VioletChaos

In The Bottle: Fresh, newly picked pumpkin and some beeswax. Wet On Skin: Good LORD is this fine! The pumpkin is like no other pumpkin note I've encountered! There is a very fresh 'green' smell to this pumpkin. I'm imagining a pumpkin patch in the middle of summer, or the smell when you open the pumpkin up to carve it- it's just so natural, I can't stop marveling about it! And then there's this beautiful counter-balance, this beeswax candle note. It's warm and joyous but also light- there's no competition to the pumpkin and that suits the beeswax just fine: it knows it's place here. It grounds the pumpkin and adds depth. then it lets the squash shine! Dry Down: Staying true from the bottle to dry-down. I have noticed that although I adore many complex BPAL scents, oftentimes it's the ones that just have two or three notes that wind up blowing me away. Theme in Yellow is just such a scent. There is something beautiful and fragile and different about this scent. It won't be for everyone, but for those that understand this scent, they will hold onto it with both hands and never let go.

In The Bottle: Lemon cheesecake! (I hope it stays like this!!!) Wet On Skin: Okay, lemon ALMOND cheesecake! Wow. This is awesome! Dry Down: The buttercream, lemon and almond are all together in this beautiful and seriously yummy scent! This is spicy like holiday cookies and it's warm and creamy and just...holy moly, is this GOOD. In All: Low throw, and a seriously 'foodie' scent! I am totally in love with this! Honestly, this is what I wanted Hearth from 2005 to be and just failed miserably with my skin chemistry. I'm so effing glad I have a whole bottle of this. I shall wear it all autumn and winter long!

In The Bottle: Yup, that's Snake Oil and Pumpkin alright! Wet On Skin: Ah, the pumpkin is coming out a bit more now. I was hoping for that, as Snake Oil can sometimes easily overpower anything in it's path. Dry Down: Wow, I'm really surprised at how strong the pumpkin is in this! I feel like it's just sorta of hopping from foot to foot:" now it's pumpkin! Wait, but now it's Snake Oil! Aaaaaand now it's pumpkin again! But hold on-!" it's like this. Because Snake Oil is a scent that, for me, MUST be aged (at least 12 to 18 months. Seriously.), I have this feeling that when aged, this is going to change- for the better. I predict that the pumpkin and SO will mingle more, absorb each others' essence more, and become something really fine. Don't get me wrong- I'm happy to have this bottle now! but I know that in 12 months, this is going to be phenomenal.

Okay, so I'll start by saying that Morocco is total love for me- but it does this weird thing where it becomes Antique Lace the *second* it hits my skin. Now, since I *also* adore Antique Lace (and since it's not currently available) I really don't mind. But that also makes Moroccan Pumpkin Patch potentially a game changer for me, since the spice notes in it don't show up that way on my skin. Now with all that in mind, here we go... In The Bottle: I agree with whoever said this smelled similar to Pumpkin V of a year ago. It's got the spicy vanilla and pumpkin combo down pat. Lessee what happens on my skin... Wet On Skin: Huh. Pretty much the same as in the bottle. I wonder if the addition of pumpkin to this blend will somehow change how the other notes play in my chemistry. The plot thickens! Dry Down: Golly, how odd! Morocco has held it's ground and not turned into Antique Lace! The spice here reminds me vague of chai, so that this scent altogether is a sort of pumpkin chai scent, without the cardamom. It's now spicier than Pumpkin V and yet retains that buttery warmth of pumpkin. I think this will age quite well! In All: Low to medium throw but certainly not what I'd call a "skin scent". This will reach out subtly to those around you. It's unassuming enough to wear during the day but, I think especially after a little aging, that it's become a seducer in it's own right.

In the Bottle: Yup. That's the sharp, tangy almost-lemon/ almost-turpentine scent of a good, thick frankincense, alright! Wet On Skin: Yes, it's as sticky and thick as all have mentioned- my advice is TEST SPARINGLY. The scent is going in the pine/ turp direction at this stage. Dry Down: MUCH more mellow. A soft, slightly woody resin. I'm surprised, actually- frankincense tends to be pretty aggressive on my skin. In All: Low throw, this one stays close to the skin. I can see using this for layering purposes, for sure, to add grounding to a foodie scent, for instance, or depth to a sugary floral. I'd also wear this alone, especially when spending some quality alone time for meditation or revive purposes. I'm curious to see how it ages!

In The Bottle: I get a gentle vanilla, definitely some sweet red licorice and a hint of the rose champaca. As with most Lilith-inspired scents I've tried, this one also has a sweet, tender, childlike aspect to it. Wet On Skin: The rose champaca is coming a bit more to the fore. It's reading like a soft rose incense without being heavy-handed as both those notes can sometime be on me. Dry Down: The rose champaca is all and everything now. In All: Low to medium throw, this scent reminds me of going to witchie shops with my mom when I was really little. I was intrigued by all the mackical ephemera and always wanted something magickal of my own- but being a wee lass I always wanted something familiar, that I could recognize from my living world. A mystical rose incense would've been probably right at the top of my list. If this scent shifts as it ages, that will be fine, but if it stays a soft powdery rose, then that will be totally okay, too.

In The Bottle: Yes, the woodsy quality of the frankincense and the vanilla are both coming through just as others have mentioned. Wet On Skin: Same. This is reminding me of Banshee Beat. Like an alternate version of Banshee Beat, if the hemp had gotten mixed with some sandalwood. Dry Down: Same as before. In All: It's a rare thing when a BPAL scent stays true from first sniff through dry-down. This scent is a fine dry slightly sweet and resin-y scent. Definitely a daytime perfume, this is perfectly unassuming- good for work or class- as we move more deeply into autumn. Low throw and, given the notes, sure to improve with age. A lovely every-day kind of fragrance and a fine addition to an obsessive collector's collection. But unless your small collection contains a predominant amount of both of the above notes, you might want to test a decant before purchase ETA: It's now about 20 or 30 minutes later and I have to say this scent has morphed considerably. It's become far less woodsy and far more vanilla, but not a food-vanilla, more of a vanilla musk type. I'm more in love with it than I was a half hour ago, though I will still note that while this is bottle-worthy, I won't yet call it back-up bottle-worthy

Red currant, Moroccan musk, sage, and frankincense. in the bottle: lordy! this is ALL about the Moroccan musk- and it it DIVINE! wet on skin: same. *crosses fingers* dry down: this is pure musk on me. not the musk in Smut or Enraged Orangutan, this is the sweet-berry-amber sort of musk that one finds in, yes, arabic marketplaces. it's so very fine. in all: this is a lovely skin musk- it stays close, but also holds it's own. this is the sort of scent that will have me sniffing myself all day long- and encouraging others to do the same

A HUGE thanks to marsmomma for picking up this and some other goodies for me from the Trunk Show. a serious debt of gratitude! Onto the review! In the bottle: It has some of the creaminess of the standard GC Chimera, but there's also a spiciness that I strongly associate with Snake Oil. The two are a lovely combo right from the start, and I'm intrigued to see how this plays out! Wet On Skin: Now a desert sand note comes into play, much like the dominant one in Tombstone. Sweet, arid and like the hard-baked earth you get out in New Mexico or Arizona near the Canyon. It's weaving in and out with the spiced, sugared Snake Oil note and the cream. This is going GREAT. Dry Down: A cream-laden Snake Oil, being smelled whilst in the Painted Desert. With the drying also comes another note, that of pure sweetgrass, as one would find in the plains, weaving in and out of the others. In other words: gorgeous! In All: Light to medium throw, sweet, spiced, creamed sugar, without being at all foodie, it's clear this will only get better with age. I CAN'T believe this hasn't been reviewed before now- this is incredible. :wub:

Thank you to the Angel that is GypsyRoseRed for getting me a bottle of this precious elixir Now then, onto the review! In The Bottle: I'm getting leather and french tobacco in equal measure. Wet On Skin: The tobacco is sweetening up a bit, as it likes to do on my skin, and that leather note is warming up nicely. No complaints thus far! Dry Down: The tobacco has now taken a back seat and what's left is a strange and beautiful combination of ink and leather. This is indeed the smell of old books and dusty tomes, a genderless and holy-moly-why-is-this-so-sexy kind of scent. I want my boyfriend to wear this the next time we go out to an Industrial Club so I can attack him in a dark corner when he least expects it. (...And also smelling like books is great) In All: SO SO SO glad I have a bottle, I shall treasure it always!

I have been waiting YEARS to get my hands on a bottle of this Someone, many moons ago, let me scent this from their bottle at a Meet N Sniff. but I didn't get to try it on, so this is all new for me... In the Bottle: The sugar note that works so well with florals in Faith, Hope and TKO. I'm also getting the bluebell and a hint of the green, though at this point to me it smells less like grasses and more like dandelion Wet On Skin: The golden incense note is definitely coming out to play at this point- it's reminding me of shops in Southern California in the 90's that would sell chain wallets, band t-shirts and bag-your-own incense- the way all the various flavors of incense would combine to make this general spicy incense-y smell. Really nice. Dry Down: The sugared-floral combination is holding steady, with that incense note thrown in to round things out. The fresh/green note has all but vanished. In All: Low throw (lower than any of the other scents I've tried with the same sugar note in it) and a softness to the scent. I would wear this on a nighttime Summer stroll through Central Park or any time that I wanted a little romance, and a little magic. This is beautiful and a damn shame that it got discontinued.

In The Bottle: Yes, definitely more smoky and woodsy than the Red. I concure that this is the same Patch that was in #occupywallstreet. I love that scent, but frequently have found myself feeling disappointed when wearing it because what I *really* wanted was THIS. Just pure, unadulterated deep, black patchouli. Wet On Skin: That dirt-after-the-rains thing that bootownrat described? Oh YEAH. Like, in SPADES. Very rich, very earthy. Still smoky and just... Dry Down: Agreed: This isn't hippy/ trustafarian/ head shop patchouli. This is deep and primal and haunting. I might trade all my other bottles of patchouli EVER just to get some more of this- because clearly, ONE back up bottle will *not* be enough. In All: Years and years ago, I had a box of dried patchouli. It was a combination of leaves and roots twisted together into little bundles. The idea was that you could take a bundle and, say, put it in your sock drawer or a special trunk. Everything within the same area would gets it's beautiful, loam-y, dark-rich scent. That's what this is. Like distilling every summer and autumn rainstorm- the wind, the wet, the mineral-rich ground- and bottling it. I can't even imagine how this can improve with age. :wub:

In The Bottle: I, too am getting a cake-y vibe from this scent. It definitely reads as foodie to me, but not overwhelming. Wet On Skin: It's funny because I would also compare this scent to Huesos de Santo, but *not* the orange aspect. It's the sweet, mild cake of Huesos, with the ho wood playing in the background. Dry Down: In The final dry down, the scent has shift focus. It's no longer foodie, it's become a balanced scent of woodsy notes at the forefront and a mix of resins and herb-y essence bringing up the rear. In All: Low to medium throw, this scent, in small amounts, seems to be perfect for hot sultry days- for a scent so full of resins and wood notes, it's surprisingly light. I have a feeling that as it ages it'll become even better. For now, I anticipate wearing this for the remainder of our long, steamy summer.

In The Bottle: The best campfire you've ever smelled. Oh, sure, I can tell you that in the bottle there's a strong front-note of brown sugar, that the ginger is strong and deep and mixing with the cardamom to remind me of every delectable Indian Grocery I've ever been fortunate enough to enter. That the clove is whispering of a beautiful and spooky Hallowmas and that the bourbon vanilla is holding it all together. but really? This is a bright and sweet fire like the ones that I've smelled at Rainbow Gatherings and other hippie-nature activities. Wet On Skin: The cardamom is coming out front now and I couldn't be more delighted about it. Usually that's a note that just doesn't stick around on my skin, and it always makes me sad. But this is turning from campfire into delicious chai tea- I'm kinda hoping it'll stay this way... Dry Down: Yup. Chai tea. Strong, spicy, sweet, creamy chai tea. I've wished long and hard for a BPAL chai scent, and methinks I've at last gotten what I wanted! In All: Low to medium throw. Because of the notes, I'm betting that this will settle and smooth with a bit of aging, but it's certainly a very wearable concoction right now. My personal favorite of this year's crop o' Bats, Mopsfledermaus is that rare thing: a year-round perfume. Just lovely! :wub2:

In The Bottle: Opening this bottle was like stepping into a magick shop. The kind where there's amber bottles with dusty hand-written labels and you might not be sure that you can actually comprehend the words scribed. I immediately get beeswax, a lemony hint of the rosewood, a hearty helping of the labdanum and some black tea. The only one missing from the party seems to be the musk. Perhaps an appearance a bit later? Wet On Skin: This is HEADY. Strong and rich, already I can tell that the tiny drop I put on my wrist might be a wee too much. Yes, a little goes a VERY long way. That said, it also smells pretty delicious. I'm still getting the same 4 notes as before, but they're warming up on my skin now in a way that's really sensuous and sexy. Dry Down: ...Did I say sexy? What I meant was SEX-AY. I have to fan myself because this oil just made me into some kinda trollop, I swear. GoldenRubee is right, you have to wait a bit for the real dry-down change to happen, but it's so, so very worth it. The beeswax and the labdanum have teamed up and turned into a sweet erotic beast with two backs and woe be the fool who things they can take them on! I don't get any of the musk, and the tea is there, but really as more of an afterthought. Not that I mind, because this scent is one to be reckoned with! In All: Heavy throw, so tread lightly when applying. I can tell that with the rich nature of this scent that it's going to get better and better with age. I will likely wear it only a time or two over the next sweltering 4 months, but when the weather turns come Autumn, I anticipate wearing this on a very, very regular basis. Hoard now, I predict this one will be hard to come by later!

In The Bottle: YUM! There's the vanilla and an added sweet-creaminess of saffron. At this stage, I get nothing more. And to tell the truth, I kinda hope it stays this way, because this is heavenly. Wet On Skin: Much the same, with an ever-so-slight note of fruitiness in the mix. It doesn't read as peach, which seems a bit miraculous, as I usually amp peach to the end of the world. Dry Down: I get no amber, ylang ylang or freesia from this. By and large, this is vanilla and saffron with the barest breath of fruit. This is what I so desperately wanted MB: Underpants to be on me and just wasn't. I'm so delighted to have a wish come true! In All: Very low throw. Also, my skin seems to eat this stuff up like candy, because I had to reapply several times just to get enough scent on my skin to test! However, since it's my magical skin that has pulled out all the most delicious notes from this mix, I shall not scold it too badly. THRILLED to have a bottle- I shall treasure it always!

In The Bottle: Mostly that glorious, smoky vetiver, but there's a sweet underlying note, which I'm betting is the licorice. So far, I'm enjoying it. Wet On Skin: The vetiver is still out in front, but I'm getting notes of a flower, something similar to fresh-blooming lilac, which I think is likely the immortelle. The two are playing off each other quite nicely. It's a surprising twist, but I'm curious to see where it goes... Dry Down: The immortelle has definitely taken a front seat in this mix, and there's a hint of the sandalwood there, too. At this stage, I get no plum or licorice, which I'm a bit sad about, but what's come up is actually like a more robust version of B340. I really love that scent for the hottest of hot summer evenings, but I find it's too light and floral for me the rest of the year. Noctule Bat strikes the balance of the sweet-but-not-cloying floral, but with the vetiver to ground it. I'm enjoying the interplay so much that I might experiment with adding some Haitian Vetiver SN to my wrists when wearing Noctule just to see what happens! In All: Low to medium throw, a good, light floral for those who like them, with a bit of heft to make it a viable option into the Fall.

Out of all the latest crop of Pickman scents, this was the one I was simultaneously most interested in trying and least sure would work. Normally, sugar as a note amps on me like nobody's business, which was my main hesitation about this scent, but fortunately, I had nothing to fear. Lemon Scented Sticky Bat is a scent that I am fond of- but only when I can bear the sheer amping of the sugar note in it. I do NOT get LSSB from Happy Baby. Where as Sticky Bat is somewhere between Lemonheads candy and Lemon Gumdrops on me, the sugared lemon in Happy Baby does something heretofore unheard of on me- it's a sweet, yet tart lemon that does NOT seem to have sugar, but instead reads as almost a lemon verbena: sweet without being sugary. And the lavender is not a force that's overly strong or acrid, yet also not the variety as in TKO that literally I can only stand at bedtime because it invokes instant snoozy- no. This lavender is the wild, sweet and gentle variety. The sort that would grow in my friend's mom's garden in high summer. Because of my personal skin chemistry, the scents that I tend to be most drawn to, and that work best on me, lean toward the heavy/rich side of the spectrum. Think: Snake Charmer, Mme Moriarty, Dragon's Blood, VooDoo Queen, etc. Even the few florals I get away with fall more into the Faith / Hope / Rose Red variety. But the thing that's miraculous, is that Happy Baby In A Long Dress is fresh and sweet, with an almost green tea note present- and even with my spicy-musky chemistry, stays true, for hours. In All: Medium throw with surprising depth given only 2 notes are listed, this scent is everything I've longed for in a warm-weather perfume and has previously found unobtainable. Happy Baby is beautiful, fresh, inviting and likely to be my go-to fragrance for many of the hottest days over the next 4 months or so- and more than a few sultry nights. Hoard-worthy!

I personally get no aquatic element from this single note whatsoever. What I DO get is that this is absolutely the dominant note in last year's Silver Bat, which is a blessing for me, because that was definitely, without a doubt, my most favorite scent to come outta Bat's Day last year, and indeed, one of my top 20 favorite BPALs, period. Warm and sweet, without being at all foody, this scent also reminds me a little of the warmth in Tombstone. This is one of the more highly wearable Single Notes and I'll definitely be stocking up on several bottles as I can tell I'll want to layer it with some of my other scents that have Ambergris so as to amp up that aspect a little bit more. Totally precious, bottle-hoard-worthy! :wub2:

This is soooo weird and amazing. When I smell this in the bottle, I get straight-up old-school typewriter scent. It's ink, alright. but it's ink ribbon and it's also a bit of grease in old gears and it's metal. It's all those things, and yes, it's one of those "How did the Lab DO this?!" kind of scents. On the skin, it stayed true to that for about an hour, which is pretty much par for the course when it comes to single notes, I've noticed. But now that it's settled down and even fading a little, now I'm getting something slightly smoky/spicy in there. And that is both intriguing and also means it's going to be fun and interesting to layer. This, to me, is the beauty of a single note- a pure, simplified version of some specific thing we encounter in this world, precious in it's singularity, but also something that has the potential to Play Well With Others. Love it!

Tiki King, hands down. The notes indicate it's "Ironwood", not necessarily sandalwood, but to everyone I've ever had smell it, it reads like a lovely sandalwood blend. It was only around for a little while several years ago, but I don't think it'll be *too* difficult to find- someone will swap it, I bet Good luck!

Golden pear, amber, fig leaf, oakmoss, bronze musk, mahogany, patchouli, and a smattering of glittering pyrite. of the three Le Mat scents, this is the one i've been least sure about. still, my curiosity is peaked. let's get on with it then, shall we??? in the bottle: fig, pear and a metallic finish of what must be the pyrite. wet on skin: uh oh. it's threatening to become shampoo on me. there's still hope, of course, but oakmoss, i'm looking at you. dry down: well, the oakmoss has left town and fortunately taken the shampoo aspect with it. *whew*! what's left is something puzzling. bronze musk? amber? pyrite? not sure. in all: this is one that i think will require aging before a final verdict can be made. but i'm hopeful! ETA: it's a while later and Marotte has turned into this scent that i envision Grande Dames of the 1940's would wear. i'm not normally interested in the scents that smell like "perfume", but this is certainly an exception. not a scent for every day, but one to wear when getting dressed up in total finery and going out for a night on the town. the sort of scent that forced men to hold doors open for you. THAT'S Marotte.

I just got this from the mailbox but I can NOT wait to test it- I'll edit later if necessary... In The Bottle: A combination of Black Lace, Antique Lace and the leaf note from Death In Autumn (which is my personal *favorite* leaf note.) We are off to a good start! Wet On Skin: Same as above but with the addition of the Laudanum adding a dark perfume-y aspect. Dry Down: Wow. This is just...wow. The laudanum has settled down and what remains is a warm, deep beautifully sexy version of the above: The sweet, dreamy elements of Antique Lace, the dark cognac and stained linen of Black Lace, the rich, mulchy leaf note of Death In Autumn and the addition of the spice and resin incense that perhaps was in Mlle Moriarty and Snake Charmer, with the laudanum adding depth and grounding to the whole thing. Just amazing. In All: Medium to Heavy throw- a little seems to be going quite a long way, so tread lightly at first- this scent is sensual and drop-dead gorgeous and I have a distinct feeling that it will only get better with age- if that's even possible. I bought two bottles cold, just based on the description, but honestly, I *might* need to get a third, just in case. :wub:

In The Bottle: Green, smoky, resinous. A vetiver's Vetiver. Wet On Skin: The smoky aspect is coming out a bit more now. I'm loving this. Dry Down: True to form of the other single notes, this Vetiver seems to be staying the same, from bottle to dry down. In All: Medium throw. Rich, smoky, and as with the Siberian Musk, a little goes a deliciously long way. I personally love vetiver, I find it a great earthy note that can be used when patchouli feels too obvious or overdone, and this one is a great addition to any collection. I can easily see adding this to a sweet foodie blend for instance to ground it, or to a floral to add depth. And I would bet dollars to donuts this is going to age fantastically. Well done- glad I have a full bottle, might even try to get a back up!

In the Bottle: Sweet, buttery pumpkin. Lots of butter, lots of pumpkin. (Can I eat this now?! ) Wet On Skin: More of the pumpkin, less of the butter. I think the French Vanilla is peeking out a little at this point, too. Dry Down: Echoin what others have said, I ind I'm surprised by the amount of spice that's showing up. It's almost a softer version of Candied Pumpkin on me, which suits fine because I *adore* that scent, though I'm hoping that with some aging this might become a little more creamy. In All: O lovely addition to the Patch, and it might be a good "starter pumpkin" for some, as it's mostly about the pumpkin and less about other notes Glad I have a bottle!