Soupy Twist

Snow and menthol in the bottle and on application. There's a brief sweetness, but that quickly becomes pine branches, and then a wet pine. This is packing snow in a pine forest, not powder. A good solid snow-and-pine scent to add to the collection, although not quite as nice as The Snow at Noon, Skadi, or Almond Blossom, which have that additional berry note.

I don't know what year the decant is. Citrus Pine-Sol and baby powder. I can tell that this wants to be the snow/berries of Skadi and The Snow at Noon, but wow, massive fail. And I adore the Lab's snow note.

You might try Drink Me (Mad Tea Party), Grog (Bewitching Brews), and Elegba (Excolo). From LEs, Sugar Skull and Sugar Cookie.

Aquatic and green in the bottle. Goes on very green and stays there. Some greenish florals/planty/cucumbery notes come in as it dries, and then something like a sweet linen? a white floral? A little too sickly-sweet for me.

It's amazing how subtle changes can be so wildly different. This should be very similar to Elegba, but this is "bay rum" rather than "rum." Bay rum turns the tobacco to smoke and ash. Yuck. If there are flowers in here, I can't smell them.

Banana with a hint of vetiver in the bottle. Goes on as BAAAAANAAAANAAAAA, although definitely a synthetic one. It's not bad, just not real. A tobacco note starts to develop, and then a burnt sour thing which I think is the vetiver again. The banana goes away, leaving behind a definite smoke/burnt note — maybe the "blackened cacao" means "set the bean on fire and left it to smolder into a charcoal husk." Sadly, this is where it stops, and I'm just left with smoke.

Startlingly sour pine branches in the bottle. Goes on as... I feel exactly like I'm fighting my way through a pine tree. I can smell the sap coming out of broken twigs, and the scent of the berries and the branches. The sour edge finally fades after a few minutes, but it's not as light and bracing as I'd hoped. However, this is definitely another for vote "When they invent holodecks, the Lab does the scent component," because this is basically an olfactory photograph of a pine tree. An astonishing technical accomplishment.

Pine and eucalyptus in the bottle. Goes on as eucalyptus and dries to pine, but the whole thing vanishes in a few minutes, to my surprise. No orange at all.

I really have to admire the technical artistry of the Mad Tea Party line even if I haven't appreciated most of the scents per se. All the notes here cycle and intermingle repeatedly; it's quite fascinating. I can't bear patchouli so this isn't for me, but the execution is brilliant.

within a few hours, at least from my experience.

Peach...ish in the bottle. Like I can't decide if it's peach flesh, nectar, or blossom, or something fake. Goes on as a peach nectar with floral overtones, which is okay. Eventually fades to a honey, and the whole thing is gone in an hour. Pleasant, but I have better peaches elsewhere.

I smell like the world's best pirate. Tobacco and rum in the bottle. Goes on as a foodie tobacco, not a smoked one. A sweet edge develops as the rum comes in, and it turns into that brûlée/burnt sugar crust note from Sugar Skull. This rum/sugar note stays as the medium tobacco note comes in and out. Marvelous. Bottle for sure.

A little amber in the bottle, but mostly cut succulent, which is how it goes on. This sweetens a little to cut grass. Similar to Arcana's Avalon and BPAL's Squirting Cucumber. No tea or ginseng. Don't know why this is a Weenie; it's totally a summer scent for me.

Opens with that jasmine/stamen note of the Lab's which hates me, but that quickly disappears and leaves me with a pretty but generic floral.

Herbs in the bottle. Goes on as dried dates, which eventually becomes dried figs. The whole thing is kind of boring. Needs salt.

Apple with a touch of cream in the bottle. Goes on as apple with a breath of a deep whiskey note, but that quickly vanishes. A wee bit of cream returns, and it finishes as a creamy apple. Low throw; not much to write home about. There are many better apple scents.

I got this imp ages ago before I understood what the Lab's various notes did on my skin, so while this originally had promise, I now realize what was waiting for me. Jasmine stamen with a wee bit of lemon in the bottle. Goes on as green tea, which gives me some hope, but the stamen note rolls back in. The lemon puts on a brief show, and then my skin eats it. Scrubber.

Wisteria in the bottle. Goes on as plum with a "blossom note," which resolves into cherry blossom. This takes an unhappy left turn into the Lab's jasmine/stamen sourness, but after a few minutes that passes and dries as a vaguely spicy floral plum. Not a bad overall floral, but not for me.

A lot of "wet" chocolate and ginger notes. The chocolate fades surprisingly quickly, leaving a steady ginger. But after half an hour or so, it becomes the lovely fizzy note from 21! Fizzy ginger! I did not know this could be a thing but I love it.

Spicy plum. It's nice, but ultimately too close to Alice's Evidence.

2008 version: A bit of brûlée in the bottle, but it goes on and stays on as delicious sugary raw cookie dough. Amazing. After a few hours it settles into the crystally toasted-sugar note of Sugar Skull, which is just fine with me. mmmmmmm this is lovely.

I have reached 500 entries of scents tested in my database. I am both proud and ashamed of this milestone.

No, it be not. Instead it be Werther's hard butterscotch candies in the flask, which dries to the brûlée of Sugar Skull. There's not a drop of rum in the whole concoction. It's delicious and amazing and I think I might need a bottle.

Pear and lily in the bottle, but it goes on as that jasmine-stamen note. This soon turns into a sickly-sweet lily, which changes to rose. Just yuck.

Cocoa in the bottle, and on application, but the incense and sandalwood soon come out to pick a fight. For the life of me I cannot imagine why anyone would want to put these notes together.