torischroeder9

In the decant: Ginger, and something that comes across as almost astringent. I'm wondering if that's the concentrated benzoin and orange blossom before they've had a chance to "air out." On my skin: Wet, it's candied ginger immediately, followed by more recognizable orange blossom, followed by more of the sweetness in the candied part of "candied ginger" coming out. As it dries, it's the orange blossom, I think, that's giving the ginger an almost herbal or astringent or sour tang. I'm still deciding whether I like it, but I will note that this is very different from the ginger I get foodie or even more traditionally spicy scents. I don't think it's bad-weird, but it definitely is weird. (I also don't get much clove as of yet, but as I perpetually want more clove in things, that doesn't mean it's not there.) After a while, the sour tang damps down, but it's still left with a fairly dry, herbal, earthy ginger. I'm leaning toward finding it engaging and interesting, but I would totally understand if any given person felt this was just not what they were looking for in a perfume. After quite a while (2 hours after application), the candied aspect of the candied ginger comes back out, and the perfume sweetens on my skin. Now it's a much more conventionally sweet and spicy ginger scent -- though it's still much like candied ginger pieces rather than ginger flavored candies or ginger-containing baked goods. This stage is utterly delightful. For me -- because of how much I love this stage and the fact that I found the earlier stage more interesting than off-putting -- I think this is going to tip my scales into bottle land.

In the decant: Amber and scarlet musk, in a way that's not un-reminiscent of Fragment 38 (one of my previous Luper faves), with a lightness from what I expect is apple and a roundness that I expect is vanilla. On my skin: Wet, it's amber and scarlet musk, a touch of bright fruit, and a touch of smooth vanilla. As it dries, the vanilla amps up, and there's almost something... husky?... the amber or the benzoin?... that evokes Madame Moriarty (less fruit-forward than the new version, less patchouli dominant than the original). The benzoin starts to come out as it develops on my skin, providing an airy dryness, which is what I think is calling to mind the Mme Mo but not quite vibe. This is actually really nice. The only reason I think I'm not upgrading to a bottle is because I've just compared it to three other scents (I count the Mme Mo versions separately) I own and love.

In the decant: So. Much. Marzipan. On my skin: Wet, it's marzipan, marzipan, and more marzipan. The people I know who actually make their own marzipan tend to like things sweet, so maybe this is a biased view, but while it is sweet marzipan, I don't get the sense that it's honey marzipan initially at all. It is syrupy, sweet, sticky, almond marzipan, and it's probably more than a little overwhelming on me.

In the decant: It's mostly straight chocolate to my nose. There might be a touch of something peppery, but it's much less noticeable than was the clove note in Cacao, Clove, Sandalwood, and Hemp (I may have the order of notes in that blend listed wrong, but you get the idea). On my skin: Wet, the cubeb comes out immediately, bright and lemon-peppery. As it dries, cacao dominates the scent's throw, but I can detect the cubeb just fine near my skin. Eventually, they do meld together, and I'm left with a lemony cacao. I was wanting this to be a little more on the black peppery end of the spectrum, so it's not a bottle upgrade for me, but there's nothing unpleasant about the scent. (And in fact, this avoids the fake lemon floor cleaner scent that actual lemon notes often get on my skin.) Edit, Later That Day: The throw is stronger and the wear length is longer than average on me. Since my skin tends to eat all versions of chocolate, cocoa, cacao, I'm guessing I have the bright cubeb to thank for this.

2021 version. I have been eyeing this for a few years, but this is my first time sniffing any incarnation of it. In the decant: The sweetness of honey over the tang of leather. The leather isn't the harsh chemically leather I get from the Lab's black leather, but it's not as muted as brown or worn leather. On my skin: Wet, both are visible straight off, with the honey falling back to the leather on the initial drydown. It's sweet leather rather than honey as a distinct note. As it dries, the honey does regain prominence in the scent's throw while leather still owns the skin scent. About an hour or so in, the two notes meld really nicely, so that it's soft leather and rich honey all rolled into one. My fear of leather (mostly, fear that a given leather will be the harsh chemical kind) kept me from trying this. Now that I have, I could see upgrading to a bottle.

In the bottle: The leather accord is the strongest note, with an after-whiff of cardamom. I do not get either recognizable Snake Oil or recognizable Smut at this stage. On my skin: The oil has the distinctive darker color of both Smut and Snake Oil. Wet, it flits between recognizable Snake Oil and the leather accord. As it dries, even the Snake Oil recedes, so the leather accord note is at the forefront again. There is a touch of something spiced -- I can't tell if it's the cardamom or the spices in the Snake Oil -- behind that. I think... I at least need to rest my bottle a bit more. (It's been resting 5 days.)

Arrived on Wednesday, so it's been resting about four days. In the bottle: Cacao first and then clove, like very spiced hot chocolate. I can't make out either the sandalwood or clove as discernible notes, except to say that this blend is grounded and not very sweet. So, very spiced, extra dark hot chocolate. On my skin: Wet, the cacao makes its way to the front of the scent first, so it's more like a balanced cocoa powder. The clove and sandalwood combination is detectable but in the background. As it dries, the cacao fades back a bit, so it's back to the more bitter scent profile from the bottle. (It's not bitter in the overall realm of things, but it's much more like biting into a bar of 85% cacao chocolate than it is of biting into a bar of 33% cacao chocolate.) Given more time to develop, the cacao recedes more, and the clove and sandalwood become more prominent. The cacao is still there, though, adding a -- it's not quite sweetness, but it's not as sharp as either the sandalwood or the clove might be on their own. I can't detect the hemp as a stand-alone note, but it does share a vibe that I get from Banshee Beat, so I assume that joining factor is the hemp note. After the initial drydown, the scent stays fairly close on me -- which is honestly probably good because it absolutely comes across as intense dark chocolate with spice. Just like I presume the adage "a little goes a long way" would hold true if this was a food, it's also true for this as a scent. But it's warm and powerful and sophisticated and just the tiniest touch foodie.

In the imp: Yup. Vanilla at the forefront, brightened a touch by sweet pea, with amber and a base of white sandalwood. On my skin: Wet, it's instantly vanilla and then sweet pea. As it dries, the amber comes out, so it's vanilla warmed amber. I get a touch of something powdery when I bend into sniff it, but I can't confidently attribute that to a particular note just yet. Once it develops, the powder goes away... but so does the vanilla. So it's sweet pea -- slightly rounded by vanilla -- and amber on me. It's pretty, but it's also a pretty faint floral on me.

Snake Oil DCCXCLI -- At least, that is what it says on the cap label. The bottle label is a bit smudged. Received in Welcome Spring Swap. In the bottle: Aged Snake Oil. Like straight up, aged Snake Oil. You could convince me that there's a whisper of something airy in there -- amber or maybe frankincense or maybe even a whiff of orange blossom -- but you could also convince me that this is entirely made up in my head because I believe there has to be notes other than Snake Oil in here. On my skin: Wet, there's a whiff of cola note (actual kola? labdanum? my imagination?) that disappears fast as it dries down. It's replaced by Snake Oil plus... leather? The more I sniff, the more I'm convinced I'm right. It's a dry, soft, worn leather that acts as a base but doesn't overpower. It's a lot more like what I get from Western Diamondback (minus sage) than what I get from Snake Skin. In character, it's a little more comfortably sensual than overtly sexy, which I don't mind at all. I don't swear this is my favorite Snake Oil blend ever -- which, I've tried and loved a lot -- but I do think it's my favorite Chaos bottle ever.

So. I purchased this decant for two reasons. First, the color palette in the painting is pretty much "my" color. Second, the note list was curious to me, both in terms of what the combination of fairly opposite types of notes would smell like and also WTF is turquoise musk. In the decant: There is a soft peach that is at the forefront of the scent, but it's surrounded by a myriad of other, more grounded notes in the background. On my skin: First, it's a little apricot and a little peach, and then it's all peach all the time, wet. As it dries, I can pick out elements of what seem like fir and maybe juniper running under the peach, supporting it. There's also something slightly airy about this, which might be crystalline turquoise musk or white amber. The peach note here is every bit as peachy as the one I get, say, in Egoyomi, but the quality of the note is less sweet and cloying. I really like this. It's a way to make the peach bright and fresh, and I feel like it's one of the really most peach-forward scents I have tried, where peach is the uncontested star of this show on my skin. The throw is not super strong, but it's definitely there.

In the decant: Blood orange and sweeter citrus (tangerine) with a tinge of clove. On my skin: Wet, it's bright juicy orange and tangerine. A touch of amber and myrrh come out on the drydown, giving it a slightly drier, huffier element. As it dries, there's a touch of deeper notes -- cedar, fir, pine in the background, though blood orange and tangerine still take center stage. It stays pretty true here, with the cedar and clove providing a touch of earthiness and the pine and fir providing another layer of depth. I no longer get the amber as such, but I wonder if it and the white musk help amp the blood orange and tangerine, which are very much the shining stars on my skin. If this were an atmosphere spray, I would absolutely buy a bottle. As it is, I find that very citrus-forward scents fade in their citrusiness as they age... which might mean I hold off on this as a long term (bottle) investment. It's utterly lovely right now, though! Edit: The following morning, the white musk and amber -- airy but not necessarily snow like -- are more pronounced, with a bit of orange and pine floating off of them. This version is also fresh and delightful, though I would possibly still enjoy it more as an atmosphere spray than as a perfume oil.

I feel it's necessary to preface that this is another scent I got for the joy of being part of the hype (or FOMO, however you want to look at it). In the vial: Goat's milk and honey and also a very light whiff of spices that could be gingerbread. On my skin: Wet, there is a moment when it is perfect marshmallow. Then some honey whirls up, but it's not cloying or overpowering. Once it dries, however -- and I mean, including in the initial drydown -- it goes very, very faint. I still get goat's milk and marshmallow and honey dust, and you could still sell me on something that's very gently spiced, but it is oh, so faint and delicate. And, then, all of the sudden: 1) it is very much not faint; 2) it is very much gingerbread spice and honey dust. I mean, I like this. A lot. But I wasn't ready for it. It does fade back to a low-throw scent pretty quickly, but just a standard issue low throw. This is very interesting and also very nice. I think I'm going to have to hang on to this decant and see if it maybe ages stronger.

I think I purchased this from a decant circle: a) to help a bottle make; b) because everyone was gushing about it in the Yule thread. Opium and tobacco are notoriously persnickety on me, but here goes. In the decant: Opium and tobacco, straight out of the gate, shrouded in something shadowy that I think must be the indigo musk. On my skin: Wet, there's a moment when it's sharp but indistinct. Then it softens into musky lilac. After the initial drydown, the "blackened" aspect of the blackened lilac comes out. It's very lilac-forward, but instead of being light and sweet, it's shadowy and musky. As it develops, I can also pick out the tobacco flower, but it's still fairly lilac-forward... and definitely still in the shadowy, blackened, musky way. It's very nice, particularly for someone who has issues with traditional florals being heady and overpowering. The "blackened" aspect helps tone done the headiness while keeping the floral true. That said, I don't experience this as evocative -- of time or place or memory or mood -- as other reviewers have seemed to. Edit: Sadly, a couple of hours later, this morphed to be still strong but mostly tobacco flower on me. Nothing wrong with that for those for whom tobacco is a treat, but I just end up with a lot of tobacco-containing scents that go this way.

In the vial: Tangy pomegranate jelly and fried sugary pastry. This is a really nice combination, with the tanginess of the fruit offsetting the sugar overload of the dough. On my skin: Wet, it's the same as in the decant. As it dries, a little of the tartiest tartness -- maybe the cranberry? -- fades, mellowing the fruit jelly note just a bit. The dough also takes on a quality of... if you've had a warm, fresh donut that's just been rolled in sugar? Yes, like that. This is possibly my favorite sufganiyot and is honestly pretty delightful. I'm not the hugest bakery or fruity perfume person, but this combines the best of both of these qualities in a way that really highlights the other. I'd purchased this decant for the fun of testing it, not really believing I'd want a full bottle -- and I might still not, but it is definitely under consideration. At the very least, I'm going to need to test the decant again to pay more attention to wear length. (The throw is low on me, so there's not so very much that my skin can afford a lot of fading.)

So, I have a decant from @VetchVesper that says Black Apple, Black Tea, Frankincense, and Vetiver that I think goes here as it seems the closest note match. In the decant: Apple (red, medium sweetness), a whiff frankincense, and an undercurrent of vetiver. Black tea is evident when I close the vial back up and breathe in the remaining fumes. On my skin: Wet, the apple is dominant and slightly sweeter (more Gala, less Fuji) than it was in the vial. As it dries, a bit of vetiver comes out. Verdict: I amp apple, which is a thing I knew. There's a very faint whiff of frankincense if I stick my nose close to my skin. I never do get tea.

In the bottle: Like cat vomit on stinky sweat socks. There is something putrid and sour like bile and upchuck along with something sharper, like heavily concentrated body odor. On my skin: Because of course I am putting it on my skin. Wet, the indole immediately starts to sort itself out. It doesn't lessen, exactly, but it becomes much more straightforward like oudh. Up close to the skin, I do get some freshly cut grass note. The drying down continues to lessen the intensity here. Still indolic, but the grass note does start to become more detectable. Just over half an hour in, and it's... surprisingly not bad? The grass note has become slightly more prominent than the oudh, though the indole is still very much present. A hint of something chalky or powdery -- I could speculate an amber or frankincense or black musk, but that's just speculation -- starts to emerge. A half hour after that, and it's mostly powder that I'd be most inclined to believe is black musk (as it's not sweet enough on me to be frankincense or amber - though that could be the other notes' influence as well). The oudh is still present but very faintly in the background, and there's no sign of green grass at all. This is certainly a fun experience -- and if you can deal with the oudh, it turns out okay in the end!

In the decant: Rice milk and red currant, among other notes that are more nebulous here. On my skin: Wet, the rice milk starts out at the forefront, but the red currant quickly leaps to fill that spot. The first throw is all red currant. There's a phase in the drydown where the myrrh is the perfect backing to the rice milk, which becomes the perfect showcase to the red currant, and it is utterly glorious. Then the myrrh sort of takes over and goes powdery on me. If I hold my nose to my skin, I can sniff what is really the faintest trace of vetiver, but it's not prominent in the throw at all. I wish this stayed at the in-process drydown phase. I would love it forever.

In the imp: Tobacco over leather and black amber. There is something that's giving this a faint menthol eucalyptus vibe as well. On my skin: Wet, it's tobacco over soft resin. After the initial drydown, in which the fuzzy amber dominates, I get mostly black leather. Unfortunately, the black leather note is often harsh and almost chemical on my skin; though the amber softens it, it doesn't eliminate the chemical quality entirely. This... just isn't me, though in fairness, I was never expecting it to be.

I can't believe I've never reviewed this! It was one of the first BPAL imps I selected for myself (as opposed to someone enabling me), in... late 2005 or early 2006. This particular imp, however, is from a Lab order in early 2021. In the imp: A lot of iris, backed by coconut and hazelnut. On my skin: Wet, the iris dominates initially, though the coconut is also starting to bloom. That said, either the coconut stays pretty soft, or the white musk is amping the iris because after this scent settles down, I get a floral backed by fuzzy coconut. Yup, this stays a creamy, fuzzy iris-floral on me, which is not what I remember it being. (I remember a lot more foodie hazelnut coconut in the past.) It's tropical beach-wearing floral, in the best way.

In the imp: Definitely red sandalwood, with a hint of frankincense behind it. On my skin: Wet, it's basically all sandalwood. As it dries, the frankincense floats up, lightening the scent without sweetening it, and creating a little bit of a powdery feel. Given more time to develop, the frankincense really comes to the forefront, with an almost slightly lemony quality. It's not necessarily super citrus or anything, but it is brighter than I usually get from frankincense. I do get a little backing of sandalwood (and you could convince me that patch was playing a role; patchouli tends to be present but understated on me), but after the initial phase, it's the frankincense that's driving the personality of this scent on me. I like this, but I'm not sure I like this enough to wear it regularly, especially when it's far from the only perfume I have with patch or sandalwood or frankincense.

In the imp: Carnation and neroli are the standouts, though they're definitely backed by something deeper, which could be patchouli or even vetiver. On my skin: Wet, it's still a lot of carnation and some neroli, this time with bergamot peeking through. As it dries, the orange-based scents fade back, and it's carnation incense over patchouli. If there's jasmine or vetiver, they are clearly on their best behavior right now. I can't swear that I'm not detecting iris or moss, but again, if they are, they are behaving in support of the carnation, incense, and patchouli on me. I tried The Caterpillar after I tried -- and loved! -- To Lesbia from last year's Lupers. The Caterpillar is busier -- which makes sense, seeing as it contains a lot more notes -- but the general vibe is near the same on me. I was actually greatly disappointed that To Lesbia was sold out by the time they did last calls for Lupers (my fault for waiting that long, I know), so it's very interesting to consider this as a possible GC alternative. Hanging on to this imp to see how this idea plays out over time.

In the imp: Predominantly wine, a deep red, with rose. On my skin: Wet, it's predominantly wine still, almost to the point of being a little like vinegar. As it dries, the wine dials back, and I'm left with rose over wine with a backing of dragon's blood. The resin isn't super apparent, but it is enough to be an unobtrusive grounding note for the rose. Except... ack! Something in this one is actually going headachey on me. Rose is a common culprit for this on me, and I guess one or the other of the notes is egging it on.

Reviewing the day it arrived because I found myself with an extra hour and also I have poor impulse control. Also, it's as sleety and cold today as Arizona ever gets, so if not now, when? This was the bottle that called to me the most from its description -- image and note description -- on the release. When I watched Tom and Galen's video of Lux Brumalis, Galen's exclamation of, "It's nice!" sold me right then and there. In the bottle: Red musk, lemon rind, amber, and whiskey. It's a touch smoky, but not more than I could say is oak-aged whiskey versus hearthsmoke. It has a beautiful cocktail quality to it that's reminiscent of Pumpkin Booze -- which I'm sure is partly the lemon rind and whiskey but isn't only. But where Pumpkin Booze is fun and sweet and flirty, Last Tavern at the Town Gate is more somber than that. There's warmth here, in the musk and lemon and amber, but not festivity. On my skin: Wet, it's much smokier, to the point where I take back everything I just said. But that settles down very fast on me -- no more than a minute or two -- and we're back to lemony red musk plus amber. If you've ever had a wood fire where a stick snaps and falls in, sending up a momentary plume of smoke, but then it's all glowy embers again? -- it's like that. It settles down to be lemony and ambery and not all that strong on the red musk (I say as someone who likes red musk but does not appreciably amp the stuff). Once it settles down, it stays pretty steady. It's bright and warm and just a touch smoky. Though I don't get a whole lot of red musk from the scent right now (which might well change with age), it's very evocative of the image and of the feeling of a wood fire, a shot of whiskey, and a room -- not fancy or festive, but comfortable enough -- warm against the chill outside.

Purchased a bottle recently from Etsy. It's fairly heavy on the almond rum, but also a little bit... smoother?... creamier?... than a straight booze note would be. I am attributing this to the beeswax. Mandarin and orange blossom also accent, creating a little bit of lightness. I'll be honest. I wanted this atmo to spray in my kitchen to get out old food funk smells. (I mean, I clean up the actual food, but aromas from cooking, say, garlic and onions.) So I wanted something reasonably foody. Which this is, but it is also sexy as hell. If actual penises smelled like this, I would certainly have a festival for them.

#5 In the bottle: Something vaguely sweet and herbal. I want to say reminiscent of scents where I thought I'd identified a myrtle note, but I can't say for sure that's what it is. On my skin: Wet, it's much darker and sharper -- not overtly offputting or unpleasant, just a stark contrast to the scent in the bottle. As it dries, however, it becomes... almost indolic. I'd tell you pumpkin spice oud and new leather is a possibility here. I have to say, I am not a fan.