Cereus

I had my first Play-Doh experience earlier this month with Tamora [which is very vanilla on me]. It wasn't intense, but it was unmistakably, if subtly, present in the drydown. There are two potential culprits/outliers. There is a chance that I had a bit of triclosan soap residue on my wrist at the time, since the Better Fraction was unable to find our regular non-antibacterial soap and refilled the pump before I could be informed. My wrists hold onto amber/resin/incense notes long after the rest of the oil fades and gets showered away. [i will be investigating the Cetaphil trick, thanks, Indig0!] I had been wearing Lights of Men's Lives [also very vanilla on me] and The Chicken-Legged Hut the previous days, and remember still having a little of the 'burnt' note residue from one or both of them. This thread is pretty amazing, just thought I would add my experience.

In the bottle: Fizzy ginger and eucalyptus. The mint and ozone are present, but most obvious as the fizzy quality. Wet: Minty fresh ozone with eucalyptus and the slightest hint of blooming purples As it dries: the ginger and passionflower take a stand. I can definitely picture colorful, crackling electricity. Dry: this is beautifully fizzy mintalyptus with a fun and not too obvious or too feminine base of purple. The Coil is, in one word, effervescent. Oof is something I wear on a daily basis, and to take a turn towards the ridiculous and project onto the oil, this is like Oof frollicking in a funky, colorful way on the days it feels awesome and wants to be a little less Utilitarian.

In the bottle: a juicy smelling blend of heliotrope and peach blossom made richer by amber and bean vanilla. Wet the amber and the sandalwood jump to the fore but the heliotrope is still quite distinct As it dries the vanilla warms and becomes more prominent. The floral notes blend in the background but don't fight for attention. This dries down to a warm blend of amber, peach blossom, and vanilla with the sandalwood and heliotrope in the background; very regal and rich. The way my skin breaks it down reminds me a bit of a very, very fancy version of Ply-Doh, but it is still a lovely, feminine scent.

Oof is straight eucalyptus with a mint chaser, and the two are actually quite well blended. There is a slight herbal sweetness to them, and that quality combined with the lack of petrolatum means I never get a vaporub vibe from this. My brother loves Oof too, and always asks for a whiff of it [since I usually have it in my clocket] whenever we go out. It is kind of adorable to watch him inadvertently enable his friends when he raves about it. He loves the cooling quality of the mint mixed with the invigorating jolt from the eucalyptus. In all seriousness, Oof has saved me more than the cost of several bottles in the form of antihistamines and cold meds I have been able to forgo since toting it around in a scent locket on a regular basis, especially through allergy season. As a chronic sinusitis sufferer, Oof has, without hyperbole, improved my quality of life.

In the bottle: aquatic, like a sea coast lined with fragrant trees [i actually sighed over the experimental waft]. The second whiff just before applying was a bit saltier and kelpy. Wet this is still ocean aquatic with fragrant woods and sage and other greens. As it dries the initial notes still dominate, but I am getting a few more of the herbs and a hint of the violet. This is absolutely stunning to me and quickly making its way into my top five at this rate. Dry this is beautiful violet and cypress with sage and herbs on an aquatic background. I never actually suspected cypress and violet would blend so well. I happen love all those notes on their own, and this blend just blew me away and made me very happy just to be wearing it. Wow wow wow. This may need to be my Yule gift to myself.

In the bottle: sweet, and the teeniest bit wax, maybe a little like a NikL Nip/wax soda bottle candy once the fruit juice is gone. Wet this is not nearly as sweet, but now smokey with a stronger hint of the wax. As it dries this is still sweet like vanilla or honey, but creamy, waxy, and smokey in a rather wonderful sort of way. Ultimately a little too vanilla for me to use much, but a gorgeous scent with a fantastic beeswax note.

This is the final, GC/Marchen version: In the bottle: flowers and a few dusty herbs Wet this is still floral to me. I cannot pick it out, but it seems like lily or neroli or jade. There are hints of the dust, moss, and roots, but I seem to be amping the florals to their exclusion. On drydown the floral notes turn a bit harsh and soapy. I can smell a hint of the patchouli and a bit of the iron, which I like quite a bit. As the iron note settles in, the flowers no longer seem harsh. I'm not getting any fruity notes at all, sadly. The floral notes fade, giving a little room to earthy patchouli, moss, and herbs. The iron and dust are there in the background, and definitely make this stand out from other florals. I keep getting a tiny hint of a dry, smoke or firewood scent that could be, at least in my mind, the broom twigs. Dry, the floral notes finally ease down and this is dry and a little musky, but also mossy and herbal, with the definite impression of iron and dust. Difficult to summarise, and quite the journey. This reminds me of the progression of the way High Priest Not to Be Described behaves on my skin, but backwards.

In the bottle: wood grain and the green, almost harsh and earthy scent of the raw amber Wet: the amber softens and I can definitely smell the rose now. The sandalwood is also present, and I expect this will be beautiful once my skin warms it a bit. As it dries I get a smokey blend of rose, sandalwood, and amber, with none of the varnish or burning others noted. The rose in this smells like those you would find in a tin of delicate tea scented with dried petals. The amber and sandalwood blend beautifully with it, and this is a very feminine, maternal scent. Dry this is a soft, sweet rose tempered with sandalwood. I don't get much of the amber, just a few slightly green resiny hints, unless I sniff directly where I applied it, but I know it is there keeping the scent together as a whole. I am a little disappointed, as I would have liked more amber, but I don't have many rose scents that work on me, and I will definitely use this again. I think this has the potential to layer very well.

In the bottle: a warm scent, softly sweet and gently spiced, but on the neutral end of things, not cloying Wet: definitely getting more of the burnt herbs in with the spices over the bottle smell, which seems almost nutty and syrupy As it dries the herbs dominate, in a smokey medicinal sort of way. This definitely smells like the inside of a cluttered, wooden medicine hut under the midday sun. I'm starting to smell the straw roof, as well. Dry this is soft but rich. I smell mostly the wheaty, straw roof and sweet, burned herbs with a background of dried wood. I can definitely understand the cream of wheat with brown sugar comparison. I wanted badly to smell the chicken legs in there, and while I can easily see myself in the chicken-legged hut when I smell this, I don't get the magical legs as an actual note. Not an explicit pro or con, just my experience with it. The sweet almost nutty scent kept making me paranoid because it reminded me of my awful experience with Cockaign, but this comes with none of the nauseating reaction I had experienced to that.

In the bottle: cypress with a hint of passion flower and other light floral notes. Wet: I get a dark, tangy, almost metallic and grassy mix of mints and cypress, but it is followed quickly by the floral notes. As it dries: the cypress softens and I can pick out the lavender and geranium while the other notes blend in the background. The lavender and orange blossom under the cypress keep reminding me of soap, not in an actual soapy quality, just the scents I associate with being clean. Others have mentioned, more eloquently than I could hope to, how the scent evokes the impression of the process from grief through a cathartic creative process to a resolution. Despite that it still comes off as a very clean scent to me; very gender neutral, too. This didn't have much throw [which I tend to prefer], but did last through the day, and I actually had a much easier time falling to sleep while wearing this [which oddly, despite the lavender, I did not experience with most of the Dream Formula scents]. This is the second oil that has really amazed me, not just by how it embodies the influence, but by how it morphs to reflect the various natures associated with it. I love all the notes in this and am so glad to have had a chance to try it.

These notes are from an imp I received from the Lab in in Spring of 2008, when I was too shy to post reviews to the forum. In the bottle this smells very fresh and green. Wet I am reminded of woods after a rain, where the air is clear and cool and carries the scent of fresh leaves. As it dries the woods come out and I get an almost powdery floral scent that reminds me of the chamomile [mixed with the cypress] in High Priest Not to Be Described [which I definitely amp, so I suspect something similar is occurring here]. After dry down this is mossy, herbal, and still a little powdery. After a few hours it morphs back to green again and the herbal and leafy notes have the most staying power on me.

In the bottle: chamomile and saffron cough syrup Wet: chamomile with a spicy edge of amber and frankincense As it dries: the amber and frankincense come to the fore and heliotrope rounds it out Dried down: oh my goodness heliotrope and frankincense and saffron, and eventually a little artemisia rounds it all off with an almost tangy note I am amazed by how well the 'eclipse' effect comes across. This was the first bottle I ordered untested, just for the notes, and I am truly amazed and pleased by the result.

In the bottle I get the sweetness of wine and the smokiness of the brimstone before the vetiver strikes hard. Wet this is still predominantly vetiver, with an ashy quality that's actually quite complimentary. As this dries, the vetiver fades, however, and I'm left with smokey, ashy incense with a touch of wine in the background. This dries down to soft, not-quite-powder incense, the scent you get once it's burned off but still lingering in the air, with a light, ashy sweetness. It absolutely conjures in my mind the scene and location of the description. I don't think my skin has ever coaxed the lab's blood note out of an oil, so I'm not surprised that it failed to make an appearance. I was very worried about the vetiver at the beginning, since it is almost always a deal breaker for me. This surprised me in the dry down, though, and turned into something soft yet dark. It's actually comforting.

In the bottle rose and agave with spices and a whiff of tobacco. Wet the agave nectar stands out among the dry woods and spices. I'm definitely getting the aquatic vibe from the agave. I wish I was getting more of the copal, but it's sadly dormant. Dry I get a hint of rose and dry tobacco, but the spices and agave mix oddly on my skin and are almost pungent. In my hair, however, I get the woods and rose and a little copal! Lovely.

In the bottle beeswax and cactus flower with a hint of cocoa leaf. Wet I get a very light, green scent with a little hydrangea. The tobacco creeps out, followed by the qantuta [and maybe a little rose], then the frankincense. As it dries I start to get beeswax and cactus flower again, spiced by incense and tobacco. The hydrangea, qantuta, and rose blend well together and lighten the entire scent. Dry I finally get the sandalwood and a soft powder over the other notes. I loved the drying scent and will be keeping this for the scent locket.

In the bottle pepper, beeswax, and cream, with the sweetness of muguet. Wet I get the beeswax, creamy tea, and dry pepper. The lily compliments the cream tea, and the pepper brings out the dusty wool. Dry the cream tea is still predominant on me. It reminds me of a less sweet version of Cockaign, especially with the pepper in the background. The beeswax and wool in place of foody scents make this distinct, however.

In the bottle, night-blooming floral, distinct but not overly sweet. Wet, hellebore and monkshood peeking through hemlock and ivy. As it dries I get a distinct impression of the moonflower and possibly also the cereus. As those soften the angel's trumpet, [and/or perhaps the oleander?] is a bit more noticeable. Dry I simply get a haunting blend of nighttime flowers framed with green notes. Where Churchyard was predominantly herbal complemented by floral notes, this is the converse on me. A distinctly floral scent complemented beautifully with herbal green notes. Again, this one isn't very sweet, but still fairly feminine.

In the bottle this is bullrush and mossy tree bark sweetened by flowers with a hint of incense. Just on this is wet and very leafy, the frankincense is present, but without the fresh smoky quality I associate with it. Like stepping out after late night services after a particularly windy rainstorm has strewn the leaves about. During drydown this vanishes almost completely before fading back in with a warmer version of my first impression from the bottle. Ocassionally I catch a faint hint of soap, but it never lingers. As it dries further, the flowers bloom. The combination of floral and herbal scents remind me of fresh flowers. There is a flash of powder and... nailpolish? as this fades out almost entirely again. When it fades back in it's mostly blackberry leaf and herbs with hints of rose and incense. This is very soft on me, but a wonderful herbal scent with just enough of rose and wort to round out the scent without being explicitly floral. I really love this one, but it's a little unpredictable and I'll be giving it a few more test runs.

In the bottle there's blood and moss in a thick swirl of gunpowder. Smoky and sweet. Wet the sandalwood, vetiver, and shrapnel are more obvious, but the gunpowder is still very noticeable. Still an earthy-sweet masculine scent. The vetiver was a little overpowering for me at first, but it softens as it dries. I'm getting almost an alcohol tang, like some one's flask of disinfectant on the battlefield [perhaps the shrapnel]. This fades quickly as the drydown proceeds and the moss and blood become more prevalent. Dry down is a soft, mossy, sandalwood and vetiver cologne. I seem to lose the blood as soon as this finishes drying. The smokiness of the gunpowder and the tang of the shrapnel persist, but take a back seat to the other notes. This has a short throw on me, but is still quite distinct at close proximity.

In the bottle calla lily blended seamlessly with violets. A second pass of this at a later time was more tea rose and chamomile. Wet a faint hint of green peeking from under the white flowers. The violet becomes slightly more prominent as it dries, but this is so well blended that I'm not sure I would pick out all the individual notes without a reminder. I get the lightest powdery note an hour or so after drydown, but I know that's how the Lab's chamomile behaves on my skin. It's actually quite complimentary and finally coaxes out the leafy note. This is floral but not too sweet, and this coming from some one who doesn't handle sweet scents well. The geranium lends a bit of a perfume tang but not an offensive one. This has a bit more throw than most of the oils I've tried, but I suspect that stems from violet's way with my chemistry. I think this would be a lovely scent for spring or daytime formal events. Edit to add: I just realised some of this got into my hair, and it smells fantastic!

I wear this fairly frequently, but am never able to nail down a coherent impression far beyond 'green'. I get a distinct impression of the candles my school used to burn in the advent calendar. Wet I'm not getting the lavender, just a very herbal green scent with an almost metallic earthy tint to it and a squeeze of lime. The scent is fairly stable as it dries, but it doesn't last much longer than a few hours.

In the bottle chili and apples! There's also something greenish in the background like the fibrous bits of a sugar cane stalk. Mm, fresh pineapple, coconut, apple, and pomegranate with a spicy zing to it. There's the tiniest tingle of the chili on my skin, but nothing painful. The banana is present, but not overripe at all. This is exquisitely blended. When I was younger I loved Carmen Miranda and made my own ludicrous fruit hat. This reminds me of my hat and dancing around under the heat lightning. This isn't the type of scent I would generally wear, but it's so much fun!

In the bottle warm, spicy vanilla, the type you get out of a good vanilla tea once you've coaxed it out with a bit of honey, and the barest suggestion of stephanotis Wet this is very light, but the initial impression remains. The orchid is there, but fades as it dries. Dry this is vanilla tea with milk and honey. The other flowers are well blended, and it is distinctly floral, but ultimately this is almost a foody scent on me.

This was the scent that drove me to order for the first time, and it remains my favorite. In the bottle and wet, the smell of the incense is at the forefront, but someone's thrown pepper seeds and dried cherry peppers into the censer. Dry the leather, blood musk, and paper blend exquisitely with the incense, like sinking into an oxblood leather chair and poring over texts until the incense dissipates and the hint of cypress coming in through the window reminds me of my physicality and the hour. I really lose myself in this until the cypress starts to peek through. The chamomile starts to carry through the cypress. After a few hours this dries out to a warm, dry, almost powdery chamomile blended with the merest hints of the other notes.

I was planning to try this in my next order when I got it as a frimp! In the bottle I smell at first a spicy/herby scent, but at second pass I smell the jasmine with the hint of yellow in the background. Wet I am still getting the herby/antiseptic quality of the lavender over jasmine, rounded off by a warm, yellow tone. This keeps threatening to go soapy on me between bouts of what I think of as the background of a stereotypical perfume [minus the headache]. As it dries, however, the honeysuckle warms up and comes to the fore. Dry, the lavender is still refusing to play nice. The jasmine is so evocative of a cool, crisp evening, with the honeysuckle providing just the right crepuscular lighting, but the lavender is occasionally just short enough of being soapy that it's distracting. This scent is the flavor of the floral Flavigny Pastilles before you reach the anise, if only they made honeysuckle.