boomtownrat

There aren't any listed notes that the two share in common, but the fragrance that Devil's Night in the Pumpkin Patch immediately reminds me of, aside from Devil's Night itself, is Le Père Fouettard. They both give me an image of a cool tough guy who will let you wear his black leather jacket if it's suddenly chilly. Not that this is a gendered scent, because I could easily give this to my husband and it could work for anyone along the gender/agender spectrum, as long as you love a sweet, smoky, dark musk. It's not funky or stanky in spite of the mention of "sweaty" in the description. The booziness is an undertone. It's not a buttery pumpkin, but more like the one from Theme in Yellow. I've unfortunately only got a decant of the regular Devil's Night, but this new pumpkin guts edition is a wonderful alternative.

Thinking of red hots as in the candy, I added this to my cart before any of the other Weenies. It's more like a natural cinnamon, but the Snake Oil components tame it considerably. There's also a gingery tone. It's a quieter sibling of Saw-Scaled Viper, one of my favourite fragrances, which probably contains several of the same notes. As it ages, I expect it'll deepen and strengthen, but at the moment it's fairly light on my skin compared to most other Snake Oil blends.

The bottle arrived yesterday and I couldn't wait to try it. Duets are quickly becoming one of my favourite types of BPAL, and coconut is one of my best notes. It's going to sound strange, but when I first put it on, Cardamom & Coconut reminds me of a cereal I love that has coconut and turmeric in it. As much as I love to eat that cereal, that's how much I love smelling this. As it dries, it quits smelling quite as foodie and it does become a poofy, spicy cloud. I don't find it overly sweet, but just right. Worn alone, I feel that it could enhance the mood of a hot day or embrace you warmly when the weather is cold. It could also layer beautifully with all sorts of things, like Revenant Rhythm, as I discovered when I was testing them both.

When I first popped open a frimp of Vixen, years ago, it was like someone had mixed orange and ginger into a bottle of Snake Oil. I got all of the patchouli, vanilla, and musk, even though only one of those is listed as a common note. Not every frimp leads to a bottle purchase, but Vixen did and it became one of my favourite GCs. The creamsicle Snake Oil-ness of it was a dream come true. If I had the ability to design my own scent, it would probably smell a lot like Vixen did when I first tried it. That first bottle has aged beautifully, with the patchouli becoming more prominent over the years. A couple of weeks ago I was looking for a GC to go along for the ride when buying a bottle of Lavender and Patchouli. As I browsed through the other patchouli scents, I was excited to find that Vixen was available. The last time I'd looked it was out of stock, so I bought a backup in case it's ever discontinued. The fresh bottle has had three days to settle, so I decided to wear it today. At first I just tried it on my inner and outer wrists. Unfortunately, it's like some components were left out of this batch: just a mild, subdued ginger with a hint of orange blossom and no patchouli. There's no sign of the vanilla or musk that I smell in my older bottle and frimps of Vixen, but it goes through a phase when I get the dusty plastic that some of the Lab's sweeter vanilla notes turn into on me. The smell doesn't change much after giving the bottle a vigorous shake and applying some to my forearms, which is not my usual process. I always roll a bottle between my hands, even if it's something that I'm just reapplying from earlier in the day, but I decided to shake it when the first application turned out the way it did. It's a teensy bit sweeter after a shake, but still light ginger, orange blossom, and dusty plastic. Shaking it still more and applying it to the crooks of my elbows results in a little more sweetness. As I put some more behind my ears, I seemed to be going nose blind. Maybe it's a batch variation or the Lab had to switch component providers? I did search for any notifications that the formula has changed, and I found none. This is surely not just me remembering it incorrectly, because I would never have bought a bottle if my first imp had been like this. I'll hang on to it, though, and let it age. I'm also going to try layering it with Snake Oil.

A slightly sweet, herbal lavender is the dominant note from the moment I open the bottle through the first few minutes as it dries on my skin. This patchouli is a lighter and woodier variety, like the basin holding a lavender bouquet, as though I only notice its own smell once I've been inhaling the flowers for a moment. As you might expect, there's not much morphing after it dries and the notes equalize. It just gets a little bit earthier. This is not overpowering or dirty, so if you're looking for a high-quality patchouli without headshop associations, track down some Lavender and Patchouli. I'm glad I have it for the many days when I need relaxation and grounding, and for the evenings when I want to wind down before bedtime.

My bottle is secondhand and I'm not sure how old it is. I can say that I'd had it for about a year and it has mellowed considerably in that time, with more blending. I find it to be more musky than anything else, in a similar vein to Lil' Menes' Feline Entertainments, but it doesn't actually smell like a cat so much as remind me of a feline presence. Like a couple of others have said, it resembles Johnson & Johnson's baby shampoo. That means it smells like I just washed my hair, not like I'm wearing a fragrance, and I'm okay with that. My husband had to use that shampoo to bathe one of our cats, and that's the association I'm getting now. Today I'm wearing it with one of my dresses that has a cat print on it, but it would also work with a t-shirt and jeans. Its throw is just enough that I don't need to huff my wrist, and I think someone would have to hug me in order to smell it. I feel as though it's my personal secret comfort, not a fragrance that I leave in my wake.

Lyonesse is a perfectly blended, non-sweet vanilla/musk/sandalwood with an oceanic undertone that unfortunately gives me a little bit of pre-migraine queasiness. It's probably the orris root, the sea moss, or the ambergris that's affecting me. When I tested it on my wrists, I found it so gorgeous that I ambitiously slathered it on my collarbone area. Rather than wash it off completely, I tried rubbing some jojoba oil on it and wiping it off. That left just enough of the musk, vanilla, and sandalwood, which are the notes that made me try it in the first place. I'm going to try wearing it only on my wrists to see if that mitigates the problem, because the jojoba trick would be wasteful and I don't want to give up on something that smells so good. While I was wearing it, though, I had the impression that it would be an ideal thing to wear when I want to feel sophisticated without wearing something overpowering. It could be equally good for work or date nights. This would be a great scent to use if you're trying to enable someone who's never strayed from commercial perfumes. 😄

This really does smell like an extra creamy cream soda. It's not artificial or overpowering, and the emphasis is very much on the cream part rather than a fizzy soda. I think it fits the Jaymes Mansfield character well. I haven't sprayed it on a wig yet, but I'm probably just going to use it as an atmosphere spray with the exception of my one wig that I wear when I cosplay as the Thirteenth Doctor. (She probably wouldn't mind smelling like cream soda, so this will work well for that wig!)

2018 version: This was a Lab-direct purchase that I've never gotten around to reviewing. When it was fresh, it was lemon-sugary, from what I can remember. Now that the bottle's more than a year old, I would swear that it's a variant of Dorian, not Snake Oil. I don't detect any of Snake Oil's spice or muskiness. The honey is light and lemony, not at all funky. The vanilla cream makes me think of freshly-made whipped cream. I'm getting a bit of confectioner's sugar. Somehow, though, it's not really that foodie. It's almost like Boo, but without the linen. There's a decent throw for something so light, which is where Snake's Kiss does resemble Snake Oil, but it has an airier type of sillage. SK has less staying power than most of the other SO blends. I like to reapply it after about three hours, which is pretty typical for the more ethereal scents I own. I would say that it's a variant for people who can't wear Snake Oil, only it bears little resemblance to the original. Considered on its own merits, I like Snake's Kiss a lot. It's just not what I expected, and that's no bad thing.

They Shut Me Up in Prose was swoon-worthy from the moment it came out of the mailbox. It's not just that I love the way it smells; I'm also fully down with Emily Dickinson and what this whole line of scents represents. Most of the time I don't like to say a scent feels feminine, masculine, or unisex, but this is a scent that's about womanhood in all its forms—unbound, like the name of this collection. Dickinson herself echoes through it. Maybe I've finally found the best poetry-inspired scent for me. I'm not always able to wear vanilla scents because sometimes my skin turns them plastic or burnt, but this is a dry vanilla like the one in Sonnet D'Automne or Two Sheep and Two Goats Resting Together in a Field, both of which I also love, but this is significantly more ethereal than either of those. The floral, resin, and wood notes are all light and blended perfectly with the vanilla, and I fervently hope that balance doesn't change too much as it settles down and ages. This could require a backup or two, even though I'm trying to avoid that. It feels like it's part of the air around me, not overpowering, but making its presence known.

Amber of any kind is one of my favourite smells, I love vetiver (maybe it's my earthy Taurus nature), I love cedarwood and saffron even more, and tangerine is delicious yet all too fleeting on my skin. I can't believe I never sought this one out on my own, but I'm glad that a friend gave me the imp. It reminds me: I'm pretty sure I've got another imp of Azathoth somewhere. I can see myself using up the imps I have. Crazily, Azathoth gives me a whiff of bubble gum, of all things, when I first apply it. I'm sure that's got something to do with the tangerine and saffron. That doesn't last, but what follows is a rooty, earthy, woodsy scent that makes me feel both comfortable and strong. It wears pretty close to the skin. As long as I don't apply it heavily, I don't think its earthiness will bother anyone. It's probably going to work best when I'm fresh out of the shower and it's not a hot, humid day. Otherwise, I might feel a bit grimy. Layering it with something like a dry vanilla or another citrus blend would probably be lovely. My Lovecraft knowledge is limited to what my Cthulhu-obsessed husband tells me, so I didn't have anything swaying my impression of it beforehand. So far, the darker and earthier Arkham scents work well for me.

The God of Love Returned and avenger of unrequited love, Anteros is Eros’ brother – one of the Twin Cupids – and was given to Eros by his mother, for without reciprocal affection, love will wither. He wields lead arrows and a hammer of gold, and he wields his weapons to inspire mutual ardor and smite those who spurn love. His scent pierces the heart with glimmering shards of rapture and the sweet ache of passion: throbbing red musk and shimmering chypre with saffron, sweet patchouli, Italian bergamot, red currant, and vanilla bean. Even though I should know better than to test things when they're fresh off the mail truck, I was so excited for Anteros that I couldn't wait a day or two for it to settle down. The majority of the notes are great on me, and there's nothing that has failed on me yet. Just a little dab on one wrist gave off plenty of throw on its own. After about an hour I added some to my throat. I showered before it had a chance to wear off, but I can say that it had good staying power for at least four hours. The description and theme might make you think Anteros is a masculine blend, but I think it's more androgynous. Shimmering chypre wanted to hog the spotlight for herself, and after warring with Italian bergamot for a while she mostly succeeded in the end. My friend the red musk note wasn't as grapey as usual, but for the first hour there were whiffs that occasionally made me think of Vixen, so I think she's just biding her time and waiting for chypre and bergamot to relax. Red musk has always intensified with time in all my BPAL blends so far. At times I thought I could detect a bit of saffron, a note that I've only smelled in one other blend. Vanilla bean, sweet patchouli, and red currant missed the show completely, but maybe they'll make themselves known after this bottle has had some time for the more astringent notes to mellow. I expect that this scent will sweeten up quite a bit with time, but last night it was a little sharper than I like. Eventually I started getting a headache, which was probably because of other things in addition to Anteros. Given a day or two, I think it will be more to my liking. It's also worth noting that it smelled a little sweeter on my wrist than it did on my neck. When I test this again, I'll update the review.

The scent of Planting Moon is that of summer squashes, pole beans, kohlrabi, tomato leaves, peppery arugula, upturned earth, and sun-warmed herbs. I put this on and right away my mind travels to the huge vegetable garden that my dad used to grow every year. When it's wet on my skin, it's as if I'm standing in the middle of all the tomato leaf, zingy arugula, and pole beans. As it dries there is a faint sweetness, as if I'm walking to another part of the garden where the squashes grow. There are herbs nearby. After the oil is fully dry, I smell the upturned earth. As for kohlrabi, I'm unfamiliar with that scent but it's probably part of that opening mélange. This is one of the most evocative, nostalgic scents I've ever smelled. As a Taurus, I'm pleased.

I wanted to see if this would be a Snaky cousin to Vixen, of which I have only one precious bottle and imp. In some ways it is, but without that ginger bite, of course. The honey and orange blossom stand out the most. I'm still getting over a cold and my sense of smell is probably at about 75%, so I think the cinnamon will emerge in a few days. It's going to be a gorgeous spring and summer scent, and when the weather is cold again, I'm going to try layering it with some of my BPAL gingerbread scents.

No additional description provided.] It's Christmas Day at the North Pole. All of the deliveries are done. Santa, Mrs. Claus, and the elves are chilling with some gingerbread, and Santa is filling his pipe with the good tobacco, the kind that he always saves for this day. I'm a big fan of ginger and gingerbread, whether it's for consuming or smelling. The smell of tobacco has always been pleasant to me. This combination was irresistible. Out of the handful of BPALs I've tried with a tobacco note, this is most similar to Autumn Moon of the Mirror Stand. At every stage, gingerbread is in the background, adding a bit of spice to the tobacco. Gingerbread Tobacco is warm and inviting. I could see myself wearing it anytime I want to feel like wearing an olfactory Snuggie.

skekZok the Ritual-Master An incense of deception: frankincense, opoponax, hyssop, champaca, and opium poppy accord. Put a little of SkekZok on, just a small dab behind your ears, and he will stick to you all day, through the night, and into the next morning. He will announce his presence to all and sundry with a shout, so it might be best to apply less than you might with your other scents. Frankincense, opoponax, and champaca are the major notes on me, and I get only a brief flicker of an herbal tone, probably from the hyssop. Opium poppy accord is just an accent on me, and gives it a small hint of sweetness. What lasts the longest are those three main notes and even close to 24 hours after application, I can still smell that trio. There's something about SkekZok that does induce a sense of ritual and darkness. When I wear this, I kind of want to sit in meditation by a dying fire. Incense lovers should be seeking this one out any way they can, because it's really a classic incense blend. Fans of Smoky Moon 2012 might find this to be a less burnt-smelling alternative because of the lovely (and talented!) champaca. As for me, I vastly prefer it to Smoky Moon 2012.

skekTek the Scientist Metal and stone beams of dark light: hyssop, black currant, black viola, passionflower, and myrrh. When it's in the bottle and wet on my skin, I get very little but black viola from SkekTek. As long as I apply sparingly it doesn't actually make me feel sick, unlike its cousin violet. Wearing more than a dab on one wrist rubbed into both wrists would be too much. Getting it anywhere above the elbows would be asking for nausea and a crippling headache. Eventually myrrh swirls into the mix and there's a hint of what must be passionflower. Myrrh dominates the blend after it's been on my skin for close to an hour and it starts smelling more like a scent I can wear. At around the same time I notice a hint of sweet black currant. By the time two hours have passed, myrrh and black currant are more prominent than anything else because the floral notes have faded. Gentle hyssop never stood a chance against the other notes on me. Just a little dab on one wrist packs a powerful throw, especially while it's wet. For the first hour it's very much what people mean when they describe a scent as heady. Eventually it stops shouting and becomes much more wearable for me, but I will reserve this for nights out and hope that the black viola note will mellow with age. I think it could work well on goth night. If you'll be in close proximity to other people, think about applying this at least an hour before you'll be near them. My brain sees black and deep purple when I smell this, with slivers of acid green while it's still wet. In other words, this could have been called Maleficent.

This is one of the first scents that ever piqued my interest when I got into BPAL in 2011 and I'm surprised that I was able to get it for a great price on eBay. I don't get any patchouli and it's not at all snarling, feral, or deranged, but I'll bet it was all of those things when it was new! It's sweeter on the backs of my wrists, with the opoponax and a ghost of cinnamon bark emerging, but everywhere else I'm getting soft, well-blended woods with a hint of leather. That can read as aftershave, but I think it's much more subtle than that. Geek is unfortunately not quite what I dreamed it would be, but it's pleasant. My husband didn't think it would be very "him" but I want him to try it anyway, because I think it will be more his thing. If he doesn't like it, then I'll hang on to it anyway. Sometimes I do want to wear scents like this.

[No additional description provided.] In the bottle and while it's wet, Pomegranate Grove: Morocco smells like Kool-Aid spiked with mulling spices. When it dries the spices come out more, but it's faint. I don't get Morocco from it at all yet, but maybe that will emerge with age. The pomegranate isn't as strong as it is in Persephone, which is the most similar scent I own. It doesn't make me think of Halloween specifically, but it's a scent to wear when I'm tired of being hot and just want autumn to get here already. In other words, it's appropriate for October in North Carolina. My skin eats this right up, so I'd have to slather and keep reapplying if I wanted to smell it at all by lunchtime. I applied it on my throat, on the sides of my neck, on the inner and outer wrists, and in the crooks of my elbows. An hour and a half after applying, I had to lift my wrists to my nose and huff. Now, in the late afternoon, there's a ghost of the pomegranate remaining on the back of my left wrist and it's gone from everywhere else. It might have more throw and staying power in my scent locket. It's certainly pleasant, but not something I'll need more of after I finish this bottle.

This is every bit as scrumptious as the name and description say. I put some on in the early afternoon and could still smell the sugary, fried-doughy, blueberry-gooey goodness at bedtime. I've tried all the previous Sufganiyots, and Blueberry is second only to Strawberry, for me.

This is fresh off the truck because I couldn't wait to try my Yules and frimps. If the Lab's lavender is too herbal, if you think that the addition of sweet sage will make it too green, but you otherwise want to track down an imp and try it, I think you should. After a couple of minutes, the bright lavender and sage settle down into a softer blend. The warm honeyed patchouli and bourbon vanilla sweeten this up and ground it, but the lavender and sage keep it from being cloying. No one note overpowers the others. I can see this being a relaxing evening scent or a calming daytime scent for those who can wear fragrance at work. Incolumitas is a warmer, softer sibling to TKO, and it's Banshee Beat's first cousin once removed. Two imps don't seem like they're going to be enough.

Happy sixth birthday to my bottle of Dragon's Musk! 😄 I'm glad that I gave it so long before reviewing it, because over time it's turned into the scent that I wanted it to be. Lately I've been in a musky mood and in need of empowering scents. I hadn't worn Dragon's Musk in a while, as the dragon's blood resin note has always been more cherry-floral than I'd like it to be. Then someone mentioned in another thread that they think of DM as an autumnal scent and it reminded me that I should try mine again. Coincidentally, I reached for it and saw that I've had it for six years as of this month. Dragon's Musk used to be weirdly salty on me, in addition to that flowery, sweet DBR. I guess the musks were combining in an unusual way, or my nose just got confused, but in any case, it was consistent overy many attempts. But I wanted it to work and I thought it might change a lot with age, so I stored it in my cabinet and waited. I'm glad I did, because at some point, the saltiness faded into the background and the musks have blended gorgeously. As for what musks are in it, I can identify the sensual sweetness of red (or maybe Siberian?) and the lemony tang of black. It's not as heady as you'd think, with so many musks present. Now that it's an older bottle, it's mellowed into something a little more potent than a skin scent, which is why I believe there's skin musk in it. Green musk would make sense and could be the reason for the saltiness. That would leave one last musk, and it could be the "dark musk" note that's also in Titus Andronicus, which feels like a distant cousin to this. It took a few years, but Dragon's Musk is worth the wait. I could wear this everyday as a default scent.

It's exactly like a spicy cream soda in the bottle. When I put it on, the cream soda kind of floats away after it's dry. Then it's like a softer Snake Oil that seems to disappear into my skin too quickly. I'll need to try it again when I'm not in a Halloween costume and have moisturized well.

One of the most challenging projects that I’ve ever undertaken has been our RPG series. In order to execute the series correctly, every possible combination of classes, races, and ephemera had to work together. Years of research and experimenting went into the RPGs, and it was worth it to see a childhood dream come to fruition. Our beloved Courtney brought Vermont Lunacy to (un)life, and our first scents for Pretty Indulgent were introduced. We love you, Courtney and Maggie! We hosted a Klimt-inspired benefit for RAINN, and fundraisers to help send food, water, and basic necessities to Occupy Wall Street protesters. In August of 2011, it was our honor to host a signing for Peter S. Beagle and a screening of the Last Unicorn. Soft brown sandalwood, galbanum, and myrrh. This represents 2011, the year I got into BPAL. I got the bottle yesterday and let it rest until tonight before giving it a skin test, but I did smell it yesterday and it has settled down quite a bit since then. There's something in Pottery Phoenix that I smell in all of the other anniversaries I have. I looked up all the others and there's no listed note that they all have in common, which leads me to think that either I'm just interpreting them all in a similar way or there's a common unlisted note in there somewhere. Pottery Phoenix is a warm, sweet skin scent. It's blended well, so no one note dominates. I see myself wearing this more in the colder, darker months because it's the scent equivalent of a fuzzy blanket and my favorite spot on the couch. Blends with fewer notes usually work best for me and this is no different.

He protecc He attacc But most important, he yell at own ass and ass yell back - Jessica Mihaichuk I posted this image while working on tidying up the DragonCon scents, and a comment of Jessica’s made me rethink the whole scent concept. A highly specific manifestation of internal conflict: dragon’s blood resin, black pepper, aged black patchouli, agarwood, and hot geranium. The hilarious name and label art had me halfway ready to buy this even before I looked at the notes, but I had to think about it to make sure it wasn't just because it made me laugh. I'm happy that I decided to ask my friend to pick it up for me, because it's even better than I thought it would be. The patchouli-geranium combination is like a cousin to Sic Erit, one of my favorite BPAL scents. DBR doesn't overpower the other notes, as it can sometimes do on my skin. Black pepper makes an appearance in the beginning and smoothes out as it dries. Agarwood blends with the mellow, soft patchouli. Everything is well balanced and I can see this getting better with age. Sweet, woody resin fragrances work on me better than almost anything, so I'm not sure why I ever hesitated over this at all. The name and label art are just bonuses. I just hope someone will ask me what I'm wearing.