thekittenkat

In the imp: Dry herbs and dusty earth. Wet: More patchouli is present, but still mostly dried plants and dirt that needs the rain. The dry-down: This is slowly morphing into a more patch based scent, but all those dried herbs and plants and the dusty ground are very present. I think that this might be a good scent for the last days of summer, as it evokes that feeling in me, treasuring the last days of heat as I look out over the harvested fields.

In the bottle: I can sense all the berry notes, but it's as though they are muted by the snow. Wet: The juniper berries and the daemonorops are front and center. The dry-down: The juniper berries are too sharp and too tart; they are stomping all over the other notes. Too bad, as I don't mind the florals notes here if they stay subdued, but I wanted the beautiful holly berries and the snow, and they are there, but just very faint. I'm hoping that this will age well. The bottle art is truly elegant, a white phoenix that looks to be standing in the snow next to a calm body of water, like a pond or a lake, or else it's at the top of a hill, backlit against the slate blue winter sky, and snow is lightly falling.

In the bottle: There are the lovely juniper berries , tempered by woods and icy snow. Wet: The scent warmed up immediately it hit my skin, as though the ice and snow were melting in the sunshine. The dry-down: The berries are more obvious now on my skin, but the snowy woods still linger. A keeper, though I am not sure if I need a back-up to my partial or not. I would consider it a unisex scent, much like Lines/Hills was from 2008, but not in the same family.

In the decant: Something a bit spicy, yet also like an old-fashioned man's cologne, that must be the waves, and with a almost hidden depth of creaminess attributed to the beeswax. Wet: Much the same as when first sniffed The dry-down: As it dries down, I'm getting a hint of wood from those old desks and the forest, and something metallic from the gold coins. However, everything just blends together on me into a more perfect whole. I like this, but suspect it would smell divine on the bf. The beeswax, always a favourite note, also adds a touch of sweet cream, but mind you, only a touch.

No scent notes given, but are probably similar to the finished product: Pink musk, white ginger, tea leaf, night blooming jasmine, bergamot, and leather. In the bottle: Jasmine, tea leaf, a hint of ginger, and some pink musk deep in the mix. Wet: Now I'm getting a lot of the tea leaf and the pink musk. Very sweet, but in not in a candy way. More like tea with a lot of sugar in it. The dry-down: The ginger and what might be the bergamot (something like a mum) are coming out to play. And, oh yes, there's the saddle leather or is that her leather armour? This prototype is a bit different from the completed product. The perfume oil from the Lab is more delicate, more floral. This is more like the Warrior Queen just rode in, perhaps from practice fighting, and dismounted but didn't change out of her fighting leathers. Now she's being served ginger tea in a garden; that garden is full of bergamot and jasmine. And there might be some lilies and herbs in that garden, with the sun high in the sky, no clouds in sight. This is probably more of what I was expecting with Mulan. I think I might try layering the two oils together later on and see what happens. This version of the Queen is the fighting warrior woman having a cup of tea, but not a tea ceremony; the completed product is the Queen remembering what it was like to be a girl before she disguised herself and rode off to war. And yet, this fighting Queen seems to be staying around for a while.

In the bottle: That's a strong grape! Wet: The chamomile is present now, and the balsam of peru is adding a touch of sweetness. The grape has calmed down. The dry-down: The iced grape is more sweet, but the chamomile keeps it from being too sweet with a sort of drying quality. This is in the same family as The Shivering Boy, but only distantly related, as the latter is more cold and icy and with a strong grape note, whereas The Chained Phantoms is less grapey, less chilled, and more sweet and herbal in feeling. I'll have to do a side-by-side comparison at some point. It also might be interesting to layer them.

In the decant: Wood-smoke and slow-moving river water. Wet: The dying embers make an appearance. The wood that's burning must be something sweet, like apple or cherry wood. The water has returned to the river banks, but it's still around. The dry-down: Basically, this is wood-smoke, some water, and the faint incense of the dying embers. Very evocative of the scene. A skin scent that's unisex, good to wear to the office or out for a walk, but not a party scent.

Three white cakes, vanilla, and red and black currants. In the bottle: Yummy currants, and sweet cake. Wet: The currants and the cake are combining into a delicious tasty (but don't drink it!) treat. There's some sweet frosting too, that reminds me of the drizzled sugar frosting that my grandmother put between each layer of her torte/layer cakes. The dry-down: Bit more cake more and less currants, but still one of my fave scents ever from the Lab.

In the bottle: Some musk, some vanilla, some choc peppermint, and something woody, must be the massoia bark--that's a nice note! Wet: The musk and the patch are very strong notes now, but there's something a bit dryish, perhaps the resin? The dry-down: This seems to be like Snake Oil with some various things in it (the way I like Snake Oil). Right now those notes include the sandalwood and resin and bark, mostly. There's also hints of the florals, but the sharpness of the juniper berry seems to have run off somewhere to hide. It's interesting, but it might work best as a scent locket scent for me. I was hoping for something like Ivanuska, only with a whole lot more going on (and I love Ivanuska). In the end, this is a morpher, and come to think of it, so are werewolves!

When I saw that Beth had created this scent, I knew that I must have it, whether or not it worked on me, in honor of this amazing event. The bf set up the telescope that magical night, and we fought the clouds to catch glimpses of the eclipse. Besides, it has blackberry. In the bottle: There's pine and patch, musk and currant, pepper and ylang ylang, all swirling about. Wet: I think that the chypre has come to the foreground, but the currant and blackberry are coming together for a fruity note that is tempered by the myrrh and the pine, and that is keeping the chypre in check. The dry-down: Now I'm getting amber, the dragon's blood (but not too much so), with hints of the holly berry and the white pine and the winter rose. Ever time I sniff it, there's flashes of different things going on. Quite a morpher, but only correct for this once-in-a-lifetime longest winter night haunted by clouds and a full lunar eclipse.

In the bottle: A piney woodsy scent, with cold air very much present, yet hints of other scents in the darkness. Wet: Much more piney and woodsy now, still with the cold air, but not too piney. The dry-down: This has a cooling effect on the skin, which I rather like. The tonka and benzion have combined to offset the pine and woods and leaf notes with a richness that is not very sweet at all. There may be a hint of fur from the brown musk. It doesn't remind me of previous Wolf Moons. Maybe a bit, just a bit mind you, like Ivanuska with lots of tamed pine forests, and less of the warm soft fur note.

In the bottle: Champagne and opium, very much so. Wet: The champagne is fizzy still, but the opium swirls in the deeps. The dry-down: As this dries, the opium note rises up through the sweetish bubbles. The fizziness is almost citrus-like in quality. Interesting, but it may need some time to age.

Note: I like grass and dirt scents, so let's see how this one works. In the decant: Stone and mud, and a little bit of grass. Wet: The grasses add the moss may be of the winter season, but they have a sweetness about them. The dry-down: The mud is present, but only as a base for the stone, the grass, and the mud. Happily, I don't seem to get any of that fire note--it was the one note that I was worried about. Could be bottle-worthy.

In the decant: Lovely ozone, but tempered with a high, sharp, bright pine note. Wet: The ozone is disappearing fast under that pine note! The dry-down: A faint hint of the tuberoses, and the fleeing ozone, but all have quailed under the pine note of doom.

In the decant: The sherry wine, oranges, and a hint of smoke. Wet: The orange note pushes to the forefront, and all else is left in the background. The dry-down: Something spicy has emerged, and I suspect it's the spices that might have gone into the sherry-cobler. The orange note is still very present, and that hint of smoke has returned. I like this, but not as a perfume; I think that it will be lovely as a room scent.

Note: when I tested this at a WC, it seemed more like spearmint than peppermint. Let's see if that's changed. In the bottle: Sweet peppermint, but not as sweet as previous versions, seemingly, and there might indeed be a hint of spearmint. Wet: Yeah, more spearmint than peppermint, and not as sweet as had hoped for. The dry-down: The inside of my elbow seems to feel that this is cooling, yet at the same time the spearmint is a little too minty and astringent. Strange. May need to wash off soon. I'm feeling a bit disappointed here. The '05 Lick It remains my fav in the series, so far.

Note: Lebkuchen article here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lebkuchen In the bottle: Porridge with cloves. Very powerful cloves! Wet: All the spices from the Lebkuchen cookie appears: aniseed, coriander, cloves, ginger, cardamom, and allspice, in a very dry fashion, as if I had opened a spice cabinet that contained just these spices. The dry-down: Sadly this has ended up as cloves and ginger on me. I would like some candied fruits and heavy cream. I may try to layer with a creamy or milky scent or note. Don't know where I'm going to find any candied fruits--maybe Candy Phoenix? Wait, perhaps there's a hint of the candied fruits; I'll have to give this a longer time to bloom.

This is for the 2010 version. In the bottle: Sweet ozone, with a hint of sugar and a touch of coconut. Wet: Not so sweet or airy now. There's some very light florals around and about. The dry-down: This has become very light and very delicate. It's more like a gentle winter breeze with something sweet about it, a winter floral that has its own sweet perfume, but still airy and light. It's different from the 2008 version (which has more of the coconut and vanilla notes to my nose). It's more of a morpher on my skin than previous years' versions. I like it, but don't think that I need a back-up.

This is for the 2010 version: In the bottle: My nose tells me of all the notes, in a glorious fashion. It's a winter woods, but in a greenhouse with a winter garden. Wet: A beautifully crafted scent; perhaps the evergreen note is dominating, just a bit. The dry-down: Just wonderful: all the lovely scents are present, but so well blended that it is difficult to tell off the note, but I do detect the berry, thyme, the rose, the evergreens, the frank, and the myrrh for certain. Delighted once again to have this scent again for the Yule-tide. I don't want to stop huffing my wrist.

This is for the 2010 version. In the bottle: As advertised: dry cocoa powder and some amber. Wet: A bit more chocolaty now, but also, strangely enough, some florals? And perhaps a hint of vanilla. The dry-down: The cocoa and the amber have blended together for an interesting scent, something difficult to describe, but in-between the two. Those perfumy florals are still lurking in the background. And that little touch of vanilla is serving to round the scent out. However, this is probably going to go in the scent locket.

Yet another one of the Yules that I was hesitant to try. In the decant: Bang up my poor nose with tons of pepper and the sharp chemical leather note. Wet: Yes, there's the tea, the cream, and the musk. Although the pepper and leather are still along for the ride. The dry-down: In the end, this is mostly red musk with the vanilla cream and the black tea to keep it in check. Not sure what happened to the pie. And I'm ever so glad that the pepper and leather just disappeared, somewhat. There's faint whiffs of them from time to time, but this is a tame lion. I can only liken this scent to that dress that looks like nothing on the hanger, but once you try it on, it starts looking better and better.

This review is for the 2010 version. Do note that previous years' versions have not worked on my skin all that well. So here goes nothing! In the decant: Yummy gingerbread with those perfect-for-autumn-and-winter spices. Wet: Still the lovely spices, but the gingerbread is trying to grow stale and cold. This is what it's done in previous years. The dry-down: Later, most of the gingerbread itself has disappeared, leaving only the spices behind. I was so hopeful, too. Yet another one for the scent locket. My skin chemistry must dislike the Lab's gingerbread note with a passion. Bah. ETA: to put in the specific year's version.

In the decant: Lots of frank, but rounded out by the fig. Wet: The fruit sweetness of the fig has kicked into high gear! The dry-down: As much as I love this fig note, I'm glad that it has calmed down. This is now a well-rounded scent, with the frank giving the fig a richness and depth, and keeping it from being a little too fruity and too sweet. Granted, it is still fruity and fruit sweet, though. The galbanum gives this a hint of greenery. Mostly though, it's a resin-rich fig scent. Bottle-worthy.

Must admit that I was hesitant about even testing this because I like vanilla and musk and summer florals, but was worried about the amber and the mums. Turns out that I didn't have that much to worry about. In the decant: The flowers are light and delicate; the white musk is anchoring them, and the vanilla is adding a touch of sweetness that is not foodie in the least. Wet: Still mostly light vanilla florals with a drop of musk. The dry-down: This blend stays mostly true throughout. The amber, which I'm not picking up that much of, isn't too powdery, but is giving an overall dry feeling. The mum note is deep down, keeping this blend from being very sweet. I'm thinking that this will work best as a spring scent, when the tea note in Needlework is too much. (Needlework became my fave spring scent last spring.)

I always have to wonder which snow note will be used in these snow scents. After some of the previous Yule winter scents did not work on me, when they had in the past, I now know better and am getting decants to test first. In the decant: Just a little sweet sugar, not vanilla (at least, not the foody type), a hint of woods, a touch of a mint. Wet: Wow, transmuted to ozone and bitter woods. The dry-down: Thank goodness the bitter woods are fading somewhat. I don't think that these were any kind of fir or pine woods, but more like oaks that have been hit by the frost. This snow note is the icy ozone note, which I love. And there's now a hint of the sweetness, but only a hint. The mint never came back. This may end up as a scent locket scent, or something that will smell fabulous on the bf.