bookandbroom

Thanks, you guys! Very much appreciated.

Brightbrightbrightbrightbright! I don't even know what's making all that brightness but it's BRIGHT, like when you walk outdoors for the first time and the sun smacks you way harder than you expected. There's an herbal note in here that reminds me intensely of the lemon balm that grew in my grandmother's garden - not quite lemon, not quite greenly herbal, but sitting neatly in between. I almost get a whiff of a note I associate with summer camp that I think is rose geranium, but I'm not entirely certain on that one. (Who am I kidding? I'm never entirely certain when there are no notes listed!) It's actually unexpectedly pretty - just in a high-pitched sort of way that isn't exactly my style. Summer, and clean things, laundry on the line, lemon-fresh and setting off for a walk. Something like that.

Maybe it's the power of suggestion, but I did, immediately on opening this bottle, get a hint of green musk that reminds me of ... something! I thought it was one of the Tweedles, but that's green mango. This is green in a bright way, to me; a hint of lime, a hint of mint, but not grass or trees, really. There's a certain musky assertiveness, and like Edens Sixth Day says, it's earthy and ethereal. There's definitely a fizzy note, but it's not like any other fizzy scents I can think of - sort of a fizzy lime rind, maybe? Initially, I kind of imagine squeezing limes outdoors; this smells like that moment when the layers holding citrus segments together snap, and there's an instant sharpness. It's citrus like on the rim of your cocktail glass, not juicy and round but sharp and bright, with a hint of sweetness floating around (this asserts itself as the oil starts to dry, reminding me of something various other etailers would call "lime sugar"), and of dry, packed dirt in the lower layers of the scent. The more it dries, the more I catch a hint of something maybe tree-like, maybe a little clean? ETA: Color me thoroughly confused; once this puppy is all dry, I get a dark, dank musty-muskiness and something that my nose registers as leather. It's almost like one of the funky scents from the Cabinet of Whatsiwhats section of the Carnival. WTF?

Yule Click-n-Ships are appearing! Has anyone got Yule labels to share yet? Pretty please?

Sniffing this in the vial, I get a serious hint of pear - not what I expected! On, it's still pear and something sharper, not quite aquatic nor herbal, hard to pin down. It's a bright, crisp, hardly ripe pear, not the sweeter, juicier kind. Maybe a white floral in the background? It seems like I'm getting something completely different than the rest of you! There's a faint whiff of a kind of rich butteriness to it as it starts to settle, and a sort of misty watery aspect around the edges. It's really nice on me, but not my kind of scent - a little too springy and sweetly vibrant and shimmery green. I'd probably love it as a hand soap, but less so as a perfume.

Well, this is different. I ... I ... all I can smell is rose-dotted fresh kitty litter. Not catbox, not used kitty litter, but the smell of a new bag of kitty litter. I have NO IDEA what makes my nose register this this way. My nose feels guilty, and submits that it may be malfunctioning. (WTF, NOSE.)

I get pure, bossy dragon's blood from this when I open the imp - red, fiery, assertive! And like it always does, it smells a little soapy and rather chemical on me - traits that are only amped by the rose. But the juniper (and maybe the orris?) renders it oddly cool, even while it's red and hot. The rose grows more dominant as this sits on my skin, and like always, I get the image of the little rose-shaped soaps that sat in my grandmother's guest bathroom. Strong throw, lots of airy redness - I suspect this one hits a very particular button for those who like it.

It depends. In the past, the Lab has insured the really big orders I've placed (decant circle orders over $1000, mostly), and that requires a signature, but recently the packages haven't been insured. Usually you can tell from the CnS info - it'll say if it's insured.

When I first put this on, it was all frankincense, all the time — I'm beginning to think I must amp the stuff, which is kind of a bummer as it's not totally my thing! It was an oddly clean sort of frankincense, though, maybe brightened by some of the other notes that I can't pick out on their own. Now, about 25 minutes later, my wrists are wafting rich, heavy beeswax — a note that here smelled almost like honey, if a confused sort of honey, until I checked the note list. I'm not getting gunpowder or smoke except as a sort of harsh background note that twists the softness of frankincense and beeswax, and the florals are barely peeking out. (The chamomile puts up a decent fight, rising to the top now and then, and then fading away.) Here and there I catch a whiff of magnolia, like the darker notes have blown away for a second and a spot of light is shining through. Liberty is interesting, complex and evocative, but with the first two notes dominating, it's sadly not a scent for me!

Big hugs to sunshinedaisybliss for sharing this! I really like this, in the vial - it's got unexpected Juicyfruits! But when I put it on that brightness transforms into a very airy, insinuating sort of sweet floral ozone; in other words, it goes a little hair spray. But the sugariness is really fun. But ... yeah, mostly I'm time-warped back to an era when one might, say, have one's friends do terrible, inhumane things to one's hair, then sit with one's eyes closed while a cloud of fixative mist rained down from a spray bottle. No, it's not THAT hairspray-y. But the scent memory, it does wacky things... and it's more fun to travel down that path than to shrug and say to myself, Self, it's turning to miscellaneous sharp florals that you can almost but not quite pin down (lilac? Something like that). Sigh.

That is an odd green! A sort of jungly, feral green, not the clean-bright green of, say, a lot of the Love Poems. There's something animalistic back there, though it does have a clean, clovery kind of note. (I'm not very good at pinning down notes, just trying to figure out what the smell kind of sort of like.) Slightly masculine, a little springy — it kind of smells to me what having slight allergies feels like, in the sense that the way the season smells and the way this smells resonate for my stuffy nose. There's something else going on here, but I just can't pin it down! A muskiness? Grr, arg. P.S. Thanks to sunshinedaisybliss for sharing.

#42 (a frimp from Edens Sixth Day that made my nerdy self squee!) At first it smelled familiar. Scarily familiar. And then it struck me: This is a Strawberry Shortcake doll without the strawberry. I mean, I can smell nothing on my arm but SUGAR SCENTED PLASTIC DOLL. I think there might be a drop of floral back there somewhere, but BPAL vanilla loooooves to make me into a lil' disproportionate figurine, and this is no exception. Maybe something butterscotchy? Something ... nope. Just soft plastic and a wee little dolly smile. (The plastic does start to fade but I feel like it's filled up my nose; I know there are other notes here, but I can't seem to smell them. Something a little smoky, maybe?)

Cherry cordial chocolates, with a side of nail polish remover that I assume is a too-sharp booze note. But underneath that, definitely those little chocolate-coated cherries, sticky-sweet and a little faux on all sides. These seem to be also full of vodka. Interesting, but painfully sharp and chemical. I'd love to see a more accurate, soft, delicious version of this, though! ETA: A bit after it's dry, the sweetness and the cherry-ness disappear. I was actually totally confused as to what I'd tested on that wrist. It's vaguely sweet and makes me think of Band-Aids. And maybe something herbal. What a strange scent!

In the bottle, a floral with both sweetness and sharpness, and a note that feels aquatic or ozoney - cool and slightly haughty. On, it sharpens further, and I think there might be lemon, a biting kind of lemon, in there with the unidentifiable (for me) floral blend. It's not as cool once it goes on; it starts to warm up and make me think of a lush summer garden, full of bright white flowers (magnolia? One of the heady whites, not the piercing ones, at least at first; it does shift to the piercing white florals as it settles, sadly). The overall impression is white, white, white, blinding, with a ring of yellow. It does go sharply soapy on my skin — in the high-pitched, really clean way, not the Irish Spring way. It's intensely floral in a way I find hard to describe (regally shrieking?), but it certainly has personality. Just not a personality that works with mine. ETA: Forgot to mention: The throw is pretty intense. I just smeared some on one wrist and it's overwhelmed everything else I tested today! It's so strong it kind of makes my eyes water (though I'm sure allergies are helping with that!). As it gets entirely dry, the suggestion of lemon starts to reappear, and while I love lemon, here it just adds to the soapy/cleaner aspect, alas.

Soooo... anyone have pix of Panther Moon or the Killer Bees/Infused Honey LEs?

Wow, is my experience with this one different. I get sun-warmed spices on hot, summery pavement; something in here registers as hot rocks and dirt to my nose. But the spices make it super appealing; ginger, sure, and something else I can't pin down. It's really odd, and really appealing, at least to my odd nose! I do get some dark greenery, some depth and richness, but beyond that, I find it pretty hard to describe. ETA: OK, now that this is dry the stone/dirt aspect is gone. It's sweet but rich, creamy but not plastic vanilla, spicy but not hot, foodie but not cloying, and I will fight you all for more of it. ETA2: OK, I take that back. This takes on an odd dusty note as it really settles in, and it puts me off, which is a bummer, as the beginning was so promising!

I get a fizzy tiki bar quality from this one — something makes me think of gin, and something fizzy, and then there are florals. I can almost figure out what kind of florals, but no — just can't get a grip on them. They give me a soapiness that's more dish soap than, say, body soap, or shampoo, though; it's a clean kind of sweet floral to go with the drinky fizz. Interesting!

A sharp, sleepy lavender, but in a good way. On, though, it's somehow softened in a way I don't like, a cottony, fuzzy way that smells of powders and maybe even a floral note. Nothing like the carrots fairnymph had! But very much in the vein of the lavender in several TAL blends. Herbal and deep in an appealing way, but a little indistinct. There's an odd creaminess I can't put my finger on. Lavender's medicinal qualities in a cotton bud is how it feels to me - but there's nothing like a "cotton" note. I think it's really quite nice, if you're into sleepy lavender/herb blends!

Holy mother of BPAL, that's turkey gravy. WHOA. (I just sniffed this one. Thanksgiving in a vial? Not something I'm itching to wear! )

What she said. There's an applish suggestion at the beginning, but then this hits my skin and just BLOOMS into vibrant rose – though to me it's less florists' lush red roses than it is slightly wild roses, growing on a bush in someone's backyard, a little forgotten, not quite tame. At least at first. And then it does the thing rose always does to me, which is call to mind those little rose-shaped soaps that certain grandmothers may have had in their soap dishes when I was small. It's an association that's hard to shake, I tell you.

This reminds me a TON of Samhain - the appley fall notes, the faintly smoky, leaves-and-resin background, sweet and spicy and overcast at once. It seems a little cologney-er, though...

Separation-prone oil. First sniff unexpectedly reminds me of Spider, though the drydown is nothing like it. Maybe a hint of ambergris - there's something earthy-oceany about it - and … what makes Spider Spider? There's a peppery, grounding, masculine sexiness to this. It's between YAR7 and Spider, with a hit of pepper to boost it up. Hot, sexy man-smell, honestly. HOT. Wood notes, too. not something I'd wear, but if you've got a dude to put it on, prepare to start fanning yourself. A spicy smokiness comes out as it dries. A lot of smokiness, actually. Somehow, this reminds me of a masculine, faintly aquatic addition to the Shunga line.

Agony of Loss (French lavender, cedar, armoise, white sandalwood, awapuhi, and the smoke of burning love letters) might be heading in the right direction...

Now, that is odd - and clattering - and it mostly gives me the impression of a fuzzy purple cucumber, which sounds terrible but I know what I mean. On, it's spicy and intriguing and surprisingly green - not bright green, but a dark, earthy, growing gree. I suspect the sage. It's a little mysterious and makes me think of someone biking wobbily around an English garden. And it also smells a little bit of purple candy. The dust on grape gum, without the gum behind it, really. It's unidentifiable as a whole, but appealing, sweet, herbal and airy at once, while still reminding me of purple things growing from wet ground (without smelling in the least like dirt). I think the woods are making me think of earth, somehow, and I think that black coconut is in Tiki King, isn't it? I wonder if there's a distant similarity. I think I like this a lot because it smells wonderful, but no one would ever think it was perfume.

Pretty alluring, in the bottle — the magnolia is unexpectedly subtle, the peaches thick and sweet and rich. On, though, it's a touch unsettling; the combination of notes makes none of them smell like I think they ought. There's the illusion of cream, and an elusive floral that doesn't want to identify itself as magnolia. It's surprisingly bright, not quite clean but the florals do lean toward the soapy, at least on me. The peach creeps forward as the oil starts to dry, but it's shy and a little retiring. Interesting, especially for the way the notes seem to disguise themselves — that talent for hype, embodied in scent! — but not quite my sort of thing.