Little Bird

This pretty much smells like bitter orange peel and dry, dusty hay on my skin, with something sharp and perfumey that comes out more in the drydown (reminds me of iris, but I see no one else has mentioned that, so maybe just something going sharp with my skin chemistry).

This is my favorite of the Nepthys protos (doesn't have the bitter citrus or dry, powdery, soapy qualities in the other protos), though it's probably still not something that I need a full bottle of. This is pretty much all light, sweet incense on my skin. I can't pick out any one note, it just melts into an incense and dry wood type of smell. It's pleasant enough, but doesn't have much throw and only lasts about an hour on me.

I get a bitter, slightly soapy, dry smelling citrus from this. It doesn't really smell like grapefruit on me, but a sort of nondescript, tart fruitiness. The drydown is a bit baby powdery and made me wonder if this had amber in it.

I wasn't sure about Molly Grue at first. The sweet spices go on a bit cheap smelling and remind me of craft store potpourri. But, after about fifteen minutes, the spices calm down and this settles into a nice foodie scent. It smells like pie crust on me, with sweet, woody fig, hints of toasted hazelnut, a touch of sweet spices, and a creamy edge from the rice flower. It's overall something like a sweet, spiced, nutty pastry with a light fig that sticks around in the background. The scent lasts all day on me, but doesn't have a lot of throw. I'm glad that the spices mellow out and aren't overwhelming. All in all, I'm glad to have a bottle of this, though it's probably something I'll reach for more in the autumn months.

I'm glad that I got a decant of this to try, but it's nothing that I'm going to need to search out more of. Benevolent Triple Conjuction is mostly a slightly herbal, sharp, lemony smell on me, and I'm not really fond of lemon scents (unless they're foodie and sweet). There's a bit of a perfumey white floral smell as well. I'm not getting the rose that others have mentioned, and rose is usually super-strong on my skin. Lemony-herbal-floral...

I really enjoy the Thirteen series, and this is yet another favorite for me <3. In the bottle, this is silky, syrupy dark chocolate and hints of dry spiciness (smells like black pepper to me in the bottle, but not like black pepper at all on my skin). On my skin, the cubeb amps up for the first fifteen minutes or so, paired with the creamy, dry sandalwood, a comforting, light spiciness, and hints of delicate chocolate. All of the notes smell very gentle and dainty to me, with nothing going crazy and overpowering anything else. It reminds me a lot of Cerberus at first, with the lemony/herbal Cubeb, sandalwood, and chocolate. As it dries down, this smells a lot like Gypsy Moth, with the dry, spicy cardamom and a vanilla-y sweetness. It's such a pretty, cozy scent, like putting on a soft, well loved sweater I can see myself wearing this one a lot in fall and winter.

I liked this at first, but my bottle turned quickly to a heavy baby powder type scent. It's one of the heavier RPG scents, but still smells cheap to me and doesn't do well with 'aging' over a couple months...

Moon of Horses reminds me of The Zadok Allen Vineyard. The red wine is the strongest note for me at first, but it smells a bit brighter/sharper than usual (but not so sharp that I find it unpleasant at all). And then there are hints of smoky resins underneath the wine, making it smell darker, sexier, and more mysterious. Over time the scent shifts so that the dark, resinous smokiness is stronger and the wine lingers lightly in the background. I love this scent. I'm really happy that I can't smell the cinnamon at all, because cinnamon usually amps up and ruins blends for me. This is all dark, sexy smokiness and decadent wine. It smells swoonworthy to me.

They don't share a ton of similar listed notes, but I think that Tombeur (especially aged) has a feel that's very similar to Hellion. *Tombeur (VILF) - "Deadly and seductive: vanilla-infused sandalwood, blood musk, antique patchouli, vetiver, lavender, bitter almond, amber, and a trickle of Snake Oil." I think that Countess Willie has a similar feel as well, though I find it to be sweeter than Hellion. *Countess Willie (The District) - "Chocolate plum musk, red musk, amaretto, candied fruits, and red ginger." And there are these for more plum scents: *Bathsheba (Ars Amatoria) - "Her scent is breathtakingly lovely, exotic and powerfully sensual in its innocence: carnation, sensual plum, and Arabian musk." *Frumious Bandersnatch (Mad Tea Party) - "Bandersnatch musk, redolent of spicy carnations, wild plums and chrysanthemum." Spicy, dark plum. *Snap-Dragon-Fly (Mad Tea Party) - "Plum pudding, holly, and brandy-soaked raisin with frumenty, mince pie, and a hint of suet." More of a creamy, soft plum. And if you're interested in tracking down other LEs that aren't quite as expensive/rare as Hellion: *Makhanitas (Lupercalia 09) - "Black plum, burgundy wine, sandalwood, and champaca."

I also really enjoy Sinner. I'm not sure if any bpal scent really has the same feel for me, but you might try: *Eclipse (Bewitching Brews) - "A delicious blend of bitter almond, vanilla, frankincense and heliotrope, with a drop of cinnamon." Kinda has a similar dark, sweet, spiced vanilla quality. *Sin (Sin & Salvation) - "Thouroughly corrupted: amber, sandalwood, black patchouli and cinnamon." If you liked the spicy-earthy-sweet aspects of Sinner, this is like the cinnamon and patchouli amped up. *Mme Moriarty (not currently available, but I'd definitely recommend picking up a bottle of this when the Carnaval collection is back up and running) - "Red musk, vanilla bean, pomegranate, patchouli leaf and wild plum." The vanilla really stands out a lot for me in Sinner. If you like the vanilla-y qualities, look into these blends: *The Antikythera Mechanism (Steamworks) - "Teakwood, oak, black vanilla, and tobacco." *Black Opal (Bewitching Brews) - "A play of geological darkness and jagged brilliance. Soft and luminescent with flashes of black fire." *Dorian (Sin & Salvation) - "A Victorian fougere with three pale musks and dark, sugared vanilla tea." *Hunger (Ars Amatoria) - "Black narcissus, orange blossoms, and vanilla." *Lyonesse (Wanderlust) - "Golden vanilla and gilded musk, stargazer lily, white sandalwood, grey amber, elemi, orris root, ambergris and sea moss."

Bueller? Bueller? Bueller? There's nothing in the GC that I think smells a lot like Sugar Moon, but you might try: *Florence (Wanderlust) - "The pearl of the Italian Renaissance. Elegant iris, bright berries, gilded amber and velvety spices." Has a similar, sweet fruity-floral feel. Maybe something like Mania, Hollywood Babylon, or Eat Me if you like the sweet fruitiness of Sugar Moon. And you might want to check out The Rose and Roses Pearls & Diamonds in Marchen, or Hope & Faith from the Carnaval, if you liked the sweetened rose-floral part of Sugar Moon.

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This is sort of a perfumey, tropical orchid smell on my skin, slightly soapy. The soap calms down after about a half hour and it's more of a creamy floral, and I can smell the citrus that others have mentions (smells more lemony than lime-like on me, sadly). It's sort of a fresh, tropical, citrus-floral smell with an edge of soap on my skin.

553: This reminds me of Clockwork Couture: Female (the soft vanilla orchid and warm amber qualities) and the vanilla from Love's Philosophy (slightly powdery on me), with a hint of clean metal. It's a very feminine vanilla, in my opinion. I wasn't so sure about this at first, but within five minutes, the vanilla gets much sweeter and this is quite lovely on me.

PEX32 makes me sick... it's like a combination of tart, artificial fruity smells (like powdery sweet tarts candies) and heavy soap on my skin. The soapiness is a bit sharp and high pitched. I had to scrub this off after about fifteen minutes, because it was giving me a headache.

I didn't have much of this to test, and it fades super-fast on my skin, but I got a blast of fakey red cherry syrup that quickly dried down to something like creamy/powdery white sandalwood.

I would guess that there's amber and some sort of sharp white floral in this (smells sharp and chemical-y on me, the way that tuberose and iris often do). Sharp white floral perfume and baby powdery amber. It starts off way too sharp, but after about fifteen minutes it has quickly faded into a light, clean baby powder smell on me.

This mostly just smells like some sort of dry cinnamon potpourri (almost dusty and not very pleasant) on my skin. I wish that I could pick out the anise/licorice that other people have mentioned. The spiciness might be pink pepper, because I don't tend to enjoy that note (as it often smells like cinnamon that is slightly off on me).

I love these. SO. MUCH. They're perfect - so strongly scented, amazing fragrance, and leave my skin feeling so soft and happy and fragrant... I even love the look of them with the pink salt mixed with the cream colored salts. So girly. Before I put these into the bath, I thought that they smelled a bit sweeter than the Kitty perfume oil, but I thought that they smelled identical to the perfume oil once they were in the water. Beautiful, sweet, cakey strawberry with fresher notes that keep it from being really sweet and foodie. It's so pretty and relaxing to me. I almost fell asleep in the tub. I used about 1/4 the bag and our bath tub is huge (fits me and my husband with lots of extra room), and the water was silky and there was plenty of scent. An hour later, my skin still smells lightly of Kitty and the bathroom/bedroom area smells delicious. I got my husband to take a bath with me (sorry if that's TMI), as he usually loves bath salts, and he really liked these too. He tasted them when I turned around at one point (o_O) and said, "These taste like salt. Make sure you put that in your review." Big surprise. And afterwards he said, "My skin feels very smooth and soft. Is that normal?"

PRC12 reminds me of the dark, cola-esque resins of Schwarzer Mond, the earthy/patchouli parts of Banshee Beat, and the toasted sandalwood of Dancing Koi. It has a dark and earthy presence that keeps it from being as sweet as all of those blends were on me, making this smell darker and more dry and dangerous. It's very 'don't mess with me' on my skin. I like it.

I have to agree with everyone who said that Morocco v2 smells a lot like TKO. TKO is pretty strong and intense on me anyhow, and this is even heavier and stronger - tons of sugary, vanilla-y sweetness and creamy, herbal lavender with a weird little edge (sour jasmine that dries down a lot like LUSH's Vanillary scent?). My husband said that it smells "heavy and sort of musty." Sometimes this seems a bit too sweet/cloying for me, but I do like it more the longer it sits on my skin, as it starts to smell more like LUSH's Vanillary (sort of creamy, yellowy, vanilla-floral powder). I'd have to be in the mood for a very sweet, strong fragrance to wear this, but I can see myself reaching for this every once in a while.

I opened my bottle of this and put a bit on my wrists, and my husband instantly said, "Wow! That smells amazing. Is there pine in that one?" And that sums up my initial thoughts pretty well too . It's a lot like Plague Doctor v10 (which I loveloveLOVE), but with a cool, sweet, green pine note added in to that cool, watery cologne smell. As it dries down, there's something slightly woodsmoky and spicy-warm that comes through as the watery aspects fade. I still love Plague Doctor v10 more than this or any of the other prototypes, but this one is really nice too. I think I'll give this one to my hubby and we'll sort of match when I wear v10. :]

I think that Box 116 has pineapple in it. In the bottle and for the first half hour on my skin, it has something like a pineapple note that reminds me of Drink Me and Upa Upa (a little sour and off-putting in the bottle, but instantly turns to a sweet pineapple once it's on). I get pineapple and a warm, sugary, caramelized note. It smells like grilled pineapple drizzled in caramel, or pineapple upside down cake <3. Very warm and cozy. As it dries down, it's all caramel/butterscotch sweetness and not much else. I don't smell any chocolate that others have mentioned. I'm really glad that I decided to order a bottle of this, because it's a great foodie-sweet scent.

I just *love* the moth and butterfly labels. I think this year's labels look even better than the ones from last year <3

I love that pic, Suusje and wish I had bought a bottle of Antique Lace back when it was still available, so that I could have a complete Lace family, lol.