Gin

In the vial, I'm not sure I would have detected the rose if I didn't know it was there. Othello has floral notes, but they don't seem overly rosy. As it dries down, it gets a little powdery, but the underlying spiciness prevents it from being too sweet and light. Eventually the rose peeks out for a minute and the spiciness intensifies. Now I see how a man could wear this. Oh, this is really nice! Spicy and warm. Definitely a keeper. I'm going to put it on Mr. Gin when he gets home.

Scorpio

Sharp and green. Really green. I smell something piney and something like violets. It makes me think of a thick forest. Towering trees (cedars?), green ferns, green moss. The light, when you can see it filtering through the trees, is very white. This dries down into a less sharp, violetty scent. It has a kind of greenhouse scent, though I'm not sure how to really describe that. Enigmatic, it is. Perfect for a Scorpio.

Wet, this smelled a like overripe berries and musk. As it dries, I begin to smell the carnation and bubblegum ... and more carnation. Mmmm... carnation. I think I can smell the amber in the background, but the spicy carnations definitely have center stage. This is so nice! I can't believe it's discontinued.

Vanilla Bean

This is a very pure, high-quality vanilla. Like the good vanilla ice cream with the little black vanilla flecks in it, not the run-of-the-mill standard yellowy vanilla. It goes on very sweet, smelling almost like angel food cake and dries down into the loveliest single-note vanilla ever.

D'Anjou Pear

Does what it says on the tin. This is a gorgeous ripe, juicy pear. I might be imagining it, but I almost smell a little cinnamon, too. This is absolutely perfect.

I don't know what real egg nog smells like, but how could I resist a sweet nutmeggy brandy and rum scent?

I feel like I could get drunk off the scent in the bottle. Sadly, on my skin, I get the same sort of vanilla candle scent others have mentioned. How cruel! To add insult to injury--or perhaps the other way around, it feels like it's burning a little bit.

In a desperate attempt to make Egg Nog work for me, I put more on. "Topping up" helped lessen the candle-scent, but it's still there.

I'm so sad. My skin tends to make the buttery-vanilla scents I want to love, into waxy-plasticky vanilla. I'll have to try to find an off-skin way to wear this.

It took me nearly a year to fully appreciate Vixen. I got an imp in my first order, before I knew what to expect from The Lab, and I was disappointed at first. I was thinking it would be a sweeter, brighter blend, and it's not at all. It's deep and smoky. At first, it's almost too sharp--the orange blossom maybe?--but then it goes right into a dark, smoky scent. This is so sexy, but not quite in the same way as say, O, is. It's more playful, more flirty. Where a date with O would surely lead to sex, a date with Vixen wouldn't be a "sure thing". Vixen would leave you guessing, and love every minute of it.

I was unable to purchase this when it was released, but luckily I was able to obtain some from grrrlennyl.

I expected Cold Moon to be similar to Frost Moon. And it is... sort of. I can definitely smell similarities between the Cold, Frost, and Blue Moons. (Must be the "traditional lunar oils"?)

Cold Moon has a cool tone to it, but the initial scent is a sweet ... something. It's almost citrussy, then berry. Then it starts to go cold. Is there mint in this? I don't really smell mint, but I feel something that's like mint--a coldness, in any case. Finally, the florals. I don't know what florals exactly, but they're so pretty. Cold Moon is delightful.

I'm not sure I smell the dragon's blood resin here at all. This goes on very sharply floral--maybe that's the lily of the valley? It's almost unpleasantly sharp on me. However, when it dries, this is a lovely floral. The lilac comes to the forefront, without being too loud or obvious. Not at all what I expected! I think I may have to get a larger bottle because this is wonderful.

Initially, Bordello is super-fruity with a bubblegummy-vanilla underneath. After a few moments on my skin, it's an intense, boozy blackcurrant scent. I put this on before picking my son up from school, and as I walked to the car, I could smell fruity wine wafting about. Out of the wind, I'm able to smell the amaretto under the plum and currant, which is what I think was giving me the impression of vanilla earlier. This is very nice. I like it more than I expected.

Szepasszony makes me think light, green, floral. Like a spring flower--white and the palest pink held up by a spring green stem. Upon rereading the Lab description, I can definitely smell the aquatic notes. It smells like a cool, cleansing spring rain. Finally, Szepasszony dries down into a clear, green, soapy scent. I think his would be lovely in a candle or bath.

Oh, O! What is it about O? It's rich and heavy and sweet but powdery all at the same time. This is a perfect "sexy" scent. It makes me feel incredibly confident. I think I'll be getting a 10ml bottle of this in my next order.

Mmmmm... Kali. At first, I smell a fruity-floral high above the dark chocolate, but then the chocolate seems to disappear, leaving a wonderful sweet floral-honey. This is a very "full" scent--multidimensional and comforting (I think the "comforting" part may be the chocolate lingering but indescernible to my nose). Kali makes me feel happy. Seratonin anyone?

I don't know what to say, really, since Sea of Glass is so aptly named. It makes me think of a beautiful crystal-clear blue-green sea. It's very rare that an aquatic scent bowls me over, but Sea of Glass did just that. It reminds me a bit of The Body Shop's Oceanus line, but is so much better. It makes me feel tranquil. I think this is one of Beth's finest creations.

I tried some Rapture last night. I knew I had tried it before but couldn't remember if I liked it or not. I put it on and one of my first thoughts was, "oh no, this has jasmine in it...?" That means that in my last trial, I probably washed it off before letting it fully develop. This time, I left it on and was pleasantly surprised. Looking at the ingredients, this should be awful on me--jasmine, myrrh, and neroli are all notes that I generally avoid, and rose and bergamot aren't always good, either. However, it started to dry down into something lovely. I can only describe it as "incensy jasmine" like how one's fingers might smell after touching a stick of jasmine incense. I'm not sure if I like Rapture strictly because of how it smells or because I'm just so happy to find a jasmine scent that is fabulous on me, so I'm not sure I'll buy a larger bottle, but I'll definitely use up the imp.

Cherry Blossom is a nice, clean scent. I think I initially dismissed it as "just" a floral scent. It *is* floral, and subtle, but it's really beautiful. It's delicate and feminine and vaguely soapy. I'm glad I tried it again.

I'm so surprised that more people haven't mentioned mint. At first, Neo-Tokyo is all mint to my nose. But maybe that's just my wonky nose and it's not mint at all?

After the mint-that-might-not-be mint, Neo-Tokyo stays very sharp, but changes into the metallic-ozone scent others have mentioned, over a green and floral backdrop. It's somehow shocking and beautiful, sharp and soft, all at the same time. Eventually, this softens a bit into a a softer, clean, soapy scent. I like this quite a bit, more than I expected to. In fact, I like it more and more every minute. It's seems so clean, it makes me think of spring and the first pale green leaves unfolding on the trees. This would make a perfect linen spray or a fantastic candle scent.

I'm almost embarrassed to admit how reluctant I was to buy this. I had it in my head that this would be light and sugary and pastel, like Aquolina's Pink Sugar. How sweet would it be? How fruity? It actually sounded a little commercial and one-dimensional. (Beth's later description of it being like warm brown sugar helped put my mind at ease, and any reluctance I had disappeared completely when SS finally arrived.)

My first application of Sugar Skull yielded a pure maple syrup scent--though I was wearing it to the LSCV Fire Department pancake breakfast, so mabe I just had syrup on my mind. Subsequent applications revealed the deeper side of Sugar Skull--a carmelized almost to the point of burnt side. (Mr Gin once told me I smelled like coffee candy.) Never any of the candied fruits, but I'm OK with that. The syrupy, carmelizing-sugar scent is divine. I'm *SO* glad I bought this. (And for any fans of Pink Sugar, Sugar Skull works quite well with it.)

I get nothing but pine from Mistletoe. There's not much more to say about it, since it seemed to be very one-dimensional. It's bright and green and festive. I think it would work well as a room scent, but I don't think it would be a scent I would wear on my skin.

Frost Moon is amazing. The top note is mint, but it's a soft, sweet mint. Underneath the mint and eucalyptus, I can smell sweet aquatic-floral notes. As the mintiness dissipates, the sweet florally-whatever comes out to play. I don't usually care too much for aquatic scents or eucalyptus, but there's something in Frost Moon that draws me to it. Is it the lotus? In any case, I'm so glad I got a bottle of this.

This is not the generic buttery-cookie smell I expected. Sugar Cookie is not very sugary at all on me. It's more like what I expected from Gingerbread Poppet--spicy but with a soft edge. What a pleasant surprise!

I had such high hopes for this. All I got from Snow White was an almondy-Lush Snowcake type scent with a hint of rosy-floral and a plasticky final stage. I just can't seem to get along with almond scents.

Edited:

I tried it again and I'm glad I did. I finally smell the florals, like the first pale green leaves poking out through the snow in the spring. They're still pretty well hidden under the creamy marizipan scent, but they add another dimension to Snow White that I hadn't seen (smelled) before.

This makes me think of candles. Red pillar candles brought out for the winter holidays. I really can't pick out any specific notes in this. There's a sweet, a spicy, and a sort-of piney. It's something one might smell in a little boutique while shopping in December. So festive! I'm not sure this is a good perfume for me, but it's definitely a fabulous room scent.

Holy cow, this is spicy! I usually like spicy scents, but I feel like this particular spiciness should be tempered by a sweet note. Sadly, the sweetness that others mention never appears on my skin.

ETA: My nose must have been completely off before. I've tried Gingerbread Poppet again and I couldn't love it more! It's delicious! It's still spicy, but I definitely get a sort of sweetness about it as well. I take it all back!

Nine Mysteries - No Lab description

Minty, minty, minty. As it develops, I get what I can only identify as a tea scent underneath--like peppermint herbal tea. I like this a lot. It's very soothing. I hope this becomes available soon, it seems perfect for stress relief.