Alethia

I have it on good authority that there be a Switch Witch Halloween round... stay tuned.....

Thoughts before testing: I'm kind of collecting all of the single notes to educate my nose. That said, two months ago I wouldn't have touched Siberian Musk with a ten foot pole (I was a very floral/spicy girl until Snake Oil showed me the error of my ways!), but I'm excited to try it now!

Wet: This smells exactly like Snake Oil to me without the sugar and vanilla to temper the sharpness of the musk.

Dry down: Yup, SO. It's getting sharper as it dries, and I'm really missing the calming effect of the sweet in SO.

Dry: After about two and a half hours, Siberian Musk is so sharp it stings my nose when I smell it.

Final thoughts: I love fresh Snake Oil, but I'm not crazy about fresh Siberian Musk. But I have a feeling that with a little aging, this will be fabulous. And who knows, maybe a single note will be released that I can pair with this to mellow it out and make it more wearable right now

Verdict: Keeping the bottle, but on the lookout for something to pair it with and mellow it out.

Thoughts before testing: Dorian is one of my all-time top ten BPALs, and when I heard rumors that Jareth was Dorian + leather, I was sold!

Wet: Oh shit. This is Dorian wrapped up in a sexy well worn leather bike jacket. I am in serious trouble. Seriously. It's not as sweet as Dorian on my skin, and the leather is very soft and not harsh at all.

Dry down: I'm swooning over here, Jareth is that good. As it dries, it gets a little deeper and more full-bodied if that makes sense at all. It definitely blossoms the more it dries.

Dry: The final dry down of this is much, much less sweet than Dorian is on me. And the leather in this is definitely my favorite leather ever in a blend.

Final thoughts: This is a terrific unisex blend; I definitely don't think it's too masculine for a woman to wear. I never got any lilac which is good because it would have wrecked this for me I think. It also lasts insanely long on my skin. I'm wearing it even in the dreadful heat and humidity now, but I can't wait for fall/winter so that I can scent all my scarves with Jareth. If you're waffling on this one, just go for it. This is truly a beautiful blend.

Verdict: :love!: You'd have to pry the bottle out of my cold dead hands, and I'm seriously considering a backup (to put this into perspective, out of all the oils I own, I only have 2 backups. This is serious business).

Thoughts before testing: I have a terrible track record with the Lunacies, but this one just sounded too perfect to resist!

Wet: Sharp pine and sage and a hint of jasmine.

Dry down: I'm amping the jasmine in this like nobody's business. All I can smell is the dirty diaper of jasmine.

Dry: Yup. Nothing but dirty jasmine for me

Final thoughts: Officially, I'm declaring jasmine to be an enemy of my state. I'm sure that this is beautiful, but sadly very much not for me.

Verdict: Away with thee!!!

Thoughts before testing: I don't think I've ever smelled violet leaf before, but I do love the Lab's white tea note and I tend to do best with perfumes that only have a few notes. I'm cautiously optimistic!

Wet: Sharp tea and green; this is slightly spicy and surprisingly awesome. Very fresh and pretty.

Dry down: This is one of the prettiest white tea blends I've ever smelled, and the violet leaf is awesome. It's fresh and clean smelling without being soapy.

Dry: It turns slightly citrusy after a few hours, but still stays fresh and clean.

Final thoughts: This is beautiful and perfect for the hot sticky weather that's still hanging around.

Verdict: The imp is staying, but I probably don't need a bottle.

Thoughts before testing: Amber almost always goes straight to a sharp powder on my skin and obliterates everything else in the blend. My hopes are not high for this one.

Wet: This smells like walking into a craft store, which is maybe better than sharp powder?

Dry down: Generic craft store spice.

Dry: No change.

Final thoughts: I'm glad that it wasn't powdery, but I have no desire to smell like Michaels or Hobby Lobby

Verdict: Off to the sales!

Thoughts before testing: I absolutely adore the way cinnamon smells, but I've only ever found one perfume (Harlot )that didn't turn to immediate Red Hots or cinnamon buns on my skin. Copal and honeysuckle don't usually work for me, but I'm testing everything that comes my way these days. So here goes!

Wet: Beautiful smooth cinnamon, sweet but not foody. It also doesn't burn my skin like a lot of blends with cinnamon do.

Dry down: Still mostly a cinnamon single note on me, but it's sweet and has a lot of depth.

Dry: Still sweet, deep cinnamon.

Final thoughts: I love cinnamon, and so I love the way this smells. I'm glad that everything else managed to stay in the background because this is the cinnamon perfume I've been looking for!

Verdict: Immediate bottle purchase.

Thoughts before trying: Woods never work for me and since AM has two listed, I don't have high hopes for this one despite the vanilla and tobacco (which are always win notes for me).

Wet: Sharp, sharp woods. Yowza.

Dry down: The woods are replaced entirely by the tobacco and vanilla. It smells deep and rich and sweet and chewy (if that makes any sense ). It's beautiful and I can only imagine how much better this would smell on a man

Dry: This mellows out into a beatiful slightly sweet vanilla tobacco. This is crazy good.

Final thoughts: This is maybe just a tad too masculine for me, but I don't even care. This is stunning and I can't believe I waited this long to try it.

Verdict: Keeping the imp, definite bottle purchase.

Thoughts before testing: This was part of an impulse/panic Salon order right before it closed, but I figured with win notes like skin musk, honeycomb, rose, and cream there was a decent chance of this working.

Wet: This starts as a beautiful creamy floral that's so well blended I can't pick out any one note. This is stunning wet.

Dry down: As it dries, it morphs from a creamy floral into a high pitched and soapy one. The kind of floral that makes you wrinkle your nose and wonder why anyone wears floral perfume.

Dry: Yup, high pitched shrieking soap. Damn.

Thoughts before testing: I wanted this to work so badly. I'm really hoping that some aging in a dark cool box will smooth things out and change it from sharp floral soap to the beautiful creamy floral of the wet stage.

Edited to add: Thirteen months of aging and this is still high pitched soap on my skin. Damnations.

Verdict: Off to the sales.

Thoughts before testing: Leather, vanilla orchid, and tonka? The only thing that worries me slightly is the amber because it tends to go powdery on me, but we'll see what happens?

Wet: Female opens with a strong blast of amber powder, but it's immediately gone and replaced by the most gorgeous sweet smooth leather backed by a beautiful vanilla. ZOMG.

Dry down: No change, just this beautiful vanilla leather.

Dry: The leather deepens after about an hour and is to die for. Sweet, smooth leather and vanilla FTW!

Final thoughts: I am in so much trouble! This is the best leather blend I've ever smelled. It's feminine and soft and crazy long lasting.

Verdict: Hoarding commences!

Thoughts before testing: Vanilla is one of my favorite notes, and I'm really excited to try Celeste!

Wet: A floral vanilla with a backing of spice. I really love saffron in perfume, and it's just to die for here. Celeste isn't foody, but still sweet.

Dry down: It's a little sweeter and more foody now but still floral. This is really pretty.

Dry: A beautiful mix of floral and foody and sweet. The saffron mostly stays in the background after the wet stage, but it grounds the whole blend and turns it into something really spectacular.

Final thoughts: I completely understand why Celeste is so sought after. This is a beautiful perfume, and definitely worth the trouble of tracking down.

Verdict: Keeping the bottle!

Thoughts before testing: Every note here is a win for me, and I have high expectations for this one.

Wet: A lovely blend of osmanthus and hibiscus. It's slightly fruity/floral but lovely.

Dry down: The honey and sugar cane are more prominent now and the whole thing is just a lovely sweet floral.

Dry: This is a really beautifully blended slightly sweet floral. I love this!

Final thoughts: I made a last minute panic order before The Salon came down so Iatso was a gamble. But it's pure win!

Verdict: Keeping the bottle!

Thoughts before testing: I'm a huge fan of the single notes. I like when my perfume stays relatively consistent, so the single notes are right up my alley. Lotus can sometimes turn super bubblegum on my skin, so this should be interesting!

Wet: Clean and crisp smelling. It's slightly soapy, but definitely not in a bad way.

Dry down: The soap smell is gone and is replaced by a watery, clean floral. This is really pretty!

Dry: Clean floral without being soapy or high pitched. This is just uncomplicated and beautiful.

Final thoughts: This is so lovely. It sticks close to my skin and is just beautiful.

Verdict: Keeping the imp, and I might be picking up a bottle before it comes down next week.

Thoughts before testing: Everything is a win note, except for the jasmine. This should be fun!

Wet: Sweet floral; heavy on the lily and vanilla. This is quite pretty and not high pitched at all.

Dry down: This goes to pure Dove soap on my skin

Dry: Dove soap.

Final thoughts: What a disappointment!

Verdict: Off to the sales!

Thoughts before testing: I've been looking for the perfect red musk blend and although the pomegranate and raspberry worries me, I just had to try Red Lace.

Wet: Sweet, but not foody. This is heavy on the red musk, pom, raspberry, and the tobacco is providing the backbone of the whole show.

Dry down: The red musk disappears on my skin, leaving me with nothing but the pom/raspberry combination and hints of vanilla and sugar. The tobacco is non-existant at this point.

Dry: Red Lace dries down to a sugared vanilla smell with vague traces of berries.

Final thoughts: This was a disappointment, but I figured the fruits would take over. Sad day!

Verdict: Off to the sales!

Thoughts before testing: I've been on a red musk kick lately, and Le Lethe seemed like the perfect scent to kick off the red musk testing!

Wet: Red musk, amber, tobacco; this is surprisingly awesome. Very sexy smelling, very strong.

Dry down: Smoky musky floral. The tobacco comes to the forefront here but it's a sweet tobacco. The red musk is amping I think, and turning this very "perfume-y."

Dry: By this stage, it's pretty much all red musk and tobacco on my skin.

Final thoughts: I really loved the wet stage of this. I can see myself using this in certain situations, but this is definitely not an every day scent for me. It lasted forever though (going on 6 hours and it's still strong!)

Edited to add: I did indeed keep the imp, and after a year Le Lethe smoothed out to a drop dead sexy musky-floral-tobacco. This is my go to date night perfume now.

Verdict: Upgrading to a bottle!

Initial thoughts: I am normally stay far far away from patchouli, but when an incredibly amazing forumite ( ) gifted me a partial bottle, I had to try it.

Wet: Strong patchouli, but very very smooth. It's not rooty or particularly dirty smelling. Just very smooth and backed by a lovely creamy non-foody vanilla. Wow.

Dry down: Equal parts very smooth beautiful patchouli and sweet grownup vanilla. This is crazy good!

Dry: It stays this beautiful and smooth patchouli and vanilla for literally hours.

Final thoughts: Well, I can no longer say that I hate patchouli because I am in serious love with Banshee Beat. This has rocketed up to my top ten list. And the wear on this is amazing. I've had it on for almost 8 hours now and it's still going strong. The hunt for this one begins now and in earnest.

Verdict: Be vewy, vewy quiet; I'm hunting Banshee Beat.

Thoughts before testing: The Lab's honey is one of my forever win notes. Gardenia and I get along very well, and I've recently discovered a love of DBR. Vanilla orchid is also traditionally good on me, but I'm not sure about ginger grass or turmeric, so we'll see how this goes!

Wet: This opens with a blast of dragon's blood resin and a very pretty, musky honey (which reminds me a lot of the honey hair gloss. The gardenia is also strong but not high pitched and the vanilla orchid is staying soft in the background. Overall, it's a bright, sweet floral at this stage.

Dry down: All of the notes keep getting more well rounded and prettier. This is really lovely.

Dry: The sweetness tones down quite a bit after an hour or so and is a beautiful musky floral.

Final thoughts: Love this!

Verdict: Keeping the bottle!

Thoughts before testing: I love peony and all of the Lab's teas, but I'm not so sure about the herbs listed.

Wet: Beautiful, slightly sweet peony but not candy sweet like Lady in a Speckled Pink Kimono. I don't get any tea at this stage; it's pretty much the Peony Show. This is ok with me though because I love peony!

Dry down: The tea is becomes more prominent as it dries and tempers the sweetness of the peony just a little. So pretty! The tea is light, definitely not a dark tea.

Dry: Equal parts tea and peony. This is so crazy pretty.

Final thoughts: I never got any herbs, and that's ok with me. I've been looking for a warm weather scent that isn't too overpowering, and I think that Dormouse fits that bill!

Verdict: Bottle purchase for sure!

Initial thoughts: This was a frimp in a recent lab order. Amber tends to go very powdery on me, but I have discovered a love for dragon's blood resin, so we'll see what happens!

Wet: This is a stunning floral with only a hint of amber. Wow.

Dry down: The amber comes a little more to the fore now, grounding the florals and making it softer and just a tad spicier. This is actually really pretty, and not what I expected at all.

Dry: Beautiful floral, a little spicy, soft enough that it's not a piercing floral, and completely unexpected.

Final thoughts: I can't get over how awesome this smells. Blood Amber stays very close to my skin, and it's just superb and not what I was expecting at all. The wear time was also awesome (close to 6 hours before I really had to try to smell it).

Verdict: The imp is a definite keeper, and I think this one may turn into a bottle.

Initial thoughts: I've been into BPAL for over a year now and have so far managed to resist Snake Oil. I thought it would be too heavy, too incense-y, have too much throw, and be very much Not Me. But I got a frimp of it in my last Lab order and I've been skin testing everything that comes my way in an effort to break out of my BPAL comfort zone. So here goes!

Wet: Oof. It's kind of...medicinal smelling up close? It's not the play dough that others seem to smell. It just has a weird medicinal quality to it that kind of makes me curl my nose. But if I put my arm down at my side, I get wafts of the most amazing smelling sugared vanilla backed by an intoxication incense

Dry down: The medicinal smell is gone, and I'm left with this amazing, sexy, naughty smell. It is strong though. I put just a drop on, and my mother is walking through the kitchen going "Who smells amazing? Seriously, what is that perfume and can I have some?"

Dry: So. Freaking. GOOD!

Final thoughts: Snake Oil is crazy long lasting on me (7 hours before I had to really try to smell it) and when I ran out into this beastly heat to get dinner it just blossomed. It became stronger and even more intoxicating (seriously, I had two grocery store clerks ask me what on earth my perfume was). I can completely understand the hype about this one, and am only sad that it took me this long to try it!

Verdict: I'll be ordering 2 bottles in my next lab order (one to wear now and one to age because I can only imagine how crazy good this will smell in a year).

Initial thoughts: I never would have picked this for myself, but it was a frimp in my last Lab order. I love the black musk in Playful Wooden Mallets from this year's Lupers, but I'm not so sure about the rest of the notes here. Volcanic gas?

Wet: Why hello there Black Musk. Would it be possible for you to let the rest of the notes say hi? .... No? Ok then...

Dry down: Strong on the black musk. I can barely smell a hint of the greenery, but mostly it's just all black musk.

Dry: For all intents and purposes, this is a black musk single note on me

Final thoughts: I'm not sure what's up with my skin chemistry, but this was all black musk, all the time. I prefer Playful Wooden Mallets for my black musk needs though because this is just too one-dimensional for me.

Verdict: To the sales!

Initial thoughts: This is one of my mother's all time favorite BPALs, and with the Salon leaving at the end of the month I figured there was no time like the present to try this bad boy I'm a fan of aquatics in theory, although I rarely wear them. The ambergris here has me concerned as it usually does nasty things once it hits my skin.

Wet: I get a strong hit of the sea foam, pear, and freesia. It's quite pretty if a little overwhelming.

Dry down: The ambergris is staying hidden, and the overall blend is mellowing out a little. It's not as in my face as it was wet, which is a relief.

Dry: A nice aquatic floral. Very pretty.

Final thoughts: This smells amazing on my mother, and it really is one of the prettiest aquatics I've ever tried. It's not my "thing" so to speak, but it is lovely and definitely worth trying.

Verdict: Not for me.

I need some rose help! I've been searching for a good rose scent for a little while now, but it seems like every rose blend I try ends up smelling like pink sugary Turkish Delight. London, Zombi, Blood Rose--they all turned into the same sugary pink roses.

 

Now, don't get me wrong, I love Turkish Delight and pink roses are pretty, but I'm really searching for a deep, dark red rose scent--I have memories of smelling dark red roses in a garden and I'm trying to recapture that scent and carry it around with me. I just never seem to get that out of any blend.

 

It might just be my skin doing this to me, or it might just be that this is how rose scents end up when they're extracted. I don't really know. I have a few other rose blends in imps to try, and I will yet try them.

 

But any recommendations or observations of similar situations would be really, really welcome.

Give Peacock Queen a try! It's a very deep red rose to my nose

Thoughts before testing: I literally squeaked with excitement when I saw that the single notes were making a return, and so this and Spanish Red Carnation were instant purchases for me.

Wet: This smells, I kid you not, exactly like the Head and Shoulders green apple shampoo I have in my shower. This is actually not a bad thing as it's my favorite shampoo, lol. Very juicy, very fresh, very pretty.

Dry down: This is so stinking pretty.

Dry: Very fresh, very floral, very pretty.

Final thoughts: I feel like this isn't a helpful review at all because when I sniff my hand my brain goes blank and all I can think is "PREEEEEEEEEEETY!" Apple blossom can sometimes go soapy on me, but this didn't at all and lasted forever (six hours and still going strong!). This is a really bright, warm, lovely perfume. I've been on the hunt for an appropriate scent for summertime because most of my BPAL is creamy/spicy/strong which can be overwhelming in the heat and humidity. I do believe that Annurca Apple Blossom fits the bill!

Verdict: :love!: