MCS4096

A nondescript herbal red musk. Was hoping to smell a few more nuances, but I don't really. I actually had a Chaos Theory (Eris' Tilt a Whirl) that was basically this.. and it was just a tad too plain.

You people had me at "chocolate factory on fire." Between that and the name I bough this one unsniffed. Shame shame shame on me

 

Because holy jeeze, I have finally verified my absolute, hands-down death note combo: red patchouli and vetiver. I actually like them quite a bit independently, but the combination of the two in one scent just turns my stomach over.. I feel sick and start sweating. Malediction was where I first encountered this badness.. apparently I'd forgotten it's notes (it's ONLY TWO NOTES in fact) until now that burning chocolate factory thing was quite persuasive.... Uh yea, so it's all I can smell here-- it's like my nose is hypnotized and cant smell anything but those two notes.. and they are bad. Ok. I smell rose too

 

As if I hadn't been negative enough already, I'll describe my personal impression of this one: Sickly sweet burning plastic and rotten grass with a liberal splash of rose water.

Morocco is one of my best loved blends ever so I was excited to try this. This is my second hair gloss, the first being Silky Bat, and while I do love the scent of this one (obviously) it doesnt seem anywhere near as strong or long lasting. That one lasted days, this one seems to be gone within a couple hours?? I just dyed my hair recently so maybe it's sucking up the stuff a bit more than usual...

Hmmm I guess I'm more concerned about oil getting up into the space in between the stopper and the lid and then, when you open it, that oil going all over the place.

 

I've shot off an email to the lab to check on it because I just went after a few random bottles of mine with a pair of tweezers and the clear part definitely seems to be attached to the black part... I don't think they're supposed to be separate.

Very very sweet. Mostly violet, but made slightly high pitched by the lilies. A pale purple scent. A hint of greenery, maybe lily stems or cypress, is evident when sniffed up close.
This makes me think of violet hard candies stored in a box with powdered sugar so they dont stick together

More than just a floral, the candy gives it a fun twist. I don't think the sugar smells brown or caramelized at all-- the reason I think that is that those notes go to death on my skin and this does not

Eucalyptus and apple I was hoping for a juicier apple, a bit of metal, and a better behaved mint. Yowza.

Dirt and sweet smoke. I agree that it's like the rain moistened remains of a burnt out fire pit. As it dries down it becomes more resinous, finally finishing up as a sweet, powdery scent. I actually like it quite a lot (but then, I liked Gore-Shock too )

This is it. This is the jasmine scent I could have as my only jasmine scent for the rest of my life. I've always been a jasmine lover, but for some reason the Lab's jasmine containing blends never hit me quite right... they dont smell how I think jasmine smells. They're always a little too high pitched, a little too sickly sweet. But THIS... it's heady, but fresh and juicy. Lush and realistic. Even if you think you don't like jasmine, you might ought to try this, because it's world's apart from any other bpal jasmine I have experience with. I hope I can snag a few back up bottles!

When first applied I definitely get a foodie aspect-- almost cookie-like actually, that does not agree well with the florals in my opinion. But that disappears fairly quickly, because the jasmine/magnolia/tuberose trifecta amp to high heavens. I dont get any musk or amber, which is kind of surprising actually because I had a huge glob of something in my bottle when I received it.. I poked it with a pipette and shook the bottle and now there is a resinous sediment. Hopefully aging will bring some of that out!

 

Make no mistake, this is a super-floral blend.

I was a little scared by the "hateful vetiver" discription

 

Especially when I dont get much vetiver, hateful or otherwise! I get mostly sandalwood and bergamot with some well-behaved pepper. The coffee, leather, and vetiver arent really distinguishable to my nose and must just form the dark base of the blend.

 

I agree with the reviews above that this is quite sweet and definitely could be interpreted as anise-like. It's a lot more pleasant than I was expecting honestly. It's sweet, a little tangy, fruity/floral, deep and lush. Unfortunately, for such a potentially imposing scent it has no throw on me whatsoever(on my other wrist is Knight in Shiny Armor and it's all I can smell as I type) and fades to nothing within an hour.

*siiiiiigh*

 

Carnation, oakmoss, vanilla, a hint of lavender and sage. I think any leather present might be blending in with the oakmoss because, as I know from the SN, it's quite leathery itself. It's powdery dry and sweet and clean

 

This is divine. Enough carnation and vanilla to not feel overly masculine, although it definitely tends that way. In a similar vein to Villain, which has a vanilla and lavender fougere feel (although no vanilla is listed as a note) So you'll probably like this, if you like that.

To me this smells of honey and soil, in the best possible way!

 

It's the patchouli I've most recently smelled in Silkybat I believe. The honey is not overwhelming, and combined with the beeswax gives a really lovely earthy sweetness. It's a very "full" scent, with rich base and top notes. At once soft and powdery, but with a singing brightness too (perhaps saffron?).

 

Overall, this is just gorgeous! It's a shame it was so limited, because I think a lot of people would really like this one.

Oh this is so gorgeous!

 

Creamy, musky amber and orange blossom/neroli. Soft, powdery, clean.

I wrote a review for this the other day.. but it uh, seems to have disappeared

 

 

This is a perfect representation of a dusty beeswax candle. It's not freshly made, bright and clean, but it's still very very sweet. Dust has settled onto wax that has gone very slightly off. I don't really get leather here, or smoke, just dust and sweet beeswax. I agree that it does start out almost sickeningly sweet, but calms down.

 

It doesnt have much throw on me but it is a pleasant skin scent. The hint of decay/oldness is really only smellable to me up close to the skin, so what I get in the minimal throw is realistic beeswax. Nice and simple.

Unfortunately this made me feel really nauseated. I like vetiver, but I was surprised how much I disliked Black Ice. Something about the way the earthiness of the vetiver combined with the perfumey floral aspect just turned my stomach.

Yep, just as everyone has said-- lots of crisp white tea, slightly sweet, quite subtle eucalyptus adding a hint of shine, and a dash of slightly salty ambergris. I swear there is lemon in this it's just so clean and fresh. The ambergris, as it always does for me, dries down to a lovely salty musk.

 

I don't find this as sweet as Dorian, and yeah it's probably most like Embalming Fluid. I bought a bottle unsniffed based on reviews, and it's true to description. Lovely and clean without being soapy or too masculine.

Does anyone know whether the clear plastic stopper portion of the bottle lid is supposed to be glued to the black portion of the lid? There is a little black stick that sticks out of the lid that fits into a depression in the clear plastic part, but are they physically attached or just kind of associated via suction?

 

I ask because I thought I remembered in the past, in dissecting empty bottles, and that clear part was glued to the black part, but in my latest order, I opened three out of 7 bottles to find the clear part just sitting on top of the bottle opening after the black lid was removed. If I tighten the lid down tight, then open it again the clear part stays up in the lid, but obviously if the two arent sealed together I'm wondering how much oil will eventually make it up into that clear stopper which could result in a mess upon opening.

All cucumbers, all the time

 

Ok, if I look at the note list I can pick out what I'm supposed to be smelling, especially the soft woody sandalwood, the earthy fig sweetened with tonka, and the acidic inky musk (not really getting much in the leather department actually), but the throw will no doubt be interpreted by others as cucumber

When this first goes on I feel like it's a combination of red musk and the animal fur musk from blends like Ivanushka. It's good, but not as good as the blends that are heavy on these musks but with some other oomph present. As it wears it becomes a little more prominent in the fur musk for me, with a hint of added spiciness, and I do really like it at this stage. In the far dry down I unfortunately get a very slight whiff of armpit musk Not really noticeable in the throw though. I'm a HUGE musk fan, but somehow I dont really think I need a bottle of this because there are so many other blends that are primarily musk that I like better

This is fascinating.

 

First applied there is a blast of mint and apple schnapps. As it heats up on the skin the chocolate starts to emerge. At this point the red musk is apparent, but not overwhelming. It is kind of reminding me of the scent of the bottom of a purse-- candy, gum, fabric, slight skin/smoke dankness.

 

It's weird, but kinda good!

Ah, oak leaf, hello! To my nose this is heavy on the oak note that I get from Haloes and Haute Macabre. Acorn's presence is making it a nutty oak. After that is a strong, clear sweetness, then a breath of flowers, herbs (I feel it's "herbal" rather than distinguishing that it's sage) and tobacco (just a tad smoky).

 

This reminds me a lot of Haloes, but I like that blend better. Although I wouldnt necessarily classify this blend as "foody", the sweet roasted nuttiness makes me feel a little sick after awhile like many high-throw foody blends do. And this is high throw.

 

Quite lovely though, and interesting!

Ah yes... as I suspected it would be-- the sweet snowy part of Snow White and Pink Snowballs. The part that smells so beautiful upon application and then morphs to dusty plastic doll head of doom on my skin. I'm powerless against blends like this... I just have to try them in hopes that it'll work THIS TIME, but it never does even though I LOVE the scent from the bottle

Starts out with a cold blast, potentially eucalyptus based? and that almost skin-sweet pine and juniper blend that is so often "night air" (Hexennacht springs to mind). The coldness begins to die down and the warmer, furry notes come forward-- dusty orris and brown musk, that as Wren said is not too spicy here. I cant really pick out any cedar or tobacco, and the sandalwood/resinous notes must just be holding everything together because they arent obvious. I'd say this scent, which has a long note list, can be divided into two general feelings: the initial cold air and woods blast, and the later creeping furry warmth. The two scents alternate and swirl around each other, and that gives a wonderful and evocative impression.

 

This is really gorgeous and fun And I love the drawing on the label.

 

I would also add that this is in the same family as the recent Beaver Moon II, with the combination of winter air and warm furriness.

With such similar notes to La Lugubre Gondola I hoped this blend would smell similar, but stronger, as I found the other to be nearly invisible on my skin-- I knew it would be wonderful if only I could smell it! And yes, this is very similar. It's exactly the same amber and oudh, but with a sweeter touch from the vanilla, whereas La Lugubre Gondola was dry dry dry. I still find it to be quite light, but definitely more noticeable and longer wearing thankfully. It's still a mystery how something with such resinous notes could be so light, but this stuff is divine so I'll slather away!

 

Edited to add: I think it smells somewhat similar to Hope and Fear Set Free, especially when wet-- kinda sharp, kinda sweet.

ummmmmm YES

 

I can't remember the last time red musk behaved in a blend for me. I took a chance on this one because the notes sounded simply wonderful and the reviews seemed to indicate the red musk was well balanced. Besides, I like to throw a wildcard in with an order for fun every now and then! Usually, on me, red musk amps to high heavens and drowns everything else out (Krampus is a perfect example) BUT THIS... yes there is red musk, but it's beautifully muddied with dark musk, and is tantalizingly laid over a bed of black leather and sprinkled with equally well behaved sugary roses. I smell every note through the duration of wear, no one takes over, and the effect is just divine. Feminine, sexy, but also classy.