Antoinette

Last year, we spent a little time running around ghost towns in California. There was one that wasnt quite a ghost town, but was it was an Old West movie set that was abandoned. A ghost town of a ghost town? It was so peculiar, and so very California. The three of us made mini movies together in that odd ghost town until it got too cold to hold a camera. This photo isnt from that trip, but it reminds me so strongly of our silly little films. This one is for my little bandit: sarsaparilla, leather, and vanilla cream. Outlaw is made of some of my very favorite notes and lives up to all my expectations of it. In the bottle I get a strong burst of mouth watering sarsaparilla/root beer. The leather note is secondary. Wet on skin: Blast of sarsaparilla with smooth leather underneath it. Vanilla cream in the background keeping it sweet. Drydown: Leather comes forward more. It's a pretty leather note, not overpowering. The sarsaparilla fizzles in the background now, the vanilla cream starts to peak out more. The sarsaparilla and vanilla cream seem to be merging into one. Ultimate drydown: Vanilla cream with leather. I'm actually getting a Love's Philosophy vibe with leather and it's BEAUTIFUL. Definite winner for me and worthy of back ups.

Soft mosses, lotus petals, bamboo wood, ylang ylang, and vanilla sandalwood. Wow, this is a very gentle scent. Everything about it evokes softness, it's super pretty. The notes are very well blended but I think the soft mosses are at the forefront. The lotus and ylang ylang give it a sweet edge while the vanilla sandalwood gives it a smooth background, the bamboo wood lends a freshness. Overall, this is soft, fresh and clean. Nice for spring!

Joseph Werner A summoning: dragon’s blood resin, olibanum, galangal, bdellium, and myrrh. Inhaling the scent of this blend brings the biggest smile to my face. (Olibanum does that to me.) The dragon's blood and olibanum are the first two notes I notice. They blend very well together with the dragon's blood being somewhat subdued. The other notes add to the overall incensey/resin nature of this oil but I have to mention that the myrrh really adds a soft and atmospheric aura to it. I can close my eyes and imagine how it evokes the label art. The resins give it an aged vibe you might experience in a stone cathedral or tomb but the dragon's blood gives it that pop of awakening energy, the myrrh that etheral ghost rising up. Beth did a beautiful job translating the art for this into scent.

Sticky Eyeballs and Floppy Entrails Last year, Lilith helped us set up one of the maze rooms for her school’s Halloween party. Not only did she help prep prop guts, but during the event, she spent some time assisting us by hiding in front of a glass window and throwing eyeballs, dismembered rubber fingers, and entrails at passers-by. I love my kid. Sticky white glops of marshmallow and clotted cream with ropes of sinewy strawberry licorice whips and oozing pink jelly. Yum! Yummy! Yum! In the bottle: The very first thing I smelled upon opening my bottle was fluffy white marshmallows! Exactly what I wanted. Followed by creamy strawberry licorice. Very sweet candy scent. Wet on skin: Strawberry licorice and pink jelly are flopping around out in front big time on my skin! The clotted cream wafts around in the background but while it's wet I can't quite find the marshmallow. Dry down: The pinkness of the strawberry licorice and oozing jelly are still quite strong and have really great throw. The cream note helps tie them together and keep the blend from going overly sweet on me. The marshmallow starts to come out more and more. Final dry down: After a few hours this really settled down into exactly what I wanted. The marshmallow becomes the main remaining note and it is quite glorious. The cream just adds to the delicious marshmallow, giving the whole scent a fluffy soft aura. The marshmallow is so authentic at this point. The pink notes have died down a lot but their sweetness remains. This final dry down is perfect to me. The initial phases of this scent are pink sweet fluffy fun! The final dry phase is more marshmallow and cream on my skin and I absolutely love it. If you like sweet scents and/or marshmallow - try this one! Love it!

Aoedae starts off as a creamy vanilla sandalwood on me, I'm not picking up on the caramel that much. As it dries down the sandalwood almost disappears and it ends up being a perfectly sweet vanilla custard type scent on my skin. I absolutely adore it both right out of the bottle and dried down. It's warm and soft, perfect for colder weather.

VENUS CAELESTIS Celestial Venus Blue lotus absolute, grey amber, white myrrh, frankincense, and sugared lemon peel. Venus Caelestis is skillfully blended. I can pick out each note but the overall effect as a whole is so well balanced. Very very lovely scent that evokes a feminine softness, a silvery blue color and a coolness coupled with a tinge of warmth. This does not morph from the bottle to my skin, the throw is fairly light on me, but I didn't slather. The first thing I notice is the blue lotus absolute. I love lotus notes and this one has a cool sophisticated aura to it, it's not overly sweet or bubble gummy to my nose. The amber and myrrh intertwine to give this blend its warm softness without going powdery which plays nicely off of the cool lotus. This is so pretty! The frankincense lends a subtle sweetness that pairs with the sugared lemon peel. The sugared lemon peel is the only note that I have to search out, but it is there - shining in the background. Overall, this is beautiful and womanly. I imagine I will want to wear this a lot in the spring and summer because it's more cool than warm. It's got a cool aquatic vibe from the blue lotus but the resins keep it grounded and rich. It's unlike anything else in my collection, I'm not sure how I would classify it - a resiny aquatic floral with a touch of sugared fruitiness? Maybe I'll just stick to simple and classify it under GORGEOUS.

Jasmine tea, mate, and yellow bergamot. The Teapot is pretty and refreshing! On my skin it is fresh and bright. The Jasmine is soft and pretty, the bergamot sunny and yellow. I'm not too familiar with mate so I can't say for sure if I'm picking up on it. It's a well blended scent. Overall, this is a very pretty tea scent with lovely soft but sunny floral tones. I imagine I'll enjoy wearing this a lot in the spring and summer.

The Everleigh Club was located in a sumptuous 50-room mansion in Chicago’s Red Light District. Every inch of this palace of sin was lavishly decorated, and none more than the Gold Room, which featured golden furnishings, golden draperies, gold spittoons, gold-gilded fish bowls, and a gold-leaf piano. Gleaming, glittering gold: amber and honeyed champagne, ginger root, yellow tobacco flower, and golden apple peel. The Gold Room is my favorite from this year's exceptional C2E2 exclusives. It's really well blended and all of the notes express a golden feel, but the standout note is the amber and honey champagne. It's one of those blends that's makes me feel happy when I smell it and it has a very nice throw, so a lot of happiness from this one! In the bottle: Champagne, fizzy and bright! On the skin: Happy champagne with golden wisps of the ginger root and tobacco flower all on a sweet hint of golden apple peel. It's a stunner and if you love the Lab's champagne note, try to snag one!

This cabin has roof goblins, and they’re going to steal your apples and milk. Honeycrisp apples and sugared milk. Wow, Roof Goblins is one of those blends that sounded perfect to me and it does not disappoint. It's a straightforward mixture of sweet and juicy honeycrisp apples and sugared milk. Soft and sweet, it stays close to the skin but for the first few hours I kept getting delicious wafts of sweet creamy apple. Definitely the best milk note I've tried! It's sugared, creamy and soft - which is what the final dry down is like on my skin. This is going to be a regular go to for the fall and winter months because it's comforting and I imagine will feel warm in the cold days ahead. Beautiful!

Lilith was incredibly disappointed that she wasnt allowed to touch the Egyptian funerary texts at the British Museum. Myrrh and papyrus reed with a smear of vanilla cream frosting. Myrrh, Egyptian stuff AND vanilla?!? Yes. Please. What an evocative blend! I've never been to Egypt but this conjures an image of strolling the banks of the Nile, lined by papyrus reeds blowing in the gentle wind, while myrrh incense wafts in swirls around you. The papyrus reed is green and watery. It's fresh and a little bit sharp (which I love!). It juxtaposes beautifully with the softness of the myrrh. As it dries down, the watery aspect seems to fade but everything else remains consistent. It's quite atmospheric and I'm delighted with it. ETA: A few hours into the drydown and I definitely pick up on the vanilla cream frosting. It's sweet and yummy! I'm interested to read how other people interpret it!

I was born and raised in California and this smells like home. It's beautiful and gives me an overall sense of joy and peace when I inhale deeply. It's like a little piece of home I can visit anytime I like. Love it!

I love cola fragrances and this one is so authentic but with the added bonus of a fluffy marshmallow background. It has that invigorating carbonated element to it (I don't know what magic Beth uses to achieve this, but it's always fabulous) and it's just the right amount of sweet. Back up bottle worthy for me!

The Everleigh’s phone number, available 24/7 to clients and sympathetic reporters. For a good time, call. Softly-glowing gaslamps cast sinuous shadows over plush leather and brocade sofas, flicking its light between oaken shelves laden with books. A whiff of aftershave and the memory of perfume. I'm not really sure how to review this one. I can't truly pick out the separate notes but I know they are there, it's just that the cumulative effect of them all blended together is so delicious that it becomes its own atmosphere. It's sexy and attractive and expensive smelling. I will say that to my nose the prominent top notes are the aftershave and perfume (expensive smelling varieties) while the other notes create a background location for them. It's another prime example of how Beth captures a place and time in a bottle. Magic.

This is such a beautiful fresh floral scent. It reminds me of taking an early summer morning walk on a flowered path still covered in dew drops. This one has just the right amount of florals that makes me want to inhale without it being at all over powering. It's gorgeous.

I love this one! It's mostly cherry blossom on me. I actually forgot strawberry was listed in this until I got online here and read the notes. It's such a lovely springtime scent, light, pink and sweet. Gorgeous and back up worthy.

On me this is primarily a nice deep red apple with a flourish of soft myrrh. Really nice combo.

Ok, this blend is wonderful! There was a really beautiful way that the fruits played off of the resins. On me the apple and pear (which seem equal, neither one overtakes the other) brought out the sweetness in the resins and the interplay between the juicy fruits and the dry resins was truly lovely. As it dried down, the fruits faded away a bit, leaving behind a very nice sweet frank/myrhh/amber combo that was delicious. I have a lot of fruity scents and a lot of resin scents but this is the only fruity resin scent I think I have. It's adds something new and unique to my collection.

I agree with the description of this being like a Strawberry Stekk! This is delicious. LOVE!

White tea, neroli, and slivered ginger. In the bottle: I'm immediately reminded of Kumiho. Wet on skin: Yes, it's in the same family as Kumiho but this is definitely different. The neroli adds a pretty punch of floral brightness here! The white tea is crisp and the ginger is sharp but not overly so. This is refreshing! Dry down: This is sparkly. It's crisp, clean, bright, just as I imagined it would be. This will wear well for me in hotter temps. If you like Kumiho, you should give this a try! The neroli sets it apart and adds a very pretty dimension to the tea and ginger. I love this!!

First and foremost, Yipe! is sweet and juicy cherry cream. It's delicious and strong upon application. As it dries, it softens a bit and I detect a tartness from the blackberries. The blackberry is a background player here, though, the creamy cherry is the stand out note and it's really really lovely and luscious. Currently debating ordering a back up bottle.

Such a fresh/sweet scent! I get fresh pink roses and vanilla cream with a bright hint of bergamot. The jasmine is super low key on me. Dries down to vanilla cream roses. I love it!

Straight out of the bottle and onto my skin this was lilac marshmallows. As it dried down, the marshmallow faded and the orris, moss and misty notes came forward. On me, the mallow resurfaces upon drydown, not super strong, but it adds a sweetness. I'm not sure what Queen of the Night smells like, I'm thinking it is adding to the lilac floral scent? The overall feeling of this oil is very atmospheric and ethereal. It feels like being outside on a cool and misty night with a sky full of silvery sparkling stars. A unicorn walks by, wafting its marshmallow scented mane around as it passes you. Sweet, aquatic floral. I really love it!

Was lucky to grab a bottle of this off of etsy. In the bottle: Pink musk and sweet pea Wet: Sugary sweet pea is the dominant note, the musk is light and fuzzy but in the background. This scent is very PINK! Drydown: Sugared sweet pea, very sweet and light (but great throw and lasting power!) and girly and pink. The pink musk doesn't amp on me (which is nice) and adds a soft vibe to the scent. I absolutely love this blend. It's the epitome of sweet girly pink sugary prettiness. I wouldn't hesitate to grab additional bottles, were I ever able to!

I love this 13! Although there are many notes in this blend, first impression is dark chocolate. As it dries down, I get the resins - mostly the amber. The amber reminds me of Gelt. This is akin to a dark chocolate version of gelt, but with more depth from the added components. Overall, if you like dark chocolate, this is pretty stunning with great throw and lasting power.

Juicy sweet/tart pom juice with just hints of smoke wafting around. Bright red and delightful vibe!