doomsday_disco

Kyoto is all about the anise on me for the first few hours of wear. So much so, that I don't get any of the other notes until it calms down. Then it is mostly about the cherry blossom and dusty sandalwood with just a tinge of anise. This one is too strong on the anise for me, but I am glad I got to try it.

Magus starts off as a medicinal, spiced resin scent on me. I am not sure what high john essence smells like, but I think that's what is adding a medicinal, yet uplifting quality to this scent, while the galangal is contributing to the spice vibe. These notes are accompanied by the cedar and resins, with the cedar and frankincense being far stronger than the sandalwood. Together, they create this serene resinous scent, which ends up morphing into galangal-infused resins after a few hours of wear. I liked this a lot more than I was expecting to from the list of notes. I wish it remained the way it did during the early phases of the scent, but I liked the early stage of this so much that I am going to keep the imp.

Orange and clove! Neither of the notes are strong, but that may just be due to age. The orange is the dominant note in the beginning, but the clove ends up being more noticeable once it has been dry for a while. I love both of these notes, so I am really glad I got to try this one! I'm going to hang on to the imp, although I wish the scent were a little stronger on me.

Year of the Ox starts off with a blast of the black peppercorn and tobacco on me, with some cognac and hiba wood lurking behind those notes. After a bit, pepper calms down a little, and the brown musk adds a bit of a clean feel to the scent in the background. The tobacco and cognac grow stronger on me over time, however, and end up becoming the dominant notes. It actually makes me think of the Lace scent family, only without the lovely Lace vanilla. If you are looking for a Lace-like scent without any vanilla, Year of the Ox might be a good option for you. I'm glad I got to try it, but sniffing it just made me want to wear Summer Lace --- which has the tobacco and cognac, but they're accompanied by floral notes and vanilla.

This is the sixth 13 that I have tried, and it is by far my favorite. In the bottle and when first applied to the skin, it's a lemon-y sugar variety that stands out, like the kind from Sweets to the Sweet, but then it transforms into a melange of different sugars, and it manages to do that without being sickly sweet, like you think it might be because IT FEATURES 13 SUGARS. I can pick out the powdered sugar, but I am not able to pick out the others -- they all blend together so wonderfully. One of the reasons I leapt for a bottle was for the layering possibilities. I layered a dab of this with Sweet Pea SN on one arm, and I layered another dab with Wild Dandelion SN on the other. I am happy to report that Sweet Pea + 13 resulted in a sugary sweet pea that would make fans of blends like Serving Fish really happy, and it morphed into mostly sugar. On the other arm, Wild Dandelion + this 13 started off stronger on the dandelion and then melded so beautifully with the sugar that it was like smelling happiness, and it made me want to cry. I'll cherish my bottle.

When this first arrived a few days ago, all I got from the bottle was the honey. I let it settle for a few days, and it made a difference. The lavender and beeswax became more noticeable from the bottle sniff. On my skin, the honey remains the star, accompanied by a sweet lavender. It's a golden, syrup-y, sugary honey, like honey with little sugar crystals in it. I think it may be most reminiscent of the honey in Harlow's Lace, but I'd have to do a side-by-side comparison to be sure. The beeswax in this is not the type from The Light's of Men's Lives, and it doesn't really become noticeable on me until after several hours of wear. And even then, it is not a main player. But that may be because it melds so nicely with the honey? If you are looking for that kind of beeswax, you might be disappointed. But if you are looking for a really nice honeyed lavender, you will probably enjoy this. I like this a lot more than C%^T, which also features honey and lavender, but different varieties. A keeper for sure!

Scholar's Tower is primarily a resinous scent on me, not a book scent. It starts off with some sharp mahogany and frankincense trying to clamor over the warm cedar. It definitely does have a gleaming quality to it, and it settles down into a really lovely, powdery, golden amber scent. I never did get the beeswax, parchment, or ink, sadly. I think this is a nice amber scent, but I don't think I would reach for it over other amber scents I have, like Hesiod's Phoenix. I really wish my skin chemistry had brought out some of that parchment and beeswax.

An olfactory plushie; comfort in a bottle. Vanilla absolute, lavender buds and essential oil, red labdanum, ethically harvested white sandalwood essential oil, palo santo essential oil, patchouli essential oil, and jasmine sambac with red sandalwood bark and St. John’s Wort from the TAL garden. A lot is going on right now – A LOT – all over the world, and the upheaval is reflected in our personal lives. We’re coming out of 2018’s Tower’esque maelstrom, and many of us are still struggling to get our bearings. This small set of oils has been designed for ritual and can also be worn as perfumes because we could all use a helping hand right about now. Security Blanket was created, composed, and consecrated under the healing, calming auspices of Luna. As she wanes, may she remove the terrors and grief that clutch at your heart, and as she waxes, may she fill you with peace and tranquility.  Security Blanket really is comfort in a bottle. I have anxiety and insomnia, and this week has been a stressful one, so last night, I slathered some Security Blanket on my arms before bed, hoping it would help me have a restful slumber. And it did! It smells wonderful, too. The main notes that I got from this were lavender, palo santo, and what I believe may be the St. John's Wort (it was kind of medicinal). I couldn't evaluate it beyond that because I fell asleep before it had been dry for a while and didn't get to pick up on the other notes. But it was really, really relaxing. If you're a fan of lavender and palo santo, you need this. I'll update my review if I end up being able to evaluate the scent after several hours of wear (without dozing off). I am really happy to have this, and I wish it hadn't been limited to 50 bottles, because I would grab a back-up bottle if it were still available. I will cherish every last drop. Thank you so much, Beth!

This one was all clean skin musk on me, all of the time. I was so hoping the sugar cane would show up to add some sweet warmth to the scent, but alas. It was MIA on me. It was nice to be able to try it, but I know I wouldn't wear this over Neutral, so this one went off to swaps.

Heroine is somewhat reminiscent of The Butterfly on me, as they both share the same petitgrain note, and both feature amber. The amber and petitgrain were the main players for a while, but then the dark musk became more prominent over time. Sadly, I was never able to pick out the rhubarb, which I was curious to be able to pinpoint in a perfume. I probably wouldn't reach for this one over The Butterfly, but it was nice to be able to try it.

This is a weird one. On me, The Harpy Celano is predominantly powdery myrrh accentuated with the dry, papery tolu balsam and odd dollop of horseradish. The tolu balsam was strongest when this was initially applied, but the myrrh ended up winning out in the end, with the horseradish always lurking awkwardly in the mix. Curiously enough, I did not get much patchouli or vetiver to make this even weirder. Definitely a scent experience, but not one I would want to repeat.

Yep, this is a sticky, dark pine scent. I think this imp may be super aged, so it's not an in-your-face blast of pine, but it definitely is a thick, resinous pine scent. I'm glad I got to try it, but I am also glad it was not a love since it this was DCed.

Blooming rose was primarily fresh pink rose on me, backed by some peony. I never was able to get any of the other notes out of this blend. The rose reigned for a really long time, with the peony joining it after several hours of wear. I'm glad I got to try it, but I wish the honey had been able to sweeten these floral notes more on me.

Raccoon Moon is all snow-covered, possibly sugared fir on me for the first few hours of wear, to the point that I was sure I wasn't going to get anything else out of the blend. However, it did end up morphing after a few hours to a brown musk tinged with birch and some flowers (not sure if it was the osmanthus, pansies, or both, but it did not read as gardenia to my nose). I agree with Casablanca's description of this one... it's a quirky sort of forest scent. I am not sure how often I would reach for it, but it is certainly an interesting scent experience, and I am glad I got to try it.

This one is called Leather, Black Tea, and Clove, but on me, it is more like Clove, Black Tea, and Leather. The clove is the star here throughout wear, and it's a non-cinnamon-y variety, backed by a prominent, non-anise-like black tea note, followed by a bit of slightly sharp, but not chemical-y black leather. Very goth, and much more pleasant than I thought it would be. I will be hanging on to my decant.

Pink Lovebird features a strong cardamom note that is the main player at first, with some store-bought confetti cake and cotton candy beneath it. It remains that way for the first few hours: a cardamom-y cake scent, although over time, the cotton candy gains strength, so that it ends up being this super sweet, pink, sugary sweet scent after several hours of wear. When Pink Lovebird is layered with Green Lovebird, it creates this wonderful vanilla mint cake scent. The cardamom adds a bit of a bite at first, but it is quick to fade beneath the vanilla mint. The two layered are kind of like Snowblind atmo, which seems more like vanilla mint and yellow cake to my nose at times. I was really hoping for more confetti cake from this one, but I won't be separating this lovebird from its green companion.

If you're a fan of vanilla mint, you need Green Lovebird in your life. It's a chilly, candy-like vanilla mint that fans of the Lick It scents would adore, although I do get some of that Andes Mints vibe that starbrow mentioned. The vanilla in this is not buttery like the one in Snowblind (which is reminiscent of butter mints), but it is slightly more buttery than the vanilla in the Lick It scents. The pistachio peeks out after a few hours of wear, but it remains in a background role. When Green Lovebird is layered with Pink Lovebird, it creates this wonderful vanilla mint cake scent. The two layered are kind of like Snowblind atmo, which seems more like vanilla mint and yellow cake to my nose at times. Of the three Lupercalia bottles that I blind bottled, Green Lovebird is my favorite.

Lavender cola. That's what I get from The Death Grapple. The pale lavender and sweet cola-like labdanum are the stars here, with the frozen aspect of the labdanum adding a tinge of effervescence to the scent (there's no ozone or mint here). It remains this way for several hours of wear, although I could smell traces of the white amber and vanilla sandalwood on my skin the next morning, which was a pleasant surprise. While I bought a bottle hoping for a lavender-vanilla-sandalwood scent like The First Love Fades Too Atmo, The Death Grapple's lavender cola is actually pretty nice. A keeper!

Moonshine and Mist was mostly about the dusty white sandalwood on me, backed by the musk and the floral notes. There was only a small amount left in the imp, and of course it is aged, so that may be why it is more sandalwood-heavy on me when it sounds like something that would be much stronger on the floral notes. It was nice to be able to test this one, but I'm glad I don't love it, since it is DCed!

Bat-Woman is predominantly a white floral scent on me. The jasmine and moonflower are main players, but the lavender and honeysuckle are present as well. There's just a touch of verbena. Over time, the grey amber emerges, adding a powdery, resinous quality to the scent. I am glad I was able to try this one due to the lavender and honeysuckle, but it's not something I could really see myself wearing.

This was primarily fruity on me, with just a tinge of a floral element. I kept thinking apple but not apple, so I am going with possibly quince being the star of the show on me? I'm glad I got to try it, but I think I'll pass this one on, as it's not something I'd end up reaching for.

The main players in Golden Apple of the Sun are the golden apple, hibiscus, and champaca notes. It was strong on the apple and tart hibiscus at first, with the champaca and resins in the background, but over time, the champaca gained strength and eventually took over, as it is wont to do on my skin. I am glad I got a chance to try it, but this is not the apple for me, thanks to the strong champaca doing its best to drown the other notes out.

B-Horror was heavy on the grenadine on me, backed by corn syrup and smears of chocolate and peanut butter. The grenadine was super strong and sharply boozy on me, but on the other hand, the peanut butter is not prominent enough to be concerned about for those not wishing to smell like peanut butter (like me). It was nice to get to try this one, but alas, the grenadine (which is on point!) is too much for me.

This is all about the fizzy champagne grape, plum, and wine on me. The grape is by far the most prominent note at first, backed by the plum, but over time, the plum and black wine notes increase in strength. I also get some spiced carnation and musk after it has been on the skin for a while. Not for me, but this is worth a try for fans of the Lab's champagne grape and plum notes.

Note: I have not tried the released version of this scent. This started off as banana Laffy Taffy, morphed into bubblegum, and then turned into this lovely lemony cake. I liked the cake phase, but I wasn't too fond of the Laffy Taffy or bubblegum phases of the scent.