jasmine

This is a low, warm, slightly prickly smell. It has depth and subtlety; I applied more than I meant to, but it doesn’t overwhelm. Instead, it lingers. Instead of commanding the air around it, it changes the existing scents ever so slightly, like using a Hue brush in Photoshop to turn the world golden brown, or even sepia. In an effort to smell this more clearly, I’ve bounced my nose off my knee (side-of-knee application) twice now. Since Meskhenet is on my nose, I can’t possibly smell it any more clearly, but it’s still subtle and I still can’t section the notes apart from one another. It’s subtle, broad, deep. This is a scent that emotionally suggests observation and patience. Initially, Meskhenet blends into my skin, and I mentally categorize it as a scent for a day when no one needs to notice what I’m wearing, but when I will feel glad to be wearing something. To my surprise, it finally blooms after half an hour. It’s still a golden brown smell that suggests incense and dried reeds. I like this.

This is sharp on the wand, with a bright burst of fragrance that is almost, but not quite like orange peel. I can smell the grape underneath, and the lemon beside the orange. I don’t smell roses at all, which is a bit of a disappointment, but I don’t smell mint either, and I’m not complaining about that. Hmm. I still can’t detect the rose uniquely, but I think the rose is forming the middle body of this scent. It’s sharp, but it isn’t thin -- it has definite body. The rose seems to be at the center, with the grape below and the citrus above. I like this scent. My jaw isn’t on the floor, but Bess is pretty. This fragrance isn’t doing anything wrong and it’s doing good things right. Therefore, Bess is worth remembering.

There’s mint here. In the first moment, it isn’t toothpasty, but then it comes out a bit more clearly... wince. This is a cold smell, and it’s more than just a sliver of mint on my skin. (I wonder if I’m a mint-magnifier?) I can pick up traces of floral as well. This is slightly exotic, thanks to the eucalyptus, and slightly sterile, thanks to the cold mint. It doesn’t do it for me and it isn’t going to start doing it for me. I can imagine it being a good signature scent for someone else, but it’s completely alien to me... as I figured it would be, honestly. Oh well. I gave it a try; it was a swing and a miss. (At least the violet didn’t go evil or chemically on me.) Now I’ll go try something else.

Van Van is strange. It’s a light, intensely spicy blend with something like mingled citrus and vanilla underneath. It smells nice, though -- a bit like Snickerdoodles, if someone made an orange-spiked Snickerdoodle. Strange and good are not incompatible. This is growing on me rapidly. When I smell this, I want to smile. It’s a very friendly scent, heavy on the vanilla. It isn’t what I thought a “purification” scent would be (I anticipated soap, mint, or incense), but it is very positive and makes me feel good when I smell it. I like it far more than I expected to. (I’m not big on soap, mint, or incense.) This isn’t all the way to foody... I don’t feel like I’m gaining calories just by smelling it, and it doesn’t make me feel like I’m being smothered in icing... but it does remind me of cookies, and I really like it. It’s not a sensual scent at all; I would be totally happy wearing this to work. And I’m going to wear it to work. This is way nifty.

A funereal bouquet laid on cemetery grass: longiflorum lilies, white rose, chrysanthemum, and carnation. Fresh off the wand, this is a sharp floral scent with a bit of grassiness underneath. It's a direct floral, something clear, yet slightly fading at the edges; uncompromising in itself, but not overwhelmingly so. The lily is presenting itself most strongly, but the various flowers blend together without conflict. I really can't detect the rose at all. After a bit, this starts going faintly soapy. (Well, maybe that's the rose.) The soap wanders vaguely in and out of the floral. The floral itself is pretty in a traditional way, but it just isn't attracting my attention well. Also, it vanished down to near nonexistence within two hours. I recommend this to anyone who wants a simple, traditional floral, but I'm looking for something more interesting than this.

First applied... I don’t know what to think. It’s a broad, complicated green scent, but not planty or aquatic, just... green. As is my normal wont, I turn promptly to the walkthrough (or, in this case, the scent notes). And the truth is, I still can’t make heads or tails of it. This is an incredibly complex scent. As it settles slightly on my wrist, there’s one aspect that comes out above the others, a darker green leafiness, but I can’t identify it with any confidence; I would tentatively call it blackberry leaf, but it’s blackberry listed, not blackberry. Goodness. The Lab is not making this one easy! But I do like this. Despite the description, I wouldn’t call it sensual. Instead, it’s confident and calm, without being innately calming... a quiet, slightly calculating scent. After a while, the scent deepens and the green fades, though there’s still a trace of sweetness. Further on, the sweetness blossoms and the honey is detectable over wood and amber. Interesting. This is definitely a highly metamorphic oil. The final stage it settles into is woody and musky and faintly honeyed. It clings close to my skin and doesn’t have much throw, but it’s intriguing. Actually, that’s the best word for Fazia: intriguing. I will come back and wear this scent again and be further intrigued in the future.

I was ridiculously excited about this scent, but I confess I’m not certain why. Reading the notes just convinced me that this would be a great scent for me, even though I don’t think of myself as an aquatics lover. So... this will be interesting. I hope I’m not disappointed. It is interesting, and it’s enchanting as well. It’s a bright, clean, scent that has a planty presence without being earthy. It’s definitely an aquatic, but not an overwhelmingly salty one. I can pick up the pear, but it isn’t at all fruity -- I would be willing to believe this was pear blossom instead of pear itself, because the floral aura is so strong. This is a fresh, refreshing, gorgeous summer scent, equally floral and watery. It isn’t sophisticated, but it has a simple loveliness to it that is perfect for a casual day in the park or an afternoon with friends. I’m a happy winner.

This was a freebie from the Lab, and I’ve made a point of not reviewing the scent notes for it before I test it, so let’s see what I’ve got here. Checking Wikipedia, I am reminded that Megaera is one of the Furies (commanding jealousy, envy, and infidelity), so if this is a peculiar or unpleasant scent, it won’t surprise me. It’s a light scent straight off the wand, but with a spicy undercurrent. Whatever is on top seems to be an obscure citrusy smell... nothing as simple as lemon, lime, or grapefruit, but... bergamot, perhaps, or citron. The citrus is yellow to my nose, but whatever lies underneath is broad and white, almost creamy, and then the fuzz of spice is underneath (though the spice is already fading down.) This is actually a rather nice scent, and it’s good for the summer weather, too. It makes me feel calm and collected and in control... it’s a scent that inspires confidence. How unexpected and nifty! So I finally tag the site and discover... that citrus on top would be bergamot AND grapefruit (no wonder I couldn’t place it!) and the white underneath would be the amber. I feel reasonably accomplished and fuzzy, and I’m happy with the scent as well. I will try to remember that I like this, because this scent would be great for work.

Wow! This is remarkably sharp off the wand -- a clear, concentrated scent that brushes the cobwebs straight out of my brain. The citrus is very strong, and it smells like peel instead of fruit, as there’s no sugar at all here. (To catch everybody up to speed: mikan is another name for satsuma tangerine, and yuzu is Asian grapefruit, so those are combined in the citrus that I smell in the top of this scent -- and they’re in perfect combination, since I can detect them both uniquely.) Beyond the citrus, there’s a hint of non-citrus fruit, but just a hint. After some quick research, I think I’m smelling the kaki beneath the citrus, as kaki is apparently a kind of persimmon. The cherry blossom doesn’t really have its own presence, but fills out the rest. And presence there is. This is a scent with a serious aura of command. It’s exotic, beautiful, precise, unusual, and I’m enthralled. I’m not sure that it fits its name very well, since it doesn’t strike me as a sexual scent, but it’s so gorgeous that I don’t really care. It doesn’t just refresh me -- it energizes and exhilarates me. This would be the scent to wear dancing if I just wanted to bleed as much energy as I possibly could, and it would keep me going till dawn. People talk about “big bottle” scents. Except for disasters (broken imp caps, etc) I typically don’t think, “I’m buying a big bottle of this”, because I haven’t completed any imps yet -- I wear a lot of different scents, and I’m not a slatherer. But when I get toward the end of this, I’ll be in line instantly for more. This is amazing.

This is a surprisingly green smell. I detect the grapefruit right away, but it’s layered into a light green lime scent. Interesting. After a moment, it goes into a misty, ethereal state. It’s very high-pitched. Shortly after, it disintegrated into a thin, gray, chemical smell. I am supremely disappointed. I reapplied, just in case I could convince it to stay around this time. I like it very much straight off the wand -- it’s a melange of interesting fruit that isn’t foody, but has a floral/perfumey overtone instead. After only a minute, again, the scent dissolves into high-pitched mist, and I have a sinking feeling. Shortly after, it’s back to that gray chemical state. There’s the faintest glimmer of lime still hovering over it... but not enough, not by a long shot. I can only conclude that something in my skin chemistry is innately wrong for this scent. What a disappointment.

Apple! Oh, my, that’s lovely -- the first whiff is a strong, bright blast of apple like a crisp Golden Delicious that has just been cut open. This is definitely a golden apple scent, not a red one or a green one. Given a moment, the scent broadens and relaxes. I detect a trace of non-apple underneath the apple -- faint hints of wood and floral -- but the apple is sufficiently strong that it’s really all I can identify. And it has great endurance, and it isn’t metamorphosing on me... yay! Big yay! This is a light, refreshing apple scent that I readily commend to apple-lovers. The Hesperides is a great name for the scent, but an equally good one would have been “Idun’s Apples”, for the apples that gave youth to the Aesir in Norse mythology.

Spicy. Interesting! Freshly applied, this manifests on my skin into a spicy, warm wood with just a breath of coolness underneath. It strikes me as distinctly masculine from the very beginning (drat). It isn’t a sensual smell at all -- just a warm smell. It makes me smile, though... there’s something innately comforting about it. (The tonka, maybe?) I really can’t identify any individual notes in this. It’s just a warm, masculine smell, and, despite reviewing the notes, I can’t pick a single one out. Like many of the Lab’s creations, it takes disparate elements and coaxes them into chimaerical coherence. Later on, the benzoin and lime come out, and the woodiness fades out. Oddly, it’s still warm-smelling -- that must be the tonka. Despite all the leafy ingredients, it doesn’t smell leafy. Odd. Lysander is nice, but I really can’t see myself wearing it. I’d recommend it for men who want to project an aura of friendliness without any associated allure... and that’s about it. (Of course, I have a few scents that I wear for exactly that reason -- 13 in particular -- but I don’t feel I’m the right gender for this one.)

... Offerings of milk, honey and sweet grains were made to placate these creatures, and it is that the basis of the scent created in their name. This is a highly popular scent, so I'm interested to see how this goes. It's underappealing on the wand, with that faintly Play-Dohish scent that I associate with skin musk. Once applied, though, this doesn't have the murkiness of skin musk scents -- there's a faint layer of it, but the milk flows above it in a clear, sweet vein, and there's a shimmering hint of honey above the milk. In fact, almost immediately, the little bit of murkiness I detect fades out. What remains is startlingly subtle. I need to be within two inches to smell it recognizably. Any farther away, and there's nothing there. (I used to use a honey-scented soap that was a bit like this, actually. Not Lush, but a miscellaneous brand that I picked up in an Asian market.) And that's it, for the moment. It's... subtle. Really subtle. I'm going to give it some more time and see if it does something interesting. It's a bit less subtle now, but still hardly obtrusive. I see why Alice lovers like this: it has that same "I've been in a milk bath" quality. Alice seemed a bit sour on me the first time, while Dana O'Shee doesn't, but I liked the flowers and innocence stage of Alice, and Dana O'Shee doesn't have an equivalent. It would be a tossup if Dana O'Shee weren't so reclusive, but darnit, have some presence! I'll come back to this another time and see if I like it better.

This is one of only two Lab scents that claims to have a coffee facet (the other being Miskatonic University.) I would love to smell like the inside of a coffeeshop; with this many floral notes, it won’t happen here, but I’m giving it a whirl anyway. It sounds like fun. Fresh on, this is a bouquet of lush, thick flowers in wild magenta shades. Jasmine blooms out all over my arm, but the roses keep it from smelling white -- there’s far too much rose, and it’s not a pure, pristine white rose, but a sultry dark red one. Instead, it’s just brilliant and startling -- the olfactory equivalent of being eyecatching. This is fantastic, and it has huge presence. I think it may be a bit overpowering for the summer, but it’s flamboyant and sensual and flowing and coiling -- perfect for a scent named after a dancer. After a bit, the warmth and the jasmine vanish, which is sad -- I liked the humid hothouse flower fullness of it. The end result is surprisingly chill and distant. It’s still pretty, but... nowhere near as appealing. I was drawn to this smell for its wildness and warmth. More time passes, and it’s almost all rose now. The jasmine is gone; the roses are white, if not silver, and quite cold. I can detect a trace of wood underneath, finally, but it’s only a trace. The jasmine reappears after a while longer, which is a bit of a relief. (I swear half of the Lab's scents need buttons reading "I Metamorphose Strangely Without Warning.") It’s not as wild and overwhelming as it was at first, but much nicer than when it went all cold. I could live without that intermediate flash, which was such a sharp disappointment, but it lasted less than half an hour, and I’m perfectly willing to accept it for the beginning and end results.

I already know (based on compulsively sniffing someone else’s wrist) that Shub-Niggurath can be warm and sexy and marvelous, but I haven’t tried it on myself yet, so I’m very curious about how this will work on me. On the wand, it’s almost a little bit foody -- it has this broad, spicy appeal. In fact, as it sinks in a bit further, it becomes downright foody. I’m picking up cake and wood and spice. It isn’t offensive cake (my skin has this habit of sending raiding parties raging CAAAAKE! across my arm at the littlest provocation) but it’s cakey. Hmm. As a general rule, I’ve found that I don’t go much for wearing food scents, and this doesn’t seem to be an exception -- I like food scents on other people, but they seem out of place on me. (Has anyone else claimed Shub is foody? Is this just a weirdness of mine? I don’t remember it being cakey on my prior victim.) The cake scent backs off after a while, yielding a warm glow of myrrh. It’s like Priala’s spiced brother, but I like the little pyro herself better when I’m the one wearing it. Without a direct comparision, I can’t be certain, but I have the impression that Priala has more lasting power on me. The spice comes out further and the myrrh backs off as I wait. I like this a lot... but I’d like it far better if I weren’t the one wearing it. Like Dorian and Severin, this scent just wants to be worn on somebody else. Drat.