moon_lemming

I do smell banana candy in Pahoehoe, but only when it's in the imp and super-fresh on my skin. It reminds me of banana Runts, but there's something else, something boozy . . . maybe Runts soaked in liquor. As it's drying it reminds me of Sugar Skull 2005 (I haven't smelled any other years' SS, that's why I'm being specific) -- the toasted boozy sugar is similar to my nose, but this blend has that sweet banana behind it, although it is much, MUCH quieter than it was in the beginning, and it smells less like candy once it starts drying. There's a little bit of something else giving it body, too, fruity in a different way than the banana is. Unfortunately, by the time it's completely dry, it's almost invisible. This seems to be a trend with the Luau scents. I sort of expected it based on the notes in most of them, though.

Is that gin? I don't know what gin smells like, but I guess it could be. What I smell is ginger ale but with an alcoholic burn. Oh, and tart cranberry. On my skin, Red Tide is reminiscent of that cranberry/snow scent you can usually find sold in winter. The alcohol quickly burns off as it dries. I can't pick out the mint, but I guess it's contributing to the overall feel of the blend. The raspberry and cranberry are intertwined and the mango complements them nicely, when I can smell it. Mostly the red fruits stand out. This is actually good on me, although I don't know if I could get past the "Christmassy cranberry fragrance spray" thing. It will make a good room scent for winter if I can't, ha.

GC Version I don't like Rangoon Riptide in the imp. I'm not sure why. Maybe it's the rum. It's just this whiff of UGH I get when I first inhale that goes away after a few seconds, leaving a boozy pineapple behind. On my skin it's pineapple with something warm below it and a spot of lipgloss raspberry, but it's mostly pineapple. As it dries the pineapple gets softer, and by the time it's completely dry I've ended up with something that's so soft I have to be right next to my arm to smell it. From what I can find, it sort of gives me a pink-and-pineapple impression. I like it but I'd have to slather.

I got my sniffie from Edens Sixth Day, too! <3 I expected Tiki Princess v3 to be similar to the released version, because I've never read the reviews. [insert buzzer noise here.] It's a bright, bright red smell, like maraschino cherry juice. I can't pick anything out, because it's so fruity, and I'm bad with anything beyond generalizations when it comes to stuff like this, but it's like a super-bright cherry or maybe strawberry on me. Sweet like fruit punch, with a lot of throw. After roughly half an hour it gets the Strawberry Shortcake edge, though. Boo.

Tiki Princess, on me, is Snow White in summer. It has the feel of Snow White but a little warmer, with a lot of sweetened coconut. The coconut has a chemical edge as it dries -- but after an hour or so the chemical feel goes away. [eta: At first I attributed the chemical edge to the coconut, but I started thinking about the other coconut blends I've tried from the Lab, and it's not really true that they all have that chemical edge. I'm thinking it might actually be either one of the notes I don't recognize or something that's not listed. I'm not sure. I don't think it's the coconut's fault, though.] The waaaay after dry-down dry scent, after most of the coconut has burnt off, is even closer to Snow White. I am thisclose to snagging a bottle, I'm just not sure if it's worth it since I have Snow White. I'm leaning toward HELL YEAH PRESS "PURCHASE 5ML," though.

In the imp, The Forest Reverie smells dark green and almost pine-y -- it has a pitch to it. It reminds me of LUSH's Tramp, but it's not a scent dupe or anything. On my skin, the grape shows up as the blend dries and sweetens it; I actually thought I smelled honey at first. The opium, I guess, adds a smoky richness to everything else. Not appearing: lily. THANK GOD. I was frimped this and I'm glad: I actually really like it! I don't know if I'd wear it often these days, but it's nice to know it's there when I do want something along these lines.

Good news: the lotus in Lotus Moon is not the one that smells like Bubble Yum, at least not on me! Bad news: instead, it's one of those florals that end up stomping all over the other notes and turning into soap. This is very pretty, sweet, fancy soap, and it's not headache-y or anything, but it's still soap.

Gypsy is lovely. I've already tried it once, and loved it, but I couldn't figure out what I was smelling, exactly. It just sort of blends together to me. I'll try, though. Let's see, sugar and vanilla -- similar to the vanilla I smell in Dorian -- intertwined with musk, and a tiny bit of spice from the cardamom. It really is similar to Dorian, maybe that's why it smells too familiar for me to pick it apart. On me, it's basically Dorian minus tea plus the kick of a pinch of cardamom. It smells very good. Unfortunately, my retest confirms that it is incredibly light on me, which is not the way I like my scents, so I'll probably just keep the decant. I don't know. Maybe I'll get a bottle and slather. Hmmmm.

Another scent-morphing blend in this series. That seems appropriate. Spicebush Swallowtail either smells like a cinnamon streusel muffin with brown sugar topping, or curry spices, depending on which way the wind blows, ha. On my skin the clove amps as always, but doesn't seem to be as strong as usual -- meaning I can actually smell other notes. Mostly I smell cloves, cinnamon, and brown sugar, on a base of smooth sassafras. Smells deeeelicious. Overall this is a little more spicy than I like for wearing, but it would make a fabulous room scent this winter.

I can't decide whether I sniff watermelon candy, guava juice, or red Kool-Aid in my little decant of Rosy Maple. It smells sugary sweet and pinky-red, that's for sure. On my skin it smells like super-sugary sweet pea -- like wearing B&BW's sweet pea lotion while nomming on cotton candy -- mixed with something that's giving it an almost chemical edge, maybe the lemon blossom. I wouldn't wear it, but it smells lovely. That chemical edge stays quiet enough that I can only smell it riiiiight next to my skin. I think it'd make a great girly summer scent.

Well, before I read the Fruit Stripes comparison, I thought Luna smelled like sweet crisp pear, lime, and maybe a light tea in the imp. Now I just smell Fruit Stripe gum in there. Maybe with a little herbal kick. On me the only things that show up are the pear and something fresh and green, almost pulpy. The lime vanishes before it dries. It's not a BAD scent, but I'm not a fan of pear on my skin, I think. Pass.

The Common Jezebel had three points against it when I debated trying it: apricot, vetiver, and apricot + vetiver. In the imp, yes, apricot, vetiver, and sugar. Coconut, too. The vetiver gives me an impression of saltiness. On my skin, the vetiver amps and then settles down as the blend dries, and the apricot soldiers on through the changes. It's awful on me. But then I hate apricot on my skin, it always smells sweaty and gross, and I can only take vetiver in certain blends (this is definitely not one of those). Absolutely not for me.

Womb Furie is SNAKE OIL + O. I know! You're shocked! But yeah, that's what I get, in the bottle and on my skin -- the bonus is that I LIKE Snake Oil in this blend. Normally I am not a fan of Snake Oil, but the honey makes it delicious. I am so happy to find a wearable blend that involves Ye Olde Snake Oil, damn.

Brown Jenkin is Single Note: Cedar on my skin. I couldn't smell anything else, from start to finish. I do amp cedar, but I'm confused because I don't see it listed in the notes. It's possible I'm smelling a combo of things (sandalwood plus musk?) that reads as cedar to my nose. It does smelly kind of furry, though!

I've wanted to try Misk U for a long, long time, and received a frimp of it in my last order, huzzah! Wet, it's caramel and coffee. Then as it dries I smell a little wood (har), but mostly coffee with a drizzle of caramel, maybe spiked. DELICIOUS. And too good to last. The caramel turns too buttery as it dries and everything else fades and Miskatonic University ends in a blaze of fuzzy buttered blah. I have bad luck with the Lab's "buttery" blends as a rule, so this isn't too surprising. Disappointing, but I think this imp will make an ace room scent.

Chaos Theory III: CCXLI (241) Previously referred to within this thread as "Zinc tablets," "This smell makes me want to die," and "Vomit Bukket." And you know what? They're all right. All of them. This is an oil which blinds your senses with its great and mighty terribleness. As you rush to scrub it off, you flash to the most foul-smelling moments of your life, and realize they REALLY WEREN'T THAT BAD. Sometimes you try to reason, "well, I will just try to objectively name the notes," only to find that you can't because the blend as a whole is now part of your scent memory and you will never ever be able to smell it piece by piece because you are too busy rocking back and forth, trying to forget the horror. This is not a lie: someone close to me once betrayed me in a devastating manner. I thought of all the little revenge-filled things I could do to him to make myself feel better. I debated putting a slab of fresh fish under the driver's seat in his car. Then, naturally, my thoughts turned to Vomit Bukket. It was perfect; he would never figure out where the stench was coming from and it couldn't really be removed because it would be totally enmeshed in the carpet by the time he figured it out. But I couldn't bring myself to do it. IT SEEMED TOO MEAN. I have gotten rid of all but one decant of Vomit Bukket. I kept one as a sort of last-resort defense against hordes of villagers. Unfortunately I never labeled the decant I kept, and I keep running into it in my imp box and not remembering what it is until I unwrap the plumber's tape and GET A DAB ON MY FINGERS. And then I die a little. It is very hard to wash completely off, by the way. Once I touch the imp I cannot bring myself to come into contact with any other bottles or imps or pets or children in case it rubs off, even after I've scrubbed down with lemon juice. As far as actual reviewing goes: this smells like badness to me. I can't really pick out any notes but I would feel okay going with "vomit." I hate to be so down on a blend, because somebody had to create it and I don't want to insult them, but that's exactly what it smells like, bad things, so maybe it was done on purpose, in which case, kudos. I can pick out a little bit of that vitamin edge that was mentioned in the first review, which I tend to pick up from raspberry-plus-citrus blends (like Arcana's Ruby Crow), but I wouldn't say this is a fruity blend at all. More sour. At least it's not floral. Perhaps in ten years this will age into a sort of ambrosia, but for now I'm sticking one of those little poison stickers on the decant so I don't forget what it is and unwrap it again.

Cucumbers, buttered bread, and black tea give way to CAKEY CAKENESS with . . . and I know this is strange, and no one else has gotten this at all, but I smell strawberry jam. After it dries, the throw is mainly red-jammy cake -- a moist pound cake kind of cake -- with a hint of cukes. It's A+ good, but I wonder what it smells like to other people, since I'm sure this strawberry jam thing is a fluke and my brain is reading something wrong. Maybe my decant was contaminated somehow? I'm not sure. I looked up Battenberg cake to see if there was jam involved. There is indeed, but it's apricot jam, and what I'm smelling definitely isn't apricot (one of my "bleh" notes). I almost didn't stick this review in here because I'm sure there's something weird going on, even if it's just my chemistry. I figured I would do it anyway, just in case anyone else has the same strange experience. Maybe it's all a conspiracy!

I ended up selling Lawn Gnome because I needed the cash more than the intriguing scent, but it's really an awesome blend in a weird way! I'm not sure how my nose came up with this, but this is what it ends up smelling like on my skin: bananas drizzled with that ice cream topping that involves walnuts in syrup (the molasses, I guess). I don't get any red fruitiness out of it at all. The bananas are not super fruity, just something that says "banana" without BEING a "banana" note. I think it might be the vanilla cream combining with something else to read as banana to my nose. Whatever it is, it's strangely good and I sort of wish I could have kept it around.

I can smell the honey and wine in the imp. On my skin there's some sort of weird foodiness. Crisp and green but almost spicy? It reminds me of spicy chicken salad with grapes on a lettuce leaf, minus the chicken. The spices get stronger as it dries and it ends up smelling like something delicious . . . for cooking with or using in a rub. WTF, Eros.

I mostly smell sandalwood in the imp, but on my skin Lorelei becomes the salty peanut noodle smell that I associate with some aquatics -- like Jolly Roger, IIRC. A floral pops as it dries; I guess it's the ylang-ylang? It's got that unlikeable floral edge but it's not too bad. The saltiness is much more subdued after a bit. Once it's completely dry, it reminds me of a pretty shampoo. It's okay but nothing I'd seek out.

Desdemona is PRETTY! It's a sweet, watery, almost fruity floral (sweet pea, I guess) in the imp. It's so girly and full of light and preeeetty. Sadly, the lily -- do water lilies smell like regular lilies? -- gets stronger as it dries on my skin and blarrgh, I hate lilies. I smell pears, which is even weirder. I guess this would be a scent locket blend if I ever managed to do the scent locket thing.

I love masculine blends that involve lavender. Looove. I can't wear them, I just like to sniff them. I was happy to find an imp of Wilde for that reason. In the imp, it's sort of a gray cologne. I feel like I should spell it "grey." I like it a lot. On me, the lavender amps along with . . . maybe the thyme? It's herbal. I think the tonka is sweetening it up a little without being obvious about it. I was a little terrified when I saw jasmine listed in the notes, but I can't smell it, so it is either behaving itself or it's the lightest jasmine evar. It is definitely a masculine cologne, so I probably wouldn't wear it, but -- like Old Scratch -- I want to keep it for husband-dousing.

Okay, it's official: the Lab's dragon's blood blend and I are incompatible. I don't know WHY it works in Dragon's Milk, maybe the vanilla? Dragon's Reverie is not as lucky for me; the sharp floral that I hate -- maybe jasmine, maybe not? -- takes over here. It's also powdery due to the amber. Away with you!

Wrath is dragon's blood and cinnamon and I swear I almost smell peppermint in the imp. I think it might be my imagination. Hmm, I guess there must be a floral in the Lab's dragon's blood note that is mine enemy, because this is the second dragon's-blood-centric blend tonight to remind me of jasmine. There's cinnamon in there too, but my nose can't get past that jasmine-ish floral. Ugh.

Oh, hai, laundry detergent! Not bad, as far as laundry detergent goes, but still not something I'll wear. I would totally buy Queen Gertrude-scented detergent, though. Or maybe dryer sheets. (Sorry I can't be more specific, but I'm horrible with florals, especially the ones that run to detergent or soap.)