Lycanthrope

Satan Talks to Sin and Death, Gustave Doré. Siberian musk, Tibetan musk, calla lily, bruised violet petals, violet leaf, white tea, tiare, and agarwood attar. What a very odd scent. Wet this smells like a funkier Snake Charmer on the top note. On, definitely a citrus-y lemon like scent (that's the tea I bet). The violet is peeking around and trying to do a little smooth bruised thing like in Nothing But Death but never quite makes it. There is definitely a high pitched tone from both the tea and the lily that is granting this a sharp tone. I really do like the violet petals when I can smell them, but this is primarily a complicated, bleak and high pitched scent full of contrasts. The violet is like a wub-wub-wub sound thrumming around in the background. Don't think I'll need more than this one bottle but I'll be testing it a few more times. ETA: Several wears of this over the past week. The dominant notes remain tea and lily, it's a lush, fresh lily, and overall this is, to me, not a purely violet perfume. It's one of these polarizing perfumes where there's plenty of plush, deep, purple notes yet they are counteracted with the higher, slightly citrussy tea and heady lilies. Both musks probably are anchoring or balancing the two but themselves are not terribly evident. This does not smell like the siberian musk single note, nor does it smell a lot like the Snake Oil / Charmer family. It's mostly a complicated floral. I like it. Considering at least one backup.

Violet petals shimmering with lilac, wild plum, midnight blue musk, and lime rind. Violets are always my jam. So this definitely found its way into my cart. Wet, it smells definitely a little high pitched from the lilac and plum, reminds me a bit of purple wine, for some reason. On the skin, wet, oh, it's a cacophony of smells! I get the sharp citrus snap and bite of lime pretty strong, and then it goes a bit more fruity because of the plum. Over all this is the pale gray-purple of lilac. Blue musk is always hard for me to pin down, but it's binding these high pitched notes down, only a bit. It's still very sharp while newly applied. As it mellows, what is interesting is the oil/citrus/lime bite remains, even if it's not as uniformly LIME as previously. It adds a chewy bitterness to the blend, always a bit of an edge. Over time there's a thrum of violet. Not candy like, but more like melding with the blue musk to create a smooth shadow flower underneath the fangy lime. This reminds me of a much less candy-like Purple Phoenix in some ways, but definitely not grapey or winey. It's got that same dusky purple fruits/floral as Morgause but sharply present, and definitely lime forward. Cold, iridescent white-green-gray-purple with shadows of blue-violet. I think I may have stocked up real fast on this. It's a very bright lilac-violet-lime, once settled.

An organonitrogen haze of iris, orange blossom, and neroli obfuscating seas of ethane and mountains of ice, buffeted by gusts of methane and smoky rain. Yes. YES. This is amazing, and definitely NOT methanous! Wet, it smells like a sparkling, crystalline translucent yellow-orange, really bright orange blossom, definitely hazy, gauzy. On the skin, it's a real mix of ice, clouds, marine, lightning... like all of Beth's fun storms swirled together over a crystalline ocean and is whipping it into a frothy frenzy. There's definitely an ice note in here, I think the one from like Monastery in the Mountains - definitely a high clarity, non-slushy ice note, mixed together with a bit of Lightning's bright ozone. There's also a little bit of orange rind jumping in and out here, adding a bit of weirdly citrus warmth (spark?) to the melange of atmospherics. I don't get much iris, but if there is some powderiness holding everything together it is thrumming in the background. Over all this, I can definitely pull out that clarion call of neroli - the smooth glow of that note ascends and orbits all the rest of the scent. It truly is a core of ice, rain, wind, ocean, resonating with a bright, high-pitched sweet citrus-floral haze. I got two on impulse, will love them to death!

Cool, dark water steeped with mugwort, mayweed, and thyme. Me and mugwort have an understanding. I put it on my skin and it smells like muddy butt, so take that with a grain of salt. That said, here goes. Testing in decant mode. Bottle? Pipette? Muddy butt! Holy carp! Butt and herbs, actually, mostly the thyme giving it a little rubbery-herby leaf smell. Kind of like oregano water, or oregano oil, even though I don't think this has that in it. Not sure what mayweed is. On my skin, the butt rises and I have a little of that smokey, slightly off scent that mugwort transforms on me into, but this burns off real quick, thank goodness. It's transitioning rapidly into very clean, clear aquatic, sort of along the lines of Windward Passage rather than oceanic. I'm reminded of Vial of Holy Water, which is on me basil water, except this is much less sweet. In all honesty, I can't find the mugwort after it is on me for a while and this is a pure, sparkling water type scent, more reedy and salty. I think maybe like, Hatmethit? Sorry about the stanky butt. I can't extract my mugwort skin chemistry from my review! All in all it dries down and behaves better, so give this a spin if you like fresh water or herbal scents.

This is like a less piney version of Snow Bunny with a decidedly asian floral bent. That being said I agree with the above, the wisteria is subtle. I would say, most of the wisteria this 2018 Lupercalia season has been very subtle! I do like the piney snow note, and this is kissed with a little plum-fruit / blossom and is snow fused with the cherry blossom note. Over a bit of time, the cherry blossom 'fleshiness' becomes a bit more apparent. I think there's a tiny bit of the sour-ish wisteria peeking around but it's quiet and mostly covered up by the snow accord. Gonna have to give this one a few wears.

I am reminded of how the air around a Strawberry Pocky frosted stick smells. Or that kiss of vanilla-cream-strawberry flavor that you smell/taste when you're chomping on them. Oh bother. Now I'm hungry. This is really good. Subdued, like strawberry puree folded into buttery frosting.

This is a whole bunch of bright, smooth and sweet white/golden waxy flowers planted in a bower made of carved, blonde-colored woods. It is extremely elegant and smooth. The florals blend together wonderfully without becoming too 'old-fashioned' or excessively lush. It's restrained, complicated, and very, very coherent. It just smells ... grand, and good.

Yes, wow, this is rose. A bit of a lemony, bright rose. I definitely see the Rose Jam LUSH comparisons. The vanilla is present as a touch of foody sweetness at the base of the scent but I am getting very little in the way of cotton candy. A bit sad.

This is mostly dark, dark oudh on me. Chew with your teeth and fangs smoky oudh. Perhaps a bit of the carnation petal in the background, but it's also a deep russet red, and not particularly flashy. The wood is the star here.

Yes, I can immediately smell everything on the skin when wet - orange, amber, cocoa powder, and honey, but a thin, sweet, idea of honey, not too gloopy. It starts off very chewy, almost toffee-rich and very gourmand. As it sits on my skin, battling it out, it seems to lighten, and veers on me towards sweet orange honey cocoa. The lilies and orchids are in the background, but I mostly get a yellow day-lily kind of floral sitting lightly upon a slightly dry, almost 'reedy' orange that's been rolled in dry cocoa and honey powder. Very much like what I'd imaging the pollen from cock stamens to smell like. Oh my. I'll have to give this one a few more wears, it's a bit of a chameleon. It kind of reminds me of 'Love-Lies-Bleeding,' one of my favorite chocolate-y-velvet-florals, although where that one gave me the color brownish-burgundy, this is a bit of a yellow-orange gilded with brown and gold accents.

Snowballs of blue lilac, lotus root, Roman chamomile, sandalwood, and cade. Wet this smells a lot like the top note of Blue Moons (like, the 2007 version in particular, not the classic one), then it veers right into wet but pretty lilac territory. After the very fresh, true to life lilac scent fades a touch, you can really smell the herbal push for the chamomile. I'm not getting frank cade from this (thank god!) but it may be adding a little bit more depth and sharpness to an otherwise initially floral blend. I then get both lotus root and petal, although that may be the lilac still playing tricks on me. While wet, it is very complicated, still very much lilac, without it being a very masculine scent. I would say this is a traditional strong floral. On drydown it melds together and stays pretty true to form as a blustery, springtime lilac bush, hazy in the heat from the bees, with the fragrance dripping off the petals so strong you swear you can see the air around the bush dance and you temporarily lose your place as you get taken by the sheer presence of flowers. ... Uh... well now. So if you like lilacs you must try Glaucous Snow!

So... super weird. Wet, it's a very brash, green, leaf-y grassy scent with a touch of an airy, daisy-like floral. On me at least, once I keep snorfling it, that recedes and I just get a ... fresh petal with loamy muddy dirt twang. Huh. Is it just me? Sappy muddy dirt with clear white petals. And pollen. What? It's realistic... that's for sure!

In the hospital while I was doing clinicals, I wore my locket (clocket) scent locket. When I didn't want to stink up a storm I'd either put it in my workdesk, or even just above most of my clothing, since then it wouldn't warm and exude a touch of scent. Then when I did want to enjoy such as when I was at the computer stations and away from patients and other staff, I'd just put it against my chest and I'd get a little bit of scent. It's like a detachable way to enjoy, and worst come to worst (and it didn't while I was working) you can just completely take the locket off.

Wet, this is very dry, rooty, kind of airy wet petals. Very much true iris. I can swear I smell a bit of vegetal root, and a hint of the earth. That fades, and it lingers as a straightforward, kind of cool-clay light violet-gray floral. Definitely fades towards quiet an subdued, regal floral.

As one of the Lab's resident Violet Groupies, this was the one scent other than Dead Leaves, Violet Candy and Sugar Crystals that caught my eye during the Halloweenie update. Followed by a oh, hell. My budget. This year I'm supposed to be a bit more restrained, due to situations of my own doing, so I was perusing the Halloween list, thankful that I could actually pass on most of the offerings for 2017, but, whoa. I read this note list, gave myself a big hefty 'heave-ho' and resigned myself to the fact I was going to blind bottle this one. I eagerly awaited its arrival, and then once it was here, gave it a good wear to one of my meetings. The entire drive there I was huffing my arm, trying to find some reason why I would be spared Violetapocalypse. Wellllllll I just ordered a whole bunch of bottles, and I rationalize that because I didn't buy anything else in backups from this year's Weenies. (Yay, rationalization!...) Stealthily, Stealthily, is a very quiet, unassuming scent with many layers. It is a medium strength blend which from the bottle reminds me a bit of a Farewell to False Love - very lavender forward. I thought that would be my saving grace. On the skin, it sparkles again initially with a slightly dry powdery (iris?) lavender, but there's a hint of a smoky background, like in Tristesses de la Lune (another of my favorite iris-y smoky lunacies). The smoke unveils a very dark, velvety violet. An embrace of that sweet petal, but still elusive. It would like most mysterious violet notes disappear into almost nothing, willing me to snorfle and snuff just to get some tantalizing hint of the floofy purple petals. The more I tried to search for the violet, the more elusive it became. I would get a mix of dusty iris root, or occasionally the top herbaceous glow of the lavender. But, then, without warning, a random hint of violet petals blooms, like a hidden florf of violet. Not a candy-powder violet, but that rich deep purple, regal violet that wows me with its strangely sweet, cool, familiar yet space-y otherworldy floral kiss. And then when I try harder, it skirts away, only to return again, as only ionone fragrances can. I love how this flirts and changes. Throw is both elusive, medium, but sporadically pops! It mostly stays close to the skin. The color I see is definitely a rich purple with smoky gray-blue-gray-violet tendrils. I'm so glad to add this to my violet and purple florals collection. Thanks, Beth, for surprising me with another subtle, artistic flavor of violet for me to experience and treasure! (like a hoarding dragon. RAWR)

Wet, it smells like a sweet, summery, slightly dewy floral. On me, the jasmine rushes up to greet me like the Aunt I wish didn't Hug so hard, accompanied by her more reasonable wife, Osmanthus, which is providing a little bit of tea. I'm a person who takes jasmine and amps it to high heaven, so I fear a bit this may be all I can get out of this blend. I think I'm getting a whiff of dandelion leaf around the corners, and sap, trying to temper the brashness of the jasmine floral. Oh. With some time, I get a bit more of that rounded golden honey-sweet osmanthus, and jasmine may be settling down. Certainly I can still get its white-hot-frisky floral cascade as I smell, but I think there's at least some complexity rising to the surface. There's a bit of that (as said above) Bayou-moss note bringing it down a notch. I'm only getting florals, but Southern florals for sure, and with a bit of temperance by the moss and dandelion to add a herbal green speckle. I don't get a big whiff of either of the parent blends. It is pleasant, but quite floral on my skin.

Wow! This at first whiff brings me immediately to Talvikuu (I think I started the BPAL craziness back in 2006 or so). The snow note is not too mint-forward, but it's that slushy note that includes, somehow, the ozonic whiff of any remaining pine greenery, mixed somehow with how the cold air feels and smells as it chills your nose and numbs your ability to smell a bit... definitely there's vanilla in the background, and it warms the last bit of the ozone snap. The snowiness dies down pretty quick to leave a tasty smear of vanilla whisper behind. I'd get more of this just to experience the first few moments of slather!

I have very little else to add except that this is a perfect melange of something like Pop! and Cake Smash. I love both. The back of my hand smells like an amazingly awesome dessert that I would like to find and decimate. It starts off higher on the bubblegum-ness, and vacillates between trying to be UBER-FROOT while the creamy cheese cream cheese cheese frosting (...?) ... cheese wallows up from below, all blurbly and like chortle chortle. Behind it all remains the perfect cake with a kiss of cocoa. On me, the bubblegum does burn off first and it remains a delicious red velvet cupcake, where if you stop huffing for a moment, glimmers of tutti-frutti sparkle at the edges if you catch a repeat whiff of yourself.

Wild strawberry and red currant squished into a deep green blend of oakmoss, crushed mint, green tea leaf, mastic, petitgrain, Terebinth pine, and cypress. Good God, Lemon! Actually, I only mean that in the 'Good God, Liz Lemon' way phrased by Alec Baldwin. It's a very weird mishmash wet, it smells like pine trees and care bears (pink ones). There's lots of 'airy green' elements to this that I can get the sharp edges of, such as the petitgrain for certain, and the sour sharp green tea note. I'm sure that part of the leafiness I'm detecting is 'crushed mint,' although by no means does this have the sweet peppermint aroma. On the skin, Aurelia blooms with cypress and pine needles supreme, with an extreme rush of lime green mint leaf madness. You can feel the coolness of the mint, even though still there's no severe overpowering peppermint. The strawberry/currant combination is doing its magic to provide the world's most strangest basenote, probably trying to find the oakmoss (which is lying dead in a gutter since mastic sicced the Greek mafia on it). As it starts to fade I get mostly the top bits of berries, and pine, and tea. It's certainly pretty and a strong whiff pulls in all the leafy leafy green. It smells like Christmas! I think because this has only a few supporting, deep strong notes, this is a super light, airy, herbal berry. It has very little staying power on me, and I feel a little Christmas in July right now. <it's beginning to look a lot like Christmaaaaaas>.

Siste viator. I have very short hair, and was very excited about this because as a guy I can't usually (as much as I'd like to) pull off the more floral, exotic, strongly scented glosses. I don't need much. For some reason this iteration of hair gloss spray has a much more clear and easy to spray, non-clogging top. Hope this holds up! In a nutshell, this is dark, broody, but a bit drier and more high pitched than I expected. I expected some dark, thrummy musk, but this is predominantly a smoky tobacco (more the flower, although it's dry, crisp, bronze, if that makes sense). The clove, while present, is not as strong as in such things as Velvet Bandito or the Black Clove candle. The type of dirt is not the exuberant moist filthiness of Graveyard Dirt, but more the same tone found in Down the Rabbit Hole. The overall effect is a truly 'environmental' and evocative scent, while not traditionally pleasant, will appeal to those who like dry, potting soil, and an earthy, yet not overpowering, light aura of fragrance in the hair. I kind of smell like a hipster zombie. Two paws up!

A haven of warmth glowing within tumultuous darkness: rose-infused amber, copal, and blood lily surrounded by labdanum, opoponax, and myrrh, and splashed by ozone and rain. I took a big risk on this, because it has a few death notes, such as 'rose infused amber,' yet has a few intriguing aspects like the combination of the promise of aquatics with warm resins. This is a very weird, yet interesting oil! This is a rich, deep orange/reddish oil and quite thick. From the bottle I'm getting tons of the resins - amber, copal, labdanum. Definitely getting tons of that costus note, it smells almost like some of dilute single labdanum I have at home for massage purposes. There's a dirty note of myrrh here that lends the true 'darkness' (wow!). Through this very murky blend of resins, the lily and rose are peeking through. Both of these flowers are the kind that would cut you, watch as you bled out, and then step over you, clove cigarette in one hand, martini in the other, and then laugh. Although neither is really dominant, you can tell that they are hanging out in the background, a little bit of burgundy and small flashes of crimson. It's a little confusing because the airy top note of both that may be 'dewy' actually may be the 'splash' of rain and ozone note. This is definitely not an airy, breezy ozone by any means. The drydown is super weird. It's not really 'pleasant' by the standard definition of the word, but for a person who loves bizarre scents, it's mostly a sweet resin with menacing florals. It's more biting than Cathedral, yet I get a hint of the 'church incense' from this. Over time there's a little bit of rain, a hint of storm in the background. I'm not sure I will need more than one bottle as this is really, really strong.

The offspring of Fenrir, known in whispers as the Moon-Hound, the Moon-Snatcher, the Enemy, He Who Hates: ironwood needles and blood-matted fur. This is actually really pretty. The description doesn't give much to run on. It's not as lemony as I recall the only other ironwood containing thing I own (Tiki King) being, so maybe my idea of ironwood was inaccurate. It's a slightly creamy powdery light pine, with a softly sweet, cuddly Coyote-style musk running behind it. In fact, on me this is like Coyote, but without sweetgrass and smoke and amber. I think if I saw Managarm I would give him a giant fuzzy hug! Surprisingly cute, but a very wearable, subtle pine and one of my favorite types of musky fur notes. I don't get much blood, at least not as much as The Rending of the Rock (also a bloody one this series). D'AWWWW MANAGARRRRRRM.

Orbiting alone: cold black labdanum, olibanum, and eucalyptus bulb drifting on a starry white aldehyde. The oil smells cool, like a little wisp of the eucalyptus. On the skin, it's a very rich, resinous oil. Quite thick. Reminds me very much of Oblivion, the chewy, costus/labdanum is strong, and one of my favorite essential oils. There's just a tiny little whisper of cold. I don't detect too much brightness from olibanum. It's nice, and quite resinous - a little bit like a colder Jacob's Ladder from the Yules, but not nearly as complex. It's a chewy resin that does veer towards cold, but not minty by any means. Once it's drier, the dry aldehydic notes do arise, kind of like an aura of shine.

Snow-speckled white chocolate and fir needle. Well, I don't have much to say... This is going to one of those pop-up christmas tree stands set up in an abandoned Sonic parking lot, where the tree-monger is bundled up in two layers of coat and has an old, weatherbeaten touk that has seen better days. He's trying to be cheerful, but hours of standing on hard concrete with demanding hipsters who are bemoaning the lack of symmetry in the trees or the haggling down the price of his long-harvested, patiently grown crop wear at his soul. You overhear an innocent family conversation between two trenchcoat, tweed-scarved gentlemen and their fully REI-clad daughter, Ava. "Richard, honey, don't you think Ava would love this little threadbare tree, it's so Charlie Brown." Todd pats the top of the diminutive, skanky little tree. It shudders and loses a few needles. Richard's eyebrow raises. "Todd, you know I want something a bit more grand, more traditional." Richard gazes lovingly up at a magnificent but utterly impractical seven foot Douglas. Todd rolls his eyes, it's always about size with Richard. Looking just a bit miffed, he turns to his daughter and asks her, "Hmph. Ava, what would you like?" The little girl wearing the poofy purple Polartec that she'll outgrow in two months blinks up at all the trees towering overhead. A little snow, but just a hint, is flurrying into the square. The man with the touk coughs impatiently. It's possible he only has one functioning lung at this point. Remembering the artisanal hot chocolate she had at Vosges as part of her fifth christmas celebration with her fathers, her eyes light up and she knows exactly what she wants. "I want the little tree!" Richard's lips pull sideways in a tight line. Todd knows exactly how to get his way. Just like his mother. He's reaching for his wallet when Ava tilts her head to one side and adds jubilantly, "I want the little tree dipped in white chocolate!" Both men look a bit stunned. The treemonger coughs again. Todd says, "Wait, what? Honey, you know that's not-" The treemonger puts up a single gloved finger to silence the dads, lets out a great big sigh and trundles towards the shed, where he keeps his economy vat of 50 pounds of white chocolate simmering exactly for this purpose. ... TL:DR This is a super unique scent. Very weird. Wet, it's all fir, very realistic needles, the very slight powdery resin rubbing off on your fingers if you inadvertently touch a glob of sap, leading to stickiness and much cursing. As it dries, the chocolate starts to rise to the surface, but the scent retains its needly-fir essence. In the end it's still predominantly a 'nature' scent, it doesn't veer to me into foody territory, but neither does it avoid it completely. There's a richness, cocoa-butteryness, almost shea-butter depth beneath the fir so it's not a pure essential oil type scent. It's definitely not unpleasant, but it's... super weird. Like exactly the type of strange hipster thing that may happen with a bit of off-the-wall imagination. It totes smells like a bough of a christmas tree coated in white chocolate drizzle. Tickling at the edges is a hint of maybe a eucalyptus like snow-note, but as above... just a slight sprinkling. That may also be the top-notes of fir... but I can get a bit of a cooling note mixed in here and there.

It's strawberries! But not too artificial - this is the smell of gooshed strawberry pulp when you're hulling just a few too many to put into a pie. Fingers stained a bit red, and this kind of moist fruitiness, aura of seedy berry. Over time it gets a tiiiiiny bit candy like, but it's still excellent. No green/leaves/sap here.