Invidiana

This was one of those blends that just made my jaw drop. I'm an autumn fiend, and this stuff is making me head over heels for the season even more. The dark amber is deep and intoxicating, not dry but more of a viscous sap oozing from nearly bare oaks and maples. It isn't foody like maple syrup, just deep and rich with a slight sweetness. Then the clove only complements that, adding to the darkness and bittersweet complexity. The dead leaves swirled in add smoky undertones, and the galangal and oude shade in browns of tree shadows and the grays of October twilight. I couldn't get any flowers out of this, but I'm sure they just add to the richness and complexity of the scent. One of my absolute favorites

A throbbing, pulsing, musky, spicy crimson scent oozing bloodlust and pure evil. Tell-Tale Heart has only been one of my favorite Poe stories since the sixth grade, so I just had to snap this up. I get the essence of bloody berries in this because dragon's blood develops deep, complex berry tones on me--a trick my skin plays that I appreciate This spices are a wonderful sinister supplement to that, and the musk and vetiver finish it off with an eerie and foreboding cloud of doom. Villains! I've fallen totally in love with the beating of his hideous heart!

I did have an initial fear of this being too "green" but I've been in love with the Legend of Sleepy Hollow since I was about 3 so I'm out to get my claws on the whole collection The Churchyard was so much more than I expected--it turned into a lovely woody blackberry on my skin, with the fruity sweetness of the blackberry leaf probably supplemented by the frankincense and roses. This is the essence of lurking in an abandoned and overgrown blackberry patch in the middle of the night--gorgeous!

 

 

No teenybopper in-your-face-blast-of-berry-body-spray here! This is a melange of sweet honeyed figs and berries made all golden and sun-warmed by the musk. They honey is balanced just perfectly without being cloyingly sweet. It's a "grown-up berry" that's party foody and delicious and part sweet and sophisticated at the same time. I'm not getting any artificially-flavored blue raspberry lollipops, just a scoop of sun-warmed berries drizzled with honey. A brilliant summer sunset in shades of crimson and purple, bottled for your convenience

 

I don't know how Beth did it, but she really managed to bottle hunger this time. The woody dryness of this scent is beautiful but still manages not to be your generic kitchen cabinet showroom, which I was afraid of. It's tempered just enough by the florals and spices to still stay dry and warm but not completely parched. Even my mother, who can't stand 95% of my bottles, actually liked this one and would consider wearing it. A word of warning: don't put this stuff on if you're hungry, because I made that mistake and it made me even hungrier

This really is summer's dying breath in a bottle: the citrus-infused amber evokes the first golden and copper leaves to fall to the ground, mingling with the last blooms of August and one final blood-orange squeeze of summer sun, all touched by the faintest whispers of an arctic chill. It's a vivid and poignant picture of the summer's last signs of life sucking in one final gulp of air before they are laid to rest another year.

On me, this is the perfect blend of crisp, snowy pines and winter berries. I know that there are supposedly no berries listed in the notes, so I'm chalking the "berries" up to the specific blend of florals Beth used in this one. They must be sweet florals, and my skin amps anything sweet, hence the "berry" essence. If I could personify this scent, it would definitely be an ice queen with a juniper crown and berry-stained lips. I know there's no juniper listed in the notes either, but the some blending of one or several of the florals with the pine probably brings that about, and I love juniper, so it's a plus for me. A gorgeous snowy-day scent!

This is a softer, creamier version of hot cider, with the spices mellowed out by the sweetness of the milk note. For thsoe times when you're craving an autumn fragrance that's spicy but not intensely so, this is just perfect. The apple isn't in-your-face screaming apple like those body sprays you find at the mall that might just as well be a Red Delicious shoved up your nostrils. This is the essence of a perfectly blended warm fall drink, perfect for snuggling in front of the fire with.

Hell-Gate is really one hell (pardon the pun) of a sexy, smoldering scent. Maybe it's because I'm a fan of anything smoky or fiery, but this blend is really mesmerizing. The clove and brimstone combine into what I imagine to be furious copper flames. The bitter undertone added by the labdanum really heightens the element of terror here, which makes it not just a raging fire but a raging fire spewing all sorts of unearthly demons. This is a prime example of how Beth's scents aren't just perfume blends but really olfactory departures into the realm of fantasy.

I didn't think there was a form of sugar in existence that wouldn't go straight to your thighs, but then along comes Beth and changes the laws of the universe This may be pure sugar, but it's not the ghastly cloying scent of confectioner's sugar, one whiff of which never fails to make me gag. This is definitely a cane sugar blend with its own natural depth and a slight "caramelized" undertone that makes it irresistable and extremely tempting to lick off my wrist. For anyone afraid of the candied fruits venturing into what I called something like "teenybopper-uber-fruit-blast-explosion" in another post, they're extremely subtle, just like the colored embellishments on real sugar calaveras. I've never eaten one myself, let alone been anywhere near Mexico in my life, which may be all the better for its residents around El Dia de los Muertos because after experiencing this stuff, I'd probably stockpile all their sugar skulls.

Yarrrrr matey! This be mighty strong, just a dab will do ye! Even so, it's still a very seductive blend. The leather and wood and bay rum really come to the fore here, with a generous splash of seaspray and a sweet, heady undercurrent of patchouli tempering them, keeping anything here from venturing into butch territory. Even if you're afraid of leather, this isn't one to be afraid of--unlike De Sade, which is distinctly manly leather and smoke, the complexity and fruity/floral undertones of Frederic make it very wearable for women in small doses. This is a convenient one for wearing out when you know you won't be home for hours, because only a couple dabs and it lasts just about as long as a voyage on the high seas (now, just avoid the Bermuda Triangle....)

rkold is right--this really does smell like the Starbucks pumpkin spice latte in all its creamy pumpkin goodness The pumpkin and coffee come to the forefront first, and on the drydown the hazelnut seamlessly blends with the coffee for added nuttiness. I couldn't pick out any chocolate specificially, but I'm guessing it was what added richness and depth to the coffee and hazelnut, while the vanilla acted as the sweet froth on top and tempered the spices. Delish!

This is one of the most comforting pumpkin scents of the bunch, and being an admitted pumpkinphile I have quite a bunch The almond and honey meld deliciously with the subtly buttery pumpkin to make it a sweet, creamy, comforting blend that's the best bottled substitute for a hug on the market right now

This is all buttery, spicy, creamy, melt-in-your-mouth utterly tempting want-to-chomp-yourself pumpkin pie. As an admitted pumpkinphile, I highly recommend it as a staple for every other pumpkinphile out there!

I was initially drawn to this because I'm a huge Baudelaire fan, and, that said, I'm urging anyone else even remotely drawn to Baudelaire to get their hands on a bottle of this somehow! It really is the bottled essence of him and his work; complex, surreal, enveloped in haze. The "smoky" in the title is really referring to the hazy feel of the scent; it isn't a burning smoke, but rather a cloudy veil of sheer musk that is syymbolic of the many shades of gray in Baudelaire's work. It is evocative not specifically of his idea of the azure or the abyss, but the foggy area in between. This is an alluring and mysterious scnet that especially begs to be appreciated by decadent-literature-philes like myself

This is exactly like going apple-picking on a crisp October day, with the dry, crackling leaves swirling around in cool gusts of wind and the smell of sap and smoke in the distance. It's very green in the bottle, but once it touches my skin the sweetness and spiciness of the leaves, smoke and sap come to the forefront and do incredible things. A definite winner!

This is a frosty winter's night with chestnuts roasting in the oven and something sinister lurking outside. It's equal parts foody and alluring, with the white musk deifnitely coming into play in the "alluring" element and the juniper berries giving the essence of a chill evening. This is something I can especially see myself wearing a lot of as the nights get longer...

When I read the description, I thought smoky, sexy pumpkin. And on my skin chemistry, which tends to do amazing things with musk, this is exactly that: smoky, sexy pumpkin with a dash of wicked spice. Supposedly, one of the scents that's a major man attractant is pumpkin pie. This is the pumpkin blend you wear not just when you want to smell delicious, but when you want to smell darkly eat-me-alive delicious

This is wonderful ripe, bursting, dripping bery goodness tempered just enough by warm roasted nuttiness to not drive it into hyper-blast-o-fruit teenybopper body-spray territory (oh, the memories). This isn't a trail-mix type of fruity-nuttiness at all, but more of the deep delicious scent of baked fruits and toasted nuts. Cozy, comforting and delicious

This is the dark, murky side of Halloween that kids love to scare themselves stupid about but at the same time are glad to be sitting in their houses nibbling warm slices of pumpkin pie. It's that house in the depths of the woods whose flickering jack-o-lanterns you can just barely see through the tangles of brambles and naked trees, the one whose owner is rumored to be an ancient witch ready to cast her spell on you. A beautifully bewitching blend!

A singularly and beautifully desolate scent, with amber burning in the forefront and the sweetness of almond flower a whispered memory in the backdrop. It really does evoke not just the "sportive sun" but also "the innumerable days"--a vast stretch of barren red land that continues into eternity.

Reading the description, I was skeptical of the osmanthus at first, because I had a bad experience with an osmanthus candle that smelled like cat pee several years ago. However, I love white musk so much I had to take the dive wtih this one. It was worth the gamble; an ethereal yet dark floral steeped in the sexy vapors of white musk. Maybe if I wore this on an actual night's pavilion, a gorgeous male vampire would somehow be drawn to me from the shadows.....

I've been skeptical of rose since I was 13 and had to put up with the stench of this body cream of my mom's that smelled so intenseley of old-lady rose that it made me gag. This , however, is a beautiful rose blends that is sweet without being cloying, with wisps of incense enveloping it in a sexy backdrop. Day of the Skulls was my first BPA rose blend, and thanks to Beth I'm no longer afraid of rose!

If only they gave out swag this good when I was a kid trick-or-treating! I'm really getting the chocolate, coconut and orange with the other notes blending into a deliciously harmonious background. Maybe I can sympathize with the neighbors now; if I had a box of these lovely morsels, I definitely wouldn't be doling them out to any trick-or-treaters!

Smelling this put in me on a backyard of sun-singed grass with lawn chairs askew and an abandoned pool with gold and orange leaves just starting to collect on the surface. It's the dry aftermath of summer absorbing the last amber rays of sunlight before they disappear below the horizon. A gorgeous and poignant blend.