doomsday_disco

This is the only Luper that I blind-bottled because I am a sucker for honeysuckle. (When I was a kid, I did the same thing ellocentipede mentioned in her review, so this flower has a special place in my heart.) I knew it wouldn't disappoint. And it didn't! If you're a fan of honeysuckle, you need this in your life. There's far more honeysuckle than honey, to my nose. This is a stunning sweet floral scent that will be perfect to spray around in the spring and summer, or when you need to remind yourself that there are brighter days ahead. I am so glad that I bought a bottle!

Usually, I will test a hair gloss on my hair twice before making a review (once on wet hair, once on dry). For this one, I didn't test it on my hair at all. I sprayed it on a paper towel (and it still smells strongly of it the next day). So maybe treat this review as more of an impression than a proper review. Pumpkin Latte smells mostly like pumpkin syrup, milk, and spices mixed with some sugar and vanilla (the vanilla is not particularly smoky). Although espresso is the first note listed, I get very little of it here, in the decant or once sprayed. There is a bit of bitterness from it in the background, but I had to search for it. This is much better than Pumpkin Latte perfume oil, which was a fail on my skin chemistry. I was hoping for more espresso from this, as I was looking for a hair gloss to pair with a few coffee scents, but this would probably be better to pair with pumpkin scents, IMO.

Gingerbread and More Ginger is exactly as described! It's more gingerbread-y and smells deeper than the other gingerbread scents I tried from the 2018 Yules (Gingerbread and Lavender Sugar and Gingerbread, Coffee Bean, and Smoked Vanilla). After a while, I do get more of a candied and lemony ginger mixed with gingerbread type of vibe from it. I have sensitive skin, and the ginger in this warms my skin, but does not burn, fortunately. Smelling this is making me hungry! This is much nicer than I was expecting it to be, and those that are looking for a thin, crispy gingerbread with candied ginger should get some of this to try.

I agree that the coffee bean note in this has a cocoa-vibe to it. I got a whiff of it in the vial, but didn't get much of it on my skin. On me, it feels more like a sugar-crusted crispy gingerbread (the gingerbread does have a lemony aspect in the beginning, but that goes away) with a little vanilla bean, which doesn't smell particularly smoky to my nose. The vanilla bean note becomes more prominent over time. There's a just bit of the cocoa-vibe from the coffee bean in the background, which is nothing like the coffee bean in Destructive Vagina of the Fox Spirit (I love that note in that blend). I can still smell it after a few hours, but this one stays close to the skin. I think this smells nice, but I was really hoping for a strong coffee bean like in Destructive Vagina of the Fox Spirit mixed with gingerbread and vanilla.

2013 version. In the decant, I mostly get oakmoss, followed by a little patchouli and a hint of beeswax. On me, the oakmoss takes the center stage, but the ambrette seed and musk aren't far behind, and I also get some patchouli. The musk and patchouli become more prominent with wear, and the patchouli is a red variety. There is a bit of beeswax in the background, but the earthy notes (moss and patchouli) and the musk are the stars here. The description of the patchouli made me avoid trying this during previous years, but it's not a super dirty patchouli, IMO (or maybe it became a lot smoother with age)? There's still not enough sweetness from the beeswax and honey for me here, but fans of moss and patchouli should give this one a try.

If Bliss and Schönperchten had a baby, Hohensalzburg Fortress would be it. It starts off with a creamy milk chocolate, backed by the white mint and white amber from Schönperchten. The mint is a tame variety that just adds a light coolness. The white amber increases in strength with wear and eventually becomes the dominant note, although the creamy chocolate hasn't disappeared. I don't need a bottle of this because I already own a bottle Schönperchten and too many chocolate scents, but if I did not, I'd probably want more of it. I'll be hanging on to my decant, though, because this will pair really nicely with Peppermint Cocoa HG and Snow and White Musk HG. ETA: I lied. I totally wound up with a bottle of this.

This is a wintery version of Embalming Fluid. The green tea and lemon are main players on me throughout wear, backed by the aloe, sage, and eucalyptus. The eucalyptus in this is actually pretty restrained and isn't bracing at all. It just adds a light coolness to the scent. I get more sage after a few hours have passed than I did during the early stages of the scent, which gives it more of that spa-like vibe. I think this is nice, but I prefer Travel Buddies for my lemony Travelogue scent.

Overlooking the Garden smells lovely, but it is one of those scents that I'd rather have as a room scent than wear myself. In the decant, I get the rain (which smells somewhat soapy), grass, and wildflowers. That's what I smell on my skin as well, with the amber note coming out more as it sits on my skin and giving it that sun-warmed feel, but never overtaking the dewy grass and flowers. I think kscha2017 may be right about the daffodils, which is a floral note that I wish popped up more often! I don't need a bottle, but I do think it is a nice, hopeful scent that would be perfect to wear during the spring.

In the decant, I get the lavender, thyme, and lemon balm, sweetened by the fig, and backed by the moss and chamomile. On me, the lavender, thyme, and lemon balm take the center stage, followed by the fig, but the lemon balm is much stronger on me than it was in the vial and ends up becoming the dominant note. It reigns for a long time, but when it finally calms down enough to let the other notes come out, I see what Casablanca meant by describing this as a Mediterranean sort of scent. After several hours of wear, the thyme and the lemon balm are front and center, backed by the moss and fig. It's pleasant, but I was hoping for more lavender and chamomile from this one.

In the decant, I get the citrus (and the neroli in particular), lavender, thyme, and tobacco. On me, the neroli and tobacco are the first notes that jump out at me, and there's more citrus behind them. This leans masculine on me and smells like a chypre, and it is reminding me of something, but I can't pinpoint what that something is. After a few hours, it's still tobacco dominant, and behind that, I can pick out the bergamot, but it's pretty hard for me to pick out the other notes. I was worried about the neroli and thyme being problematic for me, but my skin seems to have run away with the tobacco. I was hoping for more lavender and citrus, but it is a nice chypre that I think would smell really good on a guy.

2018 version. I was going to come in here and say the same thing as mishi-bear: this is similar to Mithras, probably due to the olive oil note, but sweeter. I am also getting something distinctly orange-y to this (I mentioned orange in my review of Mithras, too, so maybe it is from the olive oil, or an orange-infused honey?), in the vial and on my skin. It's like orange sherbet beeswax on me. There is only the barest tinge of smoke if you go looking for it, but otherwise, it's a creamy, orange-y olive oil and beeswax scent. I like it! But I may like Mithras more. I'll have to deathmatch the two one of these days. It's definitely different than The Lights of Men's Lives, though, which truly smells like beeswax candles. This one, with its sweet, creamy orange, is kind of making me hungry.

Bat is a sweet, moonlit floral type of scent. I can't really pick out each individual flower in this, but I definitely get the phlox, which I recognize after having tried the single note bath oil, the moonflower, and some orchid. The flowers are sweet, but soft, and backed by the grey musk and amber, which become more noticeable after several hours of wear, as well the honeysuckle, which I was not able to pick out before. That said, it is primarily a purple and grey scent. I generally prefer sugary floral scents, but this is a nice floral-dominant scent. I like the grey qualities to it, and I am glad that the honeysuckle decided to come out after a while. I'm not sure if it's one I'd reach for to wear, but I'll hold on to it throughout the spring months and see.

Zorya P, is that you? This smells like Zorya P without the vanilla. The white tobacco and ambergris stand out to me, and the white tobacco is that perfume-y variety from scents like Fake News, Zorya P, and Pediophobia from the 2016 Yules. I can smell the bleached woods more when I hold my hair up to my nose, but this is one I just happen to get whiffs of throughout the day without having to do that! This is a stunning, sophisticated hair gloss, and I am so glad that I got a chance to try it. I'm going to have to try to track down more. Thanks to the lovely BPALista that frimped me a sample to try.

I forgot to post my review of this when I tried it a few weeks ago. It starts off with the candy canes and vanilla cream being most prominent, but the cinnamon of the snickerdoodle quickly joins in and makes it a cinnamony mint and vanilla baked goods scent in my hair. The mint didn't stay strong for long, and the cinnamon didn't take long to calm down, and in the end, it ends up being mostly the cookie note with some light cinnamon and mint in my hair. Other reviewers mentioned it being kind of like angel food cake, and I can definitely see that. I probably could have just bought a 1 oz decant instead of the full bottle since I have so much hair gloss already (including Lick It HG). It's a nice melange of holiday goodness, but I think I would like this more if it didn't have the cinnamon. At least the mint seems to hang around more than it does in the Lick It HG, though (although it is light).

I am a double Taurus, so I wanted to try this for that reason alone, and not due to the list of notes, which aren't usually my thing. In the decant, I smell heady jasmine, followed by the rose, ylang ylang, and some black pepper. On me, it's super heady jasmine, rose, and ylang ylang, with a splort of black pepper and a little red sandalwood in the background. This is a super heady floral scent on me, and it doesn't seem to have any intention to let the other notes really come through. ...yep. After a few hours, it's still a floral party, but there's a bit more pepper in the background. I am with Little Bird on this one. Why can't Taurus blends feature some vanilla, gourmand, or oriental notes? Then they'd be much more my thing. I enjoy some floral scents, but prefer ones with something sweet in the mix, and this is just too intensely floral for me. I am glad that I got to try it, though!

In the bottle, I smell the honey, almond, apple, musk, and a whiff of the floral notes. On me, the almond and honey are front and center, followed by the apple, and they're backed by the warm musk. Then the lily joins the stage. The rose otto is present, but pretty tame for a rose, and after about an hour, I start to get the myrrh. The almond has stuck around so far, and I'm surprised, as it usually is pretty fleeting after the initial blast of it. This makes me think of an apple-y Bastet with lily and rose instead of lotus. It's definitely in the same scent family. After several hours, the almond is still present, and it smells like almond-tinged honeyed flowers (the lily and rose are more prominent now, but smooth) and a much softer apple note on a bed of warm musk and myrrh. Another Gaiman scent win! I am happy to have a bottle.

In the bottle, the wisteria and white clove jump out to me, followed by the bitter green tea leaf and a bit of frankincense. It's kind of sharp thanks to the wisteria and green tea leaf. On me, I get the wisteria, clove, and a little bit of green tea. The clove ends up being the dominant note on me, with the wisteria not too far behind it. The clove is a slightly spicy, dusky variety, like a toned down black clove. After a few hours, the perfume-y wisteria and green tea are the main players, with a little bit of clove and frankincense in the background. It's mostly a perfume-y floral and green tea, though. I really liked the clove in this in the beginning, and hope to see this clove in more scents in the future, but after this, 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1, and Les Fleurs du Mal, I am thinking that I am just not a big fan of wisteria.

In the bottle, I smell the peach aldehyde, jasmine, green tea, grapefruit, and yuzu, but no frankincense. On me, the yuzu and grapefruit are the most prominent notes at first, backed by the sweet peach. After a little bit, the jasmine emerges, and not much longer after that, it ends up taking over, with the citrus and peach lingering behind it. After a few hours, most of the citrus fades, and I'm left with the jasmine, aldehyde, which is more aldehyde now than peach, some frankincense, and a whiff of yuzu. The jasmine is soft, but the dominant note, and there's something in this that smells kind of plastic-y on me with a hint of pencil eraser... maybe something to do with the aldehyde aspect and the frankincense? This one started off promising, with its citrus and peach, my skin chemistry seems to have ruined it. This peach is not for me.

I tried this back in my early BPAL days, and I remember being repulsed by it. I am not sure if I just happened to receive an off imp or if my tastes have changed since then, because I did not have that experience this time. Gaueko is mostly about the lavender, tobacco, and sweet, syrupy labdanum on me. The sandalwood and nag champa are present, and I was surprised to find that the nag champa did not take over in this scent. It was actually pretty tame for once. The combination of the lavender and tobacco made think of The Magician's Tools from The Fool's Journey, so if you liked that one and want to try something similar from the GC, you should definitely give this a go. This is not a GC that I need a bottle of, but I am glad that I got a chance to retest this darker lavender blend from the GC.

This was a pleasant surprise. I was originally interested in a decant, but then I reminded myself that I am generally not fond of plum notes, so I probably wouldn't like this. Actually, I do like it, and I prefer it to the GC version. Frostbitten Snooty Rose is mostly about the snow and the plum. It has the sweet Snow White snow, but perhaps even cooler, and it combines with the plum note in such a way as to make me think of chilled plum skin. While most plum notes tend to smell candy-sweet to me, the snow note mingles with this one and makes it more realistic to my nose. There's a little rose, but it is mostly about the snow and plum on me, with the resins peeking out after a few hours of wear. It's not something I need a bottle of, but it is really pretty. I'm glad I decided to try it!

This is like dozing off and being woken up by System of a Down's Chop Suey. The scent is herbal, invigorating, and refreshing and would be perfect for when you need something to wake you up or to wear when you're feeling ill. It's like drinking a fancy, minty, herbal lemonade with some frankincense and eucalpytus wafting around the room. The mint ends up fading after a few hours, and the frankincense becomes more prominent, so that it ends up being a lemony frankincense and rosemary scent with a little eucalyptus. I am definitely going to hang on to my decant to travel with this winter, and I think I am going to need a bottle so I can have some for other trips (and just because it will be such a nice pick-me-up)! Yet another win from the Winter Travelogue collection!

I was originally going to blind bottle this, but I was like, there's no way I will wear it in the winter, so I'll wait until just before it goes down and order it with any last-minute Yules. Welllll, that didn't end up happening, because the Lab ended up releasing three other scents with pink grapefruit (Beware: Pickpockets!, La Joconde, and Basket of Abalone), and then I was like damn, I can't have them all, so I'll grab a leftover decant of Bellicose Clam and see how it goes. When it arrived, I was ecstatic, because the oil actually looks pink, and the yuzu? IT'S THE SAME ONE FROM MY BELOVED LIGHTNING STORM HAIR GLOSS. For the first hour, it's a yuzu and pink grapefruit party, with some mandarin and lemon peel in the background. It was GLORIOUS. If it had stayed that way, I would have needed a bottle for sure. But as time goes on, the white musk, mandarin, and lemon peel become more prominent, and they mingle with the grapefruit and yuzu to give it a clean, freshly-peeled citrus feel. It's not as amazing as it was when it was freshly applied or just in the vial, so it's probably one that's better for a scent locket. I can still smell it on me after four hours of wear, so I am glad it did not do the disappearing act on my skin. I really like this and think it will be amazing to wear during the warmer months. I will definitely be holding on to my decant, and I hope to be able to track down more in the future when I have some spare change. I am curious to see how Basket of Abalone compares to this. I am hoping that one will be even better on me, because there's no white musk or mandarin involved. ETA: Subsequent grapefruit/yuzu releases that I preferred led me to decide against hunting down a bottle of this and frimping away my decant, because I knew I wouldn't reach for this one over the grapefruit and yuzu bottles I now have in my collection.

In the decant, this smells like strong, bitter coffee, with a bit of vanilla ice cream in the background. I could see it having something like chicory in it, as VioletChaos mentioned, as it made me think of the coffee in Morning in New Orleans (which I ended up giving to my brother). On my skin, there's a blast of coffee at first, but the vanilla ice cream quickly joins in and helps to sweeten and soften it. The vanilla ice cream note becomes more prominent with wear, sweetening this dark coffee scent even more. It smells wonderful! This is yet another win from the Winter Travelogue collection, which has sent my wallet into hiding. The decant is definitely a keeper, and it's a contender for a bottle purchase, although it might not make the cut since this collection has so many scents calling to me, and I might only allow myself to upgrade one foodie scent to a bottle (which would probably be Weihnachtsmärkte). I'll have to wear this one on its own before it departs and make a decision. It's such a lovely vanilla-ed coffee scent, though.

This was the riskiest decant of the bunch that I ordered, as I am generally not fond of plum scents. I have never tried Powidltascherl, and sugared chestnuts seemed like an interesting note, since chestnut isn't something that pops up very often, so I decided to give this one a try. The plummy dessert is the star of the show on me, and I agree that there's something tangy and yogurt-like to it. I was really hoping to get the sugared chestnut note from this, but there is only a hint of it on me, sadly. I prefer this plummy dessert over a pure plum note, but it's still not something I could see myself reaching for. Glad I was able to try it, though!

Weihnachtsmärkte is a melange of Christmas market goodness. The chocolate-drizzled, marzipan-filled Schneeballen and Mutzenmandeln stand out to me the most, with the Lebkuchenherzen in the background (it's not the Elisenlebkuchen variety with Oblaten wafers). They all blend together to create this milk chocolate-y, creamy, sugary, warm, and slightly salty fried dough type of scent that's really nice and comforting. I am not really a fan of actual Schneeballen, and I was hoping for more Lebkuchen from this, but I am really enjoying the combination of these confections, especially the fried dough of the Mutzenmandeln and the creaminess of the marzipan. I have been to Christmas markets all over Germany, and this doesn't transport me back to those, but that's probably because, for me, Weihnachtsmärkte were more about roasted nuts, Kartoffelpuffer, and Glühwein. But I am happy not to smell like things like fried potatoes or the scent of sausages being carried on the cool air. This is another win from the Winter Travelogue update for me. I will definitely be hanging on to my decant and taking it with me to Germany in December. I am not sure whether or not I need a full bottle of this, because this update is full of so much win, and other bottles may call to me more -- I'll retest it before it departs just to be sure -- but I know that I definitely want to obtain more than just a decant. ETA: I did end up grabbing a full bottle!