sunshinedaisybliss

 

Wow.. as soon as I opened up the imp... marzipan!! For the first few minutes on my skin.. very strong marzipan - this is almond, and lots of it!!

 

15 minutes later, that initial blast of marzipan has calmed down, but the almond is still very strong. I think I smell the myrrh purring away in the background there, but no sign of the musk yet.

 

Woo hoo! 30 minutes in.. the almond has powdered right down and the lovely myrrh has come out on top. The musk has finally made an appearance and it's definitely a dark musk, slightly smoky.

 

After 45 minutes, everything has really softened up and faded - unfortunately this didn't keep the lovely richness it had at the 30-minute stage, now it's quite faint and slightly soapy. I just checked it again, it's been on 2 hours now, and I can barely tell where it is on my arm. Nice while it lasted!

 

This ends up going very soapy on me.. clean and fresh, but also slightly sweet and golden. It's pretty, but not something I can see myself wearing.

Well poo. In the bottle, this smells all rich and delicious but when it hits my skin.. not so great. The leather is the most predominant note, but it's not a nice musky leather - it's a sharp and bitter leather. I'm getting none of the sweet vanilla licorice that other reviewers have mentioned.. darn it.. that's what I was hoping for most of all. Really I'm just getting the leather, maybe some of the coal and dust. It's not unpleasant or nasty smelling at all - it's just not what I was hoping for.

 

I'll test it again later to see if I get a different result, but unless the licorice comes out to play then I think Mr Fouettard will need to find a new home.

 

I am sooooo happy to have this! The fragrance from this spray is stunning.. the wood and leather are rich and intoxicating, and the stout adds a touch of syrupy sweetness that mingles beautifully with the patchouli. Coal dust.. yep, I get that too - it's not strong, but there's just a hint of old fireplace here. I don't get straight-up vanilla, which is just fine because that would never have worked, but there's still a vanilla presence in there. I'm also getting something like apple cider - very faint, but it's there.

 

If I were to live in a log cabin in the woods, I would want it to smell like this. All the time. And I totally agree with previous reviewers - there's something very sexy man about it.. should I ever discover a man that actually smells like this, he'll be in big trouble.

 

This stuff is so delicious that I've taken to spritzing it in the air and then standing under where I sprayed so that some of it lands in my hair and on my clothes - if you haven't tried that yet.. do it! Then smell your hair! ahem.

 

Yeah, it's good

 

 

Reviewing the 2008 version.. and, well, I'm disappointed - this had all the ingredients for win and I was hoping for golden resin-y browns, but on me this is quite white, floral and cologne-y. It had moments of lovely amber richness and for a moment there I thought the tonka was finally coming out to cancel that cologne thing, but nope.. it didn't happen. Sad

 

 

This is a really interesting blend.. it really does have an Asian feel to it, which I'm attributing to the Chinese musk or perhaps the bamboo - it's got a top note that's very spicy without being obviously spicy (if that makes sense?!?). Lovely lovely rich brown wood, slightly nutty, the fabulous fig is rich and velvety, the other notes are obviously mixed in there somewhere but I'm unable to pick them out separately.. except maybe the chamomile, which I think makes an appearance after about 30 minutes on my skin.

 

I suspect this one will get better with more age, when the woods deepen and the walnut/fig softens up and blends more with the woods. I'm not sure that I need a bottle just yet, so I'll be testing from my decant again in a few months' time to see how it's changed.

 

 

For the first little while when this was on my skin, it was all glorious resin-y almost waxy coconut with a warm wood undertone. Then it went into a really soapy kinda coconut with a slightly sweet tone, and after about 20 minutes became very sweet almost like a waxy honey.

 

One hour in, and now it's a soft powdery coconut with just a touch of the resin-y vibe still drifting through it - the sweetness has calmed down but the warm of the wood is still there. Like MelanieSuzanne mentioned in her review, this is gives me a calming feeling.. it's quite mellow and soothing. I would have been happier if the frankincense, myrrh and cedar had played a stronger part - I found the sweet soapiness of the coconut distracting. I wonder if aging will change the balance.. I'll just have to wait and see

 

Sniffing this in the bottle is like an explosion of strawberry and anise! Bright, rich and very berry!!

 

On my skin, at first it's very much strawberry and rose but about 10 minutes later those have settled down and now there's a deeper berry (which I assume is huckleberry, never having actually smelled it), and the frankincense is soft and woody here - it's all very rich and lush right now. But then 30 minutes later I can still smell the rose, and the strawberry is still there too but it's developed a 'fake' kinda strawberry tone to it.. that's a shame, it was more rich and sweet when it first went on. No sign of the anise now either

 

One hour in - the strawberry's still there but now I can also smell the violet, which to be honest I wish had stayed away because it's making the whole thing a bit sickly.

 

My final verdict? Hmm.. undecided - I wish it had stayed the way it was at about the 10 minute point. I think I'll try this another day and see whether I get a different result.. I'd like less of the sweet and more of the frankincense and anise,

 

 

 

Mmmmm... in the bottle, beautiful berries and pomegranate with just a hint of green

 

When it first goes on my skin, it's mostly pomegranate but not a sweet type, more a musky kind. The blackberry's there too, and very faint is the bergamot. I can't actually smell any patchouli on its own, but I think that's what's behind the musky dryness of the fruit.

 

Half an hour in, it's all dark fruity berries and the heliotrope is there now, so it's sweetened up a bit.

 

After an hour, it's faded down nicely into a very musky soft berry. A masterful blend!

 

 

I am ridiculously thrilled to have scored a bottle of this!! Deranged indeed.. on me, it's all smoky sexy leather. The pine and mosses are hanging in the background, adding a slight twinge of green earthiness but the patchouli and cinnamon are on top. There's a waxy wood kinda thing going on here too, giving it all a lovely warm richness. It starts off quite masculine but softens up as it dries down.. after one hour on my skin it mellowed into a gorgeous woody leather.. and after another hour it's still there in pretty much the same style but starting to fade. I'd need to reapply this approx. every two hours to keep the spices, they're the notes that disappeared the most quickly when it was on my skin.

 

Do geeks really smell like this? Clearly I need to investigate that further.

 

 

 

 

Well.. I seem to be the odd one out here - on me, this is all sweet, warm and spicey apple cider. I can definitely get the cardamon and cinnamon, but sadly no sign of the tangerine or cherry. I really can't find the black tea either, but my guess is that it's the amber musk at play here.. my skin loves amber musk but it tends to morph other notes for me. But apple? Very odd.

 

So yeah.. there it is, completely lovely but totally unlike what I was expecting.

I received this as a stealth frimp in my Lab order..

 

I would never have picked Love Lies Bleeding, because of the "bloom" in the description. I thought.. florals. Ohhhhh boy - was I wrong!! If you had asked me to pick the notes in this, I would have said cocoa, cherry, dragon's blood and red musk. Smooth and velvety, warm and lush. Good grief, it's delicious!

 

I could smell this as soon as I opened the imp to test it. When I dabbed it on, the fragrance wafted up in a delicious cloud before I even leaned in to sniff it. I think I may have said an impolite word at that point. After about a half-hour on, something kinda coconut-y is coming out, that may just be the cocoa mellowing out. Still cherries and musky. Two hours in, and it's all softened down beautifully but still holding all the notes - lovely.

 

This is ridiculously delicious velvety sexy scrumptiousness.

 

 

 

Firstly, big going out to Tapestry, who sold me her 1/2 bottle of this lovely lady. Like many others, I'd been lusting after her for a while

 

I really LOVE the way this smells in the bottle. I wanted to drink it. It's all dark peppery velvet raspberry and pomegranate - sweet with a menacing edge, like a very very VERY good hideously expensive voluptuous red wine. And then it hits my skin. The same rich rudeness is there, but now I can smell the rose musk and it's not as heady as it was in the bottle. The gardenia is just a bit too obvious for my liking, it's overriding the reds and purples. Give it time..

 

Ok - an hour in. Now the gardenia has settled, and remains only in spirit. The plum is in full force, with the blood, and now I can also smell the patchouli. The raspberry and pomegranate are hanging in there, just around the edges.

 

Two hours in - much the same, but much fainter on my skin now. I wish the heady voluptuous stage had stayed a bit longer, but this is one intoxicating blend.. I will be treasuring every drop.

Mmmmmm. MMMMMMMMMMM. Yum!

 

The coffee here is lovely - this reminds me a little of El Dia de Reyes but without the brown sugar. If there really was a group of dogs playing poker, smoking pipes and drinking Irish coffee - this is how the room would smell after they'd left, having spilled the Irish coffee all over the wood and tapped their burnt pipe tobacco out on to the floor.

 

I found that it goes on strong, with a very rich blast of the rich sugary Irish coffee, but within about 10 minutes the wood and the tonka come out and the coffee blends in more evenly. At the half-hour stage, the smoke is now there. At the two-hour stage it's all just blended together beautifully but quite faint on my skin - mostly it's the coffee (still) and smokey wood that I can smell.

 

 

 

 

 

For a blend inspired by such a macabre tale, this is incredibly delicious and lovely. Pomegranate is always a friend to me.. when I first put this on, it's by far the strongest note - almost bubble-gum like in its richness but don't let that put you off if you're not a bubble-gum kinda person - my skin amps pomegranate like crazy.

 

Half an hour later, ahhh... leather and tonka bean. Nice - the pomegranate has softened now and gone more fruity than its original pink bubble gum, perhaps the boiled wine has something to do with that. I'm not picking up the blood note at all though, but the overall effect now is a leathery grape with a touch of spice.

 

Two hours later - all soft and pretty, just a less strong version of where it was at the half-hour point. Very enjoyable.

Ohhhh how I love my snakes! But I had been avoiding this one, because mint and I have a very tumultuous relationship whereby any BPAL that contains mint gets on my skin and turns me into a walking tube of toothpaste. But then I discovered Monsterbait Tokyo Stomp, which totally loves me and the mint worked well. So I figured perhaps I should re-think my stance on the mint issue and give GTT a try.

 

YAY! It's a win!! I love how the Snake Oil is still there, but the mints here are stunning - clean, crisp and slightly chocolate-ish. I'm guessing it's the green tea that's mellowing out the mints and stopping that toothpaste thing from happening - well, that and the snake oil base.

 

Two hours later - the mints have softened down beautifully.. the snake oil is more prominent now but still with that minty flavour. I can see this being perfect for hot summer days - it's still the dirty sexy snake oil we know and love, but with the crisp fresh excitement of mint. I'm ending this review right now, because suddenly I feel like I'm writing copy for a Mentos commercial

 

So it's official - I love ALL of the Le Mat trio! But if I had to pick a least favourite of the three.. Coxcomb would be it. Not because it's "bad" or anything, but just because the other two are so divine.

 

The Moroccan musk is strongest on my skin - the red currant is there, but quite soft. I'm not really picking up the sage at all, and the frankincense is subtle. After about an hour on, I can barely detect where the oil was - it dries down to a very subtle musky fruit spice.

 

I'm not that enthralled with Coxcomb on its own - it just doesn't have much staying power on my skin. But put it with the other two Le Mat blends and it provides a beautiful foundation for the craziness of Motley and the fruity goodness of Marotte.

 

Well.. this is completely unlike any other BPAL I have experienced to date! I had no idea what this was going to smell like, but I am so glad I got a bottle because as VioletChaos said.. total.love.

Rhubarb, blackcurrant, mushroom.. who'da guessed those three together would be so awesome!?! The sour syrupy tang of the rhubarb is balanced beautifully by the sweet darkness of the blackcurrant, and the myrrh is just purring away in the background keeping the whole thing all warm and velvety. I'm guessing it's the mushroom that's adding the powdery feeling to this, and stopping it from going completely purple fruity. Champaca - well, you know how that is.. all sexy warmth and musky creaminess.

I can see how this might go horribly wrong on some people.. particularly if your skin has a tendency to turn things into the dreaded plastic note, but I couldn't be happier with Motley - it's completely unique and unbelievably sumptuous. And incredible when layered with its mates; Marotte and Coxcomb. Much kudos to Beth & team on this one, I'm smitten.

 

Completely delicious! As others have said, the pear is strongest on my skin.. it reminds me of The Perilous Parlor - same kind of pear except that in Marotte it's a golden woody kind of pear rather than the sweet vanilla pear of TPP.

 

Patchouli, thankfully, is not strong here - although it does feature more after about an hour on my skin than it did at first. I'm loving the heady mix of the oakmoss, musk and mahogany. I do get what people are saying about the 'metallic edge' but on me it's not sharp at all.. everything here is beautifully blended and very soft. After 3 hours on my skin, I'm still getting beautiful woody pear and amber.

 

Gorgeous on its own, but even better when layered with the other two (Motley and Coxcomb).

Sadly, I'm not getting any of the beautiful fruits and vanillas.. Velvet Tiki for me is like a strong boozey brown sugar/caramel. Not nice.

 

I am seriously considering the possibility that my skin is somehow conspiring against me

 

 

Damnit. I wanted the pink rock candy and strawberry cream. But noooooo - all I get is the sour gin and vermouth doing their best impression of hair spray and fly spray mixed together. And grenadine, where the hell are you? Such a bummer, I should have known by my past experience with champagne (hello, Stardust - I'm talking to you!) that this was never going to work.

 

Bad kitty. Put that martini glass down, go sleep off that stinky booze and come back when all you have is rock candy and strawberry cream.

Wowsers.. there's no mention of clove in the notes but on my skin - this is like a clove-o-rama!

 

Actually, what it reminds me of is the smell of the dentist's.. when I first open the door into the reception area and that smell of fillings fills the air.

 

What it also reminds me of is when I was in Bali, and I would walk past a huddle of Balinese men on the street smoking clove cigarettes. I prefer that scent association to the one about the dentist

 

Very spicey, and kinda smokey - I actually like this as a "smell", but not sure I would wear it for myself.

 

 

Oh my.. when this first hit my skin and I took a big whiff.... it tickled! The wasabi was sharp, but not unpleasant. I thought I could also smell an anise kinda thing going on, but I'm not sure where that was coming from.

 

After 10 minutes, that initial blast of wasabi has calmed right down, and now I can smell the tea.. the myrrh and frankincense are quite subdued but I know they're there. It's smelling very green!!

 

Half an hour later, this has dried right off and is barely there. I'm left with a very clean, fresh (and still green) scent on my skin that I have to get up real close to find.. however I did only dab, I didn't put a lot on, so that may be why it's quite faint.

 

This was bold and intoxicating at the start, energetic and vibrant in the middle, and soft at the end. Like sex. If your sex is like that. Ahem.

 

Ok.. here's what I don't understand - the vetiver in this is completely non-existent to my nose.. but in Velvet Tiger it was all I could smell. I just don't understand how vetiver works, but in this instance I'm not complaining! The most prominent notes on my skin are the musk, anise, mandarin and black vanilla. This is a good thing!!

 

They're very well blended though, I'm having trouble distinguishing them individually. As a result, I get a *nice* fragrance from this.. a kind of vanilla-ish mandarin-ish musky thing, but I'm not sure it's anything too remarkable. I'll be happy with just my one bottle, thankfully I won't be needing to hoard this one

 

 

 

edited to fix double posting

Oh vetiver, you truly are a dark and fiendish bastard.. why do you have to dominate all the other lovely notes here? Do you have some sort of inferiority complex? It's not like we don't notice when you're around.. seriously, learn to mellow out a little.

This is a beautiful blend, but unfortunately the vetiver is just too much.. damnit.. I can only just smell the gorgeous rich orange and tangerine, and the amber has been vetivered into submission. I can't really pick up the licorice or teak at all, but the cinnamon's there. So I was hoping for orange, amber, licorice and teak with subtle vetiver and cinnamon in the background.. but instead, I got the reverse of that. If you're lucky enough to have skin that can absorb and soften the vetiver/cinnamon thing, then you're a lucky lucky sausage. I'm seriously upset about this one, I sooooooo wanted it to work for me but I don't think it's going to be a keeper