patina

This smells like frost and cold somehow- lots of black ice with lichen and salt and a little licorice. It's a bit like The Country of Eternal Light.

So, I could swear this musk is based on red patchouli. It's smoky and it's trying to do the usual sour/ sharp thing that red patchouli does on my skin. It's failing though. I do detect plenty of clove peeping out and the saffron adds interest, a bit of polish.

Here's what I guessed: white sandalwood, maybe frankincense, and white sage. It's interesting how wrong I can be. This is a dry scent, headed towards the masculine. Earthy, but in a pale sort of way.

I had a small problem with my order that I emailed the lab about. If I don't get a reply within a couple of weeks would it be okay to contact papow.net even if my problem was with the Lab not the post? Also, I asked about returning the wrong bottle they sent before finishing the FAQ that said returns were impossible. I know they most be tired of getting asked questions they've already covered. SORRY, LAB! I'm really embarrassed about that.

Powdery vanilla and dead leaves on the drydown. Not bad, but I already have so many myrrh scents I love I can pass this one easily.

I don't understand this one. In the imp it was horrible, pungent and off-putting with scratchy leaves and paint-thinner frankincense. On my left arm, the drydown was absolutely beautiful, like sunlight on yellow leaves. The copal seems to make the whole thing sparkle and the leaves smell like soft sun-bleached cedar. This was so gorgeous I went to sleep with a drop at my neck- and woke up hours later being bothered by the scratchy leaves. So, the drydown does not always work?

At first this is really sweet and wsll blended. There's a lot of depth as well as a floral edge. The throw is sweet apple cider and honey. Unfortunately on my skin the components smell medicinal and the chemical, jumbled scent gets stronger while the tobacco and honey go out of control amping sweetness until the whole thing turns into obnoxiously sweet rotting apples. This was my favorite scent in the imp too.

The Seekim from the Yules plus red musk and redcurrant! I get strong cacao, leather, and chewy patchouli, plus red musk and redcurrant, plus a grape jelly note. I get absolutely no caramel and this is surprisingly light. Try it if you're a redcurrant or red musk lover.

In the imp: Herbal shampoo? But high-quality shampoo. On, this is a delicate pastel purple scent. The incense rounds the whole scent out. The tuberose has a softening influence and the white sandalwood acts like a canvas. Somehow this is neither powdery nor like traditional perfume.

In the imp: Jasmine and Frankincense. That's it. Maybe sage. On, after some wear: This is amazingly evocative. I can smell jasmine still, and patchouli. Maybe she's making a love potion? There's sage smoke (no wood smoke). I get the sense of closeness, safety, warmth and body heat. I can almost smell the iron cauldron. The throw is fuzzy and wsll-behaved jasmine, vanilla and frankinsense. Unfortunately, closer up on my skin the scent is pungent in a not entirely pleasant way. It's still comforting, but I can't decide whether I love this one or can pass on it. Edit: After some wear, this turns into a fuzzy cloud of soft vanilla jasmine and myrtle. Bottle-worthy.

Sniffed straight from the imp this was my favorite of all the leaves. It's spicy but not sneeze-inducing. I'd say "smoky" except that would make it sound like it was straight-up barbecue sauce. It's not. For one thing there's no vetiver. Still I get the impression of smoke even if there is no actual smoke. The pepper is bright, the leaves are very dry. It smells a bit like the lab's ivy note, except dry and papery. In the drydown sandalwood becomes more prominent than pepper. Not bad, but not my favorite. Somewhat masculine.

I had a slightly different experience. I get ultra honey with a mossy, boggy, clean backdrop. Though this doesn't seem to have the citrusy nature of Sundew, it smells very bright, cheerful. It actually smells a lot like a humid sunny greenhouse full of moss and carnivorous plants. But mostly it smells like honey. The mint is present and welcome but not obtrusive. As it dries down, the honey dials it back somewhat and the whole scent gets softer. Anyone who has the problem of honey turning plastic <i>might</i> have a problem with this at least before the scent dries down. Also anyone who dislikes moss might not like this.

Honey-berry carnation cotton candy with something earthy underneath that I really can't place. Also moss. After it warms up, the snake oil and dorian come out. This is lovely despite a slight tendency to go waxy in a generic berry lip-balm sort of way. Edit: I can't stop smelling this. It's like Halloween in Las Vegas' little sister, with honey and berries where H:LV has red velvet cupcakes and wine and substituting rooty moss for dried leaves. It's innocent but complex. I keep thinking I smell golden amber but it must be the honey and Snake oil tricking me. Edit Edit: sadly the blackberry has gone slightly cat pee on me. Ah well.

Day of the Skulls is nice sandalwood and beeswax with faint roses. There are other notes too but I'd have to look them up. It is quite powdery and sugary. Stormclouds on the midway has cotton candy, ozone, wormwood and incense smoke

On me (will not apply to everyone): Banded Sea Snake: Nice, mossy and oceany vanilla scent. One of the few I can tolerate when I'm nauseated. Temple Viper: Incense, specifically nag champa and snake oil. Not sure what else since I swapped it away. King Snake: Frank and hyssop, kind of underwhelming to me. Green Tree Snake: Cool and refreshing, but the mint means it doesn't last long on me and has a fairly low throw. Boomslang: Rice milk, chocolate, and...dirty dipers? My skin chemistry hates it. Diamondback: If I was more into soft leather this would be perfect. Just that and a little snake oil. Very dry. Asp Viper: My favorite! But then I'm a fanatic for myrrh. Has an autumn feel somehow. The orange is pretty subtle and more of a sweetener than anything else.

It's a really fantastic book! It took me completely by surprise! I'm loving it, though pretty sure like most of my favorite characters, that the Gentleman won't be surviving. We'll see, ah well! I do have that book of short stories on my list as well, thank you for reminding me! I also LOVE the Raven King and Childermass! Haha, what do your think would match them? Also, I may or may not be looking into some of the scents you used for the Gentleman- some of them have slipped my notice and sound rather lovely. Huuummm! Childermas: The Raven, though that might be a little too scholarly. Robin Goodfellow, except that's too informal. The Raven King: Raven Moon, except with stormclouds? Honestly something with all the stormclouds and darkness that can be crammed in.

Hidden beneath the arms of an ancient gnarled oak sits an overgrown, weedy patch of monkshood, sacred to Hecate and brought forth from Cerberus' spittle, that is surrounded by shrieking mandragora, black nightshade, wise sage, dire hemlock, creeping ivy, and thorn apple. There's a floral/ herbal/ conifer edge to this and I can pick out the oak. It smells a little powdery, almost as if there was amber involved. Mostly it's just dark trees and herbs.

Even though Druid has wool in it, it's one of the most accurate forest scents.

"Smite Thy Borders With Froggies" is how I misread the scent at first and that's going to be how I always think of it. This is a strong green musk, like that in Laughter of Loki. There's a detergent element that I somehow don't find that offensive. Maybe because the vegetable element can frequently shift the scent from "soapy" to "damp greenness and raw squash." The vetiver stays well blended and in the background, the vegetables and herbs are lovely. However if you have a problem with soapy scents this might not be for you. In comparison with the other frog scents, this is more earthy and vegetal than Plague of Frogs, which is more of an aquatic. It lacks the strong powdery stone note of Palus Nebularum.

Try Titania, that's pleasantly peachy.

Red musk and black patchouli are my OTP though normally I prefer a third element to soften them up. This is dirty and sweet and a little goes a very long way. I do get a faint something sweet and a little charred which I think may be the birch sap. That element's faintly like tempra paint. Imagine red and black tempera paint poured out and blended a bit. That's a good visual representation of the scent. Or imagine a red and black vintage Krampus postcard in the expressionist style. It's amazing how well the scent captures the subject. All the Krampuses have been amazing.

Red Patchouli is not kind to me, it's very sharp. But I got this one anyway because I thought the musk and tobacco would triumph. And they do, but sadly the red patchouli and whoa! smokiness of the scent make it smell like burning plastic on my skin. I don't get any blackcurrent. Off to the swaps! Edit: Eventually the sweet musk smooths over the burning plastic.

Light and airy black tea. Apparently black sandalwood smells clean to me. This is so well blended I can't really separate the patchouli or vanilla even though they're certainly there and they become more prominent as the scent wears on. I get the same almost-anise sense I get with Nightsbridge. Maybe this has Nag Champa? If Visions of Autumn VII was too smoky-woodsy for you or you just want something that smells like night air this might work. So: night time, darkness, clean, cozy, mysterious Related Scents: Nightsbridge, Visions of Autumn VII, Noctiphobia, black patchouli, nag champa, The White Rabbit

First applied, this has strong clove and it's rich and cake-y smelling, as if there was a thick vanilla here. Sadly there's very little throw on me and the pumpkin stops being rich and buttery and turns dry and husky, sort of a wood scent. Still a good oil for those that like patchouli and clove. surely it will age well.

My favorite of the Weenies! Dark tobacco, smoothed and sweetened by opoponax and myrrh with just a hint of black pepper. The sandalwood gives it a clean slightly woody edge, but it doesn't smell soapy. Lovely for the resin lover, this does remind me of La Lugubre Gondola, but a much darker version (Edit: And with myrrh/opoponax instead of amber, of course!)