naeelah

I always heard that this was very green, and that's definitely true. Peacock Queen is pure rose petals, but Rose Red is a rose garden or freshly cut stems. Wet, it's almost all prickly, chokingly strong greenery. Luckily, this dries quickly, and when it does, a rich, red rose comes into bloom. And that's it. Fragrant red roses, fresh from the garden. It smells exactly like a bouquet, or a florist's cooler. The rose smells quite like the bulgarian rose absolute that my mother has. Because of the greenery, this feels a little more youthful and innocent to me. But it's a mature youth, not bubbly and perky. This is a beautiful and elegant scent. I guess you could call it classic. I didn't think I'd like the greenery so much, but I'm very pleasantly surprised. This is a great choice for anyone who wants a pure rose scent that's a little lighter, fresher, and more complex than just straight rose petals. I've tried many, many different straight rose scents, by many manufacturers, and this is one of the best, easily. It doesn't turn weird or soapy or lemony on my skin. Recommendations for this are quite simple -- try it if you like roses, and don't try it if you don't. Try it even if you don't care for plain rose scents, because this is definitely special. The throw is very good, at first. Wear life is maybe average, at least for the 2007 version. It's only been an hour and a half, and the throw has already dropped off markedly. It's still noticeable, just not so throwy. But it stays at this level for the next several hours. About 5 hours since putting it on, it's still noticeable, but it's softer, and slightly powdery. The greenery seems long gone. So it seems it's long lasting, but because the throw drops off so much, I'm ranking it somewhere in the middle.

I have a new imp from '07. I'm not a huge fan of grape notes -- I don't dislike them, they just don't wow me -- but the incense and offeratory cakes part of this scent won me over. I really got excited when I read reviews saying that this is what many people wanted All Souls to be. (I loved the sound of All Souls, but skipped it because everyone said it was very ethereal.) Wet, this is cloyingly sweet and syrupy. Definitely a lot of juicy, golden grapes. I don't get a wine quality from it -- it's all fresh fruit. The sweetness becomes more palatable as it dries and the frankincense and myrrh come out. I can't really pick out the olive leaf or the cakes, because the grape is so overpowering. Dry, the frankincense and myrrh take center stage. They're by far the strongest notes. Again, I can't pick out the olive leaf, but I think this note is blending with the resins. It seems to lend a slightly bitter quality, which is a good balance to the grapes. They're now in the background, just giving sweetness to the blend. Again, I can't pick out a specific cake smell, but I'm sure it's a part of the background sweetness. I'd call this a sweet incense fragrance, one that's a little bit meatier (less ethereal) than some other incense blends. The throw when wet is fairly strong. Now that it's dry, around an hour later, the throw seems lighter, but I can catch wafts of it from my wrists as I type, so I definitely wouldn't say it's below average. Wear life is good, probably above average. Try this if you like: All Souls, Diwali, Cathedral, Penitence (frankincense and myrrh blends), King Cobra or Asp Viper. Don't try this if you don't like sweet.

Check out Diwali before the Yules go away! It's a very complex scent, but the base is a cedar and sandalwood incense. I'm not familiar with the brand of incense you mentioned, but Diwali reminds me so strongly of incense stores in Japan and the scent at temples. Diwali has some creamy and fruity notes, but on me, those faded away completely after about 30 minutes, and it was a pure incense blend. You can look over the reviews to see how it worked for other people. If it "works" for your skin chemistry, it will smell like incense with rice pudding, basically.

This is one of the yule blends I was most looking forward to trying. I was hoping it would be a creamy rice pudding, chai tea kind of scent. Somehow I completely missed the incense part of the notes description, but that's ok, because I love incense scents too. Wet, it's a very sweet, creamy, complex scent. There's a touch of spice, a touch of florals, a touch of woods and smoky resins, and a lot of almond milk, mango and raisin. The almond milk doesn't actually smell almondy to me -- definitely nowhere near as strong as an almond note -- it's just sweet and creamy. This is a wonderful note, because actual cream notes don't usually work out for me, and they usually feel a little flat to my nose. This initial phase blends to make a classic perfume-like effect, rather than a gourmand one. As it dries, the incense quality gets stronger and stronger, until finally, that's all I smell. Maybe it's because I amp sandalwood? There's a very, very faint fruity, creamy backdrop, but otherwise, it's all temple incense. It's great, I just wish I had more of the food offerings. After about 40 minutes, it seems to be dying quickly. The cedar is more apparent now. All I smell is smoky wood resin. However, even as a purely incense fragrance, it differs enough from the other incense fragrances to make it a strong bottle candidate. I lived in Japan for a year, and this really reminds me of the scent of temples. This is only the first time I've tried it, so I'll update after a few more tries. I think I like this, but I'd like it more if it didn't give me the flash in a pan treatment. I think a combined attack -- on the skin and in the locket -- will be the way to wear this. The smoky wood notes linger forever, but so far, I'd say the wear life is below average. The throw drops off dramatically (so it seems - it could just be my nose) after a couple of hours, but the trace of the base notes lasts well into the next day. It lasts a good long while in a locket. I put some on a piece of velvet last night, and the following morning it's slightly softer, but definitely still noticeable.

I was looking forward to trying this combination -- the light, bright, sweet components juxtaposed with the rich, buttery pumpkin. All of the pumpkins have been aging well, and this isn't an exception. The overwhelming buttery quality is quickly going away, month by month. Wet, it no longer overwhelms the pear, grapes, and jasmine tea. I smell mostly pear with a touch of jasmine and fresh white grapes, mixed in with a substantial amount of pumpkin. Once dry, the pumpkin becomes the bottom note, and the grape and tea notes seem more prominent. It's light, crisp, and fragrant, with only a hint of pumpkin. This is predominately a bright scent, not rich and pumpkiny. The jasmine plays well here, and I think the tea aspect is stronger, just colored by the floral. The grape note adds a very slight tartness, but to me it still feels succulent, not dry, like wine. My skin doesn't seem to like this one so well, because the throw drops off to almost nothing, and the pear note doesn't last long. I think this would be gorgeous on the right person, and I love it in the bottle, but it's just not sticking well enough to motivate me to keep it. Maybe in the locket? I recommend this to anyone who likes grape, pear, or tea notes, or to anyone who likes bright scents. I especially recommend checking it out if you want a bright scent that isn't quite so crisp and clean. The pumpkin isn't incredibly noticeable in this -- it kind of functions like amber -- but it does add body and anchor the scent.

Wet, the pumpkin is very rich and buttery, but this phase seems to fade a little faster than it did when it was new. This is a good thing, because for all the pumpkins, the non-pumpkin notes have been swallowed in the pumpkin, and they've all smelled almost the same to me. Now that they're beginning to age, the pumpkin is finally playing a little more nicely. Once dry, after about 10-15 minutes, the rich pumpkin has faded WAY to the background, and the predominant quality is now very grassy. I was just going to say, it smells just like the pieces of sweet grass that I used to get from the basket ladies in Charleston, when I was a kid. Then I looked at the notes again, and hey, what do you know? It contains sweet grass! After about 30 minutes, the sage is a little more prominent. It's a dry, slightly spicy sage. I can't pick out the cactus flower, but that's because I don't know what to look for. My nose picks up the sage as the top note, the sweet grass as the middle, and a rich pumpkin providing the foundation. The grassy notes are definitely the dominant ones, but the pumpkin is not faint or hidden. I think there's a good balance of dry and rich notes here. It's a grassy scent, but a succulent one. I was expecting it to be my least favorite of the pumpkins, and it is, but I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who's a fan of sweet grass. The throw is on the light side of average, but the wear life is better than average. Up to 10 hours later, I could still smell it on my wrist without having to hunt for it.

Add my voice to the chorus of, "This is way different than the lab description makes it sound." I kind of expected it to be a little bit like Rose Moon, but instead, it's all sugary vanilla. I'm not sure how old my imp is, but I know it isn't brand new. I got it as a frimp from the lab a couple of months ago, I think. In the imp, it's a complex blend prominently displaying vanilla and a light musk. On my skin, the musk is fainter. Wet, it's aaalll vanilla, and it's way sweet. It's very nice, a spun sugar sort of vanilla, and not a typical, artificial sort of vanilla. Once dry, the vanilla is tempered by some gentle florals, a dry linen note, and the musk (I guess it's white musk), which is now a little bit stronger. The vanilla remains the dominant note through the entire life of the scent. The other notes provide balance and depth. It's quite nice, if you're looking for a vanilla fragrance, especially if you want one that isn't so gourmand. This has a more traditional perfume quality (and I don't mean that in a negative way). Throw seems quite good, wear life is also good. Try this if you like: Zarita, Hope & Faith, Black Lace, Snake Oil, Dorian, White Rabbit, etc. Don't try this if you can't tolerate vanilla or sweet fragrances. In so many ways, this is the good twin of Black Lace. They're the same, only opposites. Black Lace starts out very dry and turns sweeter. Antique Lace starts out very sweet and turns drier. Black Lace has a much richer, darker, smoky quality, while Antique Lace remains sweet and innocent.

The velvet flower. A lush, thick, luxuriant bloom, bold and red. This is very nice! It's chocolate, cherries, dragon's blood, and roses, with just a hint of greenery. (Who knows what's in this, but that's what I get.) This one doesn't morph on me, except in the minor way that all scents do over the hours. The cocoa, cherries and dragon's blood are strongest at first, and it's a very succulent, gourmand effect. There's definitely a hint of greenery offsetting it, and it's a great combination. The cocoa scent evaporates first, but it lasts much longer here than it does in many other blends. After about 5 hours, I can smell a trace of it, but it no longer dominates the blend. After it dries, after about 10 minutes, the chocolate is a little richer and the greenery is less apparent. Some of the sweetness calms down, so the florals come through a bit better. The rose blends surprisingly well with the other notes. It's the next thing to fade, so after 5 hours, I mostly smell dragon's blood, colored by cocoa and rose. The throw is about average -- definitely noticeable, but not so strong -- and the wear life is very good. Dragon's Blood based scents always last a really long time on me. This is a fantastic and unique blend, definitely worth trying if you're a chocolate fan, or if you want a different sort of rose. I think it smells sort of like the wet stage of Midnight Kiss, only without the red musk. So if you loved the sound of Midnight Kiss but can't wear red musk, give this a try. (You'd need to layer something with patchouli, though, to completely copy Midnight Kiss.) It also reminds me of Libra, only the other way around. Libra is roses with cherries, this is (chocolate) cherries with some roses.

I was a little surprised and sad to see this one in the list of to-be-discontinueds. I always looked forward to trying it. I checked out my spread sheet, and it turns out I already have an imp of it. Huzzah! I hoped this would be like Rose Cross, but deeper and richer, from the musk. I didn't try them side by side, but this does strike me as being quite similar to Rose Cross, especially for the first hour or so. Myrrh seems to be less assertive than Frankincense, giving a softer, smoother, slightly smoky resiny base. The musk is dark, and seems to be very similar to the musks in the most recent Hunter Moon and Brown Jenkins. It's smooth and warm, and it blends well with the myrrh. The rose is a rich red rose, and it balances well with the myrrh and musk. At first, I like this a lot. After an hour or so, it begins to get on my nerves. I seem to be amping the musk, which is slightly sweet, and there's also a lighter, soapy quality that has crept in. I think it's the ylang ylang. I always have a hard time immediately identifying ylang ylang as ylang ylang -- I always think, "There's the bright, soapy floral." I guess it doesn't like me. So before long, I've got musk and ylang ylang, with myrrh and rose in the background. I guess I return the ylang ylang's dislike, because I wanted to wash this off. I'm relieved that I don't need to stock up on a discontinued (at least, not until Rose Cross bites it). This has given me the idea of layering Hunter Moon with Rose Cross, and I think that will give me the kind of effect I wanted from this. If you like Rose Cross, or if you like Rose with dark musk, I recommend giving it a try before it goes away. It's a good scent, if you like ylang ylang. The throw is good. It's noticeable but not loud. The wear life is above average. After about 3 hours, the throw remained noticeable. It also survived washing up for bed (the scent was on the back of my hand), and even this morning, if I sniff my hand, I can still smells the trace of the myrrh.

I don't think that the musks in Black Lace and Antique Lace are identical. They do bear some similarities as blends, and if you like one, you might like the other. But I wouldn't say one is a substitute for the other. For me, Black Lace was mostly dry and smoky, with a backdrop of vanilla musk, while Antique Lace was predominately sugary vanilla, with barely any musk. I've only worn Antique Lace a couple of times, but the musk didn't strike me as being the same. Unfortunately, I can't think of anything else that would be similar to Black Lace, but I'll be sure to post here if I ever find anything.

This one is very straight-forward. I expected it to be pastry scent with apricot and clove. Instead, I literally just got apricot and clove. If there are additional to facets to this scent, they blend very well. I never feel like there are butter, crust, or sugar notes. I am not a huge fan of peach and apricot notes, actually, because they are a little bit too sweet and juicy. The apricot here is quite sweet and syrupy, and smells impressively true to life. It definitely has a canned or cooked apricot quality, not freshly sliced fruit, which is certainly appropriate. It's very nice, but it is very sweet, so some may find it cloying. The clove is also on the sweet side. It adds a pleasant amount of spice without taking over. This is a very simple blend, but it has plenty of body, and it is a lovely combination. It's worth trying if you like foody scents, and certainly worth trying if you like peach and apricot notes. The initial throw is pretty decent. Not huge, but definitely noticeable. It seems to evaporate quickly. After maybe 3-4 hours, as I recall, it was quite faint. It's now about 10 hours later, and it is completely gone. There's only the barest trace of sweetness on my wrists, and I wouldn't notice it if I didn't know to look for it. I tend to like scents that are on the sweet side, but this is a bit too syrupy for me to stand as perfume. However, this is the kind of thing I love in bath products, so I definitely plan to keep my imps. I think it might also make a nice room fragrance.

Aww, Hony Mone is so cute and charming! That is another of my new favorite labels. Now I kind of wish I'd ordered that one. Maybe I'll try to snag a partial bottle.

I pronounce Faiza so that the "fai" rhymes with "eye". I have no idea if that's correct. For R'lyeh, I think most Cthulhu names have a little bit of leeway. I pronounce it like Rill-yeh (where the "e" is a schwa). I think "Rilly-uh" is also a good guess. However, it looks both of those might be wrong, if my internet trawling has found something accurate. I found these recommended pronunciations: Roo-lee-ah or Rill-AYE-eh

I have the 2007 edition, and I've never tried any other vintages. I ordered a bottle of this unsniffed, fully expecting it to be gingerbready sex in a bottle. I was right. What can I say, except that this smells EXACTLY like freshly baked gingerbread? It is not artificial or plasticky in the slightest. I put this on one hand and held a fresh gingerbread cupcake in the other, and side by side, they smelled identical. Well done, Beth! Wet, the cinnamon was very strong (mostly under nose - from a distance the effect was more even), but it blended in much better after about 10 minutes. It's very, very spicy in the initial stages, but I don't feel as if any one spice overwhelms the blend. There seems to be molasses anchoring the spice. There's a very warm, creamy sweet vanilla background note. I suppose that's the icing. This scent is certainly very sweet, but the spice provides some balance. After about 20 minutes, it seems the spiciness is less assertive still. It's still plenty spicy, it's just not screaming I'M REALLY SPICY!! As of about 30 minutes, the whole thing is beginning to ease up -- instead of being amped up, it's more like a true piece of gingerbread. After 2 hours, it has become somewhat faint. Generally, it's completely gone by the 4 hour mark. At best, there's just a light trace. The throw is excellent. I just put on a dab from the cap on one hand, and I am in a gingerbread cloud. Wear life for me isn't great, definitely below average. Definitely try this if you like foody scents or spicy scents. Should appeal to fans of Plunder, El Dia De Reyes, Gluttony, Monsterbaits, and so on. I'm sure this would also be wonderful as a holiday home fragrance. (I plan to tip some into my car's oil diffuser!) My dog has given it her seal of approval -- last night she licked every molecule of skin on the hand I'd tested the scent with.

I just uploaded Blood and Green Phoenix to the community gallery. Please can it has be White and Mechanical Phoenix time nao? The green phoenix label is one of my all time favorites, and I'm eager to see the other two!

I bought a decant of this to give it a whirl, because I had NO idea what green musk or any of this would smell like. I hoped it might be a strangely sickly sweet and oily scent, but in a good way. Wet, this is MUSK. Dry, this is MUSK. MUSK MUSK MUSK. I don't quite get green from it, but it is definitely a little different from the usual BPAL musks. Definitely a rich variety, not bright and crystalline. It pretty much smells like a traditional men's cologne on me. Not light, clean, "just got out of the shower" cologne -- leisure suit and chest hair cologne. I don't get anything floral or candy-like. No real sweetness to speak of. I don't get "oozing" or "radioactive". Just, "How you doin'?" After about 30 minutes or so, the musk does soften a bit. It is by far the most dominant note, but the amber tempers it a little and gives it a smoother, more powdery quality. There might even be a hint of davana. This is much nicer than the original stage, but still not for me. I think even on the most amenable skin chemistry, this will undoubtedly be a masculine scent. If you like musky colognes, or want a more traditional cologne kind of scent, give it a try. If you don't, there's probably no point in trying.

Wet and in the bottle, Midnight Kiss is all syrupy cherries, dragon's blood, and cocoa. It kind of makes me a little hungry. But that's appropriate, isn't it? On the skin, the dragon's blood remains heavy as it dries, but the dry red musk comes out for balance. There is also a tart quality with the dryness, perhaps from the way the musk and resin are blending, perhaps from a separate cherry note. (This note reminds me of Bloody Mary.) The cocoa is there, but it doesn't dominate. The initial stage of this scent is definitely RED. It's sweet, but I think well-balanced. I can also pick out a whiff of the patchouli in the background. It behaves very well, providing depth but not taking over the blend. I'm unable to pick out the sandalwood or the amber, but I'm sure they're there. Plain old sandalwood usually does badly on me -- it gets amped out of control, but sometimes different varieties do ok. Red sandalwood seems to be one that behaves itself a little better. Likewise, I'm usually very afraid of patchouli. I don't like it and I amp it horribly. Aged patchouli is supposed to be a lot smoother and nicer, so I took the chance. For the most part, it pays off. The patchouli never goes crazy, and I don't mind it at all at a base note. The first few hours of the scent are really nice. But after a few hours, the cocoa is long gone, and some of the sweetness wears off. Dragon's Blood tends to last forever on my skin, but with so much else going on, it doesn't stay as dominant. The latter half of this scent's life is very dry, husky, and a little bit dirty. It reminds me of King Cobra, only without the snake oil. Unfortunately, I didn't like King Cobra and I'm not a huge fan of earthy scents. But it's ok, because a light reapplication to freshen up the scent does the trick. Throw and wear life are both on the good side of average. If you like scents like Tezcatlipoca, The Great Sword of War, or Smut with cherries, then you might like this. If you normally don't like sweet scents, give it a try anyway, because there's plenty of counterbalance, and it doesn't get too syrupy. The cocoa is noticeable but not nearly as strong as in, say, Vice, so don't get this expecting it to be "CHOCOLATE.. and some other stuff". If you were hoping for something less dry or complex, or more chocolatey, give Love-Lies-Bleeding a try. It's all dragon's blood, cocoa, and rose I can't help but find it amusing that a "while supplies last" scent is being given out as a freebie with every order. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate it, because I have managed to acquire an ENTIRE extra bottle's worth of Midnight Kiss in imps.

I've been waiting and waiting and waiting for my Yule decants, and I just happened to get a frimp of Chanukkiya in the mail today, with another swap! Wet, I get a blast of something like burnt sugar. This note reminds me very strongly of the Crumpet Rebellion and Anaconda. So fans of those sugar notes, take note! (Chanukkiya doesn't smell exactly like either of those scents, I just think it has a note in common, and it should appeal to anyone who was a fan of either CR or Ana.) Looking up "sufganiyot" I find it's a donut, so that must be the source of the sugar note. As it dries, the sugar settles down and the olive oil and beeswax really come to the fore. They're definitely the core notes of the scent, so the overall character of Chanukkiya is fairly light. It's definitely unique. The beeswax seems to bring a very slight smoky quality. I haven't been able to pick out the pomegranate. The fig is also hard to single out, but it's definitely contributing to the sweetness. I get mostly beeswax, with a hint of brown sugar. It's quite nice. The initial stage is very light and waxy, but it's definitely gourmand. The richness of the sugar and fig seem to develop as the scent wears. This would be a great choice for anyone who has found other brown sugar notes a bit too overwhelming (as I sometimes do - Anaconda was way too strong for me), or for anyone who wants to like foody scents but finds them a bit too much. It's a wonderful, lighter alternative. People who completely hate foody scents probably won't like this. The throw is interesting, because the beeswax is pretty gentle on me, but this sugar note always has really good throw. The sugar is enough of a background note that, as a whole, this has somewhat light throw. However, because the sugar note seems to amp, little by little, the throw actually seems to increase as I wear it. Wear life is probably better than average.

If you've looked at your paypal record and you see the correct address attached to your order, then I wouldn't worry. If you accidentally sent them two addresses and didn't note that one was new, I'm sure they would have or will contact you to clarify which they should use. I think e-mailing them is the best thing to do (as you've already done). They're the only ones who can clear up if it has been sent and what address it was sent to. I would not necessarily worry about not getting a click-n-ship. Most orders from 11/6 have shipped by now, but it's always possible something was back ordered and it took them a week or two to restock.

I had very high hopes for this one, but feared it would be too masculine. Wet, it's stunning. I really can't pick out individual notes. It's airy and clean but not, as another reviewer stated, "aggressively clean". It's fragrant and fresh. I primarily smell the black tea and white musk. The white musk isn't as strong and crystalline as it can be, especially combined with the tea. It's rich but light. After about 15 minutes, on my skin, it morphs HUGELY. Once dry, it basically smells like a cigarette. I think this is the combination of the tobacco and lilac, perhaps with a touch of smokiness from the frankincense. There's a touch of white musk, but the black tea is gone. I love all of the notes in this, but combined, it seems they don't like me. I'll try it in a locket, because the wet scent is fantastic. (ETA: It works very well in a locket. I get the full effect of all the notes with none of the nasty ash tray after effect.) But if it agrees with your skin chemistry, I definitely recommend checking this one out. It suits Famine so wel! It's very gender neutral. I don't like wearing very masculine scents (I have Pollution on the other arm, and it's driving me crazy), but I could definitely wear this. This will appeal to fans of tea notes. Try if if you want a light and clean version of Dorian (something without the cream and sugar).

In the bottle, this smells like grape soda. Actually, what it really smells like is this crappy blackberry red wine that my friends used to buy in college. It tasted and smelled like a grape or cherry soda, but with a winey undertone. But fear not, because that quality dissolves as soon as it hits your skin. Immediately, a much drier red wine note begins to surface, balanced by a very rich plum. It smells like the same plum as Bordello. I've had some bad luck with wine notes in the past -- I think it was Madrid that smelled like mulled wine on me, only sickeningly so -- but this works well for me. Hunter Moon's wine note was very plummy and berry-ish. Here, it is distinctly dry. It isn't berry-like at all. With the wine for balance, the plum here isn't nearly as candy-like as it can be in Bordello. In the background, I can just pick out the amber and champaca. The amber is lovely, glowing and soft. It's the perfect bridge between the dry wine and the juicy plum. The champaca seems to be adding a very light smokiness. It's the smokiness that stands out first. The actual perfume of the flower only lingers in my throat after a long inhale. I'm not getting much musk. I wonder if my nose isn't blending it with the wine note, and that's what's making it seem so dry. However, compared to some other blends, I would say the musk isn't particularly strong here. It just hovers in the background, binding everything. My nose seems to be slightly broken today, but it seems the throw on this is pretty good. I put on a light amount, and I can smell is wafting up at me from my wrists. Wear life is about average. This one doesn't morph hugely. The notes shift slightly in balance, of course, but there are no major changes. This is great for plum and wine note lovers alike. Give it a try even if you haven't liked wine notes in the past, because I think you'll find it well-behaved. Champaca haters probably shouldn't be afraid. If you wanted to like Bordello, but it was too sweet for you, try Prospero! Bordello is one of my favorites that I wear most often, but sometimes I don't want such a sweet scent, so I look forward to having Prospero as a drier alternative. It's rich, equally dry and juicy. I think this is one that will age beautifully, and I hope that the amber and champaca become stronger with age. I'll report in in a few months!

[snip] Oops, I misremembered what was in Jack. Sometimes nutmeg or clove bother people, so perhaps one of those is the culprit. Otherwise, Jack and Vampire Tears don't visibly have anything in common, as you can see by the note descriptions. Vampire Tears does contain ginger, and ginger can cause sensitivities for some people. It also contains several florals, which are definite suspects. To see if the others have anything in common, just search for the names in the catalog and compare the note descriptions. It's entirely possible you have multiple sensitivities. As another option, it might be a good idea to e-mail the lab and ask them if there's anything in common. They know what really is in those blends, so they might be able to help you better.

Like all of the zodiac blends so far, this is a beautiful scent. I haven't tried every single one, but I kind of regret skipping over a few, because there hasn't been a zodiac blend yet that I didn't like. I can't identify all of the individual components of this, but they all come out in turn, as it morphs. (And morph it does!) Initially, this is a very light, clean herbal scent. I think it's almost all chamomile and dandelion that I'm smelling. The dandelion here is soft and lightly floral, like a freshly picked blossom. It's a little green, but not at all weedy or grassy. The more I sniff it, I can actually feel the soft, almost furry petals of a dandelion pressed against my nose (memories of playing outside as a kid). This first stage has great throw, but it's fragrant and light, like opening a bag of fresh herbs. As it dries, the other notes begin to emerge. I can definitely catch the sage, and after about 10 minutes, the clove comes into full bloom. The clove combines with the sage here to make a very smooth, fuzzy spice. It's not overpowering, sharp, or bitter. I can't really pick out the fig, but it adds a lightly fruity sweetness to the entire blend. All of the notes are in excellent balance. At first, I thought maybe this is not quite in character for me. But once it morphs into what seems to be the final drydown, for my skin, this is wonderful. It's soft, sweet, fuzzy, and fragrant. Not spicy, nor herbal, nor floral. Just a lovely blend of the three qualities. As someone else mentioned, this would be a great blend for spring. I had my reservations at first, but I think this is a definite keeper. It's very comforting and uplifting. Throw is still very nice. Wear life is on the short side of average.

I have a decant of the original run. By now, it's very smooth and well-blended. Black Pepper, vetiver, and dragon's blood are all things that can take over a blend, but here they work in wonderful harmony. Initially, this is very sweet, with an earthy base. There's the cherry-like quality of the dragon's blood resin, and the cocoa is distinct. Once dry, it's less sweet and much darker. The musk emerges, a little bit like red musk but very smooth. The cocoa isn't foody at all. The pepper and spices are soft, combining with the cocoa to provide a dark, earthy atmosphere. The vetiver is there in the background, giving sharpness. I'm really impressed with how well it behaves in this blend. Normally I hate vetiver, and maybe it's just the age, but here it contributes beautifully to the overall blend. I think it's the vetiver, combined with the musk, that really stops this from being foody. It adds an air of menace, but without being shrill. As the scent wears, the vetiver becomes more prominent, but it never takes over. In the end, no single note really stands out, and it really wonderfully realizes the idea. This is a dark, dusky scent with a sweet trickle of blood and an air of foreboding. Throw and life seem to be average. After several hours, the throw is nonexistent. This is definitely a unisex blend, and the vetiver gives it a cologne-like quality (to my nose), especially in the later stages, that would make this an excellent blend on a guy. If you're a fan of scents such as Blood or Midnight Kiss, give this a try.

In the bottle and wet, this smells like a rich chocolate bar. It smells a lot like the Candy Butcher. In the background there's a slight hint of cinnamon. The cinnamon emerges almost immediately as it dries. I've always figured that cinnamon is just such a strong note that it kind of takes over any blend, but maybe I amp it a little. In the first 30 minutes or so of this scent, the cinnamon was very strong. I'd say it was in about equal balance with the cocoa. Not overwhelming, though (I dislike scents with predominant cinnamon). Very rich, very spicy. I'd forgotten that it had coffee, until I looked at the notes again. The coffee is definitely there, if you know to look for it, but I had a hard time picking it out. It blends so well with the cocoa and cinnamon that you don't go, "ah, coffee!" It deepens the blend and provides balance to the sweetness of the chocolate. Because chocolate notes burn off a little bit quickly, after about two hours, the coffee is much more dominant now. It smells like a cup of black coffee with a dash of cinnamon and cocoa on top. Delicious! Throw is on the soft side of average. The life seems to be decent, definitely good compared to other chocolate scents. I haven't had it on a super long time, but right now I'd put its life at average, needing to reapply every 4-5 hours. Definitely try this if you're a fan of chocolate scents, or if you want more scents with dark coffee. Don't be afraid if you're not a fan of cinnamon. I hate overwhelmingly cinnamon-y scents, but this doesn't offend me at all.