doomsday_disco

This goes on as lavender and cedar. Then, the smoke from the burning letters emerges. It's not acrid, but it does tickle my nose a bit. And then I get some note that ends up brightening the scent, which I think is probably the awapuhi (ginger). It stays that way for a while, but fades to a soft, powdery cedar and white sandalwood by the end of the day with just a bit of smoke and a much lighter ginger. I'm torn on this one. The lavender and cedar combo are nice, but I'm iffy on the smoke from the burned letter note. I'll have to try this one again in a few weeks.

2013. This is a very aged decant, and I'm not sure if it is the aging or what, but it is a very light scent on me that's more about the brandy and rum than any cream or nutmeg. Perhaps the cream was more noticeable when it was fresh? But it doesn't remind me of eggnog at all -- it's just a light boozy scent that teeters on being plastic-y and almost bubblegum-y on me. This isn't for me, but I'd be curious to try a newer decant to see how it compares.

This is mostly about the sweet opoponax and cola-like labdanum. The black patchouli emerges more with wear, but it never overtakes the resins. The benzoin adds a slightly powdery resin-y sweetness after a few hours. I expected this to be darker, but it's mostly a sweet resin scent! It's not something I need more of, but it was fun to get to try it.

This one is a patchouli party on me. The black patchouli dominates throughout wear, backed by a bit of black pepper and just a smear of cacao. I really wish I had gotten more cacao from this one. Alas.

My skin ran away with the citrus notes in this one. The blueberry resides beneath the astringent white tea and lemon during the first few hours of wear, but it ends up being almost completely overtaken by the citrus in the end. There ends up just being a hint of blueberry in the background on me. And while I like citrus, I wish I were getting more sugar, because this is waaaay more tart than sweet on me. But I am glad that I got a chance to try it.

This starts off as a pretty salty aquatic with a bit of spice from the pink carnation, but over time, the oakmoss and carnation gain strength, making it a salt-infused, slightly soapy, moss and floral scent. The vetiver in this is very well-behaved and light. It's a grassy variety and not a smoky one. The moss and salt combo ends up making this too sharp for me, but this ended up being more pleasant than a lot of aquatics on me (it wasn't straight up soap).

The candied fruits and Lebkuchen in this smells realistic, like candied fruit and fresh ginger being used to make Elisen Lebkuchen. The slightly buttery (probably due to the cream) porridge resides in the background at first, but it becomes more prominent over time, and it ends up being a more of a Christmas-y cousin to Halfling (but this one is better because there's no raisin party). It smells like warm porridge, Lebkuchen and clove, and Kinderpunsch to me, and I am here for it. I really like this and think I'll be needing a bottle in the future. It really makes me miss going to the Weihnachtsmärkte in Germany. I'd also love to see this Lebkuchen note used again in future Yules, as it is just .

Full disclosure: wisteria does not work on me and typically goes sharp and screechy on my skin, but I was given this as a frimp, and I love honeysuckle, so here goes! The wisteria in this is indeed very screechy on me, but the honeysuckle in this is heady itself, so it holds its own and doesn't allow the wisteria to stomp it out. Unfortunately, this isn't a favorite variety of honeysuckle for me... I prefer Trumpet Honeysuckle & Lemon Beebalm and Wild Honeysuckle to this one. Those are sweeter. By the end of the day, it's a heady, but smoother, honeysuckle note backed by some sharp wisteria. I am glad I got to try this, but this one isn't for me.

I am getting what must be the dianthus, followed by the French lavender, and a bit of honey and blackberry in the background. Over time, the blackberry and honey gain strength, cozying up tot he dianthus, but never overtaking it completely. By the end of the day, it's a honeyed fruity floral scent on me. The lavender hasn't gone away, but it is the least prominent of these notes on my skin, sadly. I'm glad I got to try this one, but I wish the lavender had increased in strength instead of the blackberry!

This is blackberry wine and candy-like plum out of the gate and remains that way throughout wear, although I do get some dry, white sandalwood and white musk behind those notes by the end of the day, adding a powdery quality in the background. It's very purple and very candy... like a blow pop without the bubblegum, or perhaps a ring pop? I am having trouble finding the lavender in this one, sadly. If you want to smell like purple candy, this one is for you!

This is primarily a white tea scent on me, backed by some cool eucalyptus. I, fortunately, did not get any absinthe from this (as I don't like anything in the licorice realm). So citrusy white tea (and perhaps the bergamot is adding some oomph to that citrus) and cool eucalyptus and mint (but mostly, eucalyptus). I think this one is pleasant, but I know I'd reach for it over other white tea and eucalyptus scents in my collection.

The musky ambrette seed is a main player on me throughout wear. There's some leather behind it, some gingerbread spices, and by the end of the day, the balsam has gained some strength and, along with the gingerbread spices, have made this like a holiday version of Ü. A Very Mütter Holiday, indeed! It's a pretty dry scent, though, and on me, it is rather faint -- I actually had to apply this twice because my skin just ate it the first time. I'm really glad that a lovely BPALer sent me some of this to try. I definitely prefer this to Ü, but since it is a skin scent on me, it's not something I need to hunt down.

I didn't have an experience like any of the previous reviewers. To me, in the vial and on my skin, it was a cumin party, backed by some coconut. No coffee, no cinnamon, and no ice cream on me.

Take Please Scream Inside Your Heart and add some tiramisu to it and you've got Tiramisu Funnel Cake. The funnel cake note is spiced and smells too soggy to be funnel cake -- to me, it's more like bread pudding or French toast. So it's that note, but infused with coffee liqueur and a little cocoa from the tiramisu. It's spicier than you would expect, given the name, and stays that way for a long time, but eventually the tiramisu wins out over the spicy funnel cake bread pudding-esque note, so that by the end of the day, it's all about the coffee (and more cocoa powder) from the tiramisu! I'm digging the tiramisu aspect of this scent, but I'm not sure if I need another Please Scream Inside Your Heart variant when the only one I reach for is the Snake Oil one. So I'll have to retest this at some point in order to decide, but if the Lab comes out with a tiramisu scent minus the funnel cake, I'd be all over that.

I mostly get roasted and spiced apples backed by some sweet potato pie (more filling than crust). It lasted all day, although by the end of the day, it was more about the apple pie spices (although the crust is more noticeable after nine hours of wear). The spices in this didn't give me any welts, but there was a point during the wet stage where the spices did give a burning feeling, so if you have sensitive skin, you may want to only apply this somewhere where it can be easily washed off just in case. I think this one is a keeper, but fortunately, I don't feel the need to track more of this down!

Take 2008: Sugar Phoenix, replace the sugar with honey, and the grapefruit with orange, and you get Baby's First Political Campaign. This is mostly about the honey-sweetened French lavender and orange on me, and I'm here for it! The ambrette seed provides some musky warmth in the background. As someone who loves lavender and citrus scents, and whose back-up bottle of 2008: Sugar Phoenix ended up breaking in their bag when they were forced to come into the office this summer (it was in a rollerball, which obviously did not end up being a safer travel option), I'm happy to have a bottle of this one!

I smell apple strudel and candied fruits (with the most prominent candied fruit being cherry) with a little creamy marzipan behind them and the barest hints of coffee and chocolate far in the background. Sometimes I get more apple strudel, sometimes more cherry. It definitely makes me miss Germany and all of the shops full of delicious, fresh-baked goods there. Thank you so much to the lovely forumite that shared some of this with me.

Shuddering, sweat-warmed skin gleaming with sheer musk, honeyed olive blossoms, vanilla cedar, white sandalwood, and orris butter. I get an orange-infused skin musk (I think the orange aspect may be due to the olive blossom or maybe the honey?) and honeyed olive blossom for most of the wear. I agree that the cedar in this is very gentle. The scent smells drier and dustier by the end of the day thanks to the white sandalwood gaining more of a role, but the orris has added some powder to the scent, but it hasn't turned into a powder fest like it normally likes to do with scents on me. I'm glad I got to try this, but I don't think this is something I'd reach for (maybe if the dry sandalwood hadn't gotten stronger over time). But it makes me want to try more scents that feature olive blossom as a note!

This one starts off odd. I get jasmine, plum, tuberose, and a bit of bitter cocoa that doesn't seem to mesh well with these notes? Fortunately, the cocoa bean is quick to retreat beneath the other notes for a while. The plum smells like it a fresh plum -- like I'm actually smelling the skin of the plum. It's not a candy-like one. But the tuberose is heady and adds this sickly grape-like quality to the scent, and the jasmine is heady as well. This ends up primarily being about the heady floral notes on me, which end up getting sweetened by the spun sugar after a few hours. The plum is still present, but it is much fainter, adding a plum tinge to the floral notes. The cocoa bean has returned by this point, and no longer is a discordant note, but there's really just a hint of it in the background. Sadly, I didn't detect any lavender because the jasmine and tuberose are just so loud on me. I didn't think this one would be for me with its heady florals and plum, and that ended up being the case, but I'm still glad I got to try it.

This smells like scorched cumin and metal. There might also be some bbq-y vetiver contributing a smoke note, because I also get meat-y vibes whenever I sniff this. The cracked leather and motor oil reside beneath this funk. NOPE NOPE NOPE. ETA: The boy smelled it and curled up his nose and said, "Taco meat!?" So yeah. So much cumin.

I mostly get sweet, fleshy, almost peach-like, non-spiced pumpkin, like the pumpkin in White Pumpkin Extrait, from this. The cactus blossom adds a bit of a perfume-y floral quality behind the pumpkin, and the sweetgrass adds a nice green feel to the scent in the background. I don't get the sage until several hours later, and it adds a dry, desert-y feel to the pumpkin. The combination of the cactus blossom with this pumpkin note makes this a little too high-pitched for me, but I'm glad I got to try it. If you'd be interested in smelling like a pumpkin that rolled through the desert, this is worth a try.

Creamy pumpkin cheesecake topped with cherries and drizzled with chocolate. The pumpkin is more pumpkin spice than actual pumpkin, and the cheesecake smells creamy and warm. I get far more black cherry than chocolate accompanying the pumpkin cheesecake during the dry phase of the scent. It ends up being a cherry-topped spiced cheesecake on me. I like the cherry, but I'm not sure if I like it with the spiced cheesecake and will have to retest this after it has had some more time to settle.

Maiden: A gentle vision of purity, goodness and virtue: white tea, carnation and Damask Rose. Hellfire: A swirl of pipe tobacco, hot leather, ambergris, dark musk and the lingering incense smoke from their Black Mass. Snake Oil: deep, rich earthy notes swirled with vegetal musks, sugared vanilla bean, and dark spices. I'm getting Hellfire's leather and tobacco and a toned down version of its cinnamon (which is not listed in the notes, but I get from the original scent as well) on a bed of dark musk and soft Snake Oil. I think the pipe tobacco in this is a cherry pipe tobacco. I think Maiden's adding a breath of spicy carnation and rose in the background, and the white tea is brightening up the scent a bit, but on me, this blapimpsottle scent is strongest on the Hellfire components, although the Snake Oil base seems to be increasing in strength with wear. This is not something I need more of (I prefer Snake Skin for a leathery Snake Oil), but if you're looking for a Hellfire variant, or a leather and tobacco-infused Snake Oil, you should give this a try.

This smells like the most wonderful freshly peeled orange. I had the Lab's Sweet Orange SN at one point, but this is even better than that! It's very uplifting and effective at stress relief (I applied it a few days in a row while I was baking way too many cookies, and sniffing this calmed me down). I thought this might be kind of like The Season of Ghosts as this also features orange and rose geranium, but this is more about the orange than the herbal notes, and dare I say, BACK-UP WORTHY.

The sugar cookie note in this is syrupy, and the popcorn note is like kettle corn, so this smells like kettle corn that's been drizzled in brown sugar or maple syrup. I am not sure I need more of this, but the decant is a keeper!