TheIceMaiden

Under the Harvest Moon (LE) is, to my nose, a very distant cousin of Yvaine. They both have a similar cool-lavender feeling to them.

Akuma: Devilish temptation, as sweet as sin: blood orange, neroli, and raspberry. It smells like orange and raspberry lolly pops.

Samara from The Ring? How about J-Horror?

This is a light fried-dough note with strawberry powdered sugar on top. To me, it smells like a cross between a lighter Zombie Apocalypse and Midway. And it does bring back memories of sweet pink cereals like Crunchberries and Frankenberry. The throw is light, but this lasted quite a while on me. I had initially no interest in this scent as bakery scents are very hit or miss on me, and "pink sugar" made me think of that perfume, which I don't like. But after reading reviews, I decided to try it and its one of my favourite new Weenies this year.

I love the scent of real marigolds, but BPAL's marigold is very hit or miss on me - either beautiful floral or very sour. Flor de Muero is, thankfully, the beautiful golden marigold note, but there's something else with it I can't figure out, soft and citrus-y like orange blossom. I sniff this and think of golden sunshine on orange autumn flowers, very beautiful.

This is such an unusual scent, but it tells the story its based on quite well. It starts off with foresty juniper with light florals and a hint of buttery chestnut. It dries to a light musk with just a bit of floral. Its a soft, mysterious scent, and while not my favourite of the Literary Vampires, I'm glad I've tried this.

This does remind me of Creepy, but without rum, and about a million times more caramel and a tarter green apple note. The apple fades out quick, the caramel stays rich until the drydown, when its more of a candied vanilla scent. I don't get butter or spice, and the candy corn is much subtler than in Trick or Treat. This apple is very decadent and yummy and since I missed Sugar Slathered Candy Apple, I'm happy to have this one. The throw and wearlength are moderate, it lasts a few hours.

Yum! Like Licorice Bat, this is pretty straight-forward too: lightly spiced pumpkin pie filling and a hint of vanilla marshmallow. The throw and wearlength are moderate though, so I might need more than one bottle.

This is a very straighforward scent, licorice/anise with cocoa when wet, more licorice in the midstage, and cocoa in the dry stage. I also swear I get a hint of cherry in the wet stage too. I'm glad I took a chance on this, because I quite like it, even if the wearlength is too short (just a few hours!)

This is such a fun, always-morphing scent on me! It started off minty, then turned to anise, then cinnamon, then cherry, with occasional whiffs of a sugary note that smells like the coating on jelly beans. If this came in 5ml, I'd love a bottle.

For the first few Halloweens I celebrated with the Lab, I wished for a pumpkin coffee type of scent. Last year's Pumpkin V was very good, but this year's Pumpkin Latte is so much better! This starts off with an odd, metallic spice note (which I got in last year's Pumpkin V too, but has aged away.) This fades quickly and I get spiced coffee with a light pumpkin note. The dry stage is vanilla with cinnamon and sugar. I love this, its the scent of Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts or any local coffeeshop in autumn. To compare it to last year's Pumpkin V, PV seems to have more pumpkin and less coffee/espresso notes. Pumpkin Latte is a bit sweeter. Both are really good though! The throw is moderate and it doesn't last overly long, only a few hours.

Although I'm not a huge fan of candyfloss, I love pumpkin and blackberry so I decided to give this a try. And I'm glad I did, its delicious! This starts off STRONGLY spiced pumpkin - but once that fades, it dries to blackberry with a hint of fairy floss. The tartness of the blackberry balances the sugary floss, so this isn't overly sweet to me. The throw is pretty light and this doesn't last long, but otherwise its wonderful! I wouldn't mind a less-spicy version in the future though.

This is a review for the 2010 version. This starts off with the resins and rose incense. As this dries, it becomes more floral, but a bit dusty, like powdered incense. I think I smell a hint of autumn leaves too. This is STRONG stuff - just a dab is enough. This is rather pretty and reminds me a bit of Gothic Horror. But unfortunately, something (probably the resins) gives me a headache. Alas!

I never knew these lovely moths existed until this scent! This starts off juicy, tart berries with hints of lemon, vanilla, and just a bit of candyfloss to sweeten up the tartness. The sweet pea starts coming through and by drydown, this is almost all sweet pea with the barest trace of rose. This is very pretty, feminine and perfect for spring and summertime. (And I'm glad Beth didn't put maple in this scent!)

Silenti starts off with very strong resins over the moss. Its a little overwhelming at this point! As it dries, the resins recede and I get a soft floral over moss. Overall, the scent is lovely although I would have preferred more floral and less incense. The scent has a somber feeling about it and would fit in perfectly with the Ars Moriendi scents. I plan to keep my decant although I don't think a bottle will be necessary.

This starts off with lavender and blackcurrant with a touch of magnolia and resins. Its like the love child of two of my favourite scents, Yvaine and Lush's Black Pearl. Yum! As it dries, I lose the currant and lavender, and castoreum mixes in with the magnolia and resins. The drydown is a flat, kind of bland resin and musk blend. I don't get rose at all (and I love rose). I love the wet stage but am indifferent to the dry stages of this. I'll try it in a scent locket, and keep my imp to see how it ages.

Cicuta starts off with a rose note with saffron and a touch of frankincense lurking underneath. The rose is a more subtle red rose note than the usual, although its not the same as the dead roses in Blood Countess or Black Dahlia. There's still a bit of life in these roses. As this dries, the smoke comes out more and it eventually becomes just soft smoke with a hint of rosy dust. I quite like this!

I love banana, (Splatter Comedy is a favourite), and I was hoping for a lot in this blend. It does start off banana and a hint of coconut, but then the grenadine and rum take over quickly. Its also VERY sweet, more than I expected, but I don't dislike it. I'll let it age up a bit to see if it becomes more balanced (and banana-y!)

This is Geek Goth on a tropical vacation! Polynesian Pop has the same fizzy soda-champagne base as Geek Goth, but with lots of rum and a hint of orange instead of lemon-lime. Its bubbly and fun and very summery.

This is such a lovely scent, and it really does tell a story. It starts off smelling woodsy and slightly dusty, like woodchips or shavings. I swear I even smell a flash of wood varnish! As it dries, the sandalwood soften and gradually fades away to reveal the rose-infused amber.

Tiki Princess starts off with light coconut and something leafy-green and slightly spicy - I'm guessing that is the ala ala wai nui. The greenery fades and I get light florals and coconut over a base that very much reminds me of Snow White, which makes me very very happy. ETA: Now that the Princess has settled in, I get less greenery and floral and more coconut.

Like Snow-Flakes and Pink Snowballs, this is another scent that reminds me of Snow White - but with top notes of eucalyptus and mint and less vanilla/creaminess. Since Snow White is my favourite BPAL scent, and I love minty scents, this is something I'm glad to have in my collection.

I'm not a fan of incense, generally, as it smells sour on me. But I adore the Lab's tiare note so I decided to give this a try. Wet, yikes! Sour incense over potent gardenia. Thankfully, that fades away quickly and I get just gardenia for a while. On the drydown, I get lots of soft lovely tiare with vanilla. The tiare drydown is worth the sketchy opening stage, and I'd love to see that note used more often.

I threw Spicebush Swallowtail in my decant order at last second because although I like plum, but haven't been crazy about sassafras as a perfume note. Much to my surprise, this is my favourite of the butterflies and moths I've tried! This starts off like a really good-quality root beer, sweet and spicy. The sassafras fades and I get sweet and spicy plum. The staying power isn't as long as I'd like, but I'm sure that will improve with aging. If this scent wasn't associated with a butterfly, I'd consider it very autumnal. But I think it works for cooler summer days as well.

This starts off with strong mandarin, ginger and sugar cane notes. As it dries, these notes back off and I get the pumpkin over amber. There's a bit of mango too. This is really nice, very cheerful and lovely like a Monarch Butterfly, and I'm happy to see pumpkin in a non-Halloween blend. I agree with the above posters that this is a different pumpkin note, its not as buttery and rich and more appropriate for a summertime perfume. This does remind me a bit of Pumpkin Queen, but its a distant cousin - lighter and brighter. Its also a cousin to Bakeneko, Pumpkin V 2007, and more distantly, Pumpkin I 2008 and Kuang-Shi (all of which are blends I love too).