Em-

Wow. The Blockhead is definitely the sleeper hit of this round of the Carnaval for me. It has an almost green fruity scent to me nose - I can see where the leather comes in, but mostly, this is a fresh, slightly sweet fruity/green scent. If I had to pick anything it reminds me of, it would be my dear departed Mantis. Which makes me wonder if maybe my chemistry is just totally wack...and if so, if I can keep it this way! ETA: I sniffed this again in the vial and now that I know the notes, I can definitely smell the bubblegum and leather in the vial. It is really a fabulous combination, though - not at all the novelty scent I thought it would be - instead it is a fabulous refreshing sweet fruity leather. A lovely, unusual summer scent.

There is no reason why anyone would even read this thing (since it essentially consists of a bunch of lists for my own record keeping), but I've started a real, honest to goodness, ranting about politics/social issues/isisms blog: I'm Just Not Impressed. Visit?

This is a dark musky almond - not sweet and creamy, although the vanilla does smooth its edges a bit. I don't get much sweet or foody out of this at all, which is just fine with me. Now my only question is why it didn't make it onto my bottle list sooner.

Looking back at my notes from ages ago - Rage started as something sharp, almost astringent - which is odd given the notes and how they generally work on me. Then, after a bit it mallows into a really interesting Dragon's Blood blend, which I'm always a fan of, with nice hints of dark fruits and spiciness.

Ooooh. This is some sexay coconut here, folks. It's like Obatala got together with something dark and feral and added a splash of lemon spritzer. This is as dark as scent can get and still sparkle.

My husband was giving me a hard time last night because none of the Tiki blends I'd sampled thusfar had pineapple. "If it's Hawaiian, there has to be pineapple," he said. Then I grabbed Screeching Parrot. Out of the bottle, this is pure rum soaked pineapple. At least on me...that seems to be a rare reaction round these parts. The husband swore it was mango and on second deep sniff, I was thinking passion fruit...but my first instinct was right - a rip roaring pineapple melange fruit punch with a touch of spice. This is the ultimate summer party scent.

Tiki Queen has a lovely sweet coconut scent in the bottle and first on my skin - a lovely lighter bride to Tiki King's rich coconutiness. After a few minutes the florals start to push forward, sweet and tropical and very evocative of sipping a pina colada or coconut daquori in the middle of a tropical flower garden. This is an absolutely must have for anyone who likes sweet tropical florals. It is feminine without being overly cloying and is just gorgeous.

Wow. I was so not expecting to love this, but damn, it's lovely. I usually don't like aquatics, at least that's one of my perfume mantras, and with the seaweed and sea foam, I expected this to be a double punch of aquatic floral. But I forgot that awaphui is Hawaiian ginger. Moana has a definitely juiciness - the sea foam seems to be more of an effervescent saltiness, not watery at all, and the sweet ginger blends fabulously. There is a greenness to this as well, probably from the seaweed, which I associate with mossyness, but that's not what comes out here. This blend is an effervescent mix of sweet/spiciness which I am absolutely adoring.

I was just thinking of Crumpet Rebellion. Bewitched has a nice berry vibe going on - I've never actually tried to pick out specifics though.

Beltane 06 is my absolute favorite spring scent. Others are Two Five Seven (roses and green grass), Ides of March, Blue Moon 07. Mmmm. Need to start breaking these out more.

Mmmm. I love Jai Mahal. It smells so close to something BPAL to me, but I've not yet been able to place it. Although, I'm wearing Count Dracula today and it's sort of close. I keep thinking Bad Luck Woman Blues might work as well. Paradise Misplaced is next on my list to match up - I'm thinking the Tiki scents will be of some help there.

Mmmm. I'm all about the red scents... I think that red musk is what is the biggest tip for me in this sense, although I also like the red ginger and the Dragon's Blood. My top five red scents would be: 1. Mme. Moriarty 2. Count Dracula 3. Red Moon (either version) 4. Blood Moon 5. Red Phoenix

Bumping this thread because surely some of the new Tiki blends will be mana for us coconut lovers! Those of you who have them already - spill!

Ok, I was wrong... Its White Barn Candle Co.'s Brown Sugar & Fig room scent and its DIVINE!! Just wish I could find a perfume oil, lotion, anything for my body that smelled like it. I love the Brown Sugar Fig lotion and find it layers beautifully with Freak Show, which is figgy figgy fig on me. It's not similar, per se, but they definitely complement and evoke each other.

Let me preface this by saying that I love seriously foody scents for the bath - caramel and chocolate are two things that I don't necessarily like for perfume (which is good, because every scent with caramel I've tried hates me), but I love the decadence of luxurating in a hot candy scented bath. Gula is just...perfect. I like a lot of oil - enough that I can still feel it on my skin when I get out of the tub and this works wonderfully for that. And it smells delightful - the cocoa is deep and dark - sweetened by the caramel and the honey and the sugar cane, tempered by the vanilla and current. I love this.

Mmmm. I had a horribly stressful annoying day yesterday, so I was thrilled to come home to a box containing Castitas (and Luxuria, but that's a story for another time). It was the perfect cold dreary night for a long soak in a bath of sweet cream, which is precicely what Castitas allowed. In the bottle, it smelled like sweet vanilla cream with a touch of hot rice cereal - the rice flower adds a slight grainy scent which works really well to fill out the scent and temper the sugary vanilla and cream. It has a hint of something floral without really smelling like what I associate with flowers, if that makes any sense at all. I like to use a fair amount of the bath oil, because I love the way that it clings to my skin and makes me feel silky smooth after the bath, but it really doesn't take a whole lot to soften the water and give a lovely scent, even in my big tub. And, it went wonderfully with the Milk Moon 05 I slathered at bedtime.

Not a GC, but if anyone is looking for a smell-alike for Milk Moon 05, Love's Philosophy is almost dead on to my nose, just a wee spicier. Since MM is my ultimate comfort scent, I'm highly pleased by this development.

So, to start, I'm a little disappointed that I didn't reach 100 books. At some point, I thought I'd counted and was way ahead of 89 - 93 if you count the books I finished in 2007 that I'd started previously, 99, if you count books which I didn't finish in 2007 as well - I can get to 100 if you count the one book I read about 75 pages of then decided to abandon. Although I think I'd still have to go with 99, since I don't think I actually read anything of Ulysses last year. Braking down the 89 that I read entirely in 2007: * 78 were new to me, 11 were re-reads * 22 were children's/ya books * 6 were graphic novels + a 7th novelization based on a comic series * 3 were non-fiction (2 books of essays, 1 of literary criticism) * 41 were installments of fantasy/sci-fi/historical fantasy series * 35 were by authors which were new to me in 2007 * there are 42 unique authors represented

Another possibility to try, if you can find a decant, is 2005's Fruit Moon - loads of sweet fruit in that one. In the general catalogue, in addition to the other suggestions in this thread, Bordello might be an option. You might also want to check out the thread of general fruity recs.

CSC - since it sounds like that was a problem with the shopping cart, and not you suddenly deciding that you wanted something added or subtracted, I'd email answers@blackphoenixalchemylab.com ASAP and I'm sure they'll do everything they can to fix the problem.

For Brown Sugar & Fig, I find that Freak Show layers gloriously with it. The scents aren't the same, per se, but the fig is very similar. I get complements almost every time I wear that combo. I also like it with Cerberus, which might have that woodsy note you're looking for tamburlaine. For Winter Candy Apple, maybe Slathered Candy Apple or Creepy (caramel rather than candy, but definitely the same sweet sugary apple family) if you can get your hands on them.

This is a beautiful chilly mossy fresh blend with just a touch of floral. This is my perfect winter floral - cold and icy, but not watery, with a breath of softness that is not overly perfumey. Perfect for people with a light case of floraphobia, but who like the Lab's winter scents.

I actually swapped my bottle of aged Snake Oil, because I find myself reaching for various Pit bottles when I want that sultry vanilla spice.

I second the Dragon's Tears suggestion. Also, you might try Dublin or Selkie if you can get your hands on them - both are pretty salty on me. Ogun might be another good GC option. It's foody, not aquatic, but the first think I thought of when I saw "salty scents" was Shill from the Carnival Noir line. It is salty buttered popcorn and the people who like it seem to *really* like it.

Like others, I was very surprised by Hunter Moon...I adore the first one, which has aged into a gorgeous blend of dark, animalistic musk and spicy autumn wine. While I didn't expect this one to be the same, I wasn't expecting the sweetness at all. In the bottle, this smells like a light wine, a soft wooded glade, and vanilla. On my skin, the vanilla amps like woah, leaving a really nice scent (I happen to be a big fan of vanilla and am always happy to find it in a blend that isn't inherently foody) that is worlds different from what I expected - that vanilla, and a hint of a soft musk - whomever said buckskin is right on to my nose, as this is very similar to coyote, but with, well, vanilla bean. I get virtually nothing of wine or leaves or anything else really. So, not at all what I expected, but a happy surprise, nonetheless.