doomsday_disco

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.

Boo v3 has a strong buttermilk note accompanied by a splash of orange. I vastly prefer the final version of Boo.

All Hallows Chaos: Pumpkin Spice #5, received in a swap Buttery pumpkin spice rolls in a pile of herbs and the herbs come out victorious? There's something dry and herbal here, although I undecided on whether or not it is sage. Not for me, but it was nice to get to try it!

This is primarily grapefruit musk swirled with jasmine petals on me, mixed with a squirt of lime. It's a citrusy floral scent with the citrus aspect dominating throughout, although the jasmine is definitely a main player. The grapefruit is the strongest of the citrus notes on my skin, followed by the lime. I seem to prefer my citrus without any floral notes (the exception being Baobhan Sith), so Mrs. Wilson isn't really for me due to the prominence of the jasmine, even though I enjoy the citrus part of this.

2018 version. Sapphics is a dry, powdery, mossy, resinous scent on me. I amp oakmoss, so it is one of the main players on me, along with the grey amber and balsam. There is a touch of muguet adding a bit of a perfume-y feel, but it isn't shouty here. The myrrh note comes out more with wear but never dominates. I wanted to try this one because of its inspiration, but it's not something I could really see myself reaching for. I was hoping the tonka being the first note would make this sweet enough for me... alas!

Elegba starts off being all about the super sweet rum, but the coconut gains strength over time and becomes the main player and what I mainly get from the throw, backed by the rum. The tobacco was MIA on me, sadly. It was all about the sweet rum and coconut on me. I found this to be too sweet, but those that love rum or coconut notes should give this one a try.

Dreadful Snowglobe is primarily a pink grapefruit scent on me for a while before it morphs into a musk-dominant scent (I get more of the glassy musk on my skin). I am surprised that the clove and bois de rose were not main players on me. Not bad, but not something I'd reach for over other grapefruit scents in my collection.

Sorcerer is primarily nag champa incense on me with touches of lavender and orange. Dragon's blood can be a problematic note for me, but I didn't have any issues with it here -- probably because my skin amped the nag champa incense so hard. It's not something I need a bottle of, but I'll probably hang on to the imp to see how it layers with some other RPG scents.

Monk is mostly about the strong white tea on me, backed by the honeyed part of the honeyed saffron, and some sandalwood incense. It shares some similarities with a previous Shunga, The Mystery of Giant Testicles on a Brothel Visitor, but that one is warmer and creamier, with its beeswax and roasted nuts. I prefer that scent over this one. My skin chemistry really amps the ti leaf in this far more than I would like. I bet this would smell much nicer on those that do not amp that note.

Psionicist is a eucalyptus-y, mint-y scent on a bed of powdery musk and pale frankincense. It's a refreshing, clean scent that isn't bracing: eucalyptus leaf isn't as strong as straight-up eucalyptus, and white mint is one of the softer varieties. This would pair well with Screeching Revenant or Juniper Mint HG (but especially the former). I don't need a bottle, but I will be hanging on to my imp for RPG layering purposes and for the days that I feel I need a refreshing, clean sort of scent.

Marshmallow mint and a drop of lemon sugar. In the bottle and when initially sprayed, Cabbage White Caterpillar HG smells like Trix cereal. But that quickly changes. I get a blast of lemon sugar at first, more lemon sugar than I was expecting from the description, that made me think this would be good to pair with scents like Lemon-Scented Sticky Bat. But the lemon sugar calms down over time, and the marshmallow ends up being the main feature of this scent. The mint is a soft mint. Whenever I randomly got a whiff of my hair, I always got the lemon sugar or the marshmallow (especially the marshmallow) from this one, not the mint. I had to hold my hair up to my nose and search for the mint, so it is not nearly as minty as I thought it would be. Because of that, I would be more likely to pair this with marshmallow or lemon sugar scents than mint ones. I paired this with Dragon Smooch perfume oil yesterday because they both have mint and marshmallow listed in the notes, and I got a lot more mint from Dragon Smooch than I did from this hair gloss. After several hours of wear, this becomes all about the marshmallow, and I can still smell it in my hair the next day. I am really happy that I grabbed a bottle of Cabbage White Caterpillar HG.

Winter Stars features a sweet patchouli note, lavender, amber, and musk backed by the bright citrus notes and cypress. The patchouli is the star of the show on me throughout wear, and the scent is a bit sharp in the early phase due to the citrus and cypress. They end up calming down over time, but I don't think I could use this as a sleep scent due to that aspect of the scent. To my nose, it is more of a perfume-y sort of scent than a cuddly one. I do think Winter Stars fits its inspiration, but I am not sure how often I would reach for this over other lavender and patchouli scents in my collection. (I vastly prefer A Moment in Time and My Tiger.) I'll let this settle some more and retest before deciding whether or not I should keep it.

2018 version. Yule Cat is much better than I expected! The clubmoss in here is the same as the one in The Forest of the Empress (note: clubmoss is not actually moss). It gives the scent an evergreen vibe, so that it is like evergreen on a bed of sweet, dark musk. There is a brief phase where the civet threatens to funk the scent up, but it ends up being kept in check by the other notes. The vetiver here isn't the BBQ variety, either. The scent definitely befits the a musky forest cat on the prowl, looking for some people to eat. I am not sure if I would reach for it over other forest-y scents in my collection, but Yule Cat was a pleasant surprise!

The Pale Snowman features the sugared pine/fir snow note from scents like Snow Bunny, NYC Snowball Fight, and Marshmallow Snow Bath Oil with just a tinge of vetiver in the background. I didn't get any vanilla incense from this, sadly. It seems I will always amp this snow note whenever it is present in a scent. It's not bad, but I plan on passing on my decant. I have other scents that I enjoy more that feature this snow note.

I originally passed on this one when it was announced, but I was tempted to buy a partial once I read the glowing reviews. Alas, I should have just stuck to my original instinct. The white tea leaf amps on me just as I expected, and the bourbon tobacco and cognac add to the sharpness of the scent. I get the juniper as well, but for the most part, it is a bright, sharp Lace. The vanilla is fleeting on me, and once the sharp aspects of the scent come down, it's all powder on my skin. Boo. I bet the white musk is a factor there. I'll be passing this one on to a friend.

Lump of Coal smells delicious! It starts off exactly like the description, rich, fudgy, gooey brownies. OM NOM NOM. However, it becomes less-brownie like and more like a creamy cocoa scent over time. I have too many chocolate scents in my collection, but I'll be hanging on to my partial. Of the four scents I tried on my arm yesterday, this one was the winner.

In Frostbitten Knave of Hearts, the Knave is buried under a ton of bright, citrusy snow (more of the slushy sort of snow than the sugary pine/fir snow, Snow White's sweet snow note, or the mentholic one). I get some blackcurrant at first, but then it becomes mostly all about that snow note on me with just a bit of buttery pastry behind it. After a few hours of wear, the rose emerges, so that it's the bright snow note plus a tart rose. I was originally going to blind bottle this one since it is a Mad Tea Party variant, decided to hold off and see if I could find a decant or partial since the reviews said it was so snow-heavy, and ended up having to grab a bottle anyways since I couldn't find anyone parting with any. Maybe I should have held out a little longer. I'm going to hold onto this for a bit, retest it in a month, and see how it goes. It's not bad, and I am glad that I seem to have gotten more of the pastry than most reviewers seemed to, but I would appreciate this one more if it featured less snow or a different snow note. At the moment, I have to say that I prefer the original Knave.

Solitary and Abhorred is mainly white tea and black patchouli on me. It's the brightness of the white tea over a dark patchouli that ends up becoming more prominent with wear. This isn't for me, as I always need some sort of sweetness present in order to appreciate patchouli scents, but I am glad that I got to try this Frankenstein scent.

V'al Hanissim is predominantly a honeyed beeswax scent on me. It's definitely in the same family as The Lights of Men's Lives, and it resembles it enough that I don't think it would be necessary to own both. But it is lovely. No bottle for me, since I didn't get enough amber from this to differentiate it from other beeswax scents, but if you love beeswax and need beeswax ALL THE THINGS, you will probably love this.

I love lavender and amber and the fact that this is a Gaiman scent, so I went for it. But alas, it does not work on me. I have tested it twice, and both times, the oudh ruined the party. The glorious lavender is accompanied by a strong, stinky variety of oudh. My boyfriend said it smelled like "funky butt" and recoiled whenever he got a whiff of it. So if oudh is problematic for you, you may want to try and see if you can hunt down a decant of this before committing to a bottle. Sadly, I'm going to have to destash this.

Frostbitten Alice is like Alice and Snow White had a baby. It's the honeyed carnation of Alice with Snow White's sweet snow note. In other words, it's a beauty. I get more Alice than Snow White snow on me, but that may be because I tend to amp carnation. That said, the snow note does gain strength with wear. A keeper, for sure, and one of the highlights of the Yule update for me. If you love Alice, and you love Snow White, don't skip this.