wow, this really changes all the time. In the bottle, this smells like cherry leather, with perhaps a bit of chocolate. Maybe a bit spicy. I don't get anything bitter, herbal, or woody. On the skin, the cherry fades to a more general fruity sweetness, and the leather is replaced by a slightly powdery musk and amber vibe. A slight medicinal quality comes out, and the leather sneaks back in with some white florals. I stopped tracking it closely at this point, but it kept shifting - later in the day I got an aquatic vibe, and then later than that it was sort of dusty and bookish. I don't smell any of the notes that generally amp on my skin, like red musk or clove. And it never enters a phase I really don't like. I'm very glad I got a bottle. I probably won't wear it very often, but like others have said it's a pretty good choice for when you don't know what you want to smell like that day.

I'm not quite sure what to make of this one. When it first arrived, it smelled... sharp. Brassy? Something very strong that my nose didn't recognize. I assumed it was the tuberose. I dabbed a little on my arm, and it smelled the same. I let it rest for a week, and came back to it. Now, my nose interprets the sharpness of the opening note as wintergreen, but without any of the mint. It's kind of hard to explain. It's like.. the physical sensation of biting into one of those wintergreen lifesavers, but without the mint extract portion? I feel like that makes no sense but I can't figure out how to put it any better. Anyway, once on my skin the mintless wintergreen actually fades away and becomes a lot more floral, and a little bit fruity. Much gentler than it started, and really not similar at all to how it smelled originally.

LIME!!! Tart and mouthwatering and utterly true to life. I'm not 100% convinced the Lab didn't just stuff a lime into a bottle and call it perfume. I mean, I don't see any pulp, but...

I tried a decant of Elizabeth of Bohemia (the perfect rose oude) back when it came out, and I liked it, but not enough for a full bottle. It was a bit powdery and flat. I blind bottled this because I figured the addition of amber and fig would round it out and add some depth. Imagine my surprise when instead, I got poop. Literal manure. I don't know if that's the oud or the fig, since neither of them has ever done that to me before but ugh. It was awful. Poop on my wrists all day. Toward the end of the day I did get a nicer waft, closer to how I expected, so I set it away to age for a while in hopes that it might improve. Good news: it totally did. It's about 2.5 weeks later now, and it's really grown the fuck up. I still get maybe the idea of poop when I sniff at the bottle, but only because I'm still kind of expecting it. On my skin it's become fantastic - deep, earthy sweetness from the fig, a creamy snuggle of amber, and slightly powdery, slightly floral, slightly spicy oud. It's amazing and I'm really glad I gave it another shot.

I got a hint of chocolate in the bottle, but on my skin it's a dark, smoky, slightly spicy leather. There's just enough wax in here to keep it from veering too sharply masculine, but it's still a bit heavy for everyday wear. I think I would prefer it on my guy. The book that came with it was The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, which I do already have a copy of.

Oh man this is so pretty. I've thought for a while that tobacco is good note on me that I enjoy, and this has.. wow. has it ever confirmed that. It's sweet, a bit smoky, incensey, with a sort of chewy vanilla/benzoin vibe going on. Suuuuper nice.

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Rosy Maple yet! It is such a sweet pink. (Lemon blossom, vanilla bean, huckleberry, sweet pea, rose sugar, acai berry, and candyfloss.)

A romantic scent, to me, is creamy and cuddly, soft and sensual. Dorian wins it for me, because it hits all those adjectives, and it's GC, and as a bonus, Beth created it for Puddin - how sweet! Mouse's Sad and Long Tale, Katrina van Tassel, Snow White, and The Waltz are also quite lovely in the same kind of way, even though they all smell so very different.

Definitely recommend Peanut Musk (Roasted peanuts, peanut leaves, and dark musk) for that half of it. It's awesome, and I wish I had more than my decant of it (though my sweetie has a mild peanut allergy, so probably better that that's all I have). For jelly, there are a few options. You could go with something fruity, or try one of the blends that names jelly as a note. There's Mason and Jenkin's Port Jelly, with no notes listed, or Zombie Apocalypse (Swirls of red jelly and sugary white ooze) or Strawberry Sufganiyot (A sugar-dusted pile of sufganiyot, trickling bright rivulets of strawberry jelly), which has the added benefit of having that bready note that's part of any sandwich, or Sticky Eyeballs and Floppy Entrails (Sticky white glops of marshmallow and clotted cream with ropes of sinewy strawberry licorice whips and oozing pink jelly).

The Last Unicorn (Frosty lilac petals, iris pallida root, orris, violet leaf, white chocolate, coconut, wild lettuce, white sandalwood, and oakmoss) or The King's Daughter (Lilac musk, sandalwood, sweet pea, watermelon accord, pale woods, elemi, and oakmoss) might be good ones to try, since they both share oakmoss and lilac notes with Lucille's Room. They could be difficult to find, though, since the lab isn't selling them at the moment, and they may or may not be too sweet or floral. Other blends I suggest you look into, where the reviews say the oakmoss stands out, are: The Sleeper: Night-blooming jasmine, opium poppy, wild rosemary, Calla lily, oakmoss and crypt musk. Faiza, the Black Mamba: Black amber, caraway, oakmoss, green sandalwood, bergamot, jasmine sambac, gardenia, orange pulp, vanilla, blackberry, black musk, white honey, ti leaf, and ginger. Les Infortunes de la Vertu: A pain-tinged, pleasure-soaked blend of leather, oakmoss, orange blossom, amber, and rose with a breath of virginal French florals and a hint of austere monastic penitential incense. Parthenope: Honeysuckle, orris, moss, musk, benzoin, oakmoss, and star jasmine. Whirling Wind Moon 2009: Swirling dark and airy musks, mogra, plumeria, hyacinth, lily of the valley, dry white sandalwood, gardenia, pale amber, and oakmoss. Nightmare: Black currant, black orchid, lavender, black dammar, myrrh, oakmoss, champaca flower, and mandrake root. (This Nightmare, not this one.) Alcie: Just a hint of gorgon blood: bright nectarine, honey, sandalwood, green musk, sea buckthorn berry, and oakmoss. And some others that also have oakmoss and florals, but from reviews seem lighter on the oakmoss: Fae: White musk, bergamot, heliotrope, peach and oakmoss. La Primavera: Plum blossom, tuberose, oakmoss, violet leaf, jasmine, ylang ylang, lemon peel, orange blossom, and lemon peel. Lune Noire: Black orchid, jonquil, white pear, white amber, gardenia, olibanum, champaca, sweet clove, tonka, oakmoss, and blue musk. Whirling Wind Moon 2013: Same notes as the 2009 version, but the reviews say it's balanced differently and the florals are more prominent. Veronica: Arum lily and Florentine iris with pomegranate, red amber, ylang ylang, blackcurrant, and oakmoss. Revisiting Scenes of Past Delight: White melon, oakmoss, bergamot, apple blossom, Italian mandarin, Florentine iris, nutmeg, and white musk. Lily, the Prostitute: Heady blossoms of jasmine, white gardenia, and magnolia sharpened by neroli, given a voluptuous depth by red patchouli, oakmoss, and cedar. Beauty, The Aggrieved: A white rose draped by a delicate, pale, sheer veil of vanilla, the depth and darkness of her black lace embodied by tobacco absolute, Indonesian patchouli, Bulgarian oakmoss, frankincense, white sandalwood, and myrrh. And, if you can happen to track down a bottle or sample, since these were discontinued a long time ago... Virgo (Celestials): Apple, white musk, rose, narcissus, oakmoss, patchouli. Taurus (Celestials): Oakmoss, rose, sandalwood, ylang ylang. Fée: Vanilla, sunflower, carnation, honeydew, peach blossom, lychee, oakmoss and white tea. Privilege: Armoise, tuberose, white citrus, rose absolute, oakmoss, tiare, tuberose, vanilla, linden, and lemon tree blossom.

This reminds me a lot of Nectar HG, mostly sweet honeysuckle. It's not quite as sweet as Nectar is, and the dusting of snow makes it a bit watery smelling, but they're quite close. I don't get any vetiver.

This is very very close to Snow White - sweet, creamy floral, with more rose and less coconut. I love it.

This is incredible. It's everything I wanted Boo to be, instead of a weird cream and meh cotton blend. It's sweet, creamy, marshmallowy, vanilla goodness. Perfect homemade marshmallows, soft and fluffy, so edible. It's light but it lasts, and I think if I could only wear one BPAL for the rest of my life, this would be it. I almost never get multiple bottles, but this... I think I might wear it forever.

In the imp, this is a creamy, sweet berry. It's fruity, not candyish like Kertasníkir. The oats keep this grounded, preventing it from becoming too sweet, and as it dries down it becomes a softly fruity (strawberry?) yogurt scent. The yogurt is distinct from milk/cream notes, but it's not sour or animalistic like goat milk can be. It's in the creamy dairy family, and combined with the berries it's really lovely.

Straight up candy strawberry. Doesn't really morph on me. I like it well enough, but I was hoping for more of the beeswax to come out since I love me some of that.

Chocolate chip cookies! In my hair!

If you haven't tried Mouse's Sad and Long Tale yet, I definitely recommend it - it's all snuggly ambery creamy goodness. One of my favorite GCs, alongside Dorian. From LE's, I nth the recommendations for Sugar Skull, and also suggest some Liliths. There are a ton of sweet blends this year (and every year). My Baby and a Baby Goat is amazing, just sweet milky honey with a hint of musk, while Battle Fairy in Training, Pop, and Sticky Eyeballs and Floppy Entrails are various sweet candy scents (but all different from each other). From the Post's Liliths, En Garde and The Worst Pillow are both really sweet to me. The former is vanilla and caramel, while the later is vanilla and very strong, very sweet coffee.

Yes, this! When I go to sniff my wrist, at first it seems like just a sweet apple... but then as I stop breathing in and just hold the scent for a minute, it just starts dripping with delicious coconut cream. Like the best piña colada, but with apple instead of pineapple. I don't pick up tiare or fig as individual notes, but I think they're helping to sweeten this up and give it some depth.

In the imp, this really smells like some of those those tea samples if you go into Teavana... red, floral/fruity, but completely unsweetened - best served over ice. I think some sweetness does come out as it dries, but sniffing leaves me with a dry, bitter afterscent in the nose. It almost reminds me of what it's like for me to drink things with artificial sweeteners... that awful aftertaste that lingers, though a little less intense. That part doesn't seem to linger too long, luckily, and it morphs into the same red berry tea, but sweetened enough to drink. It never becomes really sweet though... there's always that bitterness hovering in the back, waiting to strike. It's a pretty simple scent, and I think it fills the fruity-but-not-sweet-fruity niche very well.

I didn't find Peach IX at all powdery or soapy - it was very similar to KVT on me, just with a different floral. Juicy and sweet.

Bug spray! Ack! But I tried it on anyway, because hey, it might morph... and it did, happily! After a few minutes, the verbena bug spray quiets way the hell down and it turns into a kind of... syrupy cinnamon candy. Definitely reminds me of the cinnamon hearts too. It's not really fruity at all, but I think the fruits contribute to that sweetness and keep it dark and rich rather than overwhelmingly spicy. Not something I need a bottle of, but certainly nicer than my first impression.

Katrina Van Tassel and Peach IX - the former is "White rose and honeyed cream", but something about the white part doesn't scream rose to me. The latter is "Rose musk, peach blossom, and vanilla cream", and it's pretty similar but peachy instead of rosy. They're both sweet, creamy, and floral, but without being cloying or punch-you-in-the-face-flower.

Wet, this is almonds and spices. Dries down to a softer incense/spice blend, and I don't really pick up any almonds or cookies. As incense goes, this is relatively soft and unobtrusive.

I dunno. "Jiggery Pokery" just felt like it needed a whimsical scent attached to it, so here's some pink pepper cotton candy with a sliver of orange peel and a hint of vanilla cream. I too agree with the orange creamsicle description, at least while this is wet. Once it dries down, more of the pepper comes out on my skin and it's not as sweet. Pretty light, with not a ton of throw.

2015: Sweet guava, but to me it's not like candy-sweet.. more like the natural sweetness that fruit gets when it's just perfectly ripe and then you shove it in your face. Orange adds just a hint of citrus tang, and I think the pepper keeps Xanthe from being overwhelmingly cloying. Overall, very fruity, sweet, and feminine, and the guava keeps it unique while still being in the family of sweet berryish scents.