doomsday_disco

On me, this is mostly fir backed by gingerbread spices, with the resins becoming more noticeable with wear. While I appreciate the fir note, the resins end up being a bit sharp on me (kind of like polished wood? I am thinking it is a dark variety of myrrh here, not a softer variety like the kind in Bastet). I don't dislike it, but I think I would like it more if there were a sweet note in this to help smooth things over.

Frostbitten TKO is TKO + Snow White's sweet snow note. In other words, IT IS EVERYTHING. (TKO and Snow White are two of my favorite scents.) It starts off stronger on the floofy lavender marshmallow sugar of TKO, but the sweet Snow White snow note emerges more over time and ends up being the most noticeable part of the scent after several hours of wear. I have been wanting a lavender snow scent with this snow note for years, and this Yule, Beth made it a reality. All hail Beth! All hail! Needless to say, I am going to need eleventy million bottles before this goes away.

Gustav Klimt’s ode to masturbation: pale sandalwood, white cream vanilla, and a touch of tea rose. Note: I'm reviewing this as a moisturizer and not as a product that I tested in the bath. In the bottle: The vanilla cream is the most prominent note here, followed by the tea rose and the light sandalwood. On my skin: The white cream vanilla is still the star of the show, but I am getting more of the pale sandalwood on my skin than I did in the bottle. There really is just a touch of tea rose here. It was stronger in the bottle than it is on my skin. Then, the pale sandalwood note becomes the dominant note, but it's not dry at all, and the vanilla isn't far behind it. Sometimes, I sniff my arm and smell more sandalwood and vanilla, but other times, I smell more vanilla and that touch of tea rose. If you enjoyed the rose and vanilla combo of Crimson Peak's Between Your Heart and Mine, but were hoping for more vanilla (like me), you will probably enjoy this (if you don't mind sandalwood). The scent is soft and doesn't have much throw. Verdict: I'm glad that the notes in this are wins on me, because I'm a German Studies major, so I wanted this as soon as I saw it in the Trading Post's Lupercalia update. It's lovely.

Posting this review may forever doom my bottle to my swap page, but here goes: I, too, bought this because Gingerbread and Lavender Sugar is full of so much win that I thought, if this is anything like that, it could be really nice. I also thought that lemon and ginger tends to be a good combination, at least in tea and in Virgo Snowball Fight. So I went the blind-bottle route. Unfortunately, it was a complete skin chemistry fail on me. In the bottle, I smell the gingerbread spices/gingersnap-like note from last year's gingerbread scents overlayed with a huge lemon slice. On me, it is pretty sour and unappealing, at times reminding me of . The lemon just does not combine well with this ginger on my skin, and there's not enough sugar present to help smooth things over. Up close, I get a lemony gingerale sort of scent, but the throw? It just smells sour and off. I agree that a bready gingerbread note and more sugar could have made this scent more appealing. As it is, it just does not work for me.

I am going to be the dissenter here. This was all wool blanket on me. While I could smell just a tiny bit of the milky coffee note in the bottle, it did not want to show up on my skin. It was just this bright, clean, wool note. I am going to set this one aside and see if it needs more time to settle. I was hoping this would be like the coffee equivalent of Cozy Pumpkin Sweater, but there's just not enough coffee here for me.

This is like Lick It with a breath of gingerbread spices. The peppermint candies reign supreme for the first few hours of wear, backed by a bit of that gingerbread spice/gingersnap note from last year's Gingerbread scents (so... not fluffy gingerbread). When the mint calms down, what remains is the sugary candy base surrounded by some crumbs. I'm glad I grabbed a bottle!

A World of One Color is one of those scents where we have cold juxtaposed with warmth. I get bright snow (which I am thinking must be the frost and/or ice musk -- I am thinking it may be the kind from Skadi 2013?) warmed by a nice variety of cedar. It remains that way on me throughout wear, but the tea and musk become more noticeable over time. Oddly enough, I did not get any of the coconut on my skin, but that's fine with me. I am not sure that it's 'me,' but this one is better than the notes led me to believe it would be.

I got the smoked part of the vanilla (it's the same one from Cedarwood and Smoked Vanilla) backed by the amber and benzoin. For some reason, my skin was not bringing out the cypress at all, which was a note to which I had been looking forward. I was really curious about this one because I love Golden Priapus, but there's not enough vanilla or tree here for me.

When the Frost is on the Punkin is heavy on the sugared pine/fir snow note from scents like Snow Bunny, NYC Snowball Fight, and Marshmallow Snow Bath Oil. When first applied, I get that snow note with a bit of pumpkin, which is quickly blanketed in that snow note, so that no more pumpkin is to be found until after a few hours of wear. By that point, it is pretty nice -- a warm, non-spiced ambery pumpkin with a breath of sugared snow -- but I am not sure I want to wait that long for it to get to the phase I enjoy.

I was really curious about this one, but passed on asking for a fairy, thinking it could go cinnabomb on me. So I was glad to get to try this one through a swap. Well, it is as I feared -- total cinnabomb on me. Strong cinnamon and gingerbread spices reign for the first few hours of wear. The creamy eggnog, which I could smell in the bottle, did not want to join in and help tame the spices. After a few hours, I am left with the pumpkin part of the eggnog. This isn't for me, since it was too much cinnamon for my liking, and I was hoping for more eggnog with these notes -- but I have a friend who adores strong cinnamon scents, so I will be gifting the bottle to her.

This was much better than I was expecting it to be, given that red and black musk generally aren't nice to me. From the list of notes, you'd expect this one to be a super strong scent, but actually, it's more like a lightly honeyed musk scent with sugared red rose and a breath of well-worn leather. I happened to have some Snake Oil variants that had dried down to just Snake Oil on other parts of my arms when I tested this, and while I do not get Snake Oil from this specifically, I do see why someone would throw it into that category due to the musks in this blend. I did not hang on to my decant, as I don't really know which scents I'd pair this with from my collection, but I am glad that I got to try it.

I tried this back when it arrived and amped the cedar, so I decided to let it rest for several months before giving it another try. Eight months later, I get a lot of moss from this, backed by a much lighter, dusty cedar. I was hoping to get some of the Lace vanilla, but alas, that hasn't happened during either test. It's all about the moss and cedar on me. I'm glad I got to try this Lace, but it's not a keeper for me. I'll stick with Emerald Lace for my green Lace scent.

This was one I was interested in back in 2016 that didn't make the cut, so I was glad to get to try it this year! Alas, my skin tends to amp carnation, and that is the case here. I was hoping it would be more sugary and that the vanilla would play a big role, but what I got is mostly lightly sugared red carnation. It's not the pink carnation of High-Strung Daisies or Pink Moon 2007. While I can smell the perfume-y freesia note in the bottle, it's MIA on my skin. If you're looking for a carnation-dominant scent, you'll probably love this one. I just wish I got more than carnation from it, and that it were more sugary!

The January full moon is on January 10th, so I would say that around January 12th, you should start thinking about putting in an order for any Weenies that have caught your eye.

Spirit of the Komachi Cherry Tree starts off with a burst of cherry blossom, which I love. Behind that, I get the lavender honey, and the lavender in it reminds me of the type of lavender found in TKO. I also get a bit of pear. The lavender honey gains strength over time as the cherry blossom note retreats, but then the lavender is also forced into the background as the white sandalwood and pear increase in strength. The lilac is not distinct on me, but may be contributing to some of the powderiness I get with the dry sandalwood after a few hours. This is a really pretty scent, but it's one I preferred during the wet phase over dry. I'm going to have to try this one in a scent locket.

2018 version, I think? I'll have to double check the vial when I get home. The Cross of Snow sounded promising from the note list, but it went all kinds of wrong on me in the same way that Winter Landscape went wrong on me. In the vial, I get the cypress, moss, clove bud, and bergamot, and on my skin, the cypress, moss, and bergamot are the dominant notes, but then it just becomes a skin chemistry fail. For some reason, some combination of these notes on my skin is akin to that kind of thin tomato sauce found in a can of Spaghettios????? So, yeah, it's a skin chemistry fail. It doesn't smell like that in the vial, though, so please ignore my review unless you think we are scent twins or something.

This starts off with what I believe is spicy red carnation on me, although it may just be the spices combining with another carnation note. It is followed by what I believe is some very loud rose. Then those florals end up disappearing and what I am left with is nag champa incense with a bit of spice. Whenever there's champaca in a scent, my skin typically tries to bring out that note the most, and it's definitely present here. I was hoping for some cardamom from this, but I wasn't able to pick it out from the other notes. Not for me, but I am glad I got to test this one, as it smelled promising when I sniffed it at Drag Con a few years ago.

I passed over this one when the Winter Travelogue update was live, mainly because so many other scents from that update were calling to me, so this one didn't make the cut. However, I am glad I got to try it later on down the road! The cool coconut vanilla cream is the star here, but the resins (I get more of the white sandalwood in the background than the fossilized amber) add some class and keep it from being foody. One of the reasons I initially passed over this was because I already have Ivory Vulva in my collection and rarely reach for it, but I think this may actually be better than Ivory Vulva because this one doesn't have any buttery notes. I'm not a big fan of coconut-centric scents, but I think this is one the best ones from the Lab.

Apparently, I neglected to review this one last year. Full disclosure: I sprayed this on a paper towel and not in my hair. I wash my hair every other day, so if I am not sure how a hair gloss will go, I test it this way so that I am not stuck with the scent for two days. Ginger Cardamom Hair Gloss features an effervescent ginger note backed by some cardamom. The cardamom is very fleeting and does the disappearing act not long into the show. It leaves behind the scent of fizzy ginger ale. I like this, but I have absolutely no idea what I would pair it with in my collection.

Full disclosure: I sprayed this on a paper towel and on my arm and not in my hair. I wash my hair every other day, so if I am not sure how a hair gloss will go, I test it this way so that I am not stuck with the scent for two days. Italianate Landscape with a Goat and Sheep is a lot nicer than the note list makes it sound. It features lightly caramelized woods that become creamier over time, spiked with some black pepper. I do not get any leather from this at all. I like this more than I thought I would based on the notes. I probably won't hang on to the decant, just because I can't see it pairing well with scents I already have in my collection, but it is nice.

This is primarily a creamy, sweet coffee scent with some milk chocolate swirled in (but it does not remind me of mocha). While I get the tangy cheesecake note in the vial, it did not present that way on my skin. There's not a ton of chocolate here, so if you're worried about that, don't be. It's mostly about the creamy coffee. I'll be hanging on to my decant!

Colemanite Phoenix is stunning. I am not familiar with a lot of these notes, so this review won't be very helpful in that department, but I do get the desert dandelion and a coniferous note that I really love. I am not a big fan of sage, but the sage in this scent is unlike the other sage notes I have come across from the Lab. There's just this wonderful melange of green floral warmth that shifts from sniff to sniff, and I am here for it. I wasn't expecting to love this, but it it's actually my favorite of the Anniversary scents I tried this year. I don't have any desert scents in my collection, so this is a strong contender for a bottle purchase before the phoenixes fly away.

Native Gold starts off strong on the sassafras, reminding me strongly of Stimulating Sassafras Strengthener. In the background, I get some of the mineral-y aldehyde, but the sassafras is queen. Over time, the sassafras loses its strength, giving way to a tobacco-forward blend backed by some warm cedar and a bit of the mineral aldehyde from before. This would be a good sassafras scent for those who want classy root beer that is tobacco-ed instead of vanilla-ed. I prefer my sassafras with the sweetness of vanilla, so I'll stick with Stimulating Sasssafras Strengthener and Tombstone.

Epidote Phoenix is a lovely forest scent. It features a realistic pine needle note backed by the sweet redwood and moss, and it is definitely the scent of sunlight streaming through a coniferous forest during the summer. If you're a fan of Theoi Nomioi, you will probably enjoy Epidote Phoenix as well. I already have several bottles of that scent, and I have a bottle of The Forest of the Empress, which I love even more, so I am not sure I need to spring for a whole bottle of this. But if I didn't already have those scents in my collection, I would be contemplating a bottle of this one. (I'll be retesting my decant before this goes away just to be sure, though.)

I was originally going to blind bottle this one when it was live, but then other releases happened with scents that called to me more. Note: I am reviewing this by testing it on my arm. I did not try this in the bath. Moonglow is mostly about the honey. It's more like HONEY biscuits. It starts off as honey backed by some cream on me with just a hint of buttery cookie, and it remains that way for a few hours. The biscuit note does gain strength over time, and it reminds me of the pastry note in The Knave of Hearts. I wish I had gotten less honey from this and that the biscuit note didn't take so long to assert its presence. I am glad I got to try it, though!