patina

In bottle, gingerbread waffles (faint, mild gingerbread) and dark chocolate syrup all over the place. On me the gingerbread calms down quickly and I get mostly instant cocoa with a little bit of tame gingerbread waffle batter and chocolate syrup. Still good, though I have another favorite cocoa blend.

Weird, this smells greener than I'd think in the bottle. I smell a light, perfumy kind of citrus (a bit like neroli: a light, bitter orange). The myrh, when it shows itself is a touch on the baby powder side. On, the honey comes out like whoa. I get honey, neroli, and myrrh. This is sweet sweet, sweet, a bit too much of a good thing. On my skin myrrh by itself is treacly, so this is like honey, orange juice and syrup combined. The pale citrus wafts I get occasionally when not sniffing up close are very pleasant, however.

Mutable Water: the essence of faith. This is the scent of belief, be it in oneself, mankind, the gods, our myths, or our potential. This is the willingness to explore the darkness, the push towards the edges of fantasy or delirium. This is the perfume of the Psychopomp and the Mystic, the Saint and the Madman; this is the scent of the lifegiving salt of blood and ocean, and the darkest depths of the sea. Red musk and brine, ships’ planks of thorny acacia, an indescribable abyssophelagic musk, soporific lavender, and a strange, sweet waft of benzoin. I had to try this because I had no idea what the notes would smell like combined. It's BPAL ocean scent combined with red musk. The musk is softened a little by the lavender and benzoin. It's not a strong lavender, I can barely tell it's there. But I can definitely pick out some sweetness from the benzoin. It smells...tender? Sometimes the red musk and wood is the strongest element, sometimes the lavender and benzoin are detectable. But the brine is always there. It's an effect a bit like rolling waves. There may be some inky almost berrylike musk underneath everything, it's hard to tell. Overall, it smells like red musk dryer sheets. It's cozy. On drydown the brine dials back some and the scent doesn't resemble an aquatic any more. I'm even more sure there's a dark blue musk somewhere here.

Comes on strong vanilla pumpkin. There's some wood underneath that comes out as the vanilla dies down a little. This is a weird scent, strength wise. sometimes it almost disappears. A cup of pumpkin latte sitting sad and alone in an empty, smoky house. Edit: Maybe mine needed to sit? There might be a bit of old house in the background (ancient but impeccably maintained) but I mostly get pumpkin latte: all soft vanilla pudding and pumpkin. I don't know why I called this one sad. This is one of the coziest scents I've ever tried.

Holy base notes. The vetiver isn't barbecue sauce flavored but this dries down to heavy vetiver and patchouli. Not bad, but kind of all bass all the time.

This is like Good but far less high pitched on me. It's a sugar and honey scent with some depth. I thought I could smell a dry cocoa underneath but that's probably the sandalwood. Very good. This reminds me of love and good things and has helped me keep calm this holiday. I'd get a full size if they were available.

This warmed on my skin gorgeously. Cypress usually goes sour so that was quite a surprise. Here it's more fresh, almost floral when mixed with the vanilla.

This is not precisely peppermint but it's something mint-adjacent. I do get the lab's metal note and it turns this into a cologne. This reminds me of Odic Force, except this scent is blue and white. I don't get soap from this one like I do from many ozone scents. This pairs well with gnome.

Mod Note: There is a review topic for Perchta release years 2008 and 2017 located here. Per our Review sub-forum topic policy, a new review topic has been created for the 2018 release due to an inexact match with previous years' scent description. Perchta, the Shining One, is the Lady of the Beasts, an incarnation of the goddess Holda. She, too, leads the Wild Hunt, and is the protectress of wild animals, and appears to mortals as either a white-clad, white-skinned, white-haired beauty, or as a brutish, bestial hag. She is called Berhte Mit Dem Fuoze; one of her feet is shaped like a beast’s, which gives away her superhuman nature no matter how she is disguised. She is also called Perchta the Belly-Slitter, for, at Yuletide, she castigates the wicked, slovenly, and idle, and rewards those that are generous, good-natured, and kind. The Belly-Slitter enforced community taboos, punishing those that spun during holy days and those who failed to partake in sacred feasts, thus jeopardizing the next year’s harvest. Her punishments can be a bit over-the-top, though: they include disemboweling the transgressor and filling the empty cavity with refuse. Her scent is a blend of wild musk, snow, and alpine flora: Nigritella lithopolitanica, balsam fir, aconite, crocus, touch-me-not, edelweiss, iced sugar crystals, Iris variegate, and violet. This is lovely. It's not the "coldest" snow or ice blend I've ever tried. It's white, powdery, but complex enough to be interesting. It's sweet but not tooth-achingly so. The only notes I can pick out for certain are violet and the barest hint of fir. This is very clean and I'm considering a bottle

I was worried about the comparison to Tiger Balm. While I wouldn't say this doesn't smell medicinal at all, it smells more like berries, maybe those in the Nightshade GC. Sweet, poison berries over smooth non chemical leather. This actually has a good deal of throw, almost perfumy throw, and I'd have trouble sneaking up on someone while wearing it. This reminds me strongly of Evil and I think it would compliment it well.

Ozone and a brown musk that reminds me of mice, old rags, wainscotting, and dry oatmeal. It is not significantly salty to me but it does smell cold. This is almost a dead ringer for the Scrooge's Apartment Atmosphere Spray I tried once. I should mention that the musk is sweet on me in a weird and offputting kind of way.

Lavender often goes sour on me but this hasn't yet. I think it may be because of the rounded resins (motor oil & Schwarzer Monde). This is a kind of snuggly cologne that does present in layers. Usually it's lavender cologne but there's an occasional dark whiff of patchouli/resin and workshop. The top notes remind me a lot of Quicksilver Phoenix, from the Anniversaries. This one makes me want to curl up and go to sleep.

In the decant this smells like the Zadok Allen Vineyard mixed with honey. (Except I checked my bottle of Zadok and that one's a far drier wine.) On it turns into a mulled spice wine with a bit of blood. It's not a subtle scent. The wine and blood are practically dancing a can-can to get noticed.

IN bottle: Hairspray? Machine oil? Leather and dust? Skin contact tames the overpowering hairspray note and it turns into a ferny fougure. I don't get green musk exactly, or I don't recognize it. This smells sepia somehow. I'm not sure how something can smell sepia but there you go. The sepia industrial leather dust mixes with a dark ferny green. Sophisticated enough but maybe a bit too perfumy/cologny

In the imp this was slightly alarming, strong on the dust and a kind of vetiver char, but on my skin it immediately turned into machine oil and loam, well-behaved with not a trace of the vetiver to be found.Oddly pleasant on the skin, but not very strong. Then again dirt scents are usually weak on me. There's something almost like anise in this.

Welp, this is what the color of red autumn leaves would smell like. Initially I get a strong hit of spice that my brain thinks is cassia. I also think I smell dragon's blood but that's probably the red musk. On, this is clearly several different things blended together very well. It's hot and spicy indeed but not single note spice and the patchouli and oude do a lot to keep things from getting out of hand. The clove and basil make it smell almost cold and hot at the same time. Red. red, red, spicy, and dry with depth. I feel like swaggering while wearing it. Edit; Bizarrely this doesn't last long on my skin, drying down to an unusually soft red musk. Or maybe I've gone noseblind

My first thought smelling the decant was "pumpkin cookies?" Weirdly I got pumpkin cookies. I guess blackened pumpkin just tends to skew sweet and buttery. Then the pomegranate and incense came out and I had a sweet, faint pomegranate waft around me. This scent is not terribly strong probably because leather is weak on me and pomegranite tends to fade quickly. It does have a good throw though. I suspect the scent might have more staying power as the patchouli ages.

This captures fall nights very well. There is a bit of an ivy leaf/ pickle note I assume is the byproduct of the leaves, patchouli, and booze. Evocative as this is, I really prefer Dead Leaves, Blackcurrant, and Tobacco. That is, unless the patchouli root deepens on my skin. Will have to report back later. Edit: on my skin the pickle note disappears and this turns out strongly fruity.

Notes unseen, my first thought was "red musk and sheet cake." Something here is strongly (and appropriately) reminding me of Eat Me. I know that there's labdanum and amber here and I can sort of smell them but mostly my brain is just going "sheet cake." Also lots of red musk. Did I mention red musk? This smells absolutely delicious, but potentially cloying. But also delicious. Edit: on the drydown I get champaca and orchid but this is still strongly sweet. I am getting the faint sourness I usually get from champaca but it's not a scent ruiner so far. Edit Edit: After some time reapplying I have no idea why I initially got cake, but this still reminds me of red currant

This was a bright red musk with ashes. You know, I really don't know why I expected anything else. The ashes aren't vetiver-y or especially charred smelling, the red musk is more cheerful than you'd expect for a scent about large portions of the world being on fire. I can also detect some leaves, maybe. This really reminds me of the Yule Krampus' Shadow, except that one has patchouli that drags it down somewhat.

A bit like shampoo, but more delicate. I definitely get the orchid and gardenia. The ti leaf gives it a strong citrusy edge, like green tea but brighter. This is very perfumy but the occasional whiff of icy musk makes it more than the average perfume..

Snake Oil and green musk, black leather, black amber, ambergris accord, sandalwood incense, and oily black musk. Fresh from the mailbox, my first thought is "yep. It's Snake Oil." It's powerfully smooth vanilla with a softer version of the leather from Snake Skin. I can only pick out Snake Oil and leather right now, but I'm certain the ambergris, amber, and black musk are all doing their part to make this even smoother. No regrets. On settling, I'm only getting the barest trace of green musk, but I do get a little sandalwood. It makes the leather smell a little like suede. This is very clean, balanced leather snake oil, as another commenter said.

For reference, this is a very old decant. I remember being unimpressed with the scent when it first came out. I get a very soft leather and the powdery vanilla scent of old books, but there's something sweet as well that almost smells like an incense. Someone mentioned rose but it seems more like sandalwood to me. If this doesn't fade away to nothing like Dee does this might be a go-to book scent.

Black saffron, frankincense, Florentine iris, blackcurrant, white pepper, black clove, vetiver, and smoky honey. I wanted to like this one. It is smoky and spicy with some sweetness, but I'm getting a little sourness somewhere. The vetiver and something like orris (the iris?) are the strongest components and they remind me of smouldering cardboard here. Maybe try it if you like a little smoke and honey doesn't go bad on you.

Powerful incense when first applied, but has short wear life. A lot like Cathedral plus rose.