Musamea

in imp: ginger, warm and sweet wet: ginger that's markedly different from the Lab's usual note… it's not sharp, but rather sweet and slightly spicy. The honey brings an exotic scent to the mix. But oooh, this baby burns, ever so slightly. Eeeks! dry: oh no, the milk in this is going the way of nearly all BPAL milk oils on me… sour. On drydown, Sudha Segara smells a LOT like what White Rabbit ended up being on me (which makes sense, since they share a bunch of notes). Somewhat too masculine, too peppery, too sour… and the stinging arm doesn't help. Swapping this one.

in imp and wet: vetivert, vetivert, vetivert. With a bit of the peppery dragon's blood in the background. dry: Oh damn, I smell like dirt. *goes off to scrub arm*

in the imp: very floral… I haven't really worn enough BPAL florals to differentiate between them, though wet: pretty florals with the Indonesian oils peeking through beneath. I *want* to say that the top floral note is calla lily… I feel like I recognize it from another Lab blend. But I can't be sure. drydown: the florals take on a shade of spicy sweetness… a lot more hit-you-in-the-face now. I like it! dry: It's the exotic spice of Snake Oil, with a teeny hint of vanilla, covered all over with glorious flowers. I like it a lot… the florals lend a sweetness to Snake Oil that is less foody-warm as the usual vanilla… it's pretty and feminine and, if true to form, it's just gonna get better. This one's a keeper.

in the imp: Snake Oil and sage wet: The tonka really highlights the resiny vanilla in Snake Oil, with the sage bringing freshness to the mix. It reminds me just a bit of the gorgeous creamy orchid-vanilla in Regan, which is a bit strange, since vanilla is about all these scents have in common. Just barely a hint of the sandalwood, mixing beautifully with the oils, to keep things grounded. The leather is really apparent when up close, but it's really not a hyper-masculine scent. drydown: This one's a morpher. Sometimes the sage kicks in really, really strong, and it's all pretty floral, then the leather rises to the fore, dusty, lowkey, comforting. And then the tonka reasserts itself and together with the sandalwood gives the goooorgeous smoky vanilla that plain Snake Oil usually takes a few hours to dry down to, on my skin. I feel like I'm wearing aged Snake Oil, mixed with a bit of Regan, with a dash of leather thrown in to keep things interesting. dry: My wrist is pure, unadulterated aged Snake Oil that's all sexy, smoky vanilla. The crook of my elbow has retained the floral of the sage a bit better, and it's blending beautifully with the creamy tonka. overall: I can't stop sniffing myself. This snake is just so beautiful! It's really, really close to Snake Oil for me, and that's making me waffle a bit about whether or not I want to buy a bottle, but… but… it's all the good things in Snake Oil, in aged Snake Oil, without the wait. What's a girl to do?

in the imp: surprisingly, it's the lily that hits you first, followed closely by the dragon's blood resin wet: the dragon's blood makes itself known, with that expected peppery kick, but the lily lingers, and the lilac blooms to give this scent a somewhat melancholy tone dry: Wow, this is unexpectedly pretty. I haven't had much luck with the Ars Draconis so far, but this… yeah, I could get used to this. It's definitely not your grandmother's lily perfume. The resin is nicely balanced out by the floral, and it all combines to form this spicy, *interesting* blend. Not a big bottle purchase for me, but I'll definitely be holding onto the imp.

in imp: wow, this smells EXACTLY like Morocco -- softly spiced florals wet: Okay, now the linen comes out to play a bit more, adding a cleaner, slightly sharper edge to the florals dry: Still rather Morocco-esque to my nose (I'm going to have to do a side by side comparison to really get the nuances, but I think my scent memory is fairly accurate), but the linen gets stronger. Morocco tends to dry down sweetly spiced on me, Antique Lace looks like it's going toward clean spicy sweetness. This baby has got TERRIFIC throw. It's warm and comforting and ultra-feminine in a way that's not flighty or too bold. I quite like it and can see it being a really nice summer wedding scent, even if the similarity to Morocco keeps me from being able to justify a large bottle purchase.

in the imp: buzzah, strong! Strong cranberries with a hint of lilies and the sharpness of ginger… I'm pretty sure there's red musk in here, too. It smells like the love child of Lady Macbeth and Scherezade, with Ouija's strong woody incense note. wet: Very musky, the ginger hits with a bang and then fades out to let the cranberry and spices play with the musk dry: Ginger and a hint of cranberry, underlaid with musk. It's… different? Very citrusy. Definitely not a scent that loves me, nor I it. Off to swaps it goes.

in imp: whew, very strong lilies, with the dryness of oak lingering in the background wet: the lilies and oak fight it out… the lily note reminds me a lot of Endymion… that brilliant Easter lily scent, while the woods and leaves are very leaf-meal-trampled-into-dirt autumnal. It makes quite a striking combination… the sedate, ladylike lilies mixed with the utterly wild feeling of the wood notes. The mental picture it conjures up for me is rain pelting down on a torn white dress lying on a forest floor. drydown: Wafting, it's all lilies, but up close, the leaves and woods mix dominates, with a hint of aquatic sweetness peaking out behind them. The aquatic note smells a lot to me like the one used in La Bella Donna Mia Mente. dry: when I get really, really up close, I can smell a salty note that I also got from Cordelia. I'd thought it was the musk in Cordelia, but now I'm wondering if this is what my skin does to wood notes? The rest of the scent dries down really prettily… the leafy notes start to disappear and what's left is all soft floral goodness. overall: Ulalume is a really nice scent, except for the saltiness on me. I tend to go for warmer, sexier blends, but if you want to wear something that absolutely no one else will have on, something that will make people sit up and take notice, this is the oil for you!

in the bottle: a nice, soft floral, with just the teeniest hint of green peeking through to keep her from getting insipid... this is NOT Maiden's spicy carnation, but rather a more classic and demure cousin wet: the greeny phlox blooms and all but overpowers the carnation... it's a bit much -- sharp and the teeniest bit sour to my nose dry: this one's a shifter. First, the sugar heats up a bit and brings a lovely, warm feeling to the scent. Then the phlox reemerges and adds that initial green note. Underneath it all, the carnation pulses steadily. Phlox is preeminent in the dab on my wrist, but the drop on my elbow is waaaay sweeter, almost sickly sweet, with the mixture of the sugar and carnation. overall: I just can't decide what I think of this scent. It's interesting but not compelling... pleasant but not the kind of scent that demands to be worn. At certain moments I think it's like old lady perfume. At others I find it fresh and unique. In the final analysis... it's just not compelling enough for me to hang on to, and there's a dangerous tinge of the milky sweetness about this scent that my chemistry likes to turn into powder at certain times of the month

Hmm, I have a hard time wearing the Lab's jasmine, so it's good to know that it's in Dove's Heart. Thanks. And I hope you feel better soon, too!

Thanks so much for the recs and the sympathy! This too shall pass...

I've recently gone through what amounts to a bad break up, and I can see it affecting everything else in my life -- school, work, energy, etc. I was looking at the Lab description of Dove's Heart, and it looks like a good jumpstart to the healing process. Have y'all tried it? Do you have other scent recommendations for this issue?

in the bottle: Smells kind of like the cucumber-melon shower gel I had a few years back. If I huff deeply, I can get a whiff of the woodsy, pulpy bamboo. Huh. wet: Very, very fresh and wet sort of scent, still sort of melony, but in a resinous way, with a slightly sweeter tone that's probably the green tea. The bamboo's just barely peeking out. drydown: This blend gets sweeter and sweeter on me, which makes sense, since I tend to amp tea notes. Still not getting much bamboo, but the oude (which my googling has revealed to me as being a "resiny/woody" scent) has faded into the background and keeps this scent grounded and mysterious and just the slightest bit spicy -- from farther away, the scent that's drifting up from my wrist and elbow is clean and sweet, but also deep, sophisticated. Mostly the teas and bamboo here. It's *almost* department store perfume, not in the cloying sense, but in how it's slightly familiar to the nose and the way it morphs on skin. But this is definitely the scent that department store perfumes wish they could be. initial dry: This scent goes way sweet on me, but it was a subtle, shifting metamorphosis that I couldn't fully appreciate until I opened up the bottle and took another whiff (I think what I first mistook to be melon is actually the bamboo pulp). I do wish it didn't go all tea, all the time on me, though I must say that this tea scent blows even Embalming Fluid out of the water. extreme drydown: This one's a fast fader. I'd forgotten that Beth's teas tend to explode in sweetness on me and then die a very quick death. What's left a couple hours into wear is a warm, resinous scent that sticks close to the skin. Ambers and the like cling to me FOREVER, so maybe the oude is following the same principle? It's gorgeous (warm like Beth's amber notes, but lighter and sweeter), though I'm not sure if there's any kind of throw to it. But I can definitely say that I like this scent from start to finish. I'm curious to see if aging or skin chemistry changes will affect the amount of bamboo that comes through, but overall, this is a sexy, fun scent that really does feel like a celebration on the skin. I'm absolutely pleased with it and think the 30 bucks I slapped down for it, unsniffed, are totally worth it.

in the imp and wet: a smoky kind of ginger… this conjures up dust and ashes for me. Another reviewer mentioned this blend smelling like "real snake" and I can totally see where that comes from. This Snake Pit oil brings to mind a lone snake slithering its way across dry sands. dry (initial-10 min): the cinnamon begins making its presence known… it's a very hot kind of cinnamon. Not exactly red-hots, but also not its milder, wetter cousin found in Chimera. I'm guessing it's the cassia that's giving this its fiery quality. dry (10-30 min): the smoky/powdery ginger has faded back a bit, and I'm starting to smell the Indonesian oils in the Snake Oil. The waft from this is a beautiful spicy cinnamon. It's not at all a foody sort of scent, which is rather surprising, given the components. (30 min+): Wow, my skin is amping this sucker! I'm sitting in front of the computer, and every now and again, I just catch the most delicious drifts of rich vanilla infused with a shot of pure cinnamon. When I sniff up close, it's still cassia and ginger's game -- dry and slightly smoky, but the waft is incredibly sweet. overall: I was rather unsure of this snake when I first put it on, and the gingery wet stage still doesn't much appeal to me. But man, the extreme drydown is beautifully spiced vanilla, with the smoky dryness all but gone as the Snake Oil part of this blend emerges… and I adore it. I can't wait to see how this little imp ages… I have a feeling it's just going to get richer and richer as the ginger mellows out and the Snake Oil deepens. If it does, I may just have to snag a bottle before the Carnaval leaves town, despite the fact that I'm so snake-phobic that the idea of the bottle graphic is enough to send shivers (of the not-so-good sort) down my spine.

in the imp: sharply sweet, very musky… this reminds me a bit of Scherezade. wet: hello musk! The topnote that I'm catching is a sweet, nearly cloying musk. Very exotic and just edging along that line between sensual and sexual. Somehow less sweet than I'd imagined it… definitely leaning more toward swarthy and smutty. The throw on this baby is amazing. dry: something about my skin chemistry is turning this blend slightly salty/sour. I think Smut might share a musk note with Cordelia, which went completely rancid on me. This isn't working for me at all And I was so looking forward to this one! Ah well. *goes off to scrub arm*

In the imp: wet, black earth Wet: dirt mingled with sweet red wine, a very wet scent Dry: the wine takes over and sweetens the dirt… very evocative of coffins and tombstones and chalices filled with blood (appropriate to its name but not for me, I'm afraid)

in imp: tea rose that's slightly lighter than London wet: initially it's all the roses, then the rosewood makes itself known to give a slightly drier overtone to the scent, quite like the wet stage in Come to Me dry: sharp and somewhat department store perfumey, eventually grows into a softer rose overlaid with earthier notes -- the amber and moss, I think. Very pretty, second-skin kind of scent. I like the amber in this extreme drydown, and my skin definitely amps it, but the stages it takes to get there are a little too sharp and headache-inducing for me. Swaps it is.

in the imp and wet: Whoa boy, there's that dragon's blood. Reminds me a lot of Wrath, without the cinnamon overtones. dry: The currant comes out a bit, and the scent calms down somewhat… the mandarin is just barely floating in the background. This dries down to a rather pleasant skin scent, with just a whiff of dragon's blood peaking out every now and again. Quite interesting, but not earth-stopping for me.

in the imp and wet: mmm, slightly spiced apricot and the yummy, yummy clove that's in Jack, this smells like autumn and high tea. dry: the clove fades out a bit, leaving just the barest hint of spice on top of the apricot. Warm and beautiful and unexpected… this is one to slather. I really like it!

in the imp and wet: very sharp and spicy to the nose drydown: still slightly sharp, a bit of floral peeking through the spiciness. this reminds me a LOT of the eventual drydown of the Lab's Come to Me. it doesn't seem very dark or deep, as the Lab description says dry: eventually gets to be a spiced, sweet scent. The sharpness disappears and the amber makes its presence known. This blend and Anubis are really making me reconsider my conviction that I can't wear amber. It's interesting and vaguely comforting. extreme drydown: it becomes a bit too overpowering; still beautiful, but too strong a scent for me to carry off

in the imp: pleasantly herby and just a teeny bit sweet wet: the sweetness amps up and that herbs drift in and out; there's a bit of wood in here, but it lends a kind of mellow complexity to the scent rather than overpowering it. And whoa, but this has some STRONG throw! drydown: sweet, woodsy herbs... dry: this makes me think of a drier Athens, or a wetter Ouija. Sweet myrrh grounded by the herbs, and a thick, resiny note like honey. It's interesting and pleasant. extreme drydown: woke up the morning after I put this on and wow, this one dries down so beautifully... it smells like sticky resin dripped over sweet herbs with a wee bit of incensey smoke drifting in the background. Beautiful. It lasts and lasts (24 hours later, I can still smell it)… I think I like the eventual drydown best, so will probably put this on at least 12 hours before an event. It's a keeper!

In the imp: grape, lemon, and orange -- very juicy, fruity kind of scent wet: the grape lifts off a bit and leaves the citrus notes and just the faintest hint of rose dry: the roses come out more and more -- very light and sophisticated, and tempered by a sweet, almost liquidy sort of grape overall: this is absolutely lovely… I'm not sure it's a big bottle scent -- very different from my usual foody or resiny oils, but I can definitely see myself getting a lot of mileage out of the imp when the weather gets warmer

in the imp: almonds and cinnamon wet: almonds! I never thought they could smell so beautiful… sweet and nutty and just slightly flavored with vanilla. The frankincense adds interest to the mix, and the cinnamon just barely tickles the nose. dry: the almonds all but disappear, which is sad, because that's what I really liked about this scent… I'm amping the vanilla and the frankincense. The eventual drydown yields a slightly soaplike scent, but it's the kind of soap all other soaps want to be when they grow up. overall: It's interesting and refreshing; I'll be keeping this imp.

in imp and wet: sweet vanilla overlaid with orchid dry: the orchid grows stronger and stronger… it's very creamy, which I suspect is the vanilla's doing… about an hour in, the stephanotis shows up and calms down the creaminess a bit overall: a pleasant sort of second skin scent -- I like what it eventually dries down to, but my skin tends to be fickle with the Lab's creamy scents. I'll hang onto the imp and test a few more times before making a final verdict.

in the imp and wet: floral goodness… it's hard to pick out any one note, very fresh kind of scent dry: Mainly tuberose and iris and a teeny whiff of musk. It's sort of a blue-green scent to me (very fitting, because that's what the liquid looks like through the blue glass of my bottle. overall: It's very, very nice, but almost a case of "too much of a good thing" in that it has so many of my favorite notes -- osmanthus, carnation, musk -- without any one of them really standing out. A good blend, but in the end, a bit too well blended for me to see using my entire bottle..