strick9

Kill Devil- where have you been all my life? I got this as a frimp from The Lab and Im just really, really in love. I love rum in most of its forms, particularly Rum Punches and Hot Buttered Rum. I feel Kill Devil really hits it home by being evocative of both my favorite rum drinks without being overly foody. In the imp: dark rum, oleo saccarum (a sugar mixture made with lemon peel and turbonado sugar), and something akin to sweet cream. Im in for the skin test. Wet: interesting-the sugarcane is really prominent here, and theres a floral note thats got me unimpressed. Its like strong honeysuckle and while Im not opposed, Im not a fan at this stage. Thank goodness that doesnt last long, and the molasses starts to make a show. The citrusy note is still present, but not as intense as in the imp. I like this! Dry: Ive never smelled anything like this and I want it always. The oak is perfection and anchors all that sweetness with some wood and baking spice/black pepper notes.. Theres a slightly floral note- heather and honeysuckle. Perhaps thats the combo of the honey and sugar cane, and I even get a little bit of sugarcane funk. That cream note in the imp comes through and its like the idea of butter or cream without malolactic overkill. Yes. So much yes. This might be one of my new faves- Ill definitely use the imp and get a bottle.

Port Au Prince is really, really lovely. I got a frimp from The Lab with my last order, and I’m so pleasantly surprised! In the imp: it’s very very heavy and almondy-sweet. There’s a touch of spice, but nothing to write home about. Wet: immediately it’s almond- but not almond extract, more like almond syrup- orgeat. There’s a hit of orange flower water to balance out the heaviness of the sweet. As it starts to dry, the bay and clove make an appearance but it’s subtle. Sassafras is there and helps in keeps my the sweetness at bay. After a few minutes, the scent is gorgeous. It’s heady and sexy and really catches me off guard. Dry: the rum comes out and it is definitely dark rum, thick with molasses, sugar, and vanilla. The spices are very soft on me, and I don’t perceive this to be masculine at all. Everything is blended exquisitely, and I can’t stop smelling my wrist. It’s a very sexy scent, and evocative of hot, breezy nights in the Gulf Coast. I’ll finish the imp and more than likely buy a full bottle. I’m so glad this is GC!

This is incredible. It is very evocative of place for me, and it’s most definitely dark, ecclesiastical, and rings of ceremony. JazzieCazzie described it super well- to me it’s a cross between Catholic Church benedictions and grown ass, sexy person. I got 3 imps of this and I’ll grab a bottle.

I've not tried regular Perversion, so I have no basis of comparison. In the bottle, it smells like a super oaky, rich chardonnay with a hint of wet tobacco. I don't get a lot of leather in this at all On, The chardonnay gets amped on me, along with the tonka. I really wish this had the leather in it that the original promises, but im not getting it at all. Perhaps my chemistry is off? who knows. Dry, it's a pretty enjoyable scent. I honestly don't think that The Lab's PS note agrees with me. Of the three PS scents I've tried, this one has been the only one I liked. I'm glad to have an imp to play with, but there's no need for a bottle.

I had a negatively visceral reaction to this, and I think The Lab's PS note just generally does not agree with my skin. In the imp, it smells lovely- like a richer version of the Snake Oil i know and love (and I love me some snake oil and all the Snake Pit variations). On, whoof. When wet, it's a pretty rich Snake Oil. During the dry down and once it's dry though? Nope. It has a latex undertone that reminds me of flavored condoms; like if pumpkin-spiced flavored condoms were a thing, this would definitely be what they'd smell like. The rubbery smell adds to the cloying sweetness that's here. This is not for me. Off to the swap pile it goes.

Wet in the imp, this smells lovely. It's incense smoke with a touch of baking spice and creaminess. On, its a whole other story. How I wish both this and traditional Cathedral didn't turn into hamster bedding/pencil shavings on me. But this one get's weirder. The addition of the PS note is super... fake. Like a pumpkin spiced rubber ball or pumpkin spiced caustic chemical. I'm not into it. Into the swap/sale pile it goes.

ugh, man. This is exactly what I wanted it to be! in the bottle all i get is patchouli and something sort of boozy. so far, i'm here for this. Wet, when applied, the oudh definitely comes out. its not as "oudh-y" as I anticipated; I think it's tempered by whatever "obsidian" happens to be, which reads to me a lot like the lab's wet stone note. like this and Night's Bridge are distant cousins? This feels atmospheric to me, and the color i get is pewter/tarnished silver. It's a really sexy and mysterious scent, and there is something that's a bit leather-like about it. But not like a jacket- like leather gloves. I'll definitely be wearing this, and I'm happy to have picked up a bottle!

I got an imp of this as a frimp with a few bottles i picked up from a fellow forum member. The scent is absolutely absolutely gorgeous- I've honestly been looking for a super dry unisex wood scent. Unfortunately, my skin eats this up. I put it on and it smells beautiful for all of 5 minutes and then poof, down to almost nothing. super super SAD.

I had to wear this one a few times before deciding if I liked it or not. I do indeed like it, and i like it A LOT. Wet, its very very sickly sweet with almond and fig- slight bit of pine. I come to expect this from BPAL almond scents, so it's normally not a huge concern for me because the almond dries down pretty nicely. The patchouli in this is really rich and almost wet pipe tobacco-ish. I suspect that's the melding of the patchouli, fig, and vanilla, and I dig it. The pine here is SUPER subtle. Like you maybe got some sap on your hands and rinsed it off and have just the faintest smell left. It actually tempers what could be a seriously sweet blend on me, and makes it just a touch astringent and much easier to wear. I can't stop smelling my wrists. I've had it on for about an hour, and I love it. This is my third time testing it, and assuming it doesn't go bad, I'll order a big bottle.

In the bottle it smells like straight up vanilla, cinnamon sticky buns, and sticky fingers. Yep. I love this, and i really really hope this doesn't turn plastic on me like so many gourmand scents do. Applied, its like WHOA HI CINNABON, but then almost immediately tempers. The sweetness mellows, and some super well-worn brown leather notes, as well as oudh make an appearance. I am into this a lot. As it dries, I start to amp the leather, oudh, and bourbon vanilla. the cinnamon turns into cassia bark, and isn't quite as "bakery" as it was before and far more "cinnamon broom." The sweetness again keeps pulling back- the vanilla is super dry and oaky. Apparently I do pretty well with the Lab's bourbon vanilla as opposed to other vanillas. I'll keep on using the imp, and this may call for a full bottle with my next order. Edit: this won't be on my next order. My skin eats it up and turns it to sweet vanilla powder.

My mother wears Chanel No. 5; it is absolutely her signature scent and it smells lovely on her. It does not, however, smell lovely on me; in fact, it smells terrible. It goes sour/powedery and gives me a headache almost immediately. I'm going to give my mom the imp and probably order a bottle to give her for Christmas. If you can wear Chanel No.5, I highly recommend this. I honestly can't wait to smell this on my mom.

Reminiscent of hothouse blooms on a humid night, ripe, but touched with decay. Sweet honeysuckle and jasmine with a hint of lemon and spice. Ithe bottle it's a very, very heady floral. Jasmine, honeysuckle, vanilla. Indolic notes that I love. There's something lightly citrus- the lemon is more like lemongrass. A touch of cassia, a touch of anise seed perhaps. All in the background. I love the way this smells wet. Initial application wet is very much as it is in the bottle, Jasmine being the main player here. Its like crushed jasmine though, like you accidentally stepped on some blossoms. As this dries, it changes quite a bit, and I'm having a hard time determining if i like this. It oscillates between cinnamon-tinged palmolive dish soap (blegh) and a heady, slighly decaying honied white floral with spice that I actually like- a lot. I keep thinking there's gardenia in here as well. after wearing for a few hours, it smells like scented plastic flowers. In the trade pile it goes.

In the imp this is definitely green and brown. Maybe some patchouli, definitely some musk. In the imp, i can't make out any super distinct notes other than patchouli and an unidentifiable muskiness. On my skin, this is heavenly. It's a very feral smell, in the way that i wanted Ravenous to be feral ( i cannot do orange blossom at all). There's a wine/red musk note in here, and a lot of indolic notes that keep me sniffing the spot where i applied it. I believe there's red patchouli in this too, which is what drew me to Ravenous in the first place. It's dank, but not brown-dank. There's also incense here- dry, almost smokey church incense- like frankincense, myrrh, and benzoin. perhaps some cassia bark, but not a ton. ugh. Fabulous. I don't think this smells particularly masculine on me, and it's almost a little perfume-y. If i had to categorize it with another non-GC scent, I'd say its similar to The Thales Eclipse, but sans leather and with civet/ambergris instead of castoreum. I will definitely use this imp, and probably buy a bottle. I say probably because it's very similar to The Thales Eclipse, which i do have a full bottle of and needs time to age.

someone in the facebook groups recommended this as an alternative to Silky Bat in the Blood Milk Exquisite Corpse line. I happened to get my hands on Silky Bat, and I can definitely see how they're in the same family. I really, really dig patchouli. From light to dark, new to aged, give me all your patchouli. I also love benzoin. Coconut? meh, I could take or leave and it depends on what else is with it. I have a tendency to turn coconut notes into "sun tan oil," so testing is super important for me. I got an imp of Goblin, and really, it's seeming like love at first sniff. It's very heavy patchouli and benzoin in the bottle. I am a super happy camper. Wet on my skin, its heavy heavy patchouli with benzoin in the background to temper a touch. A few minutes in, and the coconut starts to make an appearance. It's not foodie, which makes me happy. As it continues to dry down, The patchouli softens and the coconut and benzoin start to come out further. There's a slightly citric/vanilla note that comes out to play from the benzoin. I dig this. The longer it wears, the more complex it becomes. That citric/sour vanilla is coming up, and I hope it stays in check. If I continue to amp it, I won't like this. Either that or maybe I'm having a bad nose day, which is definitely a possibility. Overall, right now, Goblin is a super rich, dank patchouli that's supported by soft, round, dry coconut and sweet, resinous benzoin. I'm pretty sure I'll put this on my list and add it to my ever-growing patchouli collection.

[No additional description provided.] In the bottle: This smells like dead leaves to me. Forest floor, but decidedly deciduous. It's woody, and slightly green. If i had to give this a color, I'd say it's olive green. It's a bit cologne-like in nature, and while I like the scent, I do hope it changes so i can smell the other notes. Skin Test: again, a little goes a very long way. As it starts to dry down, more of the other notes start to come forward. The dead leaves scent though is definitely the star here. There's a sweet herbal note that i wouldn't necessarily identify as licorice root, and the patchouli is definitely coming out way more on than in the bottle. Some of the sweetness could be attributed to the tonka as well, but I don't outright get the cocoa/vanilla rich notes that i generally associate with tonka. As this continues to dry and warm up on my skin, the tonka and licorice definitely start to come out, and there's almost something sugared about this. At this point, I can't stop sniffing. I do finally get patchouli on this one, but it's not a super funky, wet earth patchouli. It's tempered by everything else and just lends more to the whole "forest floor" feel of this scent. While this wasn't quite what I was expecting, I really do love this, and I'll report back once I've put this in my hair. edit: In my hair the scent smells like the dried down, best version of itself. Not nearly as strong in my hair as on my skin- i have short hair and sprayed it into my hands before applying. I used two sprays. It's just the right amount of scent, and I think it would play nicely with base scents like O and Snake Oil, as well as other licorice scents. If you want to amp the patchouli, i think you could do that too. Ugh-so good!