strahlend

This is the decant I was most looking forward to. I love all of the listed notes and almost got a bottle unsniffed because I felt so confident it would work. The initial pungent ginger doesn't throw me off because it's similar-ish to how other strong gingers start out, so I'm ok there. Unfortunately though the sharp ginger edges are only made sharper by the pepper and clove and given a sort of sour or spoiled aspect with the jasmine (I do often enjoy jasmine) and then charred by the vetiver. It is certainly thematic, but it is not pleasant for me to wear. The scent remains charred, sharp, sour and pungent during the dry down and by the time it's fully dry I'm sick of smelling it. I love the idea of this combination of notes, the execution was just a bit too on the nose. Wear this to inflict your inner dragon on those around you.

I think this might be an unusual view, but for me Humpback Whale was the hit of this update. I love mint notes in the snow blends, the snowy minty floral of the (discontinued) Macabray, and the dirty minty pennyroyal in Mad Hatter but do not have as much love for some of the Lick It blends because I find them a bit too stark. Humpback whale starts off bracingly minty with a bit of snow complexity and ends up a multi-dimensional ambergris. It's a fascinatingly beautiful and complex blend that is gorgeous from top to bottom. It will certainly be in heavy rotation this summer.

In the bottle I get a rich, sweet mix of patchouli, vanilla, and almond. On my skin it is the same as above with a hint of a nutty sweetness. It develops into a lovely sweet patchouli leather. In the scent locket it goes pretty much directly to leather and stays there. It's the smell of a broken in leather jacket, not chemical new but not the supple suede kind either, somewhere in between. There is still a hint of sweetness, but it's the leather that prominently wafts up from my scent locket. This is pretty much amazing and I'm sure it will age really well too. ETA I slathered this on the other night and when my son wandered into the room he said it smelled like cherries and my partner agreed. A little disappointing that the almond reads that way, but I remember encountering that response in reviews before.

Starts out a bit too grape-y for my taste and reminds me that I overlooked Syrah in the notes (how?) However, this scent quickly morphs into a very sensuous, spiced, musky, softly clove and wine kind of scent. It clearly reminds me of my earlier days going dancing, drinking wine and smoking cloves in incensy rooms. After a while it mellows out to a sweet round resin. It is distinct. This particular combination of notes functions like a time machine for me, so it's harder than usual to be objective. I'll just say that it is absolutely fantastic and if any of this rings a bell for you, take the leap and try it. Incredible!

This scent works really well on me. On my skin I get mostly a base of dragon's blood with an edge of spice (black pepper) and a musky depth (opoponax, galangal & cumin). The subtle minty counterpoint is fascinating and rounded out with a hint of sweetness (tobacco & fig). It's a beautifully complex blend of notes from different points on the scent wheel, all the more interesting because each is pronounced individually and also blends seamlessly into the whole. The overall impression is dragon's blood with a very unexpected twist. I like this one well enough to have secured a couple backup bottles.

I just tried Lysander recently on a whim. (blind testing) There's a softness to this scent that makes me think of sweet lavender, violet, lilac - but without the cloying or powdery elements I usually associate with those notes. There's just a touch of a green sliver that keeps the soft fuzzy feeling notes from being monotonous and keeps the scent interesting and fresh. There's also a gorgeous noticeable spice that almost reminds me of carnation. (looking at notes) Vanilla, violet, lilac, a touch of musk... a balance of lime, leaf, and resin... perfect balance of sweet, floral, herbal, and just musky enough to make it feel like your skin is an awesome place instead of that you're wearing a coating of awesomeness. This is a beautifully complex scent that has swept me off my feet. To me this scent feels beautiful, feminine, dreamy, but not fussy, trite, or boring. I wish I had come across Lysander sooner, I love it so much. If I had a signature scent, this could quite possibly be it. There's a versatility to Lysander that would work in a wide variety of moods and situations and remain gorgeous day after day to my nose and through the seasons.

Sniff – leaning further toward the geranium than I had hoped, it smells sharp (geranium, rosemary, ginger) but sometimes these things mellow out. Skin testing – nope, too much geranium. It's sour and unpleasant. Late in the drydown the ginger and dragon's blood comes up to warm and sweeten the geranium, but there's still too much geranium, it smells kind of sour and sharp. Late, late drydown it's now lovely – the dragon's blood seems almost tinged with opium and soft spicy ginger. Quite nice, but not pleasant for me until this point.

Sniff – mainly patchouli and vanilla. Not as sweet as banshee beat, more toward the dark end of patchouli, but very nice and certainly worth a test. Skin testing – goes on reminding me of banshee beat, reviews mentioning antikeytheria mechanism and occupy wallstreet are ringing bells for me. It quickly turns into a vetiver sort of sharp patchouli and then proceeds to fade fast into a vetiver tinged honey subtlety. It's nice, but not something I would reach for regularly I don't think. Dries down to a really soft and likable patchouli with a very mild honey in the background. Womb Fury lite, I might say.

Sniff – VERY NICE. I smell the red musk, the amber, a little dry wood the bark and cedar I suppose and a thick, rich, vanilla patchouli that reminds me of snake oil with just a bit of that bourbon geranium. If the skin test goes well, this would be a bottle for sure. Skin testing – seems maybe like a snakepit/snake oil – lite. It's a more tame version of red musk and patchouli. Which is not to say that it isn't nice. The amber does pop in and make things sort of vanillic and slightly resinously sweet. Skin testing further – vitamins? Benzoin, geranium and oak bark I think. The geranium is making this seem kind of high pitched. In a different mood though, I can also see how it could seem very 'sophisticated lady in an occult shop.'

Sniff – not really registering with me at all. It has a tartness to it that I guess is the tangerine? I can't quite get a fix on it. Skin testing – fruit, sugar, musk. Gritty burnt caramel sugar. The tangerine + red musk, smells like a red fruit for some reason. Sickly sweet in a variety of ways. I'm not getting any of the mint I'd hoped to smell. I'm a fan of red musk, tangerine, and mint, but this is not for me.

Sniffing the decant – this reminds me of a softer, smoother Odin. Warm, woody, musky with a hint of the juniper and leather. I'm really liking it. Skin testing – it's almost striking me as having a turpentine vibe to it. Like paint products... stain, thinner, chemicals. It's sharp. I think it's the juniper and leather. OH CRAZY. … now it's totally different. This has a really sensual warmth to it and the juniper is just a teeny-tiny little spark of interestingness in the background. Someone upthread compared it to Tombstone, and I can relate to that. This has turned out to be fantastic. It's a little bit wild, a little bit polished, a little bit wood, a little bit leather. I guess this would usually be described as a sort of manly smell.... but I'm really enjoying it. After testing last night I have a bottle on the way. Testing again today, I'm so glad. It reminds me now of a cross between Antikeytheria Mechanism and Tombstone... there's a rich woodiness and leather that reminds me of AM (but minus the almost syrupy sweetness) but an almost airy cedar that reminds me of Tombstone.

I didn't realize that I had left a review for this before! Sorry for the double post! Sniff – lavender, somewhat sharp, lotus, bubblegum, spice, it's there. I was hoping this might be a softer, sweeter lavender. Skin testing – Starts off mega-bubblegum lotus. Then hits an interesting spice phase, then goes back to bubblegum. Ends up soft bubblegum spice musk with what seems to smell like violets, but might be the lotus and mellowed lavender together. Sadly, I'm not a fan. I like the idea of lotus, I just can't get myself to really like it though, and there's a lot of lotus going on here.

I'm kind of confused by this scent. It seems like I'm not smelling what I should be smelling from the listed notes. On my skin this is a (pleasantly) soapy aquaitc along the lines of Jolly Roger. There's a hint of irish spring, a bit of wood, fresh sea air, and a sort of musky base. None of which I would expect. I feel like I'm familiar with what neroli, sandalwood, and ylang ylang smell like, and I don't specifically detect any of those notes. I've never had that happen before. Regardless, this is a clean, refreshing, pirate ship - but clean - sort of smell. It's very pleasant, and if I didn't already have that niche filled I would be all about this scent.

The forum ate my review.... but the gist of it is this, the patchouli in here is absolutely the best I've ever had the pleasure of smelling. It is somehow both earthy and almost syrupy sweet. The lavender floral counterpoint seems like it would clash, but in fact seems to emphasize the sexy aspect. I can't quite put into words how much I love this scent, but suffice it to say I did place a Lab order for a small stockpile today. I kept thinking it reminded me of Obsession for Men, and it turns out that there are some notes in common - I would much rather buy Our Lady of Pain and revel in its glorious nuances than buy that stuff though.

I see where you're coming from MuskWitch, there is something thick and herbaceous/vegetal happening here. I think that it's the combination of the cumin and galbanum. I also agree with Balame about the chocolate element. Sometimes a patchouli that incorporates vanilla comes across to me as chocolaty, I wonder if that might be happening here. All in all it is an interesting scent experience.

In the bottle I can smell the resin and spice, which I enjoy. On my skin this becomes a very 'white', high-pitched, generic floral. Soapy and flowery. I love myrrh, lily, and opium. I thought I was going to love this. Ah, well...

This strikes me as a peppermint mixed with pennyroyal with a healthy dose of sugary candycanes. I happen to love pennyroayl, and mint in general - the additional vanilla sugar really rounds it out and makes it feel inviting. I'm delighted to have a bottle.

I love this scent. I get the sense of ivy, leaves, maybe amber, maybe just a touch of lily. I keep thinking of Samhain's musky-leafy quality while sniffing this blend. I also keep thinking of softly spiced apples. This doesn't strike me as resonating with graveyards, funerals, or grief in the least. I don't get much of a floral impression either. A lovely walk during autumn would be more fitting to my impression of this scent.

Wow. This is a crazy scent. It's woody, herbal, green and almost waxy in a way. It manages to seem earthy and airy at the same time. Very interesting. I think it would certainly add an interesting dimension to anything it was paired with. Depending on the context it could green up a wood or incense scent, could add an unexpected earthiness to a sweet blend, or add an almost resinous element to something already leaning in that direction. I'm excited to experiment with this one, it seems like a secret ingredient for adding a little twist.

I got my bottle from Dark Delicacies today and immediately slathered up. ~swoon~ This one really does live up to the hype, it's amazing. I'm getting a bit of the Black Lace vibe, there seems to be a similar dusky, linen, cognac type of feel to it. For the other part, it seems a little more like Samhain than Falling Leaf Moon to my nose. It seems like a Samhain sort of musky sweetness and I almost feel like I'm getting a hint of apple every once in a while in the very begining, although that seems to fade out pretty quickly, maybe I imagined it. The result is a sexy yet snuggly scent that would be great for sitting on the couch with tea, out walking in the leaves, or dazzling those around you during an evening out. I will cherish this bottle, that's for sure.

A couple years ago when I first encountered this scent it didn't do too much for me. The opium and orchid were interesting, but not compelling. I tried it again a few months ago and fell in love with it, and I appreciate it even more today. My tastes have been moving more toward resins and dark, saturated florals - and Event Horizon fits my current tastes perfectly. Sniffing from the imp: this gives me a similar feeling as black lily, it's heady and floral and sweet, but this scent actually seems lighter in tone, I think the orchid has a somewhat uplifting effect. Skin testing – Sweet and musky. It feels classy and elegant. The combination of opium and resins with the orchid is lovely. The orchid is more noticeable now. After a little time it mellows and all the elements blend into each other seamlessly. It's very smooth. This scent is like a river of black silk. It blends into my skin and smells like I've been walking through resinous incense and wear an exotic flower in my hair, like I live in a temple.

Sniffing from the decant first impressions – soft, mild, watery blue. Skin testing – pale blue, lightly floral, gentle. Not flowery, not soapy, not cleanser, not even aquatic in the way I usually think of it. There's lightness from the champaca flower and lotus, and the lightest hint of warmth from the opium water and arabian musk. This is lovely. Sadak is like airy incense burning beside a cool mountain stream. Sadak is along the lines of the feeling of sandalwood, soft wispy incense, a bit of opium, and whatever the stone element is, with the blue lotus. Notably here the lotus does not smell like bubble gum. I wish I knew what was giving the stone feeling. This just kept winning my heart more and more. The unique gentle blue eventually transformed into a lovely light incense type of smell, which I think may have been the champaca flower. Eventually on my skin this reminds me of dry sandalwood incense with a bit of musk. It's absolutely wonderful and very hard to describe.

Sniffing from my decant, first impressions: dark, woody, somewhat cologne like. Skin testing – this smells really good. It's dark and woody, but also just a little sweet, perhaps some opium is in the suffocating shadows? The above reviews that mention sandalwood and dragon's blood sounds right to me too. I love how the dark and heavy elements are balanced with notes that contain more sweet and airy qualities. Eventually this scent seems to become mainly sweet (dragon's blood? opium?) with the woody notes gently anchoring it. Totally different than my first impression from the decant. I almost didn't try this one, but now it's going on my bottle list.

This scent is unusual in that it seems to have two types of scents clashing and mixing in an unexpected way. Orb Weaver goes on with a somewhat astringent lavender which seems in close proximity with the lilac and mixing with the mandarin. This is an interesting combination that works well. The other side of this scent is the patchouli and anise, also an interesting and combination that develops both scents beyond their usual profile. Mixing these two 'halves' is the crux of this scent. It strikes me as Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde existing in one body. These two sides clash and mix and dance around each other seeming to remain quite separate entities for quite some time. It's an unusual experience. Late in the dry down I'm smelling mostly a gorgeous soft gently lavendered patchouli with maybe just the smallest touch of pine. It was an interesting ride to get to this point, that's for sure.

2012 version This strikes me as an amazing blend of lavender, violet, and something magical. I'm not usually one for violet or too many flowers mixed together, but there's a mildly green element to this violet and the way it's blending with the lavender that comes across as naturally, effortlessly, beautiful. Going on the bottle list, for sure.