CrazyPretzel

This is exquisite stuff! My experience with gardenia is pretty hit & miss (had to swap away Swan Maiden as it was too funereal) but the gardenia in Tavern of Hell is gorgeous, soft and expansive and insinuating. The notes seem perfectly blended to create a creamy, seductive floral with just a bit of a bite. Woods come out to play after 15 minutes or so but are not dominant, just very smooth and dark. I don't get a strong boozy feel from this at all, which is what I was expecting. Very happy with this one!

Oh, I *wanted* to like this one. At first it's all orange and resinous copal - pretty much as I anticipated - but as it dries the orange fades and the smoky scent becomes dominant. I do like bonfire-smoke scents, but this one's quite moist and earthy, and combined with the copal it just doesn't quite do it for me. I never got any plumeria from this one.

While wet, this scent is tart and richly sweet, reminding me a little of the sticky strawberry-flavoured tobacco made for sheesha pipes. As it dries the myrrh and honey come out strongly and combine to make a sweet powdery scent - my nose doesn't read it as baby powder though; it's more like kama sutra honey dusting powder I like the sweet honey and myrrh aspects of this, but I think the red wine note is a little less successful. It does come out pretty sour on me. I might swap this one.

I think strangemodegirl has a good point - this is kind of reminiscent of the vanilla syrup at Starbucks. I like it that way though Instead of a strong floral presence I smell something more like very soft sweet woods, maybe sandalwood. Quite warm and pretty.

Everyone else's review of this make it sound so interesting and complex - on me, it was practically a leather single note. A very hot dry leather like De Sade. After a hand-washing I can smell a lingering trace of ozone where the scent was.

This is the first and only 13 that I've sampled so far (how appropriate!). Thanks to GirlInDenial! It is strongly milk-chocolate in the decant, but as it dries it becomes more sugary and powdery, probably from the iris. I'm reminded of the thick, cloying sweetness of white chocolate. It fades pretty quickly - not too surprising; after two years I'd expect the blend to break down somewhat. Definitely very sweet, foody, and chocolatey, and it has whetted my appetite for some other versions of 13.

This is very much like the sugar note from Hellcat (brown sugar, a trifle burnt) but with a sprinkling of crushed violet petals instead of the booze notes. A wonderful olfactory representation of a fairy godmother!

Wet: Pure sea air and a little bit of lime. Very crisp and refreshing! A bit of woodsiness on the drydown - but still predominantly a cool, salty marine scent. I think t3andcrumpets is right - this is a cold scent, and it will be simply *awesome* to wear in the very hot Florida summer time.

In the bottle: red musk, leather, and date. Wet, it's a smooth dark scent, all musk, leather, and woods. There's a certain freshness to it as it dries - a breath of salty sea air. And when it really warms up on my skin, creamy date and coconut make an appearance. Yum. It seems like a rather masculine scent at first, but after a few minutes it becomes just plain sensual. Quite subtle, not a lot of throw.

What I love most about this scent is the way it fits in so perfectly with the other scents in the Stardust series - dreamy and innocent and full of wonder. This is a soft woodsy-patchouli scent with a bit of sparkle from the tonka. The closest GC equivalent I can think of is Lysander, though this seems less 'busy' than Lysander. As it dries it takes on a slightly musky scent - makes me think of clean sexy boy-sweat (if such a thing even exists! )

Sarada's review of this scent (the very first one) sums it up very well. It's a woodsy scent but not at all heavy - there's an airy, misty, almost aquatic feel to it. It reminds me quite a bit of Wolf Moon but without the pine element. There's a bit of luscious greenery floating around in there, maybe ivy. As a Viking enthusiast and student of Old Norse mythology, I'm very pleased with this blend - would love to wear it in a scent locket so that I could have a cloud of it around me all day.

Wow, this kind of reminds me of the BPTP massage oil: Ignis! With ylang ylang, patchouli, and mandarin, I suppose I shouldn't be that surprised. The great thing is that the ylang ylang in Ignis is one of the few Lab incarnations of ylang ylang that I actually like. Fresh on, this has a thick, sweet, kind of candied-violet feel to it. As it dries, the nectarine and citrus start to come out - they're very full and rounded and just beautiful, almost lickable. I can smell the amber and patchouli in the background, weighting the scent just enough to keep it from being straight orange effervescence. The violet and ylang ylang in this are not cloying, just smooth and pleasant.

My first thought was that there wasn't much to this, though it was completely inoffensive - a damp, light green, somewhat leafy scent. As it dries more layers of complexity appear. There's a little bit of earthiness and the rose/peony comes across as a faint sweetness, almost powdery. Understated, gentle, yet somehow sinuous at the same time. I want to keep this and wear it again - try to get my head around it a bit more.

I was prepared to dislike this one because of the ylang ylang, and when wet it is its funky self. On the drydown though this smooths out and loses its cloying edge. It's a bit like Hell's Belle sans spice (not too surprising with the oleander and neroli in there) and seems more floral than patchouli-based to me. I think I'll enjoy wearing this.

... Blackened sandalwood and misty lavender, with curling wisps of smoky tobacco, nag champa, and labdanum. Hm! The lavender and the sandalwood were really the selling points of this blend for me. Unfortunately (for me anyway) it's dominated by the fruity nag champa and labdanum. I don't get a lot of smokiness from this one either. There's a tantalising whiff of lavender while it's still damp, but when it dries down this is complete lollipop-sticky fruitiness on me.

This is a very dry scent. When it's wet I can smell the moss, rather earthy, and as it dries on my skin it becomes increasingly smooth and woodsy. The rose is quite subtle and the benzoin adds a little touch of incense-spice. Somber and subdued.

Well, this one demonstrates conclusively that Egyptian musk does not work on me.... Salome initially is bitter almonds, and dries down to funky unwashed crotch. Not quite the olfactory message I want to send!

Oh, wow! This is wonderful! At first it's rather soporific and heady; as it dries it becomes a deep soft floral with a spicy edge and a bit of citrus jazzing up the flowers. Extremely wicked and coquettish. Use with caution

An unusual and beautiful combination of scents. For the record I couldn't confidently identify any of the listed notes in a lineup except for frankincense, which is not very strong in this. It's smooth and sweet (teeters on the edge of being cloying) and puts me in mind of honey. At the same time there's a note like woodsmoke, and something green and herbal that reminds me of ivy-covered oak trees.

The scent of a Cosmopolitan cocktail. Seriously, do NOT get pulled over wearing this, because the officer will NOT be amused. Fresh on, it's a really boozy scent with a strong overtone of almond extract. As it dries it becomes less sharply fruity and smells like smooth, soft cranberry juice and lime.

Definitely smells like red fruit to me, especially when it's wet. The coconut doesn't seem to be too strong; I actually forgot about it until I reread the listed notes just now. I was preoccupied trying to discern any trace of orris, but it's thankfully pretty mum If I concentrate I can detect a bit of an iron tang in the back of my throat when I sniff this, like the scent of actual blood. What are you putting in these, Beth? Musky, fruity...and a little metallic! Interesting.

Uh-oh, this one's definitely not made of win for me! In the imp there's a great fruit jam scent, strong, pure, and sweet, but along with it is a cloyingly sweet solvent-like smell that I got from Panacea: Seduction as well. Reminds me of sweet pea or ylang-ylang at its worst. That fades in the drydown, but sadly at that point the berry jam scent fades too and I just get a little bit of berry-flavoured perfume.

Initially the vetiver is quite strong in here, with that characteristic damp, decaying wood smell. As it dries musk and lavender come to the fore and smooth the blend considerably. I don't get citrus from this at any stage. When completely dry it's a smooth, masculine musky scent with a touch of sandalwood and some almost sour floral notes. Rather solemn.

I got a tester of this from GirlInDenial in return for a favour. Thank you! I misremembered the description of this as being simply vanilla cake, so I was confused at first when I was getting a really strong cream cheese frosting vibe from it. Even after three years it's a lovely true cheesecake scent that doesn't become sickly or overpowering, and lingers on the skin for a good 4+ hours. I can see why everyone goes bonkers for it.

The sugar note in this reminds me of Sugar Skull (dark and a little bit maple-syrup-like) along with a blast of strawberry. After it dries down the blue musk comes out quite strongly and makes the scent more ethereal. Blue musk smells a little bit like lavender to me with none of the bitterness that lavender sometimes has. The far drydown is a lingering trace of strawberry.