Hattress

Sweet vanillas, thick chocolates, burnt caramels, and spun sugars. Me reviewing a CT is a terrible idea. Especially for me to be the first one! But I'll give it a go! First, I have to say that this bottle was full. Like, I opened the lid and almost poured some all over myself. Also, unlike other Chaos Theories, there's no number on my bottle In the bottle, there's a spicy sort of smell to it that reminds me a little bit of how The Curator starts on me. I like it, but I'm not getting much of anything foody from it. Wet: Whoa. Men's cologne. Or aftershave. It's strong and kind of abrasive, and it's making it very difficult for me to pick out any actual notes, especially since I'm still terrible at that, anyway. I don't know what I'm smelling, but it's...not a thing I want to smell like. I don't think. Despite that, I do keep sniffing my wrist. Drydown: Still men's cologne/aftershave. After 15 minutes: Hmm. It's nicer. The aftershave-ness of it has gone away for the most part, and now I'm getting...something that reminds me of Boo 2012, but without the mysterious lemony note. My best guess is falling in the realm of cream, and maybe a hint of something heavier. Maybe that burnt caramel that's mentioned as a possibility? I'm not sure; I'll have to test it a few more times probably before I get any better ideas of what other notes might be. Once it's dry, it stays fairly close to the skin. That's probably a blessing for now, since I'm still trying to work out exactly what I smell like right now. Overall, I don't think I lost my gamble with this CT; I think I like it. EDIT: Numbers have been sent out for the Chaos Theories! Courtesy of the Lab, this bottle is Gourmand #60.

Honey cake hair gloss. So. Sharing of the Cake between the Lion and the Unicorn. When I first sprayed it, all I could think was that this smelled like the White Bees Swarming HG. I'd say it's the same honey note, and just like with White Bees Swarming, it's potent. I got a whiff before the mist of spray settled and was almost knocked over by how strong the honey is. After a minute, though, the cake came out and it turned into a nice, sweet blend that doesn't tip over into more cloying, headache-y territory. The honey stays prominent. Oh, and this does not smell like Eat Me's cake note. Sharing of the Cake isn't as much of an in-your-face "THIS IS CAKE" kind of scent. Coworkers and friends aren't going to wonder if you smashed up a cupcake in your hair or anything, and I really like that. It's a gentle, wearable scent. I'd say medium throw; it sticks pretty close to my hair, but every now and then I get a whiff of it after turning my head.

Her strong enchantments failing, Her towers of fear in wreck, Her limbecks dried of poisons And the knife at her neck, The Queen of air and darkness Begins to shrill and cry, "O young man, O my slayer, To-morrow you shall die." O Queen of air and darkness, I think 'tis truth you say, And I shall die tomorrow; But you will die to-day. - AE Houseman A final confrontation, alight with black fire and poisonous smoke: incense and bruise-purple toxins, a tangle of thorny blackberries, and pale rage. I'm still not great at describing scents, so bear with me on this. In the bottle: My first thought was that this smells an awful lot like Lamia to me, but chillier and lighter. I don't for the life of me know why, though. maybe the 'pale rage' is Lamia's 'pale orchid' note or something, because I do get a vaguely floral sense from this blend (but maybe that's just the way the blackberries are playing in this one). Wet: Same as in the bottle. The only thing my brain can say is "this reminds me of Lamia, but it's not as dark". Dry down: I think I'm getting a hint of the blackberries, creeping around the edges of things. Overall, it's striking me as a light incense (and I mean light--most incense notes I've run into with BPAL make me feel ill, but this one doesn't) with a shade of sweet/floral. There's...something else there, too--whatever the "bruise-purple toxins" are, maybe? It's a little like A Brilliant and Ruby Colored Fluid in that I can tell there's something, but I really can't pinpoint what it is. For anyone who's like me and is wary of this scent because of the mention of "black fire and poisonous smoke", don't worry. I don't get anything smoke or burnt-smelling out of this blend. Overall, I feel like this blend really matches its name. This is the Evil Queen at her weakest moment--there are shades of what she used to be, the danger she used to pose, but they're fading. The incense doesn't knock you down, because she's the one who's falling. And she's pissed about it, but she's past the point where she can really do anything about it. EDIT: Oh, and since I forgot to mention: there's pretty good throw with this one; I get a strong whiff of the scent every time I move my arm. And so far I've been wearing it for about 2.5 hours, and it's not showing any sign of fading. This is probably a scent that I'll have to be careful with (again, oddly similar to Lamia this way), because a drop too much might be enough to push this over the edge and into "all of my coworkers can smell me coming down the hall" territory)

Okay! I guess I'm first! So I had no idea that marshmallow cookie pies were even a thing. I had never heard of such a pie, so I didn't really know what to expect. But marshmallow! And cookies! And pie! Chocolate is the dominant note in this, for me. It took me a minute to identify it, because for some reason, I'm just not very good at sensing artificial chocolate notes-in perfumes, body washes, etc. In the bottle, I got a strong whiff of that chocolate note, and then it started to smell a bit like chocolate chip cookies. Which makes sense--take chocolate and add any kind of pastry note, and "chocolate chip cookie" doesn't sound like too much of a stretch. I wouldn't say that the chocolate is overbearing; if it were, I probably wouldn't like it. But it's definitely present. I don't get much marshmallow, if any, and a little bit of this gloss goes a long way. It's pretty strong, and the throw is good. I was in a swirling cloud of chocolate-y dessert for a while, and had to put my hair up because it was giving me a bit of a headache*. Overall, I really like this one. What I might need to do, though, is only apply it when my hair is damp. When I put gloss on dry hair, the scent can be super strong; since this scent is pretty strong on its own, it should turn into a nice, settled scent if I put it on damp hair. *that's no fault of the hair gloss; I can be a little sensitive to scents, so too much of any and I risk a nasty headache ETA: After sniffing the gloss again, I wanted to add this. Since I've never actually had or heard of marshmallow cookie pie, I think this is the most appropriate image of what this smells like: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2155/2420100292_d94ed6d8e0.jpg . Minus the scoop of ice cream on top.

I agree with the previous review: this blend is dry and more "perfumey" than the description lets on. In the bottle: Strong. I think I'm mostly getting the white tobacco and cognac notes. It almost put me off, since tobacco notes don't usually play well with my skin chemistry (neither do boozy notes, really...so honestly the fact that I even bought this one is a little unwise of me, but what can you do?). I really almost didn't test it. There's some sweetness there, though, too, and I like it. Wet: Really strong. I couldn't even really differentiate the notes at first, because honestly it was all just THERE. Dry: For most of its wear, the scent isn't as delicate as I imagined it might be. It took almost a full 2 hours before the scent calmed down and then the vanilla started to come out more and added a sweeter edge. I applied this a full 12 hours ago on one wrist (I was testing another scent on the other wrist), and I still get whiffs of it when I move around. The scent settled closer to the skin eventually (a few hours into wear), but still hasn't completely faded away. Overall, I like it more than I thought I would when I first applied it.

[No additional description given.] What on earth is on my wrist???? This is definitely a case of "I didn't know what I was expecting, and I'm not exactly sure what I got". What do cheesecloth ghosts smell like, you ask? I have no idea. But I can tell you they do not smell like the linen note in Boo. This scent reminds me of something I've tested before, and I remember enough to know it was a frimp from a Lab order, but I have no idea what it was. And I'm not good enough at defining scent notes to know what this smells like. I'm thinking white musk, though? Maybe? I'm sure someone else will come along with a much more experienced nose and give some more accurate impressions. The scent is a little harsh in the bottle and when wet, but mellows out into something smoother as it dries. It sticks close to the skin, very little throw. I'll admit that it does smell a little like that one section of a Halloween store where they keep all of the hanging skeletons and ghouls and ghosts, that all have the same gauze-y (cheesecloth-y) cloaks and rags covering them. And it reminds me a little of my time working in a haunted house--like the way all of the props somehow smelled. We never knew why they all smelled that way, but they did. I'm not sure I'd make any such Halloween-ish connections if I wasn't fully aware this was a Weenie scent and my mind wasn't scrambling to figure out what the heck I was smelling. I'm really interested in seeing what other people think this one is like, because...well. I clearly don't really know.

Berry-flavored gummies. That's what Yipe! smells like in the bottle and wet. The first word that came to mind when I sniffed it was "gooey"--it's not like Suck It, which has always veered more in the "hard cherry candy" realm for me. This is Suck It's creamy cousin. I get a lot of the black cherry at first, but it takes a backseat as it dries down. I'd say the black cherry is still dominant, between it and the blackberry, but I can detect the blackberry, so it's not totally in hiding. The scent ends up sticking close to the skin--after about an hour I had to press my wrist against my nose to get a good whiff of it.

This is the second Pie HG I got in my recent order (the other was Marshmallow Cookie Pie). In the bottle, this smells exactly like pecan pie. Somehow, Puddin' and the goblins managed to pin down the scent absolutely perfectly. My dad walked into the house when I had the bottle open, and caught a whiff of it. He thought I'd actually made some pie, and was really disappointed to realize that there was no edible form of pie in the house. When I spray it, I notice that there's a spiced element to the gloss that reminds me a lot of Pumpkin Spice Everything, but really. I don't even know what else to say about this one. My hair literally smells like pecan pie right now and I am so happy.

2016 Version Sugared violet with an emphasis on the sugared. It's very sweet, but it's not so sweet that it's cloying. After it dries down, there's a little more of a warmth that comes out, tempering some of the sweetness. It has pretty good throw on me, enough that some other people I was around could get a whiff of it, but it doesn't last as long as I'd like. After about five hours, tops, it's usually gone.

2016 Version Pink Snowballs. Hope is almost identical to my 2011 Pink Snowballs. It might be a little stronger, but not by much, and it fades within about 4 hours or so.

Stekkjarstaur is mostly a sweet, soft vanilla for me. I'm also getting the same "wooly" note I got from Queen Alice, and something a little more "perfume-y". This also isn't a particularly foody vanilla for me; there's a little bit of the marshmallow vibe that others have mentioned, but it's more toned down on me. For comparison, I tested Stekk alongside another marshmallowy scent I like: NAVA Spooktacular. Stekk isn't as in-your-face OMG MARSHMALLOW as Spooktacular, and the throw is much lighter than Spooktacular. Stekk is a little more "wearable" that way; it smells lovely and there's a suggestion of sugary marshmallows, but it's not so obviously foody and overwhelming. The sad thing is, Stekk fades pretty fast for me. I think it stuck around for maybe three hours, if I'm being generous. This might be one for the scent lockets!

Wet: Oh hi, white rose. This is allllll really strong floral. It's heady and I'm really loving it, so I was hoping that it would calm down. Dry: Ah, yes. The vanilla amber comes out more, and I guess I'm getting the champagne musk? I don't really know what the champagne musk smells like, honestly, since I think this is the first scent I've tried that has any kind of champagne note. Overall, this ends up being a soft, warm vanilla with a hint of rose. Definitely perfect for the delicate, smooth waltz in question.

Well, I've got to preface this by saying that I bought this perfume purely because I love Penny Dreadful, and they featured the song, "The Unquiet Grave" a couple of times in the second season. I love the song, love the show, and decided I really needed to have the perfume to match. This definitely delivers on the "cold" part. Wet, the white gardenia is strongest (which scared me; I don't love gardenia and I was hoping it wouldn't overwhelm the other notes), but I'm also getting the frozen white roses. After a little while, the gardenia settles down and makes room for the other notes. It stays chilly floral, with the sandalwood just barely warming it up a little bit and keeping it grounded. There's also some serious staying power with this scent. For the first few hours, it had pretty fair throw--I smelled it almost every time I moved. Eventually--after maybe five hours--the throw got a lot lighter, and I could only smell it if I brought my wrist a little closer to my nose. But I could smell it, at least a little bit, even when I woke up in the middle of the night. So that'd be...seventeen hours? Overall, it's such a gorgeous blend. I got two decants of it, but it definitely might have to be a bottle.

Wet, I get a lot of the frosting note. And a pretty big dose of spices that remind me more of gingerbread than any pumpkin cookie I've ever smelled. Drydown: The spice settles, and a more distinctly "cookie" smell comes out, but I don't get much pumpkin, if any. It's more like a frosted molasses cookie. Warm and spicy and definitely foodie.

Whoa. When I first applied this, I got a lot of almond. It was so sweet and almond-y, I started to wonder if I'd somehow gotten a mislabeled decant. After a minute or two, I started to get the vanilla Play-Doh feel that VioletChaos described. After a little while, it settled into a sweet vanilla-ish scent with very little throw. There was a little bit of a cosmetic-y smell to it, just hovering at the edges, but it was never in-your-face GREASE PAINT, which I was kind of glad about, because I got enough of that in theater to put me off the smell entirely. Sadly, the scent doesn't last very long; it was gone after about half an hour. I mean, it lingered a little--every now and then I'd still think I got a whiff of it--but it was almost impossible to know for sure if I was imagining it.

So far, I've only sniffed this from the decant (I can't skin test any new scents today; my head is killing me and being stuck with a perfume wafting around me all day is a no-go), but it smells an awful lot like Necco wafers. Which is to say that there's something vaguely sweet, and I think the florals are combining to give the almost chalky wafer smell somehow. Not the most useful review, but really. In the decant, it smells like Necco wafers.

Ooooooh! A sample of this was tucked in with a recent swap, and it's wonderful. It's a rich, foody vanilla on me, with a bit of honey and just a hint of something spicy or musky. Just enough to give the sweetness a little bite. It sticks pretty close to the skin, which is a shame; I want a cloud of it wafting around me all the time!

I got my bottle this morning, so I haven't had much time with it. Also, I am deathly ill, so I might come back and amend this later. I have also never smelled Snake Charmer before, in any form. I agree with the review above in that it's a deep scent--not heavy, though. I think the plum and vanilla keep the musk and spices from pulling it down too far. Thats a nice surprise for me, since I really can't do heavier scents and from some reviews of Snake Charmer, I was afraid it would be too dark and heavy for me to handle. Buying this gloss was a gamble, and i think I won. It's vanilla with a bit of an incense vibe from the musk, spices, and amber, but still light and sweet. UPDATE: All right...I am definitely allergic to one of the notes in this or something. When I tested it, I noticed that I was coughing a little more than normal. I attributed it to the cold I was trying to get over at first, but no. The back of my throat was burning a little, too. I opened the bottle to give it a sniff today, and the same thing happened. The smell is lovely, and I really like it. But I cannot wear it. Luckily, I found someone to swap with for a gloss that agrees with me more.

Like Atrous, I get vanilla and sandalwood when I pop open my decant. When I first apply it, that's still all I get. As it starts to dry, the cedar comes out to play, but it's just peeking out from behind the vanilla every now and then; primarily it's still vanilla sandalwood. It's only about half an hour later that I start to get the frankincense. That put me off a little bit at first, because frankincense has a nasty tendency to be overpowering on me. Surprisingly, that didn't happen this time. The scent settled into a sweet vanillic sandalwood with a smoky edge to it--and just an edge. The frankincense stays closer to the skin on me, so most of the throw is pure vanillic sandalwood. I don't know where the cedar went, but I don't get much of a sense of it being present anymore. I didn't get the plastic/rubber phase that some others have gotten, but I've not had any scents go plastic on me so far.

I agree with annemathematics on the Miskatonic Valley Yule Fest 2013 similarity. The first thought I got was that this is a darker version of Eldritch Drunken Constellations. Like EDC, this sits right on the edge of smelling soapy on me, but it doesn't quite fall over that edge. It's aquatic, but the "celestial fire" is still there in the background (though I've no idea what actual notes that includes--I just get a faint whiff of something smoky/ashy every now and then), and it might be what keeps it from going too far into soapy territory for me. Since I already have a bottle of EDC, I don't feel the need for a full bottle of this, but I'll definitely keep my decant handy.

I was lucky enough to get a testable amount of March Hare not too long ago, and all I can think when I smell it--in the imp or dry--is that it smells just like one of Disney's Alice in Wonderland teas. My favorite one, the Mad Tea Party blend, which is described as "Indian black teas, ginger peach and apricot flavors (But no mustard - Don't let's be silly!)". I'm in love with it, and would love to get my hands on more. It's fruity without being too sweet.

… However, this bottle was not marked `poison,' so Alice ventured to taste it, and finding it very nice, (it had, in fact, a sort of mixed flavour of cherry-tart, custard, pine-apple, roast turkey, toffee, and hot buttered toast,) she very soon finished it off. This. I've had my imp of Drink Me for around eight months now, and when I first got the imp (I ordered it as part of my first-ever BPAL order), I wore it a llllll the time. Even though I couldn't even begin to place the scent. It's sweet and yet there's something not-sweet in it to ground it a little. I can't pinpoint it. The only way I can think to describe it is "buttered toast with warm brown sugar and fruit". It sounds kind of awful, but it's a little addictive. I left the imp untouched in my imp box for a few months and put it on today on a whim, and wow. It still smells the same and I still can't imagine why it smells as good as it does or why I like it so much but I do. I do have to be careful with Drink Me, though, because it's very strong and has a pretty strong throw.

A lovely forumite tucked in a decant of Pink Snowballs with a recent swap. I don't know for sure which year it was from. In the Imp: Hard to pin down. There's a sort of vague sweetness, and I get a little whiff of rose. Wet on Skin: Rose and vanilla, fighting it out on my wrist. There's not a lot of throw, but it feels very "loud"--I'm not sure which element is going to win out, but I hope that the fight ends soon. Drydown: Ah, good. The battle is over and it's settled down into a creamy sugared vanilla rose. The rose is sitting in the background--it's strong enough that I can tell it's there, but it's not overwhelming everything. Mostly it's a soft, sugared vanilla. There still isn't much throw, but at the same time, every now and then I get a nice whiff of it when I move my arm around. Verdict: Well, I've already purchased a bottle from another generous member who responded to my DISO after only a couple of hours. So clearly I'm a fan. Also, Pink Snowballs lasts. Really serious staying power. I applied it at 3:00pm yesterday to test, and I was pretty light on application because I only have the single decant of it. Also because I wanted to be careful in case I amped the rose in it like I do with Whip (it's not pretty; you can smell the rose from across the room, easily). When I woke up this morning (7:30am), I could still smell Pink Snowballs. It was faint, but definitely there. Sugary vanilla rose, still clinging to my wrist. So that's, what? 16 hours? Color me impressed.

Oh, I was so hoping this would work for me. Patchouli just really isn't for me, though. The gloss smells nice, I just wish the other notes were stronger. Or that I was less tuned-in to the smell of patchouli so that I could appreciate them better.

There might be a little bit of batch variation with my Boo hair glosses. The first bottle I bought was lovely and just what I wanted-linen, sugar, and cream. A second bottle I have has a much more sugary smell to it and almost no linen. A little odd, but not unpleasant. I do wish it had the same balance that my first bottle had, though.