Salsa Shark

This is almost entirely sweet, candied fruits on me. The throw smells like pretty generic exotic fruit bubble bath, and while the scent is a bit more grounded and complex closer to the skin, it's still far too sweet for me to wear, though there ginger stops the sweetness from becoming too cloying and the citrus too tart. There's also hint of woods and resins that give it a sooth airy feel, but they're just a background to the rest of it. It's a very nice scent, just not for me at all.

I really can't get much out of this scent other than an initial blast of very tart sour cola bottle sweets. Seriously. That's all I get. This weird, sharp candied smell with a vinegary edge which overpowers everything. Obviously this is an issue with my skin chemistry more than anything else.

For a while, this is absolutely beautiful. A soft, ethereal night time lilac scent. When first applied, there's that strong burst of lilac and green stem-like feel that's very reminiscent of Virahotkantita, but it quickly softens and doesn't stay as heady or as powerful. The blue musk, cedar and neroli all give a soft, dark feel to it, while the ozone gives it that fresher sparkling feel. It's a mature, classy perfume perfect for night wear. Unfortunately after about half an hour it all just sort of fades into a simple 'herbal' scent that clings close to the wrist. Silly herbs.

This scent was a complete surprise. I can't even remember why I ended up ordering it, because oakmoss is usually such a deal breaker note for me. I think the amber/muguet/myrrh combo seduced me. Anyway, in the bottle and straight on this smelled sort of as you'd expect - grey, fuzzy and a with a definite 'generic perfume' feel. I can definitely see how other people got hairspray. At first I thought it was going to go powdery and soapy, but after about five minutes it warmed up and oh my word... It smells like Snow White's more sophisticated lesbian older sister. I love it. There's a sharp, sweet lily scent from the muguet and tonka, while the throw is soft, dark resiny yum. Instead of taking over, the oakmoss is barely even noticeable, just sat there tying it all together and stopping it from becoming too 'girly'. It eventually fades out into a soft sweet grey musk. Not a huge amount of throw or wear length, but it lingers around for long enough. Definitely glad I got a bottle!

This is mostly a soft, creamy fruity vanilla, and on my skin smells much like The Perilous Parlour, just with a softer, cleaner edge from the lily of the valley (which usual amps up to cheap sopa on my skin, but here is wonderfully behaved) and a bit of bite from the ginger. The woods never really make an appearence on me though.

White, for acting in good conscience and doing our best to give back to the community. Frangipani, magnolia, cotton flower, osmanthus, crystal musk, ambrette, white orchid, sugar cane, davana, white sandalwood, petitgrain, lavender, and lotus root. This morphed quite a bit on me, and there were gorgeous moments when the orchid and magnolia each took centre stage, but in general, it felt as if there were just too many notes not sitting well with each other. I usually don't have a problem with lavender, but with the white musk it just became a bit too cloying and soapy. I also have to be careful with white sandalwood, as unless it's with the right notes it goes weird and buttery, which it did here, and added to the crazy lavender/musk mess it was just... really not something I could wear. Which is a shame, because there were moments when it was fabulous, and exactly what I wanted it to be. Unfortunately my chemistry decided to amp up the three notes which didn't want to play nicely together.

A soft and feminine citrus/floral/aquatic. It is pretty and calming, but on me the citrus/aquatic is very reminiscent of the 'Rain' or 'Seabreeze' room/candle scents various places make and there's that general cloying musk which usually indicates grapefruit. It is nice, but if I was in the mood for this kind of scent, I'd go for Amsterdam or Danube first.

Gutted. In the bottle this was the purest, most divine chocolate scent ever. I was in love from the first sniff. But oh....! The second it hit my skin it turned into screeching, sharp burnt plastic. I've had it sort of happen before - some vanillas and the first few minutes of Snow White, but this actually just reached out and slapped me in the face. I'm not even sure why, since I've never had problems with the labs cocoa or cream notes before.

This was a wonderfully evocative scent when I first put it on - dark and crystalline, but soft and quite sweet at the same time. I'm lucky in that I don't amp jasmine the way a lot of other people do, but even for me it was less noticeable than usual, just a soft floral sweetness rather than standing out as a note on it's own. I can't judge the scent past the first few minutes though because GAH! IRIS! I actually thought for a minute I'd get away with it, but no.... it lured me in then crushed me. It was a lovely scent before the iris kicked in though, and if you can do jasmine then definitely give it a try - it's perfect midnight in a bottle.

This had been lingering on the bottom of my wishlist for a while, because although it sounded beautiful and complex and a great citrus scent...... iris. Straight out of the imp, the iris is there alongside a burst of lime. It doesn't change much on my skin ; no sign of the amber, coconut, lemongrass, peony or muguet - just unholy green iris-y doom. If I inhale deeply close to my skin (which I try not to do too much because hey, iris!) there's a sweet, sparkling green scent hiding somewhere under all the evil. I can see this being absolutely beautiful on someone who didn't have Immense Iris Issues, especially in the summer.

This is a sweet, airy green scent - simple, but beautiful. Its almost entirely tea and bamboo as far as I can tell, but with a soft musky quality rather than the initial tartness I could smell in the bottle and which most of the 'clean' scents have on my skin. I don't get any citrus from this at all. There isn't a great deal of throw, but it clings to my skin for longer than I was expecting, just a soft feminine fragrance floating ever so faintly around me. Absolutely lovely.

This is all dark, spicy violets on me. The vetiver wafts in and out at various stages of the drydown, but it never really muscles its way to the front like it can do in some blends, and the cedarwood and patchouli are almost completely indistinguishable as notes in and of themselves, but they're there stopping the violet from going overly powdery and sweet. The pepper is strong in this one as well, backed by the cardamom. I never really pick up the myrrh or grapefruit though. This is a wonderfully blended and interesting mix of notes. Unfortunately, the violet amps up that bit too much for me to find it wearable.

This is pretty much straight up violets on me. On initial application there's a sweet, crisp water note, but it fades quickly and just leaves behind the scent of soft, powdery violet. As I'm not a huge fan of violet when it's not noticeably blended with something else, I can't really comment on it's calming effect.

In the imp this was a sharp, sweet floral smell which blossomed into a beautiful mix of citrus and green plants when first applied. There was a strong powdery undertone which made my nose tickle a bit if I inhaled too deeply, but thats the risk one runs if you keep your wrist glued to your nose when testing BPALs Then the floral notes start to come out more, and there's a suspicious hint of rose, although at this point it adds to the blend rather than stands out as a rose scent, and a creeping of Lily. Unfortunately the lily note starts to turn loud and soapy, which generally means Lily of the Valley which does't like me as other lillies do. But hey, it drowns out the sour powder that the rose has morphed into. This would be an absolute favourite if only I could keep that first quarter of an hour. Definitely can't wear it, but it's certainly worth holding onto the imp for scent locket testing.

I won this from the Lab's ebay auction, though it doesn't specify which year. The first time I tried this on, it either hadn't had time to settle or my hormone cycle was playing up, because something almost immediately amped up to the high, cloyingly sweet level that signifies Honey stomping all over a blend. I figured that the boozy aspect was probably honey mead or the musk was one that randomly didn't like me, pouted a lot, then stuck the bottle into the swap box. I decided to give it another go today, and I'm so glad I did! It's still got a high level of sweetness, but it's a dark, sticky boozy sweetness that isn't nearly as cloying, and there is a hint of a sharp autumn smoke cutting through the musk. There's still something about it that reminds me a lot of the lab's honey note, which is where most of the sweetness is coming from, although I can just about detect the sharper sugar note lingering around with the smoke. Throw and wear length wise it isn't especially heavy, but for me it's still a little too sweet for everyday use. Once the colder nights start drawing in though, I think it'll be seeing a bit more use.

In the bottle, the first thing to hit me was the Tobacco note that I loved in Mr Nancy, with a slight masculine edge behind it. On my skin, it didn't change much; sweet, creamy tobacco, with a salty water note floating in the background that wasn't strong enough to make this an 'aquatic' blend, but gave it a definite masculine feel, although the sweetness of the milk and tobacco keep this quite close to the realms of gender-neutral. This would be great on a guy though - not in a drop dead sexy need-you-up-against-a-wall-NOW, but in a comforting cuddlebunny way. Which really isn't the first thing that springs to mind when you think of Shadwell, but never mind. As it is, I enjoy wearing it myself. The scent makes me feel happy, and until I find a willing boy guinea pig, I can keep compulsively sniffing my wrists instead.

This is fascinating, and not at all what I was expecting. Amber usually dominates in any blend, but I can't actually pick out the individual note until a good few hours into the drydown, and Egyptian Amber is apparently a lot more subtle and sweeter than the other ambers I've tried. It's not just the amber, either; I can't pick out any one single note, even though Frankincense and Chamomile both usually stand out well on my skin. There's the definite feel of the notes, but if I didn't know what the notes were, there's no way I'd be able to pick them out. Overall, it's a sharp golden resin. It's bright and dry - a crisp and promising summer morning rather than the warm lazy heat of an afternoon, and while there's a spicy edge to it, it's mostly sweet, nutty orange that's foody without being overwhelmingly so.

Almost entirely caramel. And since caramel hates me, that should be 'almost entirely stale toffee popcorn'. There's a hint of something fruity and dark underneath; the currant and the patchouli attempting to peek through and make themselves known, and if I sniff deeply there really is a complex and beautiful scent trying to get out. The caramel doesn't give in though, and I have to wash this off in the end.

Time and budget meant I was only able to get one of the DPP scents, and although there were others that had note lists that seemed more like sure fire hits, I ended up going for this one. I am so glad I did! At every stage this is pure bitter, milky dandelion and fresh cut green grass. It's light and airy, but warm and it really does smell like pure summer. Luckily, I don't get even the faintest hint of soap and the grass note never does the weird chemical thing that I get in blends like Scarecrow and Coyote. It never morphs away from the gorgeous grass-and-dandelions - a little way into the drydown, the dandelion note mellows a bit and loses some of it's bitterness, but it's still definitely there. There's a generous amount of throw for the first hour or two, and then it clings to my skin for a good few hours further. This is divine.

This is a hard one to review, because I've found that this more than most other blends I've tried tends to differ wildly each time I wear it. Usually it's predominantly DB resin and cherry blossom, making it a kind of soapy fruity floral, with a sharp sweetness from the bamboo, and then other times it's the tart crisp green scent of the bamboo and tea, mellowed and anchored by the sandalwood. An then from time to time it'll be anywhere in between those two. This time round it's mostly sandalwood and tea, with a vague hint of cherry blossom. The DB and bamboo disappeared after about five minutes from putting it on. Last time it was almost all DB.

In the bottle there's a distinct candy-like cherry note that smells very sweet and a little plastic, which is a little worrying, especially having read the number of 'cherry cough sweet' reviews. On my skin though, it's a lovely, creamy strawberry and cherry liquor feel. Not too bright and sickly, and not too thick and cloying either. After an hour or so of drydown, I do get the 'Strawberry Shortcake Doll/My Little Pony' plastic scent right up against the wrist, but the throw itself is all red fruit and a cloud of powdered sugar. It only lasts a few hours, but it's a nice light and playful summery scent when it is there, and I think I'll keep an eye out for a second bottle.

In the imp this had a nice, soft ethereal feel to it. On my skin, however, it was just an unremarkable pale floral buried under the usual mess that my chemistry turns iris into. It's a shame, because I adore the lab's lily scents and all the other components sounded so intriguing, but all I could get from under the iris really was 'white flowers', and the blend faded that quickly that I never got past the 'omg iris-y death!' stage. It's a shame, because everyone elses reviews made this sound beautiful.

I got this as a frimp from the lab, and it's one I'd never have picked for myself - rose and honey both amp up to intolerable amounts on my skin. I was actually a little afraid of what the combined result would be, but I tried it anyway.... Oh my. Wet and in the first stages of drydown Eve is absolutely beautiful. Sweet fresh apple with a soft, light floral feel. Eventually though, the rose and honey do their amping thing and.... I still love it. The rose doesn't go powdery or sour, and the honey doesn't go too cloying or sickly sweet. It is an absolutely perfect honeyed rose, and a wonderful girly summer scent.

In the imp this bright, strong and sweet, though I can't pick out individual notes and it takes a while for me to be able to distinguish much of anything when I first apply it, though when I do there's honey, pepper and a green herbal scent along with the slightest feel of musk and the occasional whiff of something floral and something cocoa-like. It's absolutely lovely. Unfortunately, less than twenty minutes in it's almost pure honey. The herbal note and the pepper try to reign it in for a bit, but they don't last long. The result being that I don't feel empowered so much as annoyed that my skin chemistry has turned yet another wonderful complex blend into Honey SN.

This was almost perfect and I was about to have a new OMGBESTBPALEVER!, but alas, iris continues to hate me. Wet and for the first half an hour this was a lovely creamy sweet floral, with the orange blossom and carnation balanced perfectly with a hint of sugar and the iris just giving it a bit of a kick. But after the initial drydown everything except the iris started to recede and I was left with a sharp perfumey floral and no sweet creamy goodness at all.