TheIceMaiden
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Everything posted by TheIceMaiden
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When the initial glowing reviews of this came in, I decided to try The Harp (I do love sandalwood-vanilla). I wasn't too impressed, however, there was a sourness in the beginning that may have been the tagetes and/or cardamon. A few weeks later I decided to try it again and The Harp was finally gorgeous! The opening stage had calmed down to (non-sour) tagetes with sandalwood, then a midstage of tiare over sandalwood and vanilla (and I LOVE the Lab's tiare note), and finally a drydown of vanilla with just a hint of sandalwood.
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I love peppermint scents, and adore lavender as well, and have been hoping for something combined (kinda like Lush's Ice Hotel bubble bar.) So not only was I excited to see them together in this scent, Anesthesia is my favourite character in Neverwhere. This starts off strong lavender and peppermint, its very cooling and bright. As it dries, I can smell just a subtle hint of bergamont and mandrake which grounds the scent nicely. Alas, however, this is gone on my skin in less than an hour! So I guess that means I need a full bottle so I can slather away. This could easily become a new top ten scent for me, its that good!
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From the original description, I thought this would smell like Mountain Dew. Geek Goth is actually more sophisticated, it smells like a mix of Sprite, champagne, and ginger ale. Its very bubbly and carbonated but not too sweet. I'm really enjoying it and think it will make a great summertime scent.
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This starts off with a very light cake note and fruity Earl Grey tea. The cake fades out and I get biscuits with the tea. The dry stage is cucumbers with what I think is green musk and *maybe* a hint of green tea too, I'm not sure. This is a VERY light scent and it fades away pretty quickly. This reminds me of a softer Bread-and-Butterfly and I think it will make a nice summertime scent.
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This starts off with a strong black tea note, then softens to a cream-with-tea scent mixed with bread crusts. The cream gets a bit buttery and sweeter (although not overly sugary) upon drydown. Although I was initially hoping for a fresh-baked bread type of scent, I'm not disappointed with the way this turned out at all, its a lovely scent.
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The ladies of Stardust have been very good to me as Victoria, Yvaine, and Lady Una are three of my favourite scents in the General Catalogue. Anyway! Victoria is mainly a stargazer lily scent on me with a soft rose and light musk base. I don't get much in the way of vanilla. The throw and staying power of this is pretty good as well!
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This is nothing like the released (jelly donuts) version, the only thing they have in common is both smell like dessert. This version is like gingersnap cookies, but with something extra, like spiced rum or custard. Its quite yummy but not particularly zombie-esque, unless this is what brains smell like to them.
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This smells like a bouquet of spring flowers (tulip and daffodil mostly, I think) with a tiny bit of morning dew and light musks. There is no milk or cream to be found until several hours after applying it when I get the faintest whiff. This isn't what I expected - I thought I'd get more cream - but I do like it, its a lovely delicate spring floral.
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Like most of the previous reviewers, I don't get a lot of chocolate from this. (I'm okay with that though, as dark chocolate can smell musty on me.) What I do get is a lot of tart, zesty lime sitting on a creamy base, like key lime pie filling. This doesn't last long on my skin, but its perfect in a scent locket. This is my favourite of the Box of Chocolates this year.
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White Chocolate, Strawberry, and White Pepper Truffle
TheIceMaiden replied to thekittenkat's topic in Lupercalia
I don't have much to add to the reviews - this is lots of cream and a little sweet, candied strawberry (or strawberry jam) with just a tiny sprinkle of white pepper. I like the pepper note in this as it balances out all the sweetness. This is quite different from last year's, which was (to me) more like a fresh ripe strawberry dipped in a very thin coating of white chocolate. But I do like them both. -
In the wet stage, this is very sweet raspberry (almost like lollies or hard candy) balanced with tart blood orange. Yum! As it dries, the neroli comes out and threatens to go soapy. The drydown is very orange-y with that threat of soapy-ness, but never pure Ivory soap smell. (Thank goodness!) Overall, this is pretty nice. I love the wet stage so I'll probably keep this for locket use.
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Rose absolute, caramel, ripe red berries, pink pepper, Balsam of Peru, cognac, and benzoin. I bought this on a whim last year and I'm glad I did as it turned out to be my favourite Lupercalia of 2009. The top note is the pink pepper, which gives this an herbal and spicy kick. The caramel and cognac give it just a touch of sweetness which balances out the tartness of the berries, and the rose is softly underneath, holding everything together. This is a very pretty and feminine scent.
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Just as the previous reviewers have said, this is lush, herbal lavender and bergamot. When I got this fresh from the Lab almost a year ago, the lavender was very fleeting before the bergamot kicked in and took over. Now its smoothed out and its equally lavender and bergamot. Sadly, it still doesn't last long, but Pontia is a gorgeous scent while its there.
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Oh, this is lovely!! Its a heavy New England snowfall (the snow smelling of mint and eucalyptus) with the last of the autumnal mums somewhere underneath. The drydown is mint and a soft amber, really unique and pretty. This has decent throw and good staying power too.
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This starts off electrical ozone and mint so sharp my eyes watered. Yikes! But it soon settles into a blend of fir, berries (hollyberry?), a bit of metal, and a touch of ozone. I love this scent not only for the way it smells, but how it invokes the holiday season. To me, this smells like the houses decorated with so many lights they can probably be seen from space (like the house in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.) This is going to be a fun scent for the December season.
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Thank you to the first reviewer for looking up the notes!! Joulumuori starts off with what might be a combination of the luumukiisseli and riisipuuro - I smell warm spices (mostly cinnamon), rice porridge, and just a touch of prune. In the midstage, I get a bit of spice and a lemon-citrus light booze - the sima. There might be a drop of honey in it, but its not obvious. The drystage is the warm hearth - light smoke and a touch of charred wood, which keeps the scent from going too foody. Unfortunately, as much as I liked the scent, I had to pass this up as it gave me a headache.
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I have little to add here as the previous reviewers are spot-on - this is Snow White and Rose Red's little sister. This started off so similar to Snow White I had to double check the label to make sure it was Pink Snowballs. After a while, Snow White's snow melted away to reveal a lovely, subtle rose (not as potent as Rose Red) with a little vanilla. The drydown is a vanilla-musk type of scent. This scent could have been custom-made for me. Snow White is one of my favourite perfumes, rose is my favourite individual scent, and I love vanilla as well. I have a suspicion this will be getting a lot of use this winter.
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When I first discovered the Lab in 2006, I had heard this was the "Holy Grail" of rose scents so I tracked down a 2005 bottle. Sadly, I wasn't impressed. It was too much sour greenery and not enough rose to suit me. Fast forward several years, and I was frimped an imp of Rose Red 2007. Now I understood what everyone was talking about. This is the most realistic rose I've ever smelled, crisp and cold and beautiful. The greenery is still present, but its very soft. This is beautiful, and although its not my favourite rose scent, its too pretty to not have in my collection.
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Oh, this is so pretty! It smells like a fully-opened pink rose at the peek of its bloom. As it dries, I get a little greenery, but the dominant scent is a sweet, almost fruity rose. It does remind me of Rose Red, but softer and less greenery. Its not my favourite rose scent, but I do love it and should think about getting myself a bottle.
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I love pumpkin, and I love rose...but would these work together? Yes! I prefer this in the scent locket, where its an even mix of sweet pumpkin and rose grounded by the wood notes. On my skin, the woods amped a bit too much. This is lovely and will make a lovely addition to my Pumpkin Patch.
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When I initially tried this, I wasn't that impressed. It was mostly very dry scone with very sugary (and not very blackberry) jam. But it smelled nice enough in the bottle, so I put some in my scent locket, left for the day, and forgot about it. A little while later, as the heat kicked on in my car and I started to defrost and warm up, I began to smell something delicious and realized it was coming from the locket. Now it smelled like fresh baked scones with a tiny dollop of blackberry jam. Its a keeper!
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This review is for the 2005 version, which is what I have. This starts off with gingerbread spices, booze, and a soft, warm musk. Its not really gourmand like Gingerbread Poppet or Invasion of the Flesh-Eating Reindeer From Uranus, but its a distant cousin. As it dries, it gets less boozy and smoky with a touch of a light wood. The drydown is lots of smoke with a touch of musk. From the description, I didn't think I'd like this (it sounded too masculine) but its quite nice!
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This was a surprise hit for me of last year's Halloween offerings. I usually don't like cake notes, but the cake in this is very subtle, and made even more delicious by the orange and creamy custard. Next comes in the anise, its quite potent and licorice-y. The dry stage is the creamy custard again with a light floral note.
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This is a review of the 2006 version. Creepy starts out sweet caramel and crisp, tart apples. Then the coconut rum comes in, although its more coconut than rum. The drydown is a coconutty-caramel scent. When this was fresh, the butterscotch was there but in the meantime, its blended into the caramel, and the rum has gone less boozy and more coconutty. Overall, this is a very sweet scent but the tart apple keeps it from being too sweet. I enjoy Creepy, although its not a favourite and therefore not in regular rotation, so I don't think I need a backup, but I've enjoyed what I do have.