tinyvulture

There's the lab's sweet/slushy note (think Snow White), but seems not as sweet as usual. The dark, earthy cypress and balsam notes even it out. It is like a dark winter night, a little creepy...fits the description very well! Wondering how blue musk is different from other musks? Can't pin that down.

I just tested Hearthflame & Incnese, and this is a less fiery little brother maybe? The pine in this blend is cooler, almost minty. The frankincense and sweet amber are center stage. Less acrid than H&I, but just as smoky.

Oh gorgeous! Wood, smoke, sweet copal and frankincense. Some of my favorite notes here! The pitch is strongly pine-y, the almond wood is grounding in its nuttiness. Warm, inviting, like walking into a fire-warmed cabin out of hte cold. So sweet and smoky! Gets a little acrid upon drydown, think Agnes Nutter.

Ruumukiisseli (prune soup), riisipuuro (rice pudding), and sima (mead) - after I consuled Google translate, it all made sense! This is a fruity, sweetly boozy cake. The mead is sparkly/fizzy. The sourness of the prune is substantial, as well as its sweetness. A nice foody blend! I prefer the bolder rice pudding aspect of Sweet Lavinia's Risalamande, so this is off to swaps.

Like listening to a classic princess fairy tale at bedtime. Regal, elegant, and happily ever after to dreamland. This is mostly lavender, sweetened by vanilla, plus herbal undertones, mostly chamomile. Flawless sleep blend!

Wild grasses, for sure! Sometimes they make me sneeze. I wanted to see if adding vanilla would help in this case. Plus, it just seemed like such an unusual combo! After giving the grasses a second to calm down, it really is quite different and oddly gorgeous. I feel it's a unisex blend, and the soft sweet vanilla floats in and does something magical with that everyday fresh green grass scent that we all know. Give it a try!

Ahh what an amazing patchouli blend! It's not dark and earthy, it's more sophisticated -- the patchouli is sweetened and mellowed by the honey. The sea salt really adds interest for me. Its saltiness is a contrast that heightens the other notes, like when you put sea salt on chocolate chip cookies. I'm not getting any sandalwood. The Italian bergamot adds just a very light, classy citrus/floral note. Such a lovely and unique blend!

I had to look up ginjinha - a Portuguese liquor made from sour cherries. So, this starts off extremely cherry. Cherry-almond, really. Sour, sweet, boozy, a little bitter. The almond is very noticeable and nice. Then you have spicy florals - carnation and tonka. This is exotic and unusual, keeps me coming back for another sniff! The red musk is NOT overpowering everything as it sometimes does, so yay!

Stark desert and clean, cool night air. This reproduces for me the vibe of driving through New Mexico, thinking about how many weird and unexplained phenomena occur in the wide open American desert spaces. The honeysuckle is lush and hypnotic. I'm pretty sure aliens could lure me in with it. And the mandarin and guava add a playful citrus touch. So perfect!!

Wham! A powerful, heavy incense blend that assails my senses! I find it has something in common with Midnight Mass, almost a sweet banana incense note? Tons of frankincense...chunks of raw frankincense in a teakwood chest. It's very similar to other church incense blaneds so I'm not sure I need to hoard it, but it's very rich and decadent!

Lovely. Sweet and feminine, clean and a little soapy but in a nice way. Nostalgic, wistful, like Belle Epoque. A perfume in an ornate but dust-covered glass bottle, forgotten in the attic since Victorian times. So happy I swapped for this haunting floral, love it!

Tart apple and orchid...a different, unexpected combination. Feels very young. Not really my style. Off to swaps.

Like a Vanilla Coke, as starbrow said. The copal is really subdued and smooth. The vanilla and patchouli are really sweet and the overall drydown is a sweet, smooth copal/patchouli. Very sweet! But nice!

Beautiful, deep incense. The peppery carnation is one of my can't miss floral notes. It works wonderfully here as a dry incense. As theseagrows said, it's in between subtle Japanese and bold headshop incense. Love it!

This is one sharp frankincense note. Crisp and sparkling, as Lycanthrope said. I'm not sure about the white florals or ambergris... A few minutes later the ambergris comes out. It's sweet, warm, fizzy. Still no florals. Dark but also festive. This scent means business, nothing soft about it.