moon_lemming

Hey, this is pretty! Kind of headache-y, like a sweet drugstore perfume, but pretty at the same time, believe it or not. This is definitely an aquatic, the overpowering soap aura starts to take over as it dries. Okay, dry on me, Wiley's Swamp is a no-go, as any prettiness has been killed most sincerely dead by the soapy sharpness of (BPAL aquatic) + (my skin).

In the imp, Shattered Pumpkin is LEATHER LEATHER LEATHER. Fresh on, it's PUMPKIN OMG NO LAB PUMPKIN. (The Lab's pumpkin and I do not really get along.) Dry, it is so weird and compelling. It's fresh pumpkin -- not the buttery pumpkin that goes awful on me, so I guess the LAB PUMPKIN note I smelled at first is tamed by the other notes -- in a puddle of marshy water. The leather kicks around a bit, but not too much. This is one of those scents that tells a story, the thing I've always loved most about the Lab's offerings. I would never wear it under normal circumstances, but I'm glad I got to smell it.

Hee, Fearful Pleasure wavers between cough medicine and mulled cider in the imp. I mean that. I could twist the imp around and I would get one smell, then move it again and I'd get the other. CREEPY. On me, DAMN that's good. Apples and cinnamon. No, not cinnamon. Something similar but not quite the same. They used to have these red apples in the Shoney's bar when I was a kid, like they were soaked in spices or something and dyed red? This smells like those tasted. I would love this as a room scent, but it's a little too spicy for me to wear. I like my apple perfumes juicy, for the most part.

The School-House smelled really fresh and green, like sweet clover, in the imp and wet, but once it dries on my skin the balsam comes out and it's this weird mix of winter scents (the fir) and summer scents (the other stuff). I amp trees (lol) so this could just be me. Dry, it's Irish Spring with an herbal edge. Where did that come from? I mean, it's a GOOD smell, just a weird ending for that scent. Not a keeper for me.

Sweet white florals at first (I actually thought, WOW, A BPAL FLORAL WITHOUT DEATH!) that remind me of something I remember fondly. I couldn't tell you what that is, but that's the feeling I get. As it dries, Witching... picks up a burning edge that I don't like, though. So much for that.

Mmmm, dirty hippie. Definitely sandalwood in there, it's pretty much amped to the 8000th degree when wet. As it dries, I can smell a sort of rose/lemon combo trying to squeeze past it. Dry, the sandalwood in Rakshasa sort of settles down (which is surprising on my skin, which normally amps it) and the blend is evenly balanced between sandalwood, rose, and lemon. Maybe patchouli, but I have a hard time picking that out. I can definitely smell each of the other three notes, though. Would smell deelishus as an incense but it is not really something I'd wear.

Hmm amber. MOAR AMBER. Will the other notes help it out and keep it from being tossed aside? Will it be Instant Migraine Elixir or just Meh Fluid? STAY TUNED. Okay, in the imp Mag Mell smells very pleasant, like shampoo but with a gingery bite. On my skin, the... verbena, I guess comes out and it reminds me a little of Holiday Moon. The overall effect is pleasant and bright, if a bit sharp. Then something really disturbing takes over (two minutes in) and it starts to give me that inside-of-the-nose-burning smell. Ugh. Probably the amber, maybe the "rain." Whatever it is, I'm not making it past this stage.

In the imp and first on my skin, Hymn to Proserpine is bright red fruits. Pomegranate, cranberries? Something tart but sweet. As it dries, it becomes darker (fitting, right?), with more depth. Definitely pomegranate. Or plums? I don't know, something that screams LUSCIOUS RED FRUIT HEEYAH but I am crap at picking those out. Anyway, this development would be most excellent if only the amber did not come out to play. It's not a BAD amber, don't get me wrong -- it's sort of a perfume-y scent that goes well with the fruits. But I don't like amber. Overall it smells good, actually: I usually turn amber to powder but this one is behaving for the most part. It has an edge to it that whispers "when you least expect it... bam, powder" but it's not making good on the threat, instead staying nice and pretty and docile. It's still not enough to get me over my amber bias, though.

Just as I feared, on me the Reliquary is all myrrh. It's a sweet, not-too-overwhelming myrrh, but it's pretty one-note. At least I knew going in that my skin amps that note, so I wasn't disappointed, heh.

My last experience with amber (Inez) was not that pleasant, so I'm hoping it will take a backseat in this blend. Even though all signs point to HAHA, NO, since it's the first note listed. First sniff... actually repelled by the scent in the imp. I think it's the cream plus the honey, it is very very cloying. Okay, on me, this is just gross. My skin is amping something WRONG, so everything blended together smells like celery dipped in caramel. Sprinkled with salt. That did not go very well. Um, yay no amber?

Mmmmm carnation. Hmmmmm amber. Unfortunately the amber takes over pretty quickly. Powdery ick. (Amber and I are sort of enemies.)

This oil was so well-blended that it was hard for me to pick out any one note in the imp. Dotting it on, I did manage to sniff out the coconut, along with some musky vanilla. As it dries, I can sort of smell the flowers, but really it's mostly a musky vanilla coconut blend. Once it's totally dry, the lilac picks up a lot more and the two scents -- the coconut/vanilla blend and the lilac -- are about equal in strength. It's nice, but it would be nicer as a room scent, I think.

So there are no notes listed for this, but I would assume based on the meditation aspect that there's some sort of incense involved. In the imp I smell sweet creamy... cedar? Probably sandalwood based on other reviews -- I get the two mixed up a lot. Wet on my skin, Tushnamatay is pretty! I smell that scent I can NEVER place, but can only refer to as "hollow vanilla" or "woodsy vanilla." Possets' Orion has this feel to it. It's creamy and sweet and sort of delicate. As it dries, it becomes creamier and more settled. Even with all the settling, though, it's actually too sweet for me in the end, but it is very pretty. Just not anything I would wear often enough to buy a bottle.

I'm picking up salty aquatics and some of the Lab's leather note. Really, I could have stopped that sentence after "salty aquatics," as that is enough to know Calico Jack is not the oil for me. Oh, one other tidbit: it reminds me of Jolly Roger, but with a bit more depth.

So... can it get me high or what. No, I'm kidding. KIDDING. In the imp, Opium Poppy is... OH MY GOD NO. So we meet again, baby powder. Okay, I will try it out in case it morphs into something wondrous. This is horrible. I mean, I'm sure it smells good on somebody, somewhere, but it is this awful, deadly sweet powder scent on my skin and it is giving me a pretty fierce headache that feels like the beginnings of a migraine. Maybe I'm allergic to something in it, I don't know. It's not going near my skin again, that I DO know.

After reading the reviews here, I was surprised that I didn't smell pencil shavings. In the imp and wet on my skin, Mandrake is a damp woodsy oil, like a forest floor. It reminds me of CB I Hate Perfume's Forest Floor, actually. It's the sweetness of decay mixed with a mossy scent. But just now, I took a big whiff to try and describe the oil better, and yeah, I can see where the pencil shavings thing comes from. If I sniff hard enough, the takeaway is ALL cedar. But if I just take a glancing sniff, like wafting the scent toward my nose, it's that sweet decay. It reminds me of mushrooms, for some reason. To the point that until I read the description more carefully, I assumed that mandrake was a kind of mushroom. It's a pretty neat experience, but I prefer more out-and-out soil scents (like Queen of Clubs or Worm Moon) to this sort of thing.

Damp air trapped in limestone caverns, heady greenery, hothouse orchids, nicotiana blossoms, bois de chandel, elemi, palm wine, garambullo, pega-pega, flame of the forest, and a swirl of Haitian vetiver. Not a bad floral -- I got a compliment on it just sitting at my desk -- but too floral for me. It's sort of a soapy clean cousin-to-jasmine that manages not to become JASMINE DEATH. That's the orchids, I guess. It does have the feel of a damp floral, if that makes sense. As it dries, it becomes less HI I'M FLOWERS and more of a subtle aquatic with hints of its old self peeking through. Pretty, but totally not me. It was worth trying just to know that there is more than one floral blend that will not kill me dead with detergent, though.

Pretty, but waaaaay too innocent for me. Sweet dainty tea rose on a quiet, sweet vanilla base. The lily is smart and doesn't show up because it knows I would beat it down with a broom. Did I mention sweet? Too sweet and naive for my tastes. There is nothing about Victoria that's BAD, it's just... not me.

It is time for math class. REDWOOD + (BPAL)(SANDALWOOD) + TONKA + [AURA OF DIRT] = COCOA OF DEATH. TO BE FAIR: after it dries, Tristran is okay. Actually, more than okay: it's really good. Like an herbal men's cologne, but brighter and less astringent than that implies. I cannot overlook the first few minutes of death, though. I have too much perfume to be that forgiving.

First on, Yvaine smells like an herb garden. Love. The lavender isn't the screaming headache type, it's a mellow herbal lavender. The magnolia is... behaving itself, holy shit. It actually smells like MAGNOLIA and not detergent. It does sort of remind me of a starry night, but just at twilight, where the stars are starting to prick through. Okay, dry this reminds me of a Bath and Bodyworks scent. But, you know, more BPALier. It's very, very pretty, with the magnolia and lavender balancing out perfectly and the feel of -- well, exactly what the description is going for. One of the few straight-up florals from the Lab that actually end well on my skin. If I wore florals more often, I would stick a bottle in my next basket for sure.

So this sounds really floral, right? Did you think I was going to write "but it's really not, surprise!" next? Because I'm not. It is really floral. So lilies turn to detergent on me, as do tuberose and ylang ylang. And red musk -- which sounds SO GOOD in theory -- turns to baby powder. My sister said she smells florals that turned to fruit when she sniffed this, but yeah, all I'm getting is powdery detergent. But I'm curious since she smelled that ON ME when it is so not there to my nose: is the chemistry thing a skin weirdness or a brain-hardwiring weirdness? Anyway, I wasn't really thinking this one would be great on me (although, again, yum in theory), so no big loss.

Otherworldy golden incense, blooming wind-flowers, everlasting lavender, bluebell, a faint whiff of exotic sugared candies, and fae mist upon wet green grass. Fairy Market smelled foody to me; I was kind of surprised by the notes listed for it. It reminds me of the way the creme inside a doughnut tastes, but with a more flowery feel. As it dries, it picks up an edge of something that's neither sweet nor floral... I guess it's the incense. It smelled really good at first, but most of BPAL's incense notes go sour on me, and this is no exception. Ends up smelling a little burnt, actually. The first ten minutes were bliss, though.

Is there vinegar in this? Jeez. Let me look up the notes. Okay, no vinegar. I don't get the other stuff, either, though. I'm getting sort of an aquatic scent from it? Nothing else. Wait, there is something in here that reminds me of Dorian, must be the sweet tea. Hmmm... there's a little more sweetness now. This actually reminds me of Selkie for some reason, except more Irish Spring. No, this one's not for me. With few exceptions, aquatics give me a headache, and this is not one of those exceptions.

Oh my god, I LOVE it when the Lab does this. Nails a scent so gorram perfectly... God. Have y'all smelled this? If not, you see that description there? This is THAT. EXACTLY THAT. Metal and smoke and burnt wood and it's horrible and acrid and almost makes my eyes sting but it's so, so awesome. Gah. I'll never wear this, but it is amazingly accurate and I am really happy that I got to smell it. I would say there's some vetiver in there, and it leaves kind of a nutty afterhaze, but I really don't want to pick it apart, I just want to be amazed by it, okay?

I haven't even put this one on yet. I'm going to predict: ass. None of these things like to play nice on me, except ginger. That is why I asked for the empty bottle from the decant group I joined, because I knew I'd love the art (and I do!) but that the blend won't work. Okay, here goes nothin'. Oh, man, it smells terribly good in the imp; the ginger really pops. Yeah, this is truly awful on my skin. The ginger actually makes it worse, because it adds a bite -- one that I normally look forward to -- to the dog-food aroma. Sort of like the fizz from ginger ale that I'm drinking hitting my nose as I refill my ferrets' food dish. At least I'm getting to know my chemistry somewhat? As it dries, the musks settle down a LOT, and it's almost a good scent. This sort of shocks me! It's kind of like a bizarre candle scent. There's a sort of sweet fruitiness in it. Um... I actually kind of like this? This is bizarro world, right? If I didn't have so many perfumes already, I would probably save the imp, because I think this would be awesome when my hormones kick up -- I like musky and incense-y scents that I normally am just meh about when that happens.