Xanon

This is SO beautiful! This literally just came in from the mail box so it may change once it has settled. In the bottle: Peach blossom is there mingling with the Ho wood (or I can only assume since I am not sure how that smells on it's own) making this really pretty balance to the white tea. Gah, it's light and floral but not in the normal "floral death" way. Lovely! Wet: Stays similar to the bottle. Yum, the white tea is lending so much beauty to this. Dry: Morph!!! Jasmine got eaten by my skin. The tea took a back seat to the peach blossom, but more prominent is the moonlit musk, and ho wood. It is more golden and peachy then the light scent that I was getting at first. Yum! Overall this is great. I love both phases of this blend. Can't attest to the lasting power of this one yet, nor the throw as I am just skin testing. I'll update after this rests a bit and I can do a full wear.

I got to skin test this yesterday at the Bay Area MnS. In the bottle this was fresh peach yumm and honey! But tasty honey, not weird funky honey. Wet this stays cool and peachy, I think that the magnolia is keeping it from getting soft and golden. Dry its all cool peachy goodness and honey. Delicious! Overall: I was worried that this would go squiffy, honey typically does, but it was a huge surprise! I also had reservations about magnolia. Magnolia makes me break out in hives when I touch the actual flowers. On me it stayed cool and juicy but on Ralenth it got all warm and golden and delicious. This was the first time that I noticed how drastically skin chemistry can alter a scent. (We then found that there were a ton of scents that are polar opposites with... )

So in honor of yesterday's 13 I wore this bland. I then remembered that I have yet to review this... at one point it was on my sales page, but now I am glad that I still have it. In the Bottle: I can smell the cocoa, a hint of vanilla bean and lots of golden peach. The spices are there, but nothing really distinct. Wet: Oh hello Starfruit, ever so nice of you to push all those other notes out of the way. Ginger is there, peach is still holding its ground in the back. Drying: Much more calm. Fruit and floral are sitting peacefully together and letting cocoa and vanilla bean hang out. Dry: This is really interesting, I get the cocoa, which has taken on more of a white chocolate aspect, and peach. Ginger is gone, but fruit is starfruit is still present... but much more quiet. Overall: Medium throw, AWESOME lasting power (put it on at 9:30 am and could still catch hints of it at 10pm). Not something that I can wear all the time, but really a fun scent.

For me Whip is my weapon of choice when going into unknown male situations (i.e. parties where I know only one or two people). It's sexy, but not smutty. Something about my skin chemistry loves leather and roses. I'll admit that until I got my hands on whip, I was not really into the Lab's roses. They all seemed too pretty and girly to me. Whip is the one scent that I consistently get the males complimenting me for, and slight glazed over looks at they day dream for a second.

In the Imp: Rose. Nice, like it was a deep red rose. Wet: Still getting mostly rose, but with something musky- not quite skin musk, but not much more intense either. Pretty Dry: It's kind of like I layered Ophelia and Whip but minus the leather, and instead we have a musk. Pretty and warm, but I think I'll stick with Whip for my rose needs.

In the Imp: I get watermelon bubblicious gum and wood. Interesting Wet: Melon, but maybe Honeydew, with light floral notes and wood. But now the wood is smelling like wood chips that you have in the garden - a little damp and dirty. I'm liking this. Dry: Spicy fruits with a backdrop of floral. Awesome. I was totally dreading death by flowers... it happens sometimes. Overall I like this one a lot. Only wish that it hung around a bit longer. I think I got about 3 hours out of this one. 7.5 out of 10

I was one of the people who had really hoped that Shub would work for me, and then was promptly scared upon first trial. But, like The Girl for me, this got better on the second run. IN the Imp: Ginger, incense and something clean Wet: More clean and ginger, with some smoke in the background. 10-15 minutes in: Ginger smokey cookie. 1 Hour: starting to fade. I'm glad to have tried this, but I think that I'll stick with my bottle of Gingerbread Poppet for my foodie ginger fix. Would love it more if it had some staying power on my skin.

My first Atmosphere spray! And I'm actually rather fond of it. I get something the resembles leaves and pine when I sniff at the bottle. It is that same scent that I get for the first 5-10 minutes after spraying it, but then the cinnamon sugar SLOWLY takes over. It's almost like the cinnamon and sugar bloom out of this. After about an hour I am left with this lovely earthy, sugary, cookie scent. Not like baking cookies... but like you sniff at a cinnamon sugar cookie that was baked the night before - except that you are in the damp forest while you are sniffing. I'm in love. Probably pick up a back up when the Inquisition goes up, if it's still available.

Overall when this dries down I get juice. Pom-blackberry juice. No apple, not nuts. Maybe there is some of the other berries present, but they are dominated by the first two. This is not bad, but not really my thing either. Happy with my imp.

In the Imp: Total pumpkin and tea rose and rosewood. Not really picking up the sandalwood. Wet: That's interesting. The tea rose went away. But it's a good thing, it was a little too much. Dry: Pumpkin, rosewood and honey. But not the squiffy Lab note honey, that gets all powdery on my skin. This is just the suggestion of honey without it actually being present. I think that I am liking this better than I had imagined I would. Overall: Not really my thing. Much more pleasant than expected, so I think I will keep the imp and call it good.

Yep I got the cough syrup out of this one too. I was sad. I like cherry scents. Hideous Heart and I are in love, and The Red Queen is amazing! But this was just too boozy for me I think. I did layer this with Bite Me and it was great. Almond seems to have sucked up some of the booze and they are working in harmony. Haha, a true Vampire does not just bite, nor do they only suck. It's the combination that has you all in a haze. Halloween FTW!

I love almond! Eclipse and I are great friends. This was a blast of almond and sweet rich caramel. It did get a little powdery after an hour or two. But it smells wonderful! I am trying to talk myself out of a bottle... but I will look for a partial for sure!!

In the Imp: Those caramel apple lollipops. But liquid. Wet: The caramel has some depth from the coconut rum, which makes this oh so yummy. Apples are present and not mushy smelling. Like they used granny smith apples in this one. Dry: The apples are softer and the caramel and, what I can assume to be, butterscotch are keeping this more candy than foody. Its nice. Hangs out closer to my skin, but that's fine with me in this case. Overall I was really happy that at least one of the Halloween apple scents worked out for me. I was so disappointed by Lambs-wool that I had thought that the lab's apple scents were not meant for me. Happy with my imp, may pick up a partial bottle along the way, but that'll be fine for me.

I was scarred of this one when I read the notes list. I kept wondering wtf copper colored feathers smell like. In the Imp: Intense spice biting my nose. But interesting - it made me want to put it on. Wet: Yum! clove and smoke and something else, something cologne-ish. Drying: Not really overly masculine. It has something that is slightly feminine. Maybe it is that my skin loves clove. Overall I really was surprised by this one. I had no hopes at all and so it was all the sweeter when it worked out. Keeping my Imp and probably stealing my mom's bottle at some point.

Oh gods, I love this! In the Imp: Thick cherry sweetness. Uh oh.. I am not sure about this, I hope it doesn't turn boozy like cough syrup. Wet: Oh, hello cinnamon. Cinnamon is mingling with the licorice root creating a spicy woody yumm. Cherry is getting more calm, like the cinnamon and the licorice wrapped the cherry in a cozy blanket and sat down together for a hug fest. Dry: Sweet and spicy, no booze (thank gods!), just pure love. Overall I am so happy that I have 2 decants of this, for I will probably need more very soon.

I had a candle that was scented just like this when I was 12. In the imp: french vanilla candle. Now let me note that I LOVED that candle. Wet: Kind of losing the waxy note that I was getting before, but maintaining that atmospheric vanilla... like vanilla poutporie (sorry I can't spell that one). Dry: Fades to a less intense pleasant vanilla. Not really my thing. Overall I will probably keep the imp and see how it layers with other things, but I am not going to be wearing this all by its lonesome.

In the Imp: Gah! Grape chewable tylonol. Wet: Still get the tylonol but its getting a little spicier. Dry: Sweet spicy wine. Not so bad not. Overall its not so bad, but I can't get over the sickening sweet grape. Oh well, I am not a big wine note person, so I am not sad. May keep the imp, but I may swap. Glad I got the chance to smell though.

I have a very specific image in my mind as I sniff this one: a coffin drifting at sea with the funeral flowers still resting atop the lid. It's freshly set to sea and you can still smell the cologne of the men who bore the coffin lingering on the wood. In the Imp: Oh man! This is seriously aquatic! Almost citrus... that is a little odd. Wet: This is really smelling like deodorant to me. Crap. Dry: Wow! giving this some air and it gets the chance needed to smell divine! Now I am getting the wood and the floral notes as well as the aquatics. I am pleasantly surprised by this one.

In the imp: clear and fresh with a touch of floral and mintyness. Weird, but pretty. Wet: I get the jasmine and ylang ylang and birch. It's nice. Not too floral, and the mint went away. After about 3 minutes: WHERE DID THE GIRL GO!?! Nothing. 15 Minutes: I guess she doesn't like me that much seeing as she has not returned. Lame, I thought that we were going to get along really well. Swap pile. 10/8 - I tried her again this morning and she LIKES ME! She is pretty, but not gross girlie. OH! I knew that we were meant to be friends!

I had hopped that the peat and sphagnum moss would keep this a little greener. But I too fell to the Death by Gardenia. Perhaps it was the sweet of the water lily and the gardenia in combination that did me in. It started with hopeful moments where the poppy and moss were showing their heads, and then they got a slap upside the head and forced to submit to the overly flowery gardenia and lily. So sad. Imp to the swap pile.

I had high hopes for this one, but the minute i put it on my hand started to sting. :( I think it's the helitrope being so much a part of this blend... though I have other blends with it in there and have not had this problem... Oh man, I really wanted to love this one.

Oh man, this pumpkin does all the wonderful things that I hoped it would! Seriously in love here people. In the Imp: I get the buttery pumpkin and a whole lot of pitch and tomato. I was a little scared that this would go all weird, but the tomato was giving me hope. Let me clarify that I get the greenery of the tomato, not the red fleshy bits. Wet: Pumpkin and pitch, but now the rosemary is starting to mix in a bit and sweeten up the pitch. The fir needles and the tomato are mixing well creating a great crisp fall feeling that people have mentioned. Dry: The pumpkin took a back seat in this one for me, hanging close to my skin, while the herb-ie rosemary and green tomato leaf and fir went to the front and amped themselves a bit. The pitch keeps everything bound together and not too sweet or too herbal. This has moderate throw and I am not sure on the lasting power as I just put it on this morning for the first time. I'll update that part later. But I am very happy with this blend. A bottle or two is surely called for! 8.9 out of 10 ETA: I had this on the other night at a friend's and all the guys said that I smelled like maple syrup.

In the bottle I smell the red velvet cake and frosting and a little snake oil. Wet I get the spice from snake oil, a bit of lemony tea from Dorian and some of the sweet from the cake. I have no idea what Doc smells like, so sorry to anyone who is interested in that particularly. At this point when I put it on DH said that he smelled peanut butter, but up close (literal wrist to nose) he got the spicy cake that I smell. I found that interesting. Dry this smells like the Chaos Theory V: O series... but with out the honey! (which for me is SQUEE worthy! If you have read some of my other reviews, you know honey goes squiffy on me.) Its foodie and spicy and I really like it. 7.5 out of 10

Just got my bottle yesterday and wore it out to a party last night. So this may shift a little once the bottle settles down from its journey from the lab. I just was too excited to wait. In the bottle all I could smell was an interesting vanilla with a smoke back drop. I had the urge to call it vanilla bourbon, but I think it was just a slightly different vanilla note then in other BPAL's mixed with leather. Wet: for the first 10 minutes all I could smell was smoke. It was pleasant smoke though, not too intense. But as others have said - it was pretty dry. Had DH take a sniff and he thought it smelled like smoke and honeysuckle. Dry: The Vanilla decided to make an appearance as I walked into the party (so about 15 minutes after initial application), accompanied by leather of course. It was love! Let me say, I am a big leather fan. I too had some morphing back and forth for which note wanted to be front and center of this overall blend. I think that it had to do with the leather. When my body heat changes the strength of the leather is directly effected. Hot = more leather and vanilla, cooler = more smoke. It was interesting. Overall I really like this scent. I think I am going to have to let it sit for a week before I really make up my mind on getting a second bottle, but I am VERY happy that I got a bottle and not a decant of this. I have high hopes for this one when it ages as well. And besides, DH says that he likes it. An opinion from him at all is amazing. 8 Out of 10

This scent did weird things on me. Wet was all patchouli and grapes. Sweet grapes. Dry down started to amp the nag champa above all the other notes. A little upsetting as I think that nag champa smells like hippies. After an hour I was still amping the nag champa, but close to my skin it was all fruity grapes and patchouli. It was interesting to have a near dual scent on my skin, but not something I would want all the time. Overall it's not a favorite. The throw was good. Had it actually thrown the whole scent this would probably be rated higher from me. Had some serious lasting power, about 5 hours.