Caper

Yum! The bergamot leaves early, and I'm left with a gentle musky, sandalwood, ambergris blend. Sandalwood can sometimes go dry and powdery, but this one doesn't go too far. The ambergris made me take my SN out of the swaps box. It reminds me a touch of silver-haired bat and morroco. Now that it has been on my skin a bit, I'm definitely getting the sandalwood from morroco. Beautiful.

I think this was the one that made me realize I love thyme in perfume. The almond is a bit overpowering at first, but I used to work in a candy shop and this strongly reminds me of the divinity that we used to sell. The lavender is a great complement and the thyme is a brilliant touch of herbal-ness to a sweet blend. I love this for winter bedtime! It just hit freezing for the first time and I pulled out my Yule oils. This is my second choice for bed after Pink Snowballs.

I definitely get the green coffee note, and maybe a hint of softness, but not vanilla or patch. Like, at all. On dry-down this reminds me of a cover girl compact I had in middle school. There isn't anything spicy or patchouli about it. That being said, it will probably be a nice blend for work, where I can't smell too strongly of anything. It kind of reminds me of a light tea smell too, I keep thinking of The Magdalena, which I love.

This was in my very first lab order so I have a sentimental attachment to it. I pulled it out today on a whim and, damn, this stuff is so good. The vanilla is rich, but not overpowering, and the dragon's blood is strong and a touch fruity but not sickly sweet. It is just so yummy. I kind of feel like this should be in everyone's first order so they can start it aging right away, because it just gets better and better.

I tried this without looking at the notes to see what I could pick out. It seems pretty commercially-floral, but not overwhelmingly so, because I'm pretty particular about florals and I like this. It reminds me of Unveil the Grace, but that is probably my mind just putting them in the same category, because I just double-checked and there isn't much that is the same here. It very strongly reminds me of the aisles of Cost Plus (now World Market) that I used to wander in high school. Lots of incense and neat boxes imported from India. I thought this one was the most interesting in the imp, but I'm not feeling the need for a bottle. I am glad I tacked it on though because I keep having flashbacks to shopping with my best friend and scent memories are hard to come by.

Okay, so I got this on a whim because Beth's description said witch-spicy, and who doesn't want to smell witch spices? Plus I've been on a spicy kick lately (Mopsfeldermaus swoon!) and I had to try it. It is prefect. It is warm and smoky, but not too charred. Vaguely sweet, but not foody. Crisp hint of metallic underlying it all that just serves as a counterpoint to the other aspects of the oil. The metallic edge here is really what is making this so perfect. It sort of reminds me of Maison En Pain d’Épices, but that might just be the spiciness of it.

This is delicious! I definitely get a hit of red musk at first sniff. This can sometimes be overwhelming to everything else in an oil, but this time it fades away quickly and I'm left with this delicious red patch and cacao. There's small chocolate globules in the bottle but none showed up on my skin. I'm left with something like The Seekim, but sweeter and more delicate. Thankfully the sometimes powdery myrrh and occasionally ashy tobacco are both missing, or only present as supporting notes rather than overwhelming notes. ETA-I'm getting Mme Moriarty too. I knew there was something else this reminded me of!

ditto me with scarecrow and coyote. I actually include hay moon in that group because I should have loved all three based on notes, but they were all overpoweringly cologne. the amber in here is the prefect complement to the verbena? lemongrass? whatever is the bright top note. I'm not sure about black musk because that always, without fail, goes to baby powder. this isn't doing that, yet, but it is grounded by something. I like it for sure, but I think Aelopile has my heart for verbena/amber goodness.

Pumpkin spice it is. Despite the wonderful hint of creamy almond this has devolved into arm burning cinnamon. I slathered because it was so good in the imp (the first of all my decants tried on) and now I have this tingling heat on my forearms. The cinnamon is sweet and yummy but not worth the heat.

I get lemon verbena and a hint of smooth sweetness with very similar wet and dry stages. I don't get thyme, vetiver, or woods. I love this blend for a refreshing, get-thee-to-work motivational scent and I might try layering with the vetiver single note since I like vetiver a lot.

I love this. I get a lemony floral too, but where the idea if a tropical floral screams gardenia or lush hothouse nastiness, this is just pleasant light flowers. it has a slightly sweetened base to me, but it maintains a brightness that is sometimes overcome by sweetness. I think this is my favorite after king mandarin. well, maybe tied with red patchouli

I love the laces, really, there isn't a single one that doesn't end up lovely on me. Red Lace is strong tobacco on the dry down, but amazing at the end. Summer Lace has the base of lace that is creamy and beautiful and then all I get is honeysuckle nastiness. It is vaguely cloying and nausea inducing. It was like that with Badgers and I've realized that honeysuckle is a death note for me. I would love a mandarin green cognac lace that doesn't have honeysuckle though!

I love this blend for bedtime. It starts with a prominent lavender note that I love, veers into intense incense for about two minutes and settles as the best gentle lavender/smoke/incense I have ever smelled. It is one of about five scents I reach for consistently at bed time. I would like to note that sandalwood often goes masculine on me, it really works much better on my dh, and this does not at all. I love that it uses lavender in a non-sweet way, since lavender pairs so well with vanilla and fruits (which I love too) I really appreciate the uniqueness of it in a smoky blend. It is like a favorite desert ingredient used exceptionally well in a savory dish.

I love love love this candle. The scent is strong, but not overpowering, I definitely get a hit of red musk and dragon's blood, but the vetiver and clove keep it from being overly sweet or candyish. It is the perfect mix of sweet, spicy, and warm with enough contrast to make it interesting. I would love this as a perfume oil too (hint hint) but I will settle for having my house smell magnificent!

This definitely starts off with wine, but it settles nicely into a rich and decadent incensey scent. I love the lab's wine note (Moon of Horses and Haloa are two notable favorites) and this is a nice way to have the scent without everyone at work thinking I'm drinking. I keep the wine scents for home, but having my bedroom smell like this is wonderful.

I was hoping for a bit more thyme, clove and musk, but this is fairly floral. My dh really likes it though, and he is well through the first half of a bottle. It is in the same family as Butterfly Garden or Witch's Garden, but different too. I might try layering this with something spicer like East Indian Palace or Unspeakably Evil Temple.

This is a perfect foody goodness Atmo. There is the hint of caramel, and slightly salty popcorn, with a general sweet candy vibe. It fades sort of quickly when I compare it with some other, longer lasting, atmos, but it is delicious while it lasts.

This is just perfect. Honey and beeswax and a hint of smokiness. Definitely like Light of Men's Lives or Loi Krathong, but nice for a cool spring night.

I love this one for night time. It has a hint of dirt, and the patch and vetiver stand up strongly to the booziness of the rum. Sometimes the alcohol scents can be overpowering and this one is very nicely balanced. I love the grittiness and sweetness of it.

Okay, so I'm a plant person and Planting Moon and Hagsgate are like my scents. This is completely and perfectly suited to me. Delicious greens, NO florals, and a hint of something savory underneath. I would love to have several bottles of this for summer, since I can see myself going through this like mad. Just perfect. I actually feel like I'm in the horticulture building at the county fair.

Whoa! This is delicious!!!! I totally get fudge brownies plus a hint of caramel or coconut. Milk chocolate never works on my skin, but it definitely works in the house!

This was an unsniffed bottle purchase because all the notes sounded wonderful. Someone in it went sour on me though, maybe it was the champaca flower? Or the lime rind? I'm not sure but I tried it twice and both times it started sort of okay and then went off. So I sold it, and I've added champaca flower to my "approach with caution" list.

after smelling the ambergris sn I can definitely detect it in here. this has something a bit sweeter and denser, I can really decide which note it is, likely the benzoin, but if you can't find SHB try to track down the ambergris sn, because it is very similar. also, I'm not a fan of tombstone because it is too dry for me, this one doesn't really remind me of tombstone much at all, and I really blame it on the ambergris base.

I'm so glad that I get the sweet oats and apples with a hint if maple from this. It doesn't have a lot of throw, but it is a warm smell that actually does remind me of sticking my head into the grain barrel in a warm barn in the winter. So glad I was finally able to swap for this one.

Opium notes just smell amazing to me and I've liked every single blend I've tried with opium smoke or opium tar in it. This is no different and I love it. I initially got an imp of it in a swap and I really liked it. I realized I needed a bottle when I found that I had reached for it almost every single day for a week. My bottle is very similar to my aged imp so I'm confident that it will only deepen a bit with age. Something in here remain me slightly of Sin. Maybe it is the richness? I am not a floral fan and the smooth base of opium and labdanum are only lightly touched by the orchid. If I really look for it I can find a vague hint of the orchid, but it mostly just enhances the opium. This is a win, and I'm about 95% certain I'm going to get a back up bottle of this in my next order because I would be very sad if it were discontinued.