Penance

Origin: 5mL from the Lab. Preconceived notions: I really like Madame Moriarty. It has a tendency to go through a slightly funky stage on me before settling into something amazing, though, so I'm kind of hoping that this version might avoid that issue. Everything about v3 sounds great from the reviews, so I've got pretty high hopes. First sniff: Lovely. This reminds me of Snake Charmer mixed with Madame Moriarty, which is good because I love both. It's sweet but not in a foody way. I get rich, sweet amber, smoky vanilla and dark plum. Wet on skin: Basically the same as in the bottle, but with some musk now. It's probably red musk, but it's not as strong as the musk in the released version. Dry down: Sweet, resinous amber, smoked vanilla, black plum and dark, mysterious musk (it's hard to say what kind exactly, but I'm thinking it's a mixture). This is lighter than Madame Moriarty and sweeter, too, without the deep patchouli. It also doesn't go through the funky phase that the released version does on my skin. This is like Madame Moriarty's younger sister who's just getting started in the fortune telling business, building up her mysterious image along with her collection of velvet dresses and smoky eyeliners. The bottom line: If you find Mme. Moriarty too heavy or intense, this will probably be right up your alley. Likewise if you're a fan of Snake Charmer. I really like Misfortune Teller v3 and I'm very glad I got a bottle, although if I had to pick either the released version or V3, I'd go with the released version. I tend to wear darker, stronger scents and I love the patchouli in the released version. Both are beautiful, though, and both will be staying in my collection.

Origin: 5mL from Scrappy. Preconceived notions: I had to try one when I saw it being described as vanilla musk. Something about that combination is really appealing to me, plus I love weird bugs. I'm not sure about the other notes being mentioned. Sassafras is generally okay and amber and sandalwood are good, but balsam is hit or miss. And I hate powdery scents. But I have a feeling this was going to work for some reason, so I splurged on a bottle unsniffed. Hopefully it was the right decision. First sniff: Vanilla musk and sassafras with something almost herbal. That could just be the sassafras doing strange things in combination with everything else, though. I don't get any balsam from this at all. Wet on skin: Same as in the bottle. It's not bad, but it's not great, either. Dry down: Now I like this. I can see why people are calling this powdery, because it leaning in that direction, but for me it's more creamy than powdery. I haven't tried The Anti-Saloon League to compare this to, but I can see the resemblance based on the review I've read of ASL. Dried, Phyllocrania Paradoxa v1 is creamy, non-foody vanilla, slightly powdery musk (not a dark musk and definitely not red...I'm leaning more towards either skin or white, probably skin musk), a very slight hint of sassafras and a tiny bit of something herbal (that, again, could just be the sassafras). In some ways, it's a cousin to Celeste, but with sassafras instead of saffron and without the sugariness. The bottom line: This is lovely. It's feminine and soft and gentle and doesn't smell at all like I would think something named after the ghost mantis would smell like (I'm not sure what it would smell like in my mind, but I think it would be something more woodsy and brown, although I can see this being a "ghost" sort of scent). From what I've heard, the other versions of Phyllocrania are very different than this, so maybe I'm not the only one who thinks that way.

Origin: Tester from a lovely forumite. Preconceived notions: I'm curious about Gothabilly (and I'm glad I get to try it) but I don't really expect it to work for me. Cherry is one of those notes that essentially never works for me. I like the smell of cherries, I just don't generally want to wear them as perfume, plus they can smell like almond to me. I hate almond. I'm also not overly fond of black vanilla in spite of liking most other types. About the only "safe" thing here is Egyptian musk. First sniff: Sweet, dark, almost velvety cherry and dark vanilla. It's sweet but not quite syrupy. This really shouldn't appeal to me, but I'm kind of liking it, strangely enough. Wet on skin: Same as in the tester, with maybe a little more vanilla. Dry down: Apparently Gothabilly is one of those rule-breaker BPAL scents, the ones that shouldn't work but do anyway, because I'm really liking this. Once it dries, I end up with black cherry liquer (it doesn't smell boozy exactly, but it has that almost syrupy quality that liquers tend to have, without being cloying), smooth, dark vanilla and a touch of musk. I smell edible in a sexy way. This isn't an innnocent, fun gourmand scent. It's grown-up and a little dark and more sensual than it is foody. This is a strong scent on me. I put on a little dab and went outside to get the mail and could smell it wafting up from my wrist when a breeze hit it. Which is good since it means that my tester will last longer than it would otherwise. The bottom line: A surprise winner. I've never encountered a cherry scent that worked on me before. Combine that with the fact that there's black vanilla here and there's plenty of reasons why I should dislike Gothabilly. But it works. It's not something I'd wear every day, but I feel sexy in this and there's definitely a place in my collection for something like that.

Origin: 5mL bought on LiveJournal. Preconceived notions: I've been thinking about trying Creature Feature for quite a while now. There was a point where I didn't like musk scents at all. Sometime during my BPAL hiatus, that changed drastically and now I love musk scents, as long as they don't go powdery or pungent on me. I've seen comparisons of Creature Feature to Ivanushka (which I love), so I'm I get something similar. I'd also love to get the resins that other people have mentioned. But the idea of there being lime in this scares me a bit. I don't like citrus scents at all and lime heads the list of "do not want" citrus notes. So I'm not sure which way this one's going to go, hence the reason I've been putting off trying it. First sniff: Creamy musk (it does remind me of Ivanushka; Raven Moon, too, for some reason) with...lime. Definitely lime to my nose. It's got an green juiciness to it on top of all that beautiful musk. This isn't a good start. Wet on skin: A bit of lime, but mainly creamy musk. I also get a little bit of what could very well be resins. They're soft and subtle but I love the effect they add to the musk. Now if the lime would just disappear everything would be great. Dry down: The lime's gone! It takes a while, but it does disappear on me and I'm left with gorgeous Ivanushka-esque musk mixed with what definitely seems to be smooth resins of some sort. It's almost velvety smelling, like Ivanushka and Raven Moon, and I'm loving it. The bottom line: If I had more space in my favorites box or didn't already have Ivanushka and Raven Moon in it, Creature Feature would be finding a new home in it. I love this one in spite of the touch-and-go lime stage. The drydown is beautiful.

Origin: 5mL of #47 bought on LJ. Preconceived notions: This was described to me as pear. Nothing else, just pear. But since everyone's nose and skin chemistry is unique, I'm sure there'll be more to it than that once I actually try this. First sniff: Pear for sure. And gummy bears? It has a sweet, candy fruitiness that makes me think of the smell of cherry/pineapple gummy worms. Kind of strange, but that's what I'm getting. Wet on skin: No gummy bears. Just intense, juicy, candy-like pear. This isn't the delicate pear of Juliet or Quincy Morris. It's mega pear. In-your-face pear. Dry down: This is really nice. It reminds me a little bit of The Perilous Parlor, only nowhere near as sweet and vanillic. Instead it's as if someone took some of the vanilla out of The Perilous Parlor, amped up the pear and then added a little bit of some sort of creamy, fluffy musk to it. The bottom line: Love this! The wet stage isn't really for me (too intensely fruity), but the drydown is very pretty. Glad I took a chance on this one. Chaos blends tend to be hit or miss with me and I've never had one that I really loved everything about, so this is a first.

Origin: 5mL bought on LiveJournal. Preconceived notions: I was attracted to Trachelophorus Giraffe from the get-go just because of the name, plus I love strange bugs, so I had to try this no matter what it smelled like. But it sounds good to me. I like green scents. Not sure what type of green to expect, but I'm expecting to like this. First sniff: What a weird scent. Definitely sweet (not in a candy sort of way, more like nectar of some sort) and green (a bit like fresh-cut grass, a bit like the way tree leaves taste (if that makes sense to anyone but me). It almost has a hint of sweet fruitiness like peach juice to it, too, but that could be the mysterious sweet note playing tricks with me. Wet on skin: Whoa, bitter! This goes from sweet and green to pungently bitter with a soapy cleanness to it, which I don't like. I'm thinking that there's a very good chance that this either has dandelion in it or something very similar (which would make more sense since I don't think dandelions would really go with a scent named after a weevil from Madagascar). I'm assuming that because the same thing (sudden, overwhelming bitterness in a green scent) happens when I put on One to Tie, Two to Win. It seems to be a skin chemistry thing and it usually goes away. Dry down: Just like One to Tie, Trachelophorus Giraffe (I love the name, so fun to say) calms down after a little while, so it's definitely a skin chemistry thing. In the end, I get a really unique sweet green scent. It's not as sweet as in the bottle, but it's pretty close. It makes me think of sweetgrass more than nectar at this point. It's a fairly soft scent, too, once it dries. The bottom line: Honestly, I'm not sure what's in this, but it's one of the most unique BPAL scents I've tried. All I know, coming out of testing this is that: (1) It's a sweet, green scent that's not quite like any other BPAL blend I can think of. (2) There's something in here that my skin chemistry reacts to the way it does the dandelion in One to Tie, Two to Win, but the time for the Evil Bitterness of Doom to disappear is much shorter in Trachelophorus, so I can (thankfully) wear it on my skin instead of relegating it to a locket. (3) I love the name and the inspiration for this one (who wouldn't love a freaky looking weevil with a giraffe neck?) and for that reason alone I'm glad I ended up with a bottle. I wasn't sure this was going to work when I smelled it out of the bottle, and I really didn't think it was going to work during the wet stage, but the drydown is actually really nice.

Origin: 5mL from the Lab. Preconceived notions: I originally bought this with only the first review to go by, so I was just expecting a soft leather scent. Now that I've seen cfrancesca's review, I'm expecting something even more awesome, because I love red musk and patchouli. First sniff: Very strong red musk. I have a feeling that CBBOB1 didn't smell so strongly of red musk when it was available at the trunk show (I'm basing that on my experience with red musk getting much stronger as it ages), hence the reason it wasn't mentioned in the first review. I also get a hint of leather here, but it's mainly a red musk blend. It reminds me in some ways of Lust v7 and Tarot: Judgement (both favorites of mine), but CBBOB1 is definitely not a dupe for either, more like a distant relative. Wet on skin: Red musk and soft leather with just a touch of what could be patchouli. It's very slightly earthy and smoky, but mainly CBBOB1 is red musk with a soft backing of leather. And it smells really good. Dry down: This one's a hard one to pin down. On one hand, it reminds me somewhat of Krampus without the rags and switches. On the other hand, it is somewhat like Spanked + red musk. They're very different scents, but somehow this reminds me of both (Krampus in the early drydown and Spanked in the late drydown). There's an awkward stage during the drydown where CBBOB1 goes a bit harsh and chemically (oddly, Krampus has started doing the same thing after the first few times I wore it, which makes me think that it's a skin chemistry thing reacting with a certain kind of red musk) before settling back down. It takes a while for the leather note to finally soften up and settle down but it does, given enough time, although it never quite reaches the softness of the leather note in Spanked. In the end, I wind up with the soft scent of (broken-in) black leather, red musk (somewhat masculine rather than the round, rich version I get from most BPAL red musk blends) and a touch of something smoky. There could be some patchouli hiding in here, because I get a touch of the musty, slightly earthiness that makes me think of black patchouli, but it's definitely not a major player. At least not on me. The bottom line: I wish that the drydown was the same as either the bottle scent or the wet stage. Or that I could avoid the awkward stage in the middle), because I like the actual "final scent" quite a bit. It's just not the amazing, instant favorite scent that it has the potential to be thanks to my skin chemistry. I'll be keeping mine, but I may wear it in one of my scent lockets or only wear it on days where I've got plenty of time to let it work out the kinks in the drydown (and try to avoid smelling myself in the meantime).

Origin: 5mL from the Lab. Preconceived notions: I've never tried the released version of Cake Smash. I was on my BPAL hiatus when it was released and I'm not sure I would have tried it anyway. Somehow the idea of food + other BPAL scents combined doesn't sound particularly awesome to me, plus I don't really like Doc Constantine. I may have tried it, though. Hard to say either way. Anyway, I'm not a huge foody scent fan. There are some that I genuinely love and there are some that I absolutely despise and can't get far enough away from. But cake scents tend to work fairly well for me (MB: Closet is a favorite of mine and so is Eat Me), so I'm hopeful that Cake Smash v6 will follow the same pattern. First sniff: Big blast of cream cheese frosting. Sniffing the bottle is like sticking my nose right into a tub of frosting and taking a bit snoot-full. Very sweet, very sugary and very foody. I like the smell of frosting, but I don't want to smell like it. At least not on its own. Give me some cake to go with it and it should be fine. Wet on skin: Now the cake is coming out. I can see the comparisons to cake mix, but it seems somewhere in between cake mix and actual cake (yellow cake, to be exact) to my nose. I still get frosting, but it's toned down and it seems to be a mix of cream cheese and buttercream. Could just be particularly sweet cream cheese frosting, though, since I'm not sure that two types of frosting notes would be mixed in a scent like this. Dry down: Very slightly spicy cake (like a yellow cake and a spice cake had a baby), with sugary frosting (buttercream now that it's dry). Very foody and very sweet. It's in the same vein as MB: Closet and I'm actually really enjoying it in spite of my hit or miss record with gourmand scents. The bottom line: I'm glad I got a bottle of this. It's not the sort of scent I'd wear every day, but it's going to be fun to wear when I'm in the mood for something fun and foody.

Origin: 5mL from the Lab. Preconceived notions: Full disclosure: I hate lemon scents. And I'm not too fond of blueberry scents, either. Pie crust and hemlock can go either way. This is one of those scents that really shouldn't work for me but that I just had to buy anyway, this time because I love the label art. I hate clowns and so, of course (thanks to my twisted attitude towards things like this), I'm drawn to the idea of the Coulrophobia line and this one in particular, with its creepy, man-eating clown label. First sniff: Lemon pie filling and graham cracker crust. Maybe a touch of whipped cream and meringue. Very foody and I'm kind of enjoying the lemon note, amazingly enough. I wouldn't say I love it, but it's certainly not bad. I think that maybe it's the fact that it's a sweet, sugary lemon that's keeping me from being repelled by it. Wet on skin: As soon as Bones Trombone hits my skin, the lemon goes momentarily crazy and amps up, getting more sour and more fruity as it goes. Then it calms back down, although it's got a tiny bit of a lemon Pledge sort of vibe to it at this point. I don't really smell anything other than lemon at this stage. Dry down: Aaaaaand, we're back. Once Bones Trombone dries, it reverts back to something almost identical to the bottle scent. I get sugary lemon pie filling, pie crust that smells somewhere between a graham cracker crust and a standard pastry crust and a light, fluffy touch of meringue. The hemlock and blueberry never put in an appearance, which is fine by me, because I could take or leave either one. The bottom line: Bones Trombone isn't my favorite scent. It's not even my favorite Monster Bait scent (Closet gets that honor). But it is one that's probably going to stick around in my collection, although I don't know how often I'll end up wearing it.

Silas Ruthyn. It's dark, sweet and intense. Very mysterious smelling.

Origin: 5mL swapped for on LJ. Preconceived notions: Everything about this one sounds wonderful. I'm a big fan of masculine, woodsy, resinous scents and I like leather, vetiver and essentially every other note listed in the previous reviews. I'm going to be very disappointed if this one doesn't work for me, although maybe I should be happy since it wasn't easy to track down a bottle to begin with and I'll need more if I love it. First sniff: Intense, astringent pine, maybe some juniper. It reminds me of Loup Garou, which isn't a good thing for me in spite of my love of woodsy scents. I used to really like Loup Garou, but my nose has decided that it's not a fan of sharp pine anymore. I get the impression that there are more things going on in here, but the pine and juniper are almost completely overwhelming to the point where I can't pick out anything else. Wet on skin: Getting better. Once Ranger hits my skin, I start to get some resins (hard to say what they are, but it has a distinct resinous vibe to it...more church than headshop), a bit of sweetness (could be vanilla, tonka or benzoin) and the lightest touch of leather. I still get distinct pine and juniper, but they're nowhere near as strong as in the bottle and they've stepped back to where I can smell the other notes. Dry down: Yum! The astringent evil has disappeared! Now I've got a complex unisex sort of scent that's really nice. I'm getting woods (think forest, not lumber), resins, slightly creamy sweetness (it's vanillic smelling, but I'm not convinced it's actually vanilla...I'm thinking it's more likely that it's benzoin) and an extremely light touch of leather. Maybe some musk (the kind that sticks close to the skin, although it doesn't seem to actually be skin musk). It's not as intensely masculine as you might expect, although it's on the masculine end of the gender neutral spectrum. Very smooth and well-blended. The bottom line: I really like the drydown on this. Luckily, the pine/juniper stage doesn't last long, because it would probably keep me from wearing Ranger very often if it lingered. I think this is definitely a candidate for inclusion in my favorites box. ETA: Skin chemistry is evidently going to play a big part in how this one smells. I say that because, even on me, it smells different when I apply it in different spots. The back of my hands result in a lot of benzoin and less woods, my forearms give me a super strong peppery note (which could be actual pepper, but I think it's more likely to be some type of wood since I got the same note from Vespers atmo spray) and pine and my wrists give me something in between the two (no pepper, but fairly strong woods and light benzoin). Skin chemistry is a funny thing!

I've now got 2 of the stronger red musk and the 1 medium musk plus the no musk, too. My medium musk one dries down to something much closer to the no musk version than the "super musk" version. There's red musk there for sure, but it's relatively light, especially compared to the other bottles. I don't get any cola, but that could be a skin chemistry thing. I'm guessing the "super musk" is the intended formula, but I'm just guessing that based on the fact that I have two of them and only one of the lighter musk (and so do you!). Very unscientific, but I'm sticking to it unless evidence points to the contrary or I hear otherwise from someone in the know. ETA: A bit late on this, but I've now got two of the lighter musk (just received another lighter musk a week or so ago), so I'm still not sure which one of the two red musk intensities was the intended formulation. I love all three, so it's all good, but it's confusing, to say the least.

Hellcat is pretty close to my nose.

Definitely Bliss if you like milk chocolate. It's very rich, sweet and chocolatey. Simple, too, so you can wear it alone or layer it with another scent for some variation. The Box of Chocolates and Sugared She-Goat limited editions are great, too. I'm not a huge chocolate fan, but my personal favorites are Dark Chocolate, Whiskey and Cognac Truffle and White Chocolate, Black Raspberry and Apricot Cordial Truffle. Calaveras is good, too if you like something a little more complex. It has a really nice dried chili note to it that makes it stand out from most other chocolate scents.

Origin: Partial 5mL from a generous forumite. Preconceived notions: I've been thinking about trying this one for quite a while. I love all things piratical and most of the notes are ones that appeal to me (red musk, red sandalwood, tobacco, ebony and ambergris in particular), but there are some things here that have me worried. Balsam and leather can go either way on me and I don't think I've ever tried a scent with coconut palm, lignum vitae or pandanus grass before, although all of them sound like they could work for me. Dates aren't something I enjoy the smell of, but I doubt they'll be an issue combined with the other notes. Lime is the most worrying note here for me. I don't like citrus blends and lime in particular is a nemesis of mine. So we'll see how this goes. First sniff: Cologney and aquatic smelling, which is appropriate for a pirate scent, but strange since the notes don't list aquatics. It smells fairly fresh and somehow clean without being soapy in the slightest. Not loving it at this point, but it's not bad. Wet on skin: Basically the same as is in the bottle, but with the added addition of slight touches of red sandalwood (which always smells more than a bit like cedar to my nose) and red musk. Dry down: This one's a morpher, apparently. Just when I was resigning myself to Pirate Moon smelling like (nice) aquatic cologne, everything changes on the dry down. Once this dries, it actually reminds me a bit of my beloved Tarot: Judgement, which is both awesome and appropriate since Pirate Moon hitched a ride in a package with a bottle of Judgement. It also reminds me a bit of another favorite of mine, Anne Bonny (which shares red sandalwood as a note). At this point, I get an intense musky, resinous, woody, dry, warm scent. It seems to be a mix of red musk, red sandalwood, tobacco, leather, wood (I don't smell the balsam here; it's more of a dry, dark wood scent) and the very lightest touch of sweetness from the date and possibly the lignum vitae. No lime to be had, thankfully. The bottom line: I really like this once it has a chance to dry down. Just like Anne Bonny, it's a very "me" pirate-inspired scent. I don't particularly like aquatics, so things like Jolly Roger aren't my style, but a nice dry, woody/musky blend like this is always welcome in my collection. Definitely a winner, although I never would have guessed that I was going to love it based on the scent in the bottle.

This is the dead of winter, the year's dark hibernation, the crystalline silence of the depths of the world's darkness. It bears echoes of the time before time, of primordial gloom. This Moon harbors memories of man's life before fire. Preconceived notions: I'm fairly inept at identifying a lot of notes unless I have a description to guide me, so I don't know how helpful I'll be at reviewing Wolf Moon, but I'll do my best. First sniff: This smells aquatic to me, but like ice and snow rather than a pond. For some reason, it reminds me of the Yule blends...maybe like Skadi's much younger cousin, although the two aren't really all that similar. There's something soft and green in the background of this, too, just barely noticeable over the aquatic notes. I'm not sure what it is, but it's beautiful. Wet on skin: Wolf Moon is another quick-change artist, apparently. As soon as I put it on, the aquatic notes all but disappear and I get a soft woodsy scent instead. This smells like the woods right after the spring thaw, when everything's coming back into bloom and the ground is soft and loamy with melted snow. This is absolutely gorgeous and right up my alley! Dry down: Oh, I love this! I smell pine mainly...this smells like a pine forest in early spring to me and it's gorgeous. It's not overpoweringly masculine, either, the way some woodsy scents are. It's a soft pine forest scent and very subdued and tranquil smelling. Unfortunately, it seems to fade very quickly on me, but I don't mind reapplying. The bottom line: I'm really glad I got two of this because I'm in love! My impulsive buying is paying off, apparently.

Definitely Dancing Koi. I also really like Manilus Hurled From the Rock, although it smells very chemically in the bottle. Dark Chocolate, Fig and Tamarind is good, too, although I'm nowhere near as big a fan of it as I am of Dark Chocolate, Whiskey and Cognac Truffle and White Chocolate, Black Raspberry and Apricot Cordial Truffle. The Arbor wasn't bad, either, but it was slightly more floral than I would ideally like. It was close to being a real winner for me, but it fell just a little short.

Origin: 5mL bought on LJ. Preconceived notions: I'm not sure if I was on my BPAL hiatus when this came out or if I was just an idiot and didn't buy it. I can't imagine that I would have passed it up, though, so I must not have been around (especially since I don't have bottles of any of the other scents from the line, either). So anyway...when I finally read the notes in Quincy Morris, I had to have it. I love tobacco, cedar, musk and the Lab's pear note (although I don't particularly love pear-scented things in general) and I like everything else. I've got high hopes for this one, although it's one of those scents I almost hope that I hate because it was so hard to track down even this one bottle and Quincy is expensive. First sniff: Soft, smooth leather, a touch of vanilla and pear. The combination is unusual to say the least. I never would have thought to put those three things together (the vanilla and pear, sure...maybe even the vanilla and leather), but they work. For me, it's a gender neutral scent. Most of it's leaning towards the masculine side, but the vanilla and pear soften it up. I like this! Wet on skin: Leather, vanilla, tobacco and pear with a bit of musk. I'm not smelling cedar here (although I would have welcomed it because it's one of my favorite notes), but it could be mixing with the leather. Dry down: Gorgeous. Seriously, this is amazing. As Quincy dries, the leather settles into the background and I get smooth tobacco, soft vanilla and juicy pear with an overlay of musk (not quite skin musk and definitely not one of the super manly, intense musks either...somewhat like Ivanushka, but not quite). It's a softer scent than you might think from the notes. Not light exactly, but worn-in smelling and comfortable. The combination really works. It's unusual, but there's nothing that seems out of place here, either. The bottom line: I love Quincy Morris. There's nothing here that I would change. Everything melds together as the oil dries and the end result is more than the sum of its parts. It's musky and leathery, but it also has a soft sweetness from the vanilla and pear. Definitely the sort of scent I would wear every day. I wish I had a few more bottles since I'm a slatherer and this is an instant favorite.

Origin: 5mL from Dark Alice. Preconceived notions: This is one of those scents that flew under my radar and then suddenly jumped out at me as "OMG, why haven't you tried this?!". I missed its release during my hiatus, otherwise I probably would have ordered it when it came out instead of waiting so long to discover it. Pretty much everything here sounds awesome. I love resins, I love patchouli, I'm turning into a big musk fan and I really like the chili in Calaveras, so it should work here, too. Nutmeg should be fine, too, although I haven't had much experience with it in perfume, other than in foody blends. I'm expecting something dark and smooth and slightly sinister. First sniff: Lots of musk (dark and deep), a slightly bitter resinous scent from the myrrh and just a touch of patchouli. I'm not really getting the other notes, but the vanilla and benzoin are probably adding a slight sweetness to the musk. Wet on skin: Still predominately musk (it makes me think of fur rather than feathers), with a background of patchouli and soft, smoky resins. There's a hint of sweetness here from the vanilla and benzoin. Not getting any chili yet. So far I'm really liking this. Dry down: So good! Raven Moon is one of those scents that keeps developing long after the oil has dried. At first, it's very similar to the wet stage and then, a couple hours later, it turns into something utterly beautiful. Soft, dark, almost creamy musk, smoky vanilla, smooth resins, a light touch of patchouli and the barest hint of spiciness from the chili. The bottom line: My second favorite Lunacy blend, after Panther Moon. Gorgeous and dark, but somehow soft and smooth. Beautiful.

Origin: 5mL from Alicia_Stardust Preconceived notions: I'm completely fascinated by the idea of this one. I love masculine and gender neutral scents. And I'm very attracted to dirty, dark scents. I'm not the kind of girl who does feminine, delicate scents (or at least not 98% of the time), so something like Rivet.Goth is screaming my name. I'm especially intrigued by the idea of rust and oil in a perfume. I can't say that I've ever tried a scent with either of those notes before, but they sound potentially awesome. But the thing is...leather is hit or miss with me. Sometimes it turns my stomach, sometimes it doesn't. It really seems to depend on the type of leather scent (worn-in, soft leather scents are generally okay, but "new" leather often makes me queasy). I have been doing well with the Lab's leather scents lately, though, so I'm hopeful that Rivet.Goth won't break the pattern. First sniff: Honestly, this smells exactly like you would think from the notes. In the bottle, Rivet.Goth is leather (soft and black), a touch of tobacco and oil. This is the kind of scent that's either going to intrigue you or repulse you, without much in between, I think. I'm in the intrigued camp, personally. Wet on skin: If you took a hot mechanic, who's been working on cars all day long except for a couple of quick cigarettes, took away the BO, and put him in a leather jacket, you'd have Rivet.Goth. The Lab does atmospheric scents very well, and this is no exception. If a scent can paint a picture, this one's painting it in hyperrealistic style. Even if you don't want to smell like Rivet.Goth (or even enjoy the scent in the bottle), you have to appreciate the uncanny realism of the scent. Dry down: Sexy. And I mean sexy in a down and dirty way. This smells like a hot, grimy, sweaty guy (minus the BO) in the best possible way. Rivet.Goth settles down quite a bit as it dries and the end result is a fairly soft scent that sort of melds with my skin rather than wafting around me. I like it that way, though. I get soft black leather (not old and cracked, but broken in...it reminds me a bit of what I remember Dead Man's Hand smelling like, but where DMH smelled brown, Rivet.Goth smells black), musk and oil with just the tiniest touch of tobacco. The bottom line: I really like this. I've never come across another scent quite like it, which I'm sure is because of the oil. It adds a griminess to the scent (in a good way) and makes it more than "just another leather scent." I love atmospheric scents and this one's another winner to add to my collection, although I find it more everyday wear-appropriate than several of the others I own.

Origin: Frimps from the Lab. Preconceived notions: I've had my eye on this one since I returned from my BPAL hiatus. It sounded good, but vetiver tends to take over scents for me and I've already got plenty of vetiver scents in my collection, so I put aside the frimps (I've gotten 4 of them from the Lab!) aside to test later. In theory most everything in here should work for me. Pine and cumin are the only potentially iffy notes. Pine because I hate it when it's the astrigent, juniper-like pine that's in Loup Garou but really like it when it's the woodsier, deeper kind that's in things like Hexennacht, and cumin because I don't have much experience with it, so I'm not sure how well it's going to play out for me in new scents. First sniff: This smells like what I think of as "old school BPAL." It has that woodsy, dark, sinister smell to it that I always associate with the scents that were already in the catalog when I found the Lab back in 2004. Hard to explain, but that's my instant reaction. I like this. It's woodsy, a little smoky and a little musky. I don't really smell vetiver here, exactly, just a subtle smokiness that could come from it or the clove smoke or cumin. Wet on skin: Yum. Troll is apparently one of those scents that smells better on me than in the bottle. Not that it smelled bad in the imp, but it didn't smell as good as this does. On me, the pine pitch is pretty strong, but it's got a deep, dark, slightly resinous smell to it that's worlds away from the astringent pine in Loup Garou and the like. I also get musk (not animalistic musk and definitely not red musk, just...musk, fairly heavy and not at all powdery) and a little touch of spice from the clove smoke. Dry down: I seriously can't stop sniffing myself. This smells amazing on the drydown. The pine pitch is still dominating (I may have to find more scents with pine pitch now that I know I love it), but the musk is putting in a strong appearance and the clove smoke (which gives both a touch of spice and a soft smokiness) and blac basil are here, too. I still don't get vetiver specifically, but I think it's combining with everything else to give a dark, menacing background to the notes that are coming through loud and clear. The bottom line: This smells so good on me. Dark and beautiful. I thought I would like it when I first sniffed it (but probably wouldn't wear it often), but it really works with my skin chemistry and blooms into something amazing on me. I can see from reading reviews that Troll's not a popular scent, but that doesn't surprise me. I tend to like scents that aren't crowd pleasers (although I do enjoy a fair number of the mainstream favorites), but I think that there also might be some skin chemistry variables at work here, because Troll smells noticeably different on me than it does in the bottle.

Origin: Tester from Scrappy. Preconceived notions: I've had an imp of Antique Lace (frimp from the Lab) for ages. I rarely wear it, but I do think it's pretty. So comparisons between XCDL13 and Antique Lace got my attention. I like vanilla quite a bit if it's not cloying. The berry that people are mentioning has me a little concerned, though. Berries are very hit or miss on me. I adore black raspberry and I like blackberry (in moderation and not all the time), but things like strawberry and blueberry are death notes for me. I love to eat them but don't want to smell like them. I wasn't really anticipating getting to try this one since it's one of the harder to find protos, but Scrappy was kind enough to send me a generous tester when I bought a bottle from her on LJ, so I'm glad I get to see for myself what all the fuss is about. First sniff: I can definitely see where the comparisons to vanilla extract are coming from. Seriously, this smells like sticking your nose in a bottle of the stuff. It's got a strong, intense alcoholic smell to it (more like the alcohol you would find in vanilla extract than a drinking alcohol like bourbon or vodka), but it's also distinctly vanilla. I wasn't anticipating it being so sharp. Wet on skin: Somewhere between vanilla extract and vanilla flavored booze (the type is unidentifiable; it could just as easily be vodka or scotch or any other kind, except probably gin because I don't smell juniper...it just smells like alcohol). It's still fairly sharp and almost eye-wateringly alcoholic (strange since there's no actual alcohol in BPAL scents and I never get this reaction from the bourbon, whiskey and rum scents in my collection), but less so than in the imp. I like it alright at this stage. If it smelled more like drinking alcohol (like, say, whiskey and vanilla), I would be thrilled, but it reminds me quite a bit of pure vanilla extract. Dry down: Oh, now I see why people love this. The strange alcohol note disappears as XCDL13 dries and I'm left with something really lovely. Soft, lovely vanilla (similar to Antique Lace, I agree, but without the very faint florals and linen in AL) and a touch of what smells like amber to my nose. It's sort of creamy and soft and lovely but also kind of warm and golden. I don't get any berries at all from this (which is fine by me) and the booziness disappeared somewhere along the way. Strangely enough, I find XCDL13 to be fairly soft, unlike other people who are reporting it being an intense "little dab will do you" kind of scent. It doesn't have much throw on me and it's not a strong scent, but it definitely lingers for a long time. A swipe on my wrists has lasted about 12 hours at this point and it's stayed at about the same strength the whole time that it's been dry (it's stronger when its wet). The bottom line: Soft, lovely, gentle and feminine. I tend to gravitate toward gender neutral or masculine scents (and typically the stronger, more assertive ones at that...which is strange because I'm quiet and fairly shy) but I do enjoy a feminine scent if it manages to fit with my personality. Too many feminine scents just don't jive with my own brand of not-so-feminine femaleness. XCDL13 succeeds where so many feminine scents have failed and has earned a place in the elite and tiny club of Super Awesome, Made-of-Win Ninja Girly Scents in my collection. It's delicate and girly, but it somehow doesn't clash with...well...me. Well played, XCDL13. Well played.

Origin: 5mL bought on LJ. Preconceived notions: I'm not entirely sure what to expect from this one. It's such a strange combination of notes. Based on the reviews, though, I'm expecting something dark and mysterious. Maybe a little "occult" smelling. I'm hoping for something that makes me think of a voodoo shop, with herbs and powders, but still wearable and not overly herbal. The only things here that are truly worrying me are the bay rum (which is fine as long as it's not Baron Samedi's bay rum, which smells strongly of almonds and makes me sick as a dog just smelling it), life everlasting (florals aren't my favorites, although I don't know if it smells more floral or more green/plant-like) and brimstone (I like the smell of campfires and smoky things, but they can easily take over a blend). I love the idea of this scent and I'll probably keep it even if it doesn't work for me, but I'm really hoping that I can enjoy it on more than a conceptual level. Fingers crossed! First sniff: Strong. Very strong. Straight out of the bottle, this isn't looking too promising. It has a very strong herbal cola smell to it (I get a somewhat cola note from a couple other blends, namely Schwarzer Mond and Fenris Wolf v2, but they don't have the herbal edge to them that this does). It's intense and kind of medicinal smelling. Definitely evocative, but not really very appealing. Wet on skin: Pretty close to the scent in the bottle, but with some vanilla now. It makes me think of a old, scarred wooden table, covered in oils and herbs and tinctures. With a bottle of vanilla cola sitting on it. Strange, but that's what it smells like. It's quirky and I don't hate it, but I don't love it, either. Dry down: So much better. Like every other blend with the mysterious cola note, it disappears as the oil dries. Once Hellhound is dry, I get a scent that's very unique. Definitely not quite like anything else I own. The vanilla really makes itself known, but it's not a foody vanilla. It's soft and smooth, but not particularly sweet (not like candy, more like vanilla beans). I also get tobacco, a little bit of bay rum (thankfully not the kind that's in Baron Samedi...or at without the almond note in Baron Samedi) and something just a little bit smoky. The bottom line: I actually really like Hellhound once it has a chance to dry. Luckily, the dry stage comes pretty quickly, so I'm not forced to deal with the weird wet stage for very long before the payout comes.

You're welcome!

Check out this thread! It's got a spreadsheet you can download as well as other ideas.