candygirl

Oh, Red Lantern, how I wanted to love you! The sweet caramel scent curled its tendrils around me, drawing me near, and then the tobacco swooped in, bashed me over the head, and stole my wallet.

Fruit Moon is beautifully blended. It smells like a delicious peach, guava, mango smoothie. I wish I could smell some of the other fruits, but it's very fresh and yummy so I can't complain!

I don't know what peonies smell like, but this smells like a soft floral to me, similar to roses (but without overwhelming my nose as rose scents sometimes do). It's a very nice spring scent, but it faded quickly on my skin. Less than an hour later, it was barely discernible.

I don't have mine with me, but I'm pretty sure the CN labels are exactly the same as my old bottles.

In the bottle, this smells warm and metallic, like hot playground equipment. As soon as it hits my skin, though, it turns spicy. All I can smell is cinnamon and cloves, but the cinnamon has a slightly sweet note to it that I like. Definitely a scent that perked me up right after waking up!

2006 Beltane smells fresh and herbal in the bottle, but not like cooking herbs or even a walk in a garden. It smells fresh, clean, and green. On my skin, it still smells fresh and green, but a fruity note comes forward. It isn't an overwhelming fruit note though, just gently sweetening Beltane from the background, giving it a fullness and complexity. I wish I could figure out exactly what fruit scent it is, but it's well blended and elusive. It's not a berry or citrus note. It's less bright and more subtle than that. More like a slice of mango that snuck into a smoothie. Overall, this is a very nice spring scent. Hopeful and playful, as filigree_shadow said!

Bourbon blackberry buttercream over red velvet cake. Like ViolentKitten, I get blueberry cheesecake when sniffing the bottle. The berries are strong but not overwhelming and the cheesy goodness is sweet without being too tart. I was afraid this would go crazy on my skin as Beaver Moon did (which I loved in the bottle and sadly gave me a monstrous headache), but it's behaving quite nicely. On me, I get a bit more blackberry scent (rather than blueberry) and just a touch of creamy frosting. It's definitely not as strong on my skin as it is in the bottle, but I like both versions which means I need a scent locket, stat!

First a disclaimer: I have a strange, deep-seated dislike of coconut. I'm pretty sure it's because my mom once made an Easter cake for us in the shape of a giant bunny head and the entire thing was covered in coconut. She dyed some of the coconut blue for the eyes, pink for the ears, etc. More coconut than my six year old self could shake a stick at. Ever since then, I can't stand coconut to the point where I can't drink pina coladas (despite my intense love of pineapple) and dread the smell of most tanning oil/sunscreen (even though I love the beach and used to go all the time). For this reason, I was a bit wary of the coconut in Underbed, but I couldn't resist the little Monster Bait. In the bottle, it smells like yummy cake. So far, so good. Another sniff gave me a strange note that reminded me of those tubes of gooey plastic sold with skinny red straws at the drugstore - my sister and I used to spend hours blowing bubbles. It's not an overwhelming note, but lingering way in the back, waving across the room to me. On my skin though, the scent spends a few minutes as cake and then morphs into a dry nutty smell. At first I thought maybe it was the scent of dried coconut shells but it's more of a sweet nutty smell, like hazelnuts or maybe macademia nuts. Definitely not what I was expecting, but in a good way! ETA: A few hours later, the nuttiness faded away, leaving a lovely light vanilla scent similar to Underpants (before Underpants goes papery on me). Very nice.

Here comes Peter Cottontail! I've had that song stuck in my head since looking at this bottle. The Bunny starts off with a very strong lemony (or maybe lemongrass-ishy) note. I'm assuming that's the clover, but it smelled like the lemon Pledge I had to use to clean our piano when I was growing up. That note is very strong and it's all I could smell at first. After ten minutes, it's almost completely gone leaving behind a sweet, powdery soft musk. It's very light and spring-y. After about an hour, I could barely smell it on me at all, but I like subtle.

I am terrible at picking out individual notes, but I definitely smell a sweet, rich caramel flavor. Clockwork's description of this as very expensive candy is accurate. This isn't a cheap generic sugar scent, but a rich, full-bodied, creamy caramel. It's the first BPAL that made me say I MUST bathe myself in this scent. Midway was the only other one that made me drool just from sniffing the bottle, but I think that the Underpants are winning this battle royale. To be fair, I will have to test them head to head. Midway seems like the fun little sister while the Underpants are the more sophisticated (in a complex way) big sis. Delicious! After about an hour, the scent fades to a papery almost powdery remnant of its former self. It's still yummy but nothing compared to what it smells like straight out of the bottle. I apologize for the fuzzy picture, but since my digital camera is broken I had to borrow one I'm not familiar with to take this picture. I wanted to at least give an idea of how awesome the label is.

Pictures of the Bunny and the Underpants! Sorry about the fuzziness, but my camera is broken so I had to borrow a different one that I'm not familiar with to take these pictures!

Pssst, anyone with a Peony Moon want to post a picture of the bottle? I'm hoping it's similar to the t-shirt!

Wow, awesome picture! Now I'm picture some scary tentacles creeping out of the front of someone's underwear as they look down in horror! The PG version of my imagination has the tentacles reaching into the underwear drawer. The lab never ceases to amaze me with their labels.

I opened the bottle only to take a sniff (not to do any ritual work), and accidentally got some on the tip of my nose. Very minty with some sweet creamy notes that remind me of chocolate, but not quite. I had to spend the day going to the hardware store and fixing our sink, which all went very smoothly. After a few hours, the mint mellowed out to a more herby scent, but there was still a hint of the mint present. Very nice - I look forward to trying this properly with the candles at night.

I've found that Lush Coalface soap works very well at removing pretty stubborn perfumes, but there were two instances when even that didn't work. Depraved didn't come off after Coalface, a shower, more Coalface, and three scrubs with alcohol. I felt like I was rubbing my wrist raw, but I couldn't get the damn scent off my skin. The patchouli was hanging on for dear life! I thought I'd thoroughly removed Khajurajo but Mr. CG caught a whiff of me and said I was giving him a headache. I gave another scrub with Coalface, but he said it was still there. I tried rubbing alcohol and that seemed to make it worse. Next time I'll try the lemon and salt method (or maybe Lush Ocean Salt!).

I've had this bottle of White Light for over a week, and although I'd sniffed it a few times over the last week, I hadn't worn it yet because I felt like I should save it for the right occasion. *cue lightning flashes* Yesterday I had a ton of family drama all conducted via nonstop phone calls and emails from 500 & 2000 miles away. By 4pm, I felt like I'd been run over by a bus and then flattened by a steam roller. Although it was only Monday, I felt like it was a Thursday. This morning I dabbed White Light on my chakra points and annointed my hands while focusing on purging negative thoughts. Did it work? Well, today was the quiet after a storm where everyone picks up the pieces and breathes deeply, so I have only heard from two of my family members in the last few hours. That probably helped keep my stress level low. I think White Light helped keep me from obsessing about the situation. I'm not happy about what's going on, but I am calm, collected, etc. The scent itself is beautiful - pure, calming, and heavenly. This is the first scent that has absolutely bowled me over. Just perfect - exactly what White Light should smell like!

I am with LittleGreyKitten's description of this scent. I don't smell any of the honey, tuberose, amber, white sandalwood, vanilla bean, or Damask rose from the description, so I guess that means I smell the date palm, davana blossom, and champaca flower (even though I have no idea what those three elements actually smell like). Wet on my skin, it smelled like a strong drugstore kind of perfume. It dried down to a powdery musk that I thought was okay, but as soon as I came within five feet of Mr. CG he made a face and said I'd just given him a headache. After three washings with Coalface and a cleaning with rubbing alcohol, he could still smell it on me. I love the label but apparently I won't be taking the top off the bottle ever.

I thought this smelled floral tinged with pine, but Mr. CG said it smelled fruity. Just goes to show that different noses smell different things (one girl I know thinks butter smells like wet dog)! Ahem, back to Snow Moon. After about half an hour, there is a sweeter note of soft vanilla emerging but the piney floral still dominates. It definitely evokes a wintery feeling, but I'm not sure this scent is for me.

I bought this for Mr. CG who has had a hard time sleeping well for years. I blame it on his upbringing. As a child, he had a room that faced the backyard and a hill so there was no light or noise entering his room. He became accustomed to falling asleep in absolute quiet and silence. Ever since he left home for college, he has had a problem sleeping because he hasn't lived in a bedroom as dark and quiet as his childhood bedroom. I convinced him to try valerian a few years ago, but it didn't work (mostly because he only took it for a few days and then quit because of the awful stench). I dabbed a good amount of Sleepy Moon on a cotton pad and slid it inside his pillow case, but didn't tell him (no subject bias in this experiment!). The next morning I asked how he slept. His answer: "Meh. The same." I left the cotton pad inside his pillow for another week but to no avail. I find the scent to be very calming and relaxing, with green (the bamboo pulp?) and lavender. I don't know if I'd wear it during the day but I would definitely consider putting some inside MY pillowcase! ETA: The other night, I woke up at 4am and could NOT go back to sleep. I tried putting some Lush Dream Cream on my wrists in the hopes that the lavender would help me fall back asleep, but an hour later I was still wide awake. Then I remembered I had Sleepy Moon! I dabbed some on my wrists and put a cotton pad with Sleepy Moon inside my pillowcase. I fell right asleep. My pillow still smells like Sleepy Moon! The next morning, I caught a whiff of it in my hair too. Lovely!

My nose is getting a minty smell too - I thought it had a very York Peppermint Patty scent, chocolate mint, but without seeming like a foodie scent. I agree with allidavie that the mint is not sharp, but there is a trigeminal sensation from the mint note. There is also a slight undertone of lavender beneath, but it comes out separate from the chocolate mint. The scent is bracing, like breathing in fresh cold air.

I was hoping for fresh strawberries and pears, two of my favorite fruit scents, but instead I got a sweet, tart scent (almost citrussy). Not exactly what I was expecting, but I still like it. I must also mention how much I love the labels on the Phoenix bottles!

I didn't get any of the lotus, ylang ylang, sage, or green tea from the lab description. I got straight tart strawberries. I don't mind because I LOVE strawberry scents, but unfortunately this faded very quickly. Less than half an hour after I applied it, I couldn't detect it even with my nose pressed against my wrist. I may try layering it with Pink Phoenix to see if that gives me a more complex scent with more staying power.

I would have gladly welcomed the grape cough syrup scent because I used to love Dimetapp (compared to the nasty taste of Robistussin - especially the green one - Dimetapp was awesome)! In the bottle, Montresor was very boozy cherries. On my skin, it was a very loud cherry cough syrup for about five minutes. Then it slid away quietly and left a trace of sour cherry (no booze) on my skin. It's okay, but I don't like the end product enough to sit through the initial boozy smell. I might like Montresor layered with something else though. I'll have to experiment and see what I can come up with. *insert mad scientist laugh*

This is a beautiful scent. Although I like florals, I often shy away from them because the scents can be overwhelming. This is nothing like that. It's a clear, lovely scent and its throw remains constant rather than growing louder with body heat and then retreating. The Evening Star is very sophisticated and cool. She is the kind of girl who stands back, quietly confident, knowing that you will come to her.

Sadly, I got almost no sweetness from this. As soon as the lid came off, the musk started slapping me in the face. On my skin, I could smell a note lingering in the background. It was so familiar, but I couldn't place it. After about half an hour, it came to me. When I was little, my sister and I read a book about these two girl witches so we decided to make our own witches brew out of, among other things, liquid vitamins and crushed up solid vitamins. That bitter scent is what sashayed its way out of the background to join the musks.