strahlend

I really liked the concept, maybe too much. Perhaps my expectations were too high. I thought it was going to be an unusual scent, but it's quite tame and harmless. On me it smells light green and herbal-clean and a little soapy. There are lots of great scents in this genre, this one is nice too - but it doesn't really stand out or speak to me.

I find that the Illustrated Woman gives me a similar feel as Black Temple Burlesque Troupe. Of course that's really subjective.

This scent does fantastic things for me. The sweetness from the honey mixes so beautifully with a fruit scent I'm assuming is quince. The result is amazing. I want to say it gives me the feel of musk or amber but without the heaviness I associate with those scents. I ordered a bottle and know for a fact I will go through my half decant before it gets here. I seldom get backup bottles, but for this one I will make an exception, it is gorgeous!

I don't do well in the heat, and by heat I mean anything over 75 degrees or so. I just got into BPAL last fall, so this will be my first summer with lovely scent choices. I've been keeping track of some scents to try when it gets hot, so here's my contribution to the thread. Arcana (clean lemon), Tweedledum (light, fruity and green), Juke Joint (smells like having a drink on the porch on a summer night), Whitechapel (light, bright, citrus and white musk), Xiuhtecuhtli (orange citrus), Carnal (reminds me of fresh melon), Mad Hatter (pennyroyal/minty fresh) and Cathode (oakmoss/mint)

On my skin Hunter Moon is a pretty straightforward soft, powdery, musk. No wine, no leaves, nothing feral. It's very gentle and warm and powder soft. Nice enough, but not what I was hoping for from the description. I apparently sold this bottle at some point and then forgot that I ever had it and then bought it again. Tell me I'm not the only one who's done this My opinion is remarkably the same though; powdery, musky, warm, fuzzy and soft. When it dries down it even kind of reminds me of Mouse's Long and Sad Tale, but without the floral. It's sweet and cuddly.

I know this won't be all that helpful because I can't say much about specific notes, but I can say that as a whole this blend is AMAZING. It reminds me of everything I love about Giant Vulva, Hony Mone, and Elegba. Fresh, sweet, and 100% beutiful. Coconut without being suntan lotion, sweet without being cloying... amber and musk without being heavy. This is just about perfect, and now has a place in my top ten list. This scent also reminds me a lot of a perfume I loved very much when I was younger called Sand and Sable (described in reviews as green, gardenia, and beachy). I thought at first it was just a fluke, but every time I wear it I have the same association. I'll gladly buy bottles of Beanman & Beanwoman instead.

I can't believe I haven't reviewed this. An imp of Nosferatu was in one of my first lab orders. This is the smell of cold flowers and dirt. There is a distinctly cool feeling to this scent that has nothing to do with snow or ice or other pure cold scents, this is the coolness of damp decay - although not to be confused with rot or other putrid scents - cool decay is like in an underground tomb or something. It really is an amazing scent and I haven't run across anything else like it. After being on my bottle list for a while I finally ordered a bottle and I'm glad I did.

At first all I could smell was whiskey - it reminded me a lot of Mad Sweeny. When I pulled out Mad Sweeny for a compare/contrast and the chocolate suddenly became much more obvoius in Dark Chocolate, Whiskey, and Cognac Truffle. Personally, I love it. Normally chocolate scents don't seem to work well for me, but this has enough whiskey in it that they balance and end up fantastic. Exactly what I was hoping for.

This smells like strong and smokey vetiver to me. I really like smokey vetiver scents, but I'm kind of wishing I got some boozy rum or the almond that other people mention.

Heavy incense notes waft lazily through a mix of carnation, jasmine, bergamot, and neroli over a lush bed of dark mosses, iris blossom, deep patchouli and indolent vetiver. I've been wooed by The Caterpillar. Originally I got this as a frimp, it's a scent I never would have chosen for myself in a million years. Jasmine and I have been at odds for quite some time. So I get this frimp and I smell it and set it aside. A day or so later I find myself curious to smell it again. A short while later I'm wondering why I like this scent so much and decide to finally do a skin test. Magical things happen on my wrist. I try to deny it. The imp gets put into my purse. I find myself selecting it more often than the other scents that travel with me. In my next lab order a bottle jumped into the cart. And so here I am, hopelessly in love with a scent I never, ever would have guessed I would even like. The incense and patchouli are fantastic partners for jasmine. There's a warmth and depth here that is just fantastic. The mosses provide a lovely greenish dimension to what is otherwise a more brown/burgandy kind of scent. It reminds me of little shops at the beach, bead stores and head shops in the best possible way - which I attribute to these places usually selling large amounts of incense.

In the imp my first impression was of wine. A moment later I smelled more honey. On my skin I'm getting the most fantastic bread scent that reminds me of the years I spent working in a bakery. This is an amazing scent and I think I'm in love with it.

Maybe Sin ( Thoroughly corrupted: amber, sandalwood, black patchouli and cinnamon) Loads of people love Dorian ( A Victorian fougere with three pale musks and dark, sugared vanilla tea) Werepuppy also seems to be a big hit ( A fuzzy brown honey-dusted musk covering freshly-washed baby skin and a howl of milk breath. In the background, there's the barest hint of upturned soil and dew-covered squished stems from a trampled flowerbed)

I love Moai. It's smokey and earthy without any of the usual extras that make a scent go either way for me. It's a straight forward, smooth, earth that doesn't have the spikes or sharpness that other earth scents might have. My partner said it reminded him of being in Hawaii and that until he sniffed Moai he hadn't even realized that he had a scent association. It was the first time I saw him amazed that a scent could so strongly communicate the essence of a place. It was pretty cool. Two thumbs up!

Oddly enough, when I smell this in the imp it reminds me of dirty baby diapers. I thought it was a fluke the first time, but then it happened again days later. Despite this I did a skin test anyway and I'm happy to say that it's much nicer that way. I'm reminded of a lightly spiced floral musk. It doesn't speak to me strongly, but it's a likeable scent.

Dark, rich, intense, warm. Patchouli & vetiver stand out beautifully. Hippies, head shops, earthy places, beads, tarot cards, jewelry... Typhon makes me think of some of my favorite things. I bought this because my son is named Ziphon and I'm curious about things that are similar to his somewhat unusual name. Typhon did not disappoint. Interestingly enough this seems like it could be in a family with Satyr which is the other scent I bought because of my son. I have a lot of affection for this blend.

Hm. Well. This is not what I was expecting. In the bottle I'm getting a blast of nose burning alcohol that I'm assuming is the cognac paired with HELLO I'M VANILLA IN YOUR FACE. Usually alcohol burns off me faster than I would like (rum, whiskey & wine notes) so I go ahead and give this a shot. Oddly enough the alcohol just stays right there and I'm sitting in a cloud of very generic vanilla perfumy booze. After about half an hour or so things start to mellow out a little bit and something that smells a lot like Dorian starts to happen. I'm happy to let this one sit around for a while and see if maybe it mellows with age. I get the feeling it's a really great blend but that it's just too high strung right now. Side note, I'm totally jealous of the folks who get incense and tobacco - neither of which am I able to detect.

This scent makes me so happy! It's light and bright and it feels like a party in a bottle to me. If I didn't know I wouldn't have guessed dandelions, but just some sweet floral with bright green juicy sap mixed in. I don't get the cigarettes or beer, so really none of the listed notes present the way I thought they would, but I'm really loving it anyway. It makes me smile when I sniff it *edit to add. I bought a bottle new from the lab and when it got here it seemed really sharp and kind of just ~too much. Two months later.... I put it on today and it's sooo wonderful. Bright flowers and pretty greenery and when it's dried down underneath there's a very lovely warmth and a little spice, maybe from the tobacco? I'm so glad I held onto my bottle, aging it a little did wonders.

I'm a Pisces with a lot of water in my chart and I felt very drawn to this fish goddess scent. Usually the scents people call aquatic just smell like soap to me, but I had high hopes for Hatmehit. This scent makes me feel like toasting its creator! It's absolutely magnificent in its ability to conjure a feeling perfectly in line with its description. As soon as I sniff Hatmehit in the imp I feel exactly like I'm standing on a river bank or near a large open aquarium with lots of fish. There's a tang to it and an unusual damp earthy feeling without being a dirt scent. I feel like I can almost see the shadows of the fish under the water. This is not some kind of glamorized version of standing on a river bank, this is the real deal. It's kind of clean, kind of murky, it gives the feeling of dampness where water meets earth as well as the things living in and around the water. Simply put, it's amazing. On my skin it stays much the same but the herbal scent seems to come forward a little more. This scent really is amazing I'm glad I have a bottle on the way!

In the imp it seems herbal with a little hint of a zippy edge to it. On my skin it smells like a faintly herbal soap. I have my fingers crossed that maybe my decant is just wonky because I bought a bottle thinking that this would be in the bag. I'll check back in when the bottle gets here.

Lilith Victoria is such a beautiful scent I really love it. When I try to divide the scent up I can detect snake oil and dorian with an extra shot of musky vanilla and ever so soft touch of some kind of lovely floral... and that's about it. I love lavender and I'm not opposed to fennel, but I don't smell either one of them here. It also reminds me just a little of Giant Vulva but without the higher tangy note. Right now I just have a decant that was frimped to my by a generous forum friend, but I hope to find a bottle soon. p/s the boyfriend simply said "powdery"... haha... LV is so NOT powdery. Good thing I don't care too much what he thinks. As long as he's not making the face I'm in the clear.

Elegba makes me swoon. I love all the notes listed, but oddly enough I mainly detect the coconut. It also smells a tad spicy with a slight hint of pepper to me. This is a scent that I put on and then sit in the heavenly spicey coconut cloud it creates around me. Oddly enough, when I actually get my nose close to my arm it smells different, maybe a little sharp. I really love a scent that travels a little way off my skin, so this is perfect for me.

Velvet Bandito makes me think of Laudanum. Spicy sweet, woodsy. The quality of the sweetness is giving me a gut reaction that's unpleasant. I'm getting an Old Spice kind of feeling of cloying sweet spice. I don't necessarily get the sense that this is a permanent kind of association so I'm going to put it away and see if I feel differently about it later. *edit I ended up passing this bottle on. As others mention it does have a fairly strong clove element to it. I used to smoke clove cigarettes exclusively for a number of years and I don't know if that has anything to do with how I feel about clove currently but whatever it is it's just too much for me, clove seems to consistently overshadow other notes in a blend for me. I thought for sure the Bandito and I were made for each other, alas... I hope its new owner loves it more than I could.

I've been frimped Laudanum twice now so despite my initial reaction I decided to test it. Sniffing in the imp - this scent, without a doubt, reminds me of cupboards. At first there seems to be a little menthol which reminds me of a medicine cupboard. Another sniff and it reminds me of when my whole family would load up into my Great Uncle's moter-home and take a trip to the beach. There's an old, spicy, uncomfortable sweetness. I can't say I dislike it, but something about it is just too strange for me to feel good about either. Skin test - remarkably the same! My arm smells like a neglected spice cupboard where things have gone off and become overly sweet. If you've ever put a sweet spice next to a savory spice in the cupboard and then forgotten about it for a while and then tried to use either one and realized they've rubbed off on each other rendering both of them kind of funky and not able to be used.... THAT'S what I mean. I also think I'm getting an association with some kind of cologne that had a similar vibe, but I can't put my finger on it for sure. There are parts of this I like and parts I'm not as fond of. In the end though I don't think this one is for me.

I'm usually hesitant to hop on a bandwagon, but Dorian *really* is as fantastic as everyone says it is. It's musky and vanilla and sweet.... mmmmmmm.... it makes me feel like taking a big sniff, a long sigh and then nuzzling something lovely and soft and comfortable. If I could, I would make my sheets and nightgown smell like Dorian all the time, forever. It's a happy scent that makes me feel like if I were a cat I would purr. The kind of scent that cheers you up when you're down, soothes you when you need comfort, can put you in the mood if you're so inclined, or feel content and peaceful. Good stuff!!

:love!: Since I'm a fan of rum, vanilla, peppermint, and coconut I tried to put off smelling this decant because I was afraid I would have to buy a bottle. I was right. This is an irrestable, fantastic, , must find a bottle NOW scent. Something in this minty sweet coconut booze haze makes me feel like I'm in heaven. I like it so much I want to roll around in it. It's just the right amount of mint and the right amount of vanilla that works perfectly. I'm not getting anything overly foody here or overly boozy. All of the elements are in perfect harmony and the end product sings. Spooky is exactly what I hoped it would be! I'm so glad it got resurrected! Adding on: I bought a bottle and slathered it on because I love it so much. Sadly despite the slather it was gone in under an hour. I'm glad I have a scent locket to put this in, but I really wish that it lasted longer on my skin. Anything with booze seems to get eaten by my skin super fast though, so I should have known I suppose.