torischroeder9

In the imp: Balsam and dragon's blood. On my skin: Wet, it's mainly balsam. Dry, also balsam. Given time to develop on my skin, I do get a note that's a bit peppery, along with a bare hint of the sweetness of dragon's blood. On me, this is another deep, woody blend that wants lightening.

In the imp: Oud, then sandalwood, then something that starts to soften those notes. On my skin: Wet, it's oud, the happy, non-stenchifying kind. As it dries, the oud is still going strong, though I can detect the beeswax mellowing it a bit. Given more time to develop, the beeswax continues to strengthen, becoming a balanced scent with the oud. The result is some nice oudy pungency, smoothed out by the beeswax. This is smooth, and just a bit spicy, and deep. It probably blends brilliantly with any number of RPG scents, but I'm most excited to pair it with some lighter blends.

In the imp: Very lightly sweet, a note I notice in La Petite Mort. On my skin: Wet, the same as in the imp. I like this, but it's not something I mentally classify as musk. As it dries, it's almost a light floral, though one I can't quite pin down -- maybe something like honeysuckle. It doesn't morph. It also doesn't smell like either skin or musk on me. But I do like it, and I think it would make a nice layering piece, especially with something darker (Neutral Evil, maybe?).

In the imp: Super foody. Oatmeal with brown sugar and pralines. On my skin: Wet, sweet brown sugar is at the forefront of the scent. After some time, the sweetness mellows so that I envision brown sugar in a porridge or pastry. It's still very sweet, and just a tad spicy, but not artificial or cloying. It's pretty great -- and one of the few nut-containing blends that doesn't go SuperNut on me -- but I'm not at all sure how I'd layer it.

In the imp: Rose amber and frankincense, with an inability to rule out that I'm also smelling but not recognizing myrrh and/or cistus at this point. On my skin: Wet, actually it's the champaca that's early dominant. As it dries, however, the champaca fades a bit, so the scent is now mostly rose amber, though the champaca does still create some fruity brightness. Ultimately, this is a nice, bright rose amber with some champaca. It's possible that the frankincense is helping keep the rose note from going soapy, but it's otherwise not prominent. It's a very pretty, light, clear scent that's nice on its own but on me, wants a little layering with something deeper. Maybe Elf Cleric? Orc Cleric?

In the imp: Something sweet, almost floral, plus the more familiar sweetness of honey and beeswax. On my skin: Wet, there's a moment where it's almost like pine resin; then it immediately settles back down to a more beeswax scent. As it dries, the sweetness fades, and it's savory but still smooth. I want to suggest maybe a wood note and maybe a note like olive oil, though individual notes here are really hard to place. This is... weird but good. It's deep and mellow. I wonder about layering it with Rogue (a relatively logical choice) or if it's too similar a scent profile (though Thieves' Rosin is much deeper).

In the imp: Soil and herbs. On my skin: Wet, the sharp herbs are at the forefront of the scent. As it dries, the dirt becomes more prominent, and there's a hint of a lighter, almost floral, note, which I take to be the spring grasses. I never do get much woolen robe, but I also don't much care. I probably want to try layering this with something a little lighter, as it's still quite a dark green on me -- but I don't know that I've met the correct RPG layering scent yet.

In the imp: Hawthorne, aspen, and berry. On my skin: Wet, I can still smell the greenery, though golden musk does start to peek through. As it dries and develops, however, it reverts back to berry dominance. It's nice, but it's not my kind of thing.

In the imp: Green and light and sweet floral. On my skin: Wet, it's a light, green-golden cologne, sweetened with a touch of floral I can't name. As it dries and develops, it starts to remind me of when the Lab makes a metal note -- like clean steel. It's not quite there, but it's reminiscent. I could tell you this maybe smells like a clean kitchen sink. It's a very refreshing scent, one I'd describe as unisex, though it's probably not a "me" scent for daily wear.

In the imp: Honey cut with bay rum. On my skin: Wet, it's honey and bay rum, along with the nose-tingle I know to be white musk. It doesn't really morph on me. Overall, though, this is very nice, and I could see wearing it without layering. It ends up with a beeswax kind of vibe on me; I think this is the honey combining with other scents, like the bay rum and maybe the wood, to temper down the sweetness. Bard has a lot of throw on me, and it's full of notes that suggest a longer-than-average wear length.

Lots of fir and pine, sweetened with some fruits and florals. I can pick out the aspen, lily, bergamot, and violet. The result is like being in a very deep and dense northern forest in the late spring or summertime. The deep evergreens are the main scent, but the flowers and fruits give the impression of a forest with bright seasonal warmth, not of a forest where evergreens are the only things still growing.

In the imp: Lavender and floral sweetness. On my skin: Wet, the lavender is still predominant, followed by the generic floral sweetness I presume will assert itself as jasmine. As it dries, the jasmine does make itself known with an almost glowing halo around the lavender. As in, if I smell the scent directly, lavender is still the main note. But if I'm going about my business and just happen to smell Twilight, it's the jasmine that gets to my nose most. Given time to develop, the jasmine grows stronger and stronger... and stronger. Ope. All jasmine, all the time. The tiniest ghost of lavender remains.

In the imp: Something grassy, and something herbal... plus also maybe lavender. On my skin: Wet, I'm definitely getting lavender. This smells like the entire, fresh, growing lavender plant I have in my backyard -- flowers, leaves, and stems. As it dries, I'm still getting the lavender, but rose now emerges. The more I let it develop, the more rose rises to prominence. At this stage in the game, it's slightly soapy. Um... yep. Soapy rose, backed by lavender.

The silver marker is beginning to wear off, but I believe the bottle is DCCXXXIII. Bottle recently acquired from the Lab's Etsy. In the bottle: Something bright and fruity over Snake Oil. In the same family as Pomegranate Grove: Snake Oil with Australian Copperhead as a kissing cousin. On my skin: Wet, the fruity smell continues, but it's also joined by something sweet and creamy as well as something slightly astringent. I am hoping the astringent note does not take over because the other notes are 100% gold. As it dries, the fruity note dissipates. The creamy note is quite prominent in the blend's throw. Up close, what I'd initially described as astringent is now clearly grassy vetiver. Snake Oil is present in the background. Given some time to develop, the vetiver settles back but doesn't fade completely, so that the creamy note -- which might be additional vanilla or even something like mallow root -- remains as a major player. Once it has time to really bloom on my skin, the Snake Oil is much more prominent, blending seamlessly with the creamy note. While the vetiver is detectable: 1) it's the grassy type of vetiver, not the smoky kind; 2) it is not The Vetiver Show. The result is a Snake Oil that's a little less spicy, a little sweeter, and a little fresher and greener. It is very much a "Snake Oil blend" rather than a blend that happens to contain Snake Oil. The effect is very much the same on my skin, though as this is a little greener and a little fresher, I'd call this a somewhat more "work appropriate" Snake Oil. (Though I totally wear regular Snake Oil to work all the time.) Also, bottle DCCXXXV. Also recently purchased from the Lab's Etsy. In the bottle: A soft resin (maybe amber), a light floral, maybe white musk. On my skin: Wet, it's much different than in the bottle. Snake Oil's patchouli comes immediately to the forefront. Notes that might be light floral and/or white musk are detectable as well. As it dries, it's mainly a resinous smell. My skin is also tingly, which tells me there's an irritant note in here. (Unfortunately, with my skin, that doesn't narrow it down all that much: balsam, cardamom, cassia, cinnamon, clove, cedar, lily...) I'm also getting hints of both floral and spice, and at this point, I can't tell if the spice is only Snake Oil spiciness or if it's in addition to it. There's a lot going on in this Chaos blend. Given more time to develop on my skin, the Snake Oil -- possibly extra spicy Snake Oil -- scent becomes much stronger in the perfume's throw. Close to the skin, the light, sweet note that is either floral and/or white musk remains, but it's only really noticeable up close. Given even more time -- this one's complex and a morpher on me -- the floral/white musk note dissipates, and I'm left with Snake Oil plus extra light resin, possibly amber. (Amber is also a note that characteristically takes a while to develop on my skin. In earlier stages, it's often overwhelmed by other notes, only to overwhelm those other notes later on.) Ultimately, I end up with an amber-infused Snake Oil, which is like a lovely, smoother version of Snake Oil without changing its fundamental Snake Oiliness. It's kind of a strange ride to get there, but it's not unpleasant. And the final result is quite nice.

2018 version. In the decant: Champaca edged by sugar cand. On my skin: Wet, the champaca is at the forefront, though I can also detect the coconut. As it dries, I get a fair amount of black coconut in the throw, though champaca continues to be the star of the skin scent. Once it has time to settle into my skin and into itself, this scent is a burst of champaca sweetened with sugarcane and underscored by black coconut. I get very little of the ambergris accord or the ambrette seed, but the blend I do get here is very bright and sweet without being overwhelming or artificial in any one note.

In the decant: Benzoin is most prominent, though it's smoothed out by vanilla silk. On my skin: Wet, it's the same, benzoin smoothed by vanilla. As it dries, the smoked honey also comes forward; the smoke in this honey is enough to cut a good portion of the honey sweetness on me, at least at this stage. Given some time to develop, the smoked honey note warms until it's a main player. There's still some benzoin and vanilla smoothing out the cloying stickiness of honey. I don't know that I'm getting a lot of distinct patchouli leaf, unless I'm reading it as part of the smoke in the smoked honey. This is definitely a very wearable scent. It's a little sweet and a little smoky and a little round and creamy.

2017 version. In the decant: Balsam, juniper, and an undercurrent of patchouli. On my skin: Wet, it's predominantly balsam, with the beeswax and honey showing up right away to sweeten the blend. Patchouli is still evident. The juniper is still detectable as well, although the bee scents start to overtake it. As it dries, it becomes patchouli and beeswax, with just a touch of the balsam, juniper, and honey detectable close to the skin. This is definitely patchouli on me, though I'd classify it as "smooth" rather than "down and dirty." (That said, patchouli is the star on me, so if that's enough for anyone to categorize a scent as "down and dirty," that is accomplished here.) It's smoothed out by the beeswax. The other notes fade into the background on me -- but since I like patchouli and beeswax, I don't really mind this development. It is an earthy scent but not one I'd classify as distinctly stereotypically masculine or feminine. I feel like I could wear it pretty much anywhere without being branded a "dirty hippie" (though I live in a place pretty tolerant of hippies). Throw is on the closer side of moderate.

In the imp: Predominantly lime and tuberose, the latter with the barest hint of a powdery finish. On my skin: Wet, it's lime backed by indiscriminate light floral. As it dries, the tuberose becomes the prominent note. Given additional time to develop, the lotus also starts to make itself known; I think that's what's actually giving this blend its powder hint on me. At this stage, the jasmine is starting to come forward a little as well. Ultimately, all traces of the lime disappear, and this becomes a very floral blend.

2012 version. In the bottle: Black musk, clean white tea, sandalwood, and a smattering of other notes flitting around in the background. On my skin: Wet, it's musk, tea, frankincense, and clove. As it dries, it's a combination of clove and clean scents; I'm definitely getting tea and frankincense. Given time to warm on my skin, there's a bright, almost citrusy quality that I sometimes get from frankincense -- and of course, the clean crispness of the white tea is helping that to shine. The clove is very detectable but also very soft, melting into the scent rather than dominating it. It's very light and pretty on me, but in a resiny, spicy kind of way rather than in a sweet or a floral kind of way. It's nice to have a perfume that smells classy but also smells like me.

2008 version. In the bottle: Honey and date palm. On my skin: Wet, it's honey, date palm, and a touch of sandalwood. As it dries, the davana blossom also becomes detectable, giving the scent a fruity element as well. Given more time to develop, some of the amber emerges, which softens what has up until this point been a very sweet, heady scent. I never do get much floral, just a touch or so at the edges of the scent. It's mostly honey and date on me, with just enough woods to keep it grounded. I wish I got more champaca flower out of it, but I'm pretty happy that the rose and the tuberose are content to be team players on this one.

Imp direct from the Lab. Age is as new as one can expect from that. In the imp: Grape bubblegum. On my skin: Wet, it's still grape bubblegum or other grape candy, but it's not so overpowering on my skin as it is in the imp. As it dries, it morphs into a definite lilac note on me. (I was at a new worksite last week and kept smelling this smell all around me, looking for the source -- until one day I discovered lilacs around the corner from the path I usually walked.) The grapes haven't disappeared completely, but they're much in the background now. There's also something freshly green and herbal (savory but not sharp) grounding and deepening the lilac. I'm not sure I love this for scent purposes. It's very pretty, just not to my personal taste. If it works for conjure purposes, however, I may reconsider.

In the imp: Pine and juniper, warmed by the tiniest hint of vanilla in the background. On my skin: Wet, it's juniper and pine; at least for right now, my skin eats the vanilla. After the blend dries and has time to develop on my skin, I can detect the barest hint of amber and vanilla warming and sweetening the scent just a touch. The pine and juniper are still showcased. Almost an hour after application, the scent has settled a bit more so that I can detect some of the amber if I stick my nose close to my skin. The juniper and pine remain prevalent there, however, and they continue to dominate in the scent's throw. FYI, this is 0% like Snake Oil on me.

In the bottle: Blood musk and honey. On my skin: Wet, it's blood musk, honey, and poppies in just about equal amounts. As it dries, the poppies become the star of the scent, strongly supported by the blood musk and gently sweetened by honey. Oh my goodness, this is lovely. The poppies remain showcased, the honey-type scent is similar to the "pollen-dusted honey" in Against Idleness and Mischief (soft and just a touch dusty, not cloying), and the blood musk warms and grounds everything. In the same scent category as Third Charm and Infernal Lover but a step more elegant. Good throw and wear length as well.

In the bottle: Cinnamon and clove, with a dash of pepper. On my skin: Wet, it's the spice of cinnamon red hots, minus the sugar. As it dries, I can pick out the clove and pepper as well. It's a more complex version of what I think of as well blended "cinnamon spice" commercial scent. It smells like more than just cinnamon to me, though I wouldn't fault anyone who just called it cinnamon. After a while, I even get clove becoming a little more prominent than cinnamon, which, as a clove lover, suits me just fine. It remains to be seen how much I'll want to wear this on its own -- though it's definitely a possibility -- but I'm most excited to try this out with oils like some of my simpler honey blends.

In the bottle: Soft rose, a little lily. On my skin: Wet, it's the same soft rose and lily, with the lily a little more balanced on my skin. On the initial drydown, the roses and lilies find a good balance, though at this stage, they're also slightly soapy. I can also start to detect the night-blooming jasmine as a distinct floral note. As it develops, I get a definite rose main note, with an undercurrent of the lilies, and a subtler still undercurrent of jasmine. I can't detect amber specifically, but it's quite common on me for amber to amp up other notes, and it's quite common on me for rose to be amped, so. This is a very true light, bright floral on me -- particularly so when it's composed of notes that so often don't work on my skin.