RoseThornAndOak

Another RPG frimp! Thanks Lab. Rogue is a nice worn leather, warm, I don't get a barnyard vibe, either. It makes me thing of Strider. Slightly spicy, sexy in a way, woodsy, but not as woodsy/earthy as Druid or Half Elf. This is more about the soft leather. I get the similarity to Little Wooden Doll, not as woodsy but has the same warmth, if that makes sense. There's actually something in here that makes me think of stone, like the grey stones in Gondor. I already have many Middle Earth blends from other sellers, but after that I STILL might pick this one up. It's that good. It reminds me most of Deep Midnight Perfumes Grey Pilgrim. 2/11 Yep, bottled.

2009 Decant: smells like a mulled juice of dark fruits plus a buiscuity thing going on, almost popcorn-like. Warm and comforting, like Jul! I want to say I've smelled a candle like this before, but this makes me think of that one time I spent Christmas with Civil War reenactors in a historic home we used to hang out at. There was a general cheerfulness, warmth, with wafts of delicious holiday foods in the air, plus a lot of feisty people getting drunk on punch. It also reminds me of a nonalcoholic dark fruit/herbal beverage a friend brought backpacking once, with evergreen notes and spices, warmed up on the campfire. This doesn't come across as boozy/heady to me, it's more about the fruit/baked goods. So nice!

Frimp from the Lab, I get a nice spicy woods smell, clean yet dusty in a way. I really like this. I don't get cigarettes or stinkeh p'oud. The sandalwood seems dominant. Very nice! I will keep the sample for sure, may get a bottle eventually. It is hard to describe how nice this is!

Oh my gosh this is nice! I was afraid of the khus/vetiver note, but it's not the Lab's usual peanutty vetiver. This goes on bitter wood + pink rose, then quickly smooths out with rose being creamier than expected. I would almost swear there is a vanilla kinda thing going on back there. Layers gorgeously with a Garden Dirt SN oil I have. Wow wow wow, this worked out way better than anticipated, possibly even backup worthy. I should pay more attention to these retail exclusives. RoseThornAndOak votes yae. ❤️ Couple years later and still going strong. I think the ambrette is what is giving that vanilla like sweetness with a touch of maple. This is stunning and fits the theme perfectly. It's like a sweet, woodland, autumn rose.

Oh my God dude. Gorgeous soft, powdery, vanillic amber rose. Pink Snowballs cousin definitely, but yes classy, feminine. Like PS grown up. It's not soapy really, but kinda more like how you wish soap would be but isn't often enough. Just creamy, dreamy, vanilla amber rose. For fans of Pink Snowballs, Katrina van Tassel, Lucy Westenra, lace blends, and yes I think Alice fans might like this, too.

Very similar experience as Little Bird. Wet, weird musty herbs + grass , yet reminiscent of German Expressionist Horror oddly, that almost musty pine box smell. Drydown: glorious herbal honey. Honey rarely works so well as it does here on me. It's slightly powdery and pollinous, yet sweet and not sneeze inducing. I'll be keeping this, may even upgrade to a full. Gorgeous! A valkyrie would wear this.

Fresh from the Lab in bottle and wet on skin this smells just like Phantasm by Alchemic Muse, which I love: Aged roses and white lilies shrouded in an ethereal mist of cool earth, wet stone, and faint incense with a lingering base of soft, smoky musk. It has a powdery, refined, ghostly quality to it, white and ethereal, haunting, yet there's that tiny bit of clove lurking in the background, making me think more of the clove gum instead of clove cigarette or foody spice. Drydown a tiny bit of the clove gum is coming out more, but this is still mostly about them roses. I didn't really need a backup of Phantasm or something so similar since I already have Sarawen's Vampire Bride in this scent profile as well, but I'm glad to have it and look forward to seeing how the clove note ages. tl/dr: ghostly sweet powdery rose + soft clove gum. For fans of Lycan Lace, Sarawen Vampire Bride, AM Phantasm.

Fresh from the Lab. In the bottle and wet on skin: apple, spices, syrupy sexiness. Makes me think of the filling of those $.79 mini pies you get in the wax paper at the store. Something creamy in there, too. Hot damn, we're off to a great start. Drydown cinnamon spice broom with creamy Smut warming it up. Autumn blend FTW, I'm looking forward to seeing how it ages.

If you missed Tattered Lace or Black Opal, try this. This is an amazing creamy cognac vanilla lace. No smoke or heavy herbal chamomile notes, slight powdery florals brightening it up. Ghost Lace all the way. I totally agree this feels fancy, like maybe we are going to visit Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. I don't get the linen/fresh laundry vibe from Black Lace, this is far creamier. Also for fans of Antique Lace, Zorya P, and A Spirit, Katie. Later the pretty florals emerge more. It's more white and ghostly now. Gorgeous gorgeous. This is going to be highly sought after. Well done, Lab!

Ooo this is nice! Fresh from the Lab I get conifers with a candy-like sweet citrus, with amber adding softness (not powdery), bringing to mind pomanders or punch near the Yule tree. Hours later, the amber warms with the pine and citrus softening considerably. I don't get ozone or the snow note in Snow White, but I feel like SW would layer gloriously with this. Highly recommend if you enjoy the Lab's pine snow note or if Elf didn't work on you. I like this better than A Lady Tall and White and Cloister Graveyard in The Snow. Glad I took a chance on this!

A soft almost feral rose with a mineral-like brightness. Not effervescent like champagne, but gritty like stardust. I agree there's a coolness to it, like looking at the stars at night. The oud isn't stinkehpoo, just adds a sort of living quality. I hate oud usually but this isn't oudy at all. There's something lofty, remote, and gorgeous about this. Similar to La Befana with that floral charcoal, chimney dust vibe, but rosey and ancient, with Liz's cold metallic quality. *layered with Snow White: The Little Princess and Becky when locked in the frosty, sooty attic and the sweet neighbor dudes sneak them some warm clothes, blankets, and hot muffins because they know what a cruel wench the headmaster is. It also reminds of that scene where she dumps the ashes on the school snob, no f*cks given. TLDR: cold stardust rose water.❤️

Yes yes yes, a thousand times yes to feeling metal. 2009 straight out the gate we get boozy cinnamon, drying to picture perfect cinnamon spice in your witch's cupboard. Final drydown the sweetness of the cinnamon dies off and I'm left with not much more than a patchouli like frag, wet paper, and dry cinnamon. My skin doesn't like this sadly. 2016 straight out the cemetery gates (feeling metal already, if you know what I mean) is cedar casket with a bit of cream. Drydown is like a bit of dry tobacco more than anything. Similar to Antikythera oddly enough. A bit linear but okay.

Yep, very Dorian! It turns play-do on my skin for a long while, then dries down nicely. However on a cloth it is very Dorian but sweeter, and lifted? Like how Theodosius is testosterone oomphed, this is sweet oomphed? It's very unisex and gorgeous. I'll have to use it in a scent locket also, but definitely keeping the bottle.

Yep, I will echo what has already been said about this one. It's a gorgeous sweetened woods blend, but not foody. Certainly for fans of Antikythera, No Man Is an Island, Cocoa and Oak Bark, and also tobacco fans will probably love this. All of those rank high in my collection and this is no different. I agree, wears close to the skin, and also agree, backup probably a good idea. ❤️

Oh man this one is nice! The Lab's pumpkin with a sweetened but not cloying sugar, it doesn't go too fruity sugar as the note sometimes can, then the red musk emerges. There is something almost metallic in this for a while, but settles down into a pleasant, sweetened red musk with the pumpkin sugar sweetening it, but I wouldn't say this is pumpkin spice or vegetal really, it is more just a pleasant sweetened depth. No brimstone, although that could've been the fleeting metallic bit for a short while there. Overall this is a very nice red musk I am so happy to have in my collection. It is unique enough to keep around. It doesn't beat Scherezade or La Femme De Satan, but it certainly rivals Flesh of My Flesh, Lust, La Lethe, and Spellbound. I think I like this better than Tombeur and Mircalla and certainly better than a small selection of NAVA red musk blends I own. I'm sure it will age nicely and I feel like this will be highly sought after for red musk fans!

in bottle and wet on skin: wet paint and playdough. Uh ohh. The p'dough stays for about an hour or two, then this turns into a gorgeous, soft, slightly sweet, vintage, floral musk, not sharp or soapy in the slightest. I really wish the p'dough stage was shorter, but I'm glad that and the wet paint go away entirely. Glad I waited around for the grand finale. ❤️

wet on skin red musk w/ powdery elements. Dry it kind of almost duds out, I think it is just lighter than other red musk blends. Light, somewhat floral red musk. Not my favorite but still vampish and wearable. If you find red musk to be too much give this a shot, it is less in your face.

Wet on skin I get autumn leaves of all things. This makes me think of Sonnet d'automne, one of the only leaf blends I can do. Nice so far. Leaves, floral, slightly soapy playdough but not overtly so. Dry, well the p'dough goes away thank goodness, and I'm left with slightly soapy leaves. I like Sonnet better, but will keep this around as a sort of backup. 3.5 out of 5 in my book.

Wet I'm getting masculine leather with a very dry soap. Dry I get a surprisingly soft unisex moss blend with light dusty resins. Reminds me of some of the ars moriendi blends. Deep in Earth maybe. Makes me think of Middle Earth. Yes, Middle Earth Vampire. It's okay on its own, but would layer well with more florals.

.aI agree w/ torikitty, there's an old dusty vibe. The patch clove sage made me think vetiver initially. Woody, dry, like a coffin box. Not quite my jam on its own but will layer it with other blends. I feel it would go great with tobacco, vanilla, or gourmand blends to ground them. Shares some similarities with Coyote and Antikythera Mechanism, both of which are sweeter.

I may have reviewed this before under my first screenname which I've long forgotten, but this scent is a gorgeous, glittery apple. It is my favorite apple blend ever, so much so that I compare all other apple blends to this and not many have contended with it except Caramel Apple Cookie. *That all being said*, sadly the glittery bright top notes have twinkled out considerably over the years. Wish I had known and used this up quicker. It is still quite lovely, but a much more subtle, sweet, floral apple and fades fast now. If you own this, I recommend using it up soon. I will try lightly shaking it up a bit, but IMHO, this is a blend that should return every or every other Halloween so we can still enjoy the glorious beauty that is The Glittering Apple of The Stars. Weird random note* Years ago when this was newer I saw I think a pinball game that literally had a glittering apple of the stars on it. Lol I wish I remember which game it was!

Hot damn I smell like burning leaves. Sorta, lol. Deep, dark cocoa, sweet yet deliciously bitter, like how I feel about never seeing Type-O live (Love love loving Yoo-hoo is like loving the dead!) It is perfectly suited for the Lab's oak note, which smells leafy but also barky to me but is more wearable that the dead leaf note. Smells like a grove of oaks at night when the leaves are scattered on the floor. A bit basalmic. It smells a bit more artificial the longer it's on, although that could just be skin chemistry wonking out. If this keeps up it is still a keeper for lockets/clothes because damn it's sexy. ❤️ If you like tobacco notes or if tobacco goes weird on you, try this instead. It is very similar to the Lab's tobacco note but darker. Try if you like No Man is an Island, The Twisted Oak Tree, Antikythera, Hoggle (sweet/rich bitter tobacco vibe), or La Femme de Satanes, but the closest indies this reminds me of other than NMIAI are Deep Midnight Perfumes' Dark Mother (pipe tobacco, bay rum, sweet vanilla, musk, milk) and Professor M (leather, pipe tobacco, bay rum, Egyptian musk), only without the musky notes.

Okay yeah this one is great, too. Plus the Ebay seller threw in an entire full bottle of another scent completely extra, hell yeah for awesome BPAL fans! This is a fantastic blend, darker than La Lethe and Lust, but the red currant and patchouli behave. The clove isn't too clovey either, just lending darkness to the resins and tobacco. I do get mostly tobacco in final drydown. Dang this is good, right up there with the best of these types of red musk blends. Check out if you like Lust, La Lethe, Flesh of My Flesh, Dark Lace, Lycan Lace, No Man is An Island, Madame Moriarty, Tombeur, Scherezade and Antikythera Mechanism, yep I agree with Perversion, even Debauchery. I either like or ove all of those and love this! ❤️

Oh my gosh this baby bat is cute and adorable! I mostly just get the champagne note which is fine by me since Bon Vivant is totes my jam. I'll definitely finish the imp if not hunt a bottle in the future! Not as sweet, but nice!

Dude my skin can't handle this. It starts out a nice dry desert sage, then quickly turns to that oud/agarwood note that turns to a screaching acrid inferno that I can't scrub off no matter how hard I try. The very air you breathe is a poisonous fume...not with 10,000 men could I do this. It is folly. Verdict: Cast it into the fire!! ISILDUR!!!!! Try if you like Eau de Smaug, Breath of Nazgul, and Baradur pour le Orc. If your skin doesn't act like Gollum around you this is a pretty rad desert blend similar in vibe to Coyote. I'll stick with Coyote and not die a horrible, horrible death.