zankoku_zen

2015 version I get more almond milk and sarsparilla on wet, and it dries to a slightly powdery, coconut husk and herbs with a whiff of patchouli. Not foodie or soapy. Slightly masculine to me. Something tells me that the Organ Grinder will be very skin-chemistry dependent. Meaning, you can't just use reviews. You actually have to skin test this. Odd, slightly foodie, herby.

2015 version. Doc Constantine smells very differently from its previous incarnation. On wet, I got more fir. But it dries to a smoky, cedar, musk and chaparral blend. It's a dry masculine blend. Kinda gritty. Think, Burning Man. So yeah, Doc Constantine smells like the doctor you'd fine in a Burning Man festival - steampunky, smoky, sexy.

Incense and dirt, with touches of cypress and blood musk. Somewhat masculine. There's something oddly wearable about this. I think in some ways it makes me think that Midnight Mass and Graveyard Dirt had a midnight rendezvous in a cemetery and things went horribly, horribly awry and then their bastard hellspawn just sort of crawled out of the earth. So yes, oddly wearable and yet sort of profoundly disturbing. I'm probably exaggerating about the bastard hellspawn. It's probably just the advent of Halloween, having watched Crimson Peak (of which this would probably fit really well in), and an overactive imagination. Incense, blood, darkness.

2015 version. Cedar, teak and red rose. This is a woody, red rose blend. Very full bloom, loads of teak and cedar. Powerful. It smells like wooden toys that have been freshly sanded, but instead of sand you get occasional blood drops. Because you know, haunted wooden toys. Woody, roses, dark.

Sweet, somewhat spicy. Resinous base. I do think this has frankincense. This is such a mind-clearer. This blend allows you to focus. I dabbed some on before a 2.5 hour meeting where we were talking about clarity around some organizational initiatives. It definitely allowed me to concentrate and think about what was getting done more clearly. I'm going to bust it out again tomorrow when I am putting together timelines and see where it leaves me off at.

This is a creativity blend geared specifically towards musicians. It is more than an inspiration blend: it is an oil designed to help you tap into the harmony of the universe -- the music that propels, sustains, and expands all life as a direct source of inspiration. Twilight Alchemy Labs Harmonices Mundi Oil contains essential oils, absolutes, and CO2 extracts that are organically-grown and pesticide-free, and many of the oils components are first distillations from small farms. This oil includes wild-crafted steam-distilled frankincense, organic rosemary verbenone from flowering tops, sweet orange essential oil, organic lavender essential oil, Somalian patchouli, organic star ruby grapefruit essential oil, Himalayan cedar, and mugwort distilled from the TAL gardens 2010 harvest. Okay, so not a musician but I picked this up via evilbay and I have a weakness for all small batch TAL items. I dabbed this on not for inspiration but rather to tap into the harmony of the universe, specifically for that sustains as sort of an inspiration for the day. From a scent perspective, this smells like rosemary, citrus, patchouli and cedar. It's a pleasant citrusy herbally smell, with what you know is a very TAL heavy resinous base. Oddly enough, I felt "in tune" with the world and just felt like I was dancing through today. There was even baking involved and everything turned out fantastic. So while not necessarily musically inclined, I have to say that in some ways, it's about tapping into a different sort of rhythm. For those that are creatively musically, I'd say that it probably leads to songwriting and/or creation. For general creative types, I can see this being a very lyrical sort of blend. But outside this scope, its also an oil that helps put you into a different groove. Or rather perahps, hear the groove around you.

Sugary, musky carnation, honey, and a touch of Dorian. This is a sweet, musky blend. There's something here that I don't entirely like, which may in fact be the Snake Oil (which I can't wear without horrific results). Sugar, musk, carnation.

Sweet greenery and pink sugar candy. The greenery becomes a mere wisp, and the pink sugary cany and I get more of a rosy floral to it. In some ways, it makes me think of sugary incensed flowers. Sweet, sugary, flowers.

WAIT WHAT? This one actually smells like a fruity masculine fougere (slightly toward the gender neutral side). Lemme break it down. I get rosemary, black berry, bergamot and watery musk. The blackberry adds some fruity sweetness, the rosemary adds this herbal dimension, the bergamot makes it smell clean. And honestly, this smells like a pretty straight up fougere-like blend. On the right guy, this would be absolutely stunning. I think I really love this. I'm off to try this on mr. zee_zee.

Almond cookies and incense. It's like a very gourmand blend with incense so that it's not just a straight up foodie. I find this to be a very wearable almond-incense blend. Good throw, good wear length. Very office appropriate. Almond, incense, baked goods.

2015 version. Theodosius, you've gotten sexier. Hello, vanilla. So I get early grey tea, a massive amount of vanilla, and a hint of musk. So earl grey tinged vanilla? Who isn't a fan? Jasmine is blessedly MIA. This is just a slightly masculine vanilla musk. And you know, it may be a little "basic bitch" (whatever the fuck that term means), but its super fantastic. Just say YES. Theodosius isn't going to disappoint you. Sexy, vanilla, musk.

2015 version. HOLY CRAP. I can wear Mme. Moriarty. The original Mme. Moriarty did not play well with my skin. In fact, that may have been a massive understatement. Given that I smelled like unwashed BO when I tried out the original Mme, this is a revelation. This time it's straight up red musk, strawberry leaf, vanilla and a touch of black currant. On me its a fruity sugary red musk. Light, flirty, sexy. UGH. Part of me wants to buy a bottle because, hello! I can finally wear Mme. Moriarty. The other one is trying to figure out if I would actually wear it. Just because something is now wearable doesn't mean you'll actually wear it.

2015 version Super guava, spun sugar and apple blossom. The guava is pretty much the biggest dominant note in this. Huge throw. Huge wear length. It's very sweet, fruity blend. Slightly tropical. Definitely more of a candy-like sugary blend that I expected. This is like getting guava smeared all over your face. All over. Tropical, sweet, guava.

Ooooh. This one is really interesting. It smells like sun-warmed greenery, with just a bit of coolness. Like when summer turns into autumn. I get some bergamot, rosemary, other green stuff that my nose can't recognize bolstered by a warm base of frankincense. As opposed to the Grove Street Cemetery, this one feels like more of a wearable perfume. I would place this in the strictly gender-neutral category. I can see this dipping into the breezy/dryer sheet line, but it doesn't quite go there. On a different skin chemistry, this may be a concern. But you know BPAL, just live dangerously. Green, fresh, wispy.

2015 version. I don't think the previous release was this cassis dominant. I got a whiff of verbena on wet, but its been a pretty straightforward cassis/patchouli dark velvety scent. Think like dark violet purple in color. Maybe a touch of black cherry for sweetness. I can see how it would seem like cinnamon candy hearts. It's got a rich, heated spiciness to it. Cassis, patchouli, dark violet.

OMG WEED. Seriously. This smells like fresh cannabis. Like the plant. Just green. (No, don't ask me how I know this). It's a fresh, botanical green, scent that is very distinctively cannabis. With maybe a touch of vanilla to sweeten this up. Fresh, green, weed.

Oh god, who knew that looming spectres were sexy mofos? This is a masculine leather, with frankincense, tobacco, clove and patchouli. This is dark, mad, and brooding. As it dries down, this is more of a leather + patchouli blend with all of the other notes sort of wafting in and out. Dark, spicy, leather.

2015 version Melisande 2015 is almost entirely a jasmine SN. Except for that violet intrusion every so often. But yes, floral jasmine and a touch of violets. I can't do jasmine but that's just me. There's something darkly musky in the back, that smells almost leathery. I have no idea what it is. But it adds a dark cast over the jasmine SN. Sultry, ominous, jasmine.

Peachy red musk with touches of myrrh and patchouli. So this is like a slutty, musky peach. And by that, it's only pretending to be a peach. This is really just a fruity version of red musk SN. So a super vampy peach. Yes, that's a pun. Musky, sultry, peach.

Ermaghed. This is slightly peachy leather, oudh and amber. So, a masculine Peach blend. It's pretty much a very sophisticated, slightly fruity leather blend on me. So yeah, peach leather. Manly peach leather. And no, that's not a code for anything.

Sugared incense and starry blue musk. This smells like incensey dryer sheets. I am totally amping up whatever ozone note this is. I feel like there's either lilies or orchids in this blend. It does give you the notion of "twilight", and the sugared incense is an amazing component. Sadly, the ozoney blue musk just throws everything for a loop. Sugary, ozoney, musk.

2015 version. CD 2015 starts out as very lemon dominant. I get lemon curd, coconut, tuberose, and something that smells like salty popcorn and smoke. So yeah, this smells like a state fair. Which is apropos since we're talking about a carnival. I don't remember what the original Carnival Diabolique smelled like but I don't think it was lemon curd and salty popcorn. It's fun, but not my style. Salty, lemony, state fair.

Slightly smoky sweet incense. It's a rich, sweet incense. Not alot of vetiver, just enough to make it smoky. I find this to be a bit masculine and I'd recommend it for any dapper fellow's bedroom or library. Or house. Or car. You know, just to keep things... debonair.

Granny Smith apple blossoms! This is a fresh, intensely apple blend. To me, it smells more like apple blossoms on the drydown. I get a touch of honey as well. This is fruity, fresh, and well, if you ever wanted to smell like green apples, give this a whirl. It's alot more wearable than the Annurca Apple Blossom SN that the Lab released a few years ago - more of a perfume. Simple, pure, apples.

Straight up orange creamsicle. I get candy-like sweet orange and vanilla cream. If there is pink pepper in this, it's purely there for window dressing. This is an sweet orange and vanilla cream love fest. If you ever wanted an orange creamsicle blend, you must have this. It's almost too sugary sweet for me. It lacks something to ground this blend. And now I'm gonna hit this with a spoiler. Because I had an idea/epiphany but it requires some BPAL privilege, which may not be without controversy. Read at your own discretion. I experimented in the name of SCIENCE!