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In the Vial: I'm definitely getting aftershave (reminds me a lot of Old Spice), but none of the other notes listed. It smells more like nutty neroli than anything else.

Wet: Ah, there's the brimstone! Still smelling that odd nuttiness, though.

Dry: It's a little sweeter now, I suppose from the candy wrappers? And quite powdery. I'm almost smelling something akin to Snake Oil way in the back. Where's the cat? I was really intrigued to see what a "cat note" smelled like! (I made my cat smell my wrist for kicks, and she made what can only be described as an "Ew" face. Was kind of hoping for a hiss.)

An Hour Later: Even sweeter and more powdery, but not in a bad way. The brimstone has completely mellowed out to just a faint smokiness in the background. There is something very warm and cuddly and comforting about this scent. Unfortunately, I'm still not smelling anything that reminds me of cats, which, being a crazy cat lady, I was hoping for!

Overall: I like the scent, but I don't think this is something I'd wear as perfume as it really does smell like aftershave. Will definitely try this one on my boyfriend, though!

In the Vial: This is a very wet, juicy scent. It's gorgeous green apple with a lot of greenery behind it, and maybe even a hint of mint. I'm surprised at how many of the reviews say it smells like an apple single note, because I'm getting so much more from it!

Wet: Apple, apple, apple! How I love apple! It's a little dark and smoky at first, but it gets brighter and sweeter on the drydown. It smells much more like a red apple than a green apple now.

Dry: A little powdery, but still so good. I love how this truly does not smell like a friendly apple. It captures the concept perfectly.

An Hour Later: Aw, I'm a little disappointed. A lot of the evilness has worn off, and this reminds me a lot of The Hesperides now - sweet and woodsy. It's also kind of doing that weird buttery thing that scents like to do on my skin.

Overall: A very interesting apple scent! I just wish it didn't change so much on my skin. I'll have to wear this a few more times before deciding whether or not to keep it.

Has anyone here seen REPO! The Genetic Opera? (If you haven't, please do yourself a favor and do so right away!) As soon as I heard of Gore-Shock, I thought, NATHAN! And that, of course, got me thinking of what blends would suit the other characters. And, as you may guess from the length of this post... I ended up thinking a little too much about it. I'd like to put together a REPO! collection for myself, so if you have any other suggestions, please share!

Shilo Wallace, a seventeen-year-old girl who believes she has inherited a rare blood disease from her deceased mother. Shilo is confined to her room by her overprotective father, but, desperate to experience the outside world, she often sneaks out of her prison, only to be overwhelmed by the dangers of the city.

Nathan Wallace, a man living two lives. By day he is an obsessively overprotective father and a widow who blames himself for his wife's death. By night, he is GeneCo's Repo Man, cutting organs out of clients who haven't been keeping up with their payments. He was blackmailed into the position by Rotti Largo seventeen years ago, but has since developed a maniacal passion for the job.

Marni Wallace, the deceased mother and wife. Eighteen years ago, she left her fiance, Rotti Largo, for Nathan Wallace, and quickly became pregnant with Nathan's child. Tragically, she died during childbirth, supposedly from to a blood disease which she passed on to her daughter.

Rotti Largo, the ailing president of GeneCo who doesn't want to leave his empire to the vultures he feels his children have become. He holds a grudge towards Nathan for stealing Marni away from him almost two decades earlier... even though he's already had his revenge against them both.

Amber Sweet, the heiress to GeneCo. She is equally addicted to surgery, constantly changing and improving her looks, and to Zydrate, which she obtains illegally from Graverobber in exchange for sex. She desperately wants to replace both her father and Blind Mag as the head and the voice of GeneCo.

Luigi Largo, a homicidal maniac and the eldest son of Rotti Largo. He wields a knife at all times, and will stab someone for reasons as petty as bringing him the wrong coffee. He thinks he will be the one to inherit GeneCo once his father dies.

Pavi Largo, the narcissistic, effeminate, and dimwitted son of Rotti Largo. He wears the skinned faces of women as masks over his own face. Like his siblings, Pavi also dreams of becoming the new head of GeneCo.

Blind Mag, the voice of the GeneCo. Born blind, she was given the ability to see by GeneCo in return for becoming the company's "property" and the star of the Genetic Opera.

Graverobber, a charismatic and fearless black-market Zydrate dealer. He illegally harvests the chemical from the brains of corpses, often narrowly avoiding arrest by GenCops while doing so.

GeneCo, the solution to the epidemic of organ failures that devastated mankind. The organization provides financing plans for organ transplants... but doesn't hesitate to reposess property that goes unpaid.

The Genetic Opera, the opera presented by GeneCo and starring Blind Mag. Everyone arrived at the show excited and ready to be entertained - but nobody expected to witness the terrible things they did.

Zydrate comes in a little glass vial. A little glass vial? A little glass vial! A chemical harvested from the brains of corpses and used as a painkiller for patients getting surgery. It's highly addictive, and a thriving black market exists to provide addicts with their next high.

Edit to fix a few typos.

Pele, Pele, Pele! Did I mention Pele? It's based on a Hawaiian goddess and it actually smells like Hawaii. I spent a week in Maui in 2005 and after smelling Pele later that year, I was stunned at how precisely it smelled like Maui. It doesn't smell like a tropical drink, but the actual tropics. It's downright freaky.

Otherwise, I'd recommend anything with coconut. Black Pearl comes to mind right away.

This is a perfect cross between Bengal and Shub-Niggurath! It's the exotic honeyed spice of Bengal with the nutty woodsiness of Shub-Niggurath. It's missing the sweetness of both blends, though, making this a more grounded and less foody scent. I love the oil, but it goes a little too woodsy on my skin. It'll make a divine room scent.

(2005)

In the vial: It doesn't smell remarkably different than Samhain 2004, but there are changes. It's less sweet and less fruity, and more woodsy. Which saddens me, because I'd prefer it the other way around. The fir is noticeable, and the woods most definitely are damp. I'm not getting any of the foody notes, unfortunately. My vision of Samhain 2004 fits perfectly with this, too: "It's walking through a forest whose trees are bare, rotting brown leaves coating the ground, the still air crisp and damp with fresh rain, the sky cloudy and colored a dull yellow."

Wet: Oh god, Pine Sol. The Pine Sol lessens as seconds pass, but a hint of it remains. It sweetens a little bit, but not as much as I'd like.

Dry: It's grown ever so slightly foody, and though none of those notes absolutely scream out, I think it's the nutmeg or allspice, and maybe the tiniest hint of pumpkin. As minutes pass, the apple comes out to play, and as it mingles with the spices, it creates a warm, baked, and deliciously sweet smell that I'm loving!

An hour later: Now it smells pretty much identical to how Samhain 2004 turned out on me. The fir and damp woods are still strongly there, but the sweetness and spice has rounded out the blend to make it delicious.

Overall: So autumn! I like it and will definitely be wearing it during autumn, but I don't love it enough to keep the entire bottle all to myself, so I'll probably make a decant or two to sell to thsoe who didn't spring for the bottle.

In the vial: The rose and the lemon are battling to the death for the spotlight. One second it'll be all lemon, but then I'll realize how extremely rose this is, but another second and I'll remember the lemon, and then... it's a vicious cycle. Meanwhile, the apple seems to have run away in fear, leaving behind the tiniest bit of sweetness to give the whole blend a bit of a candy feel.

Wet: The lemon gives the rose a right hook, but the rose refuses to go down, and retaliates with a crushing suckerpunch! And the rose wins! I was hoping and praying that the lemon and apple, two of my favorite notes, would prevail over the rose, which always turns soapy on me, but alas, the rose has conquered everything else in this blend.

Dry: Maybe not completely conquered, as there is still the softest hint of lemon keeping the rose tart and bright. Otherwise? Total rose.

An hour later: Rose. Period.

Overall: God dammit.

In the vial: An overall nutty scent, with a definite edge of booze, though not overwhelming to the point where it smells like a bar full of alcoholics. There is a soft smokiness to this as well, but thankfully not the sharp, bitter smoke I get from most blends classified as smoky. And the more I smell it, the more I think there's something like clove or cinnamon in it, spicing it up. This is really nothing like I'd expected Devil's Night to be!

Wet: Nutty, nutty, nutty... and a bit of neroli. As always, my skin brings out the musk, making this a bit darker and heavier. Oh no, oh god no!—it's turning into gross old man smell! NO, NO, STOP THAT!

Dry: Yes, it's gross old man smell, similar to the result I get from Fire of Love. As minutes go by, it's starting to smell less like that, but the hint of it is still there, taunting me. The sugar is coming out, along with more musk.

An hour later: It's very faint now, but what's left of it has changed from gross old man smell to... gross old man smell smeared over with butter. I swear, my skin not only amps any butter note to infinity, but creates a butter note in blends that don't even have one! Otherwise, it's grown a little sweeter, but still retains the unpleasant musk.

Overall: My skin has been turning everything into butter lately, so I'll have to retest Devil's Night before I make any decisions about it, but I'm fairly certain I'll be selling this bottle. How terrible that the one Halloween blend I decided to buy unsniffed (after considering between it, Sugar Skull, and Dia de Los Muertos for hours) seems to be a mistake.

In the vial: Chocolate hits me hard right off the bat, dark at first, but at the end of the inhale, it goes sweet and milky. The red wine is also prevalent, and the tiniest hint of honey. I'm really not getting anything floral out of this. This is flirtation, seduction in the disguise of sweetness and playfulness.

Wet: The florals come out with a vengeance, forcing the chocolate that was once so strong far into the background.

Dry: Uh oh... there's the tobacco. Uh oh, it's turning into gross old man cigar! Nooooo!

An hour later: Ah, thank goodness. The tobacco stench has receeded, and the chocolate has reclaimed its rightful place, along with a hint of wine. So it's basically gone back to what it was originally! But... not as nice as it was originally.

Overall: It's all right, but not for me. Even if I loved the end result I don't think I could stand to put up with that icky tobacco stage.

In the vial: I've never been a fan of the drink, but from what I can remember, this smells pretty genuine. There's a lot of vanilla in this, but it's also quite buttery and eggy, which is keeping it from being too sweet. There's a definite alcoholic tinge to this, though I can't tell whether it's the brandy or rum, or both. I'm not getting any nutmeg.

Wet: It immediately turns sweeter, then goes a little plasticy, and then there's the softest hint of mint in the background. Then... it almost disappears, going so faint I can hardly smell it even with my nose pressed to my skin! I'm reminded a bit of Milk Moon, Pink Moon, and Spooky, all in different ways.

Dry: It's even fainter now. How strange that my skin is soaking this up so quickly! What scent is lingering is turning buttery, as my skin tends to do to anything with butter in it (and apparently, some things without butter, though between the rum and cream, I can see where the butter feel is coming from). After a few minutes, the scent grows a little bolder, but maybe this is only because I stopped sniffing it for awhile so my nose had a chance to refresh itself.

An hour later: I knew this would happen: it's become the generic butter smell that anything with a hint of butter turns into, but this time with a strong boozy background, which makes it smell almost exactly like Grog eventually does on me.

Overall: I'm very thankful that I didn't get the chance to buy this unsniffed from the Lab on the Yule update, because it would've been a huge waste of money. Egg Nog just doesn't work on me!

Mi-Go Brain Canister is completely summer to me. I'm not sure exactly why, but it gave me strong memories of summers from my childhood.

New Orleans and Peitho (which are pretty similar) are hot summer florals.

Dragon's Eye is very lilac, which is a spring flower, but it's more of a late spring, early summer scent where the lilac is wilted and decayed and on its way out.

Pele is summer on the island and at the beach. It smells exactly like the air in Hawaii does, it's scary.

And then there's Midway, but that doesn't need explaining!

Not sure if anyone's mentioned this, but Hell's Belle! It encapsulates autumn for me perfectly. It's the smell of yellowed decaying leaves and dried, dusty flowers, which not everyone would particularly enjoy, but which I love. That is the exact scent I've been searching BPAL for, but couldn't find. Until the Lab sent a Hell's Belle frimp with my order. I swear those people are psychic.

Just got Mantis today, and it's quite lemon on me, though again, the description doesn't mention lemon!

Verdandi, very appley, but in a very spicy, woodsy, herby way.

I get a ton of lemon from Dorian, even though it's not listed in the description. Otherwise, Empyreal Mist is my favorite lemon scent so far.

In the vial: Honey hits me immediately, but there's a tartness to it, and a strong sugary sweetness. Thankfully, I'm not smelling any of those lunar oils that always seem to turn me off of the Lunacy blends.

Wet: This is so strange! The notes aren't blending together at all; they're all very separated and individual, and easy to pick out from one another. There's the dryness of the honey, then that out-of-place fruity tartness, then a dusting of powder, and it's all laid over with a sickly sweetness.

Dry: The floral is finally coming out. The fruity scent is growing stronger, but it's not exactly strawberry. The honey is still the strongest note.

An hour later: The floral has strengthened, actually becoming prominent, and it's created a rather nice balance between everything. The individual notes are no longer chaotically strewn about. There's still a hint of honey, and sugar, but it's all blended in now and difficult to pick out.

Overall: It's all right, definitely one of the nicer Lunacy blends I've tried so far, but not quite my thing. It's the honey that ruins it for me; I'm just not a fan of the honey note.

In the vial: Rose, with a tiny bit of fruitiness (though I wonder if that's just Bordello wafting from my arm). There's also a definite spice to this, in an almost foody way, making the scent quite delicious.

Wet: Not surprisingly, the rose immediately turns soapy. The spice is clinging on for dear life, but the outlook is grim.

Dry: So the spice managed to hang on, though it's very faint, and if I wasn't looking for it I might not notice it was there. Otherwise, this is pure rose, rose, and more rose, and soap... no different from any other blend with rose in it.

An hour later: Wow, it's gotten even more soapy. It's pure Dove soap now. If I use my imagination, I can still smell roses... maybe.

Overall: I should just give up on rose notes, shouldn't I?

In the vial: This is, quite plainly, Gap Dream, which I wore religiously when I was around 12. It's very soapy, with a soft floral undertone.

Wet: The aquatic note comes out strongly on my skin, changing the scent from pure soap to something more crystalline and airy, though it still retains a definite aroma of soap. It's reminding me of the good parts of Lightning with none of the gross ozone notes.

Dry: It's grown so faint I have to breathe in very deeply to smell it. It's still that slightly soapy, airy, aquatic scent that is surprisingly nice, since I usually tend not to like aquatics. I think I smell a wee bit of floral in the way, way back.

An hour later: It's grown stronger again, so I don't have to try so hard to smell it. The aquatic is also more prominent now, though I could swear it smells a bit like ozone as well. The Gap Dream scent has been completely obliterated.

Overall: Nice, but not the sort of thing I would wear.

In the vial: Fruity, juicy, and sweet... with a bit of an edge. This is booze-coated candy, although it doesn't smell overwhelmingly of alcohol in the way that Bon Vivant does.

Wet: The plum grows tart for a few seconds before mellowing out to something very sweet and fluffy. It's sort of like cotton candy, but not quite. This is another case of a scent reminding me of something I just can't put my finger on. And I should mention that this has an extraordinary throw; I can rarely smell a blend without putting my nose right to my skin, but Bordello is wafting all around me now in an intoxicating way.

Dry: It's become total bubblegum, soft and fruity with a tiny bit of powder, and that's not good, because I don't want to smell like bubblegum!

An hour later: Thank god, the bubblegum phase has passed (although this still could be taken as bubblegum, I suppose), and now it's more like what it was on the initial application. It's sweet, fruity, tart, delicious.

Overall: Yes, delicious. I will definitely be keeping this, for the days when I feel bright and sassy.

In the vial: I'm not sure what Kentucky Bourbon smells like, or any sort of Bourbon for that matter, but I suppose this scent could be classified as very slightly boozy. It's sweet mint, in a nutshell. Mostly it smells like a candy cane... or, no, it's more like peppermint-flavored dental floss!

Wet: The sweetness ebbs away slightly and makes way for a hint of something green. Otherwise, it doesn't change much from the original scent. It's very faint on my skin.

Dry: The sweetness has faded even more, and I'm not smelling anything boozy at all. The mint and that greenery remain.

An hour later: Still green, herbal, minty... but it's turned creamy, though not in a sweet sense. It reminds me so much of Buck Moon!

Overall: I'm surprised at how minty this turned out to be, when it claimed a "sprig" of mint. Right, more like a whole tree of mint. It would've been nice if the sweetness had stuck around, but as it is, I'm not happy with Juke Joint.

Juke Joint smells much like Buck Moon to me, on the drydown.

In the vial: Lemon tea, a strong hint of ginger, and a very soft, light green aroma that could either be the moss or grass, or both. A very pretty scent right off the bat!

Wet: The tart lemon disappears completely, but the tea, ginger, and greenery stick around. Very quickly this turns into a much softer, flatter scent than it originally was in the imp. A few seconds in and it starts to turn into a powdery floral.

Dry: It's almost... delicious! There's a slight sweetness that's making the ginger smell foody, yet that green smell is still there to keep this grounded. I'm sure it's my imagination, but I'm starting to pick up a bit of apple in here; maybe that's just the fig finally coming out.

An hour later: It's turned soapy. Not floral soapy, but decorative pink spicy soaps or perhaps body lotion of some sort. I can definitely smell fig now, and the fig has turned it darker and musky. I can't distinguish any longer between any of the other notes.

Overall: If this had remained the scent it was when it had first dried, I might have kept it, but I'm not happy with the way it turned out, so this will go to the swap pile.

In the vial: Mostly peppermint, with a steady backing of vanilla. It's a very strange blend, like nothing I've ever smelled before... and I'm not sure whether I like it or not. If the peppermint was less overwheming, this would be much nicer.

Wet: The first time I put this on, the butter flared up madly, as butter tends to do on me, for a few seconds before it softened up and everything else came out. The second time I put this on, the butter was nowhere to be seen, but the peppermint turned into Windex! What on earth is going on here...?

Dry: During both trials, the cocoa and coconut come peeking out on the drydown, just enough to be noticed if you pay attention to them, but nowhere near enough to calm down the still strong peppermint. As time goes on, the peppermint is finally starting to fade and become not so overwhelming. If I breathe in very deeply, at the very end of the inhalation I'm hit with a deliciously sweet chocolate smell that I wish was present at all times instead of only at that one moment.

An hour later: The cocoa is definitely there, but it's not really a foody chocolate smell; it's bitter but made sweet with the tiniest, almost unrecognizable trace of vanilla. The peppermint is almost gone, but it's still noticeable in that it perks the scent up and gives it a bit of bite. I think I also smell some coconut, but it's coconut in a suntan oil way, which is a very strange mix to cocoa, vanilla, and pepperminut. The entire scent is slightly powdery, too.

Overall: Eh. I sort of like it, but then I realize that no, I really don't. It's too strange for my taste. I think it would've been beautiful without the peppermint, but alas.

In the vial: Hello, cocoa! This smells exactly like Velvet to me. I'm not getting anything else but cocoa and something woody; I don't know if calamus or tonka are wood notes, but that's the only explanation I can think of. As I keep on smelling, I start to get the lemon, so that it smells like one of those chocolate oranges, except lemon instead of orange.

Wet: Unsurprisingly, my skin brings out the musk, turning this instantly into a deeper, darker scent. A few seconds later, and I think I can smell the vanilla, too. The cocoa is still prominent, however, while the lemon fades into the background. What a strange and complicated blend this is!

Dry: Mmmmm, sweet, warm, toasted cocoa. But then another sniff and the lemon is back. And another sniff and it's full sandalwood again! This keeps changing by the second! First it resembles Snake Oil, then it turns around and resembles Dorian, and then it's back to Velvet. This is making me mad!

An hour later: I forgot to come back and add in the last stage of the review and now I forget what Freak Show turned out to be. So I'll have to review it again, eventually!

Overall: Ditto.

In the vial: Oh precious, darling dragon's blood... how I love you so. I have a tendency to compare each new dragon's blood blend to the others, and especially to the single note of Dragon's Blood. Dragon's Heart is less sweet and more musky than pure Dragon's Blood. This is a great balance between Blood Lotus and Dragon's Musk.

Wet: Brighter than it was in the imp, and leaning more towards the Blood Lotus side of the spectrum. There's definite musk in this, though, and if I try really hard, I can catch the fig as well.

Dry: Oh my god, so sensual and so gorgeous. There's not much more to say in the way of description. It really is an even mix of Blood Lotus and Dragon's Musk!

An hour later: Still the same gorgeous scent.

Overall: I'm trying not to like this more than Blood Lotus, since I just ordered a 10ml of Blood Lotus, and I won't be able to get a bottle of Dragon's Heart for awhile. But this is definitely the best Ars Draconis blend I've tried yet! Perfect for the person who loves dragon's blood with a bit of darkness.