starfish327

a rather confused liquorice all the way through. it's very pink though, i do have to say that much for it. it's not bad really i just don't see myself giving this the love that it should have.

in the imp: this smells like something i used to wear a long time ago but i can't think of what. very traditional cologne to my nose. wet: same, but it's starting to turn odd. i'm not sure that i like this. dry: okay now it's doing that weird skin sour thing that i get out of some florals. i'm wondering if it's violet that's doing this? i still haven't figured out what the note that does this but i don't think that this is going to work on my chemistry. someone was kind enough to frimp this to me but i just don't see this one working on me.

Named in honor of Vlad III, Tepes, of the Order of the Dragon. Black musk, tobacco, fir, balsam of peru, cumin, bitter clove, crushed mint, and orange blossom. frimped to me as part of a lovely swap gift in the imp: this promising. it's...moody. i don't know how else to describe this. this is all the dark notes that are listed- the musk, the fir, the tobacco, a hint of cumin. (i've never worn the lab's cumin note and it really does smell cumin-y. i don't know why that surprises me). wet: the same as in the imp, and my nose is trying to tell me that this is erich zhan. this is a very good thing since zahn is one of my holy grail scents and of course it's been dc'd (the story of my life in bpal lol). this has mint where zahn has vetiver though. dry: yep. this is erich zahn on my skin just without that heavy smoke element. i don't get any orange blossom (at least with this application). it does start fading into the incense feel that people have been talking about but that's truly not a bad thing. ding ding ding we may have another contender in my hunt to replace erich zahn!

*really hormonal this week so take this with a grain of salt. in the imp and wet: just general cologne, like the other dragon's blends that i've tried dry: okay i have to admit that i'm not sure what the lab's dragon's blood smells like. all i know is that it doesn't smell like the sn dragon's blood that the boy wears sometimes. dry this smells faintly sweet and i guess kind of floral? this is a really unique scent that i'm supposing is the unknown dragon's blood. there's a leather note that keeps appearing and disappearing as well. the sweetness starts to die down and it become spicier and smokier but i have a feeling that i put too much on lol. it's one of those weird scents that i don't like but i do like at the same time. i'm not sure what i think about this one and this may have to another that waits until another time of the month to retest.

in the imp: very woody, light green wet: same dry: the florals come out but don't overpower the blend. this smells very clean. the longer it's on the more the herbals come out which makes this warm up a lot. if they don't end up overpowering the blend, i'll like the imp. i don't think that it'll get replaced though.

*i'm under a lot of stress right now and i know that my hormones are out of whack as well so i'm not sure what that's doing do this blend. in the imp: definitely spiced cookies wet: almond coffee syrup?! i'm actually kind of concerned because the last blend i tried with a similar feel to me (hecate) went really really bad on my skin. but it seems to be calming down quickly into generic food spice. dry: it smells like cookie dough. and it kind of makes me want to cry? i'm guessing though that it's interacting with my odd ball chemistry that i have going on right now. it's going a little plasticky too but i'm not going to rule this one out until i try it again after my mood/stress/hormones settle down. it's a lot foodier than what i normally wear but i also ended up slathering (for me anyway) it on so maybe i like it a lot more that i thought i did.

this reminds me a lot of tavern of hell but woodier. i guess that's a good thing because toh is easier to find. this is heavy wood, leather and smoke all the way through. i'd like some more incense out of it actually, but i do think that there's a touch of frankincense in this blend because it's getting sweeter (though not extremely so) as it goes on.

this is really light and bright, and while i didn't think it was all that fizzy i can see the comparison to soda/ginger ale. it's slightly sweet. it reminds me a lot of the blend that i use to calm myself down. unfortunately though while i like this blend i was hoping for something a lot darker and animalistic. this is really preppy and clean cut on me and i wanted something lighter around the edges. i think i'll be satisfied with my decant.

in the imp: artificial almond a la coffee syrup. yay for happy scent memories! wet: same fake almond with a dose of something...murky? i remembered the myrrh from the scent description when i ordered this but not the musk. it's got to be the musk. dry: morphs through the almond into almost straight up myrrh and musk. i have the feeling like i should go layer it under something now because it just feels...dirty to me. then the musk starts backing off again and the myrrh starts to lighten it up again. i wish that my skin didn't eat the almond note because that's the only thing that really saved it for me. that said hecate is one of my patron goddesses and while i really don't see the connection with the almond sweetness the smoky darkness that kicks in does make me think of Her. i'm not seeing myself replacing an imp but i'd hang on to the empty once it's gone, and i'll probably use it as a ritual oil if nothing else.

the lemon in crib girls (my lemon comparison note) but more cough drop-ish, more herbal. insane throw- my boy commented on it AFTER i left the room. and it made both of us sneeze and sniffle. it's not a bad scent but it's not high on my list, i have other lemon/citrus scents i like just as much and that don't trigger a houseful of allergies.

i don't know. i try to skin test everything that i can at least once, but there are somethings that are just too...something for me to be able to handle the thought of putting it on my skin on the first go round. or the third. or the fifth. splatter pattern is one of those. it's sweet. i mean teeth rotting headache inducing why are you even looking at this starfish you know it's going to make you ill sweet. i'm really not known for liking much foody blends beyond some fruits and pumpkin pie spice, but this was the first bpal food blend to get that strong of a reaction from me. i can see the cake smash comparison though- this is cake smash amped to 11, though while i don't like cake smash i could see myself wearing it on really rare occasions. this is just ...an exploded vanilla cupcake.

very cloyingly sweet batter and berries. the little bit i got on my skin did stay a pretty true berry scent but i guess i'm just not into foods enough to be all that swayed by this. honestly it reminded me of a scent that would be better suited to bath products. i was impressed by how realistic the berries were though.

in the imp: something really sweet and florals. i love hyacinth though so i really want this to work. i don't know about aquatics, i'm not sure that i've worn anything other than snow notes and those gave me a migraine yesterday so i'm hoping this works out better. wet: more sweet florals and something that reminds me of cool water. not really getting the almost soap of hyacinth that i like so much or the fir. dry:starting to get more of the fir and the water. it's very pretty. it'll be good when it gets warmer.

CCNow's order status changes to "Shipped" when your order is harvested. If you just placed the order very recently, from what I understand, CCNow places a temporary hold on your credit card for the purchase amount. It disappears after a few days, but the charge reappears for good once the Lab harvests the orders. i think what i'm getting confused about is that the order never said shipped until well after i actually received the order (not that it matters much i suppose). that combined with the fact that the hold is in place already was what was throwing me off.

just for the sake of honesty: i love the smell of suntan lotion. this may be biasing my review. in the imp: coconut and suntan lotion. i wear a LOT of suntan lotion. this smells like the good stuff. wet: more coconut and the shea note. the aquatic is sniffing around too. dry: suntan lotion! yay! straight up suntan lotion, i feel like i'm at the beach. this may be my summer scent which means that this may be the first bottle i actually break down and buy. i love this. later the musk comes out and i'm left with this wonderful spiced coconut note.

okay i'm really confused. i know that cns has a thing that changes when your order has been harvested. and i know that something bizarre happens to your credit card- like it doesn't get get charged until you pull your order. so if my order says awaiting shipment and my card gets charged, does that mean that my order's been harvested. or am i just get myself more confused than necessary? my last order never said anything beyond awaiting shipment if that helps.

clxxxi in the imp: something sharp and a sweet fruit wet: it makes me sneeze! and it reminds of the church i went to as a kid for some reason too. tea and pears, and a touch of anise maybe. dry: same just less sneezing. edited to add: okay it turns out that i can't wear this at all. i spent all morning sneezing.

This will be an ongoing and updated list! Bolded entries are what I'm willing to swap away immediately- bad, bad skin chemistry issues. Italics are ones that I am not interested in swapping/selling at this time. absinthe akuma bordello candles moon chimera crossroad-needs to be relabeled, using as a ritual oil dana o'shee danse macabre dee 2x dioble en bote doc constantine* dracul Dragon's Heart dragon's hide egle event horizon farewell to false love faunalia i died for beauty incubus intrigue king of hearts ladon Laudanum Le Père Fouettard mason and jenkins port jelly mother shub's toothsome banketstaaf needlework nefrititi nemesis nephilim 2x obatala octopus and abalone diver perversion plunder prurience (sniff) riding the goat sapphics sleipnir (spelling?) spooky res st. john's eve suck it sugar skull tavern of hell 2x the coil- partial the coiled serpent the great sword of war 2x the jersey devil the music of erich zahn 2x tisiphone torture king vice yew trees *only willing to trade for something in the same scent family tea party- new, sale only NOT FOR TRADE (wedding favors) queen of hearts high strung daisies wishlist: German Expressionist Horror A Bachelor's Dog The Grand Inquisitor's Heretic's Fork -any of the four lick its -any weenies AEVAL Anne Bonny Aperotos Eros Archangel Winter BARON SAMEDI belladonna BELLE ÉPOQUE Bengal BLACK FOREST Block Buster Bonfire Night Brimstone Calico Jack chimera clemence Crowley CZERNOBOG de sade (but only in a sniffie) Death of Autumn dee Devil's Night Djinn fenris wolf GRANDMOTHER OF GHOSTS hades Hellfire Hexxenacht HIGHWAYMAN Himerus holly king Jabberwocky Kali Loup Garou Love and Pain Mama Ji mata hari oak king oberon On Darkness Pais de la Canela Priala Red Devil red lantern Rumpelstilzchen Samhainophobia Sin skadi smut snow moon Spider Strangler Fig THE ANTIKYTHERA MECHANISM THE BLACK RIDER THE BLACK TOWER the catapillar the dodo the Goblin Ride The Great He Goat THE LIGHTS OF MEN'S LIVES the music of erich zahn THE OBSIDIAN WIDOW Tintagel Titus Andronicus torture king Ulalume Van Van White Light wraith YEMAYA

A decadent, deep perfume, lusty and luxuriant. The scent evokes images of velvet-lined Old West cathouses, tightly laced corsets, rustling petticoats and coquettish snarls of pleasure. Bawdy plum with amaretto, burgundy wine and black currant. attempt number four to find a blend that doesn't go bad on my skin today. in the imp: airheads! airheads and grape jolly ranchers wet: strong artificial fizzy grape. dry: sweet sugared fruits with a really slow build up of a faint booze note. looses a lot of intensity.if suck it is cherry kool aide this is grape. i like it. it makes me smile.

all the way through from imp to dry it's sweet and light. it's just very slightly spicy with a hint of something fruity and floral. it takes on a more sandalwood edge as it's on the skin. it is very soothing and reminds of the incense that the store that i buy my oils and herbs from uses.

lab fresh imp in the imp: sharp wood and vetiver. notes aren't listing it but it's fresh vetiver. wet: same. some green wood and smoke. dry: settles and smooths a lot. still sharp though- pine/cypress, a hint of vetiver and a slight touch of something smooth and a touch of tonka. definitely not a strong blend, it's actually rather faint. luckily there's not a lot of rose which is a death note for me.

in the imp: well my hunt for what my nose registers as tea tree oil is narrowing down. this has my normal tea tree oil reaction to a lot of the herbal based blends. now i'm getting impressions of fir,cedar and something else though after the initial blast of tea tree oil. wet: apparently this is blast everything even remotely lemon related into the stratasphere weekend. the lemon note in crib girls again same as when i tested doc constantine yesterday. but if doc was eating lemonheads this is more cuisine based, like a lemon rub you'd use of fish or something. there's something sour in a completely unrelated way sitting just underneath it. dry: lemon with something underneath it that i'm really not a fan of. or maybe not. it's calming down the longer it's on. there's a sharp herbal component to this- i'm thinking that rosemary and me may not be destined for an OTP relationship anytime soon. i'm only getting really faint and random whiffs of neroli and the blend may rank higher in my bpal love list if i got more of it. the lavender is calming down- i'm really beginning to think that as much as i like lavender that i may not be able to wear most of the lab's lavender blends. i'm afraid that's what's going sour here because i got that out of king of hearts and farewell to false love too. honestly after about five or ten minutes it's not bad, i just don't see this being one of those blends that i'm going to miss.

frimped from a forumite. hunted down on my quest for a torture king stand in. in the imp: this is a good sign. same blast of nail polish as torture king gave me (it's citrus, probably cedar and leather. didn't know that a month ago when i got torture king) wet: much more citrus than torture king. it's the lemon from crib girls over something vaguely herbal, a touch of leather and something ... moody. guess that doc's not all that happy of a guy and has a thing for lemonheads. dry: this is better. the lemon fades off slightly and it's all leather and musky masculine, with a hit of herbs. the only thing that gives me pause is that i kept catching whiffs of something that smelled a little too...musky, or rather the musk was a little too spot on, and the only other musked blend i was wearing was the protection blend i had made for me yesterday. none of my friends could smell it on me so maybe it was a just a fluke and honestly i really don't care that much, it was just startling. so. this is like torture king but with a different (but still yummy) leather and heavier citrus. it's related but more cousins than brothers (and that would be one hell of a family reunion, just saying). it's a good enough stand in though. will be eventually getting a bottle when my finances can handle it better.

this one's easy. cherry danish all the way through but heavy on the cherry. it's definitely canned cherry filling too, not fresh cherries or cherry koolaide. it's cute. i may try to snag a decant.

decanted about a month ago and received as a trade. in the imp: wow okay i'm not sure why but i was thinking that this was supposed to be fruit-sweet. it smells like leather and herbs wet: more leather and herbs. where's the fruit? (now that i see the note list there's no fruit because well there's not supposed to be. i'm not sure what it was that i was actually thinking about). dry: sweeter but still leather and incense. i'm getting a patch vibe. slight, very slight, booze note with a touch of vanilla. it smells like the notes underneath the fig in nephilim which is a blend that i love too.