LizziesLuck

Wet: OMG that tobacco is soooo good. Reminds me a bit of French Tobacco - chewy and a touch caramelized. The leather is dark, but worn, like the leather in Whip. Much better on me than the harsh fresh leather of Pleasures I. So far those two notes are dominant, tobacco and leather, and I'll tell ya, I'm not mad at it. Dry: YUMMY. Like, in the sexy kind of way. Subtle, smooth leather, and chewy rich tobacco. This is gooood. Likely need a bottle. The smoked honey is just barely evident (would love it if it came out more in aging!) and the cinnamon is non-existent, and I usually amp it, so if that was worrying you, this is worth a shot anyway. I can't identify the benzoin. The other notes may come out more as it settles further (this only arrived a couple days ago), but right now it's all about the tobacco and leather.

I almost didn't grab a decant of this one, because orange so rarely works on me, but blood orange occasionally does, and I love these other notes, so here goes! Wet: OMG the apricot is so good!! Lovers of Aristocratic Couple, take note. The orange is beautiful with it so far, but I am still guarded about it. This is so sunny and fruity and tangy!! Yum. I want to put some rum in it and drink it. Dry: I love this, so glad I took a chance on it. I adore apricot scents, and this does not disappoint. The orange just adds even more brightness and tang to the apricot. It's sweet and tangy at the same time. I can't detect Dragon's Blood, vanilla, or any of the other notes, but the scent is grounded and really lasts, so I am guessing those all contribute to that. Apricot is the star of this though, on me at least, and I will likely end up with a bottle.

So stoked about this whole little series! I got decants of I, II and III. This is the first of them I am trying. Wet: Ugh. A punch in the face from leather. The kind that goes all "harsh industrial chemicals" on my skin. Ick! There's something sweet, in an almost mildewy fashion, just under the leather. Not off to a great start.... Dry: Pure leather. Fresh, chemically leather. It's not a scent I care for. I am going to age this a bit and try it again. I never smelled even a bit or amber or Myrrh from this...

I feel like there's a lot of juniper in this update. I feel like I mostly ignored it's presence, and got stuff that contains it anyway, knowing that it'll likely smell like someone spilled gin on me.....*sigh*. This other notes are great though. Wet: Yep, all juniper/gin, all day. Where's the amber, leather and cardamom that I bought this for??? This is not pleasant on me. It now smells like peppery gin and thanksgiving stuffing (the sage, I guess). WHY?? Dry: Thankfully the juniper fades almost totally away, making room for the cardamom to shine. Nose to skin, I get a mostly non-descript, sweet amberish scent. But the throw is almost all cardamom, and it's really nice. I think this will require a second test. Currently, I like it but it's not wowing me, or compelling me to put a bottle in my cart.

Fir and I are not compatible, but I couldn't say no to honey musk, and I often love leaves when they're combined with something sweet. Wet: Mmm! Very leaf dominant. Could easily be a "pile of fallen leaves" scent, though it has less bitterness than a dead leaf smell, and maybe smells a bit greener, sort of like a still living leaf, or one that hasn't dried yet. It's beautiful. The honey musk is subtle, but very much present. Then, between one sniff and the next, the friggin fir takes over. Gah. It's doing the "am I a pine tree, or a bucket or cat pee?? Who knows!?" thing. Kind of devastating. Dry: It's softened a lot. The fir/cat pee smell has completely dissipated, and it's gone back to being leaf dominant. I do get sweetness, but the honey musk is not really identifiable as such, it's just vaguely sweet. I like this, but I don't love it, so the decant will be enough.

I have quite a selection of red musks in my collection, and none seem to do the evil fruity thing. Only one I tried that did was Smut. Can you be specific about which ones smell good on you and which are bad? Then maybe we can suggest ones from around the same time frame. OR is it possible you like red musk only after it's aged, and fresh it does the fruity thing?? Just a thought!

I foolishly hoped for vanilla musk, coconut and clove....at first all I get is cedar and really strong juniper. I smell like I spilled gin in the forest. If I really huff, I can almost catch hints of creamy coconut, and a bit of spice, but this is really all about the woods and juniper. Once I let it dry though, I get a sort of dry, husky coconut along with the woods. The juniper fades away. Hmmm. Not sure what to think, or if this has too much wood for me. I am DESPERATE for a mostly coconut gloss, but I don't think this is going to be it. Still, it's a nice warm scent that I am enjoying more and more as the minutes go by. It may warrant a full day test.

I am not a fan of reviewing first, because I'm pretty much a terrible reviewer, but I will give it a go for the sake of anyone waiting for reviews. I removed the spray top to sniff from the bottle directly. In the bottle this is beautiful, the sweetness of the fig and the richness of the cacao really come through, with just a hint of resinous copal. I sprayed twice on the ends of my hair. Once dry, I got no cacao, no fig to sweeten it, just earthy dry dead leaves and copal. To me, copal is a little bit masculine, it's not my favourite resin. I'm sad that the beautiful cacao and fig that are so evident in the bottle don't shine through on me. I guess my chemistry kills them. I will likely be swapping my bottle. I took a gamble on this, knowing I'm not a big fan of copal, and hoping this would be mostly cacao and fig with the dead leaves. Hopefully those that really like copal with love this!

So, I have to admit, upon review, this is not likely to work on me. But I have always been drawn to the name. And I do love Tonka and musk, sandalwood and fig. But in the bottle, I smell none of those. Wet: Vegetation. Like, a vegetable garden. Wow, that's some realistic leaf smells right there! It's dying down though, and the leather and paper are coming through, but they have a rather chemically smell to them currently. Dry: The sweetness of the Tonka and musk come out, and make this so much more wearable. The green smell is still very strong, but also very pleasant. Reminds me a lot of Zombie Green HG. In fact, even though this scent really isn't "my thing" I can see myself wearing this with Zombie Green on occasion! It's really very different and somewhat compelling, and I just love the name so much!

Wet: In the bottle, this is gorgeous, but hard to pin down. What am I smelling? On my skin - holy Hannah this is good! I can pick out all the notes except ambergris. Somehow they combine to become woody and vanillic. Which is amazing. Lots of sweetness from the tobacco and opoponax, so the cacao doesn't seem bitter at all. The musk is heavenly. This is GORGEOUS. So glad I grabbed it. Dry: Amazing. Need more. Swoon. One of the best tobacco scents I own, and that's saying a lot.

On me, this is a clean musk, akin to skin musk, but without the lemony undertone I dislike. Maybe it's closer to a green musk? It's a very soft, somewhat powdery, sweet, clean smelling musk. Very much a "my skin but better" type scent. I like it, but I don't love it enough to seek out a bottle. Glad to have tried it though!

Wet: Sweet and perfumey, in a way I very much like. The hay and smoky honey come through really nicely. The lavender gives it a nice herbal, classic quality, but I think the tobacco keeps it from going into "sleepy scent" territory. This is so so pretty! The hay is almost peppery, which I am quite enjoying. I feel like this is a late summer scent. The hay and lavender combo make me want to (foolishly) run through fields in the sunshine. You know the song Fields of Gold? This scent feels like that song. Romantic, wistful, classic. I am loving it. Dry: Bah! So sad! This went off on me. I tried it in two different spots, and both times the hay note turned this way too dry and grassy eventually. No honey, no amber. Ahh, I am just now seeing the orris. That explains it. Orris almost always does horrible, powdery things to my skin. Baaad. Too bad, this had a ton of promise! I am sure it's gorgeous on those who don't have orris issues.

Just like the hair gloss, I get a lot of lemon out of Silkybat perfume. Sugary patchouli is actually more evident in this, in the HG, I find the lemon takes over. I find a lot of patchouli scents somewhat overbearing, and while I love them, they can be hard to wear. I feel like this is totally wearable. I could likely even get away with wearing it to work, as it's simply not identifiable as a "hippie patchouli" perfume. It reminds me a bit of Banshee Beat in that respect, only with sweet lemon instead of sweet vanilla, but it's that kind of round, sweet, "woody instead of dirty" patchouli note. I got this mostly because I didn't want Lydia to ride alone, and I needed to justify the shipping, but I find I quite like it, and can see wearing it in warmer months.

Just snagged this off Etsy, and when it arrived, I was so disappointed at first! There was a bit of transfer on the bottle, and even from that tiny amount, this was overwhelmingly screechy, high pitched, HAIRSPRAY. Blah! I almost didn't test it, it was so headache inducing. I couldn't stand to spray it on my sleeve, like I usually do for testing, so I sprayed some on a tissue, and it was instantly transformed! Beautiful vanilla orchid and sweet benzoin. So nice. So I got braver and rubbed some on my skin - also lovely. It is still a very strong scent, I wouldn't want to use it as moisturizer, but a single spray in my hair will be perfect. Glad I tried this! I have never really had an HG morph so much from the bottle. I wonder what makes it smell so terrible in the bottle? I love all these notes. Weird. Anyway, I really like this and am glad after all that I splurged and got it.

Wet: Blarg! Much more "shellac" than wood. Ick. Calms down as it dries though. The wood has a spiciness to it that I enjoy. Perhaps the privet? I had to Google, and apparently it's floral, but not sure if it's a spicy one. Dry: Not awful! I actually think this would be great on a guy. I can't really see myself wearing it, but I do like it. It's woody, but smells overall like a sophisticated cologne. Very nice!

Wet: I had high hopes for a sugared carnation scent with some daisy and pepper to jazz it up, but what I am getting smells a bit like Bazooka Joe's. It's not at all unpleasant though, in fact, it's rather charming. Girly, sweet, totally pink. It's getting better as it dries. Dry: Ultimately this is too pink and sickly sweet for me but I can appreciate that it would be lovely on the right person.

Excited to finally try this! I ADORE Haute Macabre, So Below, and Aradia, all from Haute Macabre. I have sort of avoided this though, as the jasmine is likely to break my heart, but in the imp I get a ton of sexy leather and oak, so maybe those will overpower the jasmine! Wet: creamy sexy leather. Mmm. Lots of almond, which is sweet and creamy also. This is yummy. So far so good! The patchouli is a dry version, and is starting to amp up. Overall, this is much sweeter, creamier, and rounder than I could have imagined, and I am kind of swooning. Just waiting for the other (jasmine) shoe to drop though.....It amazes me how different the notes are for all three scents (Haute Macabre, So Below, As Above) but how they still manage to share the same feeling. I adore this line. Dry: LEATHER. Still creamy and sweet, but mostly leather. I do like it quite a bit, but I think I would struggle to wear it on most occasions? Not sure. Part of my wants to get a bottle next release, just to "have it". Lol. But I don't love it the way I love So Below and Haute Macabre. I just really really like it. I think I would love it layered with So Below though, so I should likely get a bottle... (that's what I'll tell myself). I am also SO IMPRESSED that I wasn't able to smell the jasmine. It did not ruin this for me at all. That's exciting. I may need to rethink writing off every blend with Jasmine, there have now been two scents that had lots of dark heavy notes that kept the jasmine in check on me...this is hopeful! (The other one was Belonging To The Darkness from Bloodmilk)

Wet: Mmm. This is rich, resinous goodness! Sweet, with so much depth. Blended so well it's hard to pick out individual notes, but I think the black musk and opoponax are the stars here. I can detect the geranium as well. Uh, this is gorgeous. Dry: Amazingly rich, dark and beautiful, but unlike most of the "darker" scents that I love, this one isn't crazy strong and in-your-face. I like that, because it'll be more wearable for me during the day. So glad I finally got this! <3

Sadly, not much cardamom in the GC (not prominently). It's featured in a few of the Lupers that came out today, I was excited to see that! Thus far though, my favourite is My Little Grotesque. Unicorn and Ram has a bit too. It's also nice (but subtle) in Gypsy (the Moth).

Tonka-stained cloth, brick dust, rye, and ragged weeds. Wet: The weed notes are very...weedy. Lol. And dominant. Different than the fresh cut grass of Grass Stain SN, or the dried grass from Catch Me, Dad. Different than a hay note - but I think closest to that. A bit fresher than that though, and sort of...tangy? Different. Interesting. Very realistic. Was really hoping from some Tonka though, to sweeten things up. The brick dust note is coming up, and reminds me of the porcelain note in Mr. Croup. This is still more sour than I would like. Dry: Very faint. It did sweeten up, and lose that sour vegetal tang it had going on. This is more like a sweet, dried grass/herb smell now. Quite pleasant, and still incredibly realistic of the outdoors. I would recommend this to anyone who likes a unique, outdoorsy type scent. I don't think it's for me, but glad to have tried it!

Mmm, there's a ton of sugary coconut in this. It smells like vacation! Musk and coconut is a favourite combo of mine, it's sultry and tropical. Love! Need to hunt down a bottle for this summer!

I love this. The leather is super sexy. The licorice sweet. It's perfect, and I wish I could have it in perfume and HG as well!!

I adore honey scents, and was excited to get to swap for this bottle. Wet: Interesting! I am not that familiar with gunpowder, but I am getting a smoky, woody vibe from this that I assume is gunpowder. Also, something akin to menthol, which I am assuming is the "magic". Really does a good job of keeping the honey from being too sweet and cloying. This is a really light scent so far, and I do actually wish the honey was a bit stronger on me. Dry: Hmm. It's sweet, but not REALLY identifiable as honey. Hints of metal and wood and herbs. Interesting. I don't care for some of its phases, but I like it now after at least half an hour. It's such a light scent though, no real throw to speak of, and I'm not sure how long it'll last at the rate it's fading. I may pass this on to someone who might love it better, but I am also considering keeping it for sentiment, since who knows if TLU collection will ever come back.

Really excited to try this. I purposefully let the bottle settle for quite a few days before giving it a go. Wet: Oh man. I don't know what is happening here. All of these notes are so much win for me....but my arm smells like dirty diapers where I applied this. I cannot accept that. It's gorgeous in the bottle OK - after applying elsewhere on my arm....this smells better, but still "off". I have wondered before if I had slight difficulties with oud, but as I never seem able to pick it out in a blend, I wasn't sure. As it settles though, it loses the ick factor, and slowly develops into an almost effervescent amber scent, with a bit of...of man, it still reminds me of poo. WHY??? Dry: This is so disappointing! In my elbow where I first applied it, it smells like amber and BO, with a hint of poo. On my wrist, just the amber and feces. I don't get it. I am choosing to believe I am having a "bad skin day" and will try again another day.

Wet: Vetiver. It's very vegetal. A bit sour. Not particularly pleasant so far. I wonder if it's actually the spikenard I'm smelling - I don't really know what that smells like. This is for sure a vegetal type smell though, green and kind of sour. Which makes me sad, as sniffing from the bottle it is sweet and resinous, as I was expecting it to be. Dry: Ok, this dries down a lot nicer than when it's wet. I can pick out the patchouli , pepper and Frankincense. Sadly, I get no clove. And there are other notes that are strongest, that I don't recognize, so I am guessing that's the spikenard and mastic. This is really different! I do quite like it. Not sure how "me" it is, but it's unique and I am glad I tried it. I think it will age quite well. ETA: My second time testing this, the clove came out, and it is SPICY. I love clove. Sadly, I get no sweetness out of this, and I am really looking for a sweet clove scent, so I think this will get passed on.