Poenari

It is so interesting how many different impressions there are of this one! My initial reaction is that mine is heavy on the vanilla, but the tobacco and oudh combine with the vanilla to lend depth to it. I get very little cardamom and no cinnamon as separate, distinct notes, but there is definitely an exotic spicy note mixed in with the vanilla. This is a beautiful scent, and I would LOVE to have this in a bath oil. As it is, I'm also using this as a body spray because it makes a beautiful scent to layer with many of my perfumes.

I received a tester of this from a lovely forumite, and was really hoping that I wouldn't love it, but nope! As the previous reviewers have stated, this is a gorgeous sweet incense, with a definite nag Champa headshoppy vibe. I'm kicking myself that I didn't take a chance on this while the Yule were still up because I need a bottle of this in my life!

I have to echo the previous reviewers here. This is a well-blended scent, lovely and good for multiple seasons. In fact, I think I will save my decant for summer because of the citrus that is present. I don't usually care for citrus scents, but this is a nice addition to my collection.

Smells like Vixen perfume, but as others have said, with lighter patchouli. The ginger is a bit closer to the foody gingerbread in Gingerbread Poppet, rather than the sharp ginger I get from Shub. The gloss itself is just as great as all my others. Makes my hair soft and shiny. I'm still adjusting to my short haircut, and the lack of hair around my face means I don't get as much waft from any of my hair glosses. However, I can still detect this when I lay my head on my pillow, so I know it lasts. And as others have said, the scent really comes out in the steam of the shower. It makes me long for Vixen in a bath oil.

At first sniff on my skin, there is the same snow note present that I get from Skadi. I'm not fond of most wintry and snowy notes, but I love Skadi, so this is ok. As it dries down, I can smell the sandalwood, but it is not typical of the other sandalwood scents that I have. There is nothing of pencil shavings like I sometimes pick up in other sandalwood scents. An hour after application, this is very soft and faint, a wintry whisp of woods. I like my decant but don't need a bottle.

I love this! My skin always amps red musk and patchouli, so those notes are prominent on initial application. As it dries down, the notes merge and blend together into a swirl of musky woodiness. It is not too masculine for me, but I wish I could convince my husband to wear BPAL, as I think this would smell amazing on him. Half an hour after application, this smells exactly like Krampus on me. While that is still a really good thing, I have several backup bottles of Krampus, so I guess my decant of this will suffice. Otherwise this would be multiple bottle-worthy. My wallet is happy for once.

Everyone above me has described this perfectly, so I don't have much to add. It definitely smells like it sounds- exactly like I imagine the Sugar Plum Fairy to smell. Sweet, sweet sugary vanilla with plum. This would be the best scent ever for a little girl's bedroom, or for a scent to "protect you while you sleep" for small children. I sprayed it on my pillowcase, and it was off to sweet dreams for me. Overall, I prefer the darker room sprays, but this is just too good to miss.

GINGERBREAD POPPET Warm, cozy gingerbread spiced with nutmeg, clove and cinnamon. Note: I use the bath oils as an after-shower moisturizer, so have not tested this in the tub. Gingerbread Poppet bath oil is just wonderful. It's a foody gingerbread, but the spices are milder than I'd expected, which is actually a good thing and makes it more wearable. Although it's not listed in the notes, I detect a sweet note that is very similar to the marshmallow in Marshmallow Pumpkin bath oil. In fact, on my skin, this smells like a slice of gingerbread cake with a dollop of whipped cream on top. Love it, and definitely ordering a backup bottle since we can never predict if a seasonal scent will ever return. Now I really wish that the companion perfume had returned this year, so I could order a bottle to wear with it.

SILENT FOREST Snow-draped pine, cedar, and fir, with juniper, mountain sage, and wild thyme. I really like Silent Forest. It's a very soothing scent- I was surprised to find that I prefer it at bedtime; often the pine/fir scents are more "bracing" and better to wake me up. It does evoke the feeling of walking through a mountain forest filled with an assortment of evergreen trees. It's also got a tinge of sweetness to it. I definitely plan to order a bottle of this one- it's a good layering scent when used as an after-shower moisturizer - it's very similar to Black Forest, and I really love it with The Night Hag Visiting the Lapland Witches!

I love teak and another recommendation is Our Hearts Condemn Us from the Only Lovers Left Alive collection: Keralan teakwood, Bulgarian rose otto, Himalayan cedar, and oudh. My skin chemistry amps the teak, and I also usually don't wear rose, but this is a beautiful exotic blend. It's not impable from the Lab but you should be able to find a decant.

I have a love/Ike relationship with Eldritch Dark. The bath oil is all dark red musk on my skin, with a bit of leather, and barely a hint of rose. In the perfume, the leather becomes more prominent but stays in check by the fact that my skin amps musk, and especially amps red musk. The rose is there, but not prominent and is the rarest of roses that I can actually wear without turning soapy. I bought the hair gloss because I simply *must* when a scent comes in the trifecta of gloss, perfume, and bath oil. On my hair, the gloss does it's magical work the same as all the others; detangling, defrizzing, scenting, and shining my long curly hair. The scent this time does an interesting thing. The leather is the most prominent, but it has melded into the black and red musks to become one. It's a sweet dark well-worn leather note, like the softest pair of gloves that have been worn for years and picked up various scents from your wrists as you wore them. The rose is in the background, and those like me who are leery of rose shouldn't be afraid of it. This has a big throw if you top off your dry hair with a slight mist or touch it to your ends. I can really smell it wafting from my hair all day long and the scent really lasts. Beautiful.

You might like Little Egypt: Honeyed myrrh and sweet flag. It was a C2E2 exclusive in 2013, but seems to be easily obtainable. I've seen it listed on the forums. On me, it's a sweet powdery myrrh, and not churchy at all.

In the bottle, a hint of minty menthol or eucalyptus, spice, and holly berries. On my skin, I get clove and holly! Not a lot of throw, wears close to my skin, and smells like a sweet Christmas centerpiece that doesn't contain pine or fir greenery. I don't get any waxen leaves from this, and I think it's a very wearable holiday scent that you can wear around people without overpowering them. Perfect for office Christmas parties where you want to smell festive and pretty!

We once lived in a 2 story house built in 1918, and it was partly stucco on the outside, with a big covered front porch. My husband built a porch swing for me, and I used to love to spend evenings reading to our daughter snuggled next to me while swinging on it. Beside the porch was a big flower bed filled with ivy that was also climbing up the stucco. When we first bought the house, I had thought to pull out all the ivy, but it was so thick and entrenched that I changed my mind. We had a huge Norfolk pine tree in our front yard, but were surrounded by old oaks and maple trees in the neighbors' yards. This scent takes me immediately back to autumn evenings, swinging on my porch, with the smell of the ivy and dirt, our pine (not a cypress, but still reminiscent) and the old neighborhood trees with their leaves turning and falling. I loved that house so much, but we moved when I changed jobs so I didn't have to drive 2 hours each way to work. I cried for days after we moved out because we had such memories there, especially our daughter's growth chart with nocks on an old doorway leading to the basement. This scent takes me home! This scent is a bit green at first, the autumn leaves mingle with the dirt note but I can smell them each distinctly. The fig is barely there to my nose, but it does lend a sweetness and there is a hint of dryness to all the greenery. It loses the green on the drydown and becomes more autumnal. This is more of a skin-scent on me with very little throw compared to what I usually wear, but I can smell it on me and it makes me feel cozy and reminds me so much of happy memories in our old home. I will cherish this bottle.

I love Silkybat with all my heart, and am not usually a fan of snow notes, but I had to take a chance on this one and ordered a bottle when it first went live. At first spray into my palms, I can definitely smell the beloved sugary patchouli of Silkybat, but with an initial hit of something not quite lemony, not quite minty, but cold enough to be frost. This is not the same note that gives Skadi its coldness, and that's the only wintry scent I've had any luck with. As this dries in my hair, the frosty note fades slightly, but so does the familiar Silkybat. This doesn't give off as much throw as the original sexy gal, but is more like her sweeter younger sister on the verge... fans of the original Silkybat shouldn't be disappointed, and those who wanted a lighter version, or who never had a chance to try Silkybat should try this one. For me, one bottle will be enough, as I prefer the stronger throw of the original version.

I understand the chewy description! The tobacco is initially the most obvious note, although it melds with the myrrh to become a dark resinous and yet slightly powdery tobacco. In some ways, it reminds me of a sweet pouch of pipe tobacco that my dad used to stuff into his pipe- so that is where I get the chewy feeling. It doesn't smell like smoke, or pipe smoke, or even actual pipe tobacco, but the chewiness reminds me of the pre-smoked tobacco that is slightly moist in the pouch. As it dries, I can detect the pepper and sandalwood coming more forward. After about a half hour, this has a very dry waft to it, similar to the way La Lugubre Gondola wafts on my skin, although this is not the same scent at all. But if you love La Lugubre Gondola, I could see you loving this one too. I bet it would smell great on a man, but it is not overly masculine. I predict that by next Halloween, this one is going to be even more amazing to wear, as these notes will age beautifully.

I love Beth's dragon's blood note! My favorite dragon's blood scents are Blood, which is one of my bedtime favorites, and Dragon's Heart, which are both darker and more resinous to my nose. Dragon's Musk is much sweeter, and Dragon's Claw definitely has the sandalwood prominently featured. Last year's Miskatonic Philharmonic scent Totentanz is also a dark, resinous dragon's blood scent. And another dc'd one from Ars Draconis is Tanin'iver. This one is very spicy- the cassia is very prominent in it.

I have to agree with the others who compare this to Banshee Beat. I compared bottle-sniffs side by side, and this is definitely the same patchouli as in BB. On my skin, this has a very similar vanilla and patchouli blend, although it is much softer and sweetened by the honey. I really can't sniff any cinnamon, and I usually amp cinnamon, but I'm sure it's in there enough to make this blend it's own distinct scent. Finally, I lined up all three bottles to compare: Feed Me and Fill Me, Banshee Beat, and Visions III, and they are all in the same family, ranked as listed from strongest/darkest to sweetest/lightest. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this to anyone looking for something in that family- get it now so you don't have to chase a holy grail later on.

2014 Version I adore Sugar Skull. My first experience with it was the 2007 release, and I've made a point of getting a bottle each year. I usually just put the bottles away to age and use them up in chronological order, but since there have been so many reviews of this year's release being a bit more fruity, I thought I would try it out before putting it into my backup bottle drawer. In the bottle and on skin, it's still the same Sugar Skull that I love, although the brown sugar isn't quite as obvious initially. This could be due to the freshness, as I'm used to smelling and wearing aged Sugar Skull. Upon application, the candied fruit is distinctly present, but not in a way that makes it a specific definable fruit. Then the brown sugar appears and the fruit melds into the overall brown sugary sweetness. All in all, this is the same Sugar Skull that I love, and I'm going to go ahead and put it away to age with my others. The longevity and throw are as long and strong as ever. If you can wear sweet scents, then don't miss out on this because it's delicious when fresh, but even better when it is aged.

Snake Oil, Skadi, Gingerbread Poppet, Gingerbread Snakes, Heavenly Love/Earthly Love, El Amor y la Muerte and other incense-heavy scents are my go-to scents for cold weather. I tend to limit the gingerbreads after January though, since gingerbread is more of a December/January scent to me. We still have plenty of cold weather in February and March, so that's when I pump up the Snake Oil and Tombeur use, too.

I debated long and hard about buying this last year, but decided to pass on it. So when it showed up on the latest Etsy update, I threw caution to the wind and bought it! I always use my bath oils as a moisturizer after shower/bath, instead of in the bath. As with all the other bath oils, this spreads smoothly, soaks in quickly, and leaves my skin wonderfully soft and moisturized. My initial worry about buying this last year was based on concern about how strong the espresso note would be. While I love the smell of coffee and espresso, it tends to amp in a scorched coffee way on my skin. However, gingerbread and chocolate usually wear quite well on me. I tried this initially by using a very small amount (just a few drops) on my hands, rubbing in as if it were a hand lotion. Unfortunately, the espresso immediately stomps over everything and turns very bitter, as I had feared it might. It completely drowned out the gingerbread, although the chocolate holds it own against the espresso. This scent is extremely strong in the bottle and on skin. It took at least an hour for it to soften up and dry down to a "liveable" level for me as far as the espresso note. I doubt that I will be able to wear this in my usual manner, because of the bitterness. Perhaps after it ages. Edited to add: I layered this with a small amount of Gingerbread Poppet bath oil to see if that would help, and it seems to work! The espresso is still the dominant note, but adding Gingerbread Poppet sweetens the blend and tones it down to a wearable level for me. I will keep my bottle and see what happens after it has aged, too. In the meantime, I will wear it layered with Gingerbread Poppet.

I too liked Serpent's Kiss, and think Bloodlust (in Diabolus) might be similar enough to give you what you want, if you don't mind patchouli: A fiery Martial blend that embodies primal rage, lust for conquest, and all-encompassing desire. Dragon's blood essence, heavy red musk, Indonesian patchouli and swarthy vetiver with a drop of cinnamon.

The Lab has had a website for many years, but in a different format. By "new website" it means the newly redesigned website. It has many features that the old website lacked, including a directory of notes, imp-packs set up by notes, a review section, and other handy features to make it easier to shop and enable our addiction.

I was scrolling through the Atmo reviews and noticed that I had never reviewed Lucy in Darkness. This surprised me, because it has always been one of, if not THE, most favorite of all the atmo sprays I have tried. And now that my bottle is well-aged, it's even more amazing. This scent is the most decadent opium scent mingled with dark florals. I love blood notes and rarely like florals, so I think this must be a melding of blood and the garlic flowers. It certainly doesn't smell like garlic! This is also the strongest and longest lasting of all the atmo sprays I have tried (and I've got a lot of them.) As someone above said, 2 sprays of this lasts for hours and hours. It is the perfect boudoir scent. I have always loved Oriental scents, and this falls in that category of scent to me. When sprayed on a scarf around my neck, I don't need to wear any other perfume that day. It would make an amazing, decadent, exotic and heady perfume. It's been a long time since Puddin' released this and there are a lot of people who never got a chance to try it. It's not one you see mentioned much, or see it available on the secondary market. I'd love to see it re-released (along with Crypt Queen- a girl can dream, right?) If you love dark, feminine exotic scents and ever get a chance to try this, do it! I'm so glad I bought 2 bottles when this was live, as I never want to be out of it.

Testing a frimp of Orc received from the Lab. It smells like vetiver, and dries down to a soft, smoky but sweet vetiver single note on my skin. I think the musk is what sweetens it. Fortunately, the leather stays away and doesn't ruin this. I like vetiver, and I could see layering this with scents that could use a hint of sweet smoke.