ReallyZeb

I got a sniffie of this free ... not something I would have ordered as I would have been scared of it!

The first blast is almost pure black pepper but as it dries I keep getting wafts of pumpkin. This isn't your super sweet pie type pumpkin, this is savoury, this is moroccan-spiced pumpkin. I don't exactly get the mandarin but I get a sort of dried citrus peel smell if I sniff really hard. No sandalwood as far as I can tell, but maybe it's submerged under all that pepper, which still stays dominant. I don;t recognise any carnation either - but other people have said they find carnation spicy, and this is certainly spicy so it might just be nose fail on my part. I'm really glad I got to try this one.

I don't usually like florals so I'm not sure what prompted me to get this but I'm very glad I did.

 

This is a truly beautiful mix of purple flowers, a tiny bit of rain and some green stems very gently in the background. On me it doesn't change much from wet to dry.

 

It makes me think of lying back on the grass next to a dear one on a summer's evening, just after dusk, surrounded by flowers. The darkness is thick and warm, the scent of flowers is all-encompassing and there's no need for words to break the peaceful silence. Truly lovely

2012 version:

 

This starts off dark spicy incensey and it's nice, but then, after about half an hour, it changes ...

 

Slowly, almost imperceptibly, it changes to the smell of old, cold iron, the heartless, inhuman, implacable evil that has lived, alone and uncaring, for countless millennia. This is the scent that wafts up from the cellar when you're all alone in the house, and you hear an unexplained scratching in the basement. You put your hand on the metal doorknob and turn it, just a fraction. You smell this and, if you're sensible, you run, not walk, out of the house and never look back.

 

Seriously, this creeps me out, it makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck and I hope its next owner loves it.

I want sunshine and meadows and fresh air and green grass ... but what I get is table scraps.

 

I tried it last week and thought maybe my nose was broken, but today it's the same, both wet and dry I get spicy pie crust. I'm sure Bub enjoys the pie, but it's not quite what I was hoping for.

It smells like all the good things that come to mind when I call up a workshop without the nastiness of smells like oily rags and paint thinner.

There is a warm metal brought out by rich spices(black pepper, ginger and maybe cardamon), there is dragon's blood, but without skin to warm it, it stays a controllable level. I'm pretty sure there's frankincense too - and those well-oiled gears are oiled with something nicer than petrochemicals. To me there's the slightly citrus note from No. 93 Engine. I get a tiny hint of spicy suede, like a well worn jacket. The one thing I don't get is coal dust, for which I'm quite glad!

The overall mix is well rounded, rich and welcoming and, rather unsurprisingly, warm. This will be lovely to warm up a cold dark room later in the year - something to spray when I get in from work.

Although I have been waiting for SW for over a year or so, I cannot take part this time.. I am in a crazy job situation (again/still?), and money is rather tight.

But: I was wondering if those who cannot or do not want to take part in SW would be interested in something like a "Fall Cleaning Swap"?

I guess I am OK with shipping costs - for either one or even two packages - but I cannot aford buying gifts right now.

So why not use and take what I already have to make someone happy? Same style as the Spring Cleaning Swap.. just, you know, in fall.

Anyone else interested?

 

Too bad I am an international, or I'd suggest doing a circular bottle and imp swap with a box that's sent around from person to person, and you take stuff and put new stuff in. I have.. way too many bottles that I would like to rehome one way or another.

I'd be interested, even though I'm doing SwitchWitch too

Can anyone explain to me what this Switch Witch question means: How do you feel about boi witches?

 

Is it really just asking if I can cope with sending stuff to a man?

As people are recommending Mme. Moriarty, I'll also mention Misfortune Teller V3 - which is currently available on the lab's Etsy and which I think I prefer to the released Mme. Moriarty, this one has more plum and less vanilla.

 

Witch Queen gets a second from me too.

That all sounds like fun!

I've been trying to work this out ... what makes SwitchWitch different from the other circular swaps?

Finally I've found something to wear after coating myself in Butterfly Nectar bath oil. This has the same honey-dusted petals smell and the same almost luminous feel to it, but Pandy is delicately fruity where BN is slightly more floral. This is the runaway winner of the Pandoras for me - and the one I least expected to love.

This is really pretty.

 

When wet I got a blast of bright, sweet nectarine followed by damp greenery, like walking through tall shrubs just after a quick rain shower.

 

Once it has dried it has a fresh green backnote which I'm guessing is oakmoss, although to me it's reading as ivy or laurel, and then an almost bitter floral, but in a good way. I don't get any sandalwood, nor honey, and I usually amp both of those. I might actually consider a bottle of this.

I'm another one who conveniently ignored the mention of jasmine when ordering my decants

 

In the imp all is overpowering jasmine, but I decide to be brave and give it a proper skin test.

 

Wet, I get sour rancid sweat. I wouldn't want to smell me, let alone go near anyone else. I wonder if my eyes have started melting yet.

 

Eventually this has dried enough that I can find sweet fig peeking out from the corner that she was bullied into by jasmine but the other notes quite obviously ran home crying to mother.

A pinker, less complex version of Midway ... I like it rather than love it. Clouds of pink candy fluff and popcorn over a vanilla base. I get no smell of wood at all which is a shame, I think that would have grounded it a bit.

Sadly all I really get is beetles

 

I get a butterscotch hit when it's wet, but mostly beetley anise seed and it seems to be giving me a rather nasty headache after it's dried down. It reminds me of walking into one of the small Indian convenience stores that are around London, where some of the spices have been on the shelves rather longer than they should be - dusty old stale spices.

 

I shall try it another day but I don't have high hopes.

 

Edit: ok, after 7 hours I finally get butterscotch ... but it's not worth the pain of getting there

Obsidian Widow spring to mind for me - on me it was so strongly red wine that I ended up swapping it away

I suspect that the new ParaNorman scent The Book might smell a bit bookish ;-)

Jolly Roger, of the ones you listed - but seconding the rec for Pirate Moon if you can find it, it's wonderful

This is lovely rich butterscotch, rum and coconut - but doesn't give off the 'doused in alcohol' air that I often get from the boozier scents. It's more like a coconut caramel rum truffle. I'm not sure where I would wear this but I'll hang onto my imp

DCCXIII

 

Green, cucumbery, light, fresh and with green herbs and an aquatic feel - if I could buy a bottle for summer then I would,despite aquatics never usually working on me. It's most like Squirting Cucumber, but there is some background floral that I can't identify.

One of the most beautifully complex scents I've ever tried.

 

When wet I get dry cocoa powder, a really rich good quality type, but as it dries it morphs dramatically and is no longer foody. I get incense, sweet spices, honey, a touch of floral, but all meshing so wonderfully - a really sophisticated, poised and elegant scent.

 

I'm very glad I bought a bottle unsniffed, and will be getting at least one backup before its lost forever.

In the imp and wet on my wrist its all LEATHER - which tends to make me feel a little nauseous but I think the balsam is moderating it slightly and making it tolerable. As soon as it dries it becomes the most realistic leather I have ever smelled. Reminds me of snuggling up under a boyfriend's leather jacket outdoors in an evergreen forest on a wet day sometime back in my teens. I'm not sure I'll ever wear it but I do appreciate it.

Overwhelming floral when wet, I presume that's the narcissus - if it stayed like this I'd hate it.

 

When it dries it reminds me of old, cold stone, somewhere dark and cool - sort of what I was expecting from Kandari Kandam's description - not a moldering, slimy lichen-covered stone but something very old, very secure and solid. I'm surprised to like it but I do.

When wet I get a fresh cypress that's ok but it does rather remind me of some aftershave, I think one my dad used to wear in the 70s. As soon as it dries my skin eats this and I get nothing but a vaguely fresh tinge to my skin.

In the imp it was overpowering jasmine with just a touch of rose behind it, and that was pretty much how it was wet on my skin. As soon as it dried, both florals disappeared and I ended up with a dusty wooden scent which left me rather disappointed - no coffee and no tonka to be found anywhere