AmyAngel

This is bad for my wallet but good for potentially getting gifts! I know lots of my family would be weird about placing an order directly with the lab - but Amazon? That's a well known large online retailer! Wish-list ahoy!

I wore Gingerbread Poppet for Christmas, and Jolasveinar for Christmas Eve. I'm not sure what I'll wear for New Years - if I go out I'd probably wear Snake Charmer or Mme. Moriarty. If I stay in, which is looking likely, I might just test Yules to see which ones I need to order!

Definitely Chimera, as everyone else has said. I find it sickly and cloyingly sweet personally, but it totally puts me in mine of the almost-too-much smell of being too close to Cinnabon for too long, after you've already stuffed yourself with one. I think most people don't find it sickly or cloying at all, just me. It's one of my co-worker's favorite scents.

I'm not doing anything special tonight, just a horror movie marathon at my friend's house, but I'm wearing Pumpkin Queen today! If it's faded by the time I leave work I may put on Sticky Pillowcase for the evening. I'm also wearing my BPTP Trick shirt. Last night of course I wore Devil's Night.

I get very little pumpkin in this one. It's there, but way in the background. Surprisingly, I also get no red musk to speak of. At first there was a lot of fruit, and it was very "red" and pretty. After 20 minutes or so, I'm still getting fruit with a hint of pumpkin behind it, but ROSE is rearing it's head. It's blending with the other scents rather than dominating them as it typically does for me, but it's still quite obviously there. For some reason, while I like the scent of actual roses, rose is one of the last things I ever want my perfume to smell like. Thankfully I get no sour jasmine, or sneezy carnation. It's actually pretty, way nicer than I expected (since most scents with rose become ROSE!!!!! on my skin). I'm just not sure it's what I personally want to smell like. Then again, this may become my "rose" scent. This one will require another more thorough testing.

On me this is all sweet sage, with some almost-mint behind it. I'm guessing the sweetness is the honey, and maybe the almost mintiness is the cherry tobacco, pine and cedar? Some sniffs I definitely get the cedar, but not in an amping or bad way. I'm getting little to no pumpkin, but maybe that's what is making this scent sort of warm, and contributing to the sweetness. I'm always wary of sage (though I love the scent of the actual plant - I used to pick leaves off my grandmother's sage plant and walk around sniffing them), but I think the sweetness here helps it. I cannot for the life of me decide if I like this or not. It's very interesting, and unlike anything else I have. I'm going to try the "wear all day" test to see if it's bottle worthy. I think the decant may be enough, though.

"Bright" is a good descriptor for this scent. At first it's lots of grapefruit and sweet lemon. Over time, I continue to get lots of bright, sweet citrus, with the pumpkin just barely there in the background adding a touch of warmth. The throw? Froot Loops! There's more depth than that, and it's nicer than Froot Loops, really, but that's the quick first impression I get from it. This is very, very pretty, but I'm going to have to try wearing it all day to decide if I need a bottle. I'm afraid it might be too sweet for all-day wear, but I hope not!

I had very low expectations of this one, as I don't like leather on me and I apparently amp it. I really just got the decant to complete the patch so I could get a sniffy of Needle in a Haystack. In the imp, I can definitely smell the leather, with pumpkin and a bit of musk. On me, yep, still leather. The pumpkin comes out more strongly for a bit, and it sweetens up, which is almost nice. It smells very much like a store I've been in, but I can't figure out which one, or where. After 20 minutes or so, the sweetness falls back a bit, and the leather is definitely at center stage on me. I almost like it, but don't. Not a winner for me, unfortunately.

I totally get where people are getting pancakes. I got that too, for a few minutes, but in the throw only; the close-up scent was more fruity. I'm still after 30 minutes getting some maple syrupness out of it, but still fruitier up close. It's sweet and a bit spicy, and I think I like it a lot. I'm not really picking out any individual notes, but just a pretty blend of them all. I'll have to try wearing this one all day to see if I need a bottle, but it's a definite possibility! Update: Wore this all day, and smelled pancakes all day. Had my co-worker sniff it, and she said "Pancakes with maple syrup!" She liked it on me, but honestly I found the all-day pancakeness with a hint of fruit not as nice as I'd hoped - it was heavy and sweet and just a bit much for all day. On the plus side, this did last well over 16 hours on me. I still think it's nice, and will test again, but I'm not sure anymore that I need a bottle.

I honestly didn't expect much of this one, but it sounded intriguing and since I know Samhain doesn't work on me I figured I'd get a decant and give it a try. When I first put it on, I got plenty of apple and dry leaves, with some spiciness and a bit of almost-cocoa (but not bad like cocoa is on me) nuttiness. As it dried, I still got spiciness with a hint of apple and dry leaves. I thought it was fascinating, and very, very Autumn, but really couldn't decide if I LIKED it or not. Apple sometimes is iffy on me, but it seems to work here, and to linger - not as obvious "apple" but as a subtle sweetness smoothing out the spiciness and the dryness of the leaves. I continued to get the spiciness and the leaves all day. It definitely smells like Autumn, but to me it's a warm Autumn scent. Like the morning was cold, and evening will be cold, and in the shade it's chilly, but you're outdoors in the sunshine dressed warmly, shuffling through the fallen leaves, maybe carrying a basket of apples back to the warm house where they'll be baked into a pie. I don't find it foody at all, or smell any particular spice - I think it's the mossy bark that maybe is the hint of spiciness. In order to decide if I really liked it, I wore it to work today. My semi-enabled co-worker sniffed it in the morning, and said that it was spicy and she really liked it. I could smell it lightly around me all day, and when I left work 9 hours later my co-worker asked to sniff it again. It had faded quite a bit, but could still be smelled on my wrists (I didn't slather, either) and she said she still liked it. Throughout the day I kept sniffing at it, and after wearing it all day I decided I really DO like it! I'm going to need a bottle of this! Halloween is my favorite holiday, but the 'weenies last year didn't work so well for me (except Pumpkin V). This year seems to be a different story! I already have 2 bottles, and will be buying at least 2, probably 3 more - and I still have a few scents left to test! ETA: While some people seem to be getting caramel apples out of this, I am one of those people whose skin turns caramel into OMG SALTY! and I don't get ANY of that from this. There's a definite warm sweetness, but I'm not sure it's actually caramel, so if you can't do caramel don't dismiss this one!

Those are so funny! Sometimes I'm reluctant to part with bottles that don't work for me just because the labels are so beautiful. I'm going to try to make do with just taking photos of them, though.

This one, to me, is pretty evocative. There was definitely a hint of horseyness there! It vaguely reminded me of the scent in my college roommate's car - she had (still has) a horse, and even when there was nothing horsey in there the scent of feed and tack would still remain a little. This isn't any of the unpleasant smells associated with horses, but definitely has a horse/barn feel to me. It's not anything I personally would wear, but I might send the decant to her as a gift. I think she'll like it!

To me this one is pretty much strawberry saltwater taffy. It's sticky, gooey sweet candy, but not the sort that makes my teeth ache just to smell it. I'm one of those people who cannot wear caramel, it turns to salt on me (even Red Lantern is starting not to work anymore, sadly), and while this does have a slight hint of salt, it's not the overpowering SALT that caramel becomes. It's just a tiny touch that seems to belong, and at the same time temper the sweetness. I'll definitely be keeping the bottle of this! If caramel and sugary scents usually don't work on you, try this one, it just might work.

And in addition to the awesome Crawdad Dream, as mentioned in the much earlier posts, there was Blue Fire from the Atomic Luau Lounge - limited edition, but you might be able to find it.

I'm testing an imp of the 2006 vintage. I can see why this is well loved and sought after, but unfortunately on me this gets the same musk and amber scent combo that reminds me strongly of my grandmother's perfume tray she kept on her dresser. There's also a hint of her dusting powder, and something almost peppery. While it reminds me of my grandmother, it isn't especially great smelling on me, and I sincerely doubt I'll ever wear it. I'd love to smell this on someone who's skin makes it work!

We have silage in the south, too. I grew up on a dairy farm and we cut our own. I can't remember any BPAL's with that scent, but Bezoar was a wonderful hot dry hay scent to me if you're into that.

It should probably also be mentioned that there were some scents that were ONLY available in 10mls, even after the big bottles were discontinued for the rest of the catalog. Hellion and La Fee Verte were only in 10 mls, and I think the Tarots were, and maybe Sephiroth (both discontinued last year)? Somebody with better memory than me can maybe fill in the details.

I could have sworn I'd reviewed this already, but it looks like I haven't. I got this in February of 2007, my first bottle ordered from the Lab. I remember opening it and taking a sniff and thinking "Whoa! Alcohol!?!" It was a really strong almost-alcohol scent that made my eyes water. I then tried a tiny bit on my skin and it was kind of rubbery and not-so-great. I later worked out that red musk is usually kind of rubbery and unpleasant on my skin. I was disappointed that my first bottle purchase was a dud. I really did not like Mme. Moriarty, but, as it was my first lab bottle, I decided to keep it, at least for a while. I put it away, and once in a while would open it and take a sniff - the eye-watering alcohol started to calm down eventually, and I tried another skin test. It still wasn't good. Better than it had been, but nothing I could stand to wear, and still just not-right on my skin. I tried it again a few months later, and it had improved a bit, but still was not wearable. Several months later, I tried it yet again, and suddenly it was kind of nice! Not necessarily something I'd wear, but nice. Now, after over a year and a half? It's my FAVORITE! It's wonderful, rich, sexy - not too over the top to wear to work, but perfect for going out. I'm getting more fruit, a rich groundedness, and everything in it has blended perfectly. It's still strong, though not knock-you-down strong like it started out, so I only wear small amounts at a time. Even so, I'm planning to get at least one more bottle before the Carnaval goes away, and the new bottle(s) will be placed in the back corner of the drawer with the Snake Oil bottle, to age to perfection.

This is how Inez worked for me: Me: Hi! Inez: Hi, and welcome! Would you like some cheese popcorn? Me: Umm... No thank you! *a few minutes later* Inez: How about some kettle corn? Me: Um, thanks, but no. *a few minutes later* Inez: Well, OK then! Bye! *Inez walks away, leaving a faint hint of amber and musk perfume behind under the scent of popcorn* This one was not a winner for me, unfortunately.

I was testing Pickled Imp, just now, and the early stages of it reminded me quite a bit of Jai Mahal whipped. After half an hour or so the imp has a little more pine in it, but I still think Jai Mahal will layer with it really well!

This starts out smelling a bit like the hot center of a damp hay bale, but then quickly turns to mostly dry HAY. There's a bit of wood and spice, but it really mostly smells like hay in the hayloft of a barn, without quite so much dust, though it is very dry. It's not fresh-cut hay, it's the hay that was cut a couple days ago so now it's dried, raked, baled, and is now being taken off the haywagon and stacked in the loft. I grew up on a dairy farm, and spent summers baling hay with my dad. When I smelled this I IMMEDIATELY saw a picture in my head, a memory of one of our old hay wagons parked outside the big doors of the old, decrepit looking barn, with my dad heaving the bales onto the hay elevator one by one. My mom was up in the hayloft arranging the bales in stacks. I was in the center part of the barn in the shade - maybe about to climb up to the loft to help her (though I was too young to lift the bales very high). My dad was sweating in the hot late afternoon sun on the wagon, and we were all hot and sticky and COVERED in the dust and bits of hay that come off the bales when you move them around. The barn is long gone now, a housing development is where the pastures and fields were, and we haven't baled hay in many years, but this scent takes me right back. This is exactly what most of our farm smelled like in the summer, minus the cow manure scent and the milky-clorox scent of the milk tank room. I have to have my dad sniff this one! The longer I wear this, the more wood I get, but the hay is still there, and it's still warm and dry. Despite the HAY and barn associations, there seems to be a touch of sophistication to this scent, too. It's warm and comforting and dry. I think this would be great for Fall, especially. I may try layering it with something like Pumpkin V or Creepy, to create a Halloween Hayride sort of scent. I'm really not sure if this is anything I'd wear super often, but I'm definitely keeping the decant, and I may get a bottle, just because it reminds me so much of my childhood.

I just tested this for the third time, and while the previous 2 times I wasn't sure if I liked it, now I'm sure I really do. Like enough to go buy some (as it's still available at DD, it looks like). The patchouli starts out a little dirty for me at first, but after it's on a while it's a floaty dark floral with a touch of sweetness grounded by the patchouli way in the background. On another note, I just discovered that Datura is the "strange plant" that sprouted in my grandfather's yard a year or 2 ago that he keeps giving us cuttings of. The one my sister planted completely took over her driveway last year. I'm hoping it comes back so I can go sniff it!

I SO want to buy all the tiki scents, just because the labels are so beautiful! Must wait for decants... I am definitely getting Tiki Queen, though, anyway, and probably at least one other one. Thank goodness for tax returns, though I should really save that for the vacation we booked yesterday. Thanks to everyone who's posted labels!

I was afraid this one would be too masculine for me, but it's really not. It's a little woody, a little oceany, and reminds me slightly of Luperci. In feel I find it kind of similar to Antonino, which is one of my favorites, though Frederic is a bit darker and less "sparkly" to me. I think this would smell great on a guy, but I'll wear it too. It's probably not going to be a huge favorite of mine, but I'll keep it around! Edit 1-2-2015: So, I never really did wear this, and I remember on further tests thinking it was "too masculine", so it's been in the swap box unloved for a few years now. I don't know if it's aging or my chemistry changing, but today it's moving back into the bottle box to be worn in the spring. Wet, it's still pretty manly with the bay rum and woods, but the drydown is sweet tea rose with a bit of spice and salty air. I normally hate rose, but this is pretty. It kind of smells old fashioned, but without really smelling like old lady. Very much like a classic perfume, but nice and complex. I'll try a full day wear to see how it holds up, once it's not freezing outside anymore.

On me, this is a pretty springlike floral. At first I could pick out more of the sakura, and a bit of the wisteria, but now as it's dried more it's all blended into a beautiful floral. I'm not usually a big floral fan, but I think this is a perfect spring/early summer scent. It's something to wear when you want to feel pretty and girly. I'm thinking this would be perfect to wear to church, or weddings, or afternoon dress-up occasions. It's more of a day/afternoon scent than nighttime for me. I'm now debating whether to wear this or Ostara tomorrow for Easter! I'm glad I bought a bottle unsniffed!