LadyMedb

GAAAAHHHHHH sometimes a scent comes along that I just burn through half a bottle of in months, out of nowhere. That should really be my whole review of this thing. I thought I had all the rose-patchouli blends from the Lab but somehow this one is just luminous. It is just the right balance between sweet and spicy and woody, and could probably even go masculine if you asked it to. This Madam knows every trick in the book, runs the show, and is VERY expensive.

YOU. GUYS. This is so wonderful. It's like, there are two types of woody scents, warm ones and sort of dry ones, and this scent does both. There is a high, almost minty sweetness at the top of it, and a warm, sexy cedar-like base. It doesn't seem to change too much from the bottle to my skin, and has nice lasting power. This is not just a "sacred" scent, but a perfect combination of "heaven" and "earth" in precious wood and incense.

This is so pleasantly floral - fruity-floral, even. Though it is more traditionally perfumey than usual Lab offerings, it is also really delicate and evocative, with the jessamine providing sweetness without being cloying, and the apple just hanging out in the background to provide a bit of sensuality. In general, I think that the Lab believes that apple should go with amber, and for the most part I agree. I love this scent!

Oudh is more of a yes than a no with me, but there are moments when it's just too much to deal with. Oddly, considering the reviews above, this is not one of them - the oudh in this blend plays very nicely, and the overall impression is all labdanum with a hint of Snake Oil (maybe the reason this works on me has to do with patchouli typically "cleaning up" and smelling more like cedar on me...perhaps that note neutralizes the oudh). The cola references in the reviews above are right - there is also seemingly a ghost coconut note along with the vanilla. Most Snake Oil derivatives turn to play-doh on me after a while, but whatever is going on with this one keeps that from happening, putting it into a magical category with Snake Charmer as a blend I'm happy to wear. I cannot stop smelling my wrists. I smell like delicious incense candy.

In the bottle, I smell apples. On the skin, it starts out with the same oudh that is in Nevertheless, She Persisted, which is a little bit of a challenging "off" note. However, unlike Nevertheless..., with which you have to wait a long while before the iris takes over and makes the scent tolerable, Cock Cage settles down on me almost immediately to a soft, sweet skin musk, gentle and balanced, with a teeny bit of apple floating above the vanilla and leathery scents. I think this is rather pleasant, and it's unlike very much else that I own.

I agree that there is a phantom flower in this! It is, however, mostly sexy patchouli and warm soft ambery cashmere. It is sweet, but well-behaved, and dark, but not heavy. An elegant, beautiful skin scent.

I bought this unsniffed just based on the above reviews - I have a lot of issues with white florals, but if they lend towards "humidity" and "creaminess", it is ON. This one is no exception to that rule - it is so sweet and gentle, and not at all sneezy or dry. The amber and vanilla lend this scent a bit of richness and depth, and the white musk does not turn to dryer sheets. Overall, it kind of reminds me of the department store scent Gaultier 2 from ten years ago (a big amber-vanilla-musk deal), but more feminine and balanced and far better conceptualized. This is a deliriously feminine creamy white floral that brings out all of the best of gardenia and tuberose, while remaining grounded and a little mysterious. Highly recommended to anyone who is willing to even think about a white floral for a second.

I get some pretty sharp incenses (though maybe the sharpness is the "metal" note) and a citrusy feel when I first apply this, but once it settles down, it becomes warm and inviting and sophisticated. I've been on a bit of an iris kick lately, so this fits right in with other perfumes I've been wearing a whole lot. Iris. Incense. Easy. I'll probably reach for this a lot over the next few months.

This is a delicious, light blend. My skin eats it rather severely, so I'm glad I bought the full bottle, because slathering is the only way to make it really show up on me. I wish it were a little stronger so I could appreciate its complexity a bit more; however, as it is, I get delicious coconut and tonka, with a hint of amber, soft and close to the skin. It's as well that there isn't a lot of bourbon vanilla in it for me, as that note can go to go play-doh on me. Overall, I really like this scent - it's the kind of thing that I catch at the edge of my perception all day and appreciate over and over again.

This is a ninja in my bottle collection - soft and delicate, but actually secretly sensual. The amber and vanilla are so close to the skin, and the jasmine tea is a soft whisper, though an insistent one. This is calming and sexy at the same time - I love it, especially since I usually prefer very bold and strong accords, and this really provides a lovely contrast. It fades a little quickly, but if I apply a little more than I usually would for a BPAL at the beginning of the day, it serves me well enough. I am a huge fan of this one.

So, as mentioned above, I wouldn't have tried this because of the lily scent. Since calla lilies on their own don't have much of a scent if any (and they're not really lilies anyway), I was pretty sure any interpretation of their scent worth mentioning would be *extra* lily. Well, I happened upon a spare bottle of this at Healthy Living last year, and found that I was totally, 100%, wrong. The white floral-ness of Gwyneth is the rare kind I *like* - moist like dewdrops on jasmine in the summer, and not at all astringent or soapy. The rose (NB - I am a rose lover, but my rose-hating friends like this one because the rose is soft and sits well in the composition) and the coconut blend together beautifully to produce a humid tropical dream. It's not at all fruity or cloying, though. It's like relaxing on a quiet exotic beach on an island that is always in bloom. I keep thinking I'm not going to be in the mood for Gwyneth, but then I open the bottle and all of this happiness comes out.

I bought this hoping for the note that was in The Death of Autumn, and it's definitely there, but, when amplified, it goes kind of ozony and men's cologne-y, at least on my skin. That's sad. I liked the earthiness of DoA and some Beth's other autumn leaf blends, and it just isn't as prominent when the leaf note is taken on its own. It's still an amazingly evocative autumnal scent, so I decanted an imp out of my bottle for myself and swapped the rest. Oh well.

Visions of Autumn I is a cool, dry, spicy cedar scent with a hint of peppery spice. The oudh adds a bit of fruitiness to it, but it still remains, as mentioned above, standoffish and sober. Yes, there is a hint of amber, but it smells like it's coming from far away and you can't quite reach it. I think this is a lovely thing. It is straight-down-the-middle unisex and very wearable, yet also intensely evocative of cool autumnal breezes. I am definitely holding on to my imp of this, and am debating a full bottle.

Oh dear, another lovely rosy incense from the Lab, just when I was starting to become picky. This is all rose geranium (which smells like red roses and dry wood) at first, but then that rosy scent settles down to blend effortlessly with the patchouli, and, especially, the warm brown leather. Opopanax gives it an extra sweet-resinous drydown. There is only a slight hint of the violet leaf, which is fine by me. I usually find geranium to be quite bitter, and I actively enjoy rose when it's done properly, so this is kind of a dream blend for me. It is like a drier, rosier and - as one would expect - more autumnal Leather Phoenix (which is my all-time favorite, by the way). It is rich and earthy and majestic at the same time. If you do not like rose, you probably will not like this blend, but if you do at all, it's a nice anchored, incensy rose, and well worth trying. I went for a full bottle and cannot wait for it to arrive. This is easily my favorite out of this year's new Hallowe'en blends.

I finally bought a bottle of this after hanging onto a precious decant of it for almost 4 years. I absolutely love this scent. This is a deep, velvety incense rose, not at all soapy on me, but instead lush and rich. I don't really get more than a hint of the patchouli, but the myrrh is soft and sweet, the sage adds just the right amount of edge and variety, and the overall composition is just so seamlessly blended. Yes, it's a bit like a few of Beth's other incense roses, but I collect that sort of scent from BPAL, and I am fairly sure I like Priestess better than Rose Cross or even my beloved Blasphemare Reliquary. This is not to be missed if you like rose in any way. Actually, even if you don't like rose, Priestess might be worth a try - my rose-wary boyfriend quite liked it on me! Hoping this sticks around, because if it doesn't, I'm going to need at least one backup bottle.