annemathematics

In life, she was Amelia Goyri de Adot. She was promised into a loveless betrothal, but through patience, guile, and the strength of her devotion, she was able to repeatedly postpone the marriage until the death of her father, upon which she was free to marry the man she truly loved. Tragically, her joy was short-lived: on May 3rd, 1903, both Amelia and her son died during childbirth, and she was laid to rest in the Havanas sprawling necropolis with her son resting at her feet. Day after day, year after year, Amelias heartbroken husband visited their grave. He would knock three times, screaming, Wake, Amelia! Wake! In his grief, he could not bear to turn away from her, so when he was forced to leave by exhaustion or circumstance, he would walk backwards until he left the cemetery, always keeping his eyes on the grave of his wife and son. For seventeen years, he came to the grave daily, his heart wracked with anguish. Many years later, Amelias remains were exhumed, and witnesses saw that not only were the bodies perfectly preserved, but the infant child now rested in his mothers arms: a miraculous symbol of eternal love. To this day, pilgrims visit La Milagrosa to pray for her intercession, asking that she watch over, bless, and protect children and loving couples. Lilith paying her respects at the tomb of La Milagrosa, Cementerio de Cristóbal Colón: clusters of mariposa and mahoe, sprays of black orchid, loves red roses, and a thin drift of cigar smoke. bold bright syrupy floral. LM conveys both a sense of fun but also something elegant and regal. Big throw. The cigar smoke is light, delicate. the flowers remind me a little of heirophant and empress--rose + POW-- without the herbs and resins. the smoke is similar to that in dia de los meurtos: ethereal, wispy, a part of the offering, adding grace and depth (this ain't the big tobacco of In Time of Plague). as someone who doesn't like breathing real tobacco smoke, while this evokes said smoke, it isn't unpleasant at all. this feels like a monumental floral ofrenda. Intriguing. I like it, but don't know if it's really my style.

2018 version when the lab released the yule lads a few years ago, I felt a tiny greedy pang that their yule cat didn't join them. so i was thrilled when the scent was included in this year's lineup. first try was with about ten other decants, straight out of the mail...and i got nothing! no scent! none at all!... besides something a little bit sour and oily. oh well. can't win them all. no throw. not a winner. went back about a week later and did a second round of testing with a smaller group of scents...and this magical aroma kept wafting to my nose and pulling it to the wrist where this was slathered. turns out, kitty just needed time to adjust and declare me worthy of wearing it. prob one of my favorites from this year's scents, it's a feral, magical, musky, piney and yes a little bit sour. this is a blend that just smells like "classic bpal" to me. youthful gothypunk spirit in effect. my real life kitties ADORE this blend. their eyes kinda bug out and they start purring and burrowing to get to my wrists. like my real life kitties, this is a total love that i'm happy to have in my life.

when I first put this on, the mint and lavender bring an immediate smile to my face. this is an uplifting scent! gentle and very pretty, lightly feminine in feel. there's a sweetness from the vanilla but it doesn't go too foody for me. there's something kind of innocent about this. It'd make a brilliant bath bomb. Eta wearing this reminds me of the last unicorn perfume. It doesn't contain white chocolate, but there's a creamy gentle sweetness to this that makes it feel like a scent cousin.

wow. what a gorgeous sophisticated snow perfume. haughty ice queen signature scent. a cool floral blend with the only note standing out being the touch of snow. I really like it, but it's so different in personality that it feels like I'm an impostor in costume aka this will never be my "signature scent." at least on its own. I learned from my initial "test all of the decants at once because I have no patience" test that this layers well with other yules, most notably schoenperchten and one of the musky lashes. classy and slightly out of my league.

the lab is brilliant with lavender scents. I have sooo many that I almost excused myself from trying this beauty. glad that I didn't! opens with sheer veil of lavender over chewy, tweedy patchouli. dries down to a snuggly cologne-ish blend with patchouli and oakmoss being the most prominent. the lavender contributes a brightness without screaming it's own name. the oakmoss gives the whole thing a rather velvety texture. (aka leans powdery, for those who love or fear this texture in their scents). I get no barn from the oud (I honestly can't really detect the agarwood at all).

warm snuggly spicy fur note. i totally get the dampness SophieCedar mentions. I love the lab's fur musk. ferocious beasts at their most cuddly and cozy. who's a good lash? oh yes you are!!

the lab's honey notes range from beautiful to awful on me. the note in this blend leans a little bit stale and funky, like something starting to spoil. I get an herbal hint of helichrysum and the mildest suggestion of clove. not a winner on my chemistry, but I still enjoyed the balance of the notes.

frank-heavy amber under wafts of smoke. weirdly, not getting much pine. this is lighter and brighter and less smokey on me than hearthflame and incense. it's nice now, but i'm curious to see how it will shift with a few months of aging.

burgundy pitch! I love the resins in this, but it was the listing of the pitch that had me go for a decant. this is a nice, deeeeep woodsmokey scent. a touch of sweetness that just stops short of being cloying. the resins don't stand out so much. there's something dark and sinister about this. very atmospheric in an RPG/fantasy adventure sort of way. compared to 1st lash, this is heavier, darker and smokier.

this is a jolt of frosty evergreen when first applied. dries down to black musk (reminding me of unsweet red musk for some reason) strongly backed by cedar. this actually does remind me of wolves/wildpuppers in a snowy winter woods. I love it layered with 3rd lash; they play against each other wonderfully. moderate sillage/leans unisex.

the opening to this is absolutely gorgeous: sweet evergreen sap and syrupy frankincense anchored by a little dash of thyme. 3rd lash stays like this for an hour or so, before drying down to a warm and dusty leather skinscent. the drydown is nice, cozy, easy to wear, but it's the opening that really thrills me.

First impressions from a bottle that landed this morning: Gentle soft unvarnished pale woods. Leans ever-so-slightly powdery in the way that sandalwood can go velvet-fuzzy. Light sillage. Agree very much with the "nuzzle-y" descriptor used above. Occasionally I get wafts of the ambergris with the cypress and it reminds me of standing on the California coast. Lovely! eta two weeks later, this now feels like a classic perfume, soft and elegant with no hard edges. I really like it!

an elegant rose boutonniere wafting over warm and dusty fougere brightened by a discreet hint of lime. this gets nicely mossily powdery in the drydown, with rose staying present in the shadows. this is downright cozy. I dig powdery unisex blends so this is right up my alley. this would indeed be ok at the office, and it would transition well to the afterhours speakeasy soiree.

ahhhh, I love the lab's use of absinthe over dark notes. it's bright without being cloying or shrill. I agree with SophieCedar's take above. this is a smattering of opposites coming together in a most intriguing way. I would love to smell it on different chemistries, as I imagine it would compliment different folks in differently fabulous ways. this would be great on the dastardly rival of the wearer of shelley, byron and keats.

kinda cloying blackberries with sweet syrupy resins. there's a touch of musk dust, but this isn't a dry or powdery scent in the slightest. if I'm gonna wear a fruity scent, I tend to like darker, resin-heavy beasts with a touch of fruit. this is more for folks who like more fruit-forward and -focused blends. shopping mall goes goth vibes. hot topic candies for your skin.

I keep mispronouncing this in my brain as HARKONNEN. fortunately, this scent carries none of the negative connotations of that house! instead it's yet another way to smell like a magical forest, bpal-style. opens with dark pine and a li'l swirl of vetiver. drydown is a melange of pine and coriander gently backed by patchouli. it's rich and very pretty! I've been cooped up indoors due to california wildfires, and this is actually a soothing, calming scent to wear, very helpful as I can't quite get to the outdoors in real life. yet another gorgeous saturn moon scent bringing much-needed beauty to 2018. eta bottle landed only recently, and throw and longevity are on the milder side. I enjoy the scent as is and welcome the fact that it might get bigger and oomphier with time.

beautiful, natural pine and sage. as other reviewers have noted, the scent fades extremely quickly. 99% of other bpals that behave this way on me have grown bigger and stronger with a bit of aging, so I'm hopeful that this will too. thus no regrets that I snagged a full bottle of this. evergreen scents are my jam and this is a stunning blend, even if only for under an hour.

ambergris macerated in sandalwood oil is a classic, and I love this bpal version of it, with beth's awesome ambergris accord and her deft and delightful use of cognac. it's soft and gentle and so so good.

wet this is a big bright fruity plum over slightly sweet and dusty violets and incense (the oudh is more dark rich smokey and not at all barny) the fruit calms down a bit as it dries. feels pretty and perfumey. i like it. reminds me of a brighter and more straightforward cousin to the century guild Alice scent, Nevar.

I love a good black phoenix amber, and this gloss has it dusted with mosses and lightly spiced. when this first landed, it was more mossy amber. as it's settled, the clove as come out more. it reminds me of my beloved amber/patchouli gloss in that it's an easy scent to wear everyday, or on days when I'm not up for a big showstopper, but I still want something gorgeous and complex. it's that little black dress that feels as comfy as perfect jeans kinda vibe.

I snagged a decant of this on a whim. i've been craving raunchy musky blends, and this one not only had the lab's lovely brown musk, but castoreum accord as well. i was wrong in expecting this to be a filthy funky blend. it's not at all! the muskiness reminds me of that in faunalia , only while that blend is festive and energizing in feel, this is still and calm, promoting a foundation of peace and safety. it's almost as if the musk in faunalia's fertility fete got knocked up, then these many months later produced offspring, and this right here is that moment of peace between parent and [finally sleeping!] kid (yep, just like the name...beth has truly bottled a moment captured in a work of art). it feels stately, classy--moneyed but not showy. we've been hit by toxic winds here in northern cali and the awful air/being trapped indoors + shorter days has been sullying my mood. this is a lovely scent antidote, as I find the lab's brown musk to be comforting, especially in this blend. I've been slathering it, and would also love to snuggle up to a fellow wearing this (note to self:be careful! this is the scent of either a gentleman or a smooth experienced scoundrel) throw is light and the longevity is low as it just landed yesterday and it will hopefully open up a bit more with time.

I snagged this because I was curious about the "wheat stalks" note and hoped that given the simplicity of the blend, it'd be a grand teacher. surprise! the scent is worth checking out because it's gorgeous! lightly spicy clove cologne, all of the notes cooperating in harmony. refined throw but good longevity. this isn't a heavy scent. it's very much spiced breezes in an autumn field. hours into it, I close my eyes and huff and can sense the wheat stalks swishing in the wind. and it's wheat the grain; without suggestion of yeast or loaf. so simple yet utterly perfect and brilliant. the beauty extracted from wyeth's paintings in a way that leaves their melancholy behind.

this reminds me of the soft brown of fallen needles and fertile earth and moss at the foundation of a forest's mighty trees, signalling their strength and health. it's cozy and comforting. a shade of burgundy not achieved with notes of musk or wine, but instead from bark and root and berry. the throw is solid without being brash or showy. my only [minor]quibble is that after about five hours, the scent morphs and the forest becomes kind of rubbery, with an unexpected sweetness emerging that isn't as engaging as the earlier versions of the scent. regardless I am still a fan of this.

very evocative [lightly-] smokey black-sticky soil in a sunless evergreen forest scent. I love this. everything about it is nocturnal, powerful, slightly primal. the air around the hunter in the susan cooper's the dark is rising book would smell like this. ancient magic swirling about during a rite. swooon!

ugh I love this so much, but I'm at a loss as to how what I smell can be translated into words. it's smooooooth. it's all about the blend, everything working together in a way that individual notes don't really stand out. what casablanca says rings wise and true: mediterranean blend. smooth and regal and stately, with a benevolent authority. muted lavender with bay and petitgrain swirl only slightly above the other notes. the leather is muted, smooth. the oakmoss isn't dry or dusty, the ambrette not suggestively musky, the cedar not amping on my like it usually do. everything is collaborating and cooperating in totaly harmony from first application to final fade out hours later. while I had hoped to like this, I didn't expect it fall for it as hard as I do. I enjoy wearing it. calming yet energizing. classy and confident. neither specifically masculine nor feminine but rather perfectly complimentary to whatever vibe the wearer needs it to be.