VioletChaos

Love Me would be my top pick. I didn't wear it on my wedding day but I wore it almost every day of my honeymoon. It's a gorgeous floral, a little spicy, without being cloying.

In The Bottle: I get the sweetness of the labdanum straight away, with the liquidambar coming in after. Which is a GREAT start. Wet On Skin: So sweetly, deeply, resinous. The ambar is reminding me of some magical amber I've had for my entire adult life. It's sexy and warm and quite strong. The labdanum is adding that hallucinatory aspect as it is wont to do, and I *LIKE* it. Dry Down: More of the same. This is a great scent for anyone that loves rich, sweet resin scents. I cannot *wait* to see how this ages.

In The Bottle: Dry sweet woods. Thankful, so far the cedar is staying put instead of jumping out at me. Here's hoping that continues... Wet On Skin: The jasmine is coming round now. It's not the light floral jasmine, it's the thick, dark Indian jasmine for sure, which I guess must be similar to an Egyptian variable. I like both, but here the darker one seems more appropriate to hold its own against those other deep notes. Dry Down: Deep jasmine grounded by wood. Possibly a *hint* of saffron bitten off at the end. Sadly I don't get any honey or vanilla. But I'm willing to wait, to see what happens with aging. It's not a bad scent, just surprisingly simple on my skin. I'm hoping some complexities come out by waiting around.

In The Bottle: This is an instant surprise. In the bottle, I'm getting a delectable mix of the Lab's blood note with a spicy undertone that is REALLY working here. It also smell, oddly, very "fresh", which, if representing the 'frozen' aspect of the scent, I can definitely get behind. Wet On Skin: A slightly, almost-lemon aspect is emerging, which adds some breadth to the blood note in, again, a surprising and compelling manner. Dry Down: Whoa. There's definitely been a shift, in a really nice way. That 'spice' aspect I detected in-bottle has come back during dry down. I get what some folks have mentioned about it being like an incense, but it doesn't read that way to me. It's more like a sweet-spice-blood combination. It defies description at the top-most level, which is great, and seems to be a bit of a theme in the OLLA series overall. Whatever it is wth Blood Popsicle, I am ALL IN.

In The Bottle: Sweet beeswax, a whiff of smoke, a bit of salt. Wet On Skin: The beeswax gets lighter, and the salt remains a grounding force. Possibly some tears drizzled onto the whole affair. Dry Down: A smoke and light beeswax combination that becomes nearly leather. Which, for me, sadly, is not great. I traditionally very much like the Lab's beeswax note, but I'm feeling rather disappointed with my skin chemistry this time out. I'll hold on to this to see how it ages, but this might wind up on the swap pile...

In The Bottle: Thick Turkish / Arabic coffee with a dusting of Middle Eastern spices. Wet On Skin: The spices are coming more to the forefront at this stage, especially the cardamom and the nutmeg. Dry Down: Having just come back from living in rural Morocco for a spell, I can say that this scent does NOT disappoint in terms of its realness and accuracy (so far, none of the North African-influenced OLLA scents have missed the mark in this regard!) Although I get none of the tobacco, it scarcely matters- this scent is one of the great coffee scents of the BPAL pantheon. The rich, thick, dark powdery grind of the coffee, the heavy hand of the sweet/savory spices, is exquisite. I can scarcely wait to see what happens when this scent ages. Just beautiful and simply mandatory for any fan of the Lab's coffee scents.

In The Bottle: Ridiculously gorgeous sandalwood/benzoin combination right out of the gate. If it doesn't morph at all, I'll be quite happy as is. If it shifts during dry-down, I'll be even happier, I suspect... Wet On Skin: The benzoin's resin-y / vanilla-y vibe is coming out more, bringing the sandalwood into further balance whilst it warms on my skin. Dry Down: Gorgeous, dry sandalwood mingling beautifully with the benzoin, and just a tiny peek at the end of the ink note I recall so fondly from India Ink SN. It's really a lovely scent, and perfect for the character of Hal. Comforting and friendly and enduring.

In The Bottle: A beautiful vanilla musk. It reminds me of something I smelled many years ago in a shop somewhere in Europe, either Paris or London, so in the bottle, it feels like a very gorgeous high-end parfum. Wet On Skin: Warm and light vanilla skin musk. Gorgeous. Dry Down: Based on description, I was assuming this might be similar to my beloved Pink Wig Spray. And in some ways, because of the tuberose and vanilla musk (obvi.) it is. But it also is very much its own thing. It's warmer and more sultry and, for some, the foodie aspect of PWS's vanilla might be overwhelming or cloying whereas the vanilla here isn't foodie in the slightest. I'm not sure I get a sense of the scent being ungrounded the way Ava as a character is, I think there d have to be more of a "cotton candy" aspect for that. But this scent is really a joy to behold and I'm SO glad the second release occurred so that I was able to snag a bottle at long last.

In The Bottle: Light, worn leather with a bit of a lavender-based men's cologne in the deep background. Wet On Skin: The cologne has vanished and in it's place, alongside the still-dominant leather is...mint? It's bizarre, as there are no mint notes listed. And yet. :shrugs: Dry Down: Leather. Just a sweet, worn leather. In All: Surprisingly light throw considering. I'm sad I'm left with *none* of the other notes, it sounded so interesting. However, I'm not really a leather fan, so this will likely get swapped ASAP to someone that can appreciate Adam's more abundant charms, alas.

I missed her the first time around but snagged her on the second- and I am RIDICULOUSLY happy about it. (side note, I was actually IN MOROCCO when this recent re-release went live and *knew* this was one of the OLLAs I needed to procure for just that reason!) In the bottle, Eve is every bit the incense-laden souk I'd anticipated, which is *awesome*. And then she warms up and becomes even better. There is depth here and a life well curated. There's sweet desert sands and delicate perfumes sold in tiny shops and well-preserved, aged beauty. I am heartbroken that I only procured one bottle because I find myself with a deep desire to bathe in this scent, in much the way Elizabeth Bathory bathed in the blood of virgins- to preserve myself and indulge in that which is timeless and forbidden. I. Am. In. Love.

The red wine note is very prominent in the bottle and when first applied. As it warms, some of the spicy notes get released a bit, notably allspice and clove, giving it a vibe similar to a rich head shop-y incense, rather than a "spiced wine" effect as I had assumed it would be. The chocolate is also entirely absent, which I'm a bit disappointed about- I'd hoped for a Tzenzon Tchotochin variation, but this, as the previous post noted, is more of a spicy autumnal scent. I agree that the throw is intense- I applied *very* lightly from the cap, and it seems to be the right amount for the job. Honestly, this might be too heavy for me to wear, even in fall. OTOH, this will make an *excellent* room fragrance, come October.

In The Bottle: Lemon sugar- hooray! Lemon sugar is amongst my favorite Lab notes- I hope it stays! Wet On Skin: So far, so good- 98% lemon sugar, with a hint of currant sweetening the pot, but only as a breathy afterthought. Dry Down: Oh my stars and garters, this is just DIVINE. It's a rich lemon meringue with some sugared patchouli to give it a base on which to stand and it is working SOOOOOO well! If you are a fan of Spirit Board: YES or Happy Baby In A Long Dress, then you MUST procure a bottle of this. I am *so* glad I have a bottle in time for summer!

In The Bottle: Milk, honey and almond cream. YUM! Wet On Skin: All milk and honey, all the time. The alining has become less distinct at this stage and the fragrance on the whole is reminding me of lat Yule's Eight Maids A-Milking hairless with its chestnut cream note. Dry Down: Milky honey. Reminds me of Milk Moon from 2006. Also a little like Nonae Caprotina, if it were regular milk instead of goats milk, since goats milk has a little more of an edge. In All: A lovely foodie blend, glad I got a bottle, IO just hope aging brings out a little more of the notes!

Brown musk; black, loamy patchouli and some cassia when I first smell it in the vial. Wet on skin it starts to warm and the brown musk morphs into valerian- rich and earthy and slightly sweet. I'm not getting any of the ozone that others have described, thankfully. The dry-down stays with the theme of earthy and rich. This is not at ALL what I was expecting and I'm *so* glad that this was included with my order- thanks Labbies! Awesome as always!!!

I actually had the good fortune of testing this at Seattle Will Call a number of months ago and was incredibly distraught to discover it had not yet been released. first of all, my hair is quite long- halfway down my back- and has been severely color-treated and bleached within an inch of it's life. and I'm racially mixed, so my hair texture is rough and wiry in places and uneven in density. In short: it takes a LOT to make any lasting impression for the good of my hair. but the BPTP did it! Argan oil loves my hair something fierce, and the hair gloss has it in spades. So the base was awesome- it made my hair shiny and definitely softer without making it stringy or greasy. But of course, what has made me dream of this gloss for months on end is the scent. It was like a mix of Coconut Skin Trip body lotion and sweet, fresh gardenias. Just gorgeous and subtly floral and very, very summer-y. And the scent stayed in my hair well into the following day, driving me slowly insane with it's perfect and unattainable beauty. So, you know, my delight in seeing this gloss finally, finally get officially released was HUGE. If it didn't have such a specific shelf life, I'd be stocking up on multiple bottles of this elixir. Yes, it's THAT good. :wub:

The bird perished in the flames; but from the red egg in the nest there fluttered aloft a new one-the one solitary Phoenix bird. The fable tells that he dwells in Arabia, and that every hundred years, he burns himself to death in his nest; but each time a new Phoenix, the only one in the world, rises up from the red egg. Crimson eggshell musk, myrrh, Chinese cassia, and coffee absolute. Full disclosure: Myrrh almost always goes horribly wrong on me. But I adore the other notes so much that I was willing to take a chance. Hopefully all will go well! In The Bottle: This has the sweet, incense-y smell I recall of headships my mom used to go to when I was a small child. I think the red eggshell musk and the cassia are largely responsible Wet On Skin: That eggshell musk is cray-zeeeee. I was expecting the kind of red musk, but lighter, that is present in Smut, but this is entirely different. It's still "red" and musky, for sure, but it's got an almost fruity thing going on with it. It does, strangely, remind me of eggshells, in terms of a thinness and a fragility. I'd like to see it in other scents in the future, for sure! Dry Down: A small amount of the powder aspect of the myrrh is coming through, but it seems to be held in check by the musk, which for me personally is a big relief! Sadly, I get no coffee and no cassia, and I was really looking forward to those. The musk has morphed slightly and is somehow reminiscent of violets (just a little! Not in the soapy way, more in the rough candy way) In All: This is different than I expected but better than my secret fears, too! I like it and suspect it will improve with age.

So, I love Snake Oil, especially the well-aged variety, and Dragon's Milk is my forever-lover-number-one-jam (I have multiple backup bottles, mmmkay?) so I *knew* that this scent was one I had to have. And it does NOT disappoint. I agree with the first reviewer's assessment that this is like Dragon's Milk 's older sibling. It's sexy and tougher and that patchouli makes it more intense. But the honey is there to keep it all in balance and makes it wearable right now (unlike original SO for me) while also offering the promise of just how glorious this is going to become with some well-timed aging. As I originally proclaimed, I got two bottles, one to age, and one to slather immediately, and I stand by that decision- but I might take a little more care in present-day slather because I KNOW this is going to be *phenomenal* later.

I am really feeling this Lace! Sometimes I have to delay wearing the Laces in particular, but everything is coming together nicely with this one right out of the box! In the bottle and wet on skin, the grass and green sap notes are most prevalent, with the vanilla of the spun-sugar lace bringing some sweetness to balance it. But once warmed on the skin and dried down, the scent becomes more complex, mixing elements of herbal-green with the sweet of the sugar and the slight bitterness of the cognac. The notes seem a little disjointed to each other, even as they flow, but the flow is making it work somehow. My experience of the green sap note is primarily in Strawberry Moon blends, so I gather than the sap will stay sharp and sticky as it ages, with the sweeter notes shifting around it. I'm looking forward to see how this scent changes as the months grow warmer!

Unfortunately, tobacco and cognac sometimes do terrible things in combination with my skin chemistry and this appears to be one of those times. The tobacco comes across as sharp, the cognac as cloying and the two amp with ridiculous throw (seriously, I put on a drop from the lid and I can smell is , wafting toward me, at two feet away. ) I know that Lace scents in particular sometimes need additional time to settle and age before turing into something wearable for me, so I'll sit on this for a few months and see what pans out by the Summer Solstice. Hopefully the Solstices will come into alignment by then

In the bottle and when first applied, the three primary notes are all in the mix, with the distinct aspect of the bubblegum obvious. Once it warmed and dried down, however, the bubblegum aspect vanished and the remaining two have become a delicate confection of vanilla fudge. It's light and a bit sweet, but not heavy or sugary as I had been expecting. Instead of being child-like and more suitable for kids (as the occasional candy-ish BPAL is), this is really just a lovely daytime scent as we move more completely into the growing warmth of spring. Glad to get a bottle, happy to see hoe this ages!

In 2007, I married the great love of my life. Teddy and I had dated since 1998, and it seemed that, at last, it was time for me to make an honest man out of him. I had loved Ted since the first moment I smelled him (truth!), and the night that we married was one of the most wonderful nights of my life. At the Lunacy event before the wedding, I was able to celebrate with my .org and local BPAL family, and I cried like a loon. It is a privilege to be part of this family the one that BPAL has gifted to me. It is one of the great joys and honors of my life to have the opportunity to interpret Neil Gaimans stories through scent, and on January 31st of 2007, our first Neil Gaiman scent series debuted: American Gods. Neils body of work has been a tremendous influence in my life, and in a sea of authors whose stories have moved and shaped me, his words have been some of the most impactful. I admire his kindness and compassion, his wisdom and eloquence, and the tremendous amount of work he has done for the CBLDF and the UN Refugee Agency. His stories have helped shape my worldview and my dreams, and I will always be grateful. In 2007, we created the first of many scents in collaboration with our family at Dark Delicacies: the eponymous Dark Delicacies scent. It was soon followed by a series of eerie Lace-inspired perfumes, a scent series dedicated to horror film genres, a celebration of B-movie horror, and a scent series celebrating great duets of horror. In June of 2007, we ran the first of our clothing drives benefitting Los Angeles womens and childrens shelters. This Phoenix is a combination of the Snake Oil and Dorian that Teddy and I wore at our wedding, the red wine we bled into and shared during the ceremony, a drop of lucky honey mead, and the heart of Snow Glass Apples lacquered over pale salt-splashed wood, with a hint of the green walnut I could never get quite right. (Im sorry, Neil! Im still trying!) In The Bottle: A bit of crisp apple with a rind of sea salt. Wet On Skin: Same, with a slight hint of wood in the background. Dry Down: An apple peel on a piece of driftwood that's washed ashore, lightly sprayed with an afterthought of Dorian. Despite this description, I should note that this scent is surprisingly light and delicate, and has NO traces of water or ozone notes- this is strictly dried, salt-crusted drift wood I'm talking about here. The longer I wear it, the more the apple fades, leaving this incredibly delicate take on Dorian worn whilst walking on a sand bank. In other words: swoon-worthy.

Black tea, bergamot, red patchouli, peru balsam, and bourbon vanilla. In The Bottle: I get a sharp sliver of bergamot with a hint of the peru balsam- though the peru is also more sharp than I would normally expect. Wet On Skin: The tea note blooms spectacularly on my skin pretty much on contact. It's a really lovely, unmistakable lemon-y black tea. Dry Down: All black tea (with a hint of the bergamot citrus) all the time. In All: A light, close-to-the skin sort of scent. Although I'm slightly disappointed (and frankly confused) that the patchouli, balsam and vanilla have all chosen to simply not show up on my skin, I am really excited about having a straight-up tea scent. This is definitely the same tea note from Time's Infliction and my sadness with that scent was that I just wanted the tea. Now that Furo is in my life, I can have my tea and my Infliction too

A heart beating with anxiety and longing: rose musk, benzoin, and red sandalwood. In The Bottle: The reaction I got just from sniffing the bottle is a visceral stab to the heart, a rose of holidays passed, worn by my grandmother and her sisters in a by-gone era. Not "old lady" perfume, but rather the stuff that women of a different era favored considerably. Wet On Skin: It's weird, there's no myrrh listed in the notes, but the rose comes across as powdery, just as if myrrh were in the mix. Very perplexing! Dry Down: The musk is mellowing upon dry down, and a sweet, creamy aspect has emerged, reminding me of cold cream from the 40's. In All: a sweet and lovely rose scent. Not sure it's for me, but floral lovers will be very, very happy!

Red musk, vanilla bean, pomegranate, black currant, patchouli leaf and wild plum. Full disclosure: I was definitely one of the people voting for this scent in this vehicle, so already, I'm anticipating greatness! It's been a long while since I've experienced a "fresh" batch of Mme. Moriarty, my current perfume bottle is from the original release, so it's very, very well-aged. There's a "sharpness" to it fresh, just as there is with Snake Oil. Some scents just need a little time to ruminate! That said, all the important elements are here in spades, and as usual, Puddin' -bless 'im- poured in the perfume with a heavy hand indeed. All of which is to say, a little goes a long way! Even fresh, it's the same yummy scent we've all grown to pledge eternal love for, in a great format- I know that the small amount I spray in my hare today will continue to offer me little wiffs of scent for several days to come- and I couldn't be happier about it!

Black poppy, rose-infused myrrh, and patchouli leaves steeped in indigo wine. In The Bottle: HELLO, ROSE AND INDIGO WINE. WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE?!?!? Wet On Skin: Seriously? Whoa. Sweet wine touched by the rare, odd indigo note, which gives it a slight tang, and the red, red rose hanging in the back is actually, strangely, making my mouth :water: slightly. Dry Down: This is just...gorgeous. It's basically become the kyphi incense of my dreams- wine and dried fruit and incense all combined to make something sweet without being food and luscious...and luxurious...and sacred...and...just so...beautiful. In All: If you are a fan of wine scents or incense scents (or, like me- both!) then you not only need a bottle of this, but you might need a back up. It's. That. Good.