doomsday_disco

This goes on as honeyed gardenia backed by rice paper. The rice paper note reminds me of the rice paper wrapped around Botan Rice Candy. The honey quickly calms down, and it ends up being mostly gardenia and rice paper on me throughout the day, with just a bit of perfume-y, non-foodie honey in the background. There's not enough sweetness here to tame the gardenia for me, but now I'll be on the lookout for future scents featuring a rice paper note!

Lavender, champaca, and moss are the first notes that leap out at me, followed by the sandalwood. Then the balsam joins the party, and after that, the weed, but the weed is pretty tame in this one, although that could be because the champaca is so loud. I also get a linen note even though one isn't listed in the notes. The lavender burns off quickly, and then it it becomes a predominantly champaca, moss, and linen (is it really linen, or just part of the clean scent of the oakmoss?) scent on me for the rest of the day. I'm not surprised this is so champaca and moss heavy on me, as those are notes I typically amp, but I am surprised the lavender was so fleeting, and the weedsmoke note is so light in this one!

So. Much. Sludge. Seriously, this is the sludigest BPAL I have ever tried. It is so sludgy that you cannot even see through the bottle when holding it up to the light. I took a photo to show how it goes on the skin and what it looks like even after you try to rub it in: The scent is nice. The wine is prominent but is not like the Lab's other wine notes. I'd say it's more like a cider. The fermented aspect is more reminiscent of that than a wine to me. The spices in this are present, but they aren't overpowering and don't burn the skin. Even though there's a ton of cacao sludge in this, the wine is stronger than the chocolate on me, although the cacao is definitely noticeable throughout wear and has managed to gain some strength by the end of the day. I can see the (boozy) apple cider and Mexican hot chocolate that someone mentioned in an earlier review. I like this, but I'm not sure if I like it enough to deal with the sludge being so noticeable on the skin... it may even be too sludgy for a scent locket. I'll have to see.

This is a very tart rose and red currant scent with some brownish red patchouli that, at first, is content with its background role, but changes its mind and becomes more prominent with wear... never overtaking the tart rose, though. This rose is too tart for me, but I'm glad I got to try this scent. While it's not for me, it is evocative of its inspiration!

This is mostly a brown sugary syrup on me on a bed of woods. The syrupy sugar reigns throughout, although Cathedral's frankincense has gained some strength after several hours of wear. I do think this is nicer than straight up Cathedral, but I do not think it's something I would choose to wear... not when there's Sugar Cookie Snow White to choose. I do want some Okinawa (brown sugar) milk tea now, though.

This does remind me of the smooth, musky black leather of De Sade Resurrected, and I think that the musk from Snake Oil is one of the musks at play here. The eucalyptus and elemi are indeed very light, I wouldn't be worried about the eucalyptus in this one. I only get the dry, white sandalwood after several hours of wear, but it is in the background and not nearly as strong as the leather and the musk. I'll have to deathmatch this with De Sade Res. as I don't think I need both, but I do think this one is nice. Someone looking for something similar to De Sade that enjoys Snake Oil's musk should enjoy this scent.

If a citrusy aspect like white tea isn't an issue, Kumiho is a nice white tea and ginger scent that's great for the summer: A sharp, biting blend of crisp white tea and ginger. Baobhan Sith is a bit more complex if grapefruit and apple blossom aren't dealbreakers: Grapefruit, white tea, apple blossom and ginger. If you like Morocco, you might also like Inez! Golden amber, vanilla musk, myrrh, cedar, carnation, and red sandalwood. If mandarin isn't a no go, you might enjoy Kubla Khan: Through sunlit caves of ice, roses unfurl amidst dancing waves of serpentine opium smoke and amber tobacco, golden sandalwood, champaca, tea leaf, sugared lily, ginger, rich hay absolute, leather, dark vanilla, mandarin, peru balsam, and Moroccan jasmine. You may also enjoy Kit (Kit’s scent is soft and dry as bone: Mysore sandalwood, a tattered and patched 16th century waistcoat, inkstained, still scented with the marjoram and benzoin dry perfumes of his youth.), or if you like vanilla, the new activism scent that features the same sandalwood plus a warm vanilla: And Though They Are With You Yet They Belong Not To You - A gentle vanilla sandalwood blend, serene but mighty.

This is such a realistic blueberry muffin scent with the pumpkin adding more buttery-ness to the muffin. I dismissed this in 2017 as I'm not big on berry scents, but I'm glad I picked up a bottle of this last year, as it's a really wonderful muffin scent. And it's strong, too. Must. Not. Nom. Hair.

I've worn this five times and have had different results with the scent and sometimes have different results with it. The first time I tested it on the back of my hand, I got a ton of lovely lavender billowing out, which some wisteria, chamomile, and passionflower beneath it. I passed out on the couch after I put it on, but it had been after a long day in the office. The other times, I've worn it to bed. I completely slather one arm and rub it against the other. This makes the initial lavender burst last for a shorter time. The wisteria is immediately more prominent and high-pitched, and the passionflower is a lot stronger. The chamomile is cozies up to those notes. The lemon balm is there, but not a main player on me. I'm not able to pick out the poppy, and I am not familiar with cowslip. Sometimes it works as a sleep scent, and sometimes it does not because it's not as lavender-forward as it was initially (not sure if that's from the scent settling or if it is from rubbing the scent on each arm instead of letting it dry naturally). I am debating a bottle, but I think it will how much of my decant I've used before the Yules go down. But in any case, I'll certainly be keeping my decant!

Nightingale starts off with a blast of cardamom and cream. My boyfriend was reminded of cardamom buns. The cream and oats are buttery and it's mostly cardamom, cream, and oats on me throughout wear (emphasis on the cardamom and cream, though) with the honey in the background, although the honey does end up gaining some strength over time. Bourbon vanilla is sometimes MIA on me, and I'm not picking up on it here. But it could be contributing some sweetness. I do get the Lights, Camera, Something comparison with this cardamom for sure -- only, this scent is buttery. This smells delicious, but it's definitely a scent for cardamom lovers. Since I am one, I will be holding onto my bottle! Such a lovely scent for a good cause.

This is absolutely Stekkjarstaur's sibling swirled with the vanilla of the 2017 version of Antique Lace, as others have said. The benzoin becomes noticeable after a few hours of wear but is nowhere near as strong as the other two notes. The scent does start off being rather light and close to the skin, but it increases in strength with wear as the vanilla floofs out. I was kind of hoping for another vanilla note, as I have lots of Antique Lace 2017 and some of the scents that vanilla has been included in lately. But I'm not mad. I expect this one will sell out early like Black Amber and Sugar Cane, so if you're a Stekk fan who is looking for a sister scent, or someone who missed it when it was available, now is your chance to head to the website and smash that order button. ETA: I deathmatched this against Stekk and have to amend my review: while they're both marshmallow, Stekk is much deeper, and I think the sugared part of the marshmallow root just elevates it to a whole other level.

This is mostly about the Earl Grey to me, in the bottle and on my skin. It's got a tannic black tea (that has a slight hint of smokiness to it at first) and bergamot to it with a bit of cream and some light brown sugar. So if you were afraid of this being a brown sugar party, don't be. Sometimes the Lab's black tea can read as licorice-y to me, but this one does not, for those wary of that. On another note, I had a brown sugar milk tea yesterday and an Earl Grey milk tea today and I can say that this is nowhere near as creamy or as sugary as any milk tea. But if you're looking for a bold Earl Grey, you should be happy with this. I think this is nice, but I hope to get more sugar and cream as this ages!

This features a deep, black patchouli, but it's softened so much by the skin musk that those hoping for a bold patchouli instead of a cuddly one might be disappointed. The amber is next in prominence. Sometimes the Lab's bourbon vanilla doesn't show up on me. Here, it's present, but it is very light. So I would not describe this as a patch and vanilla blend, and since almost all blends containing patch and vanilla are compared to Revenant Rhythm, no, this does not smell like that. The vanilla is not as prominent and it is not as sweet. This one is more about the patch, skin musk, and amber, like you were just given a hug by someone wearing some patchouli that still lingered on their skin from the day before. I think this will be popular with those seeking out a cuddly patchouli, as long as they aren't expecting a lot of sweetness from the vanilla. I'm going to let my bottle settle for a few weeks before coming back to it, though, because I was hoping for a little more vanilla!

The sweet Mysore sandalwood of Kit (my favorite sandalwood from the Lab!) meets the floofy vanilla of Antique Lace 2017.

This goes on a little weird -- it's like the pith from the lemon peel is the strongest note out of the gate, followed by some almond and some snowy oak. The lemon pith note is quickly smoothed over by the almond, which is a nutty almond that doesn't have cherry almond associations to my nose. The lemon amber ends up being the dominant note after the almond calms down, along with some bright, ozone-y snow and oak. I'm not getting a ton of frankincense or cedarwood from this, although perhaps they will emerge with more time to settle. I only get something stony and brick-like when I put my nose right up against my arm and really go looking for it. Otherwise, it's mostly lemony amber sweetened by a bit of almond on a bed of snowy oak. I had to get this one because my boyfriend and I traveled around Germany trying to see as many Otto Dix paintings as possible when we lived there. I wasn't sure about this scent in the bottle, but don't let the bottle sniff scare you away, because it is much nicer on the skin! But my boyfriend, who loves almond scents, already declared this a winner from the bottle sniff and didn't think it was bitter at all, so it was destined to be a keeper.

Coconut lovers will rejoice, but flormand lovers will weep, because this is mostly a coconut cream party, backed by white chocolate, which only makes the scent richer. It is indeed the same coconut cream used in Giljagaur from the Yule Lad collection (I deathmatched these and found Giljagaur to be significantly less rich and coconut-y), but there's nothing keeping it in check here. The spice from the clove mixed with the coconut cream smells a little odd at first, but it eventually settles down. There's a bit of spice and the feel of smooth pink petals from the carnation, but there's so much coconut cream on me that it's more foodie than flormand. I'll let this bottle settle for a few weeks and then retest it, but I was really hoping for less coconut and more carnation. ETA: Added deathmatch info and wanted to note that I swapped this one since it is so coconut-heavy on me.

This started off so wonderfully. It was all lemon cake with a cracked lemon glaze with some soft honey and candied florals in the background. I was swooning. Then it became a coconut party on me, and coconut remains a main player on me after several hours of wear, even though it is not a listed note. The coconut, combined with the candied flowers (which are smooth and indistinguishable and not high-pitched whatsoever, nor are they powdery -- I couldn't tell you what they are, but I could list many that I'm not getting), end up dominating the scent after a while, along with some creaminess that must be from the vanilla cream. Perhaps that's where the secret coconut hails from. I absolutely adore the lemon cake phase of this scent but wish I hadn't gotten a ton of coconut later on. I'm going to let this one settle for a few more weeks and come back to it, because that lemon cake is everything.

This one starts off heavy on the sake and pine, but the sake actually ends up becoming the dominant note. It's very bright and has a lemony aspect to it with a boozy edge. Underneath, there's a slight Ricola herbal cough drop vibe that I think is the snow note mingling with the pine. That might scare some folks off, but it's actually more comforting than medicinal! But that vibe isn't long lasting, and the pine ends up retreating after some time. It leaves behind the bright sake and some melting snow. It's not like a lot of the other snow notes the Lab has used as of late and is more like a watery musk with a touch of soft mint... which makes sense for a melting Snow Woman. I really enjoyed the wet phase of this when it was sake and pine dominant, but I wish the pine had stuck around longer! I'm going to let this bottle rest for a few weeks and come back to it, but I may have to scent locket it to capture that initial burst of sake and pine... because that combo is super uplifting every time I sniff it.

On me, this is mostly a light Snake Oil with its musk and spices and perhaps the ghost of coffee. I can smell the pumpkin spiced coffee in the bottle, more bitter coffee than sweet, but the pumpkin spice latte note is very subdued on my skin. There's a light sweetness after several hours of wear, but I think that's due to some whipped cream, because I'm not getting Snake Oil's vanilla. I think this is nice, but I'm hoping that the coffee will be more noticeable on me with some age!

I didn't have hopes for this going in with orris being the first ingredient listed, and I was right to be wary. It's a powder bomb on me with the orris being the prominent note throughout wear and some sandalwood and leather being thrown into the orris powderfest. My skin just would not let awesome things like the citrus and vanilla notes to peek out.

2006 version. The notes: a mishmash of snow, dirt, Icelandic moss, marsh felwort, and the smushed petals of buttercups and moorland spotted orchids, with the barest hint of the scent of pilfered Christmas pastries. What I get: Mentholic snow (and a bit of an undertone of chapstick!?) that shifts into spearmint-y snow and then some evergreen and possibly benzoin-infused Snow Bunny-esque snow and some moss. What I am not getting: dirt, flowers, or pastries. 😭 Clearly I have bad luck with snow + pastry scents. (Looking at you, too, Frostbitten Knave of Hearts.) I so wanted the pastry.

I got a decant of this for its purpose but am only reviewing the scent here. This goes on as medicinal rose on me... like, if you had rose-infused cough syrup. It stays that way for some time but eventually veers out of medicinal territory, although it's absolutely straight-up ROSE on me throughout wear. There are traces of the other notes, which I can detect if I go looking for them in the background (mainly the spruce and woods), but mostly, it's a rose party.

So I'm getting a bold, somewhat sour resin, perhaps a sour variety of labdanum, with a blast of pepper that is strongest when freshly applied, and perhaps a bit of golden musk and a metallic note. I feel like it would fit in with the Phoenix Steamworks line of scents.

Decant of #55. This was mostly a traditional cologne on me. I could detect moss and bergamot, and near the end of the day, there was some noticeable amber as well. It was pleasant, but I know I wouldn't reach for it over some other cologne-y scents in my collection.

This features the vanilla cream from Love's Philosophy, which is a french vanilla cream, for those familiar with the Lab's French Vanilla SN. It's infused with some jasmine and a bit of anise. Both are more behaved than they usually are on me, so this is still worth a try if those notes are iffy for you. But I know I prefer this vanilla with the saffron of Love's Philosophy, so I'm letting go of my decant. I am glad I got to try it, though.