HerbGirl

Plastic.Vanilla.Plastic ☹

It gets better 😊

The vanilla is good but I don't smell any lemon or cheesecake. I'm from NY and am familiar with the things I'm not smelling. But, still a good vanilla.

And after reading reviews, I must have an odd bottle 😞 or it just needs to age.

Eta: it must be my skin chemistry 😞 I smell everything in the bottle! Grrr...

Labdanum and vegetal musk. What a winning combo! I have let my bottle sit for quite a while because there was something sharp and stabbity early on that is no longer sharp and stabbity. I love this. A little bit of clove, a little bit of rose. 💜

This smells like an upscale yet old school bakery. A bit 'bready', a bit of chocolate frosting and the almond paste isn't a marzipan note to me...more like a frosting note? I wish I could be more accurately descriptive. I might just go to the amazing little bakery around the corner and pick up something decadent because this is making me drool, lol. If you like bready pastries, this might be up your alley. I love it.

Yay! I finally get to try Books! 

It starts off heavy brown leather with a vanillaic quality and also a medicinal quality that I'm not sure I like. I think I smell a bit of ink but it isn't prominent. Very low throw and my skin just seems to eat it as it is almost gone within an hour. I have only let this rest for a week or so and am sure it will deepen as it ages. Glad to have some!

I let this sit for a while...all I could smell in the bottle was JASMINE.

The story remains the same. In the bottle it is all JASMINE. I decided to go for it anyhow...

I can tell there are notes behind the JASMINE but it is mostly JASMINE, and not the night blooming/sambac sort that I love, either. If I try reeeeeeally really hard, I can smell chamomile and rose. I truly wish any other note was the star of this show and I am hoping, with time, that the JASMINE will settle down. 

30 minutes in, I'm smelling a very blue scent that reminds me of silk, lol (yay for imagery!) and now I am curious if the oud here is of the poudh vaniety or if the Jasmine is to blame...cannot tell.

Oddly enough, I kind of like this. 

I just read the first review and had a chuckle - how different we all are! Fascinating. I wish I got patchouli and chamomile, which is why I went for a bottle and not a decant. I have hope.

Another 30 minutes has passed and I can detect the salt. I have been thinking how this might layer really nicely with It Wasn't Just a Phase, which is one of my favorites. Still no patchouli yet!

4 hours on...I can barely smell it but what I can smell is a lovely shade of blue chamomile. Extremely complex wearing perfume and I am so glad I have a bottle. I can't wait to see how this smells in a year or two.

Eta (24 July '22) this has smoothed out and is fantastic. It's the same jasmine but it blurs much quicker now. Silky, salty blue is the imagery. Very nice.

Fantastic for lightening the mood after doing Shadow Work or other intense workings. Plus, it smells like strawberry, red clover and passionflower- such a beautiful and definitely joyful ^^ scent.

I'm in love with Forget Me Not right now. The dried rose is balanced by the rice powder and grounded by the sandalwood. I am impressed by how smooth this smells...like a pressed powder. There's a semi bitter aspect to the scent that adds even more beauty and definition to it. Love it.

I worked with this oil and the Immortal Heart oil last night before bed. First of all, this oil smells fantastic. I can smell ALL of the notes, with the rose, chamomile, lemon and bergamot being most obvious and it is such a beautiful scent. This does not eff around. This shuts down any negative bullsh!t about your problems not being valid. This allows you to feel your problems in a validating way and shows any negative self talk to the door. Very powerful. I tend to internalize many things and feel the problems in this world very strongly. I will use this sparingly and in conjunction with Laughter- Loving to lighten the mood afterward. I feel fortunate to have this bottle and am grateful it  was created. Much needed.

Chalky white amber and sweet vanilla with just a dusting of a light tobacco. I bet the cacao will be more present in a week or two. Light, ephemeral decadence. In the same vein as Zorya P., and Grey Columns but stands on its own. Absolutely beautiful.

Eta: The cacao is much more present when I dabbed a bit more on just now. Yeah, this is stunning.

Eta 2 When I wore this yesterday (April 9th) it had a horrible metallic overtone that was not there the last time...it took about 30 minutes to settle down. 

This is truly unique and beautiful. Honestly it just smells like amazing spicy copal and palo santo incense burning in the room while enjoying a nice piece of dark chocolate. Very atmospheric. Extremely well blended. I love this so very much.

I'm just laughing as I test this one - I can tell there are other notes but all I smell is effing cumin. Good grief! If this is what green cardamom smells like, I shall remember to steer clear.

I keep sniffing the bottle to see if the 'cumin' will wear off...not yet. I will hold onto my bottle in hopes the other notes do what I was hoping for when I bought this...it could happen. If it does happen, it will be epic.

This just arrived! I don't dare test it next to MMH3, lol, but in the bottle it is a strong sparkly rose, very evocative of the beautiful raw rose quartz piece I am looking at right now. Multifaceted, glassy, rosey, sweet...I cannot wait to try this on tomorrow. Beautiful.

Holy moly did I ever just get blessed with a bottle of this in my Haute Macabre order! At first I was just so thrilled to have been generously gifted a bottle but then I saw it was a prototype and immediately opened to sniff...

Whoa red musk. And gorgeously aged like the red musk in my 2004 bottle of Lust. Swoon. I dabbed a bit on and yup, definitely aged red musk! I bet there's patchouli in here but I've been crying so my sniffer isn't the best right now. What an absolute blessing on such a sad day of the 13th anniversary of my father passing away...such a gorgeous perfume that I didn't even know existed. Thank you, BPAL, and thank you Haute Macabre - what a generous gift. May blessings be yours threefold.

This is the closest scent to my beloved Hay Moon '08 and I am so very happy. Smooth, lemony, dry hay softened by vanilla and warmed a bit by nutmeg. Comfort in a bottle.

Finally testing my decant, lol! I love Morocco and always have. After an hour, the buttery blast of pumpkin fades to leave my beloved Morocco. Great for novelty but nothing beats the original, in my opinion. Will definitely enjoy my decant this Autumn.

I received my decant the other day and immediately tried it out (I love orris). This is a beautiful orris and white musk, as listed. Nothing unexpected here, just simple and lovely. I will enjoy my decant.

This is lovely. I felt an immediate release of some grief I had been holding on to when I first smelled this. The rose, black spruce and ylang ylang are all present and blend together in a way that says that everything will somehow be alright. Just my experience. Auxilium is going to see a lot of use.

Notes: Rose otto, black spruce, ylang ylang, hyssop, lemon peel, cedarwood, and myrrh.

ETA: I have been wearing this as a sleep blend for at least a week and it is amazing! Lets me fall asleep!

I have been calling on this oil often lately, coming out of a strange illness and recovering slowly, in stages, this oil is helping to keep me grateful and helping to balance me out. Valuable and precious. 17 Nov '22

I decided to wear this today in celebration of the Luper update. I forgot how beautiful it is! It has aged really nicely after almost a year. The lotus is such a beautiful grounded floral and pairs perfectly with the vanilla cream. I'm glad I bought a bottle last year.

I love this. There is an obsidian chip in the bottle! 💜

I have worn this a few times and it seems like the first application highlights the notes in the first half of the description - myrrh, opoponax, smoked lavender, etc., and the other notes - green tea, frankincense, etc., are more pronounced during the reapply. Very interesting. 

I don't get bubble gum from the lotus. I have several varieties of lotus essential oil and I don't pick any up here, which is just fine. To me, this is a smoky ala incense smoke wisping around (does not smell like champa/champaca, etc at all) scent and the green tea really shines when I reapply. I am curious to hear what other folks say!

Eta 28 Feb '22 Some note combination is bringing forth an Inez type amberish scent that is incredible!

My decant has rested long enough!

At first Neroli is the star. It quickly burns out and finds a Nag Champa blanket and goes to sleep. 

Eta: this is very strong. Also, I don't smell the clove on me but I smelled it in the waft when I went back into my room, lol. Strong. Big throw. Neroli in a Nag Champa blankie.

I'm finally getting around to testing this one. I had a feeling I would love it so I've been giving my little decant a nice long rest. Oh. Does anyone remember Under the Harvest Moon? Yeah. This shares the same vibe and is also similar scent wise. I love it. Very light but definitely worth wearing.

I have been testing this for a few days and it changes each time. For a few seconds I feel like I can pin it down - the raspberry, the sugar, the amber, the tangerine - but it is a peripheral scent. It is none of what I expect to smell, and yet everything it should be. It is intoxicating. It is atmospheric. It is unique. It shifts like a fog. I love it.

Holy eff this is SPICY

Please understand, this is freshly delivered and I ripped open the box, sniffed and promptly applied. I couldn't help myself!

First, I will note that this bottle is not as full as normal (a bit under the bottom of the shoulder) but there's plenty to wear, lol so I'm not too sad.

In the bottle, yup, it smelled like Bordello. No joke. I'm pretty sure this is THAT plum. It is gorgeous. On, this seems to be a perfect blend of the new Snake Oil and that dark, sugared plum. Wowza is this beautiful. After about 15 minutes, the plum becomes a bit more prominent - juicy, dark, sweet and with a touch of the tart skin! - but the Snake Oil is still there. 

I have a feeling this will age well and am so glad I got a bottle. 

ETA: I forgot to remark how beautiful the label is!!! 

04 Jan '22 My review remains the same after a bit of settling - it is dark and gorgeous plum and the new snake oil. 💜

Whoa. This is a beautiful, intense and (yes) glittering scent (no, no glitter, lol). I think there's a piece of citrine in the bottle! 😊 My bottle has been resting for at least a week.

I almost passed on this because of the caraway but it doesn't matter. The combination of the ambrette and citrus notes is fantastic. 

I will try to remember to write more as this blooms on my skin but I really just wanted to put my initial impression out there for now. It is beautiful...and deep!

Eta: 5 hours later - holy moly after an hour this has some serious throw! Very gender neutral. It leaned femme for the first bit but leaned masculine after an hour. I loooove it.