torischroeder9

Tester decant received as a frimp in a swap. So excited! In the decant: Yes, just like the description. Gingerbread and leather and extra clove and tobacco. It's very spice-forward in the vial, but the leather and tobacco aren't exactly missing, just a little quieter. On my skin: Wet, it's gingerbread and tobacco. I miss the extra clove. As it dries, however, the other notes start to come out. The tobacco note has the most throw on me, followed by the gingerbread. The clove and leather are detectable closer to the skin. And then -- wow! -- it shifts so it's clove-heavy gingerbread over leather. There's a touch of tobacco, but at this point, it's really just a touch (and I say this as someone who usually amps tobacco). The vibe is very much sexy gingerbread. Sexy and a little bit dangerous. Gingerbread that gives you naughty thoughts in the middle of wearing. When I read the initial description, I'd originally written this one off as tobacco-containing scents tend to become all about the tobacco on me. But this is very much about the spices and leather. I may be heading over to the Lab site right now to add a bottle to my cart. (Is today payday? If today is payday, I'm definitely doing that.)

In the decant: White chocolate and buttery cookie first, with lavender coming in after. On my skin: Wet, it's so very much buttery -- and just a touch almondy? -- cookie. As it dries, the white chocolate and lavender both come out, adding depth and complexity to the scent. It stays pretty true after that, slightly sharp lavender and sweet white chocolate over a buttery cookie base. As someone who is not the biggest fan of lavender or cookies as perfume notes, this is surprisingly nice. The combination of notes is really well balanced, so it's not overly sharp or sweet or cake-y in any one direction. Definitely, if the notes call to you, this is going to be a winner -- and even if you'd discounted it before, trying it out might pleasantly surprise you!

In the decant: tobacco, lavender, and ambergris. On my skin: Wet, it's predominantly tobacco flower and lavender. As it dries, there is a phase where the ambergris becomes more prominent, but it doesn't last long and fades back again within several minutes. Eventually, however, it creeps back out to be a skin-close note in the scent, whose throw is still dominated by tobacco flower and lavender. I never do get detectable oud, which is somewhat unusual for me, but I also tend to amp tobacco in all its forms, so it could well be that I'm missing the oud for that. If the notes of this call to you, I think this is likely to be a winner in its delivery.

Received a partial decant of this in a swap. I'm pretty stoked to review it because I loved the idea for this scent but shied away from getting a bottle or decant of it myself. In the decant: First, it's sugary red cherry, then an undercurrent of cherry wood. The longer I sniff, the more I can detect a myriad of stuff swirling in the background. When I recapped the decant after sniffing -- before I actually applied the oil to my skin -- I caught a whiff of rose petals and what might be powdery myrrh. On my skin: Wet, it's cherries and berries, backed by cherry wood. As it dries, it becomes a lot more about rose petals over cherry wood. Then the resins come out, and it's rose petals and powdery frankincense over a cherrywood base that's gone greatly into the background. In this stage, at least, the resins are very powdery on me, to the point where I almost sneezed -- twice! -- when sniffing my arm. If I had to guess, I'd say it's the frankincense and maybe myrrh making the powder and the amber amping it up on me (amber plays that way with my skin chemistry). Fortunately, the phase of overwhelming powder dies down quick, and I'm left with rose over soft resins over cherrywood. I can't swear to you that there's zero trace of cherries or berries, but if I didn't know the scent description, they are not notes that I'd call to mind from sniffing the settled scent. Once settled, it reminds me of... a Marchen I tried once, with rosewood as a note. (BRB, going to look it up....) Ah, lies. I'm thinking of The Little Wooden Doll, which is rose-infused amber and sandalwood. It's not quite the same, but the general flavor of rose gracing the resins and woods still holds. The Cherry-Tree Carol is quite different than how I imagined it would be on me, but still lovely. And, really, I shouldn't be too surprised, as my skin chemistry has amped the notes it tends to amp and has eaten the notes it tends to eat. It may well turn out to be decidedly different on someone else. (I think there's still enough in this partial for someone else to test, so I most certainly will be passing it on for someone else to enjoy.)

In the bottle: Loamy dirt with flowers. Not roses or carnations, but sunflowers or daisies, the ones that are sweet with just a faint earthy, bitter note. On my skin: Wet, the flowers are instantly headier -- I'd peg them as more the jasmine and magnolia type -- but then the gentle earth note comes back, balancing them out. It settles down as it dries. Though the far throw retains some jasmine, the floral note is more varied now, with the loam and earth detectable as well. These are flowers growing in moist soil, where the dirt scent is part of the overall experience. This is very interesting. It captures a feeling of an outdoor place. It's also nicely balanced, with the grounding of the dirt keeping the florals from going too heady, and the sweetness of the florals keeping the whole thing from smelling like... well, dirt. I'm not sure if this bottle has found its forever home, but I'm definitely appreciative of the chance to have tried it!

I think this must be the 2016 version since the bottle doesn't have a year but does say "trading post." In the bottle: Chocolate and sweetness that must be the beeswax but that feels almost like a fruit with chocolate pairing (but that could be my brain making matches). A second later, a wisp of smoke. On my skin: Immediately, it's hearth smoke, but very gentle, like if you were across the room from a fireplace, not like if it was going right up your nostrils. As it dries, I get a distinct but gentle leather note. Given time to develop, the soft leather becomes the backbone of this scent, with flecks of candle wax and hearth smoke and just enough chocolate to keep things a bit sweet.

In the decant: Pumpkin spice and musky Smut. Different from, but reminiscent of, my Pumpkin Spice Snake Oil. On my skin: Wet, it's immediately buttery pumpkin, with just a hint of something darker underneath. As it dries, it becomes pumpkin spice again, laid over musky, sexy Smut. If pumpkin spice was an aphrodisiac, this is what it would smell like. It stays pretty true to its sexy, smutty, pumpkin spice form after that. It still gives off a similar vibe to my Pumpkin Spice Snake Oil, but I may need a bottle of this anyway.

In the decant: Thick, sweet honey candy. On my skin: Wet, the honey taffy note is still on top, but musky Smut is now detectable underneath. And then... everything but the honey disappears? This is not how either honey or Smut tend to act on me, so I'm wondering what will happen to it with aging.

In the decant: Apples, but apples with a little bit of bite -- jazz, maybe, rather than Granny Smith or golden delicious. On my skin: Wet, it's much the same as in the decant, though some of the tartness fades from the apple scent. As it dries down, I also get a touch of amber and light woods, though at this point, I can't be sure whether it's oud or cedar. Given time to develop, what I had initially thought was just a hint of oud stank dials way back, and I'm left with something softly dry and warm, maybe saffron or cedar still. Later on, the amber and saffron become the stars of the show. There's enough apple and honey to give the scent a bit of sweetness and enough oud to give it deeper grounding, but they all become supporting players. It's quite pretty -- a little outside my wheelhouse, so I don't know that I need more than a decant, but exceedingly well conceived and executed.

In the decant: I don't get the same sense of aggression as the previous reviewer, but it is mostly cinnamon. I'm also not getting detectable dead leaves at this point. On my skin: Wet, it's initially sweet cinnamon -- not quite cinnamon candy, but a cinnamon roll with icing sounds about right -- and the dead leaves start to swirl up. As it dries, it settles down to be mostly cinnamon again. I have a feeling I'm getting cinnamon, plus the peppery bite of the dead leaves note, plus whatever sweetness is coming from the "buns" aspect of cinnamon buns -- and the dead leaves and "buns" aspects are cancelling each other out, more or less, leaving... mostly cinnamon. This is where it stays on me. If I sniff very closely, I can pick out the dead leaves under the cinnamon and some sweetness on top of it, but the general vibe is straightforward cinnamon. I love cinnamon, and if I didn't already have some cinnamon-forward blends in my regular rotation, I would consider a bottle of this.

In the decant: Pumpkin, tomato, sage, and a creamy coolness that might be the cucumber, cream, or both. On my skin: Wet, it's a little spicier than in the decant -- maybe a bit of the bell pepper -- but it's overall much the same. And it's smoother and... nicer?... than I anticipated Pumpkin Gazpacho being. The drydown softens the blend into buttery pumpkin with gentle peppers and spices. If I, an aficionado of moderately spicy food, was eating this, I'd call it bland -- but as a perfume oil, it has just the right amount of earthiness and tang. It's still quite skin close, so I don't know if a bottle is a good investment for me. But since my main complaint with pumpkin scents like Jack (which I like) is lack of spice, this fulfills a perfume need I didn't know I had. Sleeper hit of the 2020 Weenies?

Huh. I didn't expect to be the first to review this. But here we go! In the decant: The extra sweetness of honeysuckle in front of a myriad of other notes. It almost smells like an extra sweet lime-type sugared drink; it's bright and syrupy but not cloying. On my skin: Wet, it's much the same as in the decant. As it dries, there's something soft and... less sweet than the honeysuckle or rose, but not the vetiver or the oud... that I presume is the twilit musk. It is very evocative of softly purple skies and twilight shadows. After that, the oud emerges, though it's couched in so much sweetness, there's no stank, just grounding and the distinct note of oud. I've seen "sweet oud" listed as a note elsewhere, and though it isn't listed as such here, it would be a fitting description. I actually like this end stage, where roses entwine over sweet oud, very much. It's soft and strong and maybe one of the few ways I can really wear rose. I'm not sure if it's going to be a bottle for me, but it ends up lovely.

In the decant: 100% green bell pepper dead leaves. Even sniffing longer for other notes, I can't find them. On my skin: Wet, it's dead leaves fading into rising smoked balsam. It's not quite like a wood smoker going on a fall day, but that's the best analogy I can come up with right now. The drydown is also taking a while to sort itself out, with the dead leaves note dominating the throw and smoked balsam making up the skin scent. I'm not getting amber yet, but amber is sometimes slow to develop on me. Eventually -- like, making dinner and eating it later -- it does settle down to be predominantly amber, with the gentle smoke from the balsam and a hint of bite from dead leaves. It's soft and beautiful here, but it takes a long while to get through the loudness of the first stages. I think I might let this one settle and see if it ages smoother.

2020 version. In the decant: Immediate harsh green bell pepper dead leaves note. Behind that, rose. On my skin: Wet, I still get a little of the dead leaves, but it's the gentle herbal chamomile that climbs to the top of the scent. As it dries, the roses come out a lot on me (as is typical), so they're the dominant note in the scent. However, I still do get some sharpness from the leaves as well as herbal chamomile and earthy chrysanthemums and marigolds. Sadly, it stays predominantly rose on me from here on out. I say "sadly" because, while it is still certainly beautiful, I have tried lots of blends where rose takes over, and I was sort of looking for the chrysanthemums and marigolds here.

In the decant: White musk, lemongrass, and neroli. On my skin: Wet, it's bitter neroli at the forefront. As it dries, it remains neroli-dominant on me. I have to wonder if the neroli is riding on the white musk, as I usually amp the musk more and neroli less. As it settles, something happens that makes the one-note dominance fade, and Ghosts of the Year develops an almost "fuzzy" musky quality. I think part of it is the white pepper adding some grit to the scent, but I can't swear what other notes might be at work here as I can't pick out other individual notes in the blend at this moment. And then there's a phase where it's simultaneously "fuzzy" and gentle, round, sweet citrus. This stage is very skin-close on me, which is a shame, but it is quite beautiful.

Received as a frimp from a decant circle. In the decant: Rose otto and carnation are detectable amid a background of other sweet floral notes I can't quite place. On my skin: Wet, carnation is actually dominant -- which I love -- though there is still a myriad of other notes swirling in the background. As it dries, the rose otto takes over. There's a moment where it's primarily rose otto and jasmine -- almost like The Pointsettia Gown without the cream. Then it does settle down so there's rose otto amid a background of carnation, jasmine, and just a tiny bite of lavender. No sign of the vanilla flower, white musk, or amber as yet. Given almost an hour, the white musk starts to emerge, but I can only detect it very close to the skin, which is not like the way white musk usually behaves on me. The scent's throw is all rose otto and jasmine. About thirty minutes after that, I start to get some of the airy quality amber has on me. It sort of de-concentrates the floral a bit, but this scent is still very floral-forward.

Huh. Can't believe I haven't reviewed this one yet, either. But here I go, from the lovely frimp from @VetchVesper's Weenie decant circle. In the imp: Lavender soap. In fairness, we have enough lavender soap in the house that lavender sometimes conflates with soap in my mind. On my skin: Wet, however, I maintain the "lavender soap" vibe. As it dries, the lavender fades, but I still retain a fuzzy, soapy vibe, which might be part moss and definitely has some savoriness that might be the thyme. As it develops, some of the louder notes on my skin chemistry calm down, and I can start to make out the bergamot. However, that's mostly at the skin level; a lot of the scent's throw is fairly herbal on me. Hrm. I don't love this one, but to be fair, that's probably a reason I didn't seek it out before.

In the imp: Cherry almond. On my skin: Wet, it's maraschino cherries. Then, fifteen minutes later, it's just about gone. The cherry has developed a sweet creaminess, but at this point on me, it's very faint. I'm surprised since I usually amp cherry, but that's all I get.

In the imp: Concentrated pumpkin pie. Like, if there was a sweet pumpkin pie flavor shot, this is what it would be like. On my skin: Wet, the first shot is still concentrated pumpkin pie, but after a second, I can make out the musk in the background. As it dries, the musk comes out a lot, cutting the sweetness, but keeping the gourmand aspect. So it's huffy, less sweet pumpkin pie spice. This is where it stays for me, pumpkin pie riding on a wave of musk. It's far less sweet and cloying than I was worried it would be, lightly foodie but very wearable for folks (like me) who are not totally on board the gourmand train. On me, the musk also gives this a nice amount of throw.

In the imp: Praline pecans and oud. On my skin: Wet, it's oud softened by sugar and a bit of spice. Pecans don't come across at all. As it dries, I get a touch of the "oud stank" I'm sure we all know and love, but that mellows a lot once the drydown is complete. That said, I still get oud as the main note, with sweetness and gentle spice in the background. I cannot pick out pecan at all. As someone who usually amps all nut notes to hell and gone, I feel this is significant. Once everything is settled, it's soft oud and just a touch of toasty pecans, very elegant and wearable.

In the bottle: When I first got this, I said it was equal parts cannabis and dead leaves. Now, after it rested for... a day?... dead leaves is the dominant note in the bottle. Sometimes the dead leaves note has the tendency to go funky in my nose (even taking skin chemistry out of the equation), but it's really authentic here. On my skin: Wet, so much weed is happening. There's also a little bit of green bell pepper going on as well as some... dish soap?... as the notes try to sort themselves out on my skin. As it dries, the craziness settles, though the dead leaves becomes the dominant note on my skin. It's backed by the grounding of the sandalwood and just a touch of sweet cannabis smoke. Once developed, it's a lot of dead leaves and very little cannabis. The sandalwood grounds the dead leaves beautifully, there's just a touch of smoke, and a tinier touch of sweetness that is not really identifiable to me as cannabis but rather a gentle softening of the dead leaves' bite. This is quite a nice scent, but I was hoping for a weedier showcase.

In the imp: At first, sweetness that I might read as honey, but after just a second, I get the beeswax note. I don't get smoke, the fear of which might have been the only thing that made me hesitant about this blend. On my skin: Wet, the beeswax comes out right away. Again, it's not smokey here but rather tinged with honey sweetness. As it dries, the sweetness fades into the background and a gauzy, non-sweet note emerges. I wouldn't label this note on its own as smoke, but the overall beeswax candles gently burning, more like what I might imagine would happen in an open, ventilated area rather than candles burning in a cave. It's understated, but it's quite lovely. For me, it's in the same vibe but less sweet than V'al Hassinim but less... strident?... than Endless Corridors (where the vetiver and I are just not getting along yet). I may need a bottle of this. Edit: After several hours of wear, it does develop a faintly powdery scent that I associate with certain types of amber notes after a long while. It's pretty and pleasant, but it is a bit generic. I am going to let my imp age as I ponder a bottle.

In the imp: Rose and another floral note. I know from the description that it's narcissus, but my nose can't identify it in the scent. On my skin: Wet, the rose jumps up to the front, but narcissus -- clearly identifiable -- rushes to join it. As it dries, it gives off the same "warring notes" vibe I get from Marie, only in this case, it's rose and narcissus that compete back and forth without ever blending. Unlike Marie, however, the rose does end up dominating, giving me a scent that's fairly reminiscent of Othello in its rose dominance with echoes of other floral behind it. Edit: As is typical for rose scents on me, the wear length is quite long.

This is just off the mail truck today for me, but I couldn't resist putting it on. This is really rough, and I'll do a more in-depth review later, but: In the bottle, I get clove at the forefront, though it's soft rather than super overpowering. It's not a sweet scent there, but I'd describe it as less dry than the clove scent I get from Luke 10:25-37. As it dries, it goes through a stage on me where the grassy note is very prominent, fresh, and green, though the spices are still detectable. Once it develops more on me, the grass fades a bit, and the spices -- all of them -- come forward on the airiness of amber. I love amber and spice, and so find this very wearable -- but I think even folks who are a bit warier of spices than I am will find this a pleasant and well-balanced blend.

In the bottle: Herbal, peppery, minty Snake Oil. I didn't have this reaction upon reading the initial description, but upon first sniff, this has become one of those Snake Oil blends where I Must. Know. On my skin: Wet, it's herbal astringent plus Snake Oil, and the same on the initial drydown. It's much more on the minty end of things, which is a little bit of a shame as that initial peppery note intrigued me. And that minty vibe... just doesn't settle down on me. Still, I think I'm going to hang onto it a bit and test it again.