melange

Also a frimp. Thank you, Lab! I got the same citrus-mint-aquatic-snow sense. The back of one finger, where I first applied it, seems slightly more minty while the other finger, the one I blotted it with, is more sweet/floral. Any waft of pine disappeared quickly. This is clean, fresh, just right for... refreshing.

I love this when I first smell it, but when it hits my skin, it fades and turns into a particular kind of sweat. I'll use my decant, but in a scent locket!

If Michael had a voice, he'd be a tenor. This has a complicated qualiy that makes me want to sniff it again and again; it's pale and layered without being piercing. Don't hold me to it, but every now and again, I catch a whiff that reminds me somehow of Antique Lace.

Buen Viaje is strong and spicy on my skin, but with a sweet side; after getting to try the tonka SN, it's fun recognizing some here! I'm not sure if I recognize the hiba wood but I think it's adding a little freshness to round out the sandalwood. My one worry is tumeric: it likes to amp on me, and here it's straining at the leash, just on the verge of taking over.

This is slippery saltwater on my skin, immediately evoking a mermaid, and sweetens up over time. No baby powder here!

Strong green floral at first, which fades in a couple of minutes to a prettiness that the myrrh makes more interesting, only then the myrrh draws a veil over the rest and leaves just a quiet floral softness. It's like a meadow you can take with you. (It lasts a while, too.) I'll have to bring this out again when we're actually in springtime.

It's a wash of menthol/pine cold at first, followed by sweetness. There's good throw from my skin. It's lovely as it is but also seems as though it would layer well.

Sharp and somewhat bitter, the first onrush of scent seems to be generally attributed to lavender, but I normally like lavender and this still doesn't smell right to me. I suspect that repeat offenders myrtle and cognac are sharpening things. The patchouli is trying to help everyone get along and eventually makes the scent herbal, but it's a prickly sort of herbal compared to Christmas Eve on the Moor.

I liked The Shivering Boy very much, but this decant doesn't agree at all with my skin. Maybe it's the balsam + chamomile? It just smells off, somewhat sour, especially on the right-hand side. No cold winey grapes for me!

This is another scent that is wonderfully evocative of its description. When I first tried the decant, I saw it as old wood bookcases with beeswax rubbed in years ago, long enough now that you can only sniff that old warmth when you're looking for it. After having let the decant sit for a couple weeks, though... this is amazing. Beeswax and incense and so many good things, and better, it lasts and lasts. It reminds me of Morocco, not that it smells just the same, but there's something about it. This may be my favorite of this year's Yules.

It really does smell metallic and cold on my skin. (Yes for ozone, no for lemon.) Unfortunately, it also gives me a headache.

This is wholesale dark fruity baked goods on my skin: moist, spicy, sweet and strong. Plain fig usually amps on me, but this figgy pudding handles much better. I'm surprised by how good this smells, and I like its throw.

When wet, and in its early stages, this is very plantlike on my skin. I can identify the carrot seed and lovage but I'm not sure what bog myrtle smells like. After maybe ten or fifteen minutes, the muddle of smells stays a mixture but becomes clean and refreshing while feeling somehow cool in temperature. I'll have to bring this decant out in the summertime.

What does this smell like? Wet, it smells very familiar, like one particular thing, only I just can't place it. As it dries, it stays pretty true on my skin, just quieter. I can't get over this one. It also lasts longer on my skin than some of the other Yules this year.

Wet, this scent strongly disagrees with my skin. It's not the vetiver, or not just vetiver, because often vetiver and I do very well together; I think the black currant and myrrh take it too far in the wrong direction. As it dries, though, it begins to blend and balance more, until it settles down into a warm skin scent on my left hand (if slightly more sour on my right). It's like crushed velvet with a waft of incense.

Wet, I get a rush of sweet, fruity scent that's hard to place but smells like something that should be in a meadow. It's amazing. However, that leads to orange blossom taking over, and then the whole thing dims on my skin, particularly on the left side. Eventually, a little vanilla/floral sweetness comes back out. Luckily, the freshness lasts longer on a scrap of fabric! This could make a great room scent, even though it doesn't work with my skin chemistry.

Almond notes and I do not get along, so I put on the barest touch from the decant... and was surprised by how great it smelled with the mulled wine, so I added more. On me, it doesn't turn out boozy, and the mulled wine and marzipan balance each other remarkably well.

This is amazingly realistic, and I wish the wet scent lasted longer, even as I enjoy the morphing. It dies quickly on my skin, then resurrects into a lurking fog.

Sniffing this as it dries on my skin, I feel as though I can pick out each note. It doesn't take long to warm up, though, and it becomes spicy and almost fruity. I feel like a pomander chilling on a dark altar, in a good way.

Perfumey and fresh while wet, this reminds me of herbal shampoo at first. It relaxes into something cushiony, soft and green-grey, but I never do get the fire from the decant. Shadows of What May Be has earth and grass notes too, but it's raw and this is much quieter.

For realism, Beth hit this one out of the park. Wet on my skin, it's really strong. As it dries, it's dirtier on my left wrist, grassier on my right. I keep wanting to lift my wrists and smell it, which is distracting! Christmas Eve on the Moor includes grass and mud in its notes too, but it's subtle and Shadows of What May Be isn't, though eventually SoWMB does quiet down (maybe the grass is growing back over the disturbed earth?). I really like this.

When this is wet on my skin, sniffing it feels like it's giving me a hard push. Drydown: BO. I think it's how the cumin interacts with the other ingredients on my skin, probably not cumin by itself. After some time, it changes to a heavy, masculine scent, as though Scrooge had sweated into his leather jacket and wore it to work.

Strangely, what I get the most at first is what I identify as fennel! As it dries, though, I get the pine boughs and the punch with oranges. Later, my chemistry makes it into potpourri. I'm starting to suspect that my skin wants to amp the myrica berries these days.

At first it's tingly and cooling and, yes, like Altoids. There's lots of throw, and after a while I get wafts of sugar and vanilla which eventually become more solidly sweet vanilla. It doesn't feel quite balanced, but I think aging might help that. The scent lasts about an hour to my nose and then drifts away. I'm thinking about upgrading my decant to a bottle.

Golden sunlight and sweet fresh air brightening a Heavenly sky on Christmas Day: crisp winter air, shimmering amber, sweet honey, with a touch of pumpkin pie, pine cone, cranberry, and bayberry. This is a scent that I thought I'd love. Unfortunately, I don't get the pine, but rather a muddle of notes that becomes the berries. I do get more of the amber, winter air and honey later on, but they're faint. After reading the other reviews, I wonder if a bottle might be different than my decant, especially as it ages, but I can't afford to risk it. Cruel chemistry strikes again!