doomsday_disco

Disappointing Pencil is mostly about the cedar on me. It's a bold cedar, with touches of eraser and graphite. But it doesn't smell bad by any means... I've tried a lot of scents that sadly wound up smelling like a pencil and/or its eraser remnants on me in a bad way (looking at you, oh so many Possets scents), and this isn't pencil-like in an unpleasant way. It's actually a pretty nice cedar. It could be fun layered with something like a root beer scent to get like, a root beer scented pencil vibe, but of course, we already have Tombstone with its sassafras and cedar (and its gorgeous vanilla). Disappointing Pencil is not so disappointing after all.

Oh myyyyyy. I was curious about this one, but never grabbed a bottle on Etsy because I wasn't sure how I'd feel about the beeswax and book combo with gardenia. Well, it turns out that my fears were unfounded. This is mostly the Lab's gorgeous beeswax with their amazingly soft, well-worn, syrupy brown leather note on me. It kind of makes me think of The Mountebank, but heavier on the beeswax and without the lavender. If the gardenia is doing anything on me, it is just behaving and possibly adding to the sweetness. My experience seems to be different than everyone else's, but I'm fine with my beeswax and brown leather party. Definitely going to have to grab the atmo and see how this is in that medium.

The teakwood, moss, and tobacco are the first notes to leap out at me when applied, but then the coffee bean quickly joins in. It adds a bit of creaminess to the scent even though it is just coffee bean as opposed to a milky coffee. The oakmoss increases in strength over time, as it is wont to do on me, and the vetiver joins in, so that after a few hours, it is a predominantly mossy scent infused with some grassy bourbon vetiver, as well as teakwood, tobacco, and a hint of coffee bean. This is nicer than I expected it to be. I wish the coffee bean had stayed as strong as it had been initially, though. I probably wouldn't reach for this myself, but I think it would be great to smell on a guy.

The pipe tobacco, leather, and gingerbread are the strongest notes out of the gate, with just a bit of sweetness added from the fruitcake crumbs. Unfortunately, this goes funky on me in a way similar to Gingerbread and Lemon Sugar when I first got it, and it just smells all kinds of wrong on me. I'm not sure if it is the ginger, tobacco, or both, but it is tangy and overwhelming. I'm glad I got to try it, but I'd recommend Gingerbread and Leather over this one.

Rose, incense, stone, oak are the notes that leap out at me. It's sharp at first due to the rose, stone, and oak combo, and it doesn't completely lose that sharpness after a few hours of wear, although it does soften some. The rose in this is somewhat astringent. I think it may be tea rose. It dominates on me throughout wear, backed by the incense, oak, and stone. While I appreciated the stone note I got from this when it was initially applied, the astringent rose + incense + sharp oak combo isn't really for me. I'm glad I got to try it, though, as I always love trying the Lilith-inspired scents!

That smoky vetiver type of gunpowder note from Agnes is the dominant note here, backed by the white cedar. I get zero gingerbread from this, sadly. Over time, the gunpowder becomes less smoky and more ashy and metallic, and it allows the white cedar to come through more and become one of the main players as well. But still, no gingerbread. I agree with Lucchesa's description of this being like a wild west scent. The smoky gunpowder is not for me, but I'm going to pass the decant on to a friend who was interested in this when it was live but didn't end up getting a bottle so that they can get to try it.

I didn't think I would ever end up trying this one and never tried to obtain any, but a very generous BPALista sent me a decant, and now I get the hype. In the decant, I wasn't sure if it would be for me due to the butter rum note, but once applied, the butter rum quickly calmed down and allowed the saffron, sandalwood, and sugary vanilla to shine. I think the sandalwood in this may be the Mysore sandalwood from Kit. The sugar and vanilla cream really bloom over time, giving me Boo vibes. SWOON. It ends up settling into a lovely vanilla sandalwood touched by the warmth of the saffron and butter rum after a day of wear. I didn't know I need this in my life, but now that I have it, I will cherish my decant. Thank you to the lovely @Missanneshirleyofgg for sharing this one with me.

Diana smells so lovely in the vial and when first applied. It's this lovely melange of brown musk, sweet, well-worn leather, and cypress, with a hint of metal that doesn't go cologne-y and just adds a bit of brightness to the scent. The cypress is quick to fade, leaving the leather, brown musk, and golden amber behind, which is evocative of Artemis' deer. However, over time, my skin chemistry runs away with the brown musk note and it becomes a powdery brown musk and amber scent with a hint of sweetness. I wish it had stayed how it was during the wet phase, when the cypress was most prominent, and that it didn't end up so powdery on me. I'm going to let this one rest some more and retest it in the future, because I am not ready to give up on it yet! Thank you to the lovely supreme_c0rt for sharing this with me!

I tested a sniffie of this, so I am not sure if that affected my experience of the scent, but this was very honey-dominant on me, followed by the pear, and then the strawberry, which doesn't get to come out more until later as it is so buried by the honey at first. This is an intense floral honey, and I believe it may be the same one from C%^T. I'm kind of surprised to get more pear than strawberry, as strawberry is usually such a powerhouse in a scent. If you're looking for honeyed fruit and enjoy pear and strawberry, you might like this one! I'm glad I got the chance to try it, but the intense honey and fruit combo is not for me.

I tend to avoid strawberry. As much as I love eating them, I don't tend to enjoy berry-dominant scents, and some strawberry notes just turn to plastic on me. But the rest of the scent sounded really good to me (after Thrills and Junk Food, I realize I may appreciate the Lab's blue cotton candy more than the pink kind), and a friend was kind enough to send me some to try. This is a strawberry dominant scent, but the strawberry in this is much nicer and more realistic than the one in Sticky Pillowcase, and the candy notes that back it up don't make this nearly as sweet as that scent. I get strawberry backed by a bit of vanilla icing, cotton candy, and just a hint of the peppermint candy. The mint is more noticeable after several hours, but the scent is so light by then that you have to get really close to smell it. It has low throw on me throughout wear and not a ton of longevity (although that could be different if slathered -- but the first time I applied it, it was gone after four hours). Of the strawberry and candy scents I've tried from the Lab, this is one of the best! It's not something I need more of (thank goodness!), but I'm glad I got to try it.

Sticky Pillowcase mostly smells like strawberry candy. The strawberry is the strongest note throughout wear, with the other candy backing it and making it super sweet at first, but the candy isn't distinct enough to pick out by type. Then the lint note emerges and becomes more prominent over time, making the strawberry candy and lint notes the dominant notes on me for a while, before it settles into a strawberry scent with some creamy taffy and a hint of lint. This one is way too strawberry for me, but it was fun to get to try it -- very evocative of its namesake!

MARS ULTOR Mars the Avenger Black amber and smoky vanilla with cistus, benzoin, caramelized tobacco, and blackened nutmeg. For those that are curious: the label art shows his torso. The text covers the lower half of his body. In the bottle: When this first arrived, I was mostly getting all the blackened things! Now that I have let it settle for a few days, I can say that the tobacco is quite prominent, and though I still get the black amber and blackened nutmeg, the nutmeg is not as prominent in the bottle as it was a few days ago. I can smell more of the benzoin now, the cistus, and a bit of smoky vanilla. This mainly smells like smoky resins to me. Wet: Benzoin and black amber dominate. I am also getting the rockrose (cistus) and nutmeg. I can smell the tobacco, but it isn't as strong as it was in the bottle. If I inhale really deeply, I can smell the smoky vanilla note, but it is in the background. After sitting on my skin for a while, the rockrose note has become more prominent, and the smoky vanilla note is helping to sweeten the scent a bit. However, I would still describe this as a smoky resin blend. Dry: Mostly soft benzoin sweetened by the smoky vanilla and caramelized tobacco. Verdict: I like this, but I don't love it. That said, I am going to hold onto my bottle, because I think this one will age well.

I've tried this several times now, and the only thing I know for sure is that this is a scent experience. It starts off with a cherry/almond marzipan cookie vibe, with some light coffee lingering in the background if I sniff it up close (but can't detect in the throw). Over time, the chocolate emerges, and it really does have a chocolate bar left in a backpack vibe that I can only describe as sorcery. SORCERY, I SAY! It ends up being a melange of chocolate bar, some coffee (I'm getting more of it today than I have the other times I tested this -- I know the first time I tested it, I didn't get any coffee at all!), and cookies with a realistic backpack smell. This is one of those 'how does Beth even do it?!' scents. I really like the way this scent starts off more than the end result, but I also appreciate the journey this scent took me on. It's not something I could see myself wearing often, but I'll be keeping the bottle I swapped for, just because it's such a unique scent experience.

This is mostly about the blueberry musk on me, with the musk becoming more prominent over time, backed by the lotus (which doesn't smell bubblegum-y!). There's some green tea lingering in the background, but this is not a scent that is heavy on that note like Embalming Fluid or Shanghai. Fans of blueberry (and musk) that aren't wary of lotus should give this one a go! This is a pretty scent that is a musky fruity floral that's also somewhat clean, and I'm glad I got the chance to try it! It's not something I need more of, but I'm kind of surprised that it hasn't gotten more love with that blueberry note!

Pumpkin marshmallows smushed into brown sugar-dusted graham crackers with melted chocolate and a hint of campfire smoke. I once had this in atmo form, and I have about one-third of a bottle of the bath oil remaining, so I had to get this, as I have been a fan of this scent in all of its forms! (Plus, I have been kicking myself for not grabbing a bottle of Wednesday Hair Gloss.) In the bottle, the melted milk chocolate and marshmallow notes stand out to me the most. In my hair, I get a lot of the melted chocolate first (it really does smell melty!). The graham cracker note ends up coming out after a bit, and the marshmallow is pretty light. It starts to become more smore-like after the chocolate calms down. This is not a strong hair gloss (when applied to damp or dry hair). It was a cool, breezy day here, and I did not catch a whiff of this hair gloss while running errands at all today (alas!). By the end of the day, if I hold my hair up to my nose and inhale deeply, I can smell the graham cracker, a light marshmallow note. There is a hint of smoke in this one (which I did not really get from the atmo and bath oil), but it's really just a hint. Its interesting how scents can differ in various formats. I feel like the atmo was strong on the graham cracker and pumpkin spice, the bath oil is strong on the pumpkin marshmallow, and this has a lot more chocolate than either of those formats (at least at first), and isnt nearly as pumpkin-y as either of them. I like it, but honestly, I would be content with just a decant. I dont love this like I love the bath oil.

Violet and I are not friends, but I grabbed a decant of this for my boyfriend (who wanted to try it because it's a mockingbird scent) and decided to test it as well. On me, it's mostly about the violet leaf. There's a lot of violet in the violet leaf note, but the leaf aspect makes it sharper than most violet scents, which can be candy-sweet or super powdery on me. It dominates the scent throughout wear on me, although the white sandalwood and a touch of cedar join in after a few hours to give it a dusty quality, with some powderiness behind that thanks to the orris. I couldn't detect any of the cardamom, sadly. It smells much better on my boyfriend. It's violet leaf and cedar on him right out of the gate, but it eventually dries down into a sandalwood-dominant scent tinged with the violet leaf. If you're averse to violet, like me, this won't be up your alley, but those that enjoy violet and would like a dusty floral and woods scent might appreciate this one.

Streets of Detroit is a black musk party on me, sadly. There's only a bit of powdery myrrh behind it, and just a drop of motor oil if I go looking for it... otherwise, it's hard to detect under all of that musk. I'm glad I got to try it, but the musk is too intense for me.

Judgmental Longhorn is a nice melange of hay, smoked vanilla (the same one from the Cedarwood and Smoked Vanilla duet, I believe, which isn't is more dry than smoky to my nose), tonka, and warm musk, with the powdery benzoin and resinous labdanum coming into play after the scent has been on the skin for a while. The labdanum in this is not sweet and cola-like like it is in a lot of other scents, and it hasn't taken over like the type of labdanum I just described, which is a pleasant surprise. The brown musk in particular really asserts itself after a day of wear, so fans of cuddly brown musk scents will appreciate this one, because it is accompanied by all sorts of cozy, warm notes! Oddly enough, the cacao in this didn't really manifest on me, but maybe that's because his armadillo buddy hogged it all.

He's muddy, all right! This is an earthy, woody, cacao and tobacco scent with a splash of bourbon cream. It somehow smells muddy even though there's no dirt note listed. The sharpness of the wood and the tobacco from the bottle is quickly smoothed over by the cacao and the cream. The cacao wood (which smells kind of like oak to me) makes this really different from other chocolate scents the Lab has released, so if you're looking for an earthy chocolate, or were one of those folks hoping for a dirt note in Muddy Puddles, give this one a try! (Besides, how can you resist that armadillo? He's adorable!)

Loyal. Faithful. Perpetually rehearsing “Scotland the Brave.” This is a mascot with real staying power. Bagpipe Dog will outlive us all. Gin and pine needle with lime and white juniper. In the decant, I can smell the gin and pine needle, and then the lime and juniper. I get those notes in that order on my skin as well: the gin and pine, followed by the lime and juniper. It's a bit fizzy, foresty, and refreshing. After a while, the pine and lime calm down significantly, and the gin becomes stronger, making the scent boozier than before. I also get more juniper. The pine is still present, but softer than before, and there ends up being only a hint of lime. I was really enjoying this during the wet phase of the scent, when the pine and lime were pretty strong, but I don't like the dry phase nearly as much. If you're a fan of the Lab's gin note, you need this!

Esbat starts off strong on the mugwort, with touches of moss and perhaps a bit of oak around the edges, but after a while, the rose mallow and moss help tame the herbal mugwort, softening and (in the case of the rose mallow) sweetening the scent. After a while, the moonflower joins in, and it settles into a lovely herbal, floral, woody scent that is evocative of moonlight shining on a grove like in the description. I enjoy mugwort, and I like Esbat more than I was expecting to! It's not something I need to obtain more of -- I'm not sure how often I'd wear it -- but I'll certainly be hanging on to my imp.

The scent of hot chocolate with marshmallows after a long day of puddle-hopping. I am amending my original review, which I have placed under a spoiler just in case someone is like, "Who said there was dirt in this?!" This has changed a lot as it has settled over the last few weeks. I tested it right out of the mailbox, and I had sprayed Black Clove, Tobacco Flower, and Grave Soil HG in my hair and used Deep in Earth in the crooks of my elbows before this arrived, so I must have gotten one of those on my nose before testing this, which would explain why I smelled dirt. When this arrived, the hot chocolate note was rather Bliss-like, but now, after a few weeks, it really smells like smooth cocoa powder. The marshmallow note is also softer than it was upon arrival, but it still emerges more during the later stages of the scent. It's a lovely scent, and it is still different enough from The Other Hot Chocolate to warrant having both scents. Since there isn't actually any dirt in this, I am going to try layering this with Graveyard Dirt SN to see if I actually want to wear a dirt and hot chocolate scent.

This one is super green. It starts off strong on the grass and the realistic dandelion sap, with the lettuce joining in after a bit, softening the scent a bit and giving the green a more watery quality. Over time, the oakmoss gains prominence as it is wont to do on me, making it mostly an oakmoss forward scent backed by the other greens and a touch of white pepper. I wish the dandelion sap would have remained as strong as it was when this was first applied! This is a nice green scent, but I'll be letting it go since I was hoping for more dandelion sap and wish it hadn't become so mossy on me. I'll stick with Smug Yale Alchemy Lab for a grass scent.

This one starts off on the almond and cherry along with the apricot, but the almond and cherry are quick to fade away, and I'm left with a perfume-y apricot and some yeasty pastry. I was hoping for more cherry from this. Alas. And since the apricot in this does not stand up to other apricot scents in my collection (Aristocratic Couple, Apple VI, March Hare), I will be letting this one go. But I'm glad I got to try it.

This features the same sharp, dry tobacco from Tobacco and Pine accompanied by some leather and gingerbread spices. Surprisingly, my clove-amping self isn't amping the clove (or the gingerbread) in this, but my skin is running away with that tobacco note, which remains the dominant note on me throughout wear. It works better here than it did in Tobacco and Pine, but is still too sharp for my taste. Alas. It does smell pretty sexy, though, but it is something I'd rather smell on someone else, not me. Too bad my boyfriend would rather smell like fruit punch.