Wwindy

I don't have much different to add here -- I get the same sharp oaky scent when freshly applied, with a hint of greenery and a fairly masculine vibe, which turns on drydown into a very pleasant, gender-neutral combination of wood plus non-sweet vanilla, with light nut overtones. I really just wanted to note that if your skin is like mine and haaaaaaates some of the Lab's usual bark notes (things that tragically went to pickled feet on me: Whoso List to Hunt, The Wrestler Onogawa Kisaburo Blowing Smoke at a One-Eyed Monster, Kathmandu, The Hesperides, etc. etc. etc.), you may not have a problem here. I'm not having any oak bark issue at all, whee!

Samhain '12 plus a little Punkie Night!

Thanks for that. I too received a frimp of Gnome and it looked and smelled just as you described. I was thinking of ordering one but now I think I'll skip that one. Huh, yeah, the lab told me all they checked their imps and Gnome is a dark oil. I didn't really know what to say to that, looking at the bottle I have next to the imp. I don't know how anyone can smell that oil and think it smells like fizzy ginger. Maybe they bottled up a bunch of the wrong oil? Far be it from me to tell them that they're wrong about their own product, but...yeah, that's not fizzy ginger! Thanks for the validation, I was starting to feel a bit crazy! FWIW, I have an imp of Gnome from, eh, about three/four months ago or so. Mine is a lighter oil and it's definitely fizzy, bubbly, carbonated ginger - makes me think of ginger ale. Velly intellesting . . . Anybody have any updates on Gnome? I love my light-colored, fizzy ginger imp and am sad to be almost out of it -- I'm afraid to order a 5ml if the Lab thinks it's supposed to be something completely different, though!

SCAdians: This smells exactly like Your Inner Vagabond, at Pennsic. No, really! Coffee, overlaid with a little spice and a little sweetness, plus a hit of rosewater. It's *very* evocative.

Half-Elf + Bard = (in the best way!) This is a *fantastic* combination! The sweetness of Bard softens and mellows the slight harshness of the sandalwood that I sometimes get from Half-Elf. I wind up with this amazing cloud of honey-tinged, slightly musky, slightly spicy, woody beeswax with the underlying richness of the oudh plus the brighter top notes of the tea and the... uh... I guess the strings and the brass? Really, really nice.

I'm wearing Economic Recovery today, because we *finally* closed on our refi this morning after months and months of bank nightmares. Hallelujah!!! ...and oh please let this be the start of a better cash flow!

Clear, crisp sandalwood plus overtones of light green, with a touch of musk rounding it out. This is a really nice blend for days when I want something woody/resinous but not too heavy or hippie-ish -- it's rich yet airy at the same time.

Guh! This is one of those blends that I *adore* but can't say much coherent about... Normally I'm not great with fruity notes, but in this blend the lovely rich patchouli and amber make a perfect base for just the right level of sweet-sour tang from the tamarind plus a bit of clean, slightly greenish fig (from sniffing I would've said it was a fig leaf note rather than the fruit, but that might be my chemistry amping the planty aspect of the patchouli). The fruit is a bit tropical-feeling when wet, but that aspect goes away on drydown. There's something incredibly warm and resonant going on here -- much like oudh on my skin. On me this gets a tiny bit powdery but actually isn't overly sweet; the tonka and patch round it out nicely, bringing everything into balance. This is a fruit-and-patchouli scent that works on me -- a non-fruit person -- in sort of the same way that Marotte does; the warm richness keeps the fruit from being too foody or candy-like. I just really, really like this. Also, I find the concept deeply appealing; the original Hebrew phrase is sometimes translated "the universe is built on kindness." Much like Daya, Forever Is Mercy Built feels... well, it just feels warm and kind and loving to me, on top of being a gorgeous resinous scent. Yum!

That's what I wore today too!

I wore The Russian Dance to go see the Nutcracker this past Friday, and have been wearing Nes Gadol Haya Sham ever since. (hmmm, we should maybe have a candle-related emoticon that isn't either the villagers or the furious enflamed face!)

Wet: Spice. Drying down on my skin: Spice. More spice. Great billowing wafts of pumpkin pie spice. If I put my nose right over one of the application spots, I can juuuuuust barely pull out a whiff of sweetness from the champaca and a hint of the hay note from Hay Moon. Otherwise I'd go so far as to say this is allspice allthetime! (hee, see what I did there?) ETA: Some of the Pumpkins have been problematic for me in the past because I don't do well with that particular buttery note a lot of them have; the good news is that if you have the same issue, there's nothing to worry about here -- no buttery note at all.

Yesterday I wore Samhain '12 plus a bit of Punkie Night -- nice combination! Today I dithered a little over Sonnet D'Automne, but wound up wearing All Souls '06.

Apologies in advance -- I know you were looking for GC suggestions, but if you're willing to hunt for some Falling Leaf Moon, I think that might be right up your alley!

I'm wearing Zmey Gorynych today... because tonight we're taking my little girl to go see the "How To Train Your Dragon" live spectacular! (I know, I know, not the *most* appropriate scent in the world, but at least it's dragon-themed! Dragon Moon just wasn't quite doing it for my nose this morning, alas.)

I don't know what owls smell like firsthand, but you could definitely try Fledgling Raptor Moon (Warm, soft tufts of down and gleaming tawny feathers: clove, toasted sandalwood, aged patchouli, bourbon vanilla, carnation, massoia bark, hinoki wood, and West Indian Bay). I think Raven Moon (shining, moonlit ebony musk with benzoin, myrrh, smoky vanilla, patchouli, nutmeg, and dried red chili) is maybe supposed to be more evocative of atmosphere than of actual birds, but that's another thematically appropriate one!

I can't tell you anything useful about the terminology, sorry! However, if you like Smiling Spider you might want to try Saqqara v2 -- it's not exactly the same feel as SS, but the clove note is *gorgeous*.

I haven't tried these two myself, but you could look at La Calavera Catrina (Autumn leaves, wild roses, bourbon vanilla, dry chamomile, and a bouquet of bright chrysanthemums and Mexican marigolds) from last year's Weenies, or Flor de Muerto from 2010 (The orange marigold, or zempasúchitl, has been one of Death's symbols since the pre-Columbian era. The yellow and orange petals are believed to represent the rays of the sun, bringing joy and light to the souls dwelling in the realm of the dead. These flowers surround Day of the Dead altars to guide the spirits to their offerings). Summer's Last Will & Testament (citrus-infused Baltic amber, red valerian, marigold, blood orange, and sunflower subdued by somber myrrh and dry geranium alongside the leaves of autumn and a breath of winter wind) and Flowering Chrysanthemums (Chrysanthemum, marigold, golden sandalwood, vanilla, cinnamon, and amber incense) are lovely, as is Chrysanthemum Moon -- although that last one's tough to find!

I originally tested a decant of Great Cry several years ago, and I think my nose just didn't know quite what to make of it then. This time around I'm working from a fresh Lab bottle, with a little more experience under my belt. On initial application: Musky dark woods accompanied by both a sharp herbal note and a hot dry "sandy" note. I had to apply very heavily for me to get the level of scent presence I like. Weirdly, while still wet this is reminding me of both the '12 Dragon Moon (must be the frankincense + herbal greenery combo -- although I see an earlier reviewer also got a strong impression of dragon's blood after first applying!) and some of the Egyptian/desert blends like Sunbird or Saqqara v2 at the same time. The myrrh is fairly strong on me, but amping myrrh is a known issue for me; on the other hand, while there's definitely musk I'm not really getting the "red" aspect of it much at all. After drydown, the amber develops more fully and this turns into much more of the spicy resinous blend I expected, with just a faint touch of sweetness. Every once in a while I get a tiny whiff of the sharp dark-green hyssop. It doesn't have much throw or lasting power; this is definitely a "slather it on and reapply later" blend. It's a pleasant woodsy-spicy mix, though -- evocative of the mood of the painting, although (somewhat to my relief) it doesn't seem particularly connected to the story behind the painting, unless that occasional zing of cypress/hyssop is for grief?

On my skin, this is almost entirely light, clove-y incense smoke with gentle floral overtones from the champaca. It reminds me a little of Zenobia -- I know they share the orris, but I don't know where I'm getting the clove from in this blend! It's a nice spicy presence, though, not too heavy. The patchouli and grapefruit (along with the davana and elemi) are *very* subtle here; I'm not really directly picking up either element after drydown -- the predominant impression is champaca and amber. Overall: a warm, gentle incense blend, a bit on the headshoppy side but still elegant.

If you can find it, Virginia (An exotic South Asian musk blended with white sandalwood, tobacco absolute, white sage, caramel, black orchid, tonka bean, frankincense, muguet, and juniper) had a very similar feel to Pteropus Leucopterus -- at least on my skin! The sandalwood is also fantastic in Calligraphy Practise (White sandalwood, beeswax, clary sage, olibanum, opoponax, violet leaf, and oudh). GC-wise, it sounds like Seraglio (Sweet almond and Mysor sandalwood enveloped by a heady veil of Bulgarian Rose, neroli, nutmeg, clove and orange peel) might be right up your mother's alley -- it does have the spices, but they're fairly mild, so it might be worth trying an imp. I also recommend Half-Elf (White sandalwood, beeswax, white tea leaf, oud, and a hint of sophisticated urban musk), with the caveat that for some people it doesn't work perfectly as a stand-alone.

Ooh, I like this. It took me a little while to warm up to it -- my test swab had a rather alarming Calamine-ish overtone to it, but that went away pretty quickly. After drydown, the sage-sandalwood-muguet combination ends up reminding me of Virginia (in a very good way), with the addition of a quite reasonably moderate patchouli. By "moderate" I mean it isn't as dirty as Occupy Wall Street (dear Lord, that one was a dirty patchouli), but it isn't completely tame either; it's still got a little bit of a rooty bite to it. So, overall, a warm fuzzy resinous scent (I keep thinking there must be oudh here -- maybe that's the Balm of Gilead?), lifted and lightened by a gentle lily of the valley note and a clean, fresh sandalwood note. I think the trick here is whether sage plays nicely on your skin or not; if so, this is a very wearable blend.

I don't see All Souls mentioned here yet, but it's incense and cake: "An incense blend that invokes the higher qualities of mercy and compassion, mingled with the soft, sugared currant scent of offertory soul cakes." It came out in '06, '07, and '10, and the two earlier years are both available on Etsy!

I'm not an RN and this isn't a GC recommendation (sorry!), but you might want to try Wake (one of the recent Land of Dreams LEs): Pink grapefruit, peppermint, orange blossom, bitter orange, juniper berry, cumin, tuberose, and lemon balm. Everyone who smelled it on me said the *exact* same thing: "That's really pleasant." Might be exactly what you want by way of something mild and inoffensive!

I think maybe I'm crazy -- or my nose is? This goes on as a mix of gentle and prickly notes; after it starts to dry down, there's one element that I really, really like, but can't quite pinpoint! The beeswax, maybe? It does seem familiar... Having said that, the overall impression I get from the waft (rather than from having my nose pressed up against it) is... bug spray. Seriously. Er... well-played, Beth?

Does anyone remember the thread that wound up creating the fabulous chart of popular blends and the *other* blends that people who like those blends also tend to enjoy? I can't find a link -- does anyone know where it is?