ladymeag

ARAÑA Sharpie on copier paper, 2012 This is araña. That's spider in Spanish. She's big and has one thousand million babies. Vanilla-infused agarwood, oak bark, and Laotian benzoin. Arana This was the scent from this update I was most excited about. I am not disappointed. In the bottle: Huh, did Antikythera Mechanism's vanilla come along to play? On Me: Wet - yep, much of the sharp vanilla from Antikythera Mechanism. It brings that cologne-y note with it. There's something sweeter lurking, though. As it dries down, the oak comes forward a little bit. Full dry down and the benzoin is clearly detectable separately from the vanilla that was up front. Sweeter, a little sharper. There's definitely a note in there that makes me think of a vanilla ice cream cone but it's not so sweet or foody to be off-putting. I think this one is going to age wonderfully. On my spouse: Far, far sweeter from the beginning, this smells more like a sweet oak vanilla. Still not cloying somehow, though, but not quite as easy to pick out the individual notes. You might want to try this if you like (or really, really wanted to like): Antikythera Mechanism, Feed Me and Fill Me With Pleasure, Hothrun Dath, or if Detestable Putrescence was too sweet.

FOREVER IS MERCY BUILT Tamarind, tonka bean, patchouli, golden amber, and white fig. In the bottle, this is all sticky fig and tamarind. Kind of like a chutney, almost. A perfumey chutney, that is. On me, the wet scent has a little patchouli dirtiness and some amber but that seems to get lost as it dries down. It's all sharp fig, bright tamarind, and the tiniest hint of amber. Amber frequently goes powder on me but this one doesn't. It's not for me, but if you like non-foody fruit scents that are very bright, this might be for you. It's also very sweet.

Champaca incense, vetiver, red tea, and oudh. I tried this one against my better judgement - tea and I rarely agree and incense blends have a tendency to go a little over to chemical-room-spray. Sorry to say, folks this one is no exception, though it's very well blended. So well blended in fact that... well, you'll see. In the bottle: I can definitely smell the champaca and oudh's sweetness but I'm not detecting vetiver at all. On my skin: Champaca's here, tea joins in and goes soapy. All at once, I'm hit with a spa-like memory. You know those blue salts they put in seemingly every pedicure tub in the US? Exactly like that. If tea agrees with you more, I'm detecting what could be a lovely tea-and-incense on a breezy afternoon feel behind the soapy-bath-salts overwhelm.

Sweet black tobacco infused with dried pumpkin and soaked in bourbon. In the bottle: YES PLEASE - this is Pumpkin French Tobacco. On my skin: The pumpkin pushes the tobacco scent over into a warm caramel-like smell, which tones down the cologne qualities of the tobacco scent nicely. Warm, a little heavy, great for cooler weather. On someone else in my house: Where French Tobacco goes super-sweet typically, this one holds down into a more moderately spicy tobacco scent with pumpkin. There's still a bit of that caramel sweetness but it's not overwhelming. We actually argued about who will be taking more of this bottle and decided that a second might need to be purchased.

Every leaf tells a story. In the bottle: Do you remember the way The Seekim smelled in the bottle? That warm but dry cacao scent? This is like a mocha version of that. On my skin: All coffee cherry - and by that I mean, cherries that soaked in some kind of sweet coffee, maybe. It just got sweeter and sweeter and took on a very heavy cherry scent somehow. Entirely bizarre and no leaves at all. On someone else in my house: Warm, wet leaves and slightly sweet coffee. Like having sweet flavored coffee on a porch on a rainy day in the late fall. Too sweet for my tastes, worked out well for my testing partner!

Engraving by G. van der Gucht after J. Wootton Bay rum, hay, dried alfalfa, aftershave, and cork stalk. In the bottle: oh! Did The Great Sword of War and Antikythera Mechanism have a spicy baby? On my skin: The first few minutes of this were glorious. That aftershave note really brought out the best of the feelings of Old Spice and the bay rum brought some warmth. However, as it dried down something added an ammonia scent and as it dried down it only got stronger. Boo. On someone else in my house: Warm aftershave with a slightly dry woodsy feel. It was described as "1930s sexy masculine scent" when dried down by the wearer. Definitely has a classic men's scent feel with some added woodsiness. Not a win for my picky skin but my testing partner got a win here.

Every leaf tells a story. In the bottle: French Tobacco meets October. On my skin: We called this the perfume tour. Seriously, it was like touring a number of fantastic perfumes as it dried down - unfortunately for me, this means that at the end it dried down into a too-sharp tea scent that smelled like a number of perfume samples all stacked up. On someone else in my house: Fortunately for my testing partner, this means it goes through a number of warm, tobacco-rich, vanilla-adjacent scents and then settles into dry leaves, warm vanilla tobacco, and a little bite of tea. Absolutely delightful.

I feel myself sinkin’ down I feel myself sinkin’ down My body is freezin’ I feel something cold creepin’ around My windows is rattlin’ My doorknob turnin’ round an’ round My windows is rattlin’ My doorknob turnin’ round an’ round This haunted house blues is killin’ me I feel myself sinkin’ down I been fastin’ in this haunted house Six long months today I been fastin’ in this haunted house Six long months today The Blue Ghost is got the house surrounded, Lord And I can’t get away They got shotguns and pistols Standin’ all round my door They got shotguns and pistols Standin’ all round my door They haunt me all night long So I can’t sleep no more The Blue Ghost haunts me all night The nightmare rides me all night long The Blue Ghost haunts me at night The nightmare rides me all night long They worry me so in this haunted house I wished I was dead and gone – Lonnie Johnson A ward against evil: bay rum, whiskey, cigar smoke, black pepper, and salt. I was scared of this one - salt often goes terribly for me and brings too much ozone. No need! In the bottle: aftershave in a smoky room. On my skin: The bay rum, whiskey, and cigar smoke all contribute to a classic aftershave scent and the black pepper adds just a hint of light spiciness that keeps it from veering into too sweet or too heavy. The salt, as far as I can tell, is absent. On someone else in my house: Baby powder, through and through. (Skin chemistry is so weird.)

Blood musk, Egyptian myrrh, Mayan cacao, 7-year aged red patchouli, Siamese benzoin, and tobacco absolute. In the Bottle: blood MUSK and PATCHOULI with some cacao. The musk is so strong, my spouse could smell it across a room when I opened the bottle. On the skin: I'm not picking up much if any of the tobacco absolute but the other notes are all here and playing pretty nicely together. That 7-year-aged red patchouli is peppery, the myrrh is a little woodsy but not over the top, the benzoin is bringing a little sweetness, and the blood musk is both sexy and a little sweet. Normally notes that mention "blood" go terribly sharp (and iron-heavy) or very cherry-bathroom cleaner on me. This one seems to be trying to do both but balancing it in a way that isn't at all unpleasant and is hinting at me that it would age well. Even the appearance of the oil is vampy - it looks very much like blood in a decant or pipette. Sexy but a little sweet, spicy but a little dark, bold but not sharp. Perfect pairing for your clove cigarette and black platform boots.

Every leaf tells a story. In the bottle: mossy, warm, a little vanilla, a hint of vetiver. On my skin: I have two choices with vetiver - it either amps beyond all comprehension or settles in and provides a woodsy warmth. This scent has the second one with a nice mellowing of vanilla. There's an ozone quality here I can't quite place but it carries this scent straight into "crisp fall day among rustling leaves." Where October gives me all of the damp-day fireside warmth of leaves, this one is a nice dry-leaves scent that's not quite as sharp or bright as A World Where There Are Octobers or Sonnet D'Automne. On someone else in my house: All vetiver, all the time with a hint of soapy vanilla.

Enhance your Wise Woman cred with this combination of sage, shrewd oils. Herbs of wisdom, flowers of wit, and the comforting scent of the hearth: hyssop, oak leaf, acorn hull, elder blossom, three sages, and tobacco absolute, with kitchen herbs and raw honey. First things first, my bottle came labeled "Helpful Crone" not "Sympathetic Crone." So, it looks like a name change happened before labels were made. In the bottle: honey, which usually overpowers everything and ... vanilla, is that you? On my skin: Sweet, warm, a little deep. I'm not picking up any of the sage, kitchen herbs, or elder flower at all - which is fine by me, honestly. The honey combines with some of the other things and kind of makes for a patchouli-less Feed Me and Fill Me With Pleasure. It has a bit of the cologne-y bite of tobacco/vanilla blends, which should mellow a little bit with age. The honey isn't the variety that goes powdery but it is a bit syrupy on me, again like FMaFMWP. There seems to be a faint woods behind it all, which I think is the acorn and oak leaf coming through. I'm conflicted - if it were less sweet, it might be just right. If you like honey, this is the thing for you. If you like this try: Feed Me and Fill Me With Pleasure, Araña, O.

In the bottle: October! with a little bit of... something else? On my skin: Oh, no! What happened? This went very, very powdery and October went completely away. When I later washed it off, the lingering scent was pretty great, a hint of rosemary and vanilla but I can't handle the application, dry down, or full wear at all. On someone else in my house: mossy leaves, slightly dusty vanilla, and a small hint of smoke. Perfection!

Snuggly brown musk, spicy carnation, leather balsam, bourbon vanilla, terebinth pine, yew berry, and a touch of clove. I wasn't even planning on trying this one - carnation and pine usually don't play nicely with my skin. When I opened the bottle, though, I could resist trying it. This really does feel like snuggling into warm fur. In the bottle: pine and leather and musk, and maybe a little clove On the skin: I can definitely smell the brown musk and leather first thing. The balsam-y part of "leather balsam" warms up and gets a little woodsy as it dries down. The pine doesn't take over but adds an almost minty freshness that was unexpected. The spicy carnation and clove seem to be playing each other down to a kind of warm, brown spiciness without any sharpness or overtly floral feel. The yew berry and bourbon vanilla bring just a hint of sweetness to keep this scent from being too dry or woodsy, which really gives it that snuggly feeling. I wasn't expecting to like this one and now I'm not sure one bottle will be enough. This smells like the best kind of snuggly warmth for chilly autumn days.

Leather, balsam, ambergris, and bay laurel. Have you ever sniffed Iago and wished it had less vetiver? Then Peter Quint is your man. In the bottle: Leather and ambergris. That's all I'm getting here. Wet: Sharp bay laurel with an impressive throw. The leather comes out almost immediately, which is rare for me with leather scents. As it warms up and dries down, the balsam adds a richness and bay laurel adds a spiciness. Dry: At full dry down, the balsam and leather are front-and-center with the ambergris and bay laurel drifting in and out of the background. Very mellow and together, incredibly balanced, fairly masculine. I bought a bottle of this while it was still wet on my arm at a Will Call - by dry down I was in love. This is amazing.

Okay, I've tried previous years. They all failed - too waxy, too sweet, too powdery, too olive-oil-ish. 2013? This is my year. In the bottle: Sweet pomegranate and fig On my skin: I don't know what's going on here but this is pomegranate shisha. The fig is warming up to add that molasses scent that shisha has and something about everything else is playing together just right o make it smell exactly like the pomegranate shisha I occasionally buy. If I get my nose right up there and breathe in deeply, I can find the beeswax and olive oil but they're playing really nicely, which is a first for my skin. I think someone ate the sufganiyot, which is fine with me. You might want to give this one a test if you haven't had luck with previous years.

Corrupt indeed. If Wormtongue wore something, this was it. This feels a little like something that the guy who won't stop asking you out at the office might wear. A bit sleazy, but in a good way in this case. In the bottle: Leather and bergamot. Bergamot usually rules my nose though. On my skin: The vetiver and leather took a holiday somewhere else together. Which is sad, I love vetiver and leather. What I do get here is sharp bergamot and bright pepper, and that kind of sandalwood every guy thinks they can pull off the first time they buy cologne. Very sharp, lots of throw, lots of staying power. Even after washing this off, using alcohol pads, washing it off again, and taking a shower, it's still here, sleazing up my living room. If you like this try: Bram Stoker, A Countenance Foreboding Evil, Czernobog

As a woman with two kids, I'm going to add another "this" to the 'please don't scent anything unless requested' pile. I'm very sensitive to scents and when I was pregnant, I was even more sensitive. The laundry soap of the L&D nurses used was over-the-top to me, I could pick out lotion brands, I could tell which ones smoked-and-washed, which ones usually wore perfume when they wore that watch or necklace, and so much more. Asthma and allergies can also be serious issues and the last thing you want during labor is an asthma attack or allergies flaring. I'd avoid personal scent and room scent, unless requested by the patient.

I have floral-triggered migraines and additionally amp roses, jasmine, and carnation. I avoid floral blends heavily and have only found a few with floral notes listed that work well. Additionally, I have a smells-like-florals-and-soap problem with most aquatics. There's a lot on offer for floral haters with BPAL. It looks like you have a lot of recommendations on hand but if you want some leather-heavy, vetiver-heavy, or fairly masculine recommendations, I'm happy to post a few.

I agree with the comparison to October. This is like October's slightly lighter, smokier, woodsier companion. I feel like I'm sitting in a cabin somewhere with a roaring fire and a nice blanket of fallen leaves. Absolutely beautiful. Edited to add: This took three days to completely leave the area I sprayed it in. Given that I run a total of four HePA + UVC airfilters in my 1200 sq ft home at all times (for my asthmatic kid,) this is quite the staying power. I attribute it to the oils landing and clinging somewhere.

I said over in my review for Trauervorspiel und Trauermarsch that incense blends tend to disappoint. I'm not wrong. Add in some lemon peel and, well, it doesn't go so well. In the bottle: woodsy pine-y musky lemon? On my skin: Pine! Lemon! Pine-Lemon! Pine Sol! If Pine-Sol was a toothpaste, this would be it. I'd lament it more but what's even more odd is that my skin, which usually hangs on to everything and amplifies even the lightest of scents, ate this within ten minutes of it drying, which is better than I can say for mopping with Pine Sol.

Ever smelled "white" coffee? That fruity note? It's here. In the bottle: vanilla syrup-y sweetness. On my skin: Definitely a sweet vanilla. It might need to be aged out to gain the depth I typically like from a vanilla scent. The coffee bean note is really evident if you've smelled beans before they go in the roaster or some really well-brewed white coffee - it's a kind of fruity nuttiness that's hard to pin-point but it's definitely here. The spice and patchouli seem to be on vacation in my case, so I'm not getting any here, perhaps they'll show up with aging. It's a little sweet for my tastes now, but so is first-year Antikythera Mechanism or anything else with a vanilla note. Off to the back of the box and we'll see you again in a year. I hope you keep that coffee note.

Leather, clove, and pepper and I are old friends. Blood musk and I usually keep our distance, however. I'm glad I didn't! In the bottle: Leather! and clove! and sweet, sweet, sweet blood musk. Uh-oh. On my skin: Starts out very sweet with that blood-musk-cherry but then very quickly goes a little woody and a little spicy. It's not as spicy as say, Sin or Spanked or Hatta, but you can kind of tell it's in the same spice family. Definitely musky and my spouse described it as smelling like a really high-end aftershave. This also seems to have a woodsy incense vibe, kind of like I get off of Dracul. Does Beth make gallons? If you like this try: Old Demons of the First Class, Hellfire, Dracul

You could try RPG's Gnome (fizzy ginger to my nose) and perhaps Lawful or Paladin to layer it with. It would allow you to control how much of each you had, as well.

I try to only recommend GC to new folks seeking recommendations and might mention past LE if they mention something in specific that sounds perfect but I mention it's past-LE and might require hunting down. I figure finding a few good GC scents is the gateway to seeking out LE updates.

I got a decant of this from someone on the forum a few years ago. I'd been putting off buying a bottle (even though it was a lovely whiskey-barrel scent) because it's so close to a single note that I was worried I'd never wear it. However, my lab-fresh bottle arrived this week and... In the bottle - Bananas?! Really? Did I get the wrong scent? Oh, other reviews say fresh bottles smell like bananas. Interesting. On the Skin - Woodsy, slightly boozy banana bread. I'm allergic to bananas, so the smell is making me nervous and worried about itching. I certainly hope this banana business ages out because the decant I have is gorgeous and that's what I was aiming for.