Miss Lynx

This scent sounded so good from the description. I have got to learn that the earthy ones don't always work on me nearly as well as I might wish... It smelled kind of heavy and nasty in the imp, but I know how much a scent can change on one's skin, so on it went anyway. And sure enough it did change. It got worse. I swear, this thing is bastard son of Samhain and Malediction. With maybe a bit of Zombi thrown into the mix for extra badness. Anyone who has ever looked at my "Scents I've Tried" list will note that the two of the three of those are in the F ("Get it off me! Get it off me!") category, and I think the other one is D or maybe at best a C. Picture Samhain without the pumpkin or apple cider, over a base of the rotting-compost graveyard dirt note from Zombi and the bitter, evil, toxic-smelling form of vetiver in Malediction. Now picture that after scrubbing my wrist three times with soap, I could still smell the damn scent hours later while doing errands. I was tempted to try Varsol or sandpaper or something, but eventually settled for rubbing my wrist with coconut oil once I got home, scraping that off, then scrubbing it with soap again, and that finally got rid of it. Meanwhile, the the ethereal beauty of All Souls on my other wrist faded within a couple of hours. Why is it never the scents I like that cling to me like napalm? Anyway, to sum up: this is one nasty, unpleasant scent, though I suppose that's fully appropriate for its theme. And harder to get rid of than the villain in a slasher movie. Count me as having a bad case of Samhainophobiaphobia. Grade: F

Hmmm. Not sure about this one. It comes across as predominantly floral to me, but with a strange sour/bitter herbal undertone keeping it from being too sweet. It's definitely not a women's scent, but doesn't really smell like a men's scent in the normal sense either. There's something almost medicinal about it, appropriately enough for something named for a doctor. It doesn't smell like it was meant to be worn as a scent at all. It's odd, looking at the description after trying it -- this has many things I usually like in it, like sandalwood, ginger, pepper and tonka, but I don't smell any of those. Just the flowers, and that weird sour/bitter medicinal undertone. I don't really get the delerious feel from it that other have mentioned at all... It's just a slightly off-smelling herbal-floral mix. Not too bad, but not something I could see myself wearing on purpose. Grade: C

It's strange -- I've had this scent for almost three weeks now, and worn it several times, but am only just now posting a review... I really like it, but it's hard to describe, and every time I've sat down to try and write about, I don't seem to be able to come up with the right words. Schwarzer Mond is a really fascinating scent. Heavy, resinous, dark, incensey and musky... It's intense and powerful, sometimes a little too much so. It needs to be applied fairly sparingly, which considering its cost and scarcity, is probably a good thing. The images and impressions it brings to my mind vary considerably from moment to moment. At times it has very much a sort of church incense feel, and at other times smells more like something you would use to summon demons or communicate with the dead. Sometimes it's kind of masculine, veering almost a little too close to the "Hi! I'm a men's scent!" territory, but other times it seems sweet and almost feminine, albeit not conventionally so -- a Dark Goddess kind of scent. There are echoes of Al Azif, The Pit & the Pendulum and other similar scents, but I think what it reminds me of more than anything is a darker, more complex Fenris Wolf. And since I very much like Fenris Wolf, that's a very good thing. Overall, through all its changes, it's dark and heady, mysterious and complex. And absolutely gorgeous. Grade: A

This is the sort of high, sweet floral that I usually tend to despise, but really, it doesn't seem as bad as most of its type. There's a slightly bittersweet element to it that tones it down a little, though it's still a lot more strongly floral than anything I'd wear voluntarily. Something in it smells a little bit soporific, like a relaxing aromatherapy blend. Looking at the description now, I think palmarosa gets used in that sort of blend. Interestingly, I didn't think rose when I first sniffed this, without having seen the description -- I actually thought it was ylang ylang or something, though it's not as aggressive as ylang ylang usually is. I don't really get much in the way of sandalwood or patchouli from it, at least at first - though considering how much my skin tends to amp florals, that's not really surprising. As with Rakhasa and other similar scents, the non-floral notes do eventually make themselves known after a couple of hours, at which point it's actually quite nice, but I don't really want to have to wait thatlong to enjoy a scent. Grade: B-

Very interesting - at first sniff it seems more floral than anything, but there are definitely other elements lurking in here, that give it an overtone of darkness and strength. It's a feminine scent, to be sure, but it's a very don't-fuck-with-me kind of feminine scent. It smells like a strong, sexy, dominating woman, which I suppose is quite appropriate for its purpose. I'd have a hard time guessing what the notes in this are -- some kind of musk, definitely, and I think honey or beeswax, some kind of dark incense resin like myrrh or labdanum, along with rich, heady florals, and some kind of spice - clove? Not sure... I keep getting whiffs of things I think I recognize, but then they disappear before I can pin them down. It has a trace of similarity to scents like The Masque and Gypsy Queen -- probably more the former than the latter. Eventually, after a couple of hours, it's more like a spicy O. Definitely a complex, interesting scent -- and looking at the reviews, I don't think I've ever seen that smelled so different on different people! I think it was one of Kettu's acquisitions at the meet'n'sniff, but I suspect I will end up borrowing it regularly. Grade: B+

This was a completely accidental find. BPAL's wine notes often seem to turn to grape candy on my skin, and while I'm still not sure exactly what mimosa smells like, it's been in a number of scents I haven't liked, so I tend to mistrust it instinctively. But someone had this one up for swap at the most recent Meet'n'Sniff, and on whim I decided to try it -- and about two minutes later was offering her my swap box to see if there was anything she'd like in exchange for it. Because this was really startlingly nice. The wine note, while it still doesn't smell like wine exactly, is not as cloyingly sweet as it has been elsewhere, and the clove gives it a really nice kick. And there's a hint of something earthy and bittersweet behind it, giving it depth -- could that be mimosa? I was almost certain that mimosa was the painfully sweet floral that killed Masabakes for me, but maybe not. Anyway, this is quite likable. Spicy-sweet, with a hint of darkness and depth, though not enough to really make it last all that long -- it does seem to do a bit of a quick fade. But it's very nice while it lasts. Grade: B (B+ if it lasted longer)

Seconding Sin, Bengal, Hymn to Proserpine, Lampades and Mme. Moriarty. All lovely. And I'd also like to add for consideration: Blood (spicy dragon's blood and myrrh) Vixen (ginger-infused patchouli and orange blossom, which also smells like there's red musk in it even though it's not listed) Bewitched (earthy musky evil forest berries) Madrid (spicy mulled wine and incense) Chimera (best cinnamon incense ever) Tintagel (spiced wine, candles and enchanted forest) and -- if you can find it -- Red Phoenix (spicy, fruity, musky, incensey, dark and just all around great -- but discontinued).

The Lab seem to be being super-cautious with this topic now - Kettu just e-mailed them about it and they said not only that she should avoid all BPAL during the entire pregnancy but that so should I! She came into my room and told me, and then promptly burst into tears.... and she's not even as hardcore an addict as I am! But she was really hoping to be able to use some of the Somnium oils for helping with sleep and dreamwork while pregnant, and some of the TALs (notably Bastet's Laughter) to deal with hormonally induced mood swings and depression. It does look like the main ones they usually say to avoid are the more pungent herbals and spices, not so much the softer, earthier scents (except myrrh), so we may be able to make some educated guesses on that basis, but it's hard when we have no way of knowing the notes in most of the Somnium and TAL scents. I've heard that the Lab used to tell people specific oils to avoid, but now I guess they're trying to protect themselves legally just in the case of any adverse reactions, by telling people to avoid everything. From a legal/business perspective this makes perfect sense, and it's what I'd probably tell them to do if I was a lawyer. But from a consumer perspective it really sucks, because I suspect very few BPAL addicts are really going to be willing to forgo the precious for an entire nine months, and this way, with no specific information, we're basically flying blind.

In the imp, this smelled fearsomely floral, so I only put it on sparingly. On my skin, I actually noticed the fruity notes about as much as the florals, which boded a little better - fruit notes tend to work better on me than florals do, probably because my skin does not amp them to the level of sheer insanity. And as it settles in, it's actually not bad -- not as dark as I might have expected for its inspiration, but not overwhelmingly sweet either. It's more of a light and feminine scent than most of those I wear, but not excessively so. Something in it reminds me a little bit of Rage, but offhand I can't see any notes they have in common, so I don't know why. Just a slightly similar feel, I guess. That, and that both of them sound like they're supposed to be scary, but actually smell quite pretty. Even after being on my skin for a while, wonder of wonders, the florals are not being amped to any bad extent -- it's actually quite nicely balanced, and smells fresh, just gently sweet, and overall quite nice. It's definitely the kind of scent I will be all over come spring, when I always want lighter, fresher scents, but even before that I think I'm going to enjoy this one. Grade: B+

Ooh, this is gorgeous. Based on the reviews, it was the Arkham scent I most wanted when they brought back the collection, and thus far I am not disappointed. It's definitely in the same general ballpark as Cathedral, Aureus, Midnight Mass and The Pit & the Pendulum -- a resinous, incensey scent -- but it's more interesting than any of them, though probably closer to TP&TP than any of the others. As some people have commented, there's an overtone of sweetness to it, but I don't find it sugary at all... There's almost a hint of floral, but not quite, and other notes that seem maddeningly familiar but just out of reach. There's something vaguely intoxicating about it, like if inhaled enough it could induce visions. It's definitely a pagan ritual incense, not Catholic church incense. This could be in the running to be my favourite incense scent yet, possibly even displacing Aureus from that position... Only down side is that it doesn't last terribly long -- on my wrists it's gone inside of an hour, and even in the crooks of my arms it's pretty faint after two. But it's nice enough to be worth frequent reapplying. Grade: A

Hmm, this is really interesting and evocative. It's definitely got some intriguingly clashing, chaotic notes, but in a (mostly) good way. There's a fruity sweetness in it that I guess must be the tamarind. The black musk is definitely there, but as a subtle underlying warmth and darkness the way it is in Bewitched and Lampades. The earthiness of the vetiver helps ground it, but doesn't dominate it the way it sometimes can. And there's a sort of herbal sharpness to it, and an incensey element that I suppose must be the opoponax. As it develops, there's an almost floral sweetness that comes up -- mimosa maybe? -- which gives it an interesting gender-bending quality. It's got a heaviness that's suggestive of men's scents, but with this soaring sweetness overtop of it that's much more feminine. It's not even exactly gender-neutral in the usual sense - it's more like it's shouting masculine and feminine at the same time. And shouting it is -0 this is quite a strong scent, with a lot of throw. I found myself wishing I'd applied it a bit more sparingly... Over time, it morphs and shifts all kinds of different ways -- it's kind of liking riding an olfactory roller coaster. And that seems highly appropriate for the music it's named for. The eventual drydown is earthy, musky and heavy, but not as loud or obtrusive as its earlier stages, or too conventionally masculine for me to want it on my skin. Ultimately, I don't think it's something I'll wear much, but I'm glad to have tried it -- it's definitely an adventure in a bottle. Grade: B

I really thought I had finally found an Ars Draconis scent that would work on me -- there are so many awesome notes in the description, that are normally lovely on me. And yet... The first thing that struck my nose when I applied it was a fiercely strong, synthetic, maraschino-cherry/almond extract kind of scent. Not good. I don't know what's producing that, either -- none of the listed notes would seem to account for it. As it settles in, that note thankfully fades a bit, but it still smells a bit... off. There's something cloyingly sweet and perfumey about it, which keeps the other notes from being as good as they could be. Maybe it's just the dragon's blood itself -- that note is really dodgy on me, and can sometimes be good but other times very, very bad. Still, I'd thought from the description that if ever dragon's blood was in good company, this was it, but... not so sure. It does eventually improve, with the cloying synthetic scent becoming less prominent, and the other notes beginning to rear their head a bit more. I can now begin to see why some people have compared it to Red Phoenix and Blood Moon, but on me the similarity is not that strong... There's a faint echo of those here, but this one is not nearly as deep or complex, which is a pity. All in all, probably the best of the Ars Draconis series on me, but that's saying very little. This series hates me. Grade: B-

This is only superficially similar to the original 13. In the bottle, they smell slightly similar -- both have that paradoxical food/not-food feel to them, and immediately noticeable elements of chocolate and orange with undertones of a whole lot of other stuff, but the new 13 smells less sweet, and a bit more herbal. On, it evolves in a very different direction! There's a sharpness and tartness to it that the original doesn't have at all, which gives it a bit of a fresher feeling. And after it's been on my skin for a while, the florals kick in really strongly, especially lavender, and there's a touch of something spicy. I began to get worried at that point, but then they settled back down again, leaving a really interesting, well-balanced blend that can't really be categorized easily. It's partly floral, partly herbal, partly fruity, partly cocoa/vanilla... A little bit of everything. It's definitely got that sharp tea-like edge to it that Dorian and other similar ones have -- actually, between that and the vanilla, there's a definite similarity to Dorian, but I like this much better. It has character and complexity, while still being not so far off of a traditional perfume that you couldn't wear it in an office. Interestingly, it seems to dry down differently in different places -- on my wrists, it's more spicy/herbal and aromatic; in the crooks of my arms, more floral. I like the former better, but it doesn't last as long there. After a few hours, it also seems to develop a touch of the waxy synthetic note that the original 13 also sometimes had, which is a bit off-putting, because apart from that, I quite like this. All in all, though, I think it's a keeper. Further experimentation will be needed, but thus far I like it more than the original, and I liked that one quite a bit, though I've found it hasn't aged terribly well. This may make a very nice replacement for it, but the feeling is different enough that I may just wear them in different moods. Grade: A

This one sparked my interest when I first saw the description, and quickly moved up to the top of my wishlist as the reviews came in. And I finally got an imp at the most recent meet'n'sniff. When I first tried it, I was a bit disappointed, though -- it didn't seem as complex or interesting as I'd hoped, and was a bit more like a cliche Christmas candle scent. But I wasn't willing to write it off on the basis of that, especially since I'd only tried it on my wrists and scents often smell different to me depending on where I apply them. And I held off on writing a review until now. So... I'm trying it now on several parts of the body, and I have to say, thus far I like it much better this way. In the crooks of my arms and in my cleavage the scent seems a lot richer and deeper than it does in my wrists. It's definitely more foresty, and less sweet, though the berries still give it at least a certain sweetness. Smells like it's in the same scent-family as Bewitched and Lampades, and also has more than a passing resemblance to Nocnitsa, and even a touch of Hexennacht. It does sometimes get a bit too berry-sweet, but overall, not bad at all. So, definitely liking it more this time around. I don't know that it's necessarily going to be a top favourite, but it's a nice one. And given that I don't really have much in the way of distinctly wintery scents that I like, it could fill a useful niche there. I'll look forward to trying it again once winter really kicks in. Grade: B/B+

In the imp, this smells like sharp, strong, men's cologne, with a bit of a chemical edge -- maybe ozone? Not promising. When freshly applied, pretty much the same. But as it settles in, it does begin to morph and change a certain amount. It's very musky, with a sharp tea-like note... almost like Dorian's evil twin. The ozone, if that's what it is, is still there, but less prominent. I don't like ozone, but it does add a certain cleanness to this otherwise dirty musk. The musk gradually subsides a bit, and the wood note comes through more strongly. It's actually getting kind of pleasant at this point -- it still smells like it belongs more on a man than on me, but it's not bad. Light and woody and clean with just a hint of musk remaining, and a bit of the tea note. But it's also very faint at this point, more of a skin-scent than anything. All in all, an interesting scent to try, but not a keeper, at least for me. Grade: C+/B-

I got this in a swap not so much because I wanted it myself as because I know a lot of people who work with the goddess it's named for, and was reasonably sure one of them would like it. (I'm finding that as my wishlist gets shorter, the only way I can really swap for things most of the time is to pick stuff I plan to give to other people.) The main reason I didn't think I'd like it was the almond. Almond is one of my least favourite notes in all creation. I like actual almonds, to eat, but I hate with a burning passion amaretto, marzipan, almond extract and anything flavoured with any of the above. I think I may have read one too many Agatha Christie novels at an early age (all the cyanide poisoning scenes mention the smell of almonds). And yet somehow, I decided to try it anyway. Anyway... in the imp, and when fresh on my skin this was massively almondy, albeit with interesting dark undertones. But one of the things that occasionally redeems almond-containing scents for me is that it's one of those aggressive top notes that comes on strong but then fades away really fast. So within minutes after it hit my skin, the almond began fading down to a manageable level, so that soon enough it was not nearly as bad as you might think. The myrrh and musk came out to play, and considerably improved things. Eventually, the almond subsided completely, and it dried down to a soft, dark, musky incense scent that did indeed seem very suitable for Hecate. But I don't know that it was worth suffering through the almond for. And as luck would have it, I have not even been successful in giving it to any of my Hecate-loving friends thus far. One of them, upon trying it, sniffed her arm and said "The marzipan of the Dark Goddess? Now that's just wrong." But I continue to hope it will find love somewhere. Grade: C+

At the risk of being completely redundant, this is very, very incensey. But given that it's based on church incense, this is hardly surprising, is it? It's initially very heavy and dark -- I had tried Hecate on my other arm, and got them confused at one point, thinking this smelled very much like what I would envision for Her. The myrrh seemed to be dominant at that point. But as it settles in it becomes lighter and sweeter, as the frankincense seems to come to the fore. It's still wickedly strong, though, and has considerably more throw than any of the other three scents I tried on all at the same time (two different swap packages arrived today, so there was a fair bit to try). One dab on the arm and I can smell it everywhere I go. It's quite long-lasting too. Overall, I'd say it's not bad, but not as complex as some of BPAL's other incense scents. Compared to Cathedral, Midnight Mass and The Pit & The Pendulum, this is the least interesting of the lot, but that's not to say it's not interesting... It's all relative. I don't dislike Penitence, but I suspect I'll end up swapping it just because I have several very similar scents already. Grade: B-

I wasn't sure if I'd like this or not -- I know I really like the blackberry note in Bewitched, but wasn't too sure about the heather. I fear florals, because they tend to amp a lot on my skin. When sniffed in the imp and freshly applied, though, the blackberry definitely ruled -- it was a rich, fruity scent, with undertones behind it that smelled more herbal than floral. Very nice. But on drydown, the heather came out more, and my skin did amp it a bit. Never to the point where it was unbearable, but I did find myself enjoying it less. It also seemed at one point to be fading fast, but then it hit a sort of plateau and hung in there at a low level for longer than I had thought it would. This would have been good, except for the fact that by that point it was a lot more heather than blackberry. Still, it's not a total writeoff. It's a light, fresh scent of the sort that I tend to like to wear in the spring, so I'll probably put it away and save it for then. Grade: B

I've been wanting this one for a long time, because people who like the same kinds of scents I do keep recommending it, but at the same time I was a little wary of the notes. I like patchouli in blends, but not when it's the dominant note. Plus, my skin tends to amp florals like there's no tomorrow, and grape is one of the few fruit notes that usually doesn'twork on me. So I had both hopes and fears for Urd. And finally I got to try it. In the imp, it smelled like total patchouli -- almost like a single note. I begin to think my fears might win out. But once it hit my skin, the other notes began to come out, and it became much nicer. The muscadine note turned out to be about the only kind of grape that doesn't seem to turn to candy or Kool-aid on my skin. It just added a touch of high, clear sweetness that complemented the patchouli wonderfully, but never became overpowering. And the chapma and cereus are similarly well-behaved -- my skin often amps florals but either it's didn't these, or there was only a little bit of them in here. Overall, Urd is is a really interesting and complex scent, and I can see why so many people like it. It gets really nice as it settles in, with all kinds of layers of scent emerging. It's dark and earthy and sweet and heady, sometimes a sort of fruity floral like Yerevan or Xiutehcutli, and sometimes more of a deep, dark, earthy scent. It seems to be roughly in the same scent-family as Bewitched and Lampades, which is a Very Good Thing as far as I'm concerned, since those are two of my favourites. I really like scents that have that kind of dynamic range -- really bright, sweet notes layered over dark, murky ones. So yes, this is by far the best of the eight scents that arrived in two separate swap packages yesterday, and warrants much further experimentation. It may even be a candidate for the ever-diminishing big bottle list... I'm starting to realize I don't really need a 5 mL of every single scent I like, because I like a lot of different things, and there's only so much perfume one person can wear. But some things to merit one, and this just might be one of them. Grade: A-, maybe A

I probably wouldn't have ordered this on my own, but Kettu wanted to try it. And of course, once it's in my possession, I'll try nearly anything... On first contact, it's like a richer, darker version of Bliss. As it settles in, there are faint overtones of other things beyond the chocolate, including some note that smells a lot like toasted marshmallow. Interesting, though not really my usual type of scent. But as it develops further, there's a sharpness in it, almost a sourness -- maybe that's the butcher part of Candy Butcher. And that, in turn, eventually morphs into a chemical/plastic, fake-food scent which is decidedly unpleasant. I do still get whiffs of the nicer early notes from time to time, but for the most part after an hour or so it smells very synthetic. Oh well. Someone else will undoubtedly love it more than we do. Grade: C+

My first Salon scent! And it's a really fascinating one. It was hard to imagine, from the diversity of notes in it, what it would smell like. At first sniff, it's decidedly boozy -- unsurprisingly, I suppose, with cognac and red wine in it. But there are dark, incensey undertones to it, and a heady sweetness that's intoxicating and defintely not a conventionally girly sweetness. It's reminiscent in some ways of some of the Maelstrom scents, notably Montresor and Fortunato -- both of which were also dark, boozy scents that came across as both heady and hypnotic, and a little bit creepy. But this is richer and more complex than either of those. The myrrh in here is really bitter, the sort I'm used to from making my own incense, and gives the scent a seriously dark edge that's almost unpleasant, but in a way that only makes the scent better (if that description makes any sense at all). As it settles in, the wine and cognac notes fade down, and it becomes more strongly incensey, with the resins predominating. The sweetness has pretty much gone out of it at this point, leaving a warm, aromatic, slightly bitter scent that slowly and grdually fades. I don't think is necessarily going to be a top favourite, but it's a complex and interesting scent which bodes well for my explorations of the rest of the Salon... Grade: B+

My first time trying a TAL oil -- I had ordered this one for Kettu's birthday a while back, but ended up wearing it tonight. Yes, on me, not on a candle. Seemed like a good idea at the time. I was going to be priestessing a Wiccaning (baby blessing) ritual for a friend's new baby tonight, and trying to decide what to wear. On the basis of scent alone, I had been leaning toward Mme. Moriarty, but I did not want to wear something associated with misfortune and bleak fates to a baby blessing ritual. I looked over my favourites, trying to find something that sounded suitable upbeat, and was about to go for Aglaea, when I suddenly got very strong impulse that Bastet was what was needed. I have lately been trying to cultivate more of a connection with that deity, and it would appear that She had decided that the time to connect was now. But, I thought, that wasn't the scent I wanted. Aglaea.... No. Bastet! Er... yes, ma'am. So I went into the bedroom where Kettu's Bast shrine is, and saw the regular Bastet oil on one side of the statue of Her... and Bastet's Laughter on the other. And I thought, that's the one. I'd only ever just sniffed it tentatively in the bottle, but it seemed to be exactly what was needed right then, so I pretty much slathered it onto my wrists, neck and heart area. It smelled... overwhelmingly sweet. Like strong, bright fruit kicked up a notch by lotus, a note I usually dislike intensely. But here, it was strangely good. It did not smell like a normal sort of perfume I would wear, but it smelled like exactly what was needed for a baby blessing! Not only did it seem like a smell that would make a baby happy, but the whole intent of the oil is more or less the intent of the ritual: banish misfortune and unhappiness, bring joy, etc. It was very, very definitely a mood-lifter, and not only that, but intensely energizing. I was bouncing around like I'd just had six cups of coffee or something. The ritual went very well, but I think perhaps next time I will stick to putting that oil on candles -- either that, or at least be prepared for the hyper-energetic effect it seems to have on me. Grade: scent B, effect A

In the imp, and when first applied, this is very bright and sharp -- an aggressively lemon-cherry scent, somewhere between sour fruit candy and a Celestial Seasonings herbal tea, but with a hint of something deeper behind it. It's a bit fearsome at this stage, but I know from past experience that while cherry and verbena may come on strong, they don't have much staying power on my skin. And indeed, as it settles in, the sharp top notes drop off, letting the other notes peek out a bit more. The spiciness of the cardamom, the earthiness of the patchouli, the darker sweetness of the cassis (which is not the same thing as cassia, people -- it's French for blackcurrant!). This phase of it I am finding more likable. The patchouli-cardamom blend is actually a bit like what I'd expected Alone, from the DimV collection, to be like, if the patchouli hadn't completely dominated that one. Following that, it all seems to fade down a lot. It's fairly pleasant still, but very faint -- I have to press my nose right to my arm to smell it, and it's only been about an hour. Oh well. Overall -- nice enough, but not outstanding. I'll probably keep the imp, but won't need more than that. Grade: B

I was relatively sure from the initial description that I'd love this, and was almost ready to buy a 5 mL unsniffed, but I've been wrong about that sort of thing too many times before, so I played it safe and went with a decant circle. I did start to get a little nervous as the Snake Oil/Snake Charmer comparisons began to roll in, but on the whole I was still looking forward to it. And once I finally got to experience Mme. Moriarty is on my skin, my first thought was that I should have just followed my intuition and gone for a bottle, because it was absolutely gorgeous. I can definitely see where the comparisons come from -- this is kind of like the way I thought Snake Oil would smell, before I actually tried it and discovered it turned to Play-Doh and drugstore perfume on my skin. And I can smell the similarity to Snake Charmer, which was not too bad on me, though I eventually ended up swapping it. But this is like a considerably improved Snake Charmer. It's got that whole heady, intoxicating, vanilla-musk incense thing going, but with a layer of lush, dark fruitiness that gives it a lot more depth. The one thing I was afraid of is that the vanilla would turn to Play-Doh on my skin as it dried down, and it did veer a little close to that at times when I first tried it. Thankfully it never fully went there, but the vanill did seem to get a little -- I don't know, acrid? -- in the later stages, so I began to have doubts about the scent. But then the second time, when I applied it to more places than my wrists, it stayed very nice all the way through. Vanilla does fall into the category of somewhat dodgy notes for me, and its behaviour can sometimes be unpredictable on my skin. But the other notes are lovely, and when I apply it to anything other than my skin (such accidentally getting it on a sweater yesterday), it's exquisite. All in all, while I don't know yet if this is quite a top-tier scent for me, it does seem to be in the running. But more experimentation may be needed before I know for certain if I want a bottle. Grade: B+/A-

This one didn't catch my attention at all in the original descriptions -- my skin usually amps rose so severely that I can't really wear most rose scents, and woody notes are kind of hit and miss on me. Labdanum's the only note in this one that is reliably good on me. But as the reviews came in, it started sounding interesting to me -- a lot of people compared it to Desire, which is one of the few scents with rose in them that actually works on me, so I had to give it a try. And fortunately the decant circle I was in ended up with a few extra spots for this scent, so I was able to get it added to my order at the last minute before it shipped. And I'm quite glad I did. I can now add another to the very short list of rose scents that actually work on my floral-amping skin. It really doesn't smell much like Desire to me -- I'd call it more like an improved Rakshasa (a scent I really wanted to love but couldn't), with a slight similarity to Burial and Magdalene as well, but it's really distinct from any of those. The woods in it are quite strong and assertive, as a number of people have commented. For some, that means the wood is all they can smell, but on my skin, that just means that the rose can't completely drown them out, and remains well-balanced. It does come across as a very much a rose scent to me, but it's a rose scent I can actually wear, because the woods keep it from turning into death by roses. It comes on a bit strong at first, the rose and woods both, but eventually they settle down into a really lovely, harmonious, well-balanced mix, and the labdanum, which wasn't evident at all at the start, gradually kicks in to add a lush incensey depth to it. The eventual drydown is a warm, woodsy rose-incense scent. So, definitely a keeper. I don't think I need a bottle, as it's not a scent I'd wear all that often, but I will enjoy using up the imp. Grade: B+