doomsday_disco

I decided to grab Vampire Lace mainly because it's a Lace scent and I was curious, even though Lycan Lace sounded more up my alley. I am testing this after letting it settle for a few days. In the bottle, the red musk stands out to me the most, followed by the lily and white musk. Those are the notes that dominate on my skin as well. I tend to amp red musk, and the combination of the red musk and the lily makes the scent cloying on me. When the red musk and lily finally end up calming down, I get more of the white musk, oakmoss, and a bit of spicy clove husk. Then the darker notes emerge and join the white musk and oakmoss, and I enjoy this phase more than the cloying red musk and floral one, although there are still traces of those notes on me in the background. Sadly, the vanilla lace aspect of the scent never showed up on my skin. It ends up being mostly white musk, oakmoss, and resins after several hours of wear, with some tobacco and leather as supporting players and a touch of clove husk. Red musk was the note I feared the most, and it was just horribly cloying on me combined with the lily. Normally, I'd give a scent time to age before deciding whether or not I am going to keep it, but I will probably send Vampire Lace off to a new home. I don't want to endure that red musk and lily phase again.

My bottle arrived on Monday. During the first few days, I mainly got the rose, tobacco, and dirt from the bottle, and it was like a dirtied rose. But it darkened significantly over the next few days and the musk and incense notes really stood out to me. So maybe set it aside and retest it if it's not what you expected at first, because this one does change with some time to settle! Lycan Lace was the most appealing to me of the two monster lace scents, due to the soil-stained sugar-spun vanilla lace in the description. It starts off being strong on the musk and incense on me, with the pine, tobacco, and rose being present as well, and the thorny rose note becoming more prominent with wear. I fortunately never get anything to represent the viscera, if you're worried about that note (or maybe I just lucked out ). After several hours, the incense, musk, and rose stand out to me the most, but the soil-stained vanilla lace has emerged by this point, adding a light sweetness in the background. There's no overt dirt note in this (woe!), but there is this vibe of something having been dragged through the dirt. This is a dark lace scent (the darkest that I've tried), and wolf-like for sure. I am not sure how I feel about this one yet. I don't dislike it, but I am not sure if there's enough sweetness in here for me. I am going to let it age for a few months before deciding whether or not to hang on to my bottle. I definitely prefer it to Vampire Lace, though.

I would never have elected to try this, but when I received a decant of this instead of Hypothermia, I figured I would be brave and try it. Hemophobia starts off strong on the crimson musk on me, backed by the vetiver. But the crimson musk in this is spiced. There's a really warm sensation on my skin where it was applied, and I believe that that's thanks to some ginger. Fortunately, it hasn't left any welts yet, but damn, it feels very warm and is irritating. After a while, I do get something that's powdery in the mix, which I could totally see being orris (another note that also hates me). Definitely not for me. At least the vetiver in this isn't a smokefest?

I was really hoping that the champaca would be well-behaved and that this would be a snowy forest scent. Alas, all my skin seems to want to bring out are the champaca and sleet notes. I don't get any of the resin or tree notes, although the blue musk does end up peeking out after a few hours of wear. The champaca note just kept increasing in strength over time, too, so that eventually, I was left with a predominantly champaca scent. And while I don't dislike the note, it's not what I was looking for. I am disappointed that the other notes didn't show up on me.

I recommend letting this settle for at least a day before testing it. When it first arrived, it was all spice in the decant, but after a few days of rest, I could smell the fruits (especially the cherry!) along with the spice. Mincemeat Pie starts off mostly smelling like mincemeat, with the cherry being the most prominent of the fruits on me (which was a nice surprise). This is a deep cherry, and not one with an almond-cherry vibe. The spices, while prominent, did not end up irritating my sensitive skin. It stays that way for a while, mincemeat with a splash of apple cider, but after a few hours, the crust shows up, and it ends up being the dominant note on me after several hours of wear. If you like the pastry note in The Knave of Hearts, I think you'll enjoy the one in Mincemeat Pie as well. This was a pleasant surprise. I did not expect to like it as much as I do, and I will definitely be keeping my decant. I am not sure if a bottle will be in the cards due to budget reasons, but I do think it is a wonderful foodie scent for the holidays.

2018 version. Knecht Ruprecht is strong on the apple, almond, and snow in the vial, and that is also the case on my skin. It takes over an hour before any actual tree decides to make its presence known on me, and at that point, it is mostly waxy red apple and snow, as the almond burns off after a while. After several hours, the foliage of the Black Forest becomes more prominent, making this an apple and evergreen scent with some snow. I am really glad that I got to try this, and I like it enough to keep my decant. I am not sure it's something I need more of, though... I wish the trees had come out to play sooner.

I am a sucker for honeysuckle, so I had to try this one. In the decant, the notes that leap out at me are the honeysuckle, almond milk, and white musk. Those are also the main players on my skin at first, with the honeysuckle taking the center stage. After a little bit, the coconut note emerges and ends up gaining strength over time, which gives it more of a tropical feel. The white musk in this isn't super strong, and it took several hours for the lovely ambergris note to show up on me, but that usually happens with me and ambergris. I really like this and will definitely be hanging on to my decant. I will have to retest it and see if I need more before the Yules go away, but I don't think my budget is going to allow for a bottle. It is really lovely, though, and I think it will pair wonderfully with Nectar Hair Gloss.

In the decant, I smell the frost and the clove-tinged blood. Those are the main notes I get on my skin as well, although on me, it is far more musky than frosty. I keep thinking clove-tinged dragon's blood musk. It doesn't smell like fruity red musk to me. I, too, get an ozonic type of frost from this, mingling with the fur. There is too much blood musk in this for me, but it's definitely far more pleasant than it sounds.

Grand Guignol is exactly as it is described: apricot brandy! It is the most wonderful apricot (I agree that it's like preserves) accompanied by booze, and the booze gets stronger over time, but you can definitely tell it's apricot booze. It's not something that I need more of because I already have March Hare and Aristocratic Couple for my apricot needs, but it is definitely an apricot gem in the GC, if you're searching for that note. I'm really glad I got to try it.

I was interested in trying this due to the blood orange and raspberry notes, but of course it was a huge neroli party on my skin. So it's soapy, bitter neroli backed by some blood orange and raspberry, with the raspberry becoming more prominent over time, but never overtaking the neroli. It was nice to be able to try this, but sadly, there's just too much neroli in this for me.

This one starts off with frankincense and ginger-like galangal being the most prominent notes on me, but the olive and hyssop become more prominent with wear, making it an olive-y, herbal resinous scent. There was a point where I felt like I was getting something candy-like from this, and it was the most prominent note in the throw, but I am not sure if the spikenard or hyssop caused this or some combination of the notes. It's definitely unlike anything else I've tried from the Lab, but not something I could see myself wearing because of the prominence of the olive (which I think may be a green variety) after a few hours.

Paramatman features a pretty potent orange blossom note (the Lab's smells like a bitter orange peel plus floral to me) that ends up being a main player throughout wear, with a fuzzy sandalwood that gains strength over time. Champaca is normally a heady floral, and while it is present, it is actually not as prominent as it usually is on me and just adds an incense-y feel along with the sandalwood. The orange blossom is just too much for me, but it was nice to be able to try this in my effort to try the entire GC!

Lilium Inter Spinas starts off strong on the tart hibiscus on me, backed by the apple blossom, lily, and white sandalwood, with a bit of waxiness from the green fig. (My skin chemistry makes fig waxy sometimes.) The hibiscus and apple blossom end up being the main players for a while, but the white sandalwood and lily become more prominent with wear, and they end up overtaking the tart florals after several hours. I am not really fond of hibiscus as a tea ingredient, and I guess I am not particularly fond of it as a perfume ingredient either. I prefer this one in its later stages, but I know I wouldn't reach for it over The Owens' Tomb, which also features lily and sandalwood and florals that are more up my alley. I am glad that I was able to try it, though, as I hadn't tried a perfume with hibiscus in it before!

This is a sweet floral scent that isn't as heady as one might think it would be, given the list of notes. The frangipani and jasmine are the notes that stand out to me the most in the beginning, although the rose and tuberose are there as well. The sweet jasmine in this ends up being the dominant note after several hours of wear, followed by the rose. It's more pleasant than I thought it would be, but I know I wouldn't reach for this over my preferred sugary floral scents. I am glad I was able to try it, though!

In the imp, I mostly smell the melon and grape notes with a little moss. On me, I mainly get honeydew melon, green grapes, and flowers (which I am not able to identify) with a little bit of moss that seems to gain strength with wear. Sometimes I feel like my skin chemistry runs away with moss notes, but that doesn't seem to be the case here. It's an almost candy-like fruity floral, with the moss stepping in to stop it from being too candy-like and sweet. I think this is a pleasant scent that would be nice to wear during the warmer months, and I'm glad that I got a chance to try it! I think I prefer Twinkle, Twinkle Little Bat over this one, though (which also has melon and grape notes).

In the vial, I could smell all of the notes save for the mint. On my skin, the supporting players changed from time to time, but one thing in particular was the star: the grape spirit. So it smelled like grape spirit plus orange blossom and rosemary, and then grape spirit plus citrus peels and a touch of mint (this is a light variety of mint), and finally, grape spirit plus rose with hints of the rest of the notes (but mostly grape and rose). I hate artificial grape anything, and the grape spirit here kind of makes me think of Dimetapp. So Bess is not for me, but I am glad I was able to try it for testing the entire GC purposes!

A lovely forumite frimped me a decant of this. It was not on my radar, and even if I had known about it, I probably would not have thought to try it because of the strawberry, but I am so glad I got to try this, because this is one of the best cherry scents I have encountered! Beaver Moon 2007 is mostly wild cherry and vanilla cream on me. The strawberry really is just a hint (fortunately for me)! The cherry in this is truly cherry and not cherry-almond, and the vanilla cream has helped to ground the cherry and make it last for several hours on me (an amazing feat, since that note tends to burn off quickly!). I feel like there may be saffron or something in the vanilla cream... or maybe it's a French vanilla? It kind of reminds me of a cherry Love's Philosophy. Win!

Happy and Dauntless and Sagacious is mostly about the raspberry and tart red currant on me, with some creamy goat's milk lurking in the background throughout wear. It's very similar to The Harlequin from The Fool's Journey: The Magician, but with goat's milk in the background instead of a grassy vetiver. Berry scents aren't really my thing, so I probably wouldn't reach for something this fruity, but I wanted to try it because it is a Poe scent, I'm a fan of the Lab's goat's milk note, and raspberry is a note that doesn't pop up too often. The scent matches its name, and it does smell like a realistic raspberry to me, so I am glad to have gotten to try it. If you wish you hadn't missed The Harlequin and your skin chemistry doesn't hate milk notes, I recommend giving this one a try!

I agree with the previous reviews: this is a sophisticated lavender perfume, not a sleep scent. The lavender is the star here, and at first, I thought it might have a tinge of a metallic note, but nothing overly sharp or cologne-like, and that aspect was short-lived. It's a lovely (not herbal) lavender accompanied by musky ambrette seed, with the palo santo becoming more noticeable after several hours of wear, but never overtaking or becoming as strong as the other notes. If you're fond of the lavender in scents like The Air and the Ether and Lavender Lace, you'll probably enjoy the lavender in this as well. I am a huge fan of lavender and will certainly enjoy my bottle, but just the one bottle will suffice. If I had to choose between this and The Air and the Ether from An Evening with the Spirits, I would choose The Air and the Ether hands down (but I am a bigger fan of amber and ambergris than ambrette seed and palo santo). That said, I do think this is a classy, soft lavender perfume, and I am curious to see if the palo santo note will come out more with age.

Languor is a melange of sweet opium and heady florals on me. The opium is definitely a standout note. While I am familiar with all of the floral notes listed here, I do not feel like one of them is more prominent than the other. It's a little too heady for me, but if you're looking for an opium-heavy scent and don't dislike heady florals, you might want to give this one a go.

Sybaris is the best violet blend that's ever touched my skin. It's violet accompanied by lots of sweet clove, backed by some incense, with a touch of tonka bean. The throw is mostly violet, but up close, the clove is pretty prominent on me. Violet and I do not get along, and this still has too much violet for me and has become somewhat powdery over time, but I do think it is nicer than any other violet scent I've tried. If this featured a different floral, I would probably be all over this!

I agree with TTP and zee_zee. Sugar Cookies in a Snowdrift features a minty (but not intensely minty!), slushy snow with a buttery cookie note. When I first tested this a few days after it arrived, it smelled primarily of minty slush on me with just a hint of buttery cookie. Now, after settling for a week, I do get more of the buttery cookie. This is the type of cookie that's not adorned with any frosting or sugar, and I don't think I would have guessed sugar cookie if it weren't for the name of the scent. It's nice, but I was really hoping for more cookie than snow (and was hoping for the sweet snow note).

A fresh, crisp white linen scent: perfectly clean, perfectly breezy. I gasped when I saw new BPTP soaps at the Lab's booth at Drag Con. I decided that, if they were available for sale, I needed them all. They were available for purchase, so I bought all three. This soap was made for the Black Phoenix Trading Post by Bakermancy. Those that avoid buying products that contain palm oil will be glad to hear that it is palm oil-free. However, it does contain silk, so this particular bar isn't vegan-friendly. I believe Puddin' had mentioned offering both silk and silk-free versions, so that may still be happening, but the ones at the booth were the silk versions. Here are the ingredients: olive oil, organic unrefined shea butter, virgin organic coconut oil, castor oil, distilled water, sodium hydroxide, silk peptide, mica, iron oxide (CI77491), iron oxide (CI77499), titanium dioxide, and Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab fragrance. The bar is a 4.8 oz bar. This is an exfoliating soap. There's little exfoliating bits within the bar, but they are not harsh. The soap creates a lot of lather. A little goes a long way! And the scent lasts. I can still smell Dirty's clean linen on my skin after washing my hands with it and showering with it. I am glad I got Dirty!

This review won't be helpful at all, but I am posting it anyway, since my decant is about to go to a new home. Dead Leaves and Donuts smells like my mom. My mom does not smell like dead leaves or doughnuts. But once the dead leaves calm down a bit, it reminds me of that smell I get when hugging her. She is a smoker, and Ava is her holy grail scent, so I can only think my nose is interpreting the slight mustiness of the dead leaves and the sugary glaze from the doughnuts as "mom smell," even though Dead Leaves and Donuts does not smell like a smoker or like Ava. The association just becomes more pronounced if I spray it on something (like a paper towel), because the sugary glaze ends up being more prominent than the dead leaves over time, just like how Ava's vanilla musk really shines on her and gets her compliments wherever she goes. I don't think this is very doughnut-y. There's far more glaze than actual fried doughnut. I don't dislike it, but I cannot spray it around my place, because of that association. So off you go, Dead Leaves and Donuts, hopefully to a place where you can be appreciated, where someone can spray you around and think, "That smells like dead leaves and donuts!" instead of "That smells like my mom!"

In the decant, this was mostly butterscotch, with the tobacco lurking in the background. On my skin, the butterscotch dominated during the first few hours, but the tobacco was stronger on me than it was in the decant. There's this unexpectedly fruity quality to it on me, almost blueberry-esque. Must be a skin chemistry thing, because it isn't like that in the vial. After four hours, the tobacco is much more prominent, but it is still coated in butterscotch. Butterscotch is not really my thing, so this isn't for me, but it does smell like butterscotch tobacco!