doomsday_disco

I tested this on dry hair one day and did not love it. It was fizzy plastic-y candy-like strawberry on me. Some strawberry notes just smell plastic-y on me and do not work out, and this is one of them.

I'd describe Agape as a fruit-tinged floral as opposed to a fruity floral, but perhaps that's because I tend to amp carnation. The spicy carnation reigns on my skin throughout wear, but I can smell the apple and passionfruit when freshly applied, as well as a nice dose of sugar. After that, it becomes so well-blended that it becomes hard to pick out any of the notes aside from the carnation, which continues to be sweetened by the other notes (I was not able to detect the sweet pea or vanilla, but it at least makes sense not to get the sweet pea when it's so delicate and I'm amping the carnation). I think this is nice, and may be one of the best non-Mad Tea Party carnation scents, but I don't need to hunt down more of this.

Full disclosure: I have never had proper fruitcake. The only fruitcake I've tried was an awful store-bought one that my aunt insisted we try one New Year's Eve and it was gross. But this smells nice! It smells like a cherry-studded, slightly buttery baked good with some dusty spices. The only downside is that it stays close to the skin. Now I want to try a cherry fruitcake that doesn't contain any raisins.

I tested this on Monday and decided to give it the full-slather scent of the day treatment today. I think To Lallie is one of the standout rose scents from this year's Lupercalia update. It's a sugared rose, although I wouldn't have been able to tell you that it's honey or vanilla doing the sweetening (although I do get the creaminess from the coconut milk after the scent leaves the wet stage -- however, it is no way overtly coconut-y). I agree with the comparisons to Katrina van Tassel. While I did not deathmatch the two side by side, I did retest Katrina van Tassel yesterday and noticed the similarity, although I'd say this one is sweeter and even better. Slathered, I do get some slightly salty, musky ambergris by the end of the day, but when I tested it on Monday (no slather), I didn't pick up on it. The resins do not stand out to me, and I'm thankful for that as rose + resins aren't really my jam. This is really lovely and I'm debating grabbing more of it, although I already have plenty of rose scents in my collection.

This one didn't jive with me, and I think that was mainly due to the honey (although wildflower honey is usually a safe honey for me). It was mostly wildflower honey, slightly lemony white tea, and ginger on me at first, but then it became a wildflower honey party on me. There's some sandalwood and ginger in the background by the end of the day, but I'm not getting much vanilla despite it being the first note... that could just be because the floral honey is so strong on me, though. I'm not sure if the honey itself, the florals within the honey, or the honey and ginger were combining to create a slight funk on me, which is sad, because I was here for a vanilla-infused chamomile tea scent!

This is a honeyed (but not overly honeyed!) amber-like scent on me accompanied by some sheer bourbon vanilla, although there's a slight medicinal undertone beneath the resinous scent, and I'm not sure if that's just my sniffer or if that's part of the bushman's candle absolute or what. It sadly never lost that undertone on me, although it did get slightly more powdery and amber-y with wear. Oddly enough, the pink pepper didn't stand out to me, nor did the labdanum (or if that's where the amberiness is coming from, it wasn't like the sour or cola-like varieties of labdanum that I've experienced). I don't need more of this one, but I'm glad I gave it a try! ETA: After more settling, the labdanum became much more noticeable, and I think that is what wasn't jiving with me.

This was almost a blind bottle for me, but I held off because of the incense, and I'm glad I did. Because the incense is sadly what I get most of out of this, although it's a light one. It's a light champaca-infused incense on me throughout wear backed by a little milk. Alas, I was not able to detect any almond, which is really weird, as that's usually a powerhouse when a scent is freshly applied. I did get the amber with the incense by the end of the day, but there was just not enough sweetness (wherefore art thou, almond, vanilla, and honey!?) on me to make me love it. And I was so hoping I would love it because of the name! ?

This, like recent snek variants, is strongest on the musk on me, and the dark musk seems to be infused with some red musk, unless that's my sniffer playing tricks on me because of the red rose mingling with it so well (the rose is not as dark as I was expecting from the description). It has some serious throw and stays that way for hours and hours, although it did morph into Snake Oil by the next day (I guess I got it on the sleeve I tested this near), albeit the lighter, newer version (not as strong on the spice or vanilla on me). I like this and agree that it's definitely BPAL, but there are other rose scents that I enjoy more from this update. I'm going to hang onto my decant and retest it before it goes away, though. I'd really love it if the vanilla showed up on me after getting a few more months of rest!

This may be the scent with the strongest gasoline scent that I've tried from the Lab (and I've had the fortune to try Wasteland World). It goes on as rose and broken green stems doused with gasoline, but then it becomes mostly about the gasoline and asphalt on me, with the rose and greenery in the background. I think the asphalt note may contain a resin, and I think it may be the same one found in There's Water Here from the OLLA collection. It has some serious throw, too. So if you're longing for an atmospheric industrial scent, this is absolutely worth a try, provided you aren't anti-rose. I really enjoy this and am debating a bottle, but this was strong enough on me that slathering might be a bad idea, so I'll have to give it a full day wear to see if I need more of this. It is definitely a highlight from this year's Luper update, though!

I love the Lick It variants, but the Valentine version isn't really my cup of tea. I do get the traditional vanilla mint candy cane of Lick It in the beginning, along with some strawberry and wine. I'm not sure if it is the wine in conjunction with the honeycomb or pink sugar, but there's something in the background that reminds me of a grape-like sugar that I dislike that's used at low quality boba tea places. The vanilla mint is quick to fade and I'm left with the red wine and strawberry notes with that undertone that is just not jiving with me. It's not a skin chemistry thing, as I could smell this in the vial, too, and that's why I put off testing it so long even though it was one of the scents I was originally most excited about from the update. But it must just be my sniffer, because no other reviews have mentioned that weird undertone. While this isn't for me, I'm now hoping we get a summery variant of Lick It, perhaps with some yuzu!

This is mostly about the effervescent aldehyde on me, backed by a baby powder-esque floral note. I'm not sure if the vanilla note (not obvious on my skin) or the chrysanthemum (I'm only familiar with dried chrysanthemums) producing the powderiness, but I'm not really digging the fizz and powder combo. I'm thinking this one is a skin chemistry fail, sadly.

Holy heck, this is green. It's more of a grass scent than a floral scent on me. It's accompanied by a bit of the Lab's weed note during the wet stage, but then it ends up settling into a grass-dominant melange of greenery that is hard to pick apart aside from the grass, although I think the hemp flowers may be next in prominence by the end of the day. I tend to amp carnation, but that wasn't the case in this one at all. If you're on the hunt for a green scent, this one is for you. I don't think I could see myself reaching for this one, but I'm glad I decided to try it.

This starts off with a blast of green on me. I think it's from the yew branches, but it smells more green-leaves-cliniging-to-branches than coniferous needles to my nose. Then the fougere increases in strength and it becomes a nice, green-tinged fougere (emphasis on the fougere more than the lily). I didn't really like the wet phase of this, when it smelled like green leaves, but the fougere is nice. I don't think I'd reach for it over other fougeres in my collection due to that initial blast of leafiness, but if you're looking for a fougere with a little bit of greenery, this might be up your alley.

This started off unexpectedly green on me (is that some stem or leaves from the lily? I honestly thought that I grabbed the wrong decant and applied Sister Death instead, but no, it was this scent!), but then morphs into a fierce ginger and lily scent on me. It's more about the ginger earlier on in wear, and it's a pungent one -- I feel like it's a fresh ginger that may be mixed with a deeper, Shub-esque one. But over time, the lily gets tired of being second to the ginger and declares dominion over it, so that it's a straight-up lily scent on me by the end of the day. I don't think I could see myself reaching for this, but if you're looking for a lily scent that's packing a punch of spicy ginger, this one is for you.

Of the four silk flower scents I tried from this update, this one is my favorite. It's primarily a peony scent on me, backed by some rose cream, and sweetened with some cotton candy. The cream part of the rose cream is not buttery whatsoever (I've had some bad luck with cream notes doing that on me as of late), and I think it may be the same/similar to the one featured in The Poinsettia Gown from Yules past. At first, the peony and rose swirl together and are pretty inseparable, but the peony ends up winning out after a few hours. The cotton candy also increases in strength over time, sugaring up these floral notes. I forgot there was cognac in this, so I wasn't trying to isolate it when I tested this, but I'm sure it is there, adding that magical quality that cognac tends to lend to scents. At the moment, I feel like there are some rose and peony scents that I don't reach for enough in my collection (De Vos' Unicorn and Tea Roses and Lace come to mind), so I'm not sure if I need a whole bottle of this one. I'll retest it before it goes away to make sure. But if I do upgrade one of these flowers from this silk bouquet, this will be the one. If you're a fan of sugary florals, you should definitely try it!

My review of this is not going to do this justice. But if you're thinking about getting this... get it. This is, unexpectedly, one of my favorite scents from this year's Lupercalia update. I swooned when I first smelled it in the decant, and it was just as swoon-worthy on my skin. The reason I grabbed a decant of this was because of the mugwort note. I love mugwort. It's very herbal, and I love slathering on scents containing it before bed. While the mugwort is present, it is much tamer than it normally is, and it's accompanied by some really smooth, well-blended resins (with zero sharpness from the oak -- actually, I wasn't able to pick out any oak). But there's a sweetness to this scent that I'm not getting from the listed notes. If it's from the blood or bone, it's the best blood or bone I've ever smelled!? I keep thinking it is nectar or pollen-like, as it has a similar addictive quality to it as Arcana's Unearthly Lovely. I wish I could describe this one better, but I am so, so happy that I grabbed a decant of this one and will be upgrading to a bottle. Of the Lupercalia scents I've tested thus far, this is definitely one of my favorites. ETA: Retesting this almost a month later, I wanted to add that I am now getting dragon’s blood from this, but I think it is a lighter than it usually is, and honeyed.

Cluster of Cherry Blossoms is a honeyed, cherry-tinged floral scent on me. I am glad that there's more cherry blossom than rose here (as I feared the rose would overtake it), but both notes are noticeable. The scent becomes more honeyed over time (with the honey eventually becoming the dominant note), but it is a pale honey. The cherry, on the other hand, is light. I feel like it just serves to accentuate the cherry blossom. And the musk part of the rose musk never makes this a musk party. I think this is pretty, but at the moment, I don't feel like I need more than my decant. But if you're looking for cherry blossom, this is the Shunga from this year's update that features the note most prominently.

This starts off as a fruity floral and then becomes a predominantly floral scent. The lily is the star here, not the cherry blossom, and it's accompanied by lots of apple and pear in the beginning as well as some green from the grass, but it ends up settling down into a non-heady, non-soapy lily scent on me. Obviously, skin chemistry is everything, but if you're a cherry blossom hunter wondering which cherry blossom scent you should grab from this update, you might have better luck with a Cluster of Cherry Blossoms (provided you can wear honey notes). I preferred this scent in the wet stage, even though I'm not big on fruity florals, but it's not something I need more of since I already have Tiger Lily for when I want to wear a lily-dominant scent.

This is mostly about the vanilla and tobacco on me, backed by the red sandalwood. If you're wondering how this compares to And Though They Are With You, They Belong Not To You: well, this one is a lot different because of the inclusion of tobacco and it being a different sandalwood (think, like, Morocco and Inez sandalwood and not like, Kit sandalwood). The vanilla is the same, though, and it's that Antique Lace 2017 vanilla that's been popping up in more blends recently (like the Vanilla Husk, Nutmeg, and Hay Absolute Trio). The tobacco note is really lovely and might be the French one, but I did not dig up my decant to confirm. But I can at least say there's no horrible smoke in this tobacco smoke. I think this is really nice, but I'm going to be a little heretical and say that I'm a little burnt out on this vanilla note at the moment. I'll retest this before it goes away to see if I need more, but if that's the case, I may have to get rid of one of my other scents that also features this vanilla really prominently.

This is mostly about the citrus and strawberry notes, with the yuzu and grapefruit reigning at first, and the wild strawberry note gaining more strength throughout wear and eventually overtaking the citrus notes (but they never disappear -- they're just relegated to background roles). The strawberry note is a bright, juicy, red one, that's not plastic-y whatsoever, and combined with the yuzu and grapefruit, it smells like a drink or a slush to me (oh, how I wish it were a drink!... and a boozed up one). I get some pomegranate by the end of the day with the strawberry, when the citrus notes have calmed down significantly, but it's never a main player on me, and I'm not able to detect the rooibos on my skin. I also had my partner wear this as a scent of the day. On them, it started off as mostly citrus and strawberry, but the pomegranate showed up sooner, and the rooibos was noticeable. I really love how this is early on with the citrus notes being the strongest on me, followed closely by the strawberry, but I don't think it's as awesome by the end of the day when it's more strawberry with some pomegranate. But I'm still debating a bottle, because I could always just reapply and be hit with that citrus blast again.

I decided to get a decant of this while side-eyeing the plum wine note, because I'm just not a fan of plum in perfume. And I have to say that the plum in the plum wine is pretty tame here, adding a light, welcome sweetness to the scent. But I would not describe this as a tea scent. It's not tea-heavy, despite green tea being listed as the first note, and despite the name. I think this is more about the sandalwood incense, although the lemon blossom and bamboo lift the scent up early on in wear. Over time, it teeters on becoming more masculine, and the wine part of the plum wine becomes more prominent on me and adds this acidic quality to the sandalwood incense that I don't really enjoy. Even though I tried the recent trio with hinoki, I'm not able to isolate that note, so that's why it's not mentioned in this review. While the early stages are pleasant, the end result just is not for me, but it's no fault of the plum itself!

So... I grabbed a decant of this one because of the washi and the matcha. And... it definitely is a scent that is mostly about the washi, so if you're looking to try the Lab's interpretation of that, this would be a good scent to try. To me, the washi reminds me of some cucumber-y paper notes that sometimes pop up in book scents or in the Lab's Crumpled Wrapping Paper SN. The cucumber vibe will fade away, but it makes it go from more of a wet sort of paper to a drier one. I never am able to detect the matcha or mint, but I do get what I believe is the lichen and moss making it more cologne-y on me over time. By the end of the day, there's a hint of patchouli, but it is very mild here. The paper-y washi note isn't one that I really enjoy (I prefer the ones that tend to lean sweeter), and I'm sad that I didn't get any matcha, but I'm glad that I tried this to experience that washi note!

This is mostly about the tea and blood orange on me (but the blood orange isn't a citrus bomb), backed by the smoothest and least champaca-y champaca blossom ever. It does not have any incense-y quality to it whatsoever. It's definitely floral, but not a soapy or a heady one. I think the kamairicha may be a bit deeper than the Lab's traditional green tea note, because it didn't make me think of the green tea that the Lab traditionally uses, but it's hard to describe it just melds with the more prominent orange so wonderfully. I think it's pretty and will definitely be hanging onto my decant to wear it during the spring or early summer. But I'll have to retest it before it goes away to see if I need to upgrade to a bottle. At the moment, I feel like just the decant will suffice, but maybe that's because it couldn't compete with Neglected Calligraphy (which I tested on the other hand at the same time and was glued to throughout wear). ETA: This has become more floral tea and less orange-y after a few months of aging, but it's still a really nice floral tea scent kissed with orange.

Okay, time for what's becoming my traditional pass-some-time-in-the-office-on-a-Wednesday-morning-by-posting-a-slew-of-reviews review dump. ? This was one of the first decants I tested in my first round of Luper decants (consisting of only general Lupers and Shungas -- cherries, chocolates, and raunchy hearts will probably arrive next month). I decided that it had to be among the first tested after @HerbGirl's rave review. And it was an instant love for me. Of the decants I've tested thus far (over a dozen of them, with about seven more to go), this is one of my favorites. Neglected Calligraphy is a cool, pine-infused green tea scent, swirled with some ink that gives it a somewhat industrial vibe. The green tea is the perfume-y variety that you would find in something like Shanghai or Embalming Fluid, and it is not like green tea leaves. The terebinth resin has a tinge of smokiness to it, but it is really well-behaved and tamed by the green tea and is no way the campfire found in the terebinth-heavy Gacela of the Dark Death from Yules past. The throw is mostly the cool green tea and pine, but up close, I get lots of ink, which is indeed very-ink like, but also with a slight rubber-y quality. I'd recommend this to fans of Cooling Breeze (another cool green tea scent) and those who like industrial notes sound give it a try as well, because the ink is definitely noticeable in this blend. You do have to enjoy green tea and pine notes, though! I will absolutely be upgrading to a bottle as I can't stop sniffing my wrists. Plus, the name of the scent appeals to me (as someone with calligraphy-esque handwriting that doesn't do calligraphy but probably should).

This review is after testing a very aged decant from 2008. Ichabod Crane is all about the dusty black wool and cream on me. The black wool note is a dark musk with a touch of a grape-like note to it, and I believe it's the same thing representing black wool from last year's Black Julbocken Alchemy Lab. The cream is buttery as hell, so it smells like a very buttery musk bomb on me, alas. I can smell a bit of pepper, but the other notes are nowhere to be found on me because the musky wool and buttery cream are so loud. This one is not for me, but it was fun to get to try an old Sleepy Hollow scent!