LavenderCoffee

Agree that the olive blossom is prominent, but my skin must be grabbing on to the oak bark, or perhaps it has grown stronger with age.

The rain-spattered quality of this scent fades as it dries, and it takes on a subtle cologne-like effect. Unisex, evocative of NOLA, gorgeous.

Cacao sludge in the bottle, don't forget to shake/rattle and/or roll!

Freshly applied, this is a lovely dry cacao with a hint of cinnamon. Dry, it is mainly frankincense/olibanum for me.

Bright, clean grapefruit up front that settles into a delicate citrus/white musk skin scent. Has just a trace of sweetness when dry.

I am just testing this for the second time today, but I am OBSESSED. "Ask not for whom the skull doots…" it doots for me!

Licorice root is in the driver's seat for sure, with a lot of throw coming at you right out of the gate. 

I don't get root beer or licorice candy from this really, even though there is some nose-tickling sweetness on the drydown. This definitely has a darker, earthy quality to me. The nutmeg seems to be closely intertwined with the licorice root, and the vanilla and coconut milk form a soft backdrop.

An hour later, this is a comfortingly smooth, dark vanilla spiced with licorice root and nutmeg. The licorice root calmed down quite a bit from where it started, but I love that big burst of scent in the beginning. I never get anything distinctly coconutty from this, and while I couldn't pick out the honey before, now it adds a hint of beeswax-adjacent richness to the vanilla. I hesitate to call this blend sweet - it's not without sweetness, but it's sweet in the earthy vanilla way that Tombstone is sweet.

In fact, my experience of this scent is very similar to Tombstone, where the cedar starts out really loud and then mellows beautifully into the vanilla. That one has an overall brighter tone, and this one is darker. (Yes, I am trying to justify getting a bottle of this, even though I already have Tombstone, and the Beeswax, Cedarwood, and Bourbon Vanilla ménage 😅)

I don't understand how this is so distinctly cherry! Hellfire on its own never goes to cherry tobacco for me. Perhaps the sugared vanilla from Snake Oil is bringing it out. This is why I was excited to try the Blapimpsottles tho, for the unexpected!

My experience of Snekhellden leads with cherry leather, then I get something sharp (white tea fighting it out with tobacco?) standing on the shoulders of ambergris peeking over a bed of incense-y spicy musk and faint trampled roses. The Hellfire elements are definitely most prominent for me, and it certainly has some throw. It's weirdly good.

Agree that in the bottle there doesn't seem to be much there - maybe ancient dust?

Applied to my skin, I start to get some vaguely sweet powder. This is basically my entire experience of Ü. No leather, nothing recognizably vanillic. I think cannabis would be an improvement!

Even a couple hours later, it's just powder. 

I've only had it for a month now, so it's possible it could improve with age. When I first tried it on it was screamingly loud sweet powder, and at least now it's more subtle. I might not be able to wear it on my skin. 

In the bottle, this smells like a spicy orange cocktail I might enjoy, and I can pick up the sweetness of the mandarin.

On my skin, the boozy mandarin qualities disappear, and once it's dry, it smells like what I imagine dragon breath would smell like, if the dragon mainly ate oranges: Sour spicy orange.

It's not bad, but I bet this is better for folks who can wear rum notes!

When opening the bottle, the leaves jump right out at you. I'm not big on a prominent dead leaves note, but this seems like a slightly greener version of it, or the other green things are keeping it in check.

Once applied, the green-ness begins to settle down, and bay and ambergris join the party. I like this party! I'm not getting any cinnamon specifically but there is a nice bit of kick.

Dry, I have to agree this is a great fall leaves/bay/ambergris blend 

In the bottle and freshly applied, the honey is most prominent, and there's almost a melon scent, like honeydew.

As it dries down, I find the honey difficult to detect, and it's all wildflowers on a breezy spring day. After an hour or so there is a glowing amber honey effect.

Light, lovely, low throw.

I have been trying to smell my way through scents I don't wear very often, and I thought, "I have so many lavender blends, and I'm not sure I even like iris or wisteria. Do I still need this one?"

Immediately after opening the bottle, I knew the answer was yes, and I'm overdue for reviewing it. This blend is almost painfully gorgeous, and has gotten even better since 2020.

In the bottle and freshly applied, there is a sharp, cold, almost minty scent - not sure what is creating that effect besides an abundance of herbal lavender, although I think wisteria can have a bit of a spice to it, and that might be contributing to the sharpness.

As it dries down/warms up, the dry wood contributes a pale earthiness that reminds me of palo santo, and the lavender led florals take on a creamy effect. I don't get much smoke, but the wisteria might be obscuring it - if I wasn't looking at the scent notes, I would swear there is white clove in this.

When dry, the wisteria clove effect has calmed down, and there is a subtly sweet, ethereal floral haze over the wood, which now has an added depth. I almost wanna say there's an oak component to the "dry woods" that is working with the floral to bring an expensive perfume effect to the blend, like a muted, melancholy version of the Empress and the Chariot (which I admit, I am currently obsessed with). 

In the bottle the bergamot and lemon peel crowd their way to the top, but on the wand and applied to my skin, the neroli jumps right out.

As it warms and begins to dry on my skin, the golden amber and spicy neroli notes really shine, with lemon bergamot sparkling around the edges. I do get a trace of the labdanum in the form of some soft resiny sweetness, and there is an herbal quality that could be the clary sage, but neither of these notes are very strong. 

Dry, the neroli remains most prominent, and the lemon peel has become softer. The throw on this is more polite than I expected, but I usually apply neroli blends in small doses. 

The phrase "the glow and fade of countless days" is so perfect for this blend. 

In the bottle this is a gorgeous rose perfume with orange blossom hanging out in the foreground and prune hanging out in the background.

Wet on my skin, the orange blossom continues to hold its own with the rose, and the red sandalwood contributes a touch of woody spice to counter the sweetness of labdanum and vanilla. 

Dry, I get a darker red rose/prune type of note below the orange blossom/sandalwood combo, and the overall effect is a heady, bright floral perfume.

There is clear overlap with The Elephant is Slow to Mate in the rose, labdanum, and vanilla, and although that description said red velvet, it smells more like purple to me. This one smells more red, or at least it is an orange-red to the Elephant's blue-red. I like the darker end of the color wheel personally, but highly recommend this scent if you are a rose and orange blossom fan. 

I get a subtle smoke in the bottle from Grey Columns, but it is difficult to tell what kind. It isn't very acrid at all. A pale smoke for a pale scent. 

Wet on my skin, the smoke is gone, but the blend of pale ambers opens up, and I also get a slightly creamy vanilla effect from this stage.

Dry, it becomes a soft, sweet amber scent with no throw to speak of. 

Could be good for layering, bedtime, or anytime you want something unobtrusively sweet and close to the skin. Very pretty.

In the bottle I definitely get the desert wind, which lasts for a short time while wet on my skin. May need to locket this one and see if I can wear that  aspect of the scent, it's a lovely spiced amber.

As it warms and begins to dry, the myrrh and honey become very heady. When I first got this bottle it was too much and I couldn't hang through the drydown - I learned from Mead Moon 2020 that sometimes honey needs to rest awhile in order to work for me, and I'm starting to get that payoff now with Bast. Not getting much cacao from this, but it makes sense as an anchor alongside myrrh, and there is just a suggestion of vanilla.

Dry, it is a delightfully complex perfumed honey scent, and remains very close to the skin.

In the bottle this is almost alarmingly cedar, but I don't get anything nearly that sharp even while the oil is wet on my skin.

In fact, I'm not getting any individual note dominating as this dries, it is just cozy fuzzy goodness. 

My experience of Small Brown Cat is quite different than my experience of Tombstone, although I enjoy both. The musk seems to obscure the cedar for me, because I get way more of that note in Tombstone. This blend reminds more of Rabbit Moon 2021, based on the fur and cardamom notes, but while the rabbit is a wild critter, this scent is domesticated and ready to curl up in your lap. 

Unmistakably peppery and pink. A perky sort of pick-me-up scent that doesn't permeate very far outside your personal space, but potent enough to persist through a good part of the day. 

In the bottle, and wet on my skin, I can smell bright, warm saffron. 

As the oil dries down, the saffron disappears, and the tonka gets a bit weird. I know I've worn blends containing tonka and saffron successfully before, so I'm not sure actually which one is going awry in this case. I do get a vaguely woodsy effect others are describing, but it's almost like there are mushrooms growing on it too, because it is some funky wood. I had been resting this blend hoping it wasn't my skin chemistry, but it's definitely me. I'm making it weird. 

Hopefully I can rehome this to someone who can wear it better!

Wow, this has a ton of throw as soon as you open it! It is evocative of an old neighborhood coffeeshop, as mentioned above.

The scent remains quite potent after applying. The sticky, dark, pumpkin-sweet tobacco, almost like pumpkin shisha, leads the charge, with cinnamon coffee in the background. I'm not getting any fresh pumpkin guts specifically, but pumpkin soaked wrappers definitely makes sense. As it dries the cinnamon pops into the foreground a bit more, while the tobacco starts to calm slightly, but the coffee is blending in with the tobacco now, and I love it. I have also been struggling to find my coffee scent from bpal, since the note frequently goes perfumey/floral to my nose. Here the sticky tobacco seems to be keeping things in check, or drowning things out, but somehow I still get some roasty coffee peeking through.

This is gonna last forever, since I'll only need to wear a drop at a time!

This one threw me off when I first tested, and I was already wary of how the honey and vetiver were going to behave, so here's round two:

Wet in the bottle I am getting something strangely reminiscent of granny smith apples and peanut butter. After applying it to my skin that sharp granny smith green mellows into a grassy vetiver, and the sweetness is more obviously honey, but not a cloying sticky one. I'm not getting a ton of smoke, but the smoke + opoponax adds a dusky dark warmth to the scent that does seem to suggest a well-loved leather jacket. 

This is a surprise win for me - a delicious, sensual blend that will go into regular rotation.

Doing a little side by side of Peacock Queen (2021) and Sugar Cookie Peacock Queen:

I am not getting much of a sugar cookie vibe from this, and the dominant smell is that velvety gorgeous red rose scent, but it's much warmer and sweeter than the original - in the sense that it has any warmth and sweetness at all! Peacock Queen 2021 is just bottomless red rose you get lost in, while Sugar Cookie Peacock Queen invites you into the kitchen, where there may have been cookies baking yesterday.

It's very pretty, and has a bit of throw and longevity as well (the original seems to fold in on itself). 

2021 decant:

Not sure if I'm imagining it, but it seems like there's a hint of dewy green at the very beginning while this is still wet that gives the impression of a freshly cut thorny stem.

After that, it's like living in the center of a perfect, dark red rose. It's stunning, but also a little unsettling in its relentless rose perfection. Not much throw on me, either - almost like a black hole of red rose. 

All these notes sound amazing to me but alas, all I get is jasmine. She steps up to the mic and goes full diva. I do get some honey and red musk soprano harmony, with a tiny hint of spicy carnation, but was really hoping for more tobacco, sandalwood and leather to cover the middle range and low end. Agree with the honeysuckle comparison, but this makes my eyes water a bit. 

BTW this shanty is a total ear-worm.

Strawberry smoothie is spot on as this blend opens up on my skin after application. In short order I can start to pick out more of the tart currant and mango, and it's a very loud fruity red party. Drying down, the tartness recedes, and the sweetness of the musk takes the fruity notes into candy territory for me - definitely more fruit than musk, however.

It's a nice fruity candy scent. 

While wet, this blend is deliciously dark and spice-forward. As it begins to dry on my skin, the sweet musk starts to come out alongside the spice, making things less dark.

It takes at least a minute or so for the floral note to join in, which reads as jasmine-esque to me. By this time the spices are quieting down, but are still quite present.

I'm not getting much of the pumpkin pulp, so my overall impression is a sweet spicy floral red musk.

As a point of comparison, the jasmine in A-Rovin' is much brighter. Here, it blends in better and has a more indolic tone. Actually as I sit here and huff at it, it might be an oud with a different white floral - gardenia? There is something darker at the bottom range of this scent that keeps getting away from me. 

2021 decant

I love cheap chocolate holiday candy so much, and I can't have it anymore because I'm lactose intolerant, so this is such a welcome scent! 

There is definitely some nuttiness happening on my skin after this has dried completely, and I remember all the little foil wrapped milk chocolates used to have that same sort of undertone as well. I can see where some folks would get cocoa puffs, since it's so dry, but the effect of this scent on my palate is that I just wolfed a bunch of chocolate coins. Spot on!