sunlitgarden

In the Wild North has a sweetness, but it's not an actual berry like Skadi or Almond Blossom. It's the Lab's snow note plus spruce and pine, which is definitely lovely but not the same as Skadi. Alas. I haven't tried Skadi, but I get a strong berry note in ITWN... it smells like blackberry to me. Maybe it's chemistry dependent.

I think this came as a Lab frimp but I'm not sure how old it is. In the imp: Sweet orange, florals in the background. I like this! On my skin: lots of sweet orange! This is creamy, sweet, and has a lushness to it that does make me think of a jungle. I've never been to a tropical rainforest myself but it reminds me of standing in a greenhouse with lots of flowers and plants in the background. I've tried a few tropical scents where the plumeria is too sharp, but it's not like that here. A few minutes later I'm starting to smell what I guess is the incense smoke--it reminds me of a freshly blown out candle. I don't usually like smoke notes but it's blended with enough other notes here that it's not overpowering. I probably wouldn't have picked this for myself but I actually really like this, especially because it's different from any other scents I have. Yay for frimps!

This probably came to me as a frimp from the Lab, but I'm not sure how old it is. In the imp: Musk and sweet strawberry. I wasn't sure how strawberry leaf would compare to strawberry fruit. It smells a little bit greener, I guess, but still smells sweet and somewhat candy-like-- I can see how other people have mentioned bubblegum. On my skin: More pink bubblegum and some musk (smells more like red musk than white musk). I don't really smell the grapefruit here, specifically, but I am guessing it is helping to balance out the scent and keep it from being too overly sweet. It just doesn't have a particularly sour, sharp, or citrus smell to it. I like this. Probably not enough to get a whole bottle, but it's worth holding onto the imp. I like The Instructional Manual better for strawberry and musk but this is a possible GC alternative.

Plastic Pink Flamingo has been on my wishlist for years. Someone was kind enough to gift me a sniffie of this. Thanks <3 I couldn't really smell much in the empty decant, but there's a *tiny* bit of oil on the wand and I rubbed it on my arm. At first I wasn't going to write a review because I didn't think there was enough to go by, but I keep getting whiffs of the most lovely sugary-sweet marshmallow, so I decided to write one anyway. Up close when I sniff it it's more like the dandelion/sap (but still sweet--it reminds me somewhat of Fairy Wine), but the throw is more marshmallow. I would really like to get more of this and do a more involved skin test because it smells really good! Will update if/when I get more. <3

In the decant: In scents with this many notes, I often have trouble picking out individual ones. I definitely smell the lavender in here, and the scent overall is on the sweet side but it's not overpoweringly sweet. Something reminds me of....a barn? I guess that's the hay? o_O On my skin: I smell the sweet strawberry and cream here but it's not nearly as dominant as it was in The Instructional Manual on me. This is on the herbal side and the "after-smell" that lingers in my nose after I sniff it reminds me of fennel. This is kind of a weird one on me, but the scent that it's settling into as it starts to dry is better than how it smelled in the decant and wet on my skin. The carnation is giving this blend a spiciness. The "barny" quality of the hay goes away, thankfully, and it's more like just dried grass. The scent it's settling into is hard to describe but it's kind of spicy and also herbal. The carnation is coming through now and there's something almost a bit smoky. This is okay on me, but not my favorite of the 2016 Lupers. The Instructional Manual is more to my taste in the strawberries and cream department.

Cherry blossoms falling into folds of red musk, bourbon vanilla, and strawberry cream. In the decant: Creamy strawberry candy! I can smell the red musk in the background giving this a bit of spice/depth. On my skin: Again, creamy strawberry candy. I haven't had one in a long time but it makes me think of strawberry Cream Savers (creamy hard candies) which I used to love. The tiny bit of red musk is making me think of eating Cream Savers near the door to a headshop with some faint incense wafting out when someone opens the door. But mostly this is incredibly sweet and creamy strawberry candy. I don't smell the cherry blossom specifically but it might be adding to the overall "pinkness" of this scent. I'm trying to stick to decants to keep my collection's size under control but I kind of regret not buying a bottle of this one! I'm a strawberry fan and this is lovely, not boozy or overripe like some of them have been on me.

Kind of embarrassing but I never got around to writing reviews for all of my decants from last year's Lupers, and I never remember what I thought of a scent without a review. I'm trying to rectify this now before a new batch of Lupers comes out, so I don't get completely overwhelmed. In the decant: Fruity-floral. The plum and blackcurrant smell juicy and "purplish", and the wisteria and cherry blossoms smell sweet and light. Very springy and pretty. I think the green tea is adding to the overall light, refreshing feel of this scent. On my skin: It's good to be able to narrow it down to the lily in Night Snow at Kambara that made it smell incredibly soapy, not the cherry blossom or wisteria, because the same thing isn't happening here. This is a really nice fruity-floral. It's somewhat "juicy" smelling while not being heavy, overripe or boozy like some fruit scents can be on me. It's sweet but not overly sweet. The tea keeps it smelling light and almost lemony. As it dries, it gets a little soft and powdery on me, but in a way I find pleasant. There's something a tiny bit smoky, which I've encountered sometimes from tea notes. In the fruity-floral category, I've had the most success with the Shungas and other "Asian inspired" scents like Weeping Branches Moon, and this is another winner for me

Thanks for that list sprout! I will have to try a few of those! I am loving A Little More Tea. Tea and cookies! Not a tea strictly speaking (from the tea plant), but on me this year's Season of Ghosts really smells like an herbal tea blend with lemongrass, ginger, and citrus. I REALLY want to drink a hot cup of it!

+ 1 What about Desert Places? Is it a white tea-centric blend? I haven't tried Tyrannophobia or Firethorn Berry Tea. But I can vouch that on me, Desert Places was very white tea heavy. It was a lot more clean and "fresh" smelling than I was expecting! But very nice--I just prefer The Dormouse for that kind of scent. I just tried my decant yesterday and BPTP's Yule scent Tea and Music is a wonderful scent for sweet tea and wood!

This year's Yule blend In the Wild North is evergreen with berries and snow on me

In the decant: I'm an evergreen lover and this is wonderful! They are all here! (except juniper I guess, but that's okay). I can't exactly pick out the different evergreen notes but I can tell there's more than one in here. And something sweet, like berries? It's reminding me of Old Moon 2008 with the evergreen and berries. On my skin: Yeah, there's definitely some kind of berry in here. Blackberry? It made me think of sour gummi worms candy briefly, reminding me of Blue Snowballs. I think the snow note here is that same note from Blue Snowballs. And I'm smelling vanilla? or something like it, a little bit. I'm not sure what exactly I was expecting from this scent but this is sweeter and fruitier than I was thinking it would be on my skin. I already have some scents in this vein (Blue Snowballs, Old Moon 2008, even Waltz of the Snowflakes) so I don't think I'll be needing a bottle of this as I'm trying not too have too many similar scents. It does smell good, though! Evergreen notes with sweet snow and berries.

In the decant: Wow! Lots of stuff! This makes me think of a yellowish-orange color. There are a lot of notes swirling around, but I can definitely smell the lemongrass, citrus (bergamot/blood orange), ginger, and roselike rose geranium. Not sure I specifically smell the frankincense. The ginger, lemongrass and citrus notes are making me think of some sort of yummy herbal tea blend or a sauce used in cooking. On my skin: Still smelling edible/drinkable, zingy with the ginger. Still is making me think of some kind of herbal tea blend. It's indeed bright and invigorating and would probably make a good aromatherapy blend. I'm mainly getting the ginger, lemongrass and citrus. I've learned that in blends with rose geranium, I usually can smell it in the decant but not at all, or very little, on my skin. Which is too bad because I enjoy the note. I don't know that I smell the frankincense specifically here, but there is a sort of "glowing" resiny note to this, which I guess is it. This is a nice scent overall, but I keep wishing I had a nice hot cup of tea made out of it! Dry: Okay, I'm getting more recognizable frankincense now. It's warm, glowy, and reminds me a little of violin bow rosin. I still smell a little of the other notes as well (including more rose geranium than before--maybe it's able to come out again once the citrus top notes leave). It's really nice at this stage. But overall this scent reminds me of tea so much that I want to drink it and it's actually kind of distracting/makes me hungry. O_o

In the decant: YUM! Creamy, sweet, fluffy marshmallow and vanilla cream. I haven't done a side by side comparison yet, but just based on my memory, on my skin this is very similar to last year's Marshmallow Cookie Pie (which I already have a bottle of). I think the main difference is that MCP was heavier on the chocolate, while this has more of the marshmallow. Overall, they're similar enough that I don't think I need bottles of both, but this is VERY yummy. If you regret missing out on MCP, get this!

In the decant: Sweet-spicy carnation and vanilla. On my skin: There is a little smokiness to this when first applied; like another reviewer said it's like a candle just blown out kind of smokiness. It's mostly carnation, sweetened by the vanilla and maybe the freesia (it's not a note I'm very familiar with). As it starts to dry, if I sniff my wrist closely it reminds me of warm dust in a computer lab. I know that sounds weird, but it's not bad; there's something comforting about it. It reminds me of playing Oregon Trail and Kid Pix in the computer lab at my school. Whatever that scent is fades as it dries, though. The drydown is warm, sweet, creamy vanilla and carnation, similar to Alice on me. I still think Alice and Morocco are my favorite blends for carnation (and they have the added bonus of being GC), but if you don't like some of the other notes in those oils or are looking for another sweet carnation scent, this is definitely worth trying. It's a really nice carnation.

In the decant: This smells really nice. Sweet tea and a rich deepness, presumably from the mahogany leather. I don't smell any chocolate. On my skin: This smells almost smoky at first. The tea note can sometimes do that but also it might be coming from the wood. I think that the mahogany and leather here are two separate notes because I'm definitely smelling some wood in here. It is an aged, oiled wood. I can detect the leather if I think about it but it's not strong, dominant, or chemical. It just kind of adds a supple softness to the scent. It's mostly wood and sweet, warm tea on me. This is more on the masculine side, but I don't find it out of place on my skin. I bet it would smell amazing on a guy though. I still don't smell any chocolate.