doomsday_disco

This smells like a milk chocolate cocoa. It's not as strong as any of my other lotions -- sometimes I can smell the base of the lotion more when applying it and it takes a bit for the milk chocolate scent to waft up at me. But there's no funky dairy froth, which was why I opted for a sample pot, and it pairs well with my chocolate scents (and I don't have any other lotion that does!), so I'll probably end up with a bottle before it goes away, since I've already used up most of my sample pot in the two days I was applying it to my hands last week.

This is mostly about the sweet cream on me, which smells good in the throw, but a little too buttery up close after it has been on the skin for a few hours. I get a hint of the kyphi's incense in the background, but it's not a main player on my skin.

Layered with its moon, it gave the emphasis in Strawberry Moon 2026 a boost before it doused it in buttery cream.

This wasn't a win for me, but it was fun to try it.

This smells absolutely delicious. It does smell like a super sugary, rich, fudgy brownie, or at least its batter.

It doesn't last long in wet or dry hair, and I could only smell it when holding my hair up to my nose, so it doesn't have good throw, either.

Since it doesn't stick around for very long and I already have too many chocolate-y hair glosses, I don't feel the need to grab a bottle. But I'll be keeping my decant to pair with my brownie scents.  

This is a citrusy floral hair gloss, with the grapefruit, plum blossom, and honeysuckle honey being the standout notes to me. The grapefruit is the strongest note at first, but the floral notes are noticeable when freshly applied, and they seem stronger at the end of the day, when the grapefruit has calmed down (but is still present and has decent longevity for citrus). The honeysuckle honey has a quality to it that makes me think of honeysuckle nectar. I can smell the scent whenever I hold my hair up to my nose, but there is no throw when I walk around. And I think the white tea is there to support the grapefruit. But I don't get any of the amber cream or apricot, and that's fine with me.

I don't feel the need to upgrade this one to a bottle, as fruity floral scents generally aren't what I gravitate towards, and I'm more likely to reach for a straight-up citrus hair gloss for my citrus fix... but I think I'll keep the decant.

I haven't tried all of my hair gloss decants from the Lupercalia update yet, but I can already tell that this one is my favorite.

This smells like the same poppy from Sugar, Poppy Tar, and Red Currant, which I adore. The black honey adds some sweetness, but it plays a supporting role and doesn't declare dominion over all like Nocturne Alchemy's black honey note does. While I have trouble smelling some hair glosses in wet hair, I could smell this one in both wet and dry and did not have to apply a ton of it to smell it, but even though it is strong, it's not so strong that it engulfs you in the scent, and I didn't get hit with a cloud of it in the shower before washing it out, either.

This is opium poppy perfection and I absolutely need a bottle.  

The wild strawberry note is the star of the show here. It is super realistic -- it definitely creates the visual of a bright red strawberry studded with lots of little seeds -- and it's also the same one found in this year's Strawberry Moon and its Wild Strawberries and Inky Musk duet. However, the strawberry note is so strong in this that I never get any of the other notes.

If I were going to opt for a wild strawberry scent that's currently available, I'd go for Strawberry Moon 2026, because it is more complex.

Sogblettur ended up being pretty funky on me during the first few hours of wear, and I attribute that to the amber musk. I think this must feature the fossilized amber note that my skin does not always do very well with. The funky amber, combined with the slightly salty, musky ambergris, just are creating a good combination on my skin. These notes are accompanied by the lemon zest, which adds a refreshing quality to the scent, but can't cover up the funk of the amber musk. I sadly did not get much cloudberry like in Gnome Fracas, which was the main reason I wanted to try this scent.

This was a skin chemistry fail on me, but I think it would be nice and refreshing for someone who can pull off this particular amber musk.

Malinka is mostly about the rose hip note on me, backed by the raspberry and currant. I'm not getting the honey or any creaminess from this as my skin really seemed to run away with the rose hip note.

If you're waffling between this one and Suçon, I'd say get this one if you want more rose, and get Suçon if you want more raspberry.

This starts off with a blast of raspberry and white musk. These notes remain main players on my skin, but the powdered sugar sweetens up the scent. The rose in this is pretty subtle on me and not in full force like the rose hip note in Malinka. After a while, the benzoin emerges and adds a resinous quality to the scent, so that it ends up being mostly raspberry and benzoin backed by a little white musk on my skin by the end of the day.

Of the two raspberry scents in the Love Bite collection, this is the one I prefer. I'll keep my decant, but I do not need a bottle.

I tried this three times, in case it was a fluke, but I had the same result all three times. This is only lightly fruity on me with something akin to an undertone of anise when it is freshly applied. I have no idea what could be doing that -- maybe it's in the rock sugar? I'm not sure. The strawberry nectar is not as strong as an actual strawberry note, and I'm surprised by how light the lychee is in this as well. After a while, the sandalwood emerges and it ends up being a fruit-tinged sandalwood scent.

This was not a win for me, sadly.

Me, passing over this scent when perusing the update: this is going to have that cucumber-y paper note that is used in scents like Crumpled Wrapping Paper Single Note, and I don't know how that would play with the other notes.

Me, getting a tester with my decant order and sniffing the vial: this has that cucumber-y paper note that is used in scents like Crumpled Wrapping Paper Single Note.

Me, testing it on my skin: this has that cucumber-y paper note that is used in scents like Crumpled Wrapping Paper Single Note... but it works with the other notes: 

So yeah, it has that cucumber-y paper note at first, which I think was also in Carved Wooden Post Office and The Last Syllable, but somehow, it's not jarring when paired with the other notes. At first, it's mostly the paper and the peony, but over time, the paper note calms down, and the black amber increases in strength, so that it's mostly peony and black amber. I'm generally not someone who wears resins paired with floral notes, but I think that these two smell lovely together. And the black amber in this is the good stuff and nothing like the black amber in Terrible Moon: Cardamom and Black Amber duet.

I feel fortunate to have been gifted a tester of this by my decanter! I am shocked that I managed to adequately envision the paper note, but not how these notes would meld together. I could not stop sniffing my wrist. I think I might end up needing more of this.

This one is mostly about the strawberry note on me, with a little black cherry cream lurking behind it. I didn't really get the halo halo ingredients on my skin, as the strawberry was in full-force, but maybe slathering this down my arms would help bring out more complexity in this scent.

I'll do that before it goes away, as I really like the black cherry cream in this and wish I were getting more of it.

This starts off with a blast of the cherry liqueur accompanied by some spice (which fortunately isn't heavy here), but the strawberry is quick to join the party and quickly becomes the dominant note, so that this mostly smells like a spice-swirled strawberry scent with a bit of cherry and amber lurking in the background.

I'm going to give this a slather test to see if that helps the cherry last longer on my skin. I do think this is nice, but I would definitely have preferred it without the strawberry, just because I seek out cherry scents, and I don't think we've seen the Lab use a black cherry liqueur note since Gothabilly?

I decided to try this mostly because of the German name, since plum isn't usually a note that is in my wheelhouse, and I thought maybe plum jam might work better for me than the Lab's other plum notes?

During the wet phase of the scent, and during the early dry phase, I was really enamored with this because the scent for some reason reminded me of Glühwein more than any actual Glühwein or spiced wine scent. It was seriously taking me back to the Christmas markets in Germany. But then, it ended up taking a turn for the worse, by no fault of the plum, for one of the spices reared its ugly head and stomped all over the Christmas market goodness I was enjoying. And that spice, fellow readers, was cumin.  

What did I do to deserve this fate?

This features a bitter orange peel note that smells just like neroli to my nose. At first, it's super loud and the ruby chocolate hides behind it, but then the ruby chocolate note asserts itself and beats that bitter orange peel note into the background. The creaminess of it really smooths over the edges of the orange peel note.

The wet phase of the scent was a little too much for me with the neroli or neroli-like note, so this isn't something I will be seeking out more of, but I am glad that I got a chance to try it! Curiously enough, I ended up getting more ruby chocolate from this one than the other two ruby chocolate scents I tried from this Box of Chocolates collection.

This one is all about the strawberry mochi on me, and the smell of the mochi texture is on point! I could smell a hint of the pink cherry sugar in the decant and when the scent was freshly applied, but it was quick to fade. Curiously enough, I am not getting much ruby chocolate from this one -- it's just a mochi party on me!

This is mostly about the Snake Oil on me (especially its musk) with some creamy ruby chocolate in the background. It has good throw and staying power, although I'm surprised the ruby chocolate isn't stronger on my skin!

I'm going to set this one aside and test it after it has had a few months to settle. At the moment, I like it, but was hoping for more of that ruby chocolate note from Millennial Pink with the Snake Oil.

Blueberry Chai Truffle features a ton of jammy blueberry that is the star of the show. I only get hints of the spices, chocolate, and milk in the background, with the chocolate and milk being most noticeable after the scent has been on the skin for several hours, but it is pretty light by that point. The milk note did not end up going wonky on my skin, fortunately.

This is the blueberry that I was hoping for from Fritsu, and although I'm not getting a lot of cardamom from this, I'm not disappointed. I will be hanging onto my decant, and I'll give this a full-day wear to determine whether or not I need more of this (at the moment, it is a bottle contender).

I decided to get a decant of this one just because some of the Lab's black tea notes have had a bit of an anise-like quality to them, so I wanted to confirm for myself if that was the case with this one.

Fortunately, this is mostly a tannic black tea scent, with only the barest hint of anise when freshly applied that lasts for like a split second. The tea note has a ton of throw, too, so if you're looking for a scent that's strong on the black tea, you may want to check this out.

Unfortunately, I really don't like the cacao in this. It doesn't smell chocolate-y at all to me, sadly. It's more like a cocoa butter or something like that to my nose because I was thinking it was more lotion-like than a gourmand cacao.  So this one is not a keeper for me.

This starts off like a cherry tootsie pop, but then it quickly changes more into the cherry brookie scent, and the brookie part makes me think of baked chocolate chips (even though this says batter). It just has that quality of a chocolate chip in a cookie that melted onto a cookie sheet with a slight burnt edge (but it doesn't smell burnt -- I don't know if I am describing this adequately... it's like if you rolled up a ball of cookie dough, but there was a chocolate chip or chunk of chocolate exposed at the bottom of the cookie that ends up oozing out of the cookie during baking). After that phase, it does end up smelling like brookie batter that's more brownie-like, accompanied by the cherry. The grass isn't distinct to my nose, so I wouldn't let the grass note scare you away from trying this.

I like this and will definitely be keeping my decant. But I need to give it a full-day slather to see if I need more of this because I have so many brownie scents already. 😅

This is lovely. When I smelled it in the decant, I wasn't sure how it would go on my skin because something in it made me think it might clash -- maybe it was the herbal quality of the chamomile? But I needn't have worried. I get some lots of lightly spiced cherry accompanied by a cup of chamomile tea. I don't really get a bread pudding scent from this, but that's fine with me. There is a bit of a syrupy quality to the scent after it has been on the skin for a while that I think is supposed to be evocative of a baked good, though. I really love the cherry in this and was pleasantly surprised by how well the chamomile complements it.

I've tested it a few times already and am pretty sure I'm going to need a bottle. Of the two cherry scents in the Puppy Love collection, this one is my favorite.  

2026 version.

I blind bottled this because I'm running low on my decant of the 2017 vintage. The only reason I didn't get a bottle back then was because I was studying in Germany at the time, so I hoarded by decant I was gifted in a swap and was thrilled at its return this year.

Since I didn't ever smell this when it was fresh, it's really not fair of me to compare the two. My decant was already aged when I first tried it.

At the moment, my fresh bottle does not smell like the decant, but I think that's really due to age and that it will eventually smell more like it.

The lavender, apple, and vanilla are all main players on my skin when I wear the decant, but the fresh bottle is more about the lavender, apple, and patchouli, with less vanilla. I was caught off guard by how much patchouli was in the throw! At one point, I got a lot of the cream part of the vanilla cream in the crook of my elbows that smelled a little funky like cream notes sometimes do, but fortunately, it was overtaken by the apple note, which smells more green to me than red like in my original review.

I'll be hanging onto my bottle and am looking forward to seeing how this ages. I'm hoping that the vanilla will gain some strength with age, as it does in most scents.

I decided to grab a decant of this because it shares some notes with Destructive Vagina of the Fox Spirit (vanilla orchid, black amber, coffee bean, labdanum, champaca, and oudh), of which there's probably less than a milliliter left in my bottle. I think that scent being discovered in my early BPAL days really helped cement it as one of my most beloved Shungas, but what I really appreciate about it is that a lot of the notes in it are not really in my wheelhouse at all, but they somehow all come together to create this really pretty scent that I imagine is like... the best indie coffee shop/bookstore.

So I deathmatched the two.

Record of Women’s Treasures of the Way of Elegance Day and Night does indeed share some similarities with Destructive Vagina, but oddly enough, Destructive Vagina is less destructive.  While that scent has a bit of an airy quality to it thanks to the vanilla orchid, Record of Women's Treasures doesn't contain any notes that lift the scent. This is mostly resins, incense, patchouli, and spices on me, with the black pepper being one of the most prominent spices (it made me sneeze at one point). The patchouli, champaca, and spices are very noticeable, especially during the first few hours of wear, and the coffee bean and resins lurk in the background during this time. Once those notes calm down, it settles into a soft resin scent that does smell like a cousin to Destructive Vagina of the Fox Spirit -- I'm guessing because of the labdanum (which is not cola-like in either blend). But Destructive Vagina ends up being the stronger scent by the end of the day.

I still prefer Destructive Vagina between the two, but I do enjoy this, and I plan on giving it a full-day slather to see if I need more of it. It's definitely a possibility, since it does share some similarities with that scent (and I doubt I'd be able to find more of that one).

This starts off with a powerhouse of a lily note that lasts for a few hours and hardly lets anything else through, but then it morphs into a dragon's blood-centric scent that lasts for many hours and hardly let's anything else through  , and the dragon's blood in this is the incense-y one and not the spicy floral one (huzzah)!. It ends up settling into mostly dragon's blood on a bed of Snake Oil's musk by the end of the night AND it's so strong that that is also what I smelled on my skin upon waking the next morning.

So yeah, it's not very Snake Oil-y right now, but perhaps that will change as it has more time to settle and age. It does have plenty of throw and lasting power, though! I am going to hang onto my decant and test this before the Lupers go down to see if the Snake Oil in it is more prominent.

This doesn't smell like crème brûlée to me, but I'm not mad, because it still smells GLORIOUS.

Freshly applied, it reminds me of if you took Vanilla Mandarin and replaced the mandarin with passionfruit and threw in some sugar. Then it morphs. the passionfruit disappears, and for some inexplicable reason, it reminds me of whatever is in the House of Mirrors Atmosphere Spray from Denver Comic Con 2015 that makes it so alluring (wuuuuuuuuuut). And then it morphs again and becomes the most wonderful toasted sugar scent backed by a bit of vanilla. I could not stop huffing my arm.

I'm most definitely upgrading my decant to a bottle (or maybe two).