LizziesLuck

Ever since I purchased The Painted Rose Atmo from the Post, I have been looking for a rose and patchouli perfume - find the combo amazing in The Painted Rose. Wet: Really sour and astringent, and NOT rose and patchouli as I had hoped. The throw is much sweeter, but still has that astringent tang going on. Ick. Dry: It pretty well disappeared. It never became the rose and patchouli scent I was hoping for. Just faint dry patchouli now.

Wet: Lots of red musk and patchouli. Something else that might be the chypre, I'm actually not that familiar with it. I find it really masculine thus far. Dry: It's ok, but not great on me. There isn't enough sweetness in this for me. The patchouli is of the very dry, earthy rather than gnarly variety. I think I am getting a lot of the chypre too, which is woody and sort of smoky? It's a much more earthy scent than I would have imagined from the notes. I am not getting the red musk, currant and vanilla scent that I would have liked.

I'm not really sure how I missed reviewing this. My notes say I absolutely loved it, thought it was my perfect rose for a moment, and then it disappeared, poof! So it got swapped. I have a ton of rose blends at this point anyway. I vaguely remembering wishing that the spices had shown up to the party, as this was straight up rose on me. It never went soapy, but maybe it just didn't have a chance to since it disappeared.

Wet: Cologne. No soap! No....huh?I don't know. This is odd. I wanted to try it, cuz red musk spices, tobacco. I smell none of those. It smells like a sweet, sort of clean, men's cologne. Like old school cologne. Not at all what I had hoped for or expected. Dry: This dries down to incense on me. Smells more like nag champa than the Lab's usual dragon's blood note. Not at all what I was expecting! Red musk and tobacco never showed up to this party. It's interesting, and somewhat pleasant, but not something I would ever wear. Still glad to have tried it!

Leather is one of those notes that I am still exploring. I know white like in Paladin is TERRIBLE on me. Black leather, like in Whip, is awesome. Since I already know I love rum and like patchouli, I figured this would be a good blend to explore leather some more. Wet: The throw is all horrid chemically leather, the way Eldritch Dark was on me (that blend was a heart breaker, all the other notes were favourites). Nose to skin though, this is gorgeous sweet rum, with hints of earthy patch. The leather almost isn't present, except in a sort of worn, blurred around the edges, way. The throw has gotten much better, I think the chemical smell sort of burned off when it hit my skin. It was nasty for a minute, but is very pleasant now. Dry: The rum has gone sort of dusty on me, which happens with some gourmand type notes, but has never happened with rum before. All the sweetness is gone (and it went quickly). There isn't even much patch left. This is just a faint, dusty smell on my arm. AND THEN the leather comes back. It's ok. Not as good as that black leather in Whip that I enjoy so much. This is a fail on me. Not a horrendous one, but a fail nonetheless. I have learned that leather is likely one of those notes that I will rarely like when it is a dominant note. I think Whip must be an exception.

I'm quoting myself because right after I said this, we were charged customs fees on a large combined order! I jinxed us. It was only $19, which I hear is pretty low compared to the size of the order, but still, it had never happened before and I was shocked. Was it on an order shipped with DHL? Based on past experience (my mom orders fabric wholesale from the US), orders shipped courier (UPS/DHL/Fedex/etc) are much more likely to be hit with customs fees than orders shipped USPS. UPS especially also likes to charge a $35 brokerage fee on top of the customs charge (I think Canada Post charges a $5 fee). I wasn't very happy to hear that recent orders were being sent DHL because of this. I didn't know this at first. I actually WAS happy to see the Lab using DHL because it's so much faster and easier to predict when it'll get here. I've had two orders come through DHL now, both were over $300. First one, no fees, second one, fees. Hope it was a fluke and it won't happen most of the time!

I wouldn't think so, at least not as a collection. Black Lace was resurrected once. I believe they have all been exclusive to Dark Delicacies, and were not all released at the same time - one or two here and there, through the years. Champagne Lace was released January this year and is still available from Dark Del.

Wulric may be my new favourite bedtime scent! <3

I'm quoting myself because right after I said this, we were charged customs fees on a large combined order! I jinxed us. It was only $19, which I hear is pretty low compared to the size of the order, but still, it had never happened before and I was shocked.

I am pretty sure they always combine when asked, but I always email them with my order numbers so that it doesn't get missed. Did you specifically ask them to combine? Do they usually just do it without you saying anything? I don't know because I always send an email. That's likely disappointing for you! I know how painful international shipping is! It does sometimes take a couple of days for your refund though, so maybe it's still coming? I combined two Etsy orders and they shipped Thursday and my refund hasn't come through yet.

I'd be more worried about the Hay absolute, to be honest. A lot of people are allergic. I've never been allergic to a BPAL (totally surprising, I'm allergic to everything else!) so I can't speak to the allergy factor, but it's actually the combo of hay and beeswax that makes me LOVE Bunraku so much! So glad I got a bottle. I know I will wear the heck out of it in late summer and early fall.

I didn't even think of trying to search for things from the Post, oh no! Infinite expansion of possibilities! Do you know how strongly the "honey" in that smells like Manuka, because I find that to be rather medicinal and unpleasant to smell, eat, and wear. (It is an excellent wound dressing.) I'm also not sure what aquilaria aguillocha is, Google is returning "aquilaria agallocha", which is Agarwood or Oud, I guess? Probably synthetic, since the tree is a protected species in many countries? Can't say I'm familiar with it, but I'll add Tricksy to ye olde wishlist, and go find a review thread. (Catalogued all my collected imps today, woo!) Thanks everyone for being so helpful, and do let me know if something else turns up. I haven't even considered LE Lab oils or Post blends at all yet. I just got my hands on a bottle of Visions of Autumn III and immediately I thought of you, because to me this is the loveliest Patch and Honey scent I've tried. There's vanilla in it as well, and cinnamon is a listed note, but I'm not smelling any. Anyway, just wanted to mention it in case you hadn't thought of it yet. Its smooth and warm and lovely.

Resurrected Wet: Creamy, sweet carnation. The carnation is not quite as strong as I had anticipated. It's present for sure though, and I am really enjoying this. Dry: Something weird has happened. There's something just....off...on my skin. Kind of metallic? Something in here isn't agreeing with my chemistry. Which is sad, because when I go back and sniff it in the bottle, it is beautiful creamy carnation goodness. I will likely try this another time before giving up on it. It's SO GOOD in the bottle. ETA: Ok, take 2! Two days later. It's settled from the mail. Wet: Really lovely carnation, creamy...is it amber maybe? Some vanilla? Honey? I don't know. It's sweet and creamy carnation, and it's beautiful. If it stays this way I will be totally sold. Dry: Still love it! Whatever was off before is not today, yay! It's lighter with less throw than I would like. But I didn't really slather. It's lovely, a perfect carnation scent I will need to test it again to make sure it's going to be consistently good on my skin. A couple of hours later this is a glorious warm amber and carnation scent. Keeper!

This is lovely, I like it so much more than I thought I would! I love patch, but lately it's been weird on me sometimes - not here. This is beautiful rounded, smoother patch, with honey and vanilla. I actually don't get any of the cinnamon. This is so lovely and I am glad to have it!

I for sure pick up the lemon blossom, which smells a bit, well, lemony. The other notes just sort of blend together into a non-descript floral - which is pretty much exactly what I was looking for, something to go with almost any of my floral perfumes. Lovely! Very work appropriate as well.

Wet: Wow. This has to be the most glorious sandalwood I have ever smelled. It's so rich and warm. Hints of sweetness and spice. This is comforting and elegant at the same time. Brilliant. Sniffing it makes me happy. Dry: This is beautiful. Subtle, elegant, and warm. Still mostly sandalwood, but the smoothest, warmest, richest sandalwood ever. Hints of amber and vanilla. Just gorgeous.

Wet: Mmmmm. There is something about this (the coffee and vetiver that almost reads as coffee and tobacco?) that immediately reminds me of Pinched with Four Aces. Don't quote me on that, I will have to test side-by-side to see if I am crazy, but suffice it to say, thus far, I LOVE THIS. Dominantly coffee, hints of smooth smokiness. Sweet and rich. Stunning. Zero baby powder, but I have never had that issue with Myrrh. Dry: This dries down to a soft coffee scent with hints of vetiver. I can't say that I can pick out that it's java vetiver, but it's incredibly smooth and subtle. Not getting a lot of the Myrrh, but I think it's grounding the scent. This is truly lovely, and I am glad I snagged a bottle! I think it will age beautifully. I will say though, unlike the initial wet scent, the dry down doesn't have a heck of a lot in common with Pinched, but it's great in it's own right.

French Tobacco is one of my favourite perfumes so I had to try this! I love tobacco in many other blends as well. Wet: Mmm. This is sweet, but not in the caramelized way that French Tobacco is. It's a bit smoky. It's amazing. It's totally different from the French version, which I am happy about, so I can justify having both. Gosh, I am just loving how sweet this is! There is something about it that's almost vanillic. I am having a hard time describing it, other than "amazing". It's almost spicy, like I get hints of cinnamon-but-not-quite-cinnamon. Mmmm Dry: Spicy, sweet, and honestly almost a little bit gourmand on me, but then so is the French, just in a totally different way. I love this, and think it will age beautifully.

Wet: I have to agree that I am used to a much sweeter, smoother sandalwood. This smells very masculine to me - like cologne. Like the world's most expensive, gorgeous cologne. I am not sure yet how wearable it will be on me, but boy is it lovely. So rich. Beautiful. Dry: This has all but disappeared on me in a matter of about 40 minutes. Sad, because it was gone before it had even really settled on my skin. It was quite nice, but may have been too masculine for my tastes anyway. It's fresh out of the mail, so I will test again another day before I make any final decisions.

I've been looking for a gloss that will go with just about anything and be totally work appropriate, so I decided to try this with that in mind. I already had hair gloss in my hair, so I sprayed this on my shirt and my arm to test. It's sweet and amber dominant on me, which is pretty well what I had hoped for. The sandalwood and Oudh are very subtle. I can't detect much, if any, of the tiare. I think this is exactly what I was looking for. I think I could wear this with a ton of different perfumes when I want to use a gloss because i love the product, but don't want something that will compete or conflict with my perfume. Totally work appropriate. I think I will use this a lot.

There is a gardenia thread here I am not a gardenia fan (don't dislike it either) so I only have one blend containing it, and that is Pepper. It's a bright, sweet, citrusy spicey floral on me. Wild English roses, French gardenia, vanilla, honey, golden ginger, blood orange, tuberose, bergamot, and geranium. Have you tried Miss Spink? A grand, over-the-top tuberose gardenia. Or maybe hunt down Venus Cloacina A magnificent white gardenia in full bloom, gilded by frankincense, sheer musk, and vanilla orchid.

Fresh out of the mail! Couldn't wait to try it. I have tried the perfume - it was not good on me. It was lovely tea and cake at first (what I hoped for) but dried to cucumber, which I don't care for. I decided to give this a go, in hopes that it was a skin chemistry thing, and this would smell mostly of tea on my hair. In the bottle, it smells mostly like cake, and lovely perfumey Earl Grey. I actually don't smell the cucumber in the bottle, which is kind of exciting. I am testing by directing the spray half at my arm and half at a tissue (my hair already has another HG in it, and I am too impatient to wait). I am hoping that by testing on a tissue I will eliminate any skin chemistry issues. Mmm, cake and tea! just like I wished for! No icky cucumber yet, not even on my arm. This is amazing. The tea is more evident on the tissue, my skin is amping sweet cake. This is summery, sweet, foodie without being cloying. I am thoroughly enjoying it, but still so worried cucumber will eventually rear it's ugly head. I will edit my review if it does, but the scent is fully dry, absorbed into my skin, and smells amazing. So glad I took a chance!

So this came in the mail today, and I was so excited to try it after all the hype! Typically I have been testing the HG's on my sleeve, cuz it's easier to sniff, but it's hot and I have no sleeves. So I decided to direct the spray half onto my arm, and half onto a tissue (to avoid any skin chemistry issues, strawberry is iffy on me, but I figured it it's fine on a tissue, it'll be fine in my hair). On my skin, it smells like plastic. Pretty much exactly like the plastic bottle it came in So I stuck my nose pretty well in the bottle to sniff. I can smell lovely strawberry and cream, but also plastic. On my skin, just the plastic. On the TISSUE - plastic. Uh oh. This is not a skin chemistry thing, this smells like plastic to my nose. I now wonder if the heat of the day is causing something to go wrong. I will let it settle and test another day. So far though - fail! Boo, it sounds amazing on everyone else!

Wet: Very light floral, with the faint bitterness I associate with orange blossom. It's going powdery as well, creating a bathroom cleaner type effect. Orange blossom almost never works on me, so this is not surprising. I think I can actually pick out the carrot seed though! It's a note I have been curious about, as I have never been able to really pick it out before. But I am getting something earthy and almost spicy, and I think that might be it! Interesting. Dry: This gets so unbelievably soapy on me! Screeching perfumey soap, very strong and with crazy throw. It did go through quite a nice phase where I thought it might recover, but alas this is just not meant for my skin chemistry.

Homebrew gin, thick with juniper, with hints of wormwood, clove, and nutmeg. Wet: Yumm! Lots of fizzy goodness. The hint of spice comes through nicely Not too much juniper. For sure some similarities with Twenty One, I will have to do a side-by-side. I really like it, but luckily so far it doesn't seem like something I would actually wear, so I may be safe from having to track down more. Boy this is good though. I would drink this bathtub gin. Dry: This actually doesn't last long on me at all. I do really like it, though can't imagine wearing it. Glad I got to try it, and I think I will do a comparison with Twenty One, just for kicks, before I pass this on.