dawndie

Tamora is very similar to Corazon on me!

 

They both have amber and juicy fruit (Tamora is peach, Corazon is mango). They sound pretty different otherwise from the descriptions, but I had to start sniffing bottles and imps to jar my memory -- "What does this smell like? Argh!"

I went to SoCal in June to "see my family," but the real, nefarious reason was to go to Black Broom! My sister lives just a few blocks from there. My plan worked perfectly! Mwahaha! Anyway, I brought a list of things to sniff and at the top of the list was ELEGBA! I was so disappointed when they were out, so the next Moon update included a full bottle.

 

In the bottle: swoony buttery rum! I just drooled on myself a bit.

 

On my skin: more of the swoony rum, with the tang of tobacco. The coconut is slight and a bit chemical. I'm kind of disappointed, but my ideal coconut scent is tanning oil, so what do I know?

 

Half-hour later: oh, this is nice! It's like Perversion without the fruity winey aspect. I'm sniffing my wrist over and over.

 

In conclusion: Welcome, Senor Elegba, to my humble home! I'm happy I bought a bottle unsniffed.

I got this in a swap with friendthegirl. Thanks babe!

 

In the bottle: sharp astringent that tingles in my nose. Something sweet and soft in the background, very faint berries.

 

Initially on skin: it's a dark brown/red oil. There's a medicinal smell, almost plastic. The sweetness comes to the foreground, and it's so hard to place -- fruit? floral? It must be a combination, I get berries and maybe lilies.

 

Half-hour later: ah, this is better. It's like Hollywood Babylon with some dusty resin mixed in.

 

I think this would be more of a ritual oil than a perfume oil, it seems to have something foreboding lurking in the background, looming and dark. Very unusual and interesting!

CCLXXI (271)

 

In the bottle: green melon

 

Initially on skin: watermelon, very watery and juicy. Reminds me a lot of Mi-Go, but instead of Jolly Rancher watermelon, it's almost-not-quite-ripe and not as sugary sweet.

 

Half-hour later: woodsy, green, Wolf Moon-ish.

 

I am thinking deep thoughts about this one. I like the watermelon stage, and I like the woodsy green stage (especially when it doesn't turn into men's cologne on me -- Juniper, I'm looking at you). But I have bottles of Mi-Go and Wolf Moon already. I am definitely giving this another whirl or two before making up my mind.

 

In conclusion: an amazing morphing blend. Two, two, two bottles in one!

I bought a bottle off eBay, which I'm hereby resolving not to do anymore. I have so many bottles and imps, I really need to calm down and wear what I currently own and love. I of course will continue to place new orders to the Lab. We'll see how that goes.

 

Anyway, back to the review. Yuletide is an almost-clear oil! Which really surprised me, as I assumed it would be darker if not red.

 

Wet, it's cinnamon. I am not a cinnamon fan, but this is a slightly sweet Big Red gum version.

 

Dry, an hour later, it mellows to a woodsy berry. Nice!

 

In summation: I was afraid I wouldn't want to wear this until October, but this can definitely be worn year-round.

I ordered a bottle simply for the name and description, as my maternal grandmother grew up on a farm near Deadwood. We took a trip with her years ago, and the fondest memories were traveling through the Black Hills, going to the nature preserves and watching the buffalo.

 

The leather smell is very clean and refreshing -- DH came into the room after I put some on, and he thought it smelled like "water from outside." Like when he's watering the lawn.

 

This isn't a bottle I'll be grabbing to wear every day, just when I want something simple and natural. Or when I want to smell like hose water.

In the bottle: watermelon, like Jolly Ranchers. Yum!

 

On me: pineapple, with lots of tropical fruits hovering nearby. I luuuuuv the fruity fruit fruit, but unfortunately they don't last on my skin.

 

Half-hour later: yep, no more fruits. But it's a very nice tropical floral, like the Comptoir Sud Pacifique samples I like requesting with Sephora orders. I would much rather have one of the Lab's tropical florals than a $50 mass-made alcohol concoction.

 

In summation: a great blend for summer!

I ordered a bottle with my Beltane/Hexennacht order. Corazon starts out VERY fruity fruit fruit, yum! It seems like my wrists would be sticky, the fruit is so strong.

 

A half-hour later: it's a distinctive herb, which must be the sage. Kind of spicy. The fruit is almost completely gone, and I'm not getting any musk. It's turned very vague, and I can barely smell it. Shoot.

 

I love the first fruity part, and the sage part is nice, but I wish it was stronger and would hang around more in general. Maybe it's just shy. I'm glad I bought a bottle before it disappeared.

Me at work on Saturday, calling DH: Do we have extra CD-RWs at home?
DH: Yup. Oh, you got a package from that place.
Me: YAY! Is it from Black Phoenix?
DH: I guess, whatever your cult is.
Me: YAY! NEW SMELLIES!
DH: ...

Hexennacht was the first one I grabbed, and add my review to the Samhain echoes. Since Samhain is one of my all-time favorites, I'm thrilled to have a similar scent.

While Samhain starts out with an apple cider punch in the face, Hexennacht goes on smoky and warm, incensey without the "BPAL Incense" smell I get from many other smoky scents, like Hellfire. Also unlike Samhain, Hexennacht doesn't morph into anything else on my skin -- I put it on about 7:30 p.m. and when we got home 5 hours later it still swooningly-smelled exactly the same.

Even DH liked it: I did my usual shove-wrist-under-his-nose and he said, "That smells really good!" More enthusiastic than his normal nodding-head and "that smells nice." I'll take what I can get.

Intrigue was one of those "try ME!" imps that kept recurring. I somehow ended up with 3 imps, 2 freebies from the Lab and a freebie from an eBay purchase. I felt bombarded by them! Like in Poltergeist, where Diane's in the unfinished swimming pool and bodies are popping up all around her. Hmm, that's probably a bit overdramatic.

Intrigue starts out as dusky cocoa. It reminds me a lot of Centzon Totochtin -- unsweetened and dark. Wood peeks out occasionally, and it's a very unique scent. My skin must love it, because it totally disappears; I must have used 1/3 of an imp, and a couple hours later I can barely smell it. Boo.

All in all, the imp is worth slathering.

I've tried a couple of imps recently that hollered "SUMMER!"

 

Cathode - sparkly mint, then light floral

Titania - sparkly white fruit (smelled like pear on me), that didn't morph at all into powder or floral

 

I know the summer in Dallas is going to be bad, we're in the 80s today already. It's not even May! Boo!

Okay, so I've never done a review before. My favorite bottles so far are Perversion and Bordello, and everyone loves those, right? No need for me to add further praise.

 

But tonight, after a long aggravating day at work, I find a bottle of Hollywood Babylon waiting for me at home from the lovely lorajc, and I'm so excited I open it up right there and swipe some on my wrist.

 

Oh!! This is nice! It starts out very sweet, like sticky fruits. Like the innocence in the beginning of the description. But then it matures -- it's telling a story! It gets older and more cynical. "Oh make me over, I'm all I want to be. A walking study, in demonology." I can smell vanilla and musk, like it's so over being cloying and sweet.

 

I'm typing this 3 hours later, it's still very strong and I'm still very much in love. What an amazing scent. I am an eternal devotee of Beth's fruity blends.