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I mostly get the mahogany and moss, the later of which has a damp, alive forest quality to it. The smoke comes out more in the dry down and thankfully it doesn't go bonfire or charred wood on me. It's nice and dry. I get a slight impression of leather in there somewhere. The whole thing really captures the feeling of being in a quiet forest. I love it.

I bought a bottle of this when it was first released, stuck it in a box, and only just found it again! It's embarrassing how often I do this. So this is 7 years old. When I ordered this, I was focused on the vanilla, leather, and wood, so I wasn't expecting the almond to be so prevalent. In the bottle and wet, it is a creamy almond-vanilla with leather. The leather is smooth, not much of the chemical bite that I expect from black leather, although that might be from aging. As it dries down, the vanilla overtakes the almond. I can finally get a hint of patchouli but it's subtle. I wasn't sure how I felt about this when I first applied it, but even then I couldn't stop smelling my arm. It's a great variation for my vanilla-leather collection. 😊

In the bottle and wet on my skin, it is a very sweet, juicy pomegranate, almost candy-like. It becomes less juicy as it settles, and there's a heady floral sweetness to it on the drydown. I think this is the vetiver coming through, although I wish it was stronger and earthier. Overall a little too sweet for me, but I think it will be fun to layer and play with.

Who shall conceive the horrors of my secret toil as I dabbled among the unhallowed damps of the grave or tortured the living animal to animate the lifeless clay? The horrors of my secret toil: vetiver and rose. (I tried this right out of the mailbox so I'm not sure if it will smell different in a few days, but it's been cold so I think it's okay.) I was torn on getting a bottle of this because I was afraid the vetiver would be too strong for me, but I am really pleasantly surprised. I have to admit that I can't tell the difference between the different kinds of roses, but to me this smells like a lush, wet rose. I don't find it sharp or bitter; in the drydown it actually gets sweeter on me. There's not too much vetiver at all. In fact, I hardly detect any. I feel like the vetiver comes through more in the drydown but it's still very subtle, just darkening the whole thing by a few shades. It's primarily a rose scent to me. I like it!

BOB CRATCHIT'S HEARTH At last the dinner was all done, the cloth was cleared, the hearth swept, and the fire made up. The compound in the jug being tasted, and considered perfect, apples and oranges were put upon the table, and a shovel-full of chestnuts on the fire. Then all the Cratchit family drew round the hearth, in what Bob Cratchit called a circle, meaning half a one; and at Bob Cratchit’s elbow stood the family display of glass. Two tumblers, and a custard-cup without a handle. These held the hot stuff from the jug, however, as well as golden goblets would have done; and Bob served it out with beaming looks, while the chestnuts on the fire sputtered and cracked noisily. Then Bob proposed: “A Merry Christmas to us all, my dears. God bless us!” Which all the family re-echoed. “God bless us every one!” said Tiny Tim, the last of all. Glowing firewood and sherry-cobbler. Ack, I'm really awful at reviews, but we'll try this! In the bottle, this is really foody and sweet. I definitely got a slightly fruity cake or pie-like scent. (I can't differentiate between the different pastry/cake notes, so I can't be more specific.) I also got a bit of the "glowing firewood" in the background, but it was mostly foody. After it was on my skin for a while, the burning firewood note came out a lot more and the foodiness dropped to the background. Unfortunately, the burning scent was very strong and chemical on my skin, more like charcoal or something almost metallic. My skin can't handle metallics, and combined with the sweet background, it was pretty stomach-turning. After a while I had to wash it off. I think I was hoping for more of a smoky-woods note, but it wasn't a good combination for me. (This probably isn't helpful to anyone since I had a unique experience, but the reaction I had to this one was similar to the one I had with Blue Pumpkin Floss. It sounded simple enough, but on me BPF was sickly sweet + charred flesh, which isn't completely dissimilar to the way this one smelled on me. I'm wondering if they had a note in common that just doesn't like my skin. I doubt many people will find the blends at all similar but I thought I'd throw that out there anyway.)

My first sniff: Strawberry ice cream! Follow-up sniff: Strawberry ice cream with patchouli! Next sniff: Alcoholic strawberry ice cream with patchouli! On me, this is mostly about the strawberry and benzoin combination. It's a sweet, creamy scent, but the patchouli adds some fresh earthiness and keeps it from being straight-up dessert. The patchouli is not super gritty. I forgot there was pepper in it while I was testing, and I confess that I can't remember how present it was.

This is a nice chocolate scent! I was afraid of the clove since it tends to amp on me and take over blends, but that didn't happen here. It starts out with not-too-sweet chocolate, clove, and pepper. The spices never took over the blend, and it stayed nice and balanced between the chocolate and the spices. Over time, the vanilla and amber came out more. It was sweet but not ever cloying.

This starts out very heavy on the juniper, with something lemon-y that I can't place - the roses or the woods, maybe? Within half an hour, it is straight up aquatic/forest laundry detergent on me. I think the flowers are turning into soap, and the juniper is making it sweet and fresh. I wish this had worked on me.

This is very pretty. It's a perfume-y lavender (I think because of the patchouli as a base note) supported by the wood. The saffron and wildflowers just kind of merge with the lavender without asserting themselves. It reads as almost lavender single note for a while, although a sweet, perfume-y lavender and not a medicinal lavender like sniffing a bottle of essential oil. It goes powdery on me within an hour, which I don't mind too much, but it doesn't seem to last very long. I put it on before bed, and when I woke up 7 hours later there was no trace of it.

I love fougeres so I was curious about this one. In the imp, it was mostly honey but it had a nice freshness to it. But my skin tends to amp honey, and sure enough, once it dried down it was pretty much all honey all the time, with none of the fougere.

I mostly get the vanilla cream here, with some soft sandalwood underneath. The lotus is not bubble-gummy as I feared it might be. There's a clean briskness to the cream not at first, but it fades to mostly vanilla over time. Pretty!

Wet, this is sweet, dewy rose and vanilla, with only a hint of leather underneath. Within half an hour on me, the soft brown leather comes out a lot. The rose goes a bit sour on me throughout the day, but I that happens to me a lot. Still a beautiful perfume!

In the bottle, I got apple, honey, and juniper, although apple was most prominent to my nose. But as soon as it started soaking into my skin (I used it as a body oil, not a bath oil), I mostly got the juniper with only hints of apple and honey, and even less of the green tea. It smells a lot like the juniper mint hair gloss, which is also prominently juniper to me. That, in turn, reminds me of Juniper Breeze from Bath and Body Works, although perhaps a slightly more sophisticated version. But I always liked that scent, so it's a good thing! It just doesn't smell like any of the juniper leaf/berry essential oils I have, so I wouldn't say it smells like real juniper. Anyway, it's a nice, fresh scent that I will enjoy using. Not much throw or longevity though, when applied directly to clean skin.

I have been avoiding strawberry scents for a while and I'm not even sure I've ever tried the lab/post's strawberry note? Strawberry's one of my favorite flavors, but I don't want to smell like a 6 year old's lip balm, you know? But for some reason this sounded so nice I couldn't resist, and I'm so glad! First applied, it is a really yummy strawberry cream. It doesn't smell like fresh strawberries to me, but it does smell like a strawberry dessert with real strawberries. After a while, the orris comes out more and adds some floral depth to the gourmand sweetness. I used it last night after showering, and this morning I could still smell it very well. The musk and orris had come out more, so all of the notes were present and well balanced. I'm really glad I got this! It's a sweet, fluffy, but clean scent that I think is perfect for a hair gloss, and I can see myself wearing this often.

In the bottle, this has a sparkling/fizzy quality to it. I couldn't remember the notes, and I wondered if it was champagne? But I realize now that it is the mandarin. On my skin, I get pretty much all of the notes: orange, amber, apricot, bread, and butter. There's something discordant about it though, like that sharp fizzy note doesn't go with the bakery sweetness. It's mostly when I sniff closely, not when I get whiffs from further away. The whiffs I get from further away are of an orange/apricot scone, which is really nice. After a couple hours, that sharp note goes away and the whole thing really does remind me of an apricot scone with orange marmalade! Pretty delicious.

On my skin, this is so similar to Mme. Moriarty! The red fruit + patchouli, backed up with vanilla. It's not exactly the same, of course (especially without the red musk) but similar enough that it's all I can think about. It lacks the depth and...deliciousness of MM though. As it dries, the benzoin and vanilla take over more. I wish it lasted longer and had a stronger throw.

Wet, this is vetiver, smoke, whiskey, and dark musk. There's some sweetness from the hazelnut and caramel, but mostly it's dark and kind of sharp. For a while it's all dark musk, since my skin tends to amp musks and eat everything else. But after it dries, it settles down a bit and the other notes come back. I definitely get the musk, hazelnut smoke, and liquor. I wish I got the leather but if it's there it's subtle. This is a dark, smokey scent with just a touch of sweetness. Not too strong on my skin even though I used a generous amount. I'm afraid this is probably due to my skin eating everything, so this review might not be very useful...

Wet, this is very sweet and floral, with the orris root and candied violets coming on strong. The wood comes out more as it dries, and that's when I really like it. It's a strong, sweet, powdery floral scent, which I can be hit or miss for me, but I have a weakness for violets. I tried this on last night, and when I woke up this morning it was still there, though it had turned to sweet, violet-y powder.

I thought I had reviewed this but I guess not! Wet, this is a lot of juniper, sage, and chypre, but the leather is present. An hour or two since I put it on, I am mostly getting brown leather that reminds me of Hunter. There's a little bit of freshness left from the juniper/sage. I would say this does smell very traditionally masculine, which I enjoy. It is a very clean, leathery scent.

Upon application, I mostly get the cypress and cedar, with the oakmoss chypre like a fuzzy green cloud supporting it from below. The mint is present but subtle, blending with the pine/cypress. It's a juxtaposition of dry, white woods with wet, camphorous evergreens. Slightly sweet, not too dry. Becomes more dry and camphorous the longer it stays on my skin. Very fresh, woodsy scent.

This is beautiful. On me it's basically what it says on the tin: vanilla, sweet apricot, and cardamom. Stays close to the skin so I'll probably have to slather.

This is really pretty. I didn't have the notes in front of me when I tested this yesterday, so I was relying on memory. There's a burst of sweet orange and honey when first applied, with a little bit of floral. As it dries, the juicy orange recedes and the blend becomes mostly about the honey. A little floral and a little fruit, but mostly sweet honey. (To be honest, I could not identify the floral was peeking through.) I think the amber tempers it a bit so it's not quite as thick and sticky. I just wish that initial burst of orange lasted longer!

Lovely blend. Very much like coconut cream marshmallows, with the macadamia milk giving it a bit of nuttiness and keeping it from being too sugary. Not too much throw, although it lasted a long time. I applied it at night, and the next morning I could still smell it on my wrists, even after my shower.

This is an old imp, at least 3 years old. I know mint and ambergris have a short shelf life, so I'm not surprised that this is mostly Spanish moss and oakmoss. It's a damp, earthy scent with salty ambergris and a hint of mint. I'd really like to try this fresh to see if I could get more mint.

I didn't remember the notes for this one, and my first impression before looking it up was soapy-soft floral leather, although the leather-y quality disappears quickly under all the florals. I think the combination of woods and moss was giving the impression of leather. I also got the impression of some kind of citrus at the beginning (bergamot, I'm assuming), though this faded quickly too. I can't pick out any specific notes other than violets, sweet maple, and maybe a hint of coolness from the pine. Too sweet and floral for me to wear on a regular basis, but it is pretty.