Ashmedai

I second Hungry Ghost Moon '06, also Vampire Tears, an older LE that smells like sugary, incensy grapefruit on my skin. Also Lustration from the GC! It smells exactly like grapefruit to me, peel and all, with lots of sugar and a good dash of vanilla.

Shortest review from me, ever: this smells exactly like the Chanel No. 5 my mother used when I was a kid. Edit: I think I'll gift it to her since it's too feminine for me to wear as a guy. But to me it smells like a dead ringer for this classic (and beautiful) perfume.

Lots of white sage initially, then the ti leaf really kicks itself front and center for a few minutes, followed by the cedarwood. I can smell the fig, and it smells like fresh fig, sweet and juicy without being overly fruity. Final dry down is a beautiful cedar, lightly sweetened by the fig, and the clean, herbal notes of ti leaf and sage making this a woody-green scent overall. This is really beautiful!

This smells similar to the tannic-citrussy white tea note in "Kumiho", only with lilacs instead of ginger. Lilac is one of the few florals I can actually wear as a guy, but damn - these be LILACS! White, sweet and almost intoxicating lilacs, not the purple kind. The note is exactly that of the fresh blossoms and a wee bit of greenery, and it soon overtakes the white tea note. I can't tell what the candle wax is supposed to smell like, but lilac by itself does have a kind of "waxy" note. It doesn't seem to be beeswax, however, I'd be amping that to no end. Final dry-down is a totally unusual blend of citrussy white tea and lilacs. I'm on the fence about this one, it's almost too floral for me, but damn...this does smell good, very clean and fresh, and at the same time sweet and floral without being cloying. I'll re-test a couple times and then decide whether or not to keep my bottle.

The Lake of Sorrow: the plaintive wail of a bleak, pale chypre with carrot seed, lugubrious opoponax, and wormwood. Wow, wormwood is really strong in this blend, alongside carrot seed and something that smells like lemon peel. The pith, not the zest, very astringent and a bitter. I hope this calms down a little, because on initial application, it's like an ice-pick to the sinuses that almost brings on a sneezing fit. It does settle down pretty quickly as it warms on my skin. The sharp bitterness fades and a beautifully resinous opoponax develops, there's a bit of carrot seed (one of my favorite notes), and just a little of the lemon-peel-like note left. This is getting better and better the more it dries down, warmer, sweeter and more resin-like. I think there's some labdanum in the chypre too; or something else giving this more resiny sweetness (it's too subtle to clearly identify). Finaly dry-down is something I'd describe as dark, deep, sweet resins with a bit of carrot seed, with a sparkle of lemon zest and wormwood, though the wormwood is so faint now I'd have to know it was there to smell it. I'm really digging this, so I'm glad I snapped up a bottle!

It might be a little bit of a stretch, but "Kabuki"? Female roles are traditionally acted by males in Kabuki theater.

"The East" (Neil Gaiman, Stardust) immediately came to mind. It lists: Bluebonnet, passion flower, freesia, jasmine tea, mint, thyme and red currant.

It starts out with a scent that's oddly like strong red carnations, that mildly clove-y scent that isn't clove. But I think that's the redwood and black tea interacting. That settles down almost immediately and the rosewood (bois de rose) comes forward. Then it shifts again and the black tea scented with dried rose petals moves to the front. I can smell lilac beside it all, but very faintly at this stage. It gets stronger the more it dries, but it's never overpowering. Rosewood and redwood take center stage here alongside discreet florals and a tannic, slightly spicy note of black tea. It smells mysterious and almost (appropriately) Victorian-era spooky, and there's something that leaves an odd dusty impression, the way an old parlor would, or a cake of expensive soap manufactured 100 years ago that still carries a dusty trace of scent. I wasn't sure I'd like this one, but I'm really digging this!

A bit smoky on application, and I can smell sandalwood, oudh and labdanum most clearly. Vanilla is also apparent, but not the foody vanilla that turns to plastic on me, but a dark and still sweet vanilla. Damn, this is intriguing! I do smell some pink pepper and saffron as it dries, but it's never in-your-face spicy, and they enhance the woods and resin beautifully. Finaly dry-down is mainly labdanum, a gorgeous oudh, and sandalwood with dark vanilla. Holy hell, this is gorgeous! I may need a back-up bottle, and it's going to age into something unbelievably stunning. I do agree with the previous reviewer that there's something vaguely "pink" here, but I wouldn't compare it to High Strung Daisies at all, it's much too dark and resiny, and yet... there's a little pink dancing around in the darkness, which is a sweet and comforting darkness. Indeed some strangeness in the proportion, but a brilliant one.

There's tuberose in Stardust, and I'm placing a bet it's that. Tuberose is a very heady, almost narcotic "white" floral that smells very strong (and yes, old-timey), along the lines of a more intense, deeper and sweeter gardenia.

I second Mornings in New Orleans. Or IXHV4, or maybe The Turkish Village would work too.

Wet on skin, I smell ivy - still greenish, but dried and not so "wet-green", which I never liked in BPAL's ivy note. This is excellent, though! Alongside that, the scent of rich, black loamy earth, a note that's really started to grow on me since I fell in love with "Garden of Death" in a previous year's Halloween update, but I only like a little of that note, and here it's blended in perfectly. Next to come forward is that fantastic "dried leaves" note I love so much - clearly maple, and clearly my favorite - sweetened just a bit by the fig. There's also something slightly vegetal and peppery, like bell pepper and tomato leaf, but far underneath the main notes (love it!). I don't smell much, if any, cypress, and would have missed it if I hadn't known it was there, same with the honey (and I normally amp honey like nobody's business). It doesn't morph much to the final dry down - slightly smoky dried ivy and leaves, rich vegetal earth, and a very light touch of fig. This just shot up to my #1 favorite from the Halloween update and is the fall scent of my dreams. I need a back-up...or twenty.

This is an oil of absolute freedom. It was created to help you release your spirit from self-imposed limitations, old mouldering sorrows and resentements, and from suffocating societal pressures and expectations. This oil assists in breaking the heavy chains of addictions, dependencies, negative behavior patterns, and self-destructive thought loops. Libertas includes olibanum, organic fennel essential oil, Calabrian bergamot, mastic oil, acacia gum, African bluegrass essential oil, davana essential oil, bitter orange, geranium bourbon, zdravetz, wild arbor vitae, and lemongrass. Thank you again, Herb Girl, for sending me such a generous amount of this oil! Sweeter than I expected, and I can clearly smell the fennel, olibanum, and bergamot, a moment later the lemongrass and geranium. Usually these notes smell very sharp on me, but here they're mild, smooth and sweetened by something else. Davana and zdravetz maybe? The overall impression I have is a sweet, clean, resiny-herbal scent. And wow - is it strong! I used it to dress candles with, and not wanting to waste even a bit, annointed myself with the tiny bit of residue that was left on my fingers. The next day my whole bed smelled of Libertas and I was amazed how far an amount that didn't even equal one drop went. Effective for the purpose I used it for? I don't want to go into detail, but yes - a thousand times yes. I'm quite surprised actually, since I wasn't expecting such a profound effect, but there you go.

A Blade of Grass comes to mind, so does Garden Path With Chickens, or Hagsgate and The Norn's Farmhouse from the GC. I'm craving "green" scents too right now, so I'll watch this thread to see what others recommend.

Curiously, Hothrun Dath, even though it doesn't have tobacco listed. The first time I sniffed French Tobacco SN, I could have sworn I was sniffing Hothrun Dath, which I'm familiar with since I wear it often. The resemblance was really marked and even the dry-down was like...two slightly varying shades of the same fragrance on my skin, if that makes sense.

That scent family is one of my favorites. What I like best from the GC are Apothecary, Absinthe, Magus, Elf, Water of Notre Dame, Nostrum Remedium, Leanan Sidhe, Yggdrasil and Quietude. Favorite LEs are Silver Phoenix, Season of Ghosts, Dream, Sleep, The Cold Hour of Dawn, Silver Phoenix and Bat of Health. Also great are Silence and Garden Path With Chickens from the (discontinued) Salon, maybe Cleopatra Testing Poisons on Those Condemned to Death (I amp the herbal notes in that one, though).

Sleepy Moon definitely, and another lunar blend that helps me a lot is Black Moon (either year - there was one in 2011 and one in 2006 I believe), which isn't as hard to find as Sleepy Moon. I think it's the mugwort, it does wonders to help me sleep. Also there were two LE's not long ago I'd rec, "Sleep" and "Dream". But I'll definitely third the rec for TAL "Nocturne" - it knocks me out so reliably I'm even willing (as a guy) to smell a little "rosy" for the night.

You heap the logs and try to fill The little room with words and cheer, But silent feet are on the hill, Across the window veiled eyes peer. The hosts of lovers, young in death, Go seeking down the world to-night, Remembering faces, warmth and breath– And they shall seek till it is light. Then let the white-flaked logs burn low, Lest those who drift before the storm See gladness on our hearth and know There is no flame can make them warm. Embers that give no warmth; cold hands stoking a fire that gives no light. Fragonia, carrot seed, and ashen sandalwood. Wet on skin: I smell mild white sandalwood and definitely carrot seed - however, it's less like carrot seed and more like sweet, fresh-grated carrots at this stage. I'm very much a fan of any carrot and wood notes, so I'm really digging this. Something else develops rather rapidly, and this is hard to describe (I'm assuming it's the fragonia, which I'm not familiar with at all). It smells almost medicinal, but in a very pleasant way, like light amber blended with very, very faint hints of eucalyptus, lemon and a warm spice, alongside a balsam that reminds me of labdanum or balsam of Peru...but probably is neither. All I know is that it's extremely pleasant but hard to narrow down (this is one of those scents where I hope nobody from the Lab reads my review, because they'll probably break out in giggle-fits. Anyway...). The carrot seed joins it again after a while, and now it does smell like the carrot seed I remember (and love) from "Breathless Horror" or "Solitary and Abhorred", but it's much more subtle here. The sandalwood seems to have cloaked itself in the rest of the notes, because I can't pick it out anymore at this stage. There's a very faint soapy note on final dry-down, but so faint it's barely detectable, and it soon disappears. Otherwise, this smells sweet, balsamic and very slightly vanillic with a woodsy undertone that reminds me of both paper or parchment and that unique scent a pile of dried firewood has. I think this is one of the more complex scents I've ever smelled, despite its having only three notes listed. While it keeps a vaguely (pleasant) medicinal vibe, it reminds me most of BPAL's "book" or "paper" scents (mostly "Old Moon 2012" without the wallop of vanilla or "The Lurid Library" with a bit more complexity and less sweetness). It's not a typical perfume scent, but I find it extremely beautiful and intriguing, evoking a cozy sense of peace and comfort - not at all the soul-less cold the description would indicate. I think this will be my go-to scent on rainy, cold afternoons. It brings back memories of my great-grandmother's old farmhouse with its wood-burning stoves, the ancient root cellar, bundles of drying herbs, old books and the medley of scents that wove themselves into a blanket of comfort for me as a small child. Absolutely love this!

In the bottle and wet on skin: drools-worthy vanilla and cinnamon. The "real" sort of cinnamon you find in your spice rack, not the red-hots kind. If it stayed like this, I'd be one happy camper. However, ten minutes in, the spiced pumpkin pie note I recognize from other pumpkin blends really comes out. It's tempered a little by the vanillas, but it's that scratchy, rough note that never works on my skin, albeit not as strong as in some blends. There's something that reminds me of nuts too, either fresh hazelnuts or walnuts, and it seems to stick around for a while, as does quite a bit of the vanilla. But woah - that pumpkin and spice, it clobbers everything eventually. I might try this in an oil burner and I'll keep my bottle for now, but that pumpkin/spice thing is screeching itself hoarse on my skin. Too bad, it sounded so promising.

My mother always raised Devil's Trumpet in pots that lined her terrace, and I remember the tall plants with their beautiful blooms, but I especially remember the sweet, tropical, heady and intoxicating scent they released when the sun started to go down. I think it's one of my favorite blossoms scent-wise, and so I snapped up a bottle of this to use in the oil burner. I get a lot of greenery too, and while I remember I could smell the greenery of the plants when the sun had warmed them, it wasn't very prominent. There's also something going on that smells like what musk does on my skin, going pungent for a while and then receeding. There's a vague floral that reminds me of lily of the valley or gardenia or something...very kind of wishy-washy, not at all like the bold, seductive sweetness of real Devil's Trumpet, and I'd never identify it as such if I smelled this on someone. It's not bad , mind you. But it's not Devil's Trumpet, at least not to my nose.

Wet on skin, this is a virtual wallop'o'red musk and honey (which smells more like mead than actual honey - I think I remember this note from Mead Moon, it's a little more boozy or like hard candy than most honey notes). As it dries a bit, I can just barely discern elemi, ho wood and something slightly astringent and "dark green" which I'm guessing is the hemlock accord, but the notes sort of flit in and out, there and then gone because the red musk sweetened by honey is so strong. A little while later, cedar makes an appearance, and a pretty strong one. For a while it's a neck-on-neck race with the red musk and honey, but cedar eventually loses out and drops behind several paces. Final dry-down is basically a heady, thick and syrupy red musk and honey, with a curious green-ish undertone (hemlock accord?). I didn't get any patchouli, and barely any champaca flower. I think comparisons to Snake Oil and Womb Furie are pretty accurate. It has a little more complexity than either, but I really had to dig around for the more subtle notes. I do like it a lot, but I have a couple similar blends and I'm not a huge fan of red musk, so this will probably go to a better home. I have to say the honey note is one of the best I've ever smelled in a blend - usually honey is a death note for me, but here it worked beautifully.

You're right, The Apothecary is great, it was one of my first bottle purchases and I use it a lot. Hagsgate is definitely going on my next order. I was lucky to get a tester of it and loved it immediately.

I second Al-Azif. You might also like King Cobra, and if you can find it, the original Hellfire is pure sweet incense on my skin.

Thanks! Leather and vetiver aren't usually good on me, but in a few blends I've been surprised that they work really well. I think I even have an imp somewhere - sounds like I need to re-test that. Thanks! I was lucky to find an imp of Karme in swaps, and I'm definitely looking forward to it. I also ordered The Witch's Garden along with my Halloweenies last night. Unsniffed, but it sounds like exactly what I'm looking for. Thanks!

That really does sound intriguing - I need to find that. Thanks!