doomsday_disco

Whoa. This is a scent experience. I tried this twice (once yesterday, and once today), to see if I would have the same result each time. Baby's First Chainsaw starts off strongly on the metallic grease component on me, and it really does smell like you're in someone's workshop, and there's a plate of chocolate chip cookies on a table nearby, but there's only a whiff of cookie, because my skin seems to be running away with the chainsaw grease. When I tried this yesterday, I realized after a while that part of that component is actually a currant note, and it's one of the currants found in Eat Me. When I tried this today, I recognized that note as soon as I applied it, so it didn't really morph into currant later on, it was just me having that "aha!" moment later in the wear the first time I tried it. It's somewhat jarring while wet and even when dry, but as the scent sits on the skin, it really blooms and ends up smelling like this exquisite metallic sugared vanilla with a tinge of currant and a smear of chocolate on a cookie sheet several hours later. And I am here for it, but I'm not sure how I feel about the journey that led me to this point. Oddly enough, it's not very chocolate-y on me. That smear of chocolate is far in the background, but I'm okay with that. I'm going to have to sit with this one some more to figure out whether I need more than my decant (the final phase of this scent is amazing, though!), but I highly recommend that people try this, because it's really unique, and just like Beth said, much nicer than you'd expect!

Breakfast, or Something features sugary guava and the same strawberry and cereal milk (more of a fruity cereal scent than any actual milkiness) as Dies Patribus! The strawberry was stronger than I hoped it would be when I tried this yesterday, but it has calmed down somewhat after the decant had another day of rest. The guava in this does have a sugary cotton candy feel to it and isn't as in-your-face as the guava in Drag on a Slime. This is very pink and fun. I may have to grab a bottle before it goes away to slather during the summer months.

This starts off with the Lab's cool, sweet, non-bracing white mint note (one of my favorite mint notes! I also got the impression of a peppermint patty without the chocolate exterior), backed by eucalyptus and lemon peel. But it doesn't take long for the eucalyptus and lemon peel to gain strength, and they end up being the dominant notes after a while, with the lemon peel being the most prominent note after several hours of wear. This is a really nice, refreshing type of scent. It's not something I need a bottle of, but I'll definitely be hanging on to my decant to wear when I need a pick-me-up.

This smells like it belongs in the Lupercalia update. It starts off heavy on the ylang ylang, backed by some dusty sandalwood, and some vanilla. Over time, the ylang ylang calms down, and the sandalwood gains strength, along with the creamy vanilla. If you're a fan of scents like Volcano in Springtime, you'll like this one, too.

This is all about the cherry-flavored jelly beans. 100% jelly bean and zero breakfast cereal. The jellybean note does have the texture of a jellybean (sugar-coated exterior and gummy-like inside), and I think that's what is pulling it away from cherry lozenge or medicine territory, although I had my boyfriend try it and he only got cherry medicine from it. It faded really quickly on him, though. On me? It's still going strong after five hours. I'm going to hold on to this and see if I like it paired with Pa-Pow Hair Gloss, which I think contains the same jellybean note!

As soon as I applied this, I immediately thought: Apple grass! I have been transported to New Earth! Our Little Crypt Ghoul is all about the apple and the grass. It's a crisp, juicy apple without any spice, and it mingles beautifully with the grass note. There's only a hint of soil, far in the background. It's not an apple and dirt blend like All Hallows' Apple. The dandelion seems to be blended really well with the grass, so it's hard to pick it out. Smelling this makes me happy. It's not the spiced earthy cider I thought it would be, but I am here for the APPLE GRASS!

This is it. This is the sweet lavender Lilith scent that will be hoarded this year. The buttercream-frosted sprinkle cupcakes are super sugary and realistic. Sometimes I mostly just get the frosting from the Lab's cake scents, but in this one, I can smell the frosting and the sprinkle cake itself. The sprinkle cupcakes are accompanied by more than a sprig of lavender, and it is GLORIOUS. Those hoping for just a hint of lavender might want to shy away from this, but those that adore Lilith's lavender will be in sweet lavender heaven. The buttercream-slathered sprinkle cupcakes and lavender intertwine throughout wear. After several hours, I get a syrupy, almost waffle-like sweetness to it like I did from King Cake, but I only noticed that in the crook of my elbows and nowhere else where it was applied (wrists and neck). I can't wear Sprinklecake, because it turned to playdough on me, but I didn't have that experience with Two Frames -- so if you, too, didn't have luck with Sprinklecake but are still tempted, this is worth a try! If you liked Carry Me from last year, but like the idea of MOAR LAVENDER and smelling like a much sweeter dessert, you will love this. But I think fans of any of the sweet lavender Lilith scents will be happy with this! One bottle will not be enough.

I let this settle for a day prior to testing it, but I think it may need a little more time to sit, because right now, all I am getting is COOKIES. The cookie note is somewhere between a molasses cookie and a gingerbread cookie -- it's sweeter than a gingerbread cookie, so maybe it's ginger and molasses. There was a time when I thought I got a little lavender from this, but it wasn't much, and it wasn't as noticeable as the lavender in Gingerbread and Lavender Sugar. If there's leather and dust, they are buried underneath the cookie note. I thought this might like Boots from last year but with cookies instead of crushed grass. This is actually really different. I'm hoping that the lavender, leather, and dust will peek out more once this has more time to settle, and if they do, I'll update my review! But if they don't, well, I'm not going to complain about smelling like a backpack full of cookies.

This Dorian variant isn't as lavender-heavy or sweet as The Serpentine. It actually starts off being really citrusy thanks to the bergamot and Dorian's white tea, and these notes float on a cloud of Dorian and vanilla. The lavender and oakmoss become more prominent with wear, especially the moss (I amp that note), but I'm still getting lots of bergamot, which smells kind of sharp alongside the moss. I loved the early phases of this but am not as fond of the scent later in the day (when it becomes sharper), so I am going to see if aging helps smooth that bergamot and moss combo over. If not, I'll have to wear this one in a scent locket.

Rose Quartz Bedroom is evocative of a rose quartz glittering in the light. I get pink roses and sparkly white musk from this at first, with touches of lavender, vanilla, and saffron, but those notes gain some strength after several hours of wear, significantly softening the scent and making it a little less rose-centric. It's a sophisticated, yet youthful rose scent that also manages to be really comforting because it features the best lavender and a floofy vanilla. I'm happy I grabbed a bottle.

You Are Not Alone is definitely a bookish scent. The paper of the paperback is what I get most from this scent throughout wear, and it somehow does smell like there's a crack in the spine. The lavender in this really is just a dribble, so if you're averse to the note and are here for the other elements of the scent, you might be pleasantly surprised. The hoodie just smells like something soft behind the paperback and isn't a clean cotton scent like in Apocalypse Box. There's something in the background that is slightly weird to my nose -- I am not sure if it's the glue from the cracked spine or if there's secretly some hemp in this or something. But I'm testing this a day after it arrived, so perhaps it just needs a little more time to settle. If you're looking for a book scent unlike the other book scents from the Lab (which typically have leather in them), this should fit that bill. If you are hoping for something more lavender heavy and less atmospheric, another lavender scent in this update might be better for you. I'm currently undecided on how I feel about this, so I am going to tuck this away for a while and retest it later on down the road.

Apocalypse Box is a clean lavender laundry scent. The lavender and pajama cotton are the dominant notes for a while, and the cotton in this one smells nothing like Puppet Kitty -- it's very much the scent of clean laundry, like the smell you're hit with when you walk down the laundry soap aisle at the store (it also reminds me of the clean cotton note often used in wax melts). Eventually, the cardboard joins in, and it is super realistic! It really does smell like being surrounded by the walls of a cardboard box, which made me feel comforted. There's a fuzziness to this scent, too. I didn't get any tonka from this (my 'test' consisted of slathering it along the length of my arm before bed because I knew I would like it), but perhaps it will become noticeable with more rest or via the aging process. I'm really glad to have a bottle of this, and I know I will reach for it often as a bedtime scent. But it's definitely one for fans of clean laundry scents.

I thought this might be like Thought Photography but with clove instead of palo santo. Actually, it's a cousin of the discontinued GC Nanshe. The lavender in this is an herbal, dry lavender. It's not like the lavender in the Lilith scents. The white clove is prominent, but it isn't as bold as black clove, it isn't as spicy as Indonesian Clove SN, and of course, it doesn't have the sweetness of Sweet Clove SN. The best way I can think of describing it is to compare it to the difference between white pepper and black pepper. It's dry, spicy, and becomes somewhat woody over time. The ambrette seed, which can be musky, isn't discernable to my nose, unless it's contributing to the sour phase I get from this once it has been on for several hours. I tested this once during the day and have applied it twice before going to bed, and I have to say it's one that I wouldn't recommend for daytime wear because of the type of lavender involved, and also because it did get a little weird later in the wear time. I grabbed a bottle because this is the closest thing I'll find to Nanshe and plan on wearing it to bed even though it doesn't have Nanshe's dream effect. Since I've been falling asleep before it morphs into the odd phase, I don't have even have to worry about that aspect of the scent. I love Nanshe more, but if you're missing that one, you should give this one a try!

I love vanilla. I love the Mysore Sandalwood in Kit. I like bergamot. But my nose is just not jiving with this. I know it's my nose and not my skin chemistry because it actually smells the same in the vial as it does on me. I just get this funk from the Tahitian vanilla, and I know it's that note that I'm not enjoying because it's the same funk that I got from Hagoromo-No-Taki Hair Gloss. The Tahitian vanilla is syrupy sweet and has this aspect to it that I really dislike -- kind of like if a smoker doused themselves in a sicky sweet vanilla? I think there may be some indolic floral component in it that I just don't enjoy. After a while, that does end up calming down and it ends up being a bergamot-infused vanilla backed by the dry Mysore sandalwood, but I wouldn't want to wear this for a few hours to get to that point.

In the decant: I smell the bourbon vanilla, waxy coconut, frankincense, and a bit of moss. Wet: Bourbon vanilla and frankincense are the first notes to emerge, making me think of Hope and Fear Set Free. There are touches of the coconut bark and moss behind these notes. After a bit, the cognac emerges, brightening the scent and making it known that it this is definitely in the Lace family. The woodmoss gains strength over time, as moss notes are wont to do on my skin, and the tea and opium become a little more noticeable with wear, but the vanilla and cognac end up being the main players on me in the end. Verdict: This is exquisite! I am so glad that I got to try this one. I probably won't try to hunt down a bottle since it is a Lace, but if I ever see one up for sale or swap, I'd pounce! Until then, I'll be hoarding this tester. Thanks to the lovely BPALista that sent this my way!

Vanilla, two ambers, sweet pea and white sandalwood. The Mad Tea Party collection is what made me fall down the rabbit hole and discover the world of BPAL, and it is also the GC collection with the most scent wins for me. Since I obtained a bottle of the amazing creamy, sugared sweet pea hair gloss that is I Suppose You are a Princess, I've been reaching for my bottle of Mouse's Long and Sad Tale perfume oil more than ever before. Needless to say, this was the new soap I was most excited for of the three new ones! This soap was made for the Black Phoenix Trading Post by Bakermancy. Those that avoid buying products that contain palm oil will be glad to hear that it is palm oil-free. However, it does contain silk, so this particular bar isn't vegan-friendly. I believe Puddin' had mentioned offering both silk and silk-free versions, so that may still be happening, but the ones at the booth were the silk versions. Here are the ingredients: Olive Oil, Organic Unrefined Shea Butter, Virgin Organic Coconut Oil, Castor Oil, Distilled Water, Sodium Hydroxide, Silk Peptide, Purple Brazilian Clay, Titanium Dioxide, Pink Brazilian Clay, and Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab Fragrance. The bar is a 4.6 oz bar. Unlike Dirty soap, this one does not contain any exfoliating bits. It creates a lot of lather, and I think the bar will last a long time. It smells strongly of the amber, sweet pea, white sandalwood, and light vanilla glory that is Mouse's Long and Sad Tale. And I am happy to report that the scent lingers on the skin after showering. Huzzah! I am so, so happy that this was made into a soap, and I hope that the Trading Post makes this one available for a long time, as I need more than one bar in my life.

In the decant: Somewhat soapy herbs, hyssop (which I recognize from Against Idleness and Mischief and Ashlultum), and a touch of beeswax. On me: Yep, the herbs are reading as soap to my nose. They dominate at first, with a touch of beeswax and honey in the background. The honey ends up increasing in strength over time, so that it's mostly a honey scent on me after a few hours backed by a smattering of herbs. Verdict: I didn't particularly enjoy the soapy wet stage of the scent, so I will probably pass this decant on, even though it settles into a nice honey scent.

I guess I lucked out, because I didn't get any amplified vegetal musk or any of the qualities I dislike about fresh Snake Oil from this on me. I get the BREAD PUDDING from Please Scream Inside Your Heart pretty strongly at first (I say bread pudding because it's a mushy, cinnamon-filled type of dough that's not crunchy enough to be a churro and too cinnamon-y to remind me of funnel cake, but I totally get Amazonia's cinnamon french toast description), backed by the Snake Oil, which is heavier on the Snake Oil spices on me. The Snake Oil increases in strength over time, and eventually, its vanilla comes to the front of the scent, along with some powdered sugar (which I did not get from Please Scream Inside Your Heart), and it is GLORIOUS. This usually never happens to me unless the Snake Oil has been aged, so I am really happy that I don't have to tuck this one away to get that amazing vanilla. Maybe I should scream inside my Snake Oil more often. ?

In the decant: Chocolate darkened with copal incense but sweetened with canela. On me: Same, but with tequila. The jalapeno note is there, but it doesn't make me go, "What is this doing in a perfume?" like I thought it would. It's intriguing to smell it adding some warmth and heat to the scent instead of a spice note. It ends up going through a phase where the tequila is a little too much for me, but the earthy copal incense gains strength over time and becomes the dominant note after several hours of wear, backed by the tequila and some dusty cacao. I'm no longer getting any sweetness from the canela or the vanilla. Verdict: This one is pretty interesting, and it was fun to try a scent with a jalapeno note! The tequila and copal end up being too much for me during certain phases of the scent, so it's not something I'd reach for to actually wear, but I'm glad I got to experience this!

In the bottle: Iced lavender and iron backed by oudh. On me: The iced lavender dominates, followed by the iron. I'm getting a dryer sheet-like aquatic feel to the ice, and I swear there's a touch of slightly minty anise or palo santo in this. That touch of anise or palo santo fades, and what I'm left with reminds me of a more metallic version of Waiting. It has that same lavender dryer sheets feel to it from the lavender mixing with the aquatic note, and like Waiting, its backed by a really tame oudh that grounds the scent and gives me the impression of asphalt. Like Waiting, it is reminiscent of curling up in a pile of laundry fresh from the dryer while rain hits the pavement outside the window. Verdict: I've been hoarding my last drops of Waiting, so I am really glad to have found a scent that is somewhat similar to it, and I look forward to wearing this one to bed. Thanks to the lovely BPALista that gifted this to me. ETA: Two years later, and my skin chemistry has changed and brought out the farm-y funk in the oudh. ?

While I swapped for a decant of this, I was also gifted an aged bottle (thanks to the lovely BPALista that sent this to me! ). So now I am comparing the two! There's not a big difference between the aged decant and the aged bottle, so they must have aged similarly. This smells like aged Snake Oil infused with a tart berry on a bed of amber. Neroli is usually my nemesis, but the aged Snake Oil has really smoothed it over. It isn't super bitter or headache-inducing in this, and it remains behind the acai berry throughout wear. The cardamom and smoked vanilla are not distinct on me, but I'm sure they're adding some warmth to the scent. I was not sure how this one would go due to the neroli and acai berry notes, but this is nice, thanks to the magic of aged Snake Oil.

Retested this one for the #TournamentOfUnderdogs. Aquatics don't really work on me, but this isn't your average aquatic -- it's an aquatic infused with a sweet incense, and the incense keeps it from veering into soap/dryer sheet territory. I think Lucchesa may be right about this possibly containing opium. My boyfriend joked that this smelled "non-Euclidean" before saying he believes the scent matches its description, describing it as "dark" and commenting that the incense "isn't usually what you think of when you think of incense." We tested this against Schrödingers Cat and discovered that we're both #TeamR'lyeh for this round. Iä! Iä! Cthulhu fhtagn!

I tried this in my earlier BPAL days, and remember it not working on me, but apparently I never reviewed it. I'm trying it again and properly reviewing it for the #TournamentOfUnderdogs. My boyfriend is also testing the scents I have for the tournament, so I'll be sharing his thoughts as well. My boyfriend thinks this smells like "a creamsicle on a forest floor." I think he was associating the citrus with a creamsicle (even though this is not a creamy scent) and of course, the moss was the forest floor he was smelling. The citrus was fleeting on him, and it dried down to just oakmoss. On me, the citrus really clashed with the zdravetz (geranium) in an unpleasant way, even though The Season of Ghosts contains citrus and geranium, and I can wear that scent. It goes wrong on me in the way that Winter Landscape and The Cross of Snow did, in that it smelled kind of like someone squeezed some citrus over the sauce you'd find in a can of Spaghettios. o.0 Then my oakmoss-amping skin amped the oakmoss, happy to take over the other notes. I only got a hint of the chocolate peppermint if I sniffed really closely, but that's only because I knew to look for it. Otherwise, I would not have guessed it were there. I love the label art for Schrödingers Cat and typically love citrus scents, so I thought I'd want it to win its round in the tournament, but both my boyfriend and I have decided we're on Team R'lyeh.

Tokyo Stomp starts off as a nice candied mint scent. The mint/vanilla combo has a bit of an Andes Mint vibe to it. It's one of those vanillas that is sometimes mistaken as chocolate. There's also a touch of coconut mixed with the vanilla. Over time, it becomes less candy-like and more like Snow White. Wuuuuut. Was not expecting that! But it's like, a mintier Snow White. It's not as buttery as Snowblind or as intensely minty as Lick It, so it is still worth trying if you own both of those. I like this enough to hold on to my decant, but it's not something I feel like I need a bottle of, as I have so many vanilla mint scents as it is, and many a bottle of Snow White.

In the decant: Violet pierced by sharp wisteria. I don't have high hopes for this one, as these are two notes that do not work on me. On me: The violet and wisteria are the first notes to emerge, but the violet quickly softens the screeching wisteria note. Then it's a violet party on my skin, as I tend to amp that note, and it remains that way for several hours of wear, until the chrysanthemum (which makes me think of dried chrysanthemum in tea) becomes one of the main players. Unfortunately, by this time, the wisteria is more noticeable, and its sharpness starts to give me a headache whenever I sniff my arm. I'm not able to pick out the delphinium -- it's a note I've encountered in scents like Cheshire Cat and Red Lantern, but I haven't been able to isolate it since those blends contain lots of other notes that stand out to me more. Verdict: This is not for me, but if you're a fan of violet, you should try this.