patina

I've never tried Schrodinger's Cat, hmm... I do like The Raven and Lilith though.

Okay, I don't think I've ever done this. MBTI: INFP If Hogwarts houses were a thing, Ravenclaw would fit best. Virgo Sun, Sag Moon, Scorpio Asc I have a little bit of social anxiety and I'm easily distracted so I like deep, grounding scents. I like reading and gardening, learning new things about plants. Escapism is a problem, but comedy and fantasy help keep me sane. I like learning about big subjects, but if I'm honest what I really like is style, art, and superficial things. Horror, humor, the surreal, and overblown theatrical stuff are all fun. Maybe I'm a bit of a fantasist and campy goth at heart. I would love to be neat and organized and deadly efficient all the time, but I don't see that happening.

Evil and SkekTek the Scientist both remind me of Maleficent. They're both very purple and green scents to me.

Hermia is my favorite pink scent. Sadly it's discontinued but you might be able to find some imps on the sale page. To me it smells like bubblegum with soft pink pepper.

Really beautiful beeswax. Rather than being almost single note beeswax like The Lights of Men's Lives I can smell some bitter worn wood underneath. This is not as horrible as it sounds- the honeyed sweetness of the wax keeps the bitterness in check. I like this a lot, it reminds me of sitting at an old writing desk by candlelight.

Immediately after applying it smells like cucumbers and an old dank shed. The leather and paper here is very decrepit and dusty. The cucumber goes away quickly, leaving leather and paper. Then the fig and Tonka show up. It's not juicy, more of a dried fig, but it is cozy and comforting. Dusty old books and a little fig and tonka. The drydown is far, far better than the original smell.

I agree with the comparison to Faeu Boulanger. There is a sense of glowing green honeydew melon-yness. I also smell cucumber and mushroom. This would be amazingly lovely for summer, except the "cucumber" part doesn't smell light and fresh, it's really bitter. (I think the lime rind, celeryseed and frankincense are to blame.) This seems to improve on the drydown, but the plastic cucumber smell is offputting. I'll retest it later.

I get butterscotch plus old, dry leather and crumbling paper. There's a more elusive note too. It reminds me of The Fairy Market except these crystalized flowers are dry and there's no grass scent. Pretty, comforting. Very butterscotch dominant but the other scents occasionally poke their heads out.

I get caramel, which must be the black coconut and labdanum. Caramel and salty ocean water with a hint of citron and some moss underneath. This is really nice in a dark oceanic way. It seems like a salt water cousin of Ekhidna. The scent has a huge throw on me and I can occasionally smell some wormwood and maybe mushrooms. Overall it has a salty aquatic toffee cologne feel which is better than it sounds. There's a bit of earthiness too from the moss. A mangrove swamp near the coast on a tropical island is an image that comes to mind. I like this a lot, possibly enough for a bottle.

That is some seriously, seriously delicious vanilla mint cream with pomegranate. Sadly it shifts back and forth between that and butter cookies. Cookies might not sound so bad, but combined with the fruit, there's a vaguely artificial, plasticky sense to the scent. On drydown it's quite a morpher, switching between amazing mint vanilla and cookies. I can't decide on this one.

This is more citrusy than I thought it would be, almost a herbal lemon scent. It's like a warm, herbal honey drink with lemon balm. I also detect lots of soft rose wafting around, some soft white clover blossoms, nuts and maybe some cypress below everything. The honey/lemon is the most prominent part. Paired with the greenery it's a bit like a warm sunny day in the middle of winter. This is very comforting, especially for winter but I don't think I need a bottle.

Starts out as strong, awesome moist gingerbread. It's heavy on the cinnamon and gets a bit plasticy on me after a while. Far less strong than straight Snake Oil (that might be a good thing.) I like cinnamon though it seems to be taking over here, it's almost SN cinnamon with a hint of ginger and snake oil. In general, it's awesome, but probably not so amazing I'd need more than one bottle. On the other hand, I was underwhelmed by regular fresh Snake Oil although I love it aged. Verdict: ???? Will probably get much better.

Preface: I do like some smoky scents like Maladiction, even if they tend to be a bit too close to SN smoke to wear. I also like dirt sometimes, though it tends to disappear quickly on me. Normally dirt reminds me of gardening or springtime, nothing really creepy. I tested this scent on a towel first and the dirt here, well... the smoke and char make the dirt seem damper and darker. I'm getting the idea of a damped fire pit where ghouls squabble. For a two note scent this is really interesting. Actual wear: Artificial bacon bits like whoa. Also like the dirt in Placophobia, I'm getting a weird pickle spice scent. Coriander? Bacon bits and coriander. Not pleasant. After a while the smoke flavoring mellows and the scent's actually wearable. I'm not sure if the drydown is worth it though.

Sugarplum, snow, sparkling grape juice and the occasional hint of cardamom. I don't have much to say about this one except that it smells really delicious. The cardamom keeps it from being too simple and I can tell there's plum in it, not just indeterminate grape flavored sugar. I prefer this over Black Snowballs which threatens to be a bit soapy/floral. This is a possible bottle purchase.

First applied: I get pomegranate and spicy...pimento? It's surprisingly spicy and a little sour. I could see this as sort of the perfume equivalent of a Lovecraftian protagonist having a screaming breakdown. Almost instantly later: Pimento's gone. I can separate the vetiver now, though it doesn't completely dominate the scent. The pomegranate is surprisingly strong. All in all, this smells like tamrind candy. It's sweet, tart, a little sour (not in an objectionable way- and this is coming from someone who can't wear sour things at all), and a bit earthy/smoky. Hours later: still noticeable and delicious. Strong vetiver, but I like it as a base.

Dark, salty, slightly smoky scent with candles. They're very definitely tallow candles, not beeswax. The rose here is not overwhelming, it's deep and lovely though there is a strong "green stems" element that probably comes with the oude. On the drydown the oude comes out more, giving a strong wood powder to the rose and candles. The general effect is like a very romantic writing desk in the dark. I'd probably get this scent if I didn't already have a rose scent I liked and if the thought of wearing a tallow scent didn't disturb me. Not that it smells bad. It doesn't.

This smells like scorched (the red amber?) but smooth vanilla with intense white florals. The florals threaten to go all kinds of soapy and powdery but the vanilla keeps them in place. This smells like someone beautiful but very unpleasant in a ferociously, aggressively perfumy way. Vanilla's supposed to be sort of bland and pretty, right? Same thing with white florals. But this scent has claws. I'm not sure how I feel about this one and whether I'd wear it often enough to warrant a bottle, but it certainly is interesting and I have to commend the Lab on the Fairy Tale Inquisition scents since the ones I've tried have perfectly captured their concepts. Edit: The scent isn't as quite strong as my review makes it seem, but still, those soft white florals have claws. Edit Edit: Okay, I was wrong. It dries down to something very soft and gorgeous. Vain Sorceress could be a sister to Jareth. Not that they smell alike, but they're both extremely pretty pale vanilla scents. (At least I think Jareth has vanilla...) Between the two I think I prefer Jareth though. verdict: Smells pale, beautiful and heartless. Not nearly as harsh as I thought it was initially. The scent doesn't remind me of Malificent really, more like Galadrial from the Lord of the Rings in her "ALL SHALL LOVE ME AND DESPAIR" mood.

I get a light honey and also musk (the tobacco, sage, and hyssop). Also there's something that my brain insists is hazelnut. There's some oak underneath, I do get a tannic/ vanilla-woody smell. This is kind of like getting a big hug in perfume form from an idealized herbalist grandmother. It's a seriously comforting foody scent. (Though it's not all that foody because of the tobacco and acorns.)

I get pine and leather, but they're both subdued and keeping one another in check. The third and equally powerful scent here is a smell like pink pastilles (kind of chalky pink candy.) That must be the carnation. Then some juniper comes out, but it's not the horrible scent ruiner that juniper usually is on me. This is a pink and pretty wild forest scent. Edit: I figured out some of the "candy" effect is actually a medium musk. Musk smells like candy to me, go figure.

This is very pine heavy. I detect a masculine cologne-like note which is the stone. I don't think this snow is very minty, but then again, it could be the spruce and pine covering the mint up. I occasionally get a whiff of pretty, chilly snow through all the pine and stone. Verdict: Pretty, but very heavy on pine. Edit: On the drydown, this turns into soft spruce and snow. I'm getting a very faint smoky scent which might be the wood. This is a beautiful snow and mountains scent.

At first this is leather that reminds me of RPG scents, plus honey. It's okay. As it warms up this becomes sweet, rugged, and sexy. Whoof. The rose blends into the leather and musks so I have to make an effort to pick it out. The leather turns a bit chemical on the drydown and the rose is probably making that worse, but the throw still smells gorgeous. I have a suspicion the musks will mellow and become better with time. This is probably not for everyday wear, in fact I may have to scrub it off before heading out. Otherwise I'd be tempted to get another bottle. Edit: Lovely as the musk is, sometimes the honey goes a bit sour on the drydown. Besides, I already have Totentanz for my dark musk and leather needs. Off to swaps!

This seems like Iago's smirking, more relaxed, and far more diplomatic cousin. Of course it doesn't smell like Iago since leather is much, much less prominent. The coffee note comes and goes. The bergamot and pepper get a lot stronger on the drydown and then it's a bit disturbing. For one thing the rest of the scent is a toasty dark brown and it makes the bergamot seem almost soapy for a moment there. Also, bergamot seems like such a bright, fresh men's cologne scent to me. The contrast is a little offputting, like an otherwise normal guy at the office who has dark designs. Ladymeag nailed it, this is a bit of a sleazeball scent. The bergamot and pepper eventually fade a bit and I get more vetiver and a little black coffee. I'm a fan of the warm-brown-darkness-and-coffee stages of the scent. Not so much of the sandalwood and bergamot colonge stage.

Berries and slush! I don't get the licorice very much but that might be contributing to the sweetness. If aquatic notes turn to soap on you I'd be a little cautious. It starts heading in that direction on me, but it never becomes offensive. I can see the comparison to grape juice. I think it's the licorice's effect on the fruit. Anyhow, sweet, pretty non-tart berries with a little snowy slurry. Sort of perfumy, but a simple pretty fruit perfume for a young person. This reminds me of eating frozen figs. I love this.

This is gingerbread. Perfect, soft chewy gingerbread with almond frosting. Edit: This seems to have a black tea note somewhere in it unless my nose deceives me. Sometimes an almost perfumy edge appears, but mostly this is bread-y ginger. Delicious.

Spicy dirt, moss, incense...this smells dry to me though other people might get the impression of dampness from the moss. I recognize the mushroom note from Destroying Angel and The Steeple. This feels like a very close relative of Lich Lab. Very cozy. I don't get kerosene, luckily. . Edit: Okay, I do get kerosene, but it's not too unpleasant. This smells sort of like an old garage or an underground lab lit by gaslight.