ajansuz

This was a lab frimp with my last order. In the imp it lives up to its name. It's a smoky, fiery scent without being sulfuric. It makes me think of charred wood with flame still licking the underside. Wet: Lemon. Really strong furniture polish lemon and teak. No smoke, no fire. I have no idea what happened or what note in this is going crazy with my skin chemistry, but wow is it disappointing. I intensely dislike most citrus scents. There's also something really resiny like pitch. Dry: The lemon lingers. It's sweet lemon with pitch. This didn't work for me at all.

This was a lab frimp. In the imp, the tonka is a bit of a dry, woody vanilla. There's a men's cologne feel to this, so I also encouraged my husband to try it. On me from wet to dry it's WAY too masculine. I'm not sure what I amped that was sharp and manly, but it just didn't work. On my husband, it was lovely. The leather came out for him with a nice, woody base note and a bit of sweetness. It has something of a Western vibe, kind of old time saloon meets magic man. We're wanting a bottle for him. It makes me sad it didn't work for me. We both like scents we can share.

This was a lab frimp with my latest order. In the imp: Smoky aquatic with a light, tangy quality. Intriguing. Wet: Beautifully smoky. It blends so nicely with the vegetative, watery notes. There's just a touch of salt and something not quite laundry detergent. Fresher and cleaner than that. Dry down: It's impossible to pick out any single note beyond vetiver and maybe some sort of Spanish or oak moss. Smoky and earthy more than watery now without having a dirt smell. I liked this a lot. I'm not sure I like it enough to get a bottle. I'd seek out an imp again when this one runs out, though.

In the imp, the lavender is really strong with an underlying men's cologne scent, but not like a cheap drugstore brand. I thought this would smell nice on my husband, so we both tried it. This is where it gets a little odd. The first night my husband wore it, it was amazing on him. It was a gentlemanly scent with just a touch of wickedness. He loved it, and I loved it on him. On me it was a little too masculine for me to want to wear, although still very nice, a lavender touched cologne without the musty note of doom I usually get from the lab's lavender. So the second time my husband wore this, it was pure soap. Grandma's rose soap. He smelled like a little old lady. We both hated it. He gave it another try because of the first wearing. Still soapy but less so, a compromise between that first magical touch of wicked gentleman and little old lady. We won't be getting a bottle for him because of the inconsistency, and it's a shame. If it had stayed like that first touch, he said he would have liked it even more than Villain, which is just magic on him.

This was a lab frimp with my latest order. In the imp: Rich cinnamon and copal mostly, with a light, pretty sweetness. I had a little trepidation, because I have a skin sensitivity to cinnamon that can sometimes be a full blown contact dermatitis reaction with redness, itching, and swelling, so I applied this very sparingly. Wet: This is a deliciously rich scent. It's not a foodie cinnamon, not like pie spice or anything. More like cinnamon incense. I think the copal is probably contributing to that. Sometimes myrrh can go a little too sweet on me. The cinnamon keeps it from that. The whole thing smells like expensive incense before it's burned. Dry down: The scent fades down soft and skin close but still gorgeous. Best of all, no reaction to the cinnamon, no redness or itching. I can see a bottle of this in my near future. LOVE it.

This was a frimp with my Halloween order. I was pleased to receive it since it had sounded interesting to me for a while. In the imp: Heavily floral and very sweet. Jasmine, gardenia, magnolia, pretty much white floral overload. Wet: I can't tell if it's gardenia or magnolia. It's doing the same thing to me that Hell's Belle and Black Dahlia did, headache inducing amping of the floral. Dry down: The florals stay overwhelmingly strong and sweet. There's an undernote of decay that makes it sickening. As lush and beautiful as this smelled in the imp, unfortunately on my skin chemistry it's a huge, heavy NO. I had a hard time washing it off. I had to scrub my skin with salt scrub, and even then there was a hint of scent left.

I adore Vetiver. I love it in Malediction and Saturnalia, so when this came up as a single note, I knew I had to have it. It doesn't disappoint. In the bottle, it's rich and redolent, very smoky and resiny. This is a grounding, grounded scent, like a base note played from a cello. Wet, the smoke really comes out. I get the bacon comparison that some mention, but without the meaty part. It's all vegetative and strong enough to leave a slightly bitter taste at the back of my tongue just from smelling it. The smokiness fades as it dries. It retains all of its earthiness. For a single note, this is one rich, complex scent. It even goes just a tiny bit sweet, like sweetgrass. I'm thrilled I had the opportunity to get this. I'm going to blend it a lot with other things as well as wear it on its own on days I want to feel centered and focused while staying relaxed.

When I opened the bottle, the first thought that came to mind was the song Days of Wine and Roses. A really pretty deep wine scent with very lush rose. Wet: Wine and roses predominate, along with something sharp, herbal, and slightly bitter. It's a sweet, high scent for the most part with huge throw at this stage. Very feminine and sultry. Dry down: The ambergris softens this considerably, and the herbal sharpness recedes. The wine tames down, too, not quite so boozy. It's a very true rose. It doesn't go powdery or grandma's soap. The throw diminishes until it's close to a skin scent. Lasting power is medium. After five hours, this had faded down to something vaguely sweet and barely there. If you're a fan of rose, this is a nice one to have.

This came as a lovely little extra in my Halloween order. Gosh, how to describe this? Very evocative of moss covered stone and earth. There's a heavy, vegetative decay vibe without being a funk. I get some of the spiciness others have described but mostly it's mossy decay and heavy incense. It reminds me just a tad of Zombi. I dig it!

The tin is really cute. The artwork is old fashioned and muted enough in color that it could blend with a lot of different things. The candies inside are individually wrapped but also in a larger bag together. The ones I've sampled so far haven't been at all stuck to their wrappers, always a plus. The Blue Pumpkin Floss was easily my favorite flavor. Like all of the candies, you have to get past that small outer layer of tapioca starch to get to the flavor. I'm sure that's WHY they weren't stuck to their wrappers which was a good thing. It quickly develops into something complex and buttery. It's very rich pumpkin, almost cotton candy rich, without the burn you can get from too much sugar. The blackberry comes on more slowly. The deeper you get into the candy, the stronger the fruit. It's a very natural fruit flavor, juicy and the slightest bit tart. The texture of the candy stays silky and dense down to the last tiny suck. Definitely not a crunching candy. Don't cheat yourself. Ghoulish was next for me. I could taste the coconut really well, kind of a tropical liqueur with deep cherry juiciness. I couldn't pick out saffron other than to say there is a spicy quality to this candy, kind of an extra little zing you wouldn't expect. It gives the impression of being very sticky without the actual texture. The flavor doesn't fade or go cloying from start to finish. It lasts a nice while in the mouth. I liked the Autumn Cider least, although I still liked it. I tasted very little apple or cider in this. It was mostly mulling spices and orange peel, not very complex. I couldn't taste butterscotch at all. It was light and refreshing, though, something I'd be more tempted to reach for on a warm day than a cool one. I can't wait to see what they do with Vol. 2.

I'm another of the shower gals who uses the bath oil as a skin moisturizer. In the bottle, this does smell exactly like red velvet cake with cream cheese icing. Delicious! Unfortunately, on my skin, it's a totally different beast. It goes to instant plastic vanilla and Coppertone tanning oil. I have no idea where all that delicious cake and slightly tart cream cheese scent goes. I've used it a couple of days in a row now to the same end. Maybe in a bath it'll retain more of the cake smell. Direct skin application doesn't work on me with this one at all.

2012 version: In the bottle, kind of sharp men's cologne. I can't pick anything individual out of it beyond that. Wet: MEN'S COLOGNE. Almost strong enough that I'm tempted to wash it off. It's a chemical sort of odor, something I associate with drugstore cologne. It's not boding well at that stage. Dry down: This is where a little musk starts coming out and saves it from being completely cheap cologne. After about three hours I also start catching small whiffs of old books, the slightly musty scent of old paper. It's nice, though, evocative of some of the more interesting used bookstores I've discovered through the years. The tantalizing whiffs continue to surprise me for the rest of the day, and it's these that made me decide to keep this and see how it ages. I'd say this leans more toward a masculine scent than unisex.

This sounded like a dream scent for me, and it completely surpassed my already high expectations. This is such a strange perfume, and yet it's GORGEOUS with my skin chemistry. In the bottle, it's a bitter, grassy, herbal scent with a touch of sweetness. It's almost medicinal. Wet: It goes on like it smells in the bottle, grassy and herbal, a little bitter, very dry. It's indeed evocative of a hairy brown spider, heavy on the fuzz. Almost a sneezy sort of scent without actually making you sneeze. It's when it starts to dry down that everything changes and goes gorgeous. The vanilla comes out. It's the vanilla I love in Gypsy, smooth and sweet, slightly creamy. It picks up the coconut with it, the somewhat woody, brown coconut note in Body Remember rather than anything tropical. There's still a hint of an herbal scent, which I think is probably the clary sage. It stays close to the skin, something beautiful and comfortable. This isn't a sexy scent. It's a comfortable with yourself and your body sort of scent. Cheerful without being girly or too youthful. Relaxing. Staying power is excellent. This lasted on me the whole day I wore it and through the night. The sheets smelled like it when I woke up, but it was never overpowering. I'm ordering a back up bottle before this goes away. I have a feeling aging will only be to its benefit.

In the bottle, this is probably the most foodie scent I own. It's straight up pumpkin pie with a caramalized sugar/burnt sugar topping and lots of layers of vanilla. Wet: Holy pumpkin pie spice, Batman! It's like a mixed bottle of nutmeg, clove, and allspice with a touch of pumpkin and the plastic note of doom that some vanillas leave on me for some reason. Oh no! I was worried right after application. My husband wrinkled his nose and said Yankee Candle Shop. I had to agree. Dry down: Thankfully, the really sharp spices tame down to something more chai-like and an underlying creaminess to the pumpkin. The plastic vanilla goes away and leaves me with a vanilla similar to the one in Tombstone, heavy and not too sweet. The initial throw on me was crazy strong. It tamed down after an hour or two but never to the point of a skin scent. The vanilla got creamier and sweeter after a few hours. The spices tamed down to just a small hint, and the pumpkin never fully disappeared. I'm not much for foodie scents on the whole. However, I'm glad I gave this one a try. It's pretty much the epitome of what I associate with autumn scents and flavors.

In the bottle, this smelled a lot like the 2011 bottle of Smut I have, a very strong, grape-y note in the red musk with some underlying spiciness. The honey comes on really strong, too, almost cloyingly sweet. Wet: Red musk. HUGE blast of grape-y red musk to the exclusion of anything else. Dry down: The honey amps up until it's very sweet. Fortunately, on the skin it's not as cloying as it was in the bottle. I usually amp patch. I can't find any of it here. This smells almost identical to Smut on my skin. Not that the comparison is an unfavorable one, as I like that. I was just hoping for something different from what I already have. Throw is medium. Lasting power is long. This stayed strong all day without much morph at all once it was dry. I'm hoping age tames the red musk down some so that it's not so sharp and fruity. It did that for my other red musk scents.

This was a frimp with a recent order. In the imp, strong rose and something a little minty. Wet, rose, mint, and an unpleasant undertone of BO. I'm not sure which musk in this isn't playing nice on me, but it smells like that first hint of BO that hits if you forget your deodorant on a hot day. Dry down, it stays pretty true to the wet phase. Rose, mint, and BO with a touch of coconut. Without the BO, it would be a very pretty scent. It's just too strong to ignore.

This 13 is just...wow. It's the most chocolatey of the 13s I've tried to date. I started back in August of 2010 for a reference point to that. In the bottle, very deep, dark chocolate with sweet honey and vanilla and an enticing spiciness. Wet, there's a bright floral note. Sometimes dragons blood does that on me, mimics a floral, so I think that's what I'm getting. It is beautiful with the chocolate. There's also an underlying earthiness and spiciness keeping the sweet scents from running away with the blend. The only complaint I have about this is that it doesn't have much lasting power or throw on me. Within two hours, I could barely smell anything at all. For those two hours, it was bliss. This is the dark chocolate answer to April's white chocolate 13 for me. I adore both, and I'm very glad I bought a bottle of this.

The Four Hundred divine rabbits of the Aztec pantheon that preside over parties and drunkenness. Bittersweet Mexican cocoa with rum, red wine, and a scent redolent of sacrificial blood. This was a frimp with a recent order. In the imp, very rich, bitter dark cocoa and strong booze. I couldn't tell if it was tequila or rum, but it was like sniffing a shot before you drink it. It reminded me a whole lot of Calaveras without the burned caramel note. Wet, the cocoa amped very strongly at first but quickly died back. The booze came on strong, a sharp liquor scent. That also died back, leaving me with a less sickly sweet version of Miskatonic University. That faded pretty quickly, and it seemed as though my skin had eaten this alive. However, about twenty minutes after application, it started throwing some rich, smoky incense fragrance that even my husband noticed and commented on. I couldn't put a finger on what it reminded me of, but it was very nice. Sadly, the cocoa never returned. This lasted a good five hours or so before dying down. This is another one I'm on the fence about whether I need a full bottle. It's very rich. It's the morphing period I'm not wild about. Still, an intriguing unisex blend not as foody as it could be with the chocolate.

This was another frimp that came with my most recent order. In the imp it's very sweet, almost foody fruity sweet, which are the sorts of scents I like least. However, I'm always committed to giving everything a skin test. Man, am I glad I did! Wet this exploded into what I can only describe as quintessential metaphysical bookstore scent. The nag champa is a big player for me, drowning out any chance of a food association. I love me some dirty patch, but the patchouli in this is nothing like the dirty hippy patchouli of say, Occupy Wallstreet. It's just slightly grounding and keeps the scent from floating away into incensey la la land. There's also something a little sharp, a note I don't recognize at all. On the dry down, the throw stays medium on me. This really takes me back to a couple of jobs I really liked and a place I love to go I don't get to see nearly enough of. I'm not 100% sure it's bottle worthy for me yet because on the wrong sort of day this kind of scent can lead me into headache territory. I know I'll use the heck out of the imp.

I received this as a frimp with my latest order. In the imp, it's very sharp pine with a sweetness beneath it and a bit of an earthy undertone without smelling like dirt. Wet, the pine stays strong. When it combines with the other evergreen note, to me it smells a lot like cedar and maybe even a hint of cypress. The musk in this doesn't seem to be black musk, because it doesn't go to baby powder. It stays sweet, though. Dry this is an earthy evergreen with a nearly frankincense sweetness. On me it's more feminine than masculine, and while nice I have a few evergreen scents I like much more, like the Jersey Devil and Golden Priapus.

This is completely different from any other 13 I have. My collection only goes back to August 2010. Anyway, wow. In the bottle it's creamy white chocolate, honey, and a cacophony of florals that manage to be heady without being headache inducing. Seriously fragrant. (I love the label, too.) Wet, I am so thrilled that I get the white chocolate and honey right away. The rose in particular amps on me, and I can also individually pick out the champaca and peony. The rest combine in a sort of background sweetness with a hint of spice. I'd guess I have carnation to thank for that. This stays gorgeous during the dry down phase. The throw is medium, and it lasts for several hours. The overall impression is a creamy honeyed white chocolate with a burst of fresh floral. I adore it, and I've received tons of compliments every time I've worn it.

In the imp, it's a dark tangle of overgrown wood, damp, and stone. Really evocative of a dangerous sort of place you wouldn't want to be. Wet, I amp oak like crazy, and this is no exception. It's all oak and incense with something a little tarry and disturbing underneath it. It's a wild scent, as in of the wilds, not something I associate with "people". I like it a lot in this phase. When it dries, it's less foreboding but still wild and woodsy, masculine, but not so masculine that I don't think a woman can pull it off. I really like this. It's not like anything else I have, and I'm sure I'll be reaching for this imp again.

In the imp, lots of cucumber and tomato leaf and stem, something sweetly floral, and an astringent and clean herbal bite. Wet, I get lots of the cucumber initially, but it fades away really quickly. It's a green, sweet scent. I get no dirt, no vetiver, no patchouli, none of the dirt or earthy notes I was really hoping for. Once it's dry, it's a green, vegetative floral on my wrists and a vegetable medley in the crook of my arms. It goes too sweet to be herbal and is too herbal for a floral, so it's just not quite a good fit for my body chemistry. It's a very interesting fragrance, though. If you're a foodie who doesn't like cloying food scents, give this one a go. The vegetables are very true to form.

Imp: A very dry scent, ashen and empty. Cedar is prominent, but it's not the bright cedar chest cedar. It's more aged and splintery. Wet: For a little while this is really bitter and a little "old man", not like mothballs or anything, but just...old man smell. I wasn't sure at that stage if I'd want to keep it on or not. There was also a tarry sort of resin scent. As it dried down, the cedar freshened quite a bit, and I also got the sweet side of the balsam another poster mentioned. A few hours later, it's sweetly woodsy, a really comfortable outdoorsy sort of scent that reminds me of when I used to go camping in lean-to type structures. I like it, and I'd say in the wet stage at least, it is very evocative of King Haggard's personality.

In the imp, this was softly herbal and slightly citrusy. A little masculine for what I like to wear, but I was anxious to try it anyway. Wet: What on earth? Straight up doctors office waiting room and latex bandaids. So much so that it literally gave me a visual flash of the doctor's waiting room from my childhood pediatrician. Dry: On my wrists, it stays doctor's office and bandaids. In the crook of my arm, cheap men's cologne. Prince Lir is not for me. EDIT: I'm glad I didn't just wash this off, even though I was tempted. After a couple of hours of the doctor's office/men's cologne phase this blossomed into a gorgeous vanilla with just a touch of bright citrus at the edges and a rich creaminess. I'm not sure the LONG icky phase is worth getting there for me, but it's not a total failure.