doomsday_disco

This starts off with a burst of black cherry, backed by the rose, and followed by a bit of powdery vanilla. Then, the lipstick accord emerges, and it's the same extremely realistic, creamy, waxy accord from Black Lipstick, only the red ingredients accompanying it here make it evocative of a red lipstick. The iris in here isn't sharp and screechy like it usually is on me, but it definitely becomes more classic iris-infused lipstick with powdery vanilla and less about the other notes after a few hours of wear. I find this to be more wearable than Black Lipstick, but that may be because I'm a cherry ho. But since the cherry is fleeting, I don't feel I need more of this one. But I really appreciate Beth's artistry here.

Although they share some similar notes, this smells nothing like Kiseru to me, which had vanilla and tobacco notes that I prefer (Antique Lace-esque vanilla musk and French tobacco) to the vanilla and tobacco used in this scent. The vanilla in this, despite the vanilla cream in the description, is more like a skin musk-y bourbon vanilla to me, and the sandalwood is a dry one. There's very little blackcurrant here, and what blackcurrant there is is most noticeable when the scent is freshly applied. I prefer And Though They Are With You Yet They Belong Not To You for my vanilla and sandalwood fix.

Alas, this one is not for me. I'm getting an unexpected strong, dark musk with the leather on my skin, backed by the resins and tobacco (although they are far in the background), with no chocolate in sight. Wahh! Where's my chocolate!? And why art thou here, musk!?

This starts off with the lemon being sharper than I had anticipated and giving me citronella candle vibes, but it isn't long before the beeswax and the cream part of the lemon cream smooth it over, so that it's like the creamy beeswax and smoke of scents like (Not So) Penitent (Mini) Magdalene and Shouutsushi Aioi Genji plus lemon cream. I'm going to have to spend more time with this one to see if I need more of it. The wet phase is rough, but the end result is so lovely! Yet I have so many beeswax scents that I don't reach for enough as it is... but this will be perfect to wear during Maomao (Apothecary Diaries) Fridays, so...

This is mostly about the rosemary liqueur and the bright white tea on me. There's nothing overtly fabric-y to my nose, and while the vanilla is more noticeable after the scent has been dry for several hours, it is not a main player on me. I'll have to retest this before it goes away to see if I need more of this, but I'll definitely be keeping the decant! I agree that it would be refreshing to wear during the warmer months (and we've already hit 90 degrees in April, so I guess that means now ).

I received a tester of this in a decant circle order, and while I didn't feel the urge to upgrade to a bottle, I was pleasantly surprised by this one despite not typically getting along with the Lab's dead leaves accords. I'm not a fan of actual rooibos tea unless it's adulterated with some flavoring or other flowers and herbs, but the rooibos here kind of reminds me of Nocturne Alchemy's black tea note, as there's a hint of spice to it. The leaves don't veer into cologne territory, and I don't smell any neroli in them (huzzah!). Maybe it's because the leaves aren't dead for once, like other reviewers have noted. And the grass combines with the leaves and the lightly spiced tea note in a way that perfectly befits the painting that inspired this scent.

This is a very milky and buttery bread scent. Yes, I smell the caramelized sugar with those notes, but it is predominantly the milky musk and buttery cream on a bed of bread on me. Although I didn't deathmatch this with anything, I'd say this is more along the lines of Unsubtle Euphemism than something like Lavender Rosemary Baguette or Lavender Avocado Toast. It was nice to be able to try this, but it is sadly too milky for me.

This one smells like stick incense to me, like you'd find in a metaphysical shop or an indie record store. I don't really get a heavy smoke/charred note, but there is a bit of dryer sheet behind the incense. (I sprayed this on a paper towel to test it instead of spraying it in the air.)

Classic 90’s goth glamour: oman frankincense, champaca orchid, black narcissus, opoponax, honeyed black amber, wild plum, tuberose, 13-year aged patchouli root, blood musk, and smoky bourbon vanilla husk.

This is a strawberry-infused floral tea scent (I concur that the strawberry is more than a drop). I get the shampoo comparisons, although it's not shampoo-y in a bad way. While I prefer Party Tricks Hair Gloss over this one (with its creamy pink Starburst-like strawberry, amber, and chypre), I do think this fruity floral hair gloss will be nice to reach for on occasion (although I personally wish the cherry blossom were the main note on me and not the strawberry!).

This is definitely one for marshmallow fans! The grapefruit in this is fleeting, quickly giving away to the hella accurate marshmallow note (creamy, floofy, and coated in a little powder), but like Amoraexcena, while the grapefruit is present, I'm somewhat reminded of Gobo with its pink grapefruit and vanilla cream notes. I haven't deathmatched this with Stekk, but I have to say that this is the best marshmallow scent that the Lab has released since Stekk. I said what I said!!! Yeah, this one is going to be very popular. I'll definitely be keeping my bottle to slather on its own and layer with some of the grapefruit duets and trios in my collection this summer. I hope this stays on the website for a long time to come, because there's no way one bottle will be enough for anyone who smells La Dame Aux Pamplemousses in all of its glory.

Well, I don't get much matcha from this at all, actually, but I do get the nerikiri very strongly, which in this case, I believe is a sakura mochi. It reminds me of some cherry blossom sake Kit Kats I once had, but accompanied by the gummy-like texture of mochi and maybe some red bean, too? Although there's no notes listed for the nerikiri component of the scent, I'm pretty confident about the sakura, sake, and mochi aspects to this scent. I still need to give this a full day slather, but I enjoy this despite it not being a tea-centric scent like I had expected. The nerikiri accord in this is so neat that I can't help but to think, 'damn, how does Beth do that!?' especially since she not only nails the texture, but also makes these seemingly discordant things wearable.

I tested this once and then slathered it another day as my scent of the day. In both instances, the pink strawberries and cherry blossom cream were the stars of the show, with more strawberry than cherry blossom, backed by the white amber and what must be the blush marshmallow. The cream went buttery on me during my first test of the scent, but somehow didn't do that when I slathered it for a full-day of wear. The white amber in this is the same as the one featured in Hohensalzburg Fortress and Schönperchten. Despite there being cherry blossom cream here and Reflected Vulva having cherry blossom and sugared cream in its notes, the two don't smell similar. I don't get anything distinctly marshmallow on my skin like the glorious marshmallow from La Dame Aux Pamplemousses, but at least I'm not getting anything like the marshmallow in Pink Moon: Marshmallow and Candyfloss Hair Gloss or the funky marshmallow froth from Fairy Lobster Foam. I mean, I'm sure the blush marshmallow is there doing something, but it just doesn't play as big of a role on my skin as it does for the other reviewers -- I think I seem to have gotten way more amber with the strawberries and cherry blossom cream. Although I would have liked the cherry blossom to be the strongest note here, I do think this is pretty and will happily reach for it during the spring months. Hair glosses I'd pair this with: Party Tricks and Kamisuki.

This is very much about the tobacco and chypre and less about the cherry on me. The tobacco is not the same caramelized tobacco found in Goose Moon itself, and the main aspects of the chypre are the moss and what I believe is bergamot or some sort of citrus note. The cherry is there, but it just can't hold a candle to the tobacco and chypre components. I layered a drop of this with Goose Moon. Goose Moon + Tobacco Absolute and Cherry Chypre - More tobacco, plus moss! This dials up the tobacco, and I get the moss and what I believe is bergamot from the chypre, on a bed of caramelized tobacco and sandalwood, with just a bit of cherry from the chypre. I believe the cherry chypre is the same cherry chypre used in Gen Z Feminist Cenobite and Cherry Cream Pie Chypre (RIP to my empty imp), although there's less cherry in this layering combo because there's a lot more going on here. I'd recommend this to someone who wants a chypre more than someone looking for a strong cherry scent (especially if you already own the aforementioned cherry chypre scents). This isn't something I feel the need to grab a bottle of, but it was fun to get to try it and layer it with Goose Moon!

This features a dark, slightly boozed up cherry note accompanied by a cola-like labdanum. Although it's not exactly cherry cola (oh, how I wish the Lab did something like Absurd Origin Story plus cherry!), it may be the closest I've gotten to it from the Lab so far. (Because the sweet, cola-like labdanum is more like a flat cola than a fizzy one.) I layered a drop of this with Goose Moon, and here was the result: Goose Moon + Brandied Cherry and Labdanum - MORE CHERRY! Just what I wanted! It's the cherry and cola-like labdanum of the duet lying on a bed of caramelized tobacco and sandalwood. I tried the other Goose Moon cherry duet and would recommend this to chose wanting more cherry, as the other one is more about the tobacco and chypre. I think this would be nice to layer or wear on its own, so I'm debating whether or not my decant will be enough.