crebbsgirl

This started with the astringent bite of lavender, followed by an initial blast of rose. As it settled on my skin, the cherry came out to sweeten and round things out, while the musk stayed in the background, anchoring the scent. The rosewood was pretty faint on me, but it added a smooth dimension. And then the rose started amping. Off to swaps for this one.

This is pretty much a dusky lily scent on me. It's warm, but a dark gold kind of vibe. The fruits add a touch of sweetness, and I seem to be getting a little bit of powder from the ginger root. It's a little earthy/dusty. The frankincense seems to be behaving here (normally I turn it to playdoh). It's nice, but a little unremarkable on me.

This... smells like Christmas. Pine and cloves. It's warm and foresty and spicy and smells exactly like walking through the forest with a hot spiced drink. YUM. And I think it's going to be even better next Christmas.

Sweet and creamy carnations and amber. This is really the best carnation scent I have tried in a really long time. I'm so happy this came back for the Lab's anniversary. Although I must say, I find this scent much more cozy than "Big Date Night". It's pretty soft and cuddly for me.

I'd have to agree with other reviewers about the fizziness of this scent. There is something absolutely effervescent about the wet stages of this. As it dries, I get a smoky light musk coming out. This stays pretty light (in feel) on me, but it wafts around like a cloud. There does seem to be a bit of a creamy sweetness about it. I like.

Oh good GODS, I want to roll around in this scent. It's WONDERFUL!! I get just a little bit of tagette, but mostly it's amber and cognac. The amber isn't powdery on me, so this ends up being a really warm and golden scent. It's not sunny, but a little dusky, and definitely sexy!!

I am totally agreeing with the boozy honey consensus. But on me, as this dries further, this becomes VERY similar to the released version. There boozy note fades and I'm left with a honey-heavy version of O. VERY sweet.

I totally agree with previous reviewers about this being a softer more delicate O. There is a powderyness here that is not in the released version for me. It's sugar-spun with hints of carnation in there, adding a little floral spice. There is a little creaminess here as well. I like this alot. I'm not sure but I think I can detect a trace amount of orris in here, or something that my skin is translating as orris.

This is WONDERFUL! I'm in love. This is the best parts of The Antikythera Mechanism with Black Lace. And something else. It is slightly masculine smelling on the outset, but as it dries it gets creamier and much more wearable. It's very comforting and rainy day appropriate. And yes, there are hints of Lamia in here too. But where I found Lamia to be too golden, Osiris is a little darker.

On me, this smelled like a less funky version of Faiza. I loved it!! The wet stages of this were predominantly black currant, orchid and wood violet. As it dried the olive blossom came out more which on my skin translates to a bit of vanillic sweetness. The black currant started to fade at this point, but it never disappeared, just blended into the mix. As wear time continued, the cedar came out more as well, and really rounded the scent nicely, while the musk gave just a hint of itself here. I really really like this.

This one needs to age for me I think. Wet, the cacao is the strongest note here. As the scent dries, the tobacco comes out more and sweetens the cacao a bit. The black musk comes out finally about 20 minutes in, and it takes over the blend at that point. (I should mention that I LOVE black musk, but my skin doesn't usually amp it or turn it to powder). The black musk continues to predominate here, and eventually it turns into the equivalent of a single note for me. I'm going to try aging this to see if the musk calms down a bit.

This one scared me a little, but the concept was just so wonderful I couldn't pass it up. So imagine my surprise and delight when it turned out that this was just wonderful on me!! It smelled exactly like bottled sunshine! The grass and flowers are a little sharp when the scent is initially applied, but it quickly smoothed out on my skin and turned into a really cozy and warm scent. There's a sweet musky scent that is pretty light, and combined with the flowers and grass it's such a comforting blend.

I'm getting ozone here, although it's not a listed note. I have a relatively tumultuous relationship with ozone. We just don't like each other. The white blooms and davana are soft and pretty, but the ozone is edging them out.

This is another true rose scent on me. Which is rather astonishing seeing as how I usually turn rose to ammonia. Similar to the GC scent The Rose, this is exactly the scent of having stuck my nose into a bouquet of fresh red roses. And it stays true. Unlike The Rose, this fades amazingly quickly on my skin. It vanished completely by the second hour.

Ok, this was a complete morpher on me. When first applied, this is strong snow and chrysanthemums. It reminds me of a cold Flowering Chrysathemums from last years Lupers. But as it dries... WOW! It's been a couple of hours since I put it on and it's settled into a really wonderfully soft mum and amber scent, with just a hint of coldness. It's STUNNING!! I've actually had three people come into my office this morning with the sole purpose of smelling the room because it smells THAT. DAMN. GOOD!!

09 Version

This was a blast of mint when I first applied. As it settles, it begins to smell vaguely like Snow White, but less sweet and more herbal (if that makes sense). The mint is still there, but not as strongly as it was in the wet stages. I like this, but I'm not in love with it.

This was very pretty. The snow note was similar to that in Death of a Gravedigger for me. It was cold but not overly minty. As it bloomed on my skin, the narcissus came out, turning this into a rather interesting floral. Very cool and stunning. I liked this, but it was very elegant for me.

This was very tea-like smelling when I first applied. I think it's the Camellia. It blossoms into a predominantly floral scent. As it wears, the floral/tea combo fades a little and the musks come out more. It retains an edge of coolness to it. This one was a little perfumey for my usual tastes. There's an edge of regal-ness about it.

ETA: After trying this again, I'm still getting a floral/tea vibe at the beginning, but the drydown is SPECTACULAR. The peppers come out just a little bit and give the scent a earthy sweetness. The end result is a sweet light musk. It's truly stunning. I've not smelled anything like it.

This was a very green scent. I was a little surprised as I was expecting something a little different here. The ambers weren't very predominant, and instead, the snow note and the bois du rose were at the forefront of the scent, with moss close beneath. The wood warmed it up a little. Overall this is ALMOST going soapy on me.

I'll admit that I ordered this from the decant circle I was participating in without fully reading all of the notes. Once I did, I began to worry. But this is awesome!!! It smells fizzy when first applied, almost along the same lines as the Champagne set of scents from Will Call last year. I get that same nose-tickle. As it wears on my skin though, I get the cold wintery forest feel, pine and some other dark woods, but there seems to be a bit of a crystalline feel to it. The musk is definitely in the same family as Ivanushka, but where that scent was soft, this has a bit of an edge to it (but not in a sharp way). It's still warm and comforting, but a little but sexier than Ivanushka was. It's sweet, but not overly so. I normally don't do overly well with green or forest scents because I usually make them go soapy. But this one doesn't do that for me. I think this may be a bottle purchase.

This one was a surprise hit for me. I was a little hesitant at the peach blossom, but it really lends a bit of lightness to the blend. The clove isn't very predominant here either. The wood and tonka and tobacco are fairly prevalent, with a light flash of peach blossom. The red musk isn't in your face at all, but it's definitely present. It's sweet but not overly rich, with just a hint of a smoky vibe about it. Very wearable. I like it a lot.

Ok, I put this on and immediately got caramel. And then CARAMEL. And then caramel... and celery??!?!? Weird. I was mildly impressed that the ylang ylang didn't come out screaming, but that's probably because it was beaten into submission by the caramel. I was hoping that "traces of caramel" would prove not to be overly caramelly on my skin. Unfortunately not. This one I actually had to wash off.

This is vaguely reminscent of The Deserted Village on me. Both have labdanum, oakmoss and patchouli in them. This scent is a little sharp at first, but as it wears it smooths out a lot! It's rather dark and rich, but it doesn't come across as masculine. I think it could definitely benefit from some aging, and I'm very interested to see what this does in a year or so. The clove is not overpowering on me, in fact, I have to really sniff to find it. And the ginger lends just a hint of spicy/sweetness to this blend. It's nice enough, but I think it will get amazing with some age.

I love Snake Oil, and feel super sexy wearing it. I recently got a decant of Marianne, and feel ultra-sexy wearing that, too. (Trouble is..I want more now. Bah.) I think that must make me a red musk girl, too. Mircalla is all right, and Mme. Moriarty is okay, but a little heavy on the hippie-shop smell. Any other red musk must-tries? (Especially in the ballpark of Marianne?)

The Grindhouse!!! It is LOVE! And also elicits some wonderous responses!

/snip

I just had a thought . . . would TKO be really weird? I love it so much and it would really help me be more relaxed. Anyone have feedback on TKO??

Honestly, my husband loves TKO. I mean LOVES. I mean, I-can't-wear-it-as-a-sleep-blend-if-I-actually-want-to-get-rest LOVES! If it makes you relaxed, and you like the scent, I say go for it!