Gryphon

Oh, it started out all cat pee and then settled down to a lovely bright apple. The honey took awhile to come out and play, but eventually it did. No signs of the cardamom, which is sad because that's the one note I really wanted to smell.

I slathered this on and -poof!- it was gone. Just like that. If I put my wrist right under my nose and huff I get a sense of something warm and slightly sweet, but I can't make out any of the notes. Weirdest thing! I don't think I've ever had a BPAL do that to me and it's not like I don't have any scents with similar notes. Hmmmmmmmmmm.

I absolutely can't explain it, but I get an overwhelming sense of "fruitiness" from this scent! Drydown is vanilla incense, but I can't pick out any of the darker, smokier elements I was expecting. It's nice, but not at all what I thought it would be.

First, strongly herbal, astringent lavender makes my nose wrinkle. <Ewwwwww> And this from a girl who loves me some lavender! Eventually, a smidge of vanilla honeyness comes out to play. It's very light, and I have to put my wrist right under my nose in order to smell it. In between, there's a rather unfortunate little old lady scent phase. Overall, it was not what I was expecting, which was something significantly more foody, creamy, and vanilla-y. Think I'm going to let this one age a bit before deciding if it needs to go into the swaps.

The evergreens are apparent during the wet phase and are quite lovely. During the drydown, the scent turns much sweeter and has a cologne-like vibe to it, which isn't sitting well with me.

STRIKE THREE!! I bought four bottles unsniffed from the Halloweenie update and this is the third one that *should* work on me that doesn't. I definitely smell the dead, dry leaves, but as someone mentioned upthread, these are frosty leaves - the kind that have been sitting around a bit getting damp (I was hoping for the kind of dry leaves that you're not afraid to pile up and jump into!). I should have paid more attention to the "shivering" part of "shivering white musk", because on me it comes across as rather coldly metallic (think iron). The amber goes a bit powdery floral (weird combo!) on me and it's only at the very end of the dry down that I can smell any vanilla-infused cocoa. <sigh>

WEIIIIRD! I bought a bottle unsniffed because each and every one of the notes is made of win for me. Unfortunately, I can't seem to smell any of them in The Changeling. Blond wood? Nope. Linen swaddling? Nope. Pumpkin rind? Nope again. Bourbon vanilla? Another nope. instead, I get an oddly metallic cologny scent that comes across as quite cold and dry. It's got great throw, which is not a good thing in this case.

Thank goodness I read PumpkinGuts' review because for awhile I thought I had a mislabeled bottle! I don't get a single whiff of pumpkin in this blend, or vanilla or chocolate, for that matter. It's nothing but super sweet floral on me, which is a huge disappointment, not to mention somewhat headache-inducing.

Extra blog must go!

This is just lovely and I am SO glad I purchased a bottle before the CD went dark!! It's so incredibly well blended that it's difficult to pick out individual notes, and if I didn't know it had pine in it, I wouldn't have guessed. Now I'm wishing I'd bought a back up bottle!

Wow, not a lot of blue musk in the GC! A search of reviews turned up Night Raven and Old Demons (both from the Marchen series) as possibilities, though. I should have qualified my question, or perhaps posted it in a different thread, since I'd like to try scents that are evocative of Sugar Moon. I find that I tend to select the same notes over and over again, and finding one that I like (Sugar Moon) that includes notes that are outside of my comfort zone was a welcome change. Thanks again, to all, for the suggestions. Now ... I think I may have an imp of Sugar Skull around here somewhere ....!

MrsVeteran and Little Bird, you all must by psychic (or I am!) because yesterday I fished Eat Me out of my bottle stash and wore it for the first time in ,, well, forever! As the day went on, I kept getting whiffs that were just lovely, but not the full-on pastry that I was expecting. And yes, it did somehow remind me of Sugar Moon! I will definitely look up Florence, Mania, and Hollywood Babylon, too! Thanks so much.

Bueller? Bueller? Bueller?

Am wearing Sugar Moon 2008 today and it is teh yum! The funny thing is, I have NO idea why I bought it, because the notes aren't in my usual repertoire ... which clearly means I need to branch out! Can anyone suggest some similar scents in the general catalog? Sugar Moon notes are: sugar cane, blue musk, mahogany, black orchid, black currant, violet, blackberry leaf, strawberry, and dusky rose.

Hmmmmmmm. This one reminds me much more of Antique Lace than Black Lace. It's much much lighter than I was expecting and veers uncomfortably close to baby powdery during dry down. Fortunately, the scent is "saved" by the woodiness of the coconut bark and dryness of the moss.

No tea notes, but you might keep an eye out for any of the Yule Lick It series scents, which are minty vanilla yumminess!

Nymphia is the love child of Tiki Princess and Pink Snowballs! Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Cheerful and fruity, but not a stand out for me.

With rare exception, the Lab's leather note hates me. Sadly, Dancing Koi has kept that streak going. On me, it smells like new and highly processed leather (think cheap boots) when first applied and for a good two hours afterward. Then it quiets down a bit to something sweet next to the unpleasant, chemical leather scent.

Yikes! If you'd asked me to identify the notes in this (without cheating and looking at the Lab's description), I don't believe I would have picked a single correct one! The Phoenix in Autumn is awfully floral to my nose and has an aggressive, perfumey throw. Sadly, it also has a bit of a Raid-like (yes, as in bug spray) pungency that makes my nose crinkle when it gets too close to my wrist. It is definitely a complex, and well-blended scent. I just don't think it's a complex, and well-blended scent for me, which totally surpised me since all the notes are "win" notes for me usually!

Oh, wow! The Lab's leather notes usually go to all sorts of funky nastiness on me, but this one does not and it's amazing. The leather note totally dominates the others, though the tobacco is a close second. I can't pick out any coffee or hazelnut, but I do swear I can smell nutmeg. Yummy stuff!

I wasn't expecting mint, since it wasn't listed in the notes, but there is quite a bit of it in Waltz of the Snowflakes! The fir and pine are barely present, which is disappointing. I love the Lab's Lick It series for vanilla mint and am a fan of Arcana's Winternights for vanilla, mint, and berry. I was hoping the Waltz of the Snowflakes would round out my winter scent collection with more evergreen, but as it is, the strong mint makes it rather redundant in my collection.

What an odd little scent!! It's unlike any of the other winter scents I've encountered. It IS, but it ISN'T foody, minty, aquatic, earthy, creamy, or linen-like. It has elements of the indoors AND outdoors. It's pretty ambiguous, but lovely all the same.

This is remarkably like Death of the Grave Digger (snow, soil, opoponax and myrrh) on me! Where Grave Digger has more sweetness, WiW has more of the sharpness I associate with evergreen boughs and juniper berries. Of course, my Grave Digger is a good three years old, so perhaps the sharpness in WiW will mellow to more resemble the Digger. Either way, it's a lovely scent for anyone who relishes sharp, crisp, evergreen scents. Those who hate anything resembling pine-scented cleaning products, however, may cringe!! I look forward to putting it into my rotation of winter scents and using it in my tart warmer.

I got a decant of Boo last year and it didn't float my boat because it was "too" - too foody, too sweet, too vanilla-y. I held onto the decant, though, and it turned into one of my absolute faves this Halloween season, so I ordered a bottle! Go figure. Boo '09 and Boo '10 smell nearly identical to me. They're still very foody and very sweet. I know that coconut isn't one of the notes listed, so that must be how the vanilla is registering to my nose. Great stuff!