Invidiana

Aaaaaahhh......trying to choose between these two is like pulling teeth. I guess it depends on my mood and the time of day. I'm more likely to wear Snake Charmer out at night (or on a date lol) because of the red musk, but Black Lace has a mysterious vibe going on too though it is more work-appropriate. Then again no matter what time it is, if I'm craving one over the other no one's going to stop me.

When I tried this at NYCC I was like yep, I was totally right to order 2 bottles off the bat because it's delicious. Makes me think of creamy cheesecake with utterly gooey, lightly spiced apple topping, and there's also something in here, much like a caramelized and/or brown sugar note, that makes me think of streusel crumbles on top. I agree with the previous reviews likening this to Lambs-Wool meets cheesecake because it really is.

I really, really wanted to love this because--ectoplasm! Ghostbusters! Unfortunately my skin doesn't let me because it amps all lemon verbena, all the time. My best guess, taking my body chemistry aside, is that this is related to Embalming Fluid with that lemony, slightly green finish but much stronger. I think, that under all the lemon verbena being amped, there is white musk somewhere in here. I'm also wondering whether it's only lemon verbena I'm amping or also elemi, because there is a slightly bitter undertone here that I often get from elemi which strangely mimics real-life lemon peel, but doesn't show up on me that way from lemon peel notes in a blend. There is also something slightly sweet countering that--not vanilla, my best guess would be either some sort of sugar note or the sweetness of a resin. I appreciate how Beth tried to capture that eerie yellow-green color we often associate with ectoplasm in a bottle, but my skin just can't cooperate enough to pick out all the facets of the scent.

 

*This was part of a set of protos all titled "seance"-something out for testing at NYCC. Not sure what collection this belongs to--mods, please go ahead and add it if you know!

How do I love thee, Bard? Let me count the ways. I love your clouds of vanilla, your light, white florals, your sheer musk. There is definitely vanilla here, but it is not a buttery or foody or overly sweet vanilla but an airy nonfoody vanilla that does have something of a cloud-like quality. I would say it's more a vanilla orchid than anything else. It's difficult to pick out exactly what floral notes are in here; they start out fresh and dew-covered, even a little green, but dry down soft with a slight (pleasant) powderiness. Definitely white florals for the most part. I think I pick up some lily of the valley and a trace of iris, but there must be other types of white flowers in here as well because it's too complex to just be those two. Later on in the drydown I pick up the musk, something that must involve white musk since I can detect that pure, clean-but-not-soapy scent in here. There may or may not be skin musk in here too, difficult to tell since it's so well blended. The musk(s?) give it a slight warmth but on the whole I would say this is neither warm or cool, the same type of neutral feel as Thieves Rosin but an entirely different scent. It's on the feminine side of unisex and also really uplifting. I swear when they're released I'm getting all four of these.

This was a really hard one to pin down, but it is just sexy. The first thing I get is woods and resins, and then a sensual musk snakes through and take the whole thing to a completely different level. Since this specifically has "rosin" in its title, it made it a little easier to know what type of resin is in here--for those who don't know, rosin is a type of pine resin and the same type of note that's in Mr. Fezziwig's Ball. I definitely get that deep, slightly sweet resin right off the bat. The wood is a little more difficult tp grasp, but I'm venturing to say there may be teak in here judging by how it reacts on my skin. It has that same smooth, wood-but-not-wood drydown as teak, just not the same kind of finish as sandalwood. Not "woody" enough to be mahogany. No lacquer notes that I can detect. I told you this was hard to pin down! Finally we have that musk, which I think either is a sort of Indian musk or must have Indian musk involved somewhere. It's more noticeable than skin musk, but not quite as intense as Siberian musk. The scent as a whole is unisex and neither warm nor cool, and there is a certain oddly airy and uplifting aspect to it which makes me think, however strange this sounds, that it would actually layer well with Vial of Holy Water. I can't wait till it's released because this is another one I'm buying vats of.

The Appalling Abbatoir. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm not disgusted by it--in my opinion it's a fascinating scent because it smells exactly like what it's supposed to--blood and metal. The tang of the blood is there and everything! I have no idea how Beth did it but it's extremely true to life.

Druid smells ancient in the best possible way. I've always been fascinated by Druids in both history and fiction, and this scent evokes all the mental images I've had of them. There are definitely a lot of dark resins and woods here, overgrown with moss and vines like a forest that has gone completely untouched since time immemorial. There is something of an earthy backdrop to it as well, probably with a bit of black patchouli grounding it. I think there is cedar in this but the fact that my skin doesn't turn it into a hamster cage means it's very subtle, and if I'm not mistaken it reminds me of the black cedar in An Altar to Cold Dark Rigid Death. Complex and intriguing, not promouncedly masculine as it may seem with all the wood notes ( I think there's oak in as well and some sort of bark). I'm looking forward to the final iteration of this.

I know how crazy I'm going to sound but this actually smells like water. Now I'm sure there are people who are going to think "well that's a big help water has no smell" but imagine opening a bottle of cool, crisp water straight out of the fridge, no other scent mixed in except utter crispness and coolness--that's how this smells. It's fresh but not cologney, refreshing without being minty, clean without being soapy. There is really no other way to describe it. I can't even begin to pick out notes besides the fact that it's the perfect balance of aquatic and ozonic and still completely unisex. I want an entire tank full of holy water when and if this comes out!

Hmmm....Black Pearl layered with a bit of....Bliss? Velvet? Might yield something in that neighborhood. Of course you are sorely tempting me to buy that tea now.

 

ETA: Goblin might be a good one to try experimenting with too.

I can't really identify the individual flowers in this, but I can say that it is downright gorgeous and also very calming. There is a slight dewiness and a slight greenness backing all the fresh and lovely florals, and there is something of a floral-honey feel to the scent as a whole. Even with the windows closed, with this sprayed in my room it feels as if fragrant breezes are wafting in.

This is like a bit of a darker, smokier version of The Lights of Men's Lives captured in a spray. It really does bring to mind a room filled with beeswax candles that have just been blown out, leaving behind smoky shadows with a honeyed undertone from the wax. I think spraying this on my shirt and wearing Lights of Men's Lives on my skin should be fantastic.

I adore this. Tiare is only my favorite floral on earth, and mix that with lots of creamy vanilla and a hint of coconut, and I'm in paradise. It's not a sunscreen smell to me at all, more like a vanillaed monoi scent. Whenever I wear this to work people pass me just to inhale it. Amazing. Did I mention it literally lasts from one wash to the other?

Dream, I wanted to love you, but you cloyed the hell out of me. First it was almost all really strong lavender, then really intense powdery rose and lavender, and even when those finally settled down somewhat after half an hour they still didn't allow the other notes to come through enough and turn this to the calming scent I was hoping for. It just remains a piercingly powdery rose-lavender soap. Kind of ironic how Nightmare is the only one in this collection that actually calms me.

Vanilla laundry. Boober, I think I love you. When something is supposed to smell soapy and is in a completely different universe from my aunt's guest soaps, I'm all over it. Linden can sometimes go sharp or lemony on me, but not here. It just keeps contributing to the fresh and clean feel. For a moment I'm in the washroom with a great big bundle of fluffy white towels rolling out of the dryer and the smell fo sweet pink soap lingering in the air. Heavenly.

Mokey was my favorite Fraggle as a kid, both for her awesome lilac-and-mint coloring and her far-out poetic way of speaking. This deifnitely does her justice! It's a light, clean floral that makes me think of a bunch of purple flowers mixed with violet candy, and is somehow strangely calming. Fortunately I don't amp the orris above all else in this one like I did with Black Opal. I can see how this could go soapy on some people, but fortunately it just comes off fresh on me and reminds me a bit of a now-discontinued fabric softener I used to huff like mad. I swear this is a compliment!

YUM. This is as deep as Uncle Matt thinks he is, and somehow still lighthearted in all its delicious foodiness. I'd say the fig and vanilla are the most prominent notes on me, followed by a dark and earthy chocolate. I wouldn't say this is a chocolate-dominated scent, but you can tell there is a cacao note in there adding to its body. The pear and quince that sweeten it up just enough but not too much. Sometimes I've had bad luck with pear notes going cloyingly sweet, but gladly not in this case. It must be the type of pear that likes me, like that one in The Vine. Winner!

This is red alright--sweet, tangy red fruits that remind me of things like Sweettarts and all the red varieties of Starbursts. It's red fruit candy that's kept from being cloying by the zing of natural sourness from the fruit as well as a bit of a snap from the pink pepper, then made a little more grown up with the pink musk. I had to refrain from licking it off.

I initially "wembled" on this one because pineapple sometimes doesn't play nice with my skin, but Wembley seems to like me. It's a tropical explosion onf pineapple and banana wet, with a hint of mint. As it dries down the mint disappears and I slowly end up amping the delicious honey above the tang of the pineapple and creamy banana, so I get a gentle fruity honey cooled by soft white musk. Tropical honey! I'm so glad I sprang for a bottle.

This is like a creamsicle rolled in citrus Sour Patch Kids. It's more tangy citrus at first, and settles down into a delicious smooth creamsicle-like scent with cool vanilla, though with a little more variety than the traditional creamsicle becuase of the three types of citrus. This is one of those rare foody ones you can actually wear in the heat. Like everyone else, I need to keep reminding myself I can't drink it.

I waffled on this in the beginning because of the rosemary, but it turns out that barely makes an appearance at all. This is the scent of somber evening flowers towards the end of summer, chill winds hanging in the air, cool seaspray and frost just beginning to crystallize. There really is something "silvery" about this as mentioned previously, I'm taking it from the ambergris especially though I have a feeling the davana and frost notes also contribute to that feel. This is surprisingly beautiful and refereshing in a really unique way. I'm so glad I risked a bottle.

Half the notes made me cross my fingers they'd be victorious, and the other half, well....unfortunately that was the half that ended up winning. To my nose this is all bitter GERANIUM wet followed closely by tomato leaf and pimento. It's only the drydown that I get some lovely beeswax and honey in the background, but sadly not enough to take over the geranium and tomato leaf of death. Reminds me a lot of Jerusalem Cherry Honey, actually, that same standing-in-a-tomato-patch scent. Fans of that type of stuff will love this, but it's not really my thing.

I had high hopes for this, and the sparkle of citrus at the beginning helped contribute to that, but unfortunately I just amp the petitgrain too much to enjoy it. I think this scent would have worked well on me without it; bright, sunny citrus perfect for summer. However, the extent to which I ended up amping the petitgrain just gave it a bitter herbal edge that was hard to ignore.

Here comes the deathly kind of lemon to haunt me again. I tend to amp lemon peel notes as opposed to the juice and I definitely do here. I think, however, it's the cilantro that really does me in. I don't like to eat it or smell it, and unforunately it just doesn't go away. I can pick up traces of the other notes but the lemon and cilantro are just too kitchen-prep for me.

I'm afraid there is just way too much juniper and cypress here for me. Surprisingly not much cucumber comes out, but it might be because I amp the juniper and musk the most. I actually like the musk, and while I can do hints of juniper or cypress here and there I just can't wear something this dominant in those notes. I had hope for the orchid, but can barely smell it. Oh well.

I was really hoping the coffee, coconut, opium and tobacco flower would end up being the primary players here, but unfortunately the first thing I get is a blast of lemongrass and cedar. These do fade gradually on the drydown, and I can pick out the other notes here and there but my favorite ones don't end up coming out as strongly as I'd like and the lemongrass/cedar dominance that remains is just impossible to ignore. I really do want to give it one more shot though.