doomsday_disco

I like rose. I like lily. Jasmine can be iffy, and I don't typically enjoy rose + resin combos (or florals plus resins, generally). This is mostly about the rose and the lily, and there's some amber mixed in with the rose, too, and it is like that through most of the wear, with the rose being the dominant note. However, it goes sour on me, and I think that might be due to the combo of the rose with the resin or one of the types of rose used in this scent. I'm glad I got a chance to try this, but it just didn't work on me.

I went into this fully expecting dragon's blood and bubblegum-y lotus. The dragon's blood is definitely the star here, and is more of the resin-y variety than the spicy floral one. I feel like it has gotten smoother during the aging process, because this is nicer than the Lab's dragon's blood typically is on me. The lotus is far behind the dragon's blood, adding a floral backing to the scent, but it fortunately didn't veer into bubblegum territory on me like some lotus notes (like pink lotus) are wont to do. While I couldn't see myself reaching for this one, this aged imp is nicer than I thought it would be, and it had massive throw, too!

Baneberry smells exactly like it's a description: a dark fruit accompanied by a green herbalness that almost has a Christmas-y quality to it, although the berry itself does not (it's not tart, red, or bright). It's not something I'd choose to wear, but I am glad I got to try it!

This started off strongest on the tea rose on me, accompanied by some moss, tuberose, and cream. The rose remains ever present on my skin, but the moss increases in strength over time, and the rice flower joins the party. I think the abalone accord might have some ambergris or some sort of musky component to it? I didn't get much in the way of beeswax or red currant, but this is a very aged decant. While I think this is nice, it's a wee bit too mossy for me. I wish the beeswax and cream notes were stronger on me!

Laura goes on as sweet violet on me, followed by a mentholic note that must either be from the mothballs or formaldehyde, and then the strawberry daquiri note. Over time, the menthol aspect goes away and it becomes mostly about the strawberry daquiri (emphasis on the strawberry daquiri, which smells like a fake, candy-like strawberry with a bit of a frozen aspect) and violet, a very sweet combo, with just a hint of dirt. I put off trying this decant because I had heard how weird and unsettling and how much of a challenge this one is, but actually, it's surprisingly wearable if you like that sort of strawberry and aren't averse to violets like I am... because the creepy aspects of the scent are either faint or short-lived, at least on me. I'd rather wear this than say, The Burying Ground. While I'm not a fan of violets and prefer other strawberry scents, I'm glad that I got to try this one and appreciate the artistry behind this scent.

Full disclosure: I typically do not enjoy scents heavy on caramel, rum, or pecan, so this one was not likely to be my cup of tea. Annnd sure enough, it is a very sticky, nutty, maple-y sort of scent, and by far the strongest of this year's three Black Friday exclusive imps. It's like a sticky bun without the bun, very maple-y/toffee-like with the sweet nuttiness from the pecan. And it is not for me. But if it is something you would like to smell like, rejoice, because it has some serious staying power and throw.

I get a lot of orange at first, but it's more of an orange glaze note than orange zest, bringing to mind Yule Cookies from many Yules past. However, the quince becomes more prominent over time, a not-quite-apple-but-apple-and-pear-ish sort of fruit, over a very light ginger cake. (I'm really surprised by how tame the ginger is in this.) The crumb of the cake is not very distinct to me, but it has a sort of cake softness, if that makes sense, and it still smells delicious. I'd be very happy to eat a cake like this! I'm hanging on to my imp.

I really like this one! It starts off as banana cream pie forward, with a realistic banana note, cream, and a graham cracker crust, but the blueberry joins in after a bit and it becomes less about the banana, although it's never a blueberry party on me. I get more of the crust than anything after a while, and by that point, it stays pretty close to the skin. I feel like there might be some cinnamon in here as well to give off more of a 'baked goods' sort of feel. I don't think I'll be trying to hunt down lots of extra imps of this exclusive, but my imp is certainly a keeper!

A Moment in Time HG is like the perfume oil, which is to say that it is mostly about the lavender, red patch, and fig on me, with some woodiness behind those notes. I don't normally enjoy fig, but the perfume is the only scent with fig in it that I love and have owned multiple bottles of (some of which were used up!). I've had others say the scent is like an old Victorian house or "a cigarette, but unsmoked and in a good way". I'm not sure I agree with those comments o.0, but I love the perfume oil, and am really happy to have grabbed the hair gloss (which I initially passed on when it was available). I find the scent to be very comforting, and this is so very different from my other lavender hair glosses, that I'm glad to have it in my collection.

I was disappointed with this when I first tried it. On my first test of this, a few days after it had arrived, it was mostly perfume-y honeysuckle on me with some very short-lived mallow flower and no vanilla bean to be found. I let it settle for a week and find that I'm enjoying it a little more now, as the mallow flower manages to tag along with the honeysuckle throughout wear (although it is very much the flower, not straight-up marshmallow -- so maybe don't be like me and expect straight-up flormand, because the mallow flower is more of a lightly sweet floral softness accompanying the honeysuckle, which I feel is really dainty in this one and not heady like the one found in Wild Honeysuckle SN). The vanilla bean is not distinct to my nose, but maybe it will become noticeable as the scent ages. While I don't love it like I thought I would (I was expecting a sweeter scent with a bolder honeysuckle note), I do think it is nice, so I will keep the bottle around for a year to see how it ages. If the vanilla decides to come out, it could age into something amazing.

First off, I've never tried Sekhmet. But this proto smells Christmas-y to me! I get orange, frankincense, amber, and either some cardamom and/or clove. So it's like an orange-tinged, lightly spiced resin scent that's more frank forward at first and more amber-y and less orange-y over time. I really wish the orange had stuck around throughout wear, but this is a pretty nice proto.

If you have tried A Breton Sorceress, this is really similar to that one. So similar, in fact, that I would not recommend getting both. It makes sense that they'd be similar, as they both contain tonka bean, oak, and almond notes. I get a lot of those notes from both, but especially the tonka and oak from this one (the almond is most prominent in the beginning). The vetiver in this is really light. In fact, I don't think I'd be able to pick it out if I didn't know it were in this -- but it is a subdued, grassy variety, not a smoky one. Oddly enough, my skin is not really picking up the beeswax, which is usually a pretty loud note, but maybe it will become more prominent with age? The main difference between this scent and A Breton Sorceress is that one has a bit of muskiness from the ambrette seed and some welcome spice from the allspice. With The Little Owl, it's mostly tonka and oak on me with some sandalwood beneath the oak and a hint of vetiver, and it ends up being mostly a slightly powdery tonka by the end of the day. I'm going to have to deathmatch these two since they are so very similar, but I wore this one on Monday, and A Breton Sorceress on Tuesday, and I think that one is winning out due to the allspice.

This is a really good sweet patch scent. When I first tried it, I got a burst of marshmallow with it at first and then it became a black patch party on my skin, but after just a week of settling, it has already improved and now my skin holds onto that floofy marshmallow along with the patch throughout wear. I'm really happy I grabbed a bottle.

I get the cacao, musk, patch, and a bit of sarsaparilla from this at first, but it quickly becomes more about the musk and patch, which are pretty dank. The mahogany comes out over time and adds a bit of a sharp woodiness to that dank combo. The sarsaparilla hasn't completely disappeared, but I really have to go looking for it in the background because the musk in particular is just so strong on me. I was really hoping for more root beer-y goodness from this one! Alas. This is too dank for me.

This is unexpectedly fizzy. There's also a slightly smoky rubberiness behind the fizz and some powdery chalk that is more like Fun Dip powder. While I think there are blends the Lab has put out that feature better representations of latex, this is more in the vein of the Periodic Table prototypes with its fizz. I don't think this is bad (I mean, compared to trying The Burying Ground the other day, this is pretty tame in comparison ), but it also doesn't really smell like latex, and there are fizzy scents I enjoy more than this.

This features a very candy-like plum (and perhaps another candy-esque fruit note -- I agree that there's some red fruitiness to this) on a bed of resins. The resins increase in strength over time, but the sweet candy-like fruit remains as the dominant sent (I sprayed two sprays of this on a paper towel so I could see how it progressed over a day). I'm not a fan of plum-heavy or berry-heavy scents, and I especially am not fond of candy-like plum, so this one is not for me, although it was nice to be able to try it (I so miss BPTP updates!).

This started off strong on the black leather on me, although the cacao and incense are there to join it. The leather is a sharp, chemical-y variety, not a smooth, well-worn one. The incense is also dark, and I'm wondering if there's some oudh in there. Eventually, the leather does calm down and I'm mostly left with incense accompanied by a smear of cacao at the end of the day. I really don't like the leather in this one (well, the incense wasn't really my cup of tea, either, but the leather especially). There's not enough cacao here to smooth things over.

I got no soil from this whatsoever. I got sour smoke and vetiver. And it smelled sour to me in the vial, too, so it wasn't just skin chemistry. Not for me.

L'Inverno atmo is mostly an orchid-laden, pine-tinged snow to my nose. I only gets hints of the woods, and none of the honeysuckle (which I was really hoping would be a main player!). I am not a big fan of orchids, so I'm a little sad that it's so prominent here. But if you enjoy that note and a snowy floral blend appeals, this might be up your alley.

This smells like a candy cane, but the mint was shorter-lived on me than the vanilla, powdered sugar, and musk notes -- I'm wondering if that's because this is a tester that remains of a decant and if the mint was stronger once upon a time. It doesn't have much longevity on me, either. I think this is nice, and I'm happy to have tried another Lick It variant, but I'm not rushing out to find a bottle of this one and will be content with the various Lick It bottles I have.

This goes on as mostly cucumber and spearmint on me at first, backed by the woodsy, green mistletoe. Over time, it becomes a somewhat soapy cucumber on me, and eventually, a sour, soapy woodsy scent with some coolness from what remains of the cucumber and spearmint. I enjoyed the wet phase of this scent, but the end result is not my jam.

I get a lot of pine from this at first, and possibly some cypress along with it. Then it becomes more woodsy once the evergreen notes calm down, and papery, which I think is the oak at play here. After that, I get a clean note along with the woody note, which I think is some cotton, and maybe some musk behind that? It's soft and pretty evocative of the image of TP'd trees! It isn't something I would end up reaching for, but I'm glad that I got to try it!

I decided to swap for a decant of this because of the spruce, but dead leaves are historically bad on me. And the dead leaves are the dominant note on me for the longest time, and they're all that I get in the throw, although I can smell the spruce and ti leaf up close. Eventually, the astringent white tea note shoves the dead leaves aside in order to take the center stage, but the dead leaves remain behind that note. The spruce was very short-lived on me, alas. But hey, it wasn't the bell pepper type of dead leaves, so there's that. I so wish I had gotten more spruce!

At first, I get the dried grasses from this along with the moss, thorns, and the ash. Over time, the moss, woods, and ash become the main players on me, with some mud that becomes more noticeable with wear but never overtakes that note -- and it's a dry mud, not a wet one. It ends up being somewhat cologne-y on me after a while, which I attribute to the moss (and possibly the way it combines with one of the woody notes). While I'm glad I got to try this, it's not something for which I could see myself reaching, so my decant is off to swaps!

I had to try this just because of the name. This kind of gives me Gourd of Deprivation vibes, but with like, the ghost of cherry or almond that I can't attribute to the listed notes, but maybe it's something in the breeze part of the scent, or the creaminess others are getting? The soil and spices aren't distinct to my nose, and it's not in your face corn like Ceres. I feel like it's mostly hay and dried corn husks, so if you're a fan of those late summer/early fall scents featuring hay, this would be a good one to try. Don't let the corn part or the spiced part in the description scare you! (Or the dirt -- I'm a dirt lover, and there's no mound of dirt here!) I don't think it's something I need more of, but I am glad that I decided to try it!