splendidissima

I mostly get richly spiced coffee with a bit of a chocolate-y note - not quite enough to be a full-on mocha, but tempering the coffee. I don't really get fir or smoke at all, which is fine - it's a nice cozy warm scent as is, good for cold weather! And I love the label. 🙂

This is pretty much exactly what it says - heavy on the BPAL peach note, rich and sweet, followed up by blackberries, and a little kiss of wine. It reminds me of some of the Stardust scents - Fairy Wine, perhaps. Nice for late summer/golden autumn!

This is primarily apple on me - a soft woodsy apple, almost floral. (My husband actually guessed it was apple blossom!) I've never had anything else with silver fennel, so I'm wondering if that's contributing to the woods/herbal sense here? The beeswax adds a nice warm touch of creamy lightly sweet wax. I sort of picture walking through an apple orchard in some sort of old-fashioned dress, on a warm afternoon. It's very interesting, and very pretty!

Ginger and red cherries! I don't really get black musk, but I think that must be keeping the cherries from going too cough-syrup - someone said cherry soda or cherry cordial, above, and that sounds right! The ginger gives it a little spice, nice and bright, not too dark. This is fun!

Oh, I like this one! I figured I would - I like all three notes (I really like the Lab's yogurt), so this was a full-bottle buy. In order of strength, on me: green tea, yogurt, and then mango. The green tea is refreshing and light, the yogurt adds that sour-cream note, and the mango pops in for a little sweet tropical brightness. I would totally drink this - like some sort of tropical milk tea drink! It's great for the last hot days of summer-into-autumn, here.

Raspberry white chocolate swirls! Pink, sweet, fruity, creamy, and pretty. There is something that keeps it more grown-up than little-kid - maybe the white musk lending it a cool pale edge? Like eating a fancy raspberry white chocolate truffle while sitting by the window of an upscale apartment on a misty silver-hued day. Oh, I really like this. I'm tempted to acquire a backup!

Sweet maraschino cherry! Not cough syrup at all - really a dead ringer for that bright red sugary sweetness. As it dries, the marshmallow comes out more - it's very marshmallow fluff, with a whipped or airy note - how does Beth do that?! It's different from just straight marshmallow somehow, with whatever's making it fluffier and airier. I really like this, but it's very low throw and also one of those scents that my skin just eats; I put it on and it's gone within half an hour. I've been having that issue with a few of the recent blends, so maybe it's me? For example, both Ghost Dragon's Mama and White Cat do this to me too - great, but then just gone. *sad*

This one's fascinating! It's such an odd but good (?) combination of notes! I get a lot of peppermint cream - and it is more creamy than, say, a Lick It - alongside pale blue-violet flowers, cool and...well, floral! I can't really disentangle specific floral notes, but it calls to mind exactly the dress from the artwork, with those blue stripes and the billowing skirt. I don't really get teakwood or nutmeg; it stays soft mint + cream + cool blue-hued florals, with good throw. I'm not usually drawn to florals, but I love peppermint and cream and vanillas, and also cats, so I wanted to try this one, and I'm glad I did. I don't know if I love it, but I find that I keep reaching for it and testing it and sniffing it, because it's so interesting - so I've actually been wearing it a lot!

Bottle from the Lab Etsy! In order of strength: white chocolate, sweet banana candy (not really creamy, more like that artificial banana candy scent, which I actually like!), and a hint of something green/herbal/citrus. I don't get hazelnut, unless that's just blended into the chocolate. I like it - the mate makes it more complex than a simple banana + white chocolate. It is definitely sweet and foody, but I tend to like those scents, though it might work better in cooler weather!

Snagged from the Lab's Etsy! Definitely chocolate cake! A rich, dark, fancy one - the kind that's made with some espresso and caramelized brown sugar bits, to enhance the Dark Chocolate Depths. I like it! The Husband also immediately said "chocolate cake?" as soon as I opened it (he was sitting next to me), so we're in agreement on that!

Freebie from the Lab! ❤️ I was hoping for more ice + amber, but the metallic notes are very strong on me. I don't dislike it, but I'm not sure I like it *on me*. It really does give that 'sophisticated gentleman's - or gentleman-presenting person's - cologne' feel. Maybe I'll try it on the husband!

Adding to the 'this is weird, but not bad' vote! It goes on with a big waft of salt - sea breeze and ocean water. Then a vanilla sweetness comes out, so it's very...saltwater sugar vanilla, maybe a little creamy. I can see saltwater taffy, definitely, specifically, but what it *isn't* is golden or caramel or dark. It really does remind me of going to the old-fashioned sweet shop at the ocean harbor village near where I grew up, and getting a bag of assorted saltwater taffy (my dad always got a bag), and sticking my nose in and sniffing it while the breeze drifts up across the harbor. It's not as sweet as I expected - it's very evenly balanced between the salt and the vanilla sugar cream, and I don't really get spice or fruit. It is a bit odd, but I like it - it feels like childhood summer to me, getting nostalgic at the seaside harbor village shops, with the old carousel and the ice-cream parlor and the kite shop and the boats bobbing up and down in the water as we walk around with old-fashioned candy.

I waffled about this, but I regretted not getting Katrina von Tassel, so I talked myself into it. It's a scent I'd wear when I want to feel pretty, feminine, and sweet but sophisticated. It's a sweet lightly honeyed pink rose - primarily that - but there's something really interesting in the background that's coconut creamy + a little whisper of salty air: unexpected, and making it more complex, and intriguing. I'd want to smell someone more, if they smelled like this. 🙂

My first reaction was, spiced coffee...? I think the cardamom + whiskey + cream is somehow reading coffee on me! I'm not mad about it. It's actually reminding me a LOT of the Spiced Rum Buttercream Coffee from the Activism line, which I have a partial bottle of. It's foodie but not super-heavy. Not much fig, and I would've liked that, but I still like it as is!

Pink guava candy! This is very fun and summery. I don't get much orchid, but that's fine - I like sweet fruits! If this were a summer cocktail, I'd drink it. Not too long-lasting, but also I didn't put much on, since I was testing a few things!