Monday

In the vial: Olives and lavender. On my skin wet: Bah still olives but with a bit of sweetness coming on and some powdery lavender. Very astringent. On my skin dry: Okay the jasmine has detangled itself there is a lot of sweetness coming from some mysterious note. The lavender is rather powdery which together with the olive scent is ...just....no. Unfortunately this actually smells stale.

On my skin wet: Sour moss and powder On my skin dry: Sour moss, powder and green balsam. This isn't doing anything for me really.

Lavender! Herbal lavender, it might be the french lavender note as it sweetens after a while. I had a whole array of other notes written down but I suspect I've made it more complicated than it is. So there's the lavender and something green which sweetens over time. There is another quiet floral behind it which might be white rose. As it dries down the herbal scent fades and it turns out very soft and pretty. Overall I find it a comforting and contemplative scent.

Civet, the same floofy civet as in Lil' Menes' Feline Entertainments but without the cat pee I got from that. There is black musk in the background which amps when it dries down. I don't get any lavender out of this but there might be some amber; it has a hint of Haunted. Dark and strangely menacing but also soft and velvety.

I get a lot of astringent greenery when it's wet. There is a lemony floral behind the grassiness though which amps as the greens meld into the background. A pretty floral is trying to drown out the greens but it's not quite successful, it's turning rather soapy when dry. The Ghost Children has a good throw.

Mint and violet, sweet mint that is, not the nose biting sharp version. The violet is going a bit weird on me after a while, it gives the blend an old feeling like the snow globe has been stashed away for a century or so. This is somewhat more herbal than I had expected. Not a bad scent but not for me.

I had a couple of bottles like that (Dee, Aremata Popoa etc.). I was wondering if there is something that you can do about it too, I guess batches vary when ingredients change? It is disappointing to get a bottle that doesn't smell like you think it would. Sometimes it works out well, like the newer Antikythera Mechanism works better for me. It's a bit scary to think that you're taking a gamble every time you order something though. I wouldn't go for a third bottle at this point. Maybe you could mail the lab and see if there has been a mix-up or if there has been a change in ingredients.

Maiden is from the Ars Armatoria section notes are: A gentle vision of purity, goodness and virtue: white tea, carnation and Damask Rose. Dee is from the Bewitching Brews section notes are: His scent is soft English leather, rosewood and tonka with a hint of incense, parchment and soft woods. O'Hara I have never heard of. Pint O' Stout I have never heard of either.

On my skin wet: Vetiver, musk and patchouli. The vetiver is very obvious and smoky at this point. On my skin dry: As with Death Adder and Desmonema the vetiver recedes to the background when it dries down. The blend is elegant and mysterious, I like how the arabian musk and zdravetz blend into the patch, it smells dark and voluptuous after a while. It doesn't fit its name, if it had been named something else I would have believed it too but that's the only thing I don't like about this blend. Overall: very elegant. Zdravetz is geranium macrorrhizum btw.

There were some left over bottles of The Macabray but I think they are all sold now. Serpents with Glittery Eyes and Forky Tongues was discontinued. Some discontinued scents do pop up on the lab's ebay auctions or on the lab's etsy sales. Antique Lace was also discontinued and is pretty expensive but not impossible to find because it was already popular when it was 'live'. I don't think the lab has any left though since I haven't seen it on ebay or etsy. Your best bet is to scour the sales and keep an eye on the labs ebay and etsy sales/auctions. Or post an ISO of course. There were some resurrected scents in the past (Hod, Snake Charmer etc.) but not for the last few years *pout* but you never know...

In the imp: blarg, over-ripe fruit salad. On my skin wet: that's better, still a bit pungent though. Jasmine is taking over, the fruits have gone to the background and i get a tiny hint of coconut. On my skin dry: the jasmine and coconut have turned into something waxy. It reminds me of a luper but I can't remember which one. Way too sweet and fruity for me.

A blessing of wit, opportunity, and skill: yellow sandalwood, bergamot, gum mastic, gum Arabic, lavender, lemongrass, angelica root, and anise. That's a difficult one it has lemongrass which does occur in the GC but it also has a soft woodsy scent from the gum arabic and yellow sandalwood. This combination doesn't occur a lot in the GC. I'd look for scents which are lemongrass dominant like: Phobos, notes: Chilling white musk, lemon verbena, white grapefruit and lemongrass and Namaste, notes: Sandalwood, jasmine, rose, patchouli, cedarwood and lemongrass. You could also look for scents which have citrus combined with something fuzzy like The Butterfly, notes: Fuzzy brown tonka bean, golden amber, bergamot, and petitgrain. Or citrus scents which have something woodsy in them.

I get a magnolia-like floral and sandalwood. It does feel slightly mad dancing between soapy floral and dusty sandalwood. Ends up as a sharp white floral.

Frimp from the lab. Smells like a nice forest avec toxic waste dump site. This goes straight to the top of my Do-Not-Ever-Want-To-Smell-Again list. Really, I'd rather wear Saturnalia all day.

Calocyclas starts out smelling like licorice, there's dark woods and something like printing ink in the background. This stays woodsy and industrial but sweet on my skin for a good time. Not an appealing combination. After a while the sharpness burns off and it fades but it doesn't morph.

I like this one a lot. It's mostly vetiver, tangerine and coconut with a hint of quince when it's wet. But it really takes off when it's dry. I get the patchouli, coconut, amber and myrrh with a backdrop of quince and tangerine the bergamot is indeed twining through it. The vetiver is only acting as a strengthener really once it's dry, giving it a lot of throw. Once it's dry for a few hours it really gets going and melds into something gorgeous and velvety. Give this one a bit of time and warmth to get the best out of it.

Hooray this is a light woodsy true patchouli on my skin, none of that metallic nastiness. Very wearable.

Woah vanilla! Fluffy vanilla, almond and something spicy at the back, I think it's the oak mingling with the leather and patch. Lighter than I had expected and rather elegant. The vanilla is actually very noticeable on my skin it's very sweet and turns the blend almost into a foody blend. I must say that I don't get a lot of leather, it's barely there which suits me just fine. The patchouli and oak are nicely subtle too and give a woodsy backdrop to the vanilla and almond. I like that it's somewhere between toffee and elegant vanilla-ed woods.

Wet: Coffee and blackcurrants. The strange coffee scent disappears after a while and makes way for a kind of fruity cologne. Dry: It smells more masculine now. Cologne and blackcurrants, that's about it. It's a bit too sharp and masculine for my taste.

Nutty incense, there is also a deep floral in here which reminds me of Morocco. I can see how people get coconut out of this though the nuttiness fades into a smooth floral incense when it's dry. After a while I get a wafting creamy incense, heady and mysterious.

Creamy grass and a hint of incense. Dries down to grassy detergent a nice summer scent.

Wow I actually find this extremely feminine! Orchid white musk and bergamot, I'm not getting any patchouli or juniper it reminds me a bit of The Olive Branch actually. Perfumey with tons of throw.

Fizzy! I don't really care for fizzy scents but lets give it a go. On my skin wet: Purple fizziness, he fizziness is like opening a can of soda and sniffing from really close, it tickles your nose. I get the plum a hint of chemical fizz and a floral that I can't place. Smells clean and purple. On my skin dry: The fizz has calmed down a bit but left a chemical scent that makes the whole blend smell like a cleaning product. I get the jasmine at the very end of the dry-down. If only I could delete that metallic carbonated scent.

On my skin wet: Sweet honey and orris. The honey goes sour on me fast and is drowning out the other notes. On my skin dry: The other notes managed to crawl back and now the whole scent smells rather soapy with a hint of sour honey. The musk turns up when it's dry for a while, a heady feminine musk, it gives the blend a lot more throw. It's not too bad when it's dry but I don't really like the honey note.

Oh gods no it's the same champaca that did horrible things on my skin in Sleeping Husband-. On my skin wet: Okay the champaca is there but it's fainter thankfully. There's a hint of bergamot and some magnolia but it's mainly champaca. On my skin dry: Well dry-ish, the bergamot is coming forward now, the mothball-champaca has toned down. It's actually very nice now, warm and inviting but I don't think I want to go through that wet phase again.