LizziesLuck

Fresh out of the mail! I just got this from the Lab's Etsy. There were a ton of protos on there - I have no idea why it was this one that called to me so loudly. But it did. In the bottle: Whoa grapefruit! Shit. In theory, I quite like the smell of grapefruit! It's zesty and refreshing. But once it hits my skin, it gets real ugly, real fast. Wet: For a brief moment, it's fresh, zingy, bright - everything you would want from a lovely (pink, I think) grapefruit scent! And then my chemistry starts to grab hold of it and turn it into something bitter and nasty. It also amps the grapefruit (now turned horridly bitter, as predicted) to high heaven, making it really difficult to pick out other notes. But I think I detect some mint. I am also getting a lot of sweetness, which is helping to counter some of that bitterness my skin pulls out of the grapefruit. This is actually much nicer than any other grapefruit blend has ever been on me - as it dries, the bitterness fades and this is....actually kind of nice?? Dry: I was crazy, re: mint. There's no mint in this. This is all citrus, all day. It's actually really good. It's sweet and creamy. Kind of like candied grapefruit rind. There's still a hint of bitterness that I don't care for, due to my chemistry (without exception, I just can't do grapefruit). But if it weren't for my chemistry, this would be awesome. It reminds me a bit of Jiggery Pokery (just in the same vein) which is a sweet, creamy orange on me. So, long story short, I get sweet creamy grapefruit! I will have to swap this (boo skin!). Kind of sad about that, for some reason I just really thought this would be a "me" blend. Oh well, you win some, you lose some!

Criminals shall not be presented so as to be rendered glamorous or to occupy a position which creates a desire for emulation. Gleaming black patchouli and leather, wet with styrax and black amber, and smoothed by velvet oudh and blackcurrant. I cannot resist the combo of patchouli and blackcurrant. And truly, that's what this blend primarily is on me. Gorgeous. The patchouli is earthy, not dry, but not gnarly at all either. It's perfect, and will age like a dream. The currant is beautiful and dark, with a hint of tartness that's countered by the sweet amber. I don't get any of the leather, which is fine with me, it's iffy on me anyway. This is beautifully blended. My favourite of the two my fairy kindly picked me up (thank you!!!!). I got two of the wrong bottle, darn! I should have asked for two of this one. Stunning.

[No additional description provided.] I can't believe no one has reviewed this yet! I thought this would be super popular. I mean, who hasn't thought at least once in their life, "man, I wish my hair could smell like toasty marshmallows and dead leaves!" am I right?? This is FABULOUS. I feel like the Lab and Post Dead Leaves notes are like Russian Roulette - you don't know which one you're going to get. Will it be that cologney one I really hate? The sort of aquatic one? That SUPER bitter one? Or that perfect, legit smells like dead leaves crunching under your feet one? Well, it's that one folks. Perfection. And it's not too strong. In fact, the sweet vanilla fluffy only slightly scorched marshmallow come out on top. I love this. In my top three of Dead Leaves HG thus far (other two are Dead Leaves and Cinnamon Incense and Whatever Else from last year, and Dead Leaves, Patchouli, Honey and Stuff from the year before. Super happy I got a 1oz of this instead of just a little 5ml. I will have to restrain myself from getting a full bottle with firm reminders that I have never used up anything in my life ever. ANYWAY - the entire point of this whole rambling review - if you love marshmallow, try this. Don't let the Dead Leaves scare you off, they are well behaved here.

Pumpkin spiced incense smoke! Not a huge pumpkin spice fan, but I like the idea of it with incense. Wet: OK, this smells amazing. First of all, the pumpkin spice is a million time better than I ever expected. I thought it would just be a blast of cinnamon, but it's really well rounded. The pumpkin note is rich, buttery without being cloying, and slightly earthy is a "realistic squash" sort of way. Having never tried the Lab's other pumpkin spice scents, I have NO CLUE how much of the Cathedral is coming through. I have tried Cathedral on it's own, but can't remember it that well. My notes say it was a woody incense with a lot of Frank on me. I don't really smell much of that. This is sweet and creamy and yummy. I want to eat it. Dry: About the same! Lots of spice, a hint of rich creamy pumpkin. If Cathedral is in there, it's maybe serving to ground this and add dimension (which it has). I really like it, and am excited to compare it to the other PS scents I snagged.

This is my body, he said, two thousand years ago. This is my blood. It was the only religion that delivered exactly what it promised: life eternal, for its adherents. There are some of us alive today who remember him. And some of us claim that he was a messiah, and some think that he was just a man with very special powers. But that misses the point. Whatever he was, he changed the world. Life everlasting: clove-smoke, benzoin, rose maroc, Jerusalem cedar, cistus, and frankincense. Wet: Cedar, benzoin, and smoky-sexy clove. Nice! Fresh cedar is never good on me, but aged it gets quite nice. Currently it's a little bit sharp and pencil shaving-y (I know that's not a real word, you get what I mean). But that clove/benzoin combo is TO DIE FOR. Clove lovers, take note. I get hints of the rose, which softens things, but doesn't take over. That bully Frank hasn't shown up yet, which I am pretty happy about - he likes to stomp all over the other notes on my skin. Dry: This is lovely. Clove, woods (which have settled nicely as this dries, no more pencil shavings) backed by sweet resins. The Frankincense is present, but behaving for once. I can't really smell the rose, which I am OK with, as it often steals the show on my skin. I do have some other clove perfumes that I really love, but I think this is beautiful and different enough that I could find a place for it in my collection, so I may need a bottle. I think this will age gloriously - it's good now, but I bet in a year or two it's STUNNING.

You are shocked out of the torch song’s melancholy mood by shrieks, hoots, and yowls. You move to your left, and see that instead of a stage, a gigantic iron cage has been hung, hovering a few feet off of the ground. Elaborate, delicate silver sigils are engraved upon huge iron disks that have been mounted to the sides of the cage, and they flicker and spark whenever one of the wild men touches the iron bars that imprison them. The backdrop depicts a blistering volcanic eruption, spiked with thick luminescent bolts of lightning. Several beings are held within the cage, male and female, spanning every age. They flash their razor-fanged smiles at you malevolently as they anxiously crawl, pace, and stalk the length of their prison, stopping occasionally to pose and preen as they gossip with one another in an unrecognizable guttural, grinding language. Their tattooed skin glows an angry crimson, curving horns protrude from their skulls, and their eyes blaze with unholy light. Fiery, primal, and precociously diabolical: red amber, Spanish moss, Indonesian patchouli, ambergris, sweet ambrette seed, red pepper, two cloves, and vanilla flower. Wet: Clove - sweet and a little smoky. Not overwhelming, as clove often is on me. This is soft and alluring. This is a dry soft of spice. The amber is sweet and grounding. Dry: Dry, slightly sweet, slightly dusty clove, with amber underneath. There's not a ton of complexity to this on me, despite all the notes. I do, however, like it a lot anyway. I love that even though clove is still dominant on me, I haven't amped it to high heaven like usual. This is warm and exotic. It's almost smoky. I can't stop sniffing it, it's very intriguing. I may do a full day test, but I feel like at least a partial bottle is in my future. Also, I adore the name. ETA: I haven't tried the original release, so can't compare.

Not a dog, not a hound, but a 100% genuine cur: Brian's crazy swamp girl, the Blueberry Catahoula Hog Dog! Louisiana's olive blossom and magnolia swirled with blueberries. The second I sprayed this there was a blast of something weeeeiiird, but that disappeared immediately and left sun warmed blueberries and an unfamiliar floral that smells somewhat exotic, and must be the olive blossom? The blueberry is prominent though. It smells squished. In a good way. Occasionally though, I am now catching hints of that weird smells again. It's something akin to when jasmine goes funky and smells like an outhouse. The blueberry is sadly fading quickly on me, and I am not really enjoying the scent that's left. It's nice, with a really off-putting note underneath, like using pretty air freshener to mask the smell of and rotting. It's disquieting. It does not smell that way in the bottle at all, and I am sure this is just me. I will try it again on another day, because I love the idea of a blueberry scent. ETA: So I test HG on the sleeve of my shirt, it's easiest for me. The next day, the shirt I sprayed this on smells LOVELY. This settles into a gorgeous, juicy, heady magnolia and blueberry scent. Lovely. I think it was the olive blossom that smelled funky to me, and it faded out.

You pass through the golden mouth, and find yourself inside a narrow, cramped corridor. Large wooden paintings of skeletal hands crook their bony fingers, leading you forwards. At the first turn, you hear a bizarre jumble of sounds: the high-pitched sound of gears grinding, metal on metal, the sound of sultry, low-pitched laughter, a clattering, wings flapping, soft hissing. Suddenly, a sharp howl pierces the darkness. As you make your way around the corner you are momentarily blinded as floodlights flicker to life, and thirteen gold-gilded stages are illuminated, bathed from beneath in sinister, caramel-colored light. Dust, incense, wet tobacco, singed straw, and a curl of opium smoke. I haven't tried the original. I was drawn to this due to the tobacco and singed straw. Wet: Frankincense. Huh? Oh, incense. It is dusty, more of a dry Frank note than a golden glowing Frank. But it's still all Frank, all the time, on me right now. Hoping for more complexity as it dries! Dry: Dry, indeed! Dusty, dry Frankincense. I never get any of the other notes. If I had known the incense in this was Frank, I likely would have avoided it - I have found lately that unless Frank is paired with something equally substantial, it's just going to dominate on my skin and not allow any other notes to shine. This is a very incense heavy blend, I can't smell any tobacco at all (it's usually strong on my skin), and I can't pick out anything that resembles a straw note. Smelling it straight out of the imp is not helpful - I feel like this one needs warmth from skin to bloom. In the imp it smells like original Listerine. You know, the yellowish brown coloured one that isn't minty. Nothing like how it smells on my skin. I feel like this review is highly unhelpful, and everyone should just go out and try this for themselves.

Eight Maids-A-Milking Seven Swans-A-Swimming Six Geese-A-Laying Five Golden Rings Four Calling Birds Three French Hens Two Turtle Doves and a Partridge in a Pear Tree A billow of lime cotton candy, a dribble of absinthe, a few scattered sugar plums, and one squished fig. This sounded far too fun to pass up, and it is!! All the notes are totally identifiable. Yummy sweet-tart lime (which is the star in this), sweet fruity sugar plums, a dash of absinthe and just a hint of sticky fig. This is a candy lover's dream. If you like lime, you should try this, this is the best lime candy note I have ever smelled. I have no idea if I will ever find occasion to wear this, but it makes me grin from ear to ear and I will be holding onto my little 5ml for times when I feel silly and whimsical.

The subject of our latest #BPAL7wordstory contest was Greed. The winning entry was submitted by Melanie C: Killed the last rhino for its horn. Ambergris accord, orris root, and carrot seed. Wow, no one has reviewed this yet?? I ADORE carrot seed and I love ambergris, so I had to give this a go, despite orris almost always smelling terrible on me. Wet: Gorgeous glittering carrot seed (Don't ask me why it smells glittery, I don't know). With musky, slightly watery ambergris and powdery orris. The orris isn't too terrible here yet, somehow the powderiness kind of works? But really I would much prefer it without it. I want a carrot seed single note. Dry: This settles and comes together beautifully and is really pretty stunning. The carrot seed is dominant but backed nicely by the ambergris, which becomes really smooth and mellow. The orris just adds some vague slightly powdery, slightly creamy sweetness. I only got a decant in a bottle of this, and will likely want more, so I am glad these seem to be GC for the meantime! LOVE that carrot seed!

Nostalgia encapsulated. A soft, wistful blend of dry flowers, aged linens, and the faint breath of long-faded perfumes. Really, I'm first?? This is amazing without my skin chemistry to change it (the oil is lovely on my skin, but this is REALLY SOMETHING) There's an almost...custard sort of feel? Slightly lemony, almost. But in the best way imaginable. The florals keep it from being gourmand though. It's just glorious, and I want to bathe in it. It's light (which I'm pleased about, I was hoping I could wear it to work and I think I can!) but seems to last well. Really just so stoked to have it! Antique Lace was something I hated years ago, it just shows how much my tastes have changed, because I live for scents like this now.

I love this. LOVE IT. It's one of those scents that is way more than the sum of it's parts. Like if I didn't know better I would say there's some vanilla in there. It's subtly smoky on me. Musky. Warm and fuzzy. I love it and I want to roll around in it.

In my head, this was going to be the apricot, amber and cardamom scent of my dreams. In reality and on my skin, it's pretty much all peach and apricot. I don't even get the amber, which I usually amp. No rice milk, no cardamom. I like it, but it's very...basic....on me. Will age a bit and see what happens.

Note: Limited release perfume oil; atmosphere spray review topic located here. Darkness engulfing a childs collection of dolls and books: beeswax, leather-bound paper, and white gardenias; porcelain and wood, lace and shadow. Thank you to the lovely who sent me a tester of this special "Atmofume" - you know who you are, and you're awesome. Wet: Wow. Beautiful. Beeswax and gardenia are prominent. A tiny hint of really creamy leather, if that even makes sense. This is unique, and beautiful. Dry: The beeswax and gardenia do amp up really strong on me, and get a little overwhelming. I really love the scent though, and will absolutely be getting some of the atmo spray. Not sure I would wear it as perfume though.

Mod Note: Limited release perfume oil; atmosphere spray review topic located here. A stately brick mansion glowing with warmth: bay rum, fine whiskey, white carnations, and hearth wood. Really excited to be trying this! I have been eying the Atmo since it came out, so I jumped on the chance to snag it as an "Atmofume" Wet: Sweet and boozy, with lots of spicy carnation to balance the sweetness. Wow, that's pretty. I adore carnations. This white carnation note is like a punch in the face (in a good way!) Dry: Beautiful. Primarily a carnation scent on my skin. Lots of rich sweetness and depth from the other notes. I love it. Good and strong, and long-wearing. It survived my washing machine breaking and me having to dig sopping wet sweaters out one at a time.... (p.s. I am DONE adulting for today.)

With apple bourbon. This is very apple-y and boozey! Not getting as much of the honey or maple as I had hoped. It is almost caramelly though, and quite yummy. I would describe it as a caramel-sweet apple hot toddy. It's lovely, but no sign of the maple I was so hoping for.

This is spicy, perfumey (in the way I always find cardamom perfumey) and clean. What a neat scent! Very evocative. Difficult to describe. The cardamom shines in this more than in any other scent I have tried so far (I have been searching for the perfect cardamom for ages). The balsam gives richness and depth, the papyrus adds gravity and also a dryness that feels....aged. Like, maybe Indiana Jones smells a bit like this, after he's been digging through ancient artifacts from far off places? I don't know. I love it.

Packing stuff to move and found a couple of bottles I ordered and never even tried! Instead of being annoyed with myself for forgetting them I have decided to think of them as a gift to myself tucked away for later. LOL. (that's me trying to convince myself I am not a hoarder) This is so interesting! Quite gourmand in the bottle, almost spicy, which makes no sense. Once on my skin though it loses that weird spicy sweetness and instead smells more like a very high end cologne. This reminds me of something from my childhood. Very nostalgic. I want to say pistachio ice cream/pudding but it's not that simple. Whatever it is, it's glorious. I own absolutely nothing like this, it's so unique. I really really like it. I also love that the dead leaves is subtle in this one (on me). Usually I amp dead leaves.

Vanilla marshmallow apricot poof. Really? No one has reviewed this yet? The label plus the name of this is hilarious to me. I am having a hard time describing the initial scent. It doesn't smell like marshmallow to me. Very candy-like, but I can't think of the candy it smells like. It's extremely yummy. But I just can't place it. WAIT! Cream Soda? Yep, it kind of smells like cream soda to me. Or maybe those cream soda fruit snacks? Delicious, and super fun. I can't stop sniffing it. Now that I've thought cream soda, I can't get that out of my head. I'm not mad at it, I think it's one of the neatest things I've ever smelled. The marshmallow does come out a bit as it dries in my hair. It's pretty freakin spectacular. I don't actually know how much I will wear it - I don't typically do these types of scents, but I will for sure keep the bottle, even if I do make some decants out of it to share. Really grateful to my fairy for getting this for me!! <3

Mandrake root, broom straw, leather, cinnamon, fig, dark musk, and tonka. All of these notes called to me, except the mandrake, so hoping it doesn't take over too much! Wet: Mmm, this is pretty! I was expecting something kind of dark, but this is sweet hay, Tonka and fig. Hints of spice, but I would never identify it as cinnamon, which is great because cinnamon can be a bully note on my skin. The musk is there, but again I wouldn't have identified it as "dark" it's just a grounding presence in the background. This is different and I really like it so far. Dry: The tonka in this is really great. I have a wax tart that's called "Tonka Suede". It's just a no-name brand, but it's my favourite. This kind of reminds me of that, with hay/straw added to it. It's warm and comforting. Hints of spice. But the Tonka, subtle leather and hay are the stars of this. This is going into the maybe pile for sure!

In the bottle this makes no sense to me - so much so that I have avoided testing it. It smells like laundry in the bottle. Makes no sense! Once it's on my skin it does still have a really weird "clean" vibe. The oak is reminiscent of the oak in Haloes on me. The amber makes zero sense here. On me, amber is rich, sweet and syrupy. I love it, and it loves me. This is not that note on me. All I can think is soap when I smell it. It's not sweet or warm or rich. It's pale and light and clean. Not sure what to think here, it's not at all what I expected reading the notes. It's a very dry scent. Dusty almost. If I had been looking for a light, clean scent to wear to work this actually would have been perfect, but I had my heart set on rich amber and wood and so I find I am disappointed.

There's another smoky lavender scent that I cannot pronounce (I think it starts with a G? LOL) and I am obsessed with it, so I had to have this when I saw the description of lavender and smoke! This is a much different smoke note, reminding me more of maybe Devil's Night? Or the Storyteller? Smells like bonfire, but with lavender thrown on. Marvelous! The musk is clean and bright behind the smoke and lavender. The cognac adds just a touch of sweetness. This is really something. I love it. Different than anything I own or have ever tried.

I can't believe I never bothered to review this one, I adore this scent! One of my bedtime faves. The amber and sugar cane combine on me to make this sticky sweetness that I love - almost like fig or something. It's gorgeous with the lavender and hint of patchouli. I often wonder if I should have got 2 bottles!

I can't say no to the combo of vanilla and sandalwood (vanilla and any wood, really!) so I somehow ignored the fact that this has cream in. Cream rarely works on me. It smells awful to my nose, even in the bottle - like scalded milk. Thankfully, it smells way better once warmed by my skin. It becomes a subtle, sweet skin scent on me. Creamy vanilla toffee is the best way I can describe it. Not getting any of the wood. It's not quite what I was hoping for, and a bit too gourmand for my current tastes. If you love creamy gourmand scents though, give this a go! Also, just as an FYI - the label differs from the name of this thread - my bottle says " Aoede, Melete, Mneme"

I really love the combo of cedar and vanilla, so I was expecting to love this, but it's a whole lotta pencil shavings on me. It may just need to age for a good long while (fresh wood scents are often not awesome on my skin) so I won't give up on it, but currently it's not a fave. I am getting none of the vanilla sweetness I hoped for, and all of the dry dusty pencils. Wah wah.