LadyCrow

Wet: A big juicy bloom of melon, definitely the floral side of the DB coming to the fore, with a green plant-y note behind the melon. Drydown: The "bloodier" tang of the DB comes up, reminding me more and more of The Bloody Sword, The Tell-Tale Heart, or even The Cracked Bell, but with dirt where those scents have metal. Gradually the cedar comes out, which is the note that gives some reviewers the undesired "pencil shavings" moment, especially in combination with dirt -- I like cedar, though, so I'm biased. Dry: Medium to low throw. This is one of the subtler DB scents on me, definitely unisex enough to be wearable by any gender (you'd hope so, wouldn't you?), strangely clean for an earthy scent -- very well blended in my opinion. Verdict: It had to be said -- Dear Lab, I want more Pecker.

In the imp: Holy crap, it's my boyfriend. On me: Leather, moist at first, then gradually smokier, then the plants come back a little bit, but the throw remains decidedly smoky. Excellent wearlength; I've had this on all day. It's a very different leather scent from Krampus. Instead of musk, it's strangely both wet and dry thanks to the plants and smoke. I'm not as crazy about the absolute last bit of the drydown, which starts to get a bit like the adventurer put on some inexpensive hair tonic before they shrunk his head. But damn, this is going to be a favorite -- one of the few "smoky" scents I can wear (yes, I'm still mad there's tobacco in The Ifrit), and a fine addition to the Lab's leatherwear.

First off, I must quote a study published only yesterday: In a new study appearing online in The FASEB Journal (http://www.fasebj.org), an international team of scientists, including researchers from Johns Hopkins University and the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, describe how burning frankincense (resin from the Boswellia plant) activates poorly understood ion channels in the brain to alleviate anxiety or depression. So what with the calming lavender, maybe Arcana should be in the Panacea section! In the imp: Rosemary and lavender. Wet on skin: After those notes, the neroli is next to come up really brightly. Drydown: The frankincense is the last to show up, and it's warm and really nice, almost -- and this is strange, but it's on a bed of herbs, after all -- foody. Verdict: I wish it had a stronger throw. On the other hand, right after testing it, I wound up falling asleep for a couple of hours -- blame the lavender! So I may have missed the best part. I'll use the imp, but more as aromatherapy than perfume.

In the decant: Whoamigod, LEMON. Real, fresh lemon, not pseudo-lemon. Wet on skin: A green, leafy note that must be the linden comes up next. Drydown: Several minutes later, the orris comes up and adds a nice, grounding earthiness. And yes, as earlier reviewers have observed, it seems odd to be thinking things like "nice" and "pretty" about a Poe scent! Not much throw, but I like the way it smells what I would call fresh without going soapy on me, as Thunder Moon did. It takes me a little while longer to be able to detect the tea and the faint, faint papyrus. Even on a nose-to-wrist sniff, I'm having a really hard time placing the wood in this, which surprises me because normally I amp just about any wood. Verdict: Although this isn't generally my type of scent, I like it because it's light and clean, but not banal or drugstore-perfumey.

In the bottle: Sweet, sweet caramel, like that in Misk. U. Wet on skin: Appropriately for a baseball scent, this begins with a strong throw -- this does lessen over time, with most of the sweetness closest to the skin. Drydown: It gets nuttier, and then more buttery, as time goes on. All of the notes I was hoping would be in this blend combine to evoke exactly the scent picture I'd hoped for. Verdict: Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack. I don't care if I never get back -- for it's IA! IA! C'THULHU F'THAGN! for the home team....

Like edenssixthday, I couldn't really smell the mandarin under the sweet, brown-sugary rum and the pineapple. I still can't, even though most of the rum has gone [insert pirate-movie joke here] and other fruits have come forward. Still, I like this and find it one of the most boozy Tiki Bar scents. I grant you that, like the others, it's not one I plan to wear outside during the day this summer, as I don't fancy being swarmed by bees, but for an evening summer party? Lovely.

I'll be damned if this doesn't smell exactly as described: a fruity G&T. I can pick out all of the individual notes, although like some reviewers, I experienced a softening of the booze note over time -- but the tonic is very detectably (and delectably!) there, cutting the sweetness of the fruits just enough. Low throw (interestingly similar to Opuhi in this regard), but it's a very cheery scent. Verdict: Would Wave again. I'm not going to scramble to find an aftermarket bottle, but this is lovely.

In the decant: Amber, resin, muguet. Wet: Floral -- I see where people are getting the "hairspray" feeling at first, and then the expensive-perfume vibe later. Drydown: Luckily, the myrrh and oakmoss come in quickly to bolster the resin. And then it goes sweet, much more softly so than the crisp lily I got in the decant; I think this may be a sudden blast of tonka. Yet it stays very tartly mossy at the same time, almost foresty. The throw is a bit stronger than that of other blends in this group. Verdict: Fascinating blend of notes, especially the dynamic between the muguet and the tonka, which sort of pull in opposite directions. I want to test it again before considering a bottle, but I can see it being a very nice wear-on-a-date scent.

In the decant: Vanilla cream, with the tang of saffron keeping it from being sickly sweet. Wet: The saffron is strong with this one. Drydown: Yep, wintergreen Life Savers jump out of the vanilla. Does this mean that if I chew my arm, I'll see sparks? I haven't read through all of the reviews prior to mine, but if anyone's compared it to Tokyo Stomp, that would make sense to me -- sweet, fluffy vanilla cream, like the best cake frosting in the world, then changed by mint. Only this is a different mint, dryer -- thankfully mellowing out after a bit. So now my English-major brain is picturing Godzilla Versus Shelley, in a monster/poet smackdown. And it's weird. Verdict: Predictably, the giant monster wins that one. I'll age my imp, but I expected something really different from this based on the listed notes.

In the field of Seriously Asian Scents, our stalwart Men Ringing Bell With Penises face stiff competition. In the decant: A bamboo-like note -- I'm guessing that's the green sandalwood. Rice wine and some sharp, slightly astringent tea. Wet: Rice wine and tea, which goes very citrusy. Drydown: After a short while, the top notes blend together and I get the moss close to my skin. It takes longer for the tonka to come out; when it does, it makes a nice sweet contrast against the moss and tea. This is very much a skin scent, with very little throw; it lasts longer on me than, say, Fox Fires, but that frankly doesn't say much. I'm not asking for a huge, sharp blast of tea up my nose; if I wanted that, I would go brew some tea. But I liked the citrusy thing that was going on early in the wearlength, and I wish it would stay around longer. Verdict: Thankfully, I don't need a bottle of Penises. Just this one will do.

In the imp: Lots of cedar. A prick of citrus. Wet: Fascinating, Fascinum: you do not remind me of the smell of a real penis. Instead, you have a complicated background with a diva named Litsea Cubeba singing opera in front of the many members of the chorus. Drydown: I knew that my skin amped cedar. Having never (knowingly) worn a blend with litsea cubeba in it, I was astonished to find that on me, the initial stages of this amp that insanely, too. In fact, the first half-hour, easily, smelled more lemony than some blends I've tried with lemongrass or lemon verbena in them. (I thought it must have real lemon in it somewhere, honestly, but that's a phallacy.) Once that burns off, I'm left with sweet amber close to my skin, and a dry, smoky saffron on top. This is almost like a GC Valentine of Rome, in fact; the two go through similar stages -- a forceful entry with a thrust of one or two prominent notes, then a subtle sweet-dry climax. Verdict: I won't go to ridickulous lengths to stock up on this, but I think I actually like it better than V of R. Very unisex! For the next Meet'n'Sniff, I should see if I can get my boy to come.

(2007 version) Wet: You know immediately that your grandmother really went to some trouble to bake this gingerbread -- fresh spices, including real, honest-to-gosh ginger, which is the first and most prominent note on me. I get cinnamon somewhere among all of the lovely spice, but not enough to irritate my skin. Drydown: Penetrating throw. I could wish the wearlength was longer, but for hair or locket use, it probably lasts forever. I've not compared either version of Shub, but really Gingerbread Poppet is in its own class: foody, tempting, but not cloying. When I need some ginger in my day, I will absolutely reach for this -- but I fear that layering this with El Dia de Reyes could land me in the emergency room with my own teeth firmly embedded in my arm!

In the decant: Herbs, herbs, herbs, Herby McHerbenstein. (Not in the Pisces 2007 sense of "herb.") Wet: However, you could reasonably make a "Cypress Hill" joke as all of the plants just leap right up. Drydown: Initially very strong, sharp, almost medicinal -- weirdly reminiscent of the medicinal-herby note in Laudanum. For the first hour or so of wear, I would definitely have categorized this as a Boy Scent (not that I don't wear those myself, but I kept wanting to try it on the boyf). Then it dries down to what, on me, is mainly a skin scent -- finally, the dry, smoky, resinous part comes out, but the throw is very low at that point. Verdict: Fascinating blend, but I'm not sure it's for me. I love the later drydown, but the biggest surprise to me was my inability (maybe affected by the cypress, and my problem with evergreens in general) to pull out any "blood accord" as a separate note. Or, to put it in LOLrus terms: NOOO! THEY BE STEALIN MAH DRAGONZ BLUD!

In the decant: Cherry-almond and lavender. Wet: Cherry-almond and LAVENDER! Drydown: On the bright side, this is the first blend I've known to contain a rose note that didn't go dire on me. On the other hand, the combination of a low throw and short wearlength on me leaves me sniffing my hand, trying to categorize what dries down to a classy, expensive, traditionally-perfumey soap. The lavender (and is that anise back in there somewhere?) just fights with the white musk on me, in a soapy way. Not a bottle purchase for me personally.

In the decant: Something's got a bite to it. Almost boozy. Wet: The amber and thick, white honey (arm-licking time) quickly rise to the top. Yum -- suddenly I'm smiling all over my face for no particular reason. Drydown: As this dries, the red currant comes out but doesn't predominate. The potential oversweetness is definitely tempered by the DRAGONZ BLUD and kush -- readers may reefer to my review of Pisces 2007 to see how I feel about notes in that scent family. The musk comes in later and is very, very sexy. I do get a bit of that trad-perfumey vibe in the throw, but luckily the other notes are keeping the amber from going to powder. Verdict: Yes, this gets tried on the boy. It is that kind of blend -- the scent you want on the date you hope will get... elaborate.

In the decant: Clotted cream, pure sweetness. Wet: Still with the cream and candyfloss, but that nice grapefruit is starting to come out. Drydown: Wow, the dominant notes change as quickly here as... the moods of a sociopathic teenage cannibal, I guess! First it's the grapefruit, lovely and tart, amped by the pink pepper that makes Mi-Go Brain Canister so great. Then it's the pear, and when the grapefruit fades back a little, I get a different sweetness that I'm taking to be the lily. Finally, it's mostly the ginger, pepper, and a lingering sweetness very close to my skin. Medium to low throw; surprisingly short wearlength. Apparently cannibals don't take long to have lunch and move on. Verdict: Well blended, and it was fun to try, but ultimately not me. I'll go to Croquet or Mi-Go for fruity-peppery. I should note that, like another reviewer, I feel a very slight burning sensation (no rash or anything, and it's not an "Oh my God, I need to wash my arm" feeling) on the patch of skin where I tested this. People with sensitive skin might want to restrict this one to locket use.

Dark amber, dead leaves, khus, saffron, bitter clove, chrysanthemum, camellia, galangal, and a drop of oud. In the decant: Sharp and dirty. Wet: WHAM, vetiver. The khus in this is definitely smoother than the usual BPAL vetiver, but holy moly, it's strong. In fact, the wet stage makes my eyes tingle -- not quite water, but tingle -- a good six inches away from the oiled patches of skin. Drydown: I agree with chthonia, who said this is like a story in scent form. It absolutely conjures up the scent picture it was intended to evoke, while at the same time having distinct stages as a perfume. Eventually, as the vetiver mellows a bit, I get a strong, peppery chrysanthemum; while that continues to be aggressive for a good long while, the amber comes out next on me and I start getting hints of the other notes, notably the saffron. It's like a cross between Graveyard Dirt and a Salon blend. Verdict: I love the forest, and I love strong scents, so this is just win.

In the decant: Clean, sharp floral, almost citrusy, which is odd because I see no such thing in the listed notes. Wet: Sharp, still has that real tang to it. Wait, something smells green. I inhale more deeply and I think herb. Drydown: On me, the sarsaparilla (probably helped by the moss) grounds the opium, giving it a dirty feel (in a good way) -- that earthy grounding that we Pisceans need to balance out our wateriness. I still smell the florals budding on top, or something like an increasingly sweet leaf. In fact, something in this blend puts a big smile on my face. I don't get that powdery thing at all, to my pleasant surprise; something really smells green, alive, flowering, perhaps a reminder of grass to come. This scent hasn't had much buzz about it in the review thread so far -- indeed, sometimes only token comments -- so I wasn't holding my breath. I can understand why a lot of my fellow Pisces were dubious, and I'm sorry that for a number of previous reviewers, this just went to pot. But I feel like Beth (and maybe her beloved companion too -- like their child-to-be, perhaps this was a joint creation?) has given me a superb birthday present that I might even wear on a date (that classic-perfume thing does develop about a half-hour in). It's been a hard winter without many high times in it, but Pisces 2007 may be just what I need to keep my water pipes flowing. Verdict: Holy smoke, a floral I really like. I sense a million bottles of this in my future; I'm suddenly hungry for more.

In the decant: Fruity, clean, sweet. Wet: O HAI! I CAN HAS DRAGONZ BLUD! Almost a bit soapy as it starts to dry, but then it gets spicier. Drydown: 1. Oh my verbing deity, I love this. 2. Dude, this is Dragon's Hide with spice. 3. No, dude, this is Dragon's Musk with smoke. 4. Repeat Stage 1. In its well-blended nature, and apparent love of my skin, this reminds me of a couple of this past year's run of astrological oils. Good throw; I'm still testing the wearlength, but I will be requiring a minimum of one bottle, and I doubt I'll be able to keep it to that. And to think I ordered my decant mostly for the daemonorops and the name (muttering about personal life redacted)! Verdict: Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.

In the sniffie: Predominantly vanilla. Wet: It's the inside of a Junior Mint! Drydown: No -- the umpteen million users who have compared Tokyo Stomp to Thin Mints are correct. Despite the absence of listed chocolate notes, something in one of the vanillas in this very potent scent does give it a cookie-like scent shape. Who knew you could bait Godzilla with Girl Scouts? My skin amps the bright, sharp mint note to its max. Nothing wrong with that, but the circumstances under which I can imagine wanting to smell this minty-fresh are few. I mean, if I had a decant of this, it would be a scent of choice the next time I need to wake myself up for early-morning GREs. I wonder if it would be slightly foodier -- as I was hoping for with FIVE vanillas -- in a locket or on clothing.

Chanukkiyah, on me, is similar to Egg Nog in that it doesn't have a powerful throw so much as a strong skin presence. I haven't tried this in a locket yet, but I have a feeling it would make a fabulous room scent -- very well blended, and, as many others have noted, foody and warm without toppling over the edge into "Gorram it, I'm making cocoa RIGHT NOW" territory, like my beloved El Dia de Reyes gets! It's not at all overly complicated on me, and doesn't morph much. The sugary tinge is right on top of the throw, and the beeswax, amber, and olive seem to hug each other and lie right next to the skin. I only get faint traces of the pomegranate. Subtle and lovely, foody but not over-the-top.

In the imp: Boozy and fruity. Wet: Predominantly boozy at first, but then the molasses really starts to come out -- even yummier than the honey. Drydown: Like many reviewers, I clearly get a sharp, clean citrusy note -- I want to say lime -- that, along with the oakwood backing everything up, keeps this from being merely teeth-rotting goo. I like the way this has that decadent sweetness about it, but it isn't your standard foody -- that is, it's not clearly identifiable (at least to the modern nose) as having to do with a specific food, the way Beaver Moon is either cupcakes or cheesecake, depending on the version. In that way, it's almost like Misk U. without the coffee! Verdict: I like. I'm keeping my imp. I might not run out and buy a bottle this second, but I definitely want to experiment with this some more.

Oh, please make this an official release? See, I can't wear Geek because of the tobacco, so I'm thrilled to have found another scent that so perfectly describes its wearer in this case. In the imp: Damn. Pretty much 100% what it's supposed to smell like -- a buttery, almost yeasty cake; a hint of booze; candied fruits; something (else) nutty. Wet: The candied cherry really leaps to the top of the fairly strong throw, with the spices and butter lying close to my skin. Drydown: Insert "rum" joke from famous pirate movie here. Since the cinnamon is particularly strong, I'm forced to agree with a previous reviewer who found something Yankee-Candle-esque about the later stages of this -- not in a particularly bad way, just not anything like the almost gritty foodiness of the initial stages. If I had more than a testable sniffie of this, I'd be tempted to use it as a room or locket scent, rather than a skin scent. As it is, it's nice enough, but nothing to mortgage my soul for on eBay.

In the decant: Sweet, sweet candy, almost gritty sugar. Wet: Yum, candied violet! Drydown: OMG HEADACHE. About an hour into the drydown, this is great: dust, smoke, and candied fruits and violets, with a good throw. It's just that on me (am I just that hot?), the charcoal absolutely blazes up and is virtually the only thing smellable for a significant chunk of the wearlength. Verdict: Am I even going to be able to wear this in a locket? Bonfire Night gives me no problem, but the middle section of La Befana's wearlength nearly makes me ill, which is driving me nuts because the other notes -- and the later drydown -- are so great. Was I just slathering too heavily, as I initially did with Debauchery? Or is this just the Case of the Genuinely Bad Note?

Tezcatlipoca only dreams of being this rich. It's funny, because I had just tested and meant to write up The Candy Butcher; the obvious differences are that that one deliberately aims at creaminess, and achieves it, while this is a dry, spicy scent that jumps out at you like the puff of powder from the cocoa tin. Like Candy Butcher, this one has a moderate-to-good throw and a good, long wearlength, with the coffee note really detectable on me only closest to my skin. Superb warm, cozy scent for winter.