doomsday_disco

I got the Oreos (also more the chocolate wafer part than the filling), rose, and resins at first, but then the rose amped up really strongly on me and was the type that hasn't been playing well on my skin as of late (it smelled like tomato soup, alas). It remained that way for a few hours, but by the end of the day, it morphed into a resinous rose and gardenia scent with a bit of sweetness. I was digging the Oreos, but the rose in this just wasn't kind to me.| ETA: I death matched this to The Hierophant and the Empress, and I was surprised by how different they were despite sharing some notes in common. The Hierophant and the Empress is actually sweeter with its violet leaf and mallow flower (I really expected Circus Bear to be sweeter with its Oreo and cotton candy), and the rose in that one didn't go funky on me.

This morphed through three phases on me. The first one was extremely green, and it's so well-blended that I can't pick out any of the notes, but the blast of greenery kind of reminds me of Emerald Lace? Then the coconut becomes the dominant note on me and takes this into a super tropical territory for a while. But by the end of the day, it's become a perfume-y neroli and white amber scent with some coconut behind those notes, and it doesn't really smell green anymore. I liked the initial phase, but the others weren't really my jam. It was fun to see how this one morphed, though!

This started off heavy on the champaca incense on me, and it remained the dominant note throughout wear, although I got some creamy orange and vanilla behind it, and then some tobacco, which quickly became stronger than the orange blossom and vanilla. By the end of the day, I still get champaca incense swirled with those notes as well as some opium, and it's a somewhat perfume-y incense on me. I'm glad I got to try this, but I wish I hadn't amped the champaca so hard.

Dimetapp honey? Honestly, I mostly get an artificial grape scent mingling with some floral honey. I'm not a fan of anything artificial grape, ever, so this one is not for me.

I got a ton of loud French tobacco from this throughout wear, backed by some bay rum on a bed of creamy, smooth florals. I'm surprised that the heady florals are understated on me! While the tobacco is the star, the bay rum and floral notes do gain strength by the end of the day -- but it's all about the tobacco in the throw. This actually kind of reminds me of Summer Lace without the fruit, vanilla, and cognac notes, but more masculine due to the bay rum. So, uh, I'll be keeping this imp. Thank you to the lovely BPALista who frimped this to me!

The tobacco is the star throughout wear on me, backed by the mossy chypre and clove, so that it's mostly a spiced tobacco chypre on me. I don't get the Hag Grey comparison myself, as this features a different tobacco note, and on me, the ambergris, while present, doesn't get to be a main player on me as the other notes are so loud. I was really surprised not to get a ton of rose from this, although the rose I do get is more noticeable by the end of the day with the dry amber. I don't think this is something I need more of, but I do like the tobacco and clove combo here and will keep the decant!

This started off as floral soap on me thanks to the tulips and daffodils, and then some freesia joined in and added a high-pitched perfume-y quality to that soap. Then the woods join in and are somewhat powdery themselves. There's only a brief phase of this on me where it smells like a lightly honeyed floral and woods scent and not like soap or perfume-y powder, sadly.

The Choir of Angels features three soft, cozy varieties of frankincense that are brightened a bit by the citrus. Neroli isn't a note that tends to work on me, and there is a phase where it makes this a little too sharp for me, but it is nowhere near as loud as it normally is in scents. The bergamot is more noticeable by the end of the day, but I was never able to pick out the lavender. The resins are the star here, and I agree with those that said this smells golden. I think this is nice, but I know I wouldn't reach for it over Hope and Fear Set Free for my frankincense fix.

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.