dancingchair

Wet, the labdanum is prominent and very fizzy. I'm not a big fan of effervescent perfumes (for some reason they make me queasy?) so this stage made me a bit nervous. As it dries, the honey, vanilla, tobacco, and cuddly puppy musk come out more. The labdanum is still fizzing away but it isn't stealing the show anymore. The honey and tobacco pair together beautifully, it's a lace tobacco but sticky sweet like honeyed shisha. I really like this! I don't think the labdanum is strong enough to put me off of this, thankfully, and I love how the rest of the notes come together. It's very sweet and comforting.

Wet, it's mostly astringent herbal lavender. Dry, all the other notes come out and they are stunning! The lavender calms down into something cuddly and sweet. The base is a really lovely vanilla blend. It's creamy and sweet, made caramelized by the tobacco note. The smoke is subtle on me and I can't really tell it's there unless I'm looking for it. The cognac adds a little bite but it's not boozy. It all comes together to make a delicately sweet and complex lavender blend. I really love this!

I love lilacs, but usually lilac in perfume is far too sharp for me. This is a pleasant exception! I think the lilac is perfectly balanced by the lime and citron. The white musk rounds everything out. A very nice lilac blend!

Wet, I get bubblegum. As it dries, the bubblegum morphs into frankincense. I mostly get the chamomile note from the florals, but it is very frankincense-heavy.

I also don't really get much lily. It's predominantly lime or some other citrus to me with a spicy floral in the background. This one is hard to pin down!

Predominately citrus on me, but I like the depth that the herbal notes add. I was a bit nervous about this one since I think I amp oakmoss but I can hardly smell it in this blend. It does not stick around for long, so it's a brief but fun blast of citrus and herbs.

Wet, this is mostly sharp red musk. Dry, it's red musk with spices peeking through. I seem to usually get a sort of jasmine smell from the Lab's red musk and this is no exception. It's lovely but not for me.

A juicy apple smell for the most part. I get the heady haze of opium smoke in the background, but not really any of the other poisonous notes. Delicious and ominous!

Mostly soft and fruity violet on me, enhanced a bit by the lilac. Not sure that I get much of the tuberose. A sweet purple floral blend.

This is mostly a bright, citrusy perfume. The grapefruit is quite prominent to me and realistic, it's that cloud of zest that spritzes in the air after you peel away the rind. I do get a hint of florals that round out the perfume and make it a bit soapy. A fresh and clean smell overall.

Wet, I get a dark undercurrent of incense and a lot of bright citrusy lemongrass. Dry, the incense fades more and I still get tons of lemongrass. I also occasionally get whiffs of indolic jasmine. I think this is another perfume I'd like to scent soap or something with instead of wearing myself.

This is very well-blended. I can't tell where the vanilla ends and the sweet pea begins. The sandalwood supports and fluffs out the sweet pea, but it's not identifiable on its own. Amber adds a resinous quality to the vanilla. A gentle, sweet, and floral vanilla.

Very woody sandalwood wreathed in smoky Palo Santo. It's a meditative blend, both grounding and soothing. I like this quite a bit more than I was expecting because sandalwood is very hit or miss for me.

A pretty rose with a hint of something indolic. I also get a bite from something peppery and spicy, but that component isn't very strong. It's nice but not really for me.

Pumpkin, chocolate, coffee bean, vanilla bean, and hazelnut I was kindly gifted a testable sniffle of this. Wet, it's a very cinnamon-forward pumpkin, but there's a good chance that's just my skin. As it dries, the coffee and nuttiness come out a bit more. It ends up being a sweet and creamy hazelnut pumpkin spice latte. I don't get much of the vanilla or chocolate.

A very delicate honeyed lemon ginger tea scent. The ginger adds an edge to the soft tea and sweet lemon without turning things into lemon cleaner. This will be great for spring.

Wet, this is a very tasty apple cinnamon smell. Unfortunately, my skin eats the pleasant apple portion of this perfume and amps the cinnamon. It does smell both like sweet potato pie and apples in the initial wet stage, I just wish it stayed like that.

This is a perfume I want to use but not really wear. It smells soapy and citrusy, a bit like a nice cleaner. It'd be great on clean sheets or to scent a scrubby soap. I should probably revisit this when it's not cold out because I don't really want a scent like this in January.

The dead leaves blend beautifully with the smoky balsam and the amber. I do get a bit of an aquatic note from the dead leaves, but I generally like aquatics so it works very well for me. It's a smoky cologne smell and I like it a lot more than I expected!

Heavy incense notes waft lazily through a mix of carnation, jasmine, bergamot, and neroli over a lush bed of dark mosses, iris blossom, deep patchouli and indolent vetiver. A big, lush floral party. The jasmine was the most prominent and I wasn't really able to pick out any other individual floral notes. After the perfume dries, I do get a bit of incense. This is lovely but it's not for me.

I am also in the cumin party group. I get some aldehydes a faint sweetness, too, but not enough to bring down the cumin party. For whatever reason, there is a soapiness to this perfume, too, but I'm not sure where that's coming from. I think I'd be down for the cumin party if the coconut and other spices were stronger. I will sit on this one and see if it mellows out after a while.

I got this as a frimp from the lab, and I'm not super familiar with most of the notes so I probably wouldn't have picked this up otherwise. I think the myrrh in this almost smells like ambergris to me? It has an aquatic vibe that I like but is borderline soapy. The balsam gives it a bit of a woodsy edge. Something is giving it a sweetness, which is probably the storax? It's not really incense-y to me, but it is nice. It's a clean aquatic/woods perfume. Not what I expected at all but I like it!

Wet, it's a pile of astringent herbs. Lavender is the strongest with rosemary a close second. As it dries, a lemony sweetness appears, the verbena? It transforms into an herbal sweet lemon scent, which is quite nice.

Perfumed bitter dark chocolate. The heavy cream is, in fact, an undertone. It's not super prominent but I can catch hints of it adding sweetness and bringing down the bitterness of the chocolate.

2016 version On me, this is mostly a duel between patchouli/sandalwood and black current. Patchouli and sandalwood have teamed up to be a sharp floral, which isn't my favorite. Close to the skin, they both smell like a beautiful sparkling woody incense but in the waft it's definitely a sharp, pungent floral. The black currant is very strong and sweet, counterbalancing the sharp patchouli/sandalwood combo a bit. The cinnamon is also there in the background, adding a nice spice to the incensy patchouli/sandalwood. I was hoping for caramel and tobacco, but I don't really smell them at all. I have conflicting feelings about this one because I love how it smells on my skin but I don't like catching whiffs of it. I have a love/hate relationship with patchouli I guess.