Gateau

in the decant--honey and an herbal, leafy green sharpness

 

wet--lovely blend of honey, vanilla, and something that smells citrusy like pink grapefruit

 

dry--a honeyed vanilla, not too sweet, with a dryish undertone of herbs or leaves. I don't get anything specifically berry, but there is something tartly fruity to it. It's gorgeous -- pretty and comforting without being aggressively foodie. It's just a shame that it doesn't last long on my skin, though if it gets on my clothes that helps it stick around. But for that one flaw it would be 5 stars. Need a bottle for greater slathering.

In the imp--peach and heliotrope, and it's a nice peach, too, not a fake peach like I got from Tamora

 

Wet--fruity, flowery, and the smoky oakmoss keeps them all in check. Very pretty.

 

Dry--the sweetness moves more into the back, and I can't really make out specific notes. The oakmoss is more dominant, but no longer very smoky. This is a green scent with a bit of fruit and flower, but it's a muted olive green, not a bright green.

 

After giving this a wear, though I liked it I found I wasn't reaching for it, or finding it all that appealing to wear. I realized that oakmoss is just not something that works well on me, though I like what it does to a scent in terms of adding some depth and softness. Ended up passing my imps along to good homes who would appreciate it more.

In the imp -- orange blossom, floral, herbs, grape

 

Wet -- still getting the floral-herbal grapiness, but lemon emerges

 

Dry -- Totally grapey, and surprisingly not much rose. Ends up pretty nondescript and fades away quickly.

 

I was disappointed in this one, because the notes sounded like they'd add up to something pretty and complex.

I first tried this while searching for vanilla scents. I don't have trouble sleeping these days, but in the past I've had terrible insomnia and was hoping to find something sleep inducing to have in my arsenal.

 

I would call this a lavender scent, and that delights me, because I haven't found much in the Lab's catalog that gives me lavender the way I like it. This smells like what I'd imagine a lavender-flavored cupcake would taste like, very sugary and warm.

 

And lo and behold, I sleep wonderfully when I wear this, so I've been dotting it on my arms and nightgown nightly. I'f nothing else, I'm training myself to sleep well when I smell it.

 

Last night I decided that the sweetness of it is coming from dragon's blood. I don't generally like dragon's blood, but i like this. In fact, since my decant is dwindling, I just dug into my wallet and ordered a bottle.

 

EDITED TO ADD: I got my fresh bottle from the Lab, and it's quite different from the (I suspect) more greatly aged decant I had. The lavender in the fresh bottle is much stronger, more herbal and lavendery. It's a lovely lavender. That's over the still-sweet and lovely vanilla base, and I can still make out what I think is dragon's blood. Love this, and I may have to try to use it faster so that I can keep ordering it fresh.

 

AND FURTHER: Now finding that by morning this turns into the most delicious creamy vanilla, and lingers for days on any fabric it touches, like my nightgowns and pillows. Absolutely divine. This is my nightly ritual now, and I'm sleeping wonderfully.

Must try Gnome and Siren!

 

Polynesian Pop was ALL ginger ale on me, complete with bubbles. I hardly got any rum or orange.

 

I wouldn't call it ginger ale, but Kumiho is quite gingery, though it's ginger tea.

This has the wonderful soft warm leather that I love, but the balsam and leather combination overtakes everything else, so I can't make out the herbs or the flowers. They're all wonderful notes, but they just don't wear well on me. I hung onto it, thinking that summer might just be a bad time for me to want to smell leathery, so I tried it again in the fall and it's still just not working, unfortunately.

It's taken me a while to be ready to review this, because my mind has changed so many times about it.

 

Bottle -- Rose's lime juice

 

Wet -- a big burst of sweetened lime, plus something sharp but also a little dusty

 

Dry -- the lime disappears and the plum comes forward. Oddly, I don't get much balsam or clove, which are notes I usually amp, but I get a lot of the dark and dusty amber and opium. All together, it adds up to something a little dusty and oddly metallic in a way I can feel in the back of my throat. I get a strong impression of deep plummy colors.

 

Bottom line -- This confirms that while I love limes and plums in real life, I don't especially care for them as perfumes, and opium remains troublesome. This one is pretty, but it's not something I'm totally comfortable wearing. I think I want my dark fruits and deeper notes combined with spice.

I am really impressed by all of the Lab's dirt and dead leaves notes. They're very authentic and very subtly vary to give impressions that are more dry, warm, damp, wintery, and so on. That said, I don't necessarily find I want to wear them.

Imp--soil, rich soil

Wet--this is damp soil, sort of moldy. It's the dirt under a shady tree or under a rotten floorboard. This is not a warm summer dirt, but something more chilled.

Dry--as it dries it gets cedary, like a forest floor

I never get the creamy, vanilla, coconut notes others get. It's not one I'll keep, but I'm glad I tried it.

Decant--strong citrus with soapy orange blossom note

 

Wet--citrus-scented industrial soap

 

Dry--it mellows some, but the overall impression is of citrus cleanser

Decant--fruity woodiness

 

Wet--strong sour jasmine. This pikake is going all wrong on me, as is the tuberose.

 

Dry--the sour flowers combine with too-strong clove and rum. No vanilla. It's all just very strong and bitingly harsh and sour. Frownie.

I see I'm not the only person who picked up earthy patchouli. As soon as I applied it I got the exact same patchouli note I get in Depraved, which is a wonderful approximation of freshly turned earth. While I was hoping to find other blends with that particular patchouli (I don't care for most other patchouli), there the apricot softens and plays interestingly with it. Here, there is a bitter herbiness that emerges when it dries, that makes it sort of caustic. I don't get any of the white sandalwood, which I generally love, beeswax, or white tea leaf. Good helps it soften a bit, but not enough.

Decant--lovely berries and pine, touch of moss and flowers

 

Wet--the pine comes out. Not a surprise, really, as I amp all pine scents

 

Dry--pine continues to dominate, and it turns into the bad cat pee kind of pine that unfortunately often plagues me. There's enough hint of lovelier things along with it to make me even sadder that this didn't work on me. Combining with Good helps a little, but not enough, and soon they both make me smell like a Yankee Candle.

This is a very sheer sweet floral with light musks and honey. There is something in the honey-musk combination that goes a little off to my nose, so it's not the sort of cake-covered-with-honeyed-flowers I was hoping for. Certainly appropriate for the layering as intended, and it's pretty, but it rather quickly turns into something smelling more like a candle to me.

Decant--Chamomile and smoky vanilla

 

Wet--Chamomile, chamomile, and more chamomile. If I try very hard, I can make out the tiniest hint of vanilla. I don't really like the smell of chamomile, and this one is somewhat medicinal.

 

Dry--It's nearly gone entirely by the time it's dry, 30 minutes later. I'm left with faint chamomile, even fainter vanilla, and the same sort of sour smell that the lighter musks leave on my skin.

 

I had high hopes for this one to be a very wearable non-foodie vanilla, but it's nearly a single-note chamomile to me, and with very little staying power.

I had a lot of trepidation about this one, because red musk and I do not get along. But the reviews here convinced me that the red musk is subdued enough to at least warrant a try. Also, I love fruits and herbs.

 

Bottle -- mango! Lots and lots of juicy mango.

 

Wet -- mango with a touch of red musk. It's detectable, and it does the slightly off dough thing it always does, but there's just so much lovely mango that I don't mind too much.

 

Dry -- Remains a mango-red musk blend. I don't get any identifiable berries, pomegranate, or herbs. While it lasts there is lots of nice fruity throw and subtle red musk, but it doesn't quite add up to enough for me. I wanted that greater, obviously intended, summer fruit-herb complexity. Gone in about 4 hours, too.

 

One for the swaps. Might keep a small decant I have.

I got the sweet grape, wet greens, and floral in the wet stage, but dry a very bitter hard white flower comes out and turns the whole thing into rest stop disinfectant hand soap. I could not go into any important meeting wearing this, I'd be totally distracted by the pungent smell.

I wasn't going to try this because woods are hard for me to wear without amping and throwing off the whole balance of a scent, but I received a tester from a kind forumite, so checked it out and I'm glad I did.

 

Imp--tonka! And sage.

 

Wet--the tonka and sage meet with a sharp, citrusy, strong cologne scent. I might have stopped here, but held on for the drydown.

 

Dry--the woods come out, the tonka warms up, the mandarin smooths out, and the moss, sage, and galangal meld together to add a rich smokiness. Like the other klimts, this is a complex and sophisticated fragrance.

 

I find this appealingly masculine, so I swabbed it on my husband and he's just delicious. Going to grab him a bottle and set it aside for Christmas, but I'll probably borrow it from time to time when I'm feeling woodsy.

Nice light leather and warm, sharp sandalwood. Sandalwood overtakes the leather, as I always amp woods, but it's a lovely sandalwood. I can see this as a unisex scent, but it leans more masculine to me, and I'm sort of dying for my husband to walk in so I can slather him up and huff him.

 

I don't get floral, hay, horse, or barn notes.

In the imp -- sweet and surprisingly chocolatey.

 

Wet -- I get that grapey sweetness and a chocolate sort of note, not a bad combination, but not what I really expected. No leather or much floral.

 

Dry -- this turns to mostly musk on me, and I don't like what the heavier musks do on my skin. I get that sour play-doh sensation. Overall, the blend is not as interesting as expected.

In the imp -- jasmine and fruity sweetness

 

Wet -- jasmine is one of my most frequent death notes, but here it's not too bad. It's tendency to go skanky on me is cut with the apricot and vanilla

 

Dry -- it's quite nice for a while, with the apricot and vanilla ramping down the jasmine. But at the end, as with most jasmine things, it sours. I never got much ginger impression.

Imp -- floral or fruity, light leather

 

Wet--fairly generic, the touch of leather

 

Dry--this opens up beautifully. Much less boozy than I'd expected, plenty of leather and tobacco for dryness but soft, a touch spicy. I really like it, more than I'd expected to.

In the imp -- bubblegum with something dry and flowery

 

Wet -- still bubblegum with that floral note. Not a good combination.

 

Dry -- gets a little softer, but still the overall impression is bubblegum. Not for me.

In the decant--sweet, spicy, cologne-like

 

Wet--sharp cologne note, plus strong sweet apricot note, whiff of spicy ginger

 

Dry--warms up and gains complexity. The tolu balsam and saffron add warmth, while the tea and teeny drop of vetiver (do not be afraid, I am as vetiver-phobic as they come) add depth. The fruit and apple blossom sweetness are balanced by the ginger. I just wish it had greater staying power.

 

This is quite unisex, though leans feminine to my nose. As a lawyer, this is one I'd be happy to wear with a business suit or Fuck the Draft jacket.

In the imp and wet -- orange blossom, nothing but orange blossom.

 

Dry -- remained pure orange blossom, and never a hint of the lemon verbena. At

the tail end of what was a fairly fast fade, got a touch of heliotrope/honeysuckle sweet flowers. Still no lemon verbena.

In the imp -- icy clean fir and birch with white spring flowers, it's a lovely image.

 

Wet -- the fir dominates, which is no big surprise as I amp woods to death, especially piney woods. Uh oh, and there's a touch of the slight urine smell I get with strong pine scents.

 

Dry -- remains mostly fir with a touch of sweet flowers, but that wet phase impression unfortunately stays.