puck_nc

Origin: Straight from the Post Initial Thoughts: As I was going through the Crimson Peak selection, I tried almost all the variations of blue offered. I hoped one of these might be close enough to UNC Carolina Blue for game day wear. In the bottle: A rich cerulean blue, tilting toward violet just a bit. One coat: This one definitely needs two coats. The first round is a very opaque and pale purple. Two coats: The color is firmed up, nicely and smoothly. Verdict: It's a bit too purple for what I was hoping for, but is an interesting light purple-blue. I may hang onto it.

Origin: Straight from the Post Initial Thoughts: I usually do silver shimmer, but thought I'd try the gold as well. In the bottle: Liquid gold dust. One coat: One coat gives plenty of coverage, adding a golden sparkle to your fingertips. Two coats: A second coat makes the shimmer a little thicker, maybe. Verdict: Keeper, but I'm more likely to get a backup bottle of the silver.

Origin: Straight from the Post Initial Thoughts: Red and bronze sounded like a cool combo. In the bottle: Rich, deep and velvety red. One coat: As ShowOrchid said, one coat might be enough if you've a practiced hand. It's as advertised - brick red with a golden metallic shine. Two coats: More of the same. Verdict: This one is startlingly lovely. It's not a shade of red I normally wear, but I can see adding it to the rotation.

Origin: Straight from the Post Initial Thoughts: It sounded promising as a layering polish or a very subtle, understated one. In the bottle: White and faintly shimmering. If anyone remembers the shade of Hell's Belle, imagine it without the pink. One coat: Definitely all you need to get the shimmery nude impression. I was clumsy and had a streak of white in my one-coat photo in the Claw Polish thread. Two coats: Shimmery cream-white and still rather opaque: Verdict: I don't think my idea of layering will work with this one. if I could do as good of a job as PrinceofcatS in applying, I might wear it on occasion. Not sure that I can - it streaked very easily. I might get a manicurist to try.

Origin: Straight from the Post Initial Thoughts: Sparkly blues are a favorite of mine. In the bottle: A shimmery royal/sapphire blue One coat: Almost enough. A deep blue, but less gun-metal than Temple of Dreams, shot through with silver glitter. Two coats: Firms up the coating nicely. Verdict: I think I will wind up using this one a lot. A lovely shade of blue.

A pumpkin orange crème! Origin: Straight from the Post Initial Thoughts: If one asks for a pumpkin orange, one tries the pumpkin orange when it appears. In the Bottle: A subtle orange, more toward the brown side than the red. Looks very pumpkin-y. One coat: Like the other creme polish, Devil's Night, this one seemed watery on application. This one I would definitely recommend two coats. Two coats: Super-easy to apply. It pops a bit more on the nail than it did in the bottle. Verdict: Between the two orange shades, I like this one better. I'm not quite sure if I'll wear it enough to justify keeping it, though.

Origin: Straight from the Post Initial Thoughts: When Puddin' asked us what we wanted in a Weenie nail polish, one of my suggestions was something like Fires of Love or Unseelie but in Halloween pumpkin orange. I don't remember offhand if I suggested calling it PSE, but this absolutely works in the picture on the website. In the Bottle: An orange glitterbomb shot with reds and greens and golds and silvers. Fireworks in a bottle! One coat: Someone more expert that I could probably make this more even, but it's a nice almost nude layer with glitter in it. Looks like it would layer well. Two coats: Almost exactly like in the bottle, except you can now see the bits of blue or black glitter as well as the shinier ones. It is a rough surface, though, so a top coat is warranted. Verdict: If I can't land another bottle this year, I will plead and beg Puddin' to bring it back next year. Because I will wear this a lot.

An unearthly oil-slick holographic polish with dark and spectral multichrome elements. Origin: Straight from the Post Initial Thoughts: In the photo it looked like it might be the closest to another indie nail polish that I found on Etsy: black with rainbow glitter. In the Bottle: A gorgeous prism of colors shimmering in black. One coat: A very pale opaque black with neat pastel glitter. I'm digging the pinks and pale blues and pale greens. Two coats: Now it's dark - a slightly purple-black - and smooth and the glitter is more of a full rainbow. The picture seems to only show a silvery glitter - it's definitely a full spectrum as the description says. Verdict: I'm gonna need another bottle or two of this one. THIS is the kind of black nail polish I adore.

Origin: Frimp in an order Initial Thoughts: Had to do a search on the Lab site when the forum's search failed me, but I finally found that it's an apple scent with both fruit and blossom. As a rule I do better with the blossom than the fruit, but I love a number of apple-y scents that the Lab has. In the Vial: APPLE! And yes, very sweet and candy-like. It's also chilly to my nose, but that may be me equating the woodsy notes to winter outdoors. Wet: I think the apple blossom must come first, because it's now more of a sweet floral than sweet candy. But I like it quite a bit. Drydown: The impression of fresh apple emerges and cuts the sweet some, but it's still a very, very sweet scent. Verdict: I think I like it. Might be worth getting a bottle.

Origin: partial bottle gifted to me with a forum purchase Initial Thoughts: I don't play the roulette of Chaos Theory with perfumes because there are so many notes that go bad on me. With the Orientals, the amping potential of amber and benzoin on me was too great to risk. This one is bottle #247, which mentions orange blossom and a little musk and citrus notes. In the Bottle: I see what the previous poster meant about fresh and warm at the same time. There is floral in here, something bright and greenish and it makes my nose sting just a touch. I also get the citrus. But there is also a soft dark foundation to it. Wet: Definitely a musk, as the note comes charging in to amp. But it's not a very dark musk, as it's not devouring everything else in its path. I still get the citrus impression and the floral, which seems to be a white one. Drydown: Definitely not a dark musk. This is on the lighter side of the spectrum. The floral has settled in to stay and for all the world it smells like a lemony magnolia on top of the musk. I love magnolia. Verdict: Chaos may have smiled upon me today. This is definitely something I could wear and I think I'm going to hang onto it for a while.

Origin: Decant circle Initial Thoughts: I love a good apple cider recipe and how it smells. I tried last year's Autumn Cider, which decided to be orange cider rather than apple. Maybe this year it will be more apple-like and less boozy. In the Vial: Definitely an apple presence this time. It reminds me a little of my favorite version of Harvest Moon (2005) with a bottle of sweet red wine dumped in. Wet: The wine-like note leaps out first and now it's quite like the scent of a favorite mulled wine recipe my family uses with super-sweet muscadine grapes. There's some airy apple behind that. Drydown: The spices come out and the apple warms up. The wine scent is now in the background, adding sweetness to the whole thing. Verdict: This is the cider scent for me. Must now budget to see whether I can get a bottle or not.

Origin: decant circle Initial Thoughts: I like my Halloween apples covered in red sticky glaze. I know the Lab can do some amazing candy/sugar scents. Let's see what happens. In the Vial: In-your-face sweet apple. The sweet reminds me of strawberry candy. And now I want some Lifesavers. Wet: Not quite as strawberry, but still very much candied fruit. I'm getting much more candied than apple right now. Drydown: Things balance out to a sugary apple with an incredibly lovely almost citrusy undertone. Surprisingly mellow. Verdict: I like it very much. Whether I get a bottle will depend on things like available funds.

Origin: decant circle Initial Thoughts: Apple can be good. I tend to do well with the fruit blossoms over the actual fruit, so I was curious about blackcurrant bud. I love clove and vanilla. I'm hoping for a sweet version of a clove apple. In the Vial: Like many other reviewers have noted, the first impression is of a very tart Granny Smith apple. On second sniff I get a hint of dusky spice and a tad of vanilla. Wet: A Granny Smith apple, but with a pleasant aromatic something in the background. Drydown: Yay, clove! Lots of clove! And it's sweet and there's the apple, and I also get a bit of the earthiness that the last reviewer mentioned. I'm quite liking having the impression of patchouli in this scent, since I can't wear real patchouli due to amping. Verdict: I think this is a winner! I want a bottle in time for Christmas, because this clove-vanilla-apple makes me think of the holiday season. And please can we have more things with clove and vanilla in them?

Origin: decant circle Initial Thoughts: I love coconut. I love tiare. I quite like apple. I have no objection to fig. In the Bottle: APPLE! A very tart fresh apple. A second sniff gives a hint of sweetness in the background and says that this will not be a single-note apple. Wet: The coconut jumps out quickly to mute the strongest level of apple. Drydown: The fig and tiare emerge and help create a sweet tropical apple. But there is a trace of plasticky to the whole thing on my skin. Verdict: Unsure. Overall I love it, but that bit of plastic is highly annoying.

Origin: Decant circle Initial Thoughts: Normally rose stays my hand, as does blood. But when one is doing a decant circle and a scent has carnation and vanilla cream and something interesting like red clover, one dares. In the Vial: Wow, that's different. It's light and airy. My mind is going to ginger and peach and...ah. The cubeb, for which my only other context so far is Peach, White Ginger, and Cubeb hair gloss from the post. But yes, to my nose it's ginger - maybe the carnation spice? - citrusy/fruity - and the faintest hint of floral. Wet: Still strongly airy-fruit-floral, but I'm beginning to find the carnation. What I'm not getting is the rose, which is a good thing since rose goes icky on me. I suppose the spiciness could be the blood note, maybe. Drydown: I got distracted and let this one sit for a good while before sniffing again. Whatever other stages it went through, it is now almost pure single-note carnation on me. I can live with that. Verdict: Keeping the decant and maybe getting a bottle.

Origin: decant circle Initial Thoughts: This is full of delightful possibilities, from the pumpkin to the vanilla. Had to try it. In the Vial: Pumpkin absolutely dripping with sweet, sweet honey. The smokiness of the vanilla bean comes out as a breath of dark spicy goodness. Wet: YUM. Sweet dark creamy pumpkin, but minus the sense of "baked" that one often finds associated with pumpkin scents. Drydown: It actually gets darker and sweeter! That smoky vanilla is back, but it's all subtle. No sense of burning or overly cooked at all. Verdict: This is a winner. I will be getting a bottle of this before Weenies go away.

Origin: Decant from a circle Initial Thoughts: Strawberries, vanilla and peppermint are all good. I wasn't quite sure about the cotton candy, but I figured it was worth at least trying a decant. In the Vial: Holy cow! In-your-face strawberries & cream candy! Sweet enough to cause a cavity with one whiff! Wet: The mint shoots out and possibly the cotton candy, but they turn a creamy strawberry candy into a dessert of fresh strawberries in a sugar glaze with fresh mint sprigs. The 180 is very interesting. Drydown: It's candy-ing up again but not so intensely sweet this time. But something is hovering around the edges of going plasticky and artificial. Verdict: The decant may see some service in a scent locket because it's just that joyful, but I'm not sure I'll wear it on my skin with that looming threat of artificial.

Origin: Bottle ordered from the Lab through a decant-circle add-on Initial Thoughts: An explosion of flowers dusted in sugar? Gimme nooooooow! In the bottle: (Actually sniffing from the tissue I had to use to dry off the bottle - it chose to share in transit.) Explosion is right. It's bright and fizzy and effervescent with an interesting balance between sweetness and bubbly-sharp. The florals are kind of all smashed together - repeated sniffs suggest some jasmine and the potential for rose. I hope it's not the latter - after I started looking at reviews that mentioned rose or violet I started worrying, because those two really hate my skin. And I want to love this one both for the scent description and the story behind it. Wet: Uh oh. That was a sharp left turn into something that smelled strongly of chemical lemon, of all things. Luckily that faded fast, although it's still quite lemon at the moment. Drydown: Okay, it's starting to come together as more floral and more sugary. I think I'm smelling jasmine through that persistent impression of lemon. What floral might go lemony on a person? Magnolia? Further Drydown: Okay, the sugar slowly builds and creates a candyish undertone. I also get a trace of the spiciness that others have mentioned. What I don't get, thank all the gods above, is any whiff of stinky collards (rose) or acrid stank (violet). If those are present, they are either in such small amounts or so well balanced against other notes that I'm not suffering my usual yuck of faulty skin chemistry. Verdict: Definitely keeping this. It's cheerful and vibrant and something I will wear a lot.

GLITTER-SHOT CRÈME Crushed starlight, lost forever in the blue-black. Origin: Straight from the Post Initial Thoughts: This was the one I hesitated on the longest as I don't often wear black nail polish and I already have an "Event Horizon" polish from an Etsy vendor that is black with rainbow glitter. But I finally tossed one in. In the Bottle: Inky black with a subtle silver glitter to it. One coat: Depending on how skillfully one can apply a very thin coat, it's smoky black and almost opaque with a subtle glitter pattern. Two coats: Shiny black. The glitter remains a subtle pattern to the polish rather than being super glittery. Verdict: I may find a better home for this one. I need to decide how often I'm actually going to go with black polish.

FOIL Star-dappled darkness. Origin: Straight from the Post Initial Thoughts: I basically went for all the nail polishes that included references to stars in their descriptions. I have a weakness. In the Bottle: Slate blue and glitter. One coat: Actually more green than blue to my eye, but very, very glittery. Two coats: (picture above) Now it's more blue and full of shimmer. But it goes navy, almost black without light. Verdict: I'm not quite certain about this. I think I would have wanted a slightly richer, more inky or velvety blue. We'll see if it grows on me.

METALLIC PEARL An indolent, sultry shade of red. Origin: Straight from the Post Initial Thoughts: There are enough times that I want a good rich red on my nails that it was worth trying this. In the Bottle: A gorgeous sleekly metallic red - think the paint on a Porsche. One coat: Even and creamy and cherry-apple red. Two coats: Not much difference here. Verdict: Win! I will say that in person it's a little darker and richer than the photo shows. But it's definitely an emphatic red for anyone looking for a good one.

Origin: Straight from the Post Initial Thoughts: I love me some TKO, but it's always nice to have an alternative bedtime scent. And I always adore Beth & Ted's stories about Lilith, but this one especially resonated and made me remember those days when my now-teen son and I would read before bedtime... In the Bottle: Fresh, herby lavender with just a suggestion of vanilla. Much greener than TKO with its slightly sugary-sweet quality. Wet: Interesting. I get a blend of herbs that feels unusual compared to other herb-heavy scents I've tried. It's almost like the sun has come out and warmed them in a very cozy, pleasant way compared to the bottle. Perhaps this is the yarrow or hops, neither of which I've had a lot of experience with. I'm not sure I find it as soothing as TKO, but it definitely has a comforting quality to it. Drydown: The vanilla peeks out, and the herbs get quieter. It ultimately doesn't have a lot of throw for me and stays super-close to the skin.. Again, I find it quite comforting, much more so than straight-up lavender tends to be for me. Further Drydown: The vanilla seems to fade and I'm kind of back to that sunwarmed-herbs-in-a-meadow thing, skating a bit toward the soapy thing VioletFemme mentioned. Verdict: I think this has potential for me as a soft, calming daytime scent, even if it turns out not to help me sleep. ETA: And it really goes soapy after a while on me. Poo. We'll try the bedtime thing and see how it does there.

Origin: Straight from the Post Original Thoughts: Based on my review at the time, it seems that the rose in Alice wasn't too pushy and didn't turn into cooked collards on my skin, but neither did my beloved carnation stand out. Since I have discovered that my hair likes rose, I figured I'd try the hair gloss, even though I wanted The Reaper and the Flowers. In the Bottle: Spicy carnation with a rich, heady creaminess. This first impression is much sexier than how I described the perfume ten years ago. How much has my nose changed... Applying: Lovely carnation but with a zing from the bergamot. Drying: And we’re back to creamy carnation. The spicy element to the carnation isn’t as prevalent as before. Wearing: Yesterday I used only 4-5 spritzes. That got the lovely silky shine, but the scent was very quiet. Today I used 7-8 spritzes and while the scent is still gentle in character, I can catch whiffs as I move my head around. Creamy carnation and now I get a dash of rose. Verdict: Glad I nabbed it. This will be a good addition to the wear-to-work scents.

Whimsical, temperamental, radiant and ravishingly beautiful Goddess of Volcanoes, Fire, Lightning and Dance. She is the Mother of Eruptions and the personification of destructive power. Volcanic eruptions are said to be a side-effect of her jealous rages and her epic quarrels with her siblings are legendary. This perfume embodies her gentler, benign aspect as the capricious Goddess of Dance: muguet and Hawaiian white ginger enveloped by warm, damp tropical blooms. Origin: Straight from the Post Initial Thoughts: I love Pele the scent, but the perfume fades on me so fast that I never bothered to get a bottle. I was eager to try other forms in hopes of getting it to last. In the Bottle: Rich and warm tropical flowers, creamy and smooth. In the Hair: The bath oil on my skin brought out the ginger without it taking over. In my hair the ginger is staying very, very quiet. I am not at all displeased by this. Verdict: If you've been looking for a hair gloss that is subtle enough to use at work, this is one possibility. If a lot of florals cause you problems (rose, jasmine, etc.) but you like the idea of florals, give this a try.

I'm surprised I never got around to reviewing this polish. It is far and away my favorite of the first wave of BPTP claw polishes. The subtle sheer pink that turns into a glorious glittery shimmer when the light hits is a perfect combo for everyday wear. I put some on tonight after seeing the latest review about drying time, because I didn't remember it being a problem. I put on the base coat, one coat of polish, and the top coat, waiting what I thought was the appropriate time. Yeah, there's a tackiness to the polish. Rubbing the nails across my lips doesn't mar the finish at all, but it doesn't feel like it's properly dry. Definitely a difference compared to the new run that most definitely dried in a timely manner.