devilot

I wrote to the Lab, but never received an email reply regarding the California sales tax being charged through CCNow. However, I was able to ask at the last will call I attended, and YES, CA is now being charged sales tax through CCNow! I'm really bummed we weren't told this, as I would've placed the order through PP had I known in advance. 9%. Ouch. Also, I seem to recall Puddin' saying a couple other states now get charged sales tax through CCNow: wanna say he said, Texas and Minnesota? Not too sure. Mebbe someone will pipe up and say otherwise.

Argh! Seeing this made me search for all my previous CCNow emails and lo and behold, they had been charging me CA sales tax since Feb ! So I have emailed the goblins at the lab so they can give CCNow a spanking. ..... what? I just made an order for the lunacy and I too was charged CA sales tax. Has anyone heard from the lab yet? I know this is from quite a few months back.... but I haven't been as active on the forum nor have I placed a CCNow order until tonight. And yes, I was definitely surprised by the CA sales tax. Has there been any further word? I wish I would have known beforehand, though. Tax is ouchie.

Okay, I'll do my v best, but this is just based on two quick Will Call tests of Pumpkin Latte 2010. I tried Pinched months and months ago but I got almost no coffee (and it was a creamier, sweeter "latte" at that) and it was also slightly woody on my skin. Misk U was gorgeous hazelnut coffee in the imp and for the nanosecond it hit my skin, then the coffee was obliterated by the dust note (but my skin chemistry amps the lab's dust notes). El Dia de Reyes starts off wonderfully coffee, but I guess something about the coffee note inevitably dries a bit dusty on me, though I seem to recall this blend having a slight warmth to it, probably the cinnamon. I think the '09 version was slightly more coffee like on my skin than the '07. Pumpkin V or whatnot from 2009 smelled great in the bottle, but I amped the crap outta the spices of the pumpkin part and got almost no coffee. Plus, the beginning coffee stages were heavy on the hazelnut, which is a bit sweet for my taste. Bah smells TO DIE FOR in the bottle, starts great wet on my skin, then goes dusty + plastic. Ick. So from my brief tests of Pumpkin Latte 2010, I'm feeling like this is the closest to perfect coffee on my skin. I don't recall it going too dusty, but it did still do that a bit. And I agree w/ a few of the reviews in the thread that it's more coffee than pumpkin, which I personally prefer. Though, I prefer the prototype IXHV or whatever, that seemed like pure coffee. 'Course, it'd be nice to have a pumpkinny latte, too.

See, I actually adore blends with leather at the forefront (er, poor discon'd De Sade, single note leather, anyone? ). That said, Red Rider was still too strong for my taste. I love being able to have sniffed it and tried it, and wouldn't mind keeping an imp of it purely for random sniffs, but definitely not a blend I'd personally wear (or have an SO wear either). I agree w/ Little Bird, please give Bow & Crown of Conquest a try. I think it's a gorgeous blend that hints at leather. Slightly more difficult to find would be Clockwork Couture Female, which I feel is a "pretty" leather blend and might smell amazing on your husband. There's also Crowley-- but I'd suggest that one if it's aged. I don't mind it fresh, but aged? Crowley is so smooth and warm and well-blended.

Hurricane In the vial: Vetiver. Wet: Still predominantly vetiver, but a hint of something almost sweet and clean. How bizarre. Who knew you could make dirty, stinky, earthy vetiver also smell aquatically clean?! Drydown: Mainly vetiver. Verdict: I'm always glad to try any BPAL blend, but this one, unsurprisingly, doesn't do much for me. My nose doesn't like vetiver much, and my skin chemistry doesn't make magic with the note, either.

A feisty bouquet of golden, warm, gently honeyed lilies. Tiger Lily In the vial: A sweet floral. I don't know anything about tiger lilies, the flowers themselves, but this is definitely a sweet floral. Wet: Same as in the vial, sweetly floral. Drydown: Less sweet than before, and now the florals are amping up. Also a powdery edge creeping in. Verdict: This is a nice perfume if you like more traditional and/ or floral perfumes. I can see why folks were dismayed when this was discontinued, but this isn't a "me" kind of scent. I hope this finds a better home!

Dragon's Heart In the vial: Unmistakable dragon's blood. Mebbe a hint of the musks. Wet: Definitely musk meets dragon's blood, but distinctly different from Dragon's Musk (the blend). An extra bit of sweetness, guessing from the "purpleness" of fig and black currant. Drydown: That inevitable floral sweetness of dragon's blood. It's overtaken all the other notes. Verdict: I think I'm just not that into dragon's blood as a note, I feel like on my skin (and to my nose) it overwhelms the other notes in most blends (except for my precious Boadicea).

Romanti.Goth In the bottle: ACK! I don't know which note I'm smelling, but it's really really really pungent. Methinks it's the opium. Sharp. Powdery. "Cologney." So I really think it's the opium I'm being slammed with, and I don't like it one bit. Wet: Smoky opium. Incense coming forth. Really dark. Sorry, I know that "dark" isn't particularly helpful, but that's what I get. Drydown: Starts to sweeten a bit (yay plum and resins), but really, this is just so damned smoky, dark, and heavy on the opium. A lot of the incense, too. Verdict: I'm sure plenty of folks would love this, but for me? Nuh-uh.

In the bottle: Chocolate, plummy, MUSKY. Wet: Amaretto coming forth, still musky, but the chocolate's mellowed and is almost dusty now. Drydown: The plum sort of disappeared for awhile and is reappearing (or maybe it's the "candied fruits"). The slight kick of the ginger. And now almost earthy. Verdict: I see why people love this blend, but it doesn't do a whole lot for me. Luckily, I've found a new home for this bottle.

There are two types of vampires that humans, and often other vampires, need to be wary of: the Interfectors and the Tombeur. The Interfectors are ruthless killers, ultimate hunters who view humans as livestock. They are brutal, but not necessarily cruel, and rarely toy with their prey. Universally, Interfectors perceive their transition into the vampiric state to be an initiation into a higher state of being, not transcendent or spiritual in nature, but rather a promotion to the top of the food chain. Ruthless, unfeeling, and inhumanly violent: tobacco, sharp woods, frankincense, and bunn. In the Bottle: Somehow, it managed to be both sweet and sharp at the same time! Woody tobacco. Like inhaling the inside of a gorgeous, high-end cigar box. *huffs* Ahhhh. Wet: Instantly hit with the woods and the frankincense. Like I said earlier, it's both sharply woody, yet very sweet and resinous. Slight hint of tobacco (but I'm a huge lover of tobacco notes so I wouldn't have been upset w/ more tobacco ). Drydown: Still a dry and sweet woody resinous blend. I have no clue what "bunn" is, but it wouldn't surprise me if it added more sweetness. Verdict: This is a lovely blend, but ultimately one I wouldn't wear as a perfume. If some strange thing happened and wooden cigar boxes all vanished from the Earth, I would love to have this blend to huff.

Yup! Schrodinger's Cat is one of 'em. IIRC, the whole "Dragon's __________" line has unique labels. Bow & Crown C, Great Sword, have unique ones. Aaaaand, of course, the collaborative scent lines, do too (Neil Gaimans, Witchblade, Hellboy, Gris Grimly, etc.). Those are just the ones I happen to know off the top of my head. I'm sure I'm missing some, though.

P013 In the Vial: Actually, smells a lot like PX117 to my nose, but it's way too hot for me to bother pulling out my bottle to compare, sorry! Wet: Still a lot like the foodie, orangey cakey PX117. Drydown: Ah hah! This is what the reviews are pointing to. I definitely smell a soft, buttery lemony yellow cake. A little buttercream frosting, too. Verdict: I love this! But like Little Bird said upthread, it's so faint and lasts for such a short time, that I can't really justify hunting more of it down. If I could get a gallon of it for cheap? Sure! But since that's not happening any time soon, I'll just be glad I got to try this blend and wish for a similar blend in the future, but one w/ more throw and lasting power. *drools*

Trick #1: In the Vial: Warm, sweet, heaaavy! Wet: Hint of leather, very musky, patchouli adding depth and earthiness. Warm and sweet. Drydown: The leather's long gone and the patch' is nearly non-existent. Still very warm, musky, and sweet. Verdict: I love this. If I had a bottle? I'd keep it. But I'm trying really hard to decrease the number of decants and imps floating around. Might see if someone else might offer a better home to this gorgeous blend.

If a blend (esp. a popular and LE one) is on backorder, it really can take a while. I placed an order on 5/31. It wasn't shipped until 6/26, nearly 4 weeks later (due to Gypsy moth being on backorder). Still, the labbies are awesome about getting back to you so feel free to throw 'em a quick email asking about your order. Hope you get your smellies soon! ETA: to add which blend effected my order

Spanked: In the Vial: Wet: Strong, in-your-face leather. But being the leather whore that I am, I don't mind it a bit. Drydown: Soft, warm leather. The barest hint of spice. Verdict: I see the fuss, I do. This is easily one of my favorite leather blends I have ever tried and if I magically found a cheap bottle? I'd buy it up in an instant! But my heart is so keenly set on some other blends, that this gorgeous decant has found a new home so that I could get me more of my most loved.