bheansidhe

Sniffed wet: vetiver, something like gin or juniper, metal, ?sour pickles, minty cologne? This one baffles me. I smell A LOT OF THINGS but none code as something specific to my nose. Tested on a second day: grass, mud, kerosene or fuel oil, heavy muslin curtains, billows of ozone-y smoke machine smoke, brass.

WHAT are you people on about, I'm so confused, it's cucumber water-infused dryer sheets and melon hand soap. WHUT.

Soft loam, dewy "mist" or "grass" notes, and a citrusy mirror-glass note. It's also reminiscent of the metallic note from Needle in a Haystack.

Smells like greasepaint and theatrical makeup in the vial - I'm definitely getting the steampunk-y "gear oil" and maybe the sweet fire note from The Lights of Men's Lives. A tiny, tiny background of burning leaves or scorched wood, but it's not a smoky blend. I have such an aged tester that I'm sure it's not accurate; it's mostly sweetened gear oil to me, really.

This is one weird morpher. I have an (obviously) aged sample to test, and I'm getting mainly wintergreen wet on the skin. I'm going to guess one of the published notes will be "lacquered wood floors" because that often reads as wintergreen on my skin - ... which now it does not, even a little. It's now unfolding into something like a grapefruit-tinged skin musk, a powdery white floral, and something that smells REALLY familiar (like a very familiar GC BPAL) that I can't put my finger on - I think maybe Alice? Yep. It's not an Alice dupe, but it has an Alice vibe, if cherry blossom substituted for the carnation note. Welp!

The weed note dominates during application, so I get cannabis car freshener out of the gate. However, it rapidly becomes something more bitter-pithy and sophisticated, dominated by the grapefruit (which I love), lavender, and tobacco, cushioned by gentle fruits. (No pot stank at this point.) The bittering agents keep this from veering into fruit cocktail or fruit loops, which is the sad fate of most fruit-based perfumes on my skin. I utterly love it at this stage and would drink gallons of any cocktail or mocktail that tasted like this blend. The perfect spring or summer perfume.

I'm getting a touch of cinnamon red hots without the cinnamon, if that makes sense; flaming myrrh in the vein of Wrath or Priala the Human Phoenix, with billows of hot sweet incense, lightly spiced with pepper, and rooted into the patch/opoponax. This should be a huge hit with incense lovers. Sweet, dry, resinous, and spicy, with a hint of flame.

What's that? I can't hear you over the sound of immediately buying two full bottles as backups to my partial. This is the only marshmallow blend that has ever really worked on my skin from first slather to final poofy drydown, and that gloriously warm, nutty, chewy-sweet patchouli rolls over that oily benzoin like caramel over midnight-black chocolate. Can't hear you, too busy huffing my arm.

Like almost everyone else, I'm getting lemon verbena and a sweet, lightly camphorous mint off the top. There's bunchteen other ingredients, none of which I can pick out; they're having like a rave back there in the lemon-mint warehouse? Ooh, I smell something like sharp, freshly snapped marigold stems, and maybe hyssop or bee balm (monarda). And, to round out my barrage of guesses, myrtle leaves. I'm sure there must be a resin binding all of this together, but it's a minty melange of wild herbs to me.

A sweet, powerful, smooth floral and musk blend. According to my online snooping, Sesen (or Seshen) was supposed to be "a combination of Frankincense, Blue lotus absolute, Cinnamon." I would definitely believe this contained a lotus and a blue Egyptian musk or skin musk. It has a sweet, watery green quality as well, like cucumber or melon pulp. Sweet, soporific, mellow, languid; has the feel of water lilies in a pool at dusk.

This is an odd one. Right off the bat there's a smoky, sour-tangy note that smells SO familiar, if I could only put my finger on it - it's not quite vinegar, pickle brine, gunpowder, wood ash, or pine terpenes. Maybe I'm smelling a very raw, gnarly galbanum, with hints of cedar woodsmoke and vetiver? And now it's got some sweet sandalwood rounding it out; possibly cardamom as well. I'm not mad about any of this, mind; it's an olfactory roller coaster to be sure, but I like the funky, herby blends. It's definitely mellowing on the skin. I get zero florals. This is ... a slightly smoky, slightly spicy resin blend. And hints of annatto seed on the far drydown.

The clearest description I can give is "amped-up peaches." Very juicy, very strong peach brings out the fruity herbal note of bay rum. It's bright and brash and gender-neutral.

So very soft and warm and creamy. The coconut cream is so realistic that I'm reminded of my favorite desert, Thai mango sticky rice. The peach blends in, present but not overwhelming. It's hard to form a strong impression in the convention hall, but so far I'm happy with my blind buy. Edit: now that I'm home and can properly sniff. Wet: definite peach and sweet coconut cream. It rapidly develops hints of vanilla, honey, and almond (true almond, not Amaretto extract), and then some warm, nutty pistachio. I could swear there's the tiniest sprinkle of dry pie spice in there, like a faint dusting of mace or nutmeg, and sea salt. The blend stays sweet and fluffy, but never goes cloying. It stays low to my skin in a warm, peachy cloud.

Ridiculously sexy indeed! It has a peach-drenched Smut vibe. I originally thought it reminded me of Snake Oil, but when I got home and smelled them side by side, I realized there's none of SO's tooth or drag or silt in this blend. It's sweet, musky, and clear. I can't pick out individual notes, but it's a very well-fitting little red dress indeed.

Very sweet, realistic peach and what smells like the scorched milk note from Snake Milk (caramelized, not powdery). I would snatch it up if either of those appeal to you.

Obviously this has aged for twelve years since the prior reviews, but it's largely the same. Wet, it's herbal lavender and clary sage, a perfumer's note like orris root or iris root, and a horsey note like sweet oats. I always interpret orris root as astringent, but the scent mellows fast into lavender and sweet oats floating over that slightly bitter herbal-green base (orris? a touch of violet?). Oh, wait - I think the bitter tinge is Beth's carrot seed note, which does dry down to an earthy sweetness to me. Overall, this is like a lavender-based Gunpowder. I love lavender, and may try this one in a diffuser for sleep.

Freebie in a recent swap package, labeled "UOUO4: Prototype." The top notes open with big white and creamy florals, like gardenia and/or magnolia, plus a green-white pollen-heavy floral, like lily-of-the-valley. The more I sniff the more I get a delicate tannin astringency in the background, like oak bark or white tea. Overall this is a cool white floral that opens big but settles quickly settles down to the skin. Feminine, but not innocent or girly. I don't personally wear this combination of notes, but florals fans should seek it out.

Dust, tumbleweeds, cedar, and tobacco. (Disclaimer: I tested the prototype and not the released blend.) I tested this prototype at the Roswell, GA Will-Call. I expected dirt, dust, or dry, orris-type notes; I was braced for a sweaty-toothed madman in a velvet bandito hat... Instead, this blend is like opening a fine-grained wooden cigar box in a high-end pipe store - and finding it stuffed with spices. The tobacco is smooth, long-cured, and blended into a subtle pipe draw. If a man was smoking this blend in a crowd, you'd be trying to get closer. As the tobacco and wood dry, I get definite whiffs of clove and allspice. (Tumbleweeds are actually a native of the Mongolian steppes, whose seeds hitched a ride to the New World in traders' packs, so maybe Beth is drawing on several hundred years of the spice trade to evoke her tumbleweeds?) I don't get a distinct cedar note, but it is woodsy, in the same manner as Ventriloquist's Dummy: kiln-dried and finely aged hardwood. Throw lies warm and low on the skin, and lasts. It's warm and spicy, but not at all foody, and very gender-neutral. It's a hit for me!

Pumpkin artwork by Asenath Waite! Blackened pumpkin with clove, tobacco absolute, aged patchouli, and oakmoss. Clove, tobacco absolute, aged patchouli, and oakmoss James Earl Jones / Barry White duet in the pumpkin patch. Slightly more useful review on retest: Beautiful; woodsy, mossy, with a dry spiced pumpkin pulp in the background. Not a foody blend, nor a pumpkin-dominant one, though pumpkin lends a beautiful soft creaminess in the back. This smells like a spiced forest floor. It's masculine without reading as "cologne," and while the clove is definitely there, it doesn't seem to be stomping over everything.

Dr. E. S. Packard, of Corunna, Me., in the Eastern Star, states that Mr. David Prescott, of South Sangerville, over ninety years of age, “wandered away into the woods, and not returning, a crowd of over a hundred men hunted for him nearly two days; the mill pond near his house was drained. Search was made in every direction but to no success. “A gentleman of that place decided to call in the aid of Mrs. Stevens; she told him somebody was lost, and not being able to visit the place she drew a map or chart of the locality, giving directions, by which, on his return he was immediately found alive, but died the next day. The day following I was at South Sangerville, and stopping at this gentleman’s house, examined the map, which was perfect in every respect. The house and shed were correctly drawn, the mill and pond near the house were marked, the field and woods, two fences over which Mr. Prescott must climb, even to the swinging of the road by the house was definitely given. “The spot where she said he was, was shown by a large black mark, and he was found exactly in that place. When we consider that Mrs. Stevens never saw this place in her normal condition, it is to me a wonderful test of spirit power.” Absolute and perfect clarity: rockrose, white amber, Corsican immortelle, Siamese benzoin, white sandalwood, and life everlasting. Sniffed, I get clouds of sweet sandalwood incense and white cotton -- not "clean laundry," but something white and cottony and opaque. I think this particular iteration of white amber is doing the powdery thing. It's not floral-forward, though the flowers advance as the blend wears down. Mostly, it's reading as benzoin/sandalwood dusting powder. There's a non-foody but vanilla-like sweetness (probably the benzoin, which contains vanillin). Also, somehow, the blend smells white. The vanilla-resin-powderyness makes me place it in the XYZ Lace family of Lab blends (e.g. Antique Lace, Black Lace, Red Lace). So this is... Psychic Lace.

First impressions: Salty, transparent waves; crisp pear and a lightweight white floral musk over cedars. The base is slightly bitter in the way that fine department store perfume is sometimes bitter to me, but too complex to pinpoint a source. In fact, this is one of the most gorgeously complex BPAL blends I can think of, and I think the reason is the "theriac accord." From what I can learn online, traditional theriac recipes could include honey, cinnamon, cassia, ginger, benzoin, oppoponax, opium accord, myrrh, lavender, rose, lemongrass, bay laurel, parsley, anise, carrot seed, black pepper, St. John's wort, fennel, juniper, clove, wine, iris root, rhubarb, and valerian - WHEW. If even a dozen of those notes made it into the background, haunting complexity is a given. There's definitely a tinge of honey in the base, and I could possibly be convinced that I catch opium accord and carrot seed as well. The throw is gentle but prolonged. This blend seeps from enchanted ground and surrounds you in a seductive, potentially deadly mist. Once snared, your prey will want to follow you anywhere to find the source. Use it wisely.

What I wrote for my initial impression is "smells like an art museum." I'm not sure what that means - maybe something about a very gathered, formal play of light? The sense of a hushed and orderly and reverent space? Waxed and polished surfaces? Getting into the actual smell of things, I get a clear, watery (not aquatic), golden, vegetable musk. I don't pick out dragons' blood or plum. The primary impressions are warm and golden amber/frank lightened by citrus and moss. The moss eventually drags it into cologne territory for me, but the man wearing it is probably the human representation of an angel, so really what we have here is best summed up as "angelic host cologne." My nose is garbage. Lots of throw! Golden light as perfume! Give it a try.

My bottle is probably two years old. I don't get anything grassy, sappy, or particularly green from it. It reads as a black tea, possibly with jasmine and bergamot. It also has a chewy, fermented quality that reminds me of a fresh vanilla pod after you've scraped it, and a slight spiciness like star anise. The more it sits on my skin, the more I get a "perfume" hovering above the tea and distinct from it. I think there are touches of the Miss Spink and Miss Forcible blends in here. Miss Spink would explain the white floral overlay, and Miss Forcible would explain the touches of vanilla/anise - I see that another reviewer got "anise cookies" from Miss Forcible, which was what I was getting from this blend before I even looked at that review. Overall a clean, light blend that clings to the skin. Any tea fan should definitely try it.

A year ago, TASAC was FEROCIOUSLY cinnamon-forward. I'm pleased to report that in the course of a year it's mellowed and settled into a sweet eggnog-gingerbread-pumpkin blend well muddled with rum, ginger, clove, cinnamon, fresh-scraped vanilla bean, a touch of candied citrus peel, and a round eggy cream note that reminds me of pumpkin flan. The spices fade during wear, leaving sweet pumpkin pulp, flan, and touches of gingerbread. I'm not sure what the skull is supposed to smell like - an orris or dry resin? - but whatever the note is, its only effect is to dial the blend down to 90% foody, 10% neutral. If it was too much cinnamon for you then, try it now that it's got some age on it.