Musamea

Oh joy, finally a BPAL jasmine I can wear! Jasmine and I have never been able to get along -- it's usually too sharp, too indolic (that "cat-pee" note) for me, but here the jasmine is beautifully smoothed and softened by the other notes. I was hoping mostly for honeysuckle, but it mainly appears to temper the jasmine, adding more a sense of lightness than fragrance to the scent. Heel, for me, is sharp in the decant, then immediately softens when it hits my skin. Wet, I get jasmine, a hint of honeysuckle, and the teeeeeniest whiff of soapy grass in the background. As it dries, the jasmine turns into a really warm, creamy white floral -- almost gardenia-like, very skin-close.

I've also had an issue with an imp cap (Spellbound) from an order that arrived in January shearing off on first use like you all described.

in the imp: mostly earthy, sexy patchouli with a teeny whiff of cinnamon and amber wet: a light dusting of sweet cinnamon over a base of earthy patchouli – I think this is the same patchouli as the one in Snake Oil? A dry sandalwood just baaaarely present underneath it all Dry: I'm not the biggest fan of patchouli usually, but when it's tempered with something else, like the vanilla in Snake Oil or the amber and cinnamon here on drydown, it can be a really lovely base note. Sin dries down incredibly like Snake Oil on me, except with warm amber and sandalwood and a tiny bit of heat from the cinnamon overlaying the patch instead of incense and vanilla– it's Snake Oil's less in-your-face, vanilla-less cousin. Perfect for when you want something sexy but skin-close.

in the decant: lilacs and wood, with the barest hint of roses and cool bergamot wet: lilac soap and baby powder dry: oh man, this oil really falls apart on me, even though none of the individual notes are usually an issue! The lilac water goes to soap and the roses turn powdery, combining to form eau de wet wipes on my skin. If I sniff deeply I can sense the resiny amber trying to break through and temper everything, but the wet wipes are winning. Too bad!

in the decant: sweet pink roses with hints of vanilla; feminine, wistful, and soft; I'm afraid this is going to turn to pure powder on me! Wet: a bouquet of fresh, innocent pink roses with a tiny bit of tangy sharpness from the rosewood Dry: Well, dry this turns into expensive French rose-lemon soap with the teeniest hint of salty skin musk. It's actually… not unpleasant? Think glowing post-bath skin. But the throw is also super super close to the skin (I don't know if the Lab purposefully dialed back throw on the CP scents or if it's a cold/dry weather thing, but so far my skin tends to gobble up rather than amp all the CPs I've tried, with the exception of Lucille Sharpe). I'll send my decant on to a friend who loves and amps roses and see if this works better on her.

In the imp: a really delicious sweet rum softly spiced with sandalwood Wet: a smoky, almost tobacco note moves forward (from other reviews, I'm wondering if this is from the clove other people mentioned?) and the sweetness I smelled in the imp dials way back, there's a bit of salty musk underlying everything – reads as fairly masculine and "American West" to my nose, fitting for the character Dry: weird – on one wrist I have sweat, dust, leather, and tobacco, and on the other I get dust and that lovely rum-sandalwood-spice that I initially smelled in the imp, all of it fading in and out of my skin; at total drydown it's basically dust and sweat. Overall: If this oil stayed to true to its in-the-imp smell I would totally get why everyone is swooning over it, because it smells absolutely splendid, but it just goes weird on my skin. I'll hang onto my decant and try skin-testing again at a different point in my cycle/after the oil has some time to settle. If it doesn't work then I'll see if it's any better on my husband or in my hair. This is definitely one I really want to work! Test 2: the oil doesn't go to that weird sweat and dust phase this time, but when it hits my skin the bay rum moves forward and overpowers any sweetness I get from the sandalwood. I still get whiffs of tobacco leather. Overall – intriguing but ultimately too masculine for me. (Though it does make me curious about Snow White, given the number of reviews that say Alan is Snow White's brother….)

in the bottle: oh my God, finally the osmanthus scent I've been looking for! Beautiful, delicate osmanthus blossoms float up to greet my nose, with the tiniest bit of green leaves, sharp lily, and gritty, resiny frankincense behind it; this smells exactly like the osmanthus bushes planted by the door of my childhood home – cool, delicate, light, and enticing wet: the lily of the valley blooms and takes over initially, coupled with a very light musk, turning this blend all bright white floral at first; then it starts reading as mostly sharp citrus up close, though the throw stays truer to the initial osmanthus scent in the bottle dry: alas, the musk takes over and turns into candy powder here The bit that got on my hair stayed true holy grail osmanthus, though, so I'll wandcap the bottle and use it in my hair.

in the bottle: incredibly smooth and well-blended; I get vanilla amber straight off, while sniffing deeply yields the sharp resin of myrrh and a bit of smoky frankincense, with the teeniest hint of leather to finish it off wet: warm leather and myrrh, with sandalwood and an Eastern hint from the resins and cinnamon; pretty gender neutral right now dry: leather, warm sandalwood, and Eastern resins, with the amber sweetening up a touch; stays pretty close to the skin. I don't think people who usually find cinnamon problematic will have an issue here, and while I've had issues in the past with leather getting screamingly sharp on me, that doesn't happen here. A really golden, cozy, slightly mysterious blend. Out of my usual wheelhouse of scents, but I'm really liking it, and am happy to have supported a good cause to boot!

in the imp: blue musk and sugared florals with a bit of ozone, not really getting any incense or smoke – I'm not entirely sure what I'm smelling because everything is so well-blended and it's so different from other scents I'm used to from the Lab, but this is delightful! Wet: Oh dear, this goes straight to soap the moment it hits my skin. Expensive, French soap, but soap nonetheless Dry: thankfully the soapiness fades back a bit here. Initially I get I get sugar and ozoney musk and maybe a teeeeeeny tiny bit of incense if I search for it. The sugar keeps warming up through drydown with drifts of floral and incense in the far background until it's almost pure caramelized sugar on my skin. The only problem is that an hour after application my skin has pretty much gobbled up the oil, and I never got much throw to begin with. This is… nice? But not mindblowing in the way I was expecting from all the hype.

in the imp: delicate white roses with a hint of rosewood and ambergris wet: soft white roses and delicate musk with a tiny bit of deep resin in the background, on my left wrist the rosewood adds an almost lemony tone, while on my right wrist the vanilla amber is the next note I can detect beneath the roses; this is really beautiful but super, super light dry: the amber and ambergris really start warming up here, adding a wonderful resiny richness to the roses, which have taken on an almost spicy note from the rosewood. The champagne musk adds a nice sweetness and never gets overpowering. Final drydown is mostly a rosy-vanilla amber on me. This scent is so gorgeous and perfectly balanced, and I'm definitely going to need a bottle!

in the imp: the same bright juicy apricot as March Hare, with hints of orange blossom to add a floral touch wet: all apricots, all the time dry: the apricot goes a bit powdery on me, probably because of the combination with white musk; if I sniff deeply I can get a bit of orange blossom dancing in the background, but mostly this is like apricot single note. A bit too simple for me, but perfect for anyone who loves apricot!

In the imp: pure headshoppy Nag champa Wet: smoky Nag champa Dry: yup, still all champaca all the time, and I'm guessing East Indian sandalwood is different from the Lab's usual sandalwood and is what is adding that incensy note. I was hoping for an orange blossom forward blend, but this is all headshop on me. A bit too hippie for my tastes, but if you're a fan of Nag champa, this is the scent for you!

in the imp: pure pumpkin cream and sweet vanilla, super foodie and rich wet: goes straight to smoked vanilla bean, which I think is the same vanilla note found in The Worst Pillow, with a bit of spicy honey in the background grounding the scent and keeping it from turning into pure cake – I'm not really getting a ton of pumpkin cream here dry: warm, spicy vanilla bean and caramel cream, the honey doesn't go overpoweringly cloying on me, as Lab honey is wont to do, and I don't get any of the popcorn butter that has plagued me with previous Lab blends with pumpkin (really I'm just not getting a ton of pumpkin in general here); I'll need to do a deathmatch with The Worst Pillow because The Witches is reading almost identically to my nose right now

in the imp: bright orange blossom and dewy roses wet: red roses bloom into a gorgeous bouquet, spiced up by orange blossom, I'm not getting much sandalwood – I suspect it's grounding everything and keeping the scent from getting too floral and cloying though; no honey, which is a surprise since I usually amp the Lab's honey like whoa dry: ah, now the honey really moves forward, though it's held in check by the roses; the sandalwood still tempers everything from the background and keeps the scent warm and skin-close; I lose a lot of the orange blossom on drydown, alas Final drydown on me is honeyed roses – a very nice, not overly heady floral; definitely considering a big bottle of this!

I was really hoping for a carnation Snake Oil scent and tested this several times. First test, upon receiving the decant: in the decant: the first straight up, "true," sticky, edible honey I've smelled from the Lab, with a touch of Dorian and something greenish behind it wet: the edible/raw/wild aspect of the honey note is gone and we've moved straight to cloying honey, with a touch of green moss, then the spice of the carnation starts to come forward. Totally reminds me of the initial too-strong honey explosion I got with Serving Tea after Coitus. I'm starting to realize that my skin loves to amp the Lab's honey, to the point where it overpowers everything else in a blend initial dry: still honey stomping over everything, with the faintest hint of vanilla and the spices from Snake Oil in the background, no Dorian or carnation at all final drydown: disappears into the skin a bit – now I'm getting the final almost-powdery warm vanilla that Snake Oil eventually turns into on me, swirled with honey and the tiniest tang of salt retested one day after settling – in the imp I smell more of the incense from Snake Oil, with honey in the background; wet it is a honey-tinged super-dried-down Snake Oil; I think I could probably layer Good with regular Snake Oil for the same effect? Full dry the cotton candy and honey come forward, with Snake Oil lingering in the background. MUCH nicer today and will probably get better with age – it's not screaming at me to buy a bottle, though One week later it is spicy honey spilled over dried down Snake Oil – I can't see myself reaching for this one very often