LavenderCoffee

The first word that comes to mind smelling this oil is reverence, then sensual.

The scent notes that are most apparent are incense, rose, red musk, and bit of pepper.

Her Eyes That Were Full of Shining has a predominantly incense-y quality that brings to mind a temple or an altar, where the rose and red musk pay tribute to beauty, confidence, and pleasure. I made a note when I was testing this that the phrase "your body is a temple" is often used to shame people with prescriptive "advice," but if you are able to take it out of that context, that feels like the right intention here: Your body is worthy of pleasure and reverence. 

The first word that comes to mind smelling this oil is joyful.

The scent notes that are most apparent to me are strawberry and passionflower.

While A Distant Song contains fruit compounds as well, Laughter-Loving smells the fruitiest. Is there a more joyful fruit scent than a strawberry? Nothing easier than laughter, like sharing a bowl of fresh berries and wearing a tropical flower in your hair. I cannot help but smile while wearing this.

First word that comes to mind for this blend is floral, then regal.

Scentwise, here is the floral star of the set: I get cascades of fresh flowers over amber.

All of the Venus' Aerial Delight oils feature rose, but this one really features the rose! My nose feels more naïve to florals than to other scents, but with a court of crocus, narcissus, hyacinth, lily and violet, the rose still stands out most to me. It brings to mind the kind of flowing garment that makes you want to put your shoulders back and stride confidently.

"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." I used to be obsessed with Moulin Rouge, so this phrase popped into my head right away when reading the description. This oil is my very favorite right now, and I did not know how much I needed to be reminded of this lesson. 

The first word that comes to my mind when smelling this is richness, then warmth. 

The scent notes that I recognize are resins, roses, dark fruits, and honey. The benzoin is so deep and vanillic is seems almost chewy and chocolatey, but of course this is likely due to the cherry, fig and honey alongside it. I have to admit I can't pick out cherry and fig specifically, but these are not fresh fruits: it's as though they have also been reduced to a dark fruit resin themselves, and even the honey is a darker note. The rose wrapped up in the warm embrace of these notes adds yet another layer of depth without its usual floral quality.

Embrace is probably the best overall description of A Distant Song. A warm, rich, resinous embrace.

I'm not sure what to make of Luperci 2021.

When first applied, it is alarmingly sweet and creamy (objection! opposite of down and dirty!) in a very loud way that is all treble with very little bass. This must be balsam boosted all the way up to 11 by beeswax and honey or just my weird hormones, because as I wiped a bunch of it off it dries down I can finally pick out patch, beeswax and other notes, but with powdery sweet balsam lingering on top to spite me. 

My skin did not like the balsam in Ü either, which was also unbearably sweet on my skin, so ymmv!

Had written a review in my head about this scent being the plum thunderstorm to Asleep in the Deep's plum ocean, but reading the notes again, there is no plum! Glad to see I wasn't the only one with that impression at least.

The lychee certainly strikes right at the beginning like a bolt of lightning, but seems to disappear just as quickly into the dark. Maybe it's working in cahoots with another note to smell like plum. Either way, bruise-purple is absolutely happening, in a murky inky slightly fruity way. I can't quite tell what all is going on in there between the labdanum oakmoss base and the volatile ozone on top, but it's a lovely storm.

It's like an incoherent jumble forming a very coherent whole, and I like it. 

I don't know Eve from Adam (🥁) but I got a decant of Eve with Sage and I love it.

My experience seems to be similar to others - it leads with sage and settles into sagey honeyed incense. There's more depth to it than those three notes imply, however I'm not able to pick out anything else specifically, which is good - sometimes my skin does ugly things with saffron. This scent stays close to the skin for me, but I can't stop sniffing myself.

In keeping with the theme of most of the reviews, I had overlooked Cleric and not expected much from it. I have had issues amping frankincense before, so that was my excuse.

Anyway I just got a frimp from the lab, so I looked up the notes again, and was intrigued by champaca and narcissus, and here we are. Thanks to gothteacup for pointing out that palisander is rosewood, that's another winner for me. 

Frank and myrrh together form the comforting center of the scent, and there is a lovely haze of champaca around it, with a boost of warmth from amber and rosewood. Rose makes a brief appearance, then takes its place in the ensemble rather nicely. The florals seem to be rather subtle in general for me, it's quite a lovely blend!

These honeys can go all day! Seriously, the weartime does not disappoint.

I was surprised at how much I love Womb Furie, given that SO doesn't do much for me, and honey can be fickle on my skin. Of course I do have a bottle from 2016, so it's possible the aged version is treating me better than a fresh bottle would. Maybe I will snag a 2022 for comparison.

This is not an everyday scent for me, but sometimes I want a sexy honey bomb, and WF has me covered.

I must have got the bottle intended for Lucchesa, because I am getting the lovely tart rosehip note. The leather reminds me of the soft brown book cover note from the Skull/Music book/Snuffed Candle Vanitas, but it has a much better pairing here with the rosehips, in my opinion. Never got anything distinctly mushroom-y from it, but there is a pleasantly earthy touch to the scent.

I love how wearable this blend is. It has an effortless elegance, and it also has a ton of staying power on fabric.

Freshly applied, the saccharine sweetness is no joke! Within the first five minutes the sweetness calms down to something more tolerable, and you can pick out the lavender water and her sinister sister opium. The best part of this scent is the drydown, where the two notes meld and it becomes a gorgeous perfume that lingers all day.

Agree with rivetted that it is greater than the sum of its parts, and an unexpected pleasure. 

This scent has a few distinct phases on my skin:

Freshly applied, the beautiful bright red cherry note dominates. As it dries down, cherry disappears and the pink peppercorn and carnation take their turn, although the carnation is more prominent for me. Hours later, the honey comes to the foreground, with a hint of the pink pepper/carnation combo backing it up.

I like the end phase the best, but I wish there was more interplay between the notes throughout. Just got this scent last week though, so there is potential for it to change with age. 

Six months on: the cherry is still knocking the door down, and it's a vivid cherry candy/cherry cough drop type of scent, but that only lasts about five minutes. Then the carnation opens up, and then a subtle cherry honey. I thought to retest this because I love the carnation in the Black Goat/Pink Flower painting from the May-June release, and it's nice, but still not quite my cup of tea. 

This is beautifully sharp and provocative when initially applied. A very multifaceted scent for the first 30 minutes. Then as it dries down the vanilla and rose cream step forward, to comfort you as you wake up from a bad dream. It's a subtle rose, and the pink pepper and other florals float around the periphery. I never get the clove from this, and I wish I could hang out in the first phase of the scent longer. 

I love how dramatic Event Horizon is when first applied, it really is a lot to process. Black orchid leads the charge with opium riding shotgun. Then after it dries down, the labdanum and benzoin draw a soft sweet black velvet curtain over everything. 

I was pleasantly surprised by this one, and would not have picked it out for myself - it smells like four and twenty Peacock Queens, baked in a pie.

Which is to say, the blackcurrant is barely there to my nose, and the rose is the deep dark infinite red rose of the Peacock Queen, and there is a delicious sugary pastry crust! I would eat this, if it was a real pie, and not a perfume.

This is what I wanted from the Sugar Cookie Peacock Queen from Yule 2021, but the sugar cookie note did not agree with me. 

Took a gamble on this one because saffron is not my friend. Luckily I didn't get any problems from it here, but this is another one that is a bit too subtle for me after it dries.

I end up with white clove over amber over subtle woody patch, which is nice if I stick my nose in it, but I wish it was bigger. 

Tested a 2019 decant.

I really wanted to love this because SO and most SO blends do not work for me, and cacao is my jam. I almost thought I had one here, but it disappears on my skin.

No boom in my Boomslang. 

ETA: ohhhhh I see I see. I got my hands on a 2008 bottle, it went on like hershey's syrup and smells like a dream. Cocoa Snake Oil.

New edit! It's 2024 and I got a new label bottle secondhand and it's dreamy. Not sure if it's pre or post 2022 SO, but I like it better than 2008 🍫. I think now that I am no longer expecting this to be especially foodie or even gourmand, I am happier with it. It's sweet, and there's a cocoa note, but it's not really choccy. I am getting a lot more of the teakwood in this now and I enjoy that too.

Anyway I have been on a boomslang journey, and I like where I ended up!

Just got this as a bonus in a lab order. The label is a lovely swirl of maple leaves on a breeze over a patch of grass.

In the bottle it is punishingly sharp and bitter, and I was prepared to dislike it because the Dead Leaves ™️scent note usually disagrees with my skin, but I wanted to give it a quick test anyway, just to be sure ...and it is actually kinda nice. It begins mostly grassy, and as it dries, it actually smells like leaves in the yard in Autumn. Agree that this could be a lovely layering option, there's a pleasing balance and softness to it that I haven't gotten from more recent dead leaves blends. A leaf I can live with! 

Testing a decant.

I've been on a bit of an oudventure lately, and was excited to get a chance to test drive this one. Freshly applied, it was a bit woody and scratchy, but it settles into bold, peppery oud. I love how dark and rich this is, and would definitely consider a bottle. Wear this if you need to do a revenge. 

Just snagged this off the old Etsy shop in Jan 2022. I don't love all red musk blends, but I love this red musk blend, and I love all the notes. The oudh, patch and fossilized amber are awesome in this. It's somehow slinky and skanky at the same time, and smoother than I expected. Could do with a bit more cacao. Makes me want to put on a lip.

I love how White Rabbit smells when freshly applied, but my skin seems to eat it up rather quickly. After 30 minutes I'm left with a very faint impression of an orchid adjacent floral and a trace of sweetness. Maybe I will try it as a locket scent.

2021 version

In the bottle and on initial application, this is a very sharp herbal lavender scent. But then, as puellacaerulea mentions, someone turns the volume down on the lavender and up on the amber. I think I was hoping for a bit more ambergris from this blend, but it is very soft and comforting. Once it dries completely, I do get a vanillic quality, with just a hint of lavender remaining. Seems to last a reasonable amount of time, but stays close to the skin for me. 

I had a somewhat similar experience as groovyrooby with this one. I don't usually care for apple notes in perfume, and I was not expecting to like this as much as I do!

Right off the bat, I get a deliciously realistic caramel apple scent that is really lovely. There's definitely funnel cake/powdered sugar hanging out with red musk, and just a hint of narcissus in the murky patch background, bc my skin will always find narcissus, lol.

It shouldn't be this good, but of course it is!

I am confused by Drow Yoga Instructor. It is barely there when applied, and then fades out even more as it dries. Very faint incense, trace of lavender, then poof! Gonezo.

Well, not entirely gone. There is a hint of something flat and funky, which is what my skin does with saffron, so you all may be on to something with that - or maybe I am finding that based on the suggestion!

Either way, this is not a good match for my skin chemistry, but happy to test it out.

I totally slept on this one when it was initially released (🥁) but have since enjoyed a different blend with opium, so I wanted to check this out. I don't understand which notes are contributing to the aquatic effect here beyond the sea salt, but I was not prepared for this lovely plum ocean!

It is a murky, sweet, saltwater plum when first applied, and after a few hours of wear, it becomes a muted plum on the sweet seabed of opium, labdanum and benzoin, with a trace of salt on my skin. Very pleasantly surprised by this.