astarinel
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Everything posted by astarinel
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This is a strong gourmand patchouli, pretty sweet. Wet, I'm getting a dark sugared vanilla patchouli with a little touch of cacao. As it dries, the cardamom comes out more strongly giving the scent a spicy edge.
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The Lab's fizzy champagne note with sweet vanilla and amber on top. The champagne note is clean and bright, and the vanilla and amber are sweet but not cloying, almost a little creamy. I love the Lab's champagne blends, and this is a soft and wearable champagne scent. The champagne fades in the long drydown, leaving behind a clean vanilla/amber skin scent. This reminds me a little of Arcana's Frivolous Aside, but simpler and dryer (Bubbly champagne cocktails, vanilla frosting, deep pink musk, sugar cubes, toasty coconut, and a soft compress for your head the next morning).
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Thank goodness this is the orange blossom note I like, the same one as in Katharina and Harlequin. I was hoping for more of the other notes, but wet this is primarily orange blossom. It's a nice orange blossom, with just a touch of honey and frankincense. In the drydown, the balance changes and it's primarily frankincense with a little orange blossom and honey. I never really got any amber or anything spicy. A very straightforward scent, warm and golden.
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Very sweet and delicious. While wet, the scent is primarily honey, pastry, and soft roses, like baklava flavored with rose water. I don't specifically get hazelnut, caramel, or goat's milk, but there's a rich creamy nuttiness to this dessert. I think I prefer Knave of Hearts for my pastry + rose scent needs, but this one is very pretty and tasty, and if you wanted something more baklava and less pie with roses this one definitely fits the bill.
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Very apple-y, a bright green apple but not an overly tart one. While wet, I don't get much else other than that pleasant juicy apple note. As it dries, something green and leafy starts to balance out the apple, but it remains a very apple-forward scent. Not much yuzu to be seen here, and what citrussy hints I'm getting fade quite quickly as the scent dries. I almost get something sort of soft and musky underneath the apples in the long drydown, but I'm not sure what it is given the note list!
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This one is very interesting and not what I expected from the note list. The peach note has a tartness to it, and there's some bitterness from I'm guessing the bergamot and tobacco flower. Some soft golden incense lies underneath the bright fruity notes. I don't get any floral anywhere. As it dries, the peach gets a bit sweeter and rounder and the scent warms up a bit, but still no florals in sight. A cool clean peach + frankincense in the long drydown.
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Lovely white rose note, slightly dewy, not powdery or soapy. I was really hoping for some warm sweet vanilla tones from the benzoin, but this is basically just a single note rose. I'm not a rose connoisseur by any means, but this seems like a different rose note to the ones I've smelled in Rose Red and Hope. It's clean, soft, and not at all sweet.
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This is a Fruity Floral with capital letters. On, wet, this is clean and sweet, a refreshing scent dominated by the peony and lychee. The tea may be what's keeping it a little fresh, but I find it hard to pick out the individual notes in this one. This is really pleasant, and I keep thinking I'd love it in an atmo spray as a room scent, but I'm not sure I love it as a perfume.
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This is a very golden scent, and the amber is definitely the star. The amber note here is a more perfumey, musky amber to my nose, very golden and warm. Around the edges is a little bit of citrus, but I'm not getting any distinct notes and no sweetness, just a little wisp of tart fruit. The scent is golden, dry, and warm, very much an amber scent. Stays pretty similar into the long drydown, maybe with a little more of the bergamot peeking out. I never smell anything identifiable as saffron.
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This is primarily a very springlike floral, airy blossoms with honey. The honey is a very light, gentle honey note, and not as sticky or heady as honey notes can sometimes be. Like some others in this thread, the "spring breeze" got a little ozone-y on me. It never quite went full dryer sheets, as ozone notes tend to do on my skin, but it did get a little loud and mess up the note balance a bit. Drydown is mostly honey with a touch of wildflowers.
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Exactly what it says on the tin. Wet, this is a light, sweet honey rather than a heady or sexy honey with soft sweet citrus and orange blossom. I don't know if I'd say orange specifically, but it's definitely got a juicy citrus note there. The slightly-bitter orange blossom is a bit more prominent than the citrus, which cuts the honey nicely. Dries down to a citrus-tinged honey candy. Good throw and good lasting power in this stage, but the citrus notes burn off pretty quickly.
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Wow this is so strange and realistic! On, wet, it's warm buttered bread with a touch of cream and spice and almond. The spice stays pretty soft and in the background, and the scent has a saltiness to it that I wasn't expecting. If you are looking for a more savory bakery gourmand, this is it. This stayed pretty much the same as it dried, and had enough throw to make me hungry.
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This is a really interesting one, I think I was expecting a more heady/sexy peach scent based on the name but that's not what I got. Wet, the peach (backed by some apricot) is definitely the star of the show. The peach is a fresh peach, maybe a little underripe, juicy but not overly sweet. The peach note reminds me a bit of the peach in Egoyomi from last year, with that bit of tart, fuzzy "peach skin" smell to it. Balancing the peach a bit is the base of the scent, which is a bit resinous and a bit incensey. No cardamom or spice shows up. I was expecting this to be a more complex version of Alleviate the Frenzy, but the balance of notes is quite different. As it dries, the resin/incense stands out a bit more but this is primarily a peachy scent to my nose. Good throw.
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I'm surprised by all the reviews that mention fruity bubblegum, because I don't get that at all. Wet, I find this primarily about the champaca and pear over a soft white musk base. This is the more gentle, fresh pear note and not the sweeter, juicier pear note that pops up in some blends. I get absolutely no grapefruit at all. Drydown is primarily a champaca skin musk with a wisp of pear. Notably low throw on me, I had to press my nose against the test patch to smell it.
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On wet, this is a perfect sugared pink grapefruit. I just cut open a ripe pink grapefruit and sprinkled sugar on it to eat it. This is probably the most realistic, juicy grapefruit note I've ever smelled. As it dries, the citrus fades and the raspberry and plum musk come out a bit. It's still a refreshing, tart, and bright fruity blend.
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This is a very gentle peach. I normally prefer peach blends that have more of a juiciness and sweetness to them, but this one is on the ethereal side, more like peach skin or peach blossom than peach flesh. Well-blended, subtle, and a bit perfumey. A soft, musky fruit-tinged scent with a little freshness and a little spice. I tend to think of scents vibes as colors, and this one is a sheer pale cool-toned pink. Very fitting for the painting, but not quite what works for me.
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This is very cozy! While wet, it's very much baked red apples with soft spices and sugar, and I don't really get much oatmeal or cookie. Reminds me a bit of Lambs-Wool and the other spiced cider scents. As it dries, the grain notes come to the forefront and the scent becomes primarily oatmeal flavored with apple cider and a touch of spice. There's a little bit of woody nuttiness to the scent, as well, but "cookie" never really makes an appearance. I was prepared to death match this against Sugar Cookie, but now I'm more interested in layering them.
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2020 version. Does exactly what it says on the tin: a stack of warm, fresh from the oven sugar cookies, lightly sprinkled with cinnamon sugar. I also get very little cinnamon here, this is not a snickerdoodle, it's just those big round pale sugar cookies. Fairly buttery , but no frosting/icing here! This is making me really want to eat cookies.
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This is the BPAL snow note that I prefer, the one with sort of a herbal slushy evergreen vibe as in Snow Moon ('05/'12), Skadi, Cloister Graveyard in the Snow, or Nuclear Winter. I loathe the sweet snow note in Snow White and it goes really terrible on my skin, and that one is nowhere to be found here! However, I was really hoping for more marshmallow, because I love the Lab's marshmallow scents and I was expecting a balance here. On wet, however, it's all slushy piney snow with a little bit of vanilla sweetness. As it dries the marshmallow comes out a little more, but this is definitely all about that snow note. If that's your favorite snow note and a sweet vanilla version appeals to you, this is definitely that scent.
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Much less milky than I expected! I sometimes have issues with milk/cream notes, but goat's milk is generally okay and all of the rest of the notes here appealed to me. I was surprised until I read some reviews, but the strongest note for me is the vanilla cashmere. It's this very soft, wooly vanilla musk, and it's actually what I wanted out of the cozy sweater scents and never really got. It's also got a sprinkling of marshmallows and honey dust, but I don't get anything I'd specifically identify as goat's milk or white chocolate. Maybe they're in the background adding some creaminess? This is not very gourmand, it's more of a soft vanilla cozy scent. I could imagine this being a lovely candle or room spray, too.
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I love the lab's champagne note, so this was one of the Yules I was most excited about! On wet, the champagne is definitely the star, but it's also got that chewy dark ginger spice to it, like a really good ginger beer with lots of ginger in it. This smells like an amazing champagne cocktail made with ginger beer and lemonade, and I'd definitely drink it. I'm actually pleased the gingerbread takes a back seat to the champagne, and I think I'd layer with Gingerbread Poppet if I felt like I wanted to amp the gingerbread here. This scent isn't overly gourmand or sweet, it's more fizzy and spicy and tart. Super festive, although it didn't have a ton of throw or lasting power on me. I find the champagne scents in general stick pretty close to the skin and this one was no exception.
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Thick, spicy, chewy gingerbread topped with a little bit of vanilla icing. I really only get gingerbread from this scent, but that's fine! This reminds me very much of Gingerbread Poppet, but with a bit of vanilla. Since I have a bottle of that, I probably don't need this one (and could achieve the effect with layering some of my vanillas if necessary). But if you were missing that one (which hasn't been around for a decade!? yikes!), this is a similar spicy, sweet gingerbread note and very delicious.
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I've tried Smut itself several times, and I like it okay, but I was never interested in a full bottle. But having it as a base for weenies? Now I'm interested. I didn't like this one quite as much as Candy Apple Smut because I didn't find the honey taffy note quite as appealing as the sugared apple. Although it started heavily honey candy, as it dried this scent faded into sort of a warm buttery brown sugar, which didn't add as much interest to Smut as I would have liked. If you like Smut and wanted a more sugary, honeyed version, this is definitely that.
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This was my favorite of the weenies I tried. I've tried Smut itself several times, and I like it okay, but I was never interested in a full bottle. But having it as a base for weenies? Now I'm interested. On, wet, it's immediately a strong, sugary candy apple. Not a caramel apple, but one of those juicy apples with a hard red candy shell. Underneath it has a dark, boozy base. As it dries, the notes sort of meld together and come into balance in a beautiful way, turning into this sort of mulled cider Smut, with dark spiced rum notes and delicious sweet apples. This one lasts a long time in the drydown and has fantastic throw.
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Soft juicy golden apples when wet, with a little honey. As it dries, the other notes come out and this becomes gentle sweet apples over cedar, vanilla, and honey. The cedar has almost a spicy edge to it, and it's overall a very golden scent that manages to be almost sunny and ethereal rather than dark and warm. I agree with the reviews that noted that this faded quickly, it went from wet to drydown to where did it go in less than an hour.
