gloame

My bottle's from the Lab, circa 2011, I THINK. It was pre-website redesign so I can't check my orders to be sure. I have been hoarding it ever since I got it, only breaking it out every now and then because I'm so afraid of running out. Despite it being GC, I'm just terrified a new bottle won't be quite as perfect as this one, as once happened to me with my favorite (also hoarded) scent, Arkham. What's really interesting to me is that I hardly ever gravitate towards florals, but when I find one I like, I am endlessly loyal to it. See: this one and Peitho. Pele is beautiful, tropical, bright and shining like the Pacific sun, unselfconscious, quietly powerful. It is my favorite summer scent and my favorite scent to wear when I need to be HBIC. ETA where I'd wear this: When I need to be quietly powerful, subverting the patriarchy with subtlety

Oh dear. The most alarming top notes of bubblegum to my nose. It does mellow on drydown, but I'm still left with cavity-sweet carnations and a gooey, sticky, cottony bubblegum. Not for me. ETA where I'd wear this: Princess birthday parties with a bouncy-castle

I've gotten 2 imps of Good from the Lab and I didn't quite recognize the second one, so there was at least a bit of variability in this blend. With the first imp, I remember saying to my husband, "No wonder it's called Good!" The second imp is also nice, but it's a lot greener than the first batch I sniffed. I do like the acacia, but it's a bit stronger in the second imp and kind of overwhelms. Would be beautiful layered with other white florals or something with a bit of tobacco. Where I'd wear this: When I'm trying to convince my mother I'm actually quite self-sufficient haha

2013 version, original owner/bottle When I first got this bottle, after already having a bottle of 2011 that was mostly full (priorities, I know), I said in my scent spreadsheet that this was: So cold! How one can manage to bottle the scent of cold just amazes me, but this perfume smells like fresh cold snow. It’s beautiful and feminine. A little sweetness, but mostly smooth, chilly, freshly fallen snow. Feminine, winter, chill. Three years later, it still holds. Beautiful blend. A classic. Edit for text style

Orange and citrus top notes. After dry-down, it's still predominantly citrus, but I can smell a bit of the lavender in it. It creates a bit of a candy taste in the back of the nose... kind of creamsicle. It's pretty, but not an immediate favorite.

Immediately, top notes of almond and patchouli. Drydown is lovely. I wish I could catch the lime in this; I think it would make a lovely contrast. I do catch something sharp, but it doesn't quite feel like lime to me. Maybe that's the point. I agree that this could be another version of Black Phoenix, though it's not coming out particularly masculine on my skin. It's lingering in the unisex range so far. I do love these almond blends. They're so warm and desert-y! Just hard to pick which one I like best. Probably still Uruk!

Starts off SUPER ALMOND, but that fades, and by dry-down, it’s a really soft and warm scent. A little foodie, but not break-your-diet foodie. Pretty! One of my absolute favorites, and especially happy about it because I love Sumerian lore, especially Inanna, and it feels like fate that I love this blend so much! Need a 5ml right away. Starts off SUPER ALMOND with that almost Coca Cola vibe, but that fades, and by dry-down, it’s a really soft and warm scent. A little foodie, but not break-your-diet foodie. A spicier Vasilissa. It stays warm and dry like the desert, and the approach to a city market with all the scents of vendors wafting towards you on a hot breeze. Where I'd wear this: To Joshua Tree, anytime ETA for new details, second time smelling, a year later

Beautifullllll in the bottle. Husband and I thought orange blossom at first. It's the apricot with the orange that's softening up the citrus and making it more creamy. At dry down, it stays sweet and apricot and uncomplicated. It's lovely, but could probably stand to be layered with something a little stronger. Midnight Mass maybe.

I think I've tried Water of Notre Dame 12 times by now. The name really calls to me and I desperately want to love it, but... it just doesn't work on my skin. In my original assessment in my scents spreadsheet, I called this "spiritual lilies". I think it's pretty much the same to me now. It's fresh floral, not aquatic, and definitely peaceful. The scent that could bring you closer to a higher power... but probably better left to diffusing during yoga session than my skin. You know... I think I AM going to try diffusing it during yoga. I bet it would really help my flow. ETA 7/15/17: Still don't like it. Where I'd wear it: Amsterdam yoga with a super spiritual yogini

I can't place it, but I'm getting some foody scent that's not your typical gourmand. I'm thinking... lemon and popcorn shrimp? Gosh, my nose does the weirdest things sometimes. I bought this one for the magnolia note because I grew up in Alabama and I love magnolias, but I don't think this is going to be the magnolia blend for me. The neroli is strong throughout, but it's going lemony on me and I'm still reminded of the popcorn shrimp. LEMON MAYO!!! That's what I'm thinking of! That'll be the neroli and mallow. It's a nice scent, but it's not working on my skin.

Top notes: omgosh vanilla sugar. But it mellows really quickly and then it's a lovely, smooth, sugared tobacco. I'm struggling to pick up the rum note. Maybe I should drink it more often to be better familiarized to it. Caribbean, sunny, warm. Love it. Where I'd wear it: Drinking Dark & Stormies in the Caribbean

Oh, wow, what??? Pine and vanilla top notes? So odd and yet so so so perfect together! This dries down to a lovely, confident, vanilla pine tree. Priapus was a god of fertility. If I doused my husband in this... well, I'm sure you can take it from there. Where I'd wear this: Getting nas-tay in the woods

Top note: pink cinnamon (cassia) The sugarcane and sandalwood do come out and mellow it a bit, but even after full drydown, it's basically just a cassia house party on me. My scents spreadsheet says I felt the same way a few years ago. Bummer! ETA 1/24/18: Still like cinnamon-sugar bubblegum. Where I'd wear it: To a kid's Valentine's Day party.

Top notes of champagne like woah. In the midnotes, I'm getting lots of melon, still with the effervescent champagne. What do toadflax and mullein smell like? I'm guessing they'd be rather herby-fougere. I can't remember ever coming across them. Anyone know? This is a green, flighty scent. I think I'm just not into champagne blends. I've felt unenthused about Hamptons, this one, Purple Snowballs, and Thalia. Horreur Sympathique came the closest to one I would feel right wearing. Now... make me a Manhattan blend and then we'll talk!

At first imp sniff, I'm so reminded of going to the doctor as a kid. Maybe something smells like children's medicine in here? I smell floral and resin. I'm thinking it's the jasmine, sandalwood, and myrrh. On my skin, it's all very soft and understated with no dominant notes. Everything is very comfortable together and nothing feels out of place. Basically zero throw; you've gotta get close to smell it. This is a quiet beauty. It's gorgeous, but it doesn't need you to tell it so. It just exists and is beautiful doing it. ETA: Where I'd wear it: Eating gooey, fruity tarts with a princess Not as much jasmine as I usually like and very little throw.

In imp, I get the weirdest hit of cheesy feet and champagne. But everything always changes on my skin, and this one was no diff (thankfully). It smells orange and green. Bright, vibrant, fresh. Something in it is making me sneeze, but I like it anyway. The champagne dries up a bit, fortunately, because it doesn't do well on my skin. I can really smell the oakmoss and opoponax as it settles in. This blend might be un horreur, but it's a playful, adorably evil one.

Spicy and resin-y. A nice heated scent for those who enjoy woody/leathery/spicy blends. Smells hot and exotic. Unisex, woody, spiced. I rated this a 6/10 in my scent spreadsheet a few years ago. I wonder if my mind would change if I smelled it again. It has everything I typically love.

Smells so red and yellow, like the last 2 stages of Alchemy. At first I thought "Lemon!" but no, it wasn't that at all. When it starts drying down, it sweetens up and the mandarin becomes obvious. It has a resin-y spiciness to it—that dry, desert-y spiciness that feels like it's been baking in the sun. The tobacco is enough to keep it warm and smouldering, but not enough to remind you of Granddad's cigar. Tonka is light. Tea is light. Everything still shines through. Beautiful, beautiful blend. This blend glows. I'm buying a 5ml right now. ETA to add where I'd wear it: When brewing up the final 2 stages of making an Alchemist's stone

I finally put in my order for some Unicorns the day before they went out of stock. Which was a huge mistake since I'd really like a second bottle of a couple of them. The Creation is one of those. In the bottle, it's really strange smelling. Green and spicy and oddly tangy. It's not sharp like a lot of "green" scents, though. It just smells ALIVE. On: It dries down to something much subtler, but still with that lingering feeling of "alive". It's woodier, greener, and spicier, without really being any of those things. I smell the fir, patchouli, chypre, and frankincense. I'm not getting the black currant and I'm not sure about the Saffron. My cat is named Saffron - you'd think I'd be able to pick up on whether or not I smell it. The gardenia is sneaky -- I don't notice it until I think about it. The amber is perfect for rounding it all out. Verdict: I think, in the end, it goes soft woody. Mostly amber and frankincense. It's lovely, with not much sillage, but seems to be lingering on my skin.

This is going all soap on me! I am so hit or miss with white florals. I can't even pick out anything specific in this blend - it's just a lot of, "No, Gloame".

Wet - white florals, tang. A hint of something warm. On - It's going all jasmine on me. It smells sad. Like unfulfilled ambitions. I can appreciate this, but it doesn't feel right to my skin.

Oh nooo. This is all corporate bathroom handsoap to my nose.

Wet - bright, sharp, tangy. And yet, still kind of warm and golden. On skin - It feels unisex to me -- not overly masculine on my skin. As it's drying down, it feels softer, smoother, warmer. Reminds me a bit of Givenchy Pi? I anticipated a kind of blood smell from the iron, but I'm not getting that at all. The tang is still vaguely there, but I smell the leather and gold more. Husband's interpretation: "men forward, maybe some spice." When asked if he smells beer (he homebrews) he added, "Oh yeah, maybe!" I think I would like this on him. It's nice, simple, unpretentious. Just a nice, unique blend with no bells or whistles. Where I'd wear this: Bathing greyhounds

Where is the Bit-o-Honey in my imp? I love Bit-o-Honeys and I'd totally love that! ...Reminds me of Hamptons at first sniff. Almost effervescent and champagne-y. Anyone else? Light, sweet, little girly, kind of like bubble bath. You know, it actually kind of smells like bathroom spray to me. My skin is just not working with this one. Bummer!

I was so wary of even trying this one because watery blends almost always go Cool Water for Men on me. But as soon as I popped open the frimp, it was all juicy, fruity tropical loveliness. It does feel really cold and chilly! Like a cold Pacific current. Something minty fo' sho'. On drydown, the fruit seems to fade, but the cold feeling stays. I'm not sure if it's the lotus or not, but I'm not catching much juniper, unless it's just adding to the minty cold feeling without really showing itself. Where the fishes is this fruitiness coming from?! Verdict: A surprisingly lovely aquatic. Giving it to surfer husband.