angharad

At first, this is ACRID on me. Strong, sharp, acrid herbal. As it dries it calms down a bit and becomes a bit sweeter, but still definitely herbal. After an hour or so, I start smelling something like lemon Pledge. Ummm...no. It's okay after the strong acrid stage and before the lemon Pledge stage, but it's just not my preference. Throw is pretty strong, especially at first, and it lasts for several hours.

This quickly moves from a pure buttery pumpkin scent to a sweet, softly fruity scent. The pear and grape mingle beautifully with the grape being more predominant, but the pear is still noticeable when I'm looking for it. Thankfully the tea does not make an appearance. The throw is average, and this fades within a few hours of application. I like it, but I probably won't seek out more.

Straight-up generic florals on me, with hints of grapefruit and tonka trying to sweeten them up but failing. As it dries the tea makes an appearance, which is when I washed it off. Tea scents and I do NOT get along.

LEMON LEMON LEMON LEMON LEMON LEMON! If I'm able to stick through the "OMG LEMON!" phase, which lasts about an hour, I can see the resemblance to Pumpkin Queen. It softens into a soft, smooth golden red scent which I actually quite enjoy. Unfortunately this stage doesn't last long on me, especially not compared to the strength and lasting power of the lemon peel. Stupid skin chemistry.

I have no words to describe precisely how pretty this is. The pumpkin is very soft, creamy, feminine, with that unspicy-spiced feel I get from carnation. At first I get a faint whiff of something darker and assume it's the tobacco, but it fades quickly and just leaves me with this gorgeous scent. It's not foody, but it's not floral, either. It's just plain PRETTY. It's a very good close-to-the-skin scent because it doesn't have an overpowering throw, but it lingers on my skin for hours and hours on end. Much love.

Not crazy about this in the imp. The chardonnay is too strong, and I'm not fond of overly boozy scents. When it first goes on, though, this becomes a sweetly spiced smoky scent that I enjoy...for about ten minutes. After drydown, Perversion turns into the local pool hall's back room, where everyone who knows they're not supposed to smoke inside smokes anyway because that's where the sheriff likes to chomp down on his favorite brand of cheap cigars, and they all wash down the cigarette ash with peach schnapps. I'm glad to have tried this one but definitely do not want to keep it.

LOVE. So much love for this. Pear's not usually one of the fruits I think of when I consider the fruit scents I like, but this is definitely YUMMY. It was hard reviewing my other Halloweenie scent that arrived today because my nose kept getting glued to PP's wrist. Imagine a grilled pear with a bowl of vanilla ice cream. The pear's still warm from the grill, and it's making the ice cream melt gooily and get all over it, but the warmth also brings out the lovely scent of the pear so that it's not hidden underneath the vanilla. It's perfection in a bowl -- or in this case, a bottle. The pear doesn't seem to fade much on my skin, and it's lasting for over two hours so far. I absolutely adore this and want to get my hands on much, much more.

At first, this is a very strong, generic men's cologne, strong enough to make me visibly recoil. (Viking wouldn't let me try it on him after seeing how I reacted to it.) As it dries, the generic cologne scent fades in strength and leaves me briefly with a sharp woodsy scent. How much it smells like pencil shavings varies over the course of the next hour. Right now I'm getting strong pencil shavings, but five minutes ago this was finally a lovely, slight smoky, autumn air scent. I just wish it could start that way and STAY that way. Sadly, October refuses to cooperate with my skin chemistry and my nose.

QueenAquaBubbles, you can get Follow Me Boy on this page of the Lab's website. Scroll down to the bottom of the page, and you'll find all the voodoo blends, including FMB!

I'm utterly amazed at the generosity of certain people on this forum. Without it, I wouldn't have ever sniffed this wonderful scent. Based on the description, I would never have bought it. Animalistic? Herbs? Masculine? Not for me. Based on many of the reviews, I wouldn't have bought it. Lemon? Ugh, no. But after one sniff of the actual product, I was in love. This is the scent of a woman dancing naked in the woods on a summer night, reveling in her own personal freedom.* It's skin, heated by movement, sweetened ever so slightly by the brush of sweet forest herbs and flowers. It's pure night air, untouched by cities' pollution. It's utterly gorgeous.

 

This is definitely a scent to stay close to the skin. I cannot smell it unless I have my wrist pressed to my nose, but it's totally worth the strange looks from people as I walk around in public. As subtle as it is, it lasts forever. I put some on before leaving the house this morning, and it's still just as beautiful now, 9 hours later, as it was upon initial application.

 

*Yeah, for some reason that image comes to mind every single time I sniff this scent. I know it doesn't line up even close to what the scent's supposed to honor, but I can't help it. Buck Moon = naked dancing forest nymph in my head.

I like this one! It's a soft, dry amber with a touch of powdery sweetness. The musk gives it a darker feel but is still light enough to let me still smell the amber. Unfortunately, my skin doesn't like Haunted quite as much as I do -- it tends to go to straight powder and then fades within an hour of application, and the throw is not very strong. Very sad.

Mmmm. Smoky, spicy, sexy. Straight out of the bottle this scent is very dry and subtly spiced. The tobacco is just enough to be noticeable but doesn't overwhelm everything else. The patchouli stays in the background to provide a stable, earthy base. Everything else blends together perfectly to add just a touch of sweetness. I absolutely love this scent; I just wish it all lasted longer on me! The spice fades first, within an hour, and the rest slowly disappears over the next two hours. The throw isn't overpoweringly strong; it stays close to my body, just barely enough for me to smell while doing my normal work without having to shove my nose into my wrist. Of course, since this is so good, I want to shove my nose into my wrist anyway, but at least I have the option of not.

On me, this is wonderfully sexy leather with Snake Oil's creamy spices lurking just under the surface. I love it, but I'd prefer to smell it on my husband because it's not really a "me" scent with the leather. So I dabbed it on my husband, and his skin chemistry brought out the sage in full force. Sharp, acrid, rotting sage with just the barest hint of leather. He refuses to let me come near him with that decant anymore, and I can't really blame him. If your skin chemistry is more like mine, Western Diamondback is gorgeous, sexy, and male. If your skin chemistry is more like my husband's, avoid this like the plague.

I love the Pumpkin Patch labels! And yay for them being numbered!

Mmm, yummy. So glad this was reintroduced to the GC for people like me to grab hold of. Misk U is a delicious coffeehouse blend; it is sipping on a fresh, hot caramel latte at my favorite coffee shop, where they probably wouldn't notice (or care) if I snuck in a shot of whiskey to add to the drink. This blend is warm, smooth, with just a touch of sweetness. It's perfect for taking a book to that hole-in-the-wall coffeehouse that may not look like much but serves the best damn coffee you've ever tasted on a rainy day. On my skin it has slightly less than average throw, and it only lasts for a few hours -- but while it lasts, I'm in heaven.

Ohhh, how I love this scent. The first time I had an imp, I couldn't stand it. It didn't smell foody at all and was just generic perfume. Ugh. BUT! Another imp wrangled its way into my hands, and I tried it again, and SO GOOD! It's sweet, foody, and fruity -- all it needs is a little spice to be my dream scent! The vanilla and cake are the strongest notes, but the currants definitely make their presence known the longer I wear this oil. It lasts for several hours on me and has pretty strong throw.

I am looking forward to the rest of the Haunted House set, and Hexennacht! Oh, all of them!

 

Err -- Hexennacht was a glitch and was not really available, so there won't be any labels appearing for it.

I know this has been asked before but I am still confused. The only way for me to use paypal is with a credit card. I cant take money from my bank account and have none on my balance. Well... 1.99$ but where does that get me...

So is it ok to pay with a credit card through paypal or does the lab get charged some extra fees too then?

Sorry for being so daft, I am just entirely confused by paypal and their fees. And I want to place an order so badly...

 

You can certainly pay with a credit card through Paypal, and the Lab won't get double fees as long as you log directly into Paypal and use the "Send Money" tab to pay them at the "paypal@blackphoenixalchemylab.com" email address. They'd only get charged the extra fees if you used Paypal through CCNow. This is because Paypal charges a fee for people to receive credit card payments, and CCNow also charges a fee to the merchant when people use their processor. As long as you don't click through to Paypal from the CCNow processor, you can pay however you want without letting the Lab be hit with extra fees.

 

ETA: Too slow.

Mmmm, sweet pea. This reminds me of the time I broke a brand new glass bottle of Bath & Body Works Sweet Pea body spray in my dorm bathroom and the odor wouldn't go away for over a month -- only SO MUCH BETTER. It's just the right amount of sweet pea with the tonka warming it up, giving it a golden tinge, all over a soft musky base. I don't smell the sage at all in this. I usually don't like floral-heavy notes, but sweet pea is one of my few exceptions because it usually smells more fruity -- like melon -- to me than it does floral. The throw is pretty strong from this scent, and it lasts for at least four hours. This is a wonderful summer scent for me, and I'm so glad it wound up in my "Imps to Try" box.

MAN. This smells like a man. I swear, I've been close to a man who smelled JUST LIKE THIS. I just can't remember who. The longer it's on, the more woodsy it smells, then turns dusty. Perfect scent for an old bookstore filled to the brim with hidden rare treasures alongside falling apart smutty romance paperbacks. I like it, but I don't think I'll keep it because I'd never wear it. My librarian mother might like to sneak some onto my dad, though.

Cocoa. Very dry cocoa. There's a hint of the white chocolate and something floral in the bottle but it's not very strong. When I first put it on, I catch a whiff of something sweeter and a little bit juicy, one of the fruits, but it's not strong enough to be identifiable. Then the cocoa takes back over and that's all I can smell. It has very little throw on me and fades completely within an hour.

at the Agnes Nutter pic. evilmistressoftoast, your husband is fantastic! He should take all our bottle pictures!

I'm not sure what to think of this one. It's warm, dry, with a touch of floral. The amber hides beneath the florals, giving them a stable base to rest on. If I look for it, I can smell the cedar, but it is very faint. All the notes in this blend beautifully. The throw is limited on me, making this kind of a "come hither" scent -- someone may walk by and catch the faintest whiff, but they'll have to come closer to really capture the scent.

I accidentally left Allison Gross at work, so no picture of her, but here are the rest of them! (Also in the community gallery.)

 

 

Bottle: Buttery warm sweet smooth with the barest hint of spice. I LIKE THIS and definitely see the resemblance to Pumpkin Queen.

 

Skin: Goes on the same, then swiftly changes to...cedar? Maybe that's the chamomile, but it really smells like cedar to me. The longer it's on here, the more cedar it smells...and then progresses to pine...and now, about 30 minutes after initial application, it smells like Pine-Sol.

 

I'll update the review if it gets any better later on, but for now, Leo has officially broken my heart.

 

ETA: About an hour later, I'm catching whiffs of apples...but this is still overwhelmingly Pine-Sol on me.