TrailerTrashPrincess

cucumber slices on a paper plate. hunh. interesting. i think Redken makes a shampoo that smells something like this. it isn't anything at all even remotely like what i was expecting. i like it, but i'm not sure if i need more than just the decant.

 

eta: i sniffed it again, after ignoring it for awhile, and now it smells like the old B&BW "cotton blossom" scent. no more cucumbers or soggy paper plate. so very, very odd!

sadly, i'm pretty certain that the released version isn't the same as the one i tried (and loved) at DSWC.

 

the Cake Smash scent i tried at DSWC was all yellow cake batter and buttercream and zomg full of yum!

 

the bottle i got from the Lab is more of Doc Constantine & Dorian with a little bit of cake and a sprinkle of Snake Oil.

 

but once it settles in on my skin? it may as well be Beaver'Versary. so strange! i'll test it again in a few days and see if my opinion changes....if so i'll update this review then.

on first sniff, this reminds me of high school.

specifically of arriving at 7am to work on the Literary Magazine (i was ed-in-chief) during the quiet hour and a half or so before first bell.

the cleaning staff used some sort of powerfully orange-cream scented products, and in some areas of the school (when freshly cleaned) the scent was eye-wateringly, chokingly strong. but in the "Main Building" with its old wooden floors, somehow the scent changed and it became a warm, woody, orangey smell. so my early mornings were full of that warm, woodsy, creamy citrus scent. mixed with a hint of the perfume (EL's Beautiful) that the teacher wore.

and this scent is the scent of those mornings, bottled.

 

i admit, at first it was very off-putting to me, very chemically and unpleasant. but once it settles in? i can't stop huffing my wrist!

there's still something i don't quite like but i only catch a whiff of it every now and then. it might be the ambergris, it might be the pear (both tend to smell a bit... off ... to me) but for the most part, this is lovely. i'll test it again in a few days to see if i need another bottle

 

i totally forgot to try this at the DSWC, but it sounded like it was a no-fail scent, so i ordered a bottle.

and it smells like a mix of a waxy, vanilla scented candle and coconut suntan oil.

(i hate coconut, and anything that's the least bit coconutty is a total turnoff for me)

 

there was a second there when i first opened the bottle that it smelled alllmost like Yankee Candles Buttercream scent. but only for a second, and then it was waxy vanilla candle.

and Coppertone.

 

and now i have to go scrub this off or else i won't be able to sleep

apple juice, roses and bubblegum. yeah, i don't understand it either.

hkhm and i must have similar sniffers - 'cuz i don't get fresh roses or lush red roses out of this, either. i get either dried roses (i've dried my share of florist bouquets over the years!) or rosewood out of this. or, really, what i smell in here now that i've schpritzed this all around the room? rose-scented dusting powder. i love Down The Rabbit Hole, so i'll stick with it

i think Little Bird got all the cherry blossoms out of my bottle! 'cuz i don't smell anything the least bit blossom-y or floral.

at first, it smelled like seawater, then there was a kick of alcohol swabs. the overall effect is something like the scented hand sanitizers, but it still smells more like seawater than anything else.

 

i'll give it another try, but not today.

my DSWC notes on this scent are: apple cider.

simple, but delicious.

 

now testing the decant, my first sniff reminds me of whichever pumpkin patch scent it was that was apples and pumpkin (1, maybe?), but i imagine it is the spices that make me think that, because there's no pumpkin in this...

on skin, as it settles in, there's a brief bit that caused me some fear because it went sortof coconutty (i hate coconut!) and even as the coconuttyness fades back into a milky creaminess...but it is more like buttermilk now.

so, apple cider and buttermilk. i never got anything ale-y, but i think i like it anyway. it is a very traditionally autumn type scent, without being a traditional autumn scent, if that makes, er, sense?

my DSWC notes about this scent are "pumpkin pie and hazelnut coffee"

 

testing my decant tonight, that's all i get again.

it sounds like it should be delicious, but i think there's just too much going on for me.

my DSWC notes about this scent are "O w/cherry"

i don't like O and i don't like cherry.... so don't put much stock in my review!

 

testing my decant tonight, i get a cherry lollipop with something O-ish or boozy in the background. much better than my initial opinion, but nothing i need to keep.

this is the '09 version - and just like the original, it would be delicious if it didn't have the coconut.

my DSWC notes about this scent were "Ew."
but ya gotta remember that i have a definitive hatred for almond.

testing it tonight... i get caramel, roses and almonds. bizarre!

ah, now this is some good stuff!

 

i love fruitcake. really, really love fruitcake. the cheap kind you get in a brick at the grocery store or the homemade kind that's rarely seen these days - i love it all.

and this smells like the Panettone a family friend used to make when i was teeny-tiny-little. (she's the lady who taught me to appreciate cheeses and to not be ashamed to drink red wine ice cold, too)

but there's a touch of something that reminds me of crystal clear water, too. or maybe crisp night air?

 

it does smell faintly like the "Fruitcake" frimp from a couple of years ago, to me. but that was all booze and almonds and a little candied fruit - this is sweet bread with dried fruits and either cherries or almonds (which smell the same to me).

 

overall? i like it. i might order a second bottle.

i've never liked anise. or licorice. but those cheap, cheap jellybeans? i love the black ones. i know, they're supposed to be licorice but i guess i only like the cheap kind. same way i think i prefer "imitation vanilla flavouring" to the real thing. i'm classy like that, i guess.

 

anyway, what i think this is? is a (yes, black) jellbean that's loose in the bottom of the bag (pillowcase, probably) from trick or treating. it was smooshed up against a cinnamon candy for awhile, and maybe a piece of the unwrapped peppermint got stuck to it, too. it got squished when the bag started to get heavy and you stopped holding it up so high and accidentally stepped on it - and almost tripped and spilled everything!

 

i've been enjoying sniffing this as it changes...but it really seems to me like a cheap black jellybean (my favourite!) that got bits of some other candies stuck on it, too.

overall? i like it!

quickie review before i send this bottle off to a new home:

mulled wine and jasmine - once on my skin the rose disappears

without the jasmine, this might be delicious! (but i hate jasmine, so YMMV)

there's mint in this? and honey? those are almost always dealbreakers for me, but somehow this is really gentle and soft and lovely.

like halfway between King of Diamonds and Spirits of the Dead. but considering i've had this bottle for over a year and never even opened it until today... i think it is time to go live with someone else.

powdery tobacco. very interesting!

before this decant goes to live with someone else, i figure i should jot down my quickie review of it...

balsam of Peru always smells like extra-woody, somewhat musty, stale cinnamon.... and lavender is almost always a dealbreaker note for me. i love jonquils but they don't have much of a scent.... hyssop i'm not sure about but i think it (like lavender) is a cousin of mint. and elemi i think is sortof lemony?

 

and a woody, musty, faintly minty cinnamon-y lemon is what i get out of this. it reminds me of a beverage a well-meaning friend gave me, once, to treat my persistent sore throat. it was hot water, lemon and... things. vile, vile, awful things.

 

overall an interesting scent experience! but not something i'd ever reach for.

 

my only note about this scent from the last DSWC was "fresh glazed doughnuts!"

 

and now that i'm in a less scented environment, in trying it again i get a little more than that.

this time, it is just DOUGHNUTS. glazed, powdered, and jelly filled, crullers, maple-glazed, the works.

although in a way it seems like it might be the love-child of Sticky Pillowcase and the White Chocolate Strawberry.

 

the sad thing is that after five minutes or so, it becomes raspberries (eww) and plastic.

 

my only notes when i tested this at the last DSWC were "Creepy & Clean"

 

but when i try it again today - in a not quite so fragrant environment - i get a little more detail.

 

at first it smells almost like Jovan musk (in the plastic spray bottle. because that just screams class, dunnit?) but then again there's something almost Stardust-like in there, too, verging on old-school White Rain (or maybe Aqua-net).

an almost powdery, almost perfume-y, almost smells like something i can't quite remember the name of....

and coffee. overpercolated coffee.

 

so, yeah, this is the "funny uncle" scent. normal enough at first glance or casual acquaintance but creepy and unsettling the more time you spend around him.

 

also, oddly, this oil made the top of my hand (where i tested it) itch.

two notes i like, three notes that are total dealbreakers, and five that can go either way. yeah, i knew before i ever tried this that it would never work. but the brain was so squishy!

sniffed from the bottle i get mango-pomegranate-jasmine, and that's all i needed to know.

thank you, Labbies, for sending me this frimp! how have i never tried this? since i got it in the mail i've had Dan Hartman's "I Can Dream About You" playing in my head, though. ("...you know you've got me spellbound, what else can I do?" ... or something to that effect)

 

but this.... this is a gorgeous Smutty Rose!

yes, all the fantastic Smut... with an eensy bit of the BPAL rose i love. ♥

several years ago i swapped for a decant of this. i don't remember now which forumite i got it from, but it is/was someone i trust.

but i have a bad habit of putting decants away, unsniffed. and that's how i wound up not even opening this until about a month ago (!)

when i promptly fell in love with it. thankfully i have acquired a bottle (from the DD Cobwebs) ♥

although the bottle version smells a little different - more acquatic and ozone-y, less sugary citrus - than the decant... i still love it. and i hope it ages into the deliciousness that is my decant!

but Reedsong is also right about the mega similarity to Malibu Musk! yes, i still have a bottle and i totally have Malibu Musk on one arm and Toxin on the other. love them both. although, sadly, this new bottle of Toxin gives me a bit of a headache.

but i think it is the ozone-acquatic thing. i'll put it away and hope it ages into something non-headachey.

i think my Gnome is made of plastic. vanilla scented plastic. i'm not sure how moss+patchouli turns to plastic on me, but it does.

after about an hour it smells like the vanilla base of Snake Oil but without the whatever-it-is that makes it be spicy. poo!

out of the Summer Garden Miniseries (+Sti.nky), this is the one i just *knew* would be awful on me. i don't like raspberries or lemon and juniper (more often than not) makes things go haywire.

when will i ever learn?!

this is the ONE scent that i really truly like out of the whole bunch!

 

it is a light, slightly fruity, *bubbly* smelling fun scent. there might be a touch of some sort of booze in there somewhere - like a fancy champagne based brunch drink... but i think there's more simple syrup than alcohol in this drink. i don't think i'll need more than this one bottle, but i'm certain i'll wear it although i'm not sure exactly when.