thekittenkat

In the decant: Vetiver and lily--this does not bode well. Wet: Lily drowning in the white musk. The dry-down: In the end the hints of red musk, vanilla, red benzoin, and wild plum team up to try and subdue the wild vetiver and wilder lily. It's a good try, as they keep the vetiver somewhat in check, but the lily, a note of doom, waves its hazy and heavy flowers about, making me long for its disappearance, which won't take place, alas!

In the decant: Vanilla sandalwood, w/ hints of the other notes. Wet: Much as on cold sniff, but w/ more sweetness and vanilla. The dry-down: The pink pepper comes out to play, giving the rather vanilla aspect a bit of a spicy kick. There may be some drying powder from the saffron. I haven't tried the red version before, so I hope it behaves better than the yellow saffron. In the end, this is a pink vanilla sandalwood, w/ less emphasis on the sandalwood.

In the decant: All the notes. Wet: I like this! Sweet tobacco, backed by patch. The dry-down: Just gorgeous! Not quite eyes-rolling-back-in-the-head, but close. The smoky musk comes forward late in the drying down, but this is mostly the blond tobacco, supported by the rather mild patch. The black currant and the honey just produce a sweetening of the tobacco. This is what a good tobacconist's shop might smell like. I confess that was worried abt the currant, as it has ruined other blends for me, but here it seems to stay meekly in line as a supporting player. I need a bottle of this, certainly, for next autumn.

In the decant: That's some toxic vino! Seriously, dark red wine adulterated by something strange. Wet: Red wine and the other things that seem a bit metallic. The dry-down: Just that yummy, fruity red wine that's kept from being too sweet by those strange-whatever-they-are toxins.

In the decant: Sweet opium smoke, indeed! Wet: Still that lovely opium smoke, but now w/ hints of citrus. The dry-down: Not really a morpher, just that wonderful sweet and smokey opium. The citrus has backed off, and the anise hangs out deep in the mix, very deep. Seems to be a nice dream.

In the decant: Lavender tea with a hint of sweetness. Wet: It's more like a black tea with lavender. The dry-down: The lavender and the teas have combined to give a gentle and delicate scent that I would characterize as feminine. I'm not sure what pink flowering thorn smells like, but it may be what produces the sweetness, along with the orange blossom, and keeps the tea from being too medicinal. If the inky resins show up, I'll edit to add that later.

In the decant: There's a soft delicate powderiness from the carrot seed and orris. Wet: The elemi and eucalyptus are very dominate now, in a chilly fashion. The dry-down: Much the same as when wet. This is very much a skin scent. The orris did not turn on me, but the frank strangely never asserted itself at all. Perhaps this is indeed the scent of a ghostly breath?

In the decant: Ivy growing on oak trees in the autumn, which are dry and dusty. Wet: Suddenly it all seems more alive! This is the ivy in the height of summer. Also, there's a touch of poisonous sweetness from the baneberries. The dry-down: Now we have turned to winter, when even the ivy doesn't grown that well. The cypress hints at its presence, and the oak remains dry and dusty. The baneberries seem to have disappeared. All the other plants have combined to give this that sense of verdant decay. An interesting scent, but I think that I'm done with ivy blends, as there's too much ivy at the bf's house that needs to be trimmed back all the time, else it will take over house, yard, and the oak trees.

Just sniffing the top of the Post bottle makes me happy. Snow White was one of the first Yules that I ever ordered from the Lab; so when SW HG came along, I knew that I had to have it. It's lovely on my hair, w/ that cool, not bitterly cold, but yet crisp feeling. There's hints of gentle white flowers, coconut, the sweet snow note, a trace of sugar and vanilla. This is akin to what one's hair feels like after the first few snowflakes land in it in one of those gentle snowfalls, just before running back inside.

I really can't add much to the above reviews except to agree that this is indeed Sugar Plum Fairy w/ extra vanilla goodness, that it smells divine, that little girls of any age from four to eighty will adore this, and that it needs to return next Yule in all the things. Bottle-worthy!

Very much pine and spruce, with the ozone/ice version of the snow note. The juniper and cypress keep it from being too much of the spruce and pine. I rather like this decant and just need to debate on a bottle or not.

When first sprayed, there's a blast of mint, but that starts softening rather quickly. Then it's just a muddled sort of scent. I guess that there's some champagne here and some mint, but they just blur together and yet don't play well together. I'm not as annoyed w/ this as I was at WC, but I don't like it, either. Disappointing party. ETA: This a decant tester, btw.

Oh, that's gorgeous! I don't know if my description can do this scent justification, but I'll try. It's like being in the best kind of mixed pine and fir forest where the sap has run, yet has frozen. No snow on the ground, just lovely coolness. Somewhere, close by, there's a blackcurrant and vetiver candle that's been out for some time, yet it was burning long enough to spread its lovely sweet yet tart scent through this patch of evergreen woods. I feel like for a moment that I'm inside a fairy tale, and any moment something wonderous may happen, like Lucy finding a lamp post in the woods of Narnia.

Cade is prickly juniper. That being said, this is mostly a sweet fig and nutty chestnut scent, with the cedar, leaf, and juniper undercutting the two main notes and keeping them from being too sweet and nutty. As I associate figs w/ late summer, I'm saving this for late summer/early autumn, or anytime that I want to evoke that transitional season. Much love!

In the bottle: It's like all the notes are there, wondrously blending into one amazingly good, warm, spicy, and semi-sweet scent. Wet: Much as on cold sniff, although the patch may be coming a little forward. The dry-down: In the end, the honeyed oak seems to be the dominant note, but it is lovingly supported by all the other notes. I liked this so much at WC that I bought the tester (obviously many others like it as well). My skin chemistry isn't behaving as well as I would like, but the scent is still lovely. I might try the scent locket. It's a year-round scent, but might be best for late summer/early autumn; it has that glorious Indian summer feel about it. And, btw, I can detect no snow note of any sort. Unisex.

NOTE: Welsh cakes are made from flour, sultanas, raisins, and/or currants, and may also include such spices as cinnamon and nutmeg. (from the wiki) In the bottle: Welsh cakes and bright lavender. Wet: Welsh cakes w/ lavender buds. The dry-down: This really doesn't morph. There's also a touch of cinnamon. A little too much lavender for me at the moment, but hopefully aging will help w/ that. This wasn't on my radar, but testing at WC changed my mind. Could be a nice sleep scent. ETA There is a batch variation, as I bought a bottle at WC that is more sweet cake and less the heady lavender.

The scent of Ligeia reborn: black tea leaf fougere with black sandalwood, opalescent vanilla, osmanthus, 18-year aged Indonesian patchouli, and the suggestion of ancient incense smoke. In the bottle: there's the black tea leaf, the patch, a hint of sweetness from the vanilla, and something like ironwood, although that could be the sandalwood and incense smoke combining. Wet: Wow, that's some throw! The notes are starting to combine and yes, there's a hint of anise. The dry-down: This scent seems almost green than black, if one were to think of it in terms of colors. The patch appears green, round, and chewy, dominating the other notes, although faint whiffs come through from time to time. This is not the gritty patch of Occupy Wall Street. I'd like try this with some kind of a blackened vanilla note. It seems rather masculine, and will probably work better on the bf.

In the bottle: The notes are blending so beautifully together that I can hardly pick any individual note out; perhaps a coconut juice w/ many flavours to it. Wet: Coconut juice and flesh drenched in all the notes. The dry-down: The benzoin and frank appear, quietly wafting through the coconut, with gentle hits of the osmathus blossom, that peachy/apricot scent so lovely to behold. 'Tis a beautiful scent whose only fault is that it is a skin scent. I'm glad that I have a half-bottle from my decanter.

In the bottle: Pomegranate and poppy. Wet: It's as though poppy flowers, freshly-cut and washed in cold water, were floated in a deep bowl of pomegranate juice. The dry-down: As this dries, it loses its freshness, but is still a heady scent that lives close to the skin. This could be a lovely date night scent. I have no LBD, but I have a lacy dress in navy and a nice blazer that would be lovely to wear this with. This was my major choice for a blind bottle from the Anniversaries, as I love both notes, and the simplicity of the scent appealed to me.

In the bottle: Lemony and powdery. Wet: Now the sweetness and some plants/flowers appear. The dry-down: Not much different in the dry-down than from the wet phase. Not as icy as expected. I would have thought that this would have had the ozone snow note, but it seems to be more akin to the sweet snow note that I can detect im Snow White most years. I expected frozen white flowers, and instead got the same florals, dusted w/ a mix of vanilla sugar and lemon sugar in their powder forms. I kind of like it.

In the decant: Sweet custard w/ hints of the suet accord. Wet: Much as in the cold sniff. The dry-down: Not a morpher. It's kind of pleasantly bland, like an egg custard. Not meant to be unkind, but the suet note in the bottle at WC was so overwhelming that I won't take a chance on a bottle.

Terebinth pine, pitch, and clove. This is for the 2014 version. In the decant: All 3 notes in equal measure. Wet: Each sniff brings a different note to the foreground. The dry-down: Not sure, but I think that it's the clove that's turning a bit musky and powdery. The pine has retreated and the pitch has dried out. I don't remember the '09 version doing that; it was more like clove-scented woods, but not in a craft store way. Unisex but a tad disappointing.

In the decant: All the notes, almost one at a time! Wet: Starts out a bit like camphor but quickly settles to an ashy incense note. The dry-down: The sweetness of the balsam returns, bringing the scent back to life, as it were. The myrrh and frank are just present enough so that, in the end, this is a spicy sweetness. But all the notes are faint; very much a skin scent where one huffs their wrist every so often.

In the decant: Spicy cinnamon blend, kind of wettish and fresh. Wet: Now smells as though it's a drier scent, as though the spices were fresh and now they have dried out. The dry-down: Amomum is cardamon. Not sure what acanthus should smell like. Spikenard could be one of several scents, according to the wiki. Except for the freshness aspect, this is not a morpher, and seems to be cinnamon mixed with the other spices. The balsams give it a touch of sweetness. Nice, but a bottle is not needed. I do see this as a good perfume for autumn and winter and is also unisex.

In the decant: I get the myrtle lrsf, frank, myrrh, and the bay Wet: The bay really comes forward. The dry-down: The myrrh and frank swoop back in, but the bay continues its domination. I suspect that the myrtle leaf is making the scent somewhat powdery.