MCS4096

Oh my oh my, oh my... this is lovely. I'm kind of afraid to say this, but.. this is like TKO meets The Girl meets Antique Lace. I know.. that sounds totally insane.

I'm having trouble writing anything coherent because I'm too interested in huffing my arm.

Ok, hear me out. Most prominent is the lavender from TKO, with just a touch of thyme and carrot seed around the edges-- it's very soft and herbal, only slightly astringent. Next comes something that smells like the deep vanilla of Antique Lace (RIP).. and I'm not sure what it is. I know immortelle (a note also found in The Girl) can be described as smelling syrupy, caramel-like or honey-like, perhaps it is a combination of that with benzoin, giving a resinous sweetness here.

Sweet, herbal, softly musky... dang, I'll be looking for another bottle.

Upon application this is most prominently black leather and smokey vetiver. There is something light that is almost cinnamon-like.. perhaps the saffron-infused labdanum? It is actually reminding me of Spanked Res. at this point. To be honest the other notes are very well blended and I have a hard time picking them out even though I'm familiar with them.. As it dries down the vetiver is balanced more by this combination of other notes. I cant discern even a hint of patchouli, let alone cacao-dusted (or frog-dusted.. or caca-dusted ) patchouli. I imagine it is the moss and chamomile lending a vaguely cologney vibe. I'd describe this as primarily black leather with a hint of smoke, a bit of spice, and a touch of masculine cologne. I'm still most reminded of Spanked I think.

Edited to add: this is fresh out of the mail, so may change once settled some.

This dries down to be simply a lighter version of the French Tobacco SN on my skin. I dont think I ever get the champaca magnolia unfortunately.

This was a surprise hit for me. I thought it would be an "experience" type scent, and since I missed Brooms Of Steel I thought I'd give it a shot. Surprise surprise I love it and find it very wearable! When it goes on its a fascinating blend of apple and either menthol or eucalyptus, and it's bracing and fresh and a great alternative to mint if you dont really like mint but you want something bracing and fresh As it dries down that cold blast disappears though and you're left with a realistic apple, peel, hint of bough and ground kind of scent. Even a touch of musk to warm it up a bit. It's not too fruity, or too woody, or too dirty.. it's just a great blend of all three.

 

I do find it interesting that not all reviewers note the menthol note... it's pretty obvious and strong upon application.. I'm hoping there isnt a batch variation that might be causing some of us to get more of that note than others because I hope to have a bottle that smells just like my decant.

That slightly sour, furry musk that I love so much.. it's in Coyote, Ivanushka, Faunalia, etc etc No one floral note really stands out to me (I was worried either rose or peony would take over), but instead they just meld together to give a sweet, fresh, pinkish feel-- not high pitched or heady, but not green either.. just lovely and soft. The rose might actually be similar to the "sugared rose" in Plovers Above the Waves from the recent Lupers.. I think they're actually quite similar besides the fur note here.. this is like Plovers Above the Sasquatch

 

Soft, feminine, with pretty decent throw. I really like it

I think this is what I wanted Little Pythia to smell like, but it was too rosey. This is a perfect blend of well behaved rose and resin and musk and a hint of something sweet, almost fruity.

Lavender smells "dry" to me, and plum blossom smells "juicy"... together that juxtaposition bothers me a little.. it smells conflicted. Dont get me wrong, it's lovely (although I was hoping for more white ginger.. I still dont have a bpal blend that is white gingery enough for me), but it seems unsettled to my nose.

I personally find the apricot in this plenty sweet.. it's strongest on my skin, with cedar a close second and a bit of patchouli noticeable but well behaved. Fruity and woody.. drier, not really juicy. A little too woody in the end, for me, as that reads a little too masculine for my tastes, but I still find this lovely.

The frankincense is more obvious when wet, but once dried down I get mostly spicy myrrh with a hint of cypress. This isnt necessarily exciting, but it is pretty great stuff. I find it pretty similar to Minotaur (another one that is mostly spicy myrrh to me).

This reminds me a lot of Holiday Argument Diffusing Spray (carnation, white sandalwood, vanilla bean, Roman chamomile, ylang ylang, bergamot, and lemon peel) but with frankincense. And I get a looot of frankincense. I also definitely get the sugared part of the sugared rose, and it's lovely and candy like. I suspect, from having aged a bottle of Argument Diffusing Spray, that the lemon will come out a lot more with time.. I dont get much right now. Carnation is a favorite note of mine, and I'm sad it doesnt stick around here very well after the initial spray... I smell mostly roses in the long run.

 

For as much as I love resins and incenses, I find a lot of "floral plus resin" blends to be a little nondescript to my nose for some reason... As such I think I'm good with just my decant.

I also get a bit of a licorice vibe when it's first applied. There is a lot of lemony bergamot and mild patch.. it's clean yet earthy, a tiny bit sweet. As time goes by the balsam comes out more and it gets a little dry and woody-- which makes me miss the way it smelled at first. If it stayed more like the initial scent and had a longer wear time I would for sure get a bottle, but it is a little fleeting for my taste.

When I did my PhD thesis defense I did not wear a scent-- I did not want to chance bothering anyone on my committee who was sensitive to smells (even if you think they're ok, there's still a chance it will be distracting.. just my personally opinion). I instead went with a small application, above my heart, of the TAL Lionheart as I was very nervous and run down from preparing and wanted to focus on my courage.

Herbal, peppery, clovey red musk. I swear I smell cinnamon even though it's not listed. I don't really get copal here-- but then I amp red musk like crazy.

Lemon, ozone, and eucalyptus giving way to mint during the dry down. It also seems to lean a little floral as time goes on. If you like the recent Eldritch Drunken Constellations or Yellow Snowballs, this is in the same neighborhood.

Concerned that with a batch of The Final Darkness already sold out we might see a variation in the next batch. I wouldnt have guessed before now that multiple batches were needed for LE runs unless blends were wildly popular.

Furry musk and (I'd guess) myrrh and mild vetiver, a bit of moss and the cologney version of 'stone.' I think I might even detect a tiny bit of leather in there.

I'm sorry to say I think this smells like urine Urine and dirt and a hint of corn chips.

Very much like Faunalia. I'll need to compare them side by side to be sure, but I feel that where Faunalia had an airy forest vibe, this has a deeper cologney "blood" vibe. But the musk is totally the same, and the overall feeling isnt much different.

 

This is animal musk and the high pitched metallic zing of the Lab's blood note. It is a little lemony upon application yes, but then it reaches a crescendo that is almost floral-- it's felt way up in the nose in a way that is close to dust. It's warm and spicy, almost resinous, rather than woody.

 

I'm a huge fan of this particular musk, and I love resins and spices. If you do too, you will adore this one.

Resins plus salty aquatics. It winds up feeling like one of those stone+blood blends (I just wore Sarah last night and there are some similarities). The darker notes are more apparent at the beginning, with just a slight salty hint of ocean. But as it wears, for me, the aquatic aspect becomes more obvious and the dry down is strong salt water and incense. It's funny that some folks get no salt, because it's quite obvious on my skin.

My first thought was definitely of a shampoo Funny how we all think that.

 

This is just beautiful. Apple and bamboo are crisp and juicy and green. The floral component is fairly subdued. To me the overall effect is like biting into an apple that had a little floral note to it's flavor.. you know how they're like that sometimes? I'm not sure if it's the sandalwood alone or it in combination with green tea or bamboo, but I can smell something more like the core or the skin of the apple.. slightly woody and unsweet.

 

It gets a little high pitched on me as it wears.. I'm thinking I might amp whatever is used as the "bamboo" note because I had a similar experience with Shamisen-- all of the sudden things start smelling like big white flowers. Perhaps I could add my decant to an unscented shampoo? or as Miasma said; a room spray would be awesome.

Saltiness and a hint of the Lab's bitter leaf note. I don't really get any florals.. maybe at the very beginning, but then this becomes pretty much salt and leaves. I don't care for it at all, but was interested in trying it. I'm often drawn to the concepts of aquatic blends, but they generally dont work on my skin.

This is Pink Snowballs but without whatever note that blend has in common with Snow White that goes to plastic nastiness on me and breaks my heart. I'm so excited because I LOVE Pink Snowballs! Yay, sweet rose and cream!

 

Will definitely get one bottle, maybe two.

You might like U (umlaut, from the Mutter Museum), which is another bookish type scent, and doesnt have the same tendency to go to 'cologne' that some of the others mentioned do (in my experience at least). India Ink SN, though harder to find, might be up your alley-- the scent of hand written manuscripts

 

If you're interested in something with a science theme it's hard to beat Schrodinger's Cat... Although I dont find the scent particularly thought provoking itself.

 

No 93 Engine is an awesome steampunk blend that makes me feel creative and smell like I've been working in a mechanical laboratory. It's also very clean and bright, which can be energizing.

 

I also recommend checking out the TAL section. I'm a chemist and, to be honest, most of the time I like to wear blends that kind of take me away from the academic environment to give me some silliness and fun-- the times I've truly had to perform academically and focus, I generally dont wear a perfume blend, but apply a swipe of an appropriate TAL. When I gave my dissertation defense, for example, I went with Lionheart, a blend that has helped me several times to focus my intention beyond anxiety, and perform bravely in a room packed with rapid scientists.

I'm really digging the clovey, resinous part of this, but the sweet dead swamp plants kind of turn my stomach. The throw is all spicy, myrrh goodness, but get your nose too close and there's that creepy floral bog stench. I can definitely see how this could lean towards bubble gum-- it's quite sweet.

Sweet soil and eucalyptus. Maybe a hint of stone and leather (that could be moss going leathery). It's a tad floral in an indescribable way. I agree with the reviewer that said it was a tropical Zombi.

 

I was personally hoping for more stone, less greenery. It is certainly strange and compelling however.