splendidissima

Oh, gosh! This seems to change every time I sniff my arm! Going on, I got buttery popcorn and fresh-baked bread, and maybe cookies (because it's sweeter than bread or popcorn alone). Not necessarily *chocolate-chip* cookies, but cookies. Then I got berries! Jam, strawberries, sugary fruit! THEN I got...some sort of...milk-forward pastry dessert? Something you might get in a nice restaurant that was trying something playful - I think maybe this is some combo of ice cream, milk, cake, cotton candy, the cookies again, and the berries plus sweet lavender? Then it seemed to almost fade away, and I was worried it wouldn't be very long-lasting, but just now I moved my arm and this lovely sweet lavender + candied strawberry + baked goods + buttery popcorn scent wafted up! I'm liking all the stages so far - this might be my surprise favorite of my Lilith order! I don't ever really get *chocolate* specifically (though I do get cookies!), or the carnation, and I'm not sure what the 'puppy' note is in here, and I think the honey sticks and the rice are getting subsumed into, respectively, 'sweetness,' and 'baked goods/dessert/rice pudding'. But overall it's a fascinating shifting sweet-gourmand-baked goods + sweet lavender + candied fruit scent, which I really like!

Spicy chai buttercream! Creamy and sweet, with a good amount of spice. I don't get much stick, but maybe a soft waft of smoke - but, yes, a friendly smoke, like my parents' old wood-burning fireplace, and it's in the background - the spicy creamy frosting is much more in charge! Very low throw - after only a few minutes I'm having to put my nose right up on my wrist - but it's a lovely cozy cuddly scent.

This is confusing my nose, I'll admit! It's...sharp pineapple? No, wait, sugared rose? Wait...peony? Plus the pineapple again? I'm not really getting strawberry, unless that's just adding a hint of pink sweetness in the background. Like Deadlyves said above, it really is like eating a freshly-cut pineapple (VERY fresh!) with a large bouquet of flowers beside you. I'm not always a huge floral fan but I like fruit scents, and I can like sweet florals, so I wanted to try this one, and it's sort of fascinating! It's pretty and I think I like it, but it's very much a springtime, even tropical, scent - I could imagine wearing this in Hawaii, in the morning, while having breakfast with fresh fruit, out on a balcony!

Ooh, this is nice! It is first and foremost a deep wine scent, decadent and dark and sweet. It's the kind of thick viscous dessert wine that clings to a glass and slides over taste buds and textures - sensual and lush and heated. My husband likes good port, and it's a lot like that! I do get pumpkin, but it's swirled into everything else - this whole scent is so well blended that it's hard to pick out individual notes! It's not a mulled wine in the sense of being spice-forward, but it does have a little carnation-spice. Something about this also smells very "BPAL" to me - like the bag I used to store some older imps in, with the layered blending of BPAL notes - or maybe like Lady Una and Lady Macbeth had a pumpkin-kissed baby! I hesitated about this, and threw it in at the last minute, and now I'm glad I did! It'll be a good winter scent for late nights cuddling by the fire, perhaps with a glass of port or a chocolate/fruit dessert. 🙂

This is very, very pretty - almost too much so, for me! It's very perfumey on me - I think it's the florals plus the bergamot? I was hoping for more marshmallow + vanilla to balance the florals with cream. I'm wondering how it might layer with Ghost Milk or Gingerbread Mummy or something else vanilla/creamy - or even something foodie, perhaps... ETA: I've started putting this on along with a vanilla bean lotion, and doing that combo before bed, and - just anecdotally - for the last four nights I've slept really well, better than normal! Usually it takes me ages to fall asleep, but something about this seems to be helping. 🙂

Vanilla powder, very literally! Vanilla powdered creamer! In coffee! And fall spices: cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom. Not overly sweet, more...well...lightly spiced vanilla-powder coffee! I swear I've actually made and drunk something very much like this in our department break room, which usually has powdered creamer type things, and sometimes has seasonal coffee-pods for the Keurig. I agree that it's a powdery, not sticky-syrupy scent, but I think I like that, because it's different - it's such a unique scent experience, and *exactly* what it says it is.

Hmm - I think I like this better in the bottle than I do on me! In there, it's hazelnut, lavender, and sweetness - on me, the hazelnut and coconut stampede over everything, and the lavender vanishes! It's not bad - I don't *not* like it - but on me it's less complex and much darker and thicker. I feel like it's a good cold weather scent, rich and nutty and decadent, but also like a little will probably go a long way - it's the sort of dessert you almost can't finish because it's so rich, but it's delicious!

I also do not get pumpkin! Perhaps that's the idea? I do like the original Schrodinger's Cat, which is very sugar-bright-citrus on me, and this one is too! Mostly light bright sparkling fruits, backed by peppermint (which on me is more herbal than candy-mint) and...something else? Is it pumpkin? If I didn't know it was supposed to be, I wouldn't guess it - but I think maybe there's something that's a...not a creamy note, but the kind of buttery note that sometimes turns up in, say, Jack? It's something like that, but, again, way at the back, and I actually wouldn't be surprised if - Schrodinger's surprise! - there isn't actually pumpkin in here, and that's just the chocolate smoothing things out! I do like it, but I already have the Cat, so I'm not sure I need a bottle of this as well.

As someone who teaches Shakespeare and likes a good stout, I had to try this! It's pretty much the same in the bottle and on me - it knows what it is! And what it is, is...a hearty sort of semi-sweet cake - not at all a frosting type cake, but something like an oat-cake or dense spice cake sweetened with a bit of honey. I don't get a lot of honey, but just enough to give it *some* sweetness. The ale is a dark cozy type, not sweet-boozy, but like ordering a good dark stout at our local craft brewery and breathing in right before taking a sip. Good throw and awesome wear length, and I think it's scented the sleeve of my shirt! I like it - I think if it were a little sweeter I'd *love* it, but it's not quite there. It's a good cold-weather scent, though, and I'm glad I have a partial bottle for when I'm in the mood, or when teaching a comedy play!

Gifted a partial bottle by a friend who was de-stashing! It's a very creamy, mellow pumpkin, both in the bottle and on me. Creamy, cheesecake-y (not too sour or tangy, just rich and sweet and creamy) pumpkin. Which I like - I love pumpkin, in general! - so I'm happy with it! I really don't get any spices or any carrot, but that might just be a function of age. On me it's a (surprisingly) soft scent, warm and cozy and snuggly. Nice for autumn / when I want something autumnal but not overpowering!

Very pumpkin spice + musk - exactly what it says! I'm not always a huge fan of musk - depends on the type - but it's playing nicely here. I don't get pie crust at all; this is very much pumpkin pie filling, heavy on the spices, but that's nice for the current autumn time of year! I like this one more than Pecan Pie Oud, but not as much as Cherry Pie Chypre.

Oud is generally not a good thing on me, and it's not good here, either! I do get a sweet nutty scent wafting around that, which I like, but overall it's just not working well. I'll keep the imp, and see if it works in a diffuser!

Apparently I never reviewed this one! It's even nicer now, having aged a bit. It goes on heavy and strong - a blast of dark chocolate, a baked pastry, and heavy pumpkin pie spices, cinnamon and nutmeg - I like all those things, so that's good, though it is rather a lot at first! And then as it dries it just balances out perfectly: calming down a little, still gorgeously balanced with all of the above, but with an emerging note like a cream cheese - like a pumpkin-spiced cream cheese. It's just lovely.

I definitely get the clean sheets/fresh laundry note, but not in a bad way - it's a warm sort of clean, like I've got an armful of sheets fresh from the dryer. The peach is also very strong on me - and stronger after I left the bottle alone for a week or so and came back to it; this second test is much more peach-forward. I don't think I'm getting much tea, but it might be adding a citrus note? I like it more on this second test than I did the first time around - not that I disliked it before, but I had wanted more peach, and that seems to be coming out more now, so hopefully it'll continue to do that! Right now it's very nice: cozy and domestic, like I've just been out picking peaches in the backyard (the house I grew up in had a peach tree) and ate a juicy one after coming in, and am now folding warm laundry!

A frottle from the Lab! ❤️ I get...clove and sandalwood and black pepper, mostly? I don't know what nagarmotha should smell like! I was nervous about the oudh, but it seems okay here, or just blanketed by the other notes! It's brown and spicy-soft to me, like a warm open blend of dried spices from a spice rack.

This is mostly almond pastry on me, not in a bad way! It's like a breakfast pastry, a danish, stuffed with some sweet almond paste and some sort of mixed fruit jam. The fruit definitely has some cherry, but there's something else too - I know it's apricot because of the notes, but I'm not sure I could've named it otherwise. The sweet almond + pastry is winning out over the fruit, though! I like it, but of course I do like sweet fruit + foodie, usually! I wish the apricot were a bit stronger, but I would definitely eat this for breakfast!

This is really pretty, light and delicate, and exactly what it says it is - a sweet vanilla cream nestled into juicy pear. It feels like a springtime scent to me, pale green and creamy white, and soft. It absolutely vanished on my skin, though, within just a few minutes - I'm glad I got a bottle, because I don't have many pear scents, but I suspect I'm going to go through it fast!

I get...plum, and floral, and...spice? It is a very purple scent: rich and dark and autumnal. I do agree with marared that it dips into Autumn Craft Store, a bit, or maybe a small overstuffed local tea & spices shop. Good throw and staying power, so far!

Bright and fruity and bouncy! This is a very "orange" scent in my head, if I picture it: bright and sunny. I get fresh juicy peach, and sweet orange with a little bit of sharpness/tang, like you get in oranges sometimes. It's exactly what it says, and it's fun! Awesome Husband said, "Fancy soap? Like, something from a spa?" and that made me very slightly sad, but oh well!

Ooh, this is nice! It goes on as a blast of sugared syrupy peaches - in a nice way, juicy and sweet - and then the marshmallow and vanilla bean start to come out, and it becomes a creamy, sweet, peach-laden dessert, like a big scoop of vanilla bean ice cream (the good kind) over a heap of fresh peach slices. Mmm. Awesome Husband: "...sugary...fruit...and something toasted?" me: "...marshmallow?" him: "YES."

Lemony and sweet - this is delightful! As it dries I get a hint of tea, also sweet and citrusy and floral. This is really lovely, and very much like something you'd get at a whimsical Mad Tea Party! Awesome Husband: "...floral? green tea?" ...so clearly he's getting those notes more!

Herbs...lemon...rose? There's something in here reminding me of Parlement of Foules - some combination of herbs/resin + rose? I initially thought it was going to go the lemon-rose cleanser type of scent, but then...it didn't quite do that, maybe because of the herbs. (Maybe catnip?) Strong throw. This is definitely interesting, and I'm glad I have an imp - we live with a big black cat (and I mean BIG - she can reach our kitchen counters, when she stands up!), so of course I needed this! I don't know if I need more, but it is *intriguing*, and I feel like that's a good descriptor for a Black Cat!

A freebie from the lovely doomsday_disco! I'm so intrigued - I like sweet/foodie, and this seems so different from the released version! Immediately: pink bubblegum, not in a bad way - sugary, fruity, that stretchy candy-gum quality. A few minutes in: a cake frosting note! Sweet, sweet pink frosting, still with the bubblegum over the top. After an hour: it seems really balanced between the bubblegum and the frosting, still! It's very young and fun - I like it, though I wonder if it would've worked even better on teenage me! This would be a good late spring-summer scent: pink and bouncy! Awesome Husband: ...Froot Loops..? me: I get bubblegum, I think? Husband: yes, that!

This one's fascinating! I love yams and sweet potatoes, and I've never heard of that in a perfume before, so I really wanted to try it! And it is indeed very yam-like! It's not as sweet as I was expecting/hoping - it's foodie, but it's a dry sort of foodie; it's a dry cinnamon bark sprinkled over the yams. I think maybe the oakmoss is adding something herbal? I don't get as much of the bourbon vanilla as I was hoping. (Wonder how it'd layer with something like Gingerbread Mummy or Ghost Milk?) I do like it, though I don't love it, and I'm glad I have some - it'll be a good fall scent, I think: swirls of cinnamon and amber and freshly harvested sweet potatoes waiting to be turned into a recipe. It seems to last for quite a while on me, too, though it sticks fairly close to the skin.

2020 Winter version! I almost didn't get this, because I wasn't sure about the beer or the lavender - I don't do florals much! But my academic fields are medievalism and folklore, and I do like sweet and foodie scents, so I finally had to! Everything seems so well blended: it's a sweet, rich, hearty cake, with hints of nuts and grains - baked grains, or oatmeal, like an oatmeal cake-style cookie. The lavender's sweet and fruity here, a sort of purple berry scent. It's a delicious cozy scent, and I think I'm starting to be won over to lavender!