KittyHawk

I really liked this in the imp: salty and dark with a powerful masculine edge. It reminds me of Old Spice, but obviously much more complex.

 

On, it was awful. I amped salt water like there was no tomorrow and I had to scrub it off my arm within minutes; I couldn't wait to see what it did upon drydown. I guess heavy aquatics and I just can't get along.

Desire really didn't do much for me at first; patchouli generally gives me a headache and it overpowers any other notes it appears with. Still, sometimes the scents that smell the worst in the imp turn into fantastic blends on my skin, so I gave it a whirl anyway.

Whew, what a surprisingly light fragrance! After an hour or so, the sharpness of the patchouli and the black musk mellowed considerably; all I'm left with now is a soft apple vanilla. Gorgeous and ethereal and not at all what I was expecting. Thanks, skin chemistry!

This is so unexpectedly wonderful!! I'm also shocked there aren't more reviews of ATHSATHL; it's gorgeous and seems like a scent that would complement a lot of people. Hmmm, more for me, then!

 

 

I bought this as a decant from a forumite based solely on the name, and it's one of my favorite unsniffed purchases to date. BPAL's rose note almost always goes soapy on me (the notable exception being Whip); I'm thrilled to find out that I can wear this rose too! It's very soft and tempered by the aspen leaves (amazing!) and the other glistening florals. The golden florals in ATHSATHL remind me of Eos, but these are the crunchy, dying blooms of autumn. It is more mature and sophisticated than Eos, I think.

 

My only critique of this scent is the fact that it gets a little powdery during drydown, but that's my problem, not the scent's. I'm a bit puzzled why this was released as a Yule, but I'll be wearing it for the rest of the summer and all through the fall. This is a definite win.

I received a bottle of Numb purely by serendipitous accident thanks to Maljen, and boy, what a great mistake it turned out to be. I this. I can't emphasize that enough.

 

Numb smells like concentrated holy water, and strangely enough, that is a very good thing. The similarities are uncanny, really. I haven't identified as Catholic for years and years, but this scent brings back so many wonderful childhood memories. It reminds me of my grandmother, whom I was incredibly close to and passed away when I was very young.

 

It's very calming, to put it lightly. This is perfect for summer or after really stressful days. I NEVER would have sought this out on my own, and now it's one of my absolute favorites. I am continually amazed at what Beth and the Lab are capable of encapsulating in their fragrances.

This is the perfect boozy white floral. This is Lady of Shalott's sexy older sister.

 

There is a lot of heavy gardenia going on here, but with an exotic mix of spices for good measure. As it dries, it gets much sweeter, like a brown sugar-encrused gardenia petal. Sacred Whore is not for the faint of heart, but it is a fantastic scent. This will become one of my evening favorites, easily.

My initial reaction to Carnal was "lemon cookies."

 

After it settled on my skin for awhile, the warmth of the fig came to the forefront. Even with the fig, this still strikes me as a summery scent. This is very unusual, but also really pretty.

I've really been enjoying Kumiho, Dorian, and Mouse's LAST in the sticky Florida heat. It's pretty antithetical because it's such a heavy scent, but I also really like Hunger. I smell like a hothouse full of tropical blooms!

I ordered a bottle of Eos unsniffed because, seriously, how could it possibly be anything short of delightful?

 

Not surprisingly, it is as beautiful as I imagined. I really love to wear florals, but they have a tendency to wear me, especially when there are other notes at play. Rose and violet go violently soapy on me, and I don't really care for the more feminine florals. Eos, however, is a different story completely.

 

The honeysuckle, jasmine, and buttercup mingle gracefully to create a light spring floral that is neither heady nor creamy. Eos is a freshly-picked bouquet of flowers; no musk, no incense. Nothing adulterates these flowers. This is the fragrance I had always hoped for when I've tried florals in the past. It is clean, fresh, and pure. So lovely and ever so deserving of its name.

Alice was a complete disaster on me, but Queen Alice is complex, gorgeous, and totally works with my skin! I had originally blamed the carnation in Alice for the headaches it gave me, but I think it's the rose. I'm really surprised at how well blended Queen Alice is, yet I'm still able to pick out most of the notes.

 

In the imp, the florals are dominant, but there is a bit of sweetness in the background, probably the treacle. It almost smells like bubblegum, but much better!

 

Wet, the carnation gets deliciously spicy and stays that way. The carnation is lovely, deep and sophisticated! As it dries down, the musk slowly comes out to play, but the carnation sticks around for hours. My skin eats a lot of scents, but Queen Alice has great staying power. As others have said, this is definitely a scent best suited for the cooler months (certainly not August in Florida!), but I'm going to wear it anyway. It's too lovely not to.

My review for Persephone will be as short and fleeting as she was on my skin.

 

Super sweet in the imp; I don't get pomegranate per se but the vibe is there. It's very lovely.

 

Soapy McSoapface on skin. Within 30 minutes, she was gone. Nothing. No soap, no pomegranate, no rose.

 

Hormones, maybe? I'll have to try this again when my special visitor takes her leave.

I received this as a frimp from my most recent Lab purchase (thanks, Labbies!). I was really excited to try this, as it's on my wishlist. Must be kismet!

 

In the imp, this is lovely and all gardenia. Oh my, how I love gardenia.

 

Wet, all I get is soap. Soap, soap, soap. WHY?!?!?

 

Dry, it's still soap. This should have worked on me. Numb, which is also a predominantly violet scent (right?) is gorgeous on me, and vanilla and gardenia are always safe bets. Numb must have been a fluke, because the violet in Le Serpent definitely does not love me. To the swap pile.

Oh, Alice, why do you hate my skin so? This turned to rancid baby powder the moment I applied it. It must be the carnation, because I've tried other blends with milk that have been great successes (Dragon's Milk, for one), but this is no good. Or might it be the bergamot? Hmmmm... the list of potential culprits grows.

 

It seems as if others have this issue too, so I'm willing to give it another shot, or maybe try it in a locket instead. Hmph, I was really hoping this would work.

In the imp, it's very woody and the incense is quite strong. It's a little off-putting but I have a feeling it will meld with my skin wonderfully.

 

Wet, the parchment flourishes. This smells like an old library in a very, very good way.

 

Dry, the incense becomes more powerful, but it's not so strong that it overpowers everything else. I have a tendency to amp incense in a very bad way, so I'm surprised this works as well as it does. Hooray!

 

My husband tried it as well; his only comment was, "it smells like pizza Scratch 'n' Sniffs." Curse his luddite nose!! It smelled a lot different on him: all incense all the time. I like it better on me.

I should have known better than to buy a partial bottle of 2006 HGM...

 

because it is perfect. The vanilla, the ginger, the white sandalwood!!! My skin loves these notes even more than my nose does. It seriously breaks my heart that this may well be my only bottle of this ever, so I will be ever so careful with it. Hungry Ghost Moon makes me nostalgic for something, but I don't know what. I think one of my grade school teachers must have worn something that smells similar, because whenever I put my nose to my wrist, I imagine myself hugging someone, a lady, in one of the classrooms. It's uncanny how evocative this scent is for me. It's so, so, so beautiful. Please last forever, little bottle. I will wallow in my tears the day this becomes a sniffie.

For some reason, Lorelei turned to a dominant aquatic on my skin, and while I don't generally like aquatics on me, this blend is GORGEOUS. The neroli and ylang ylang are very briny. I haven't had the pleasure to smell Thalassa, but I imagine this to be her German cousin. This is so unexpectedly lovely. It's been 8 hours since I applied it and I still get whiffs of it. To the bottle list you go, Lorelei!

 

(Aside: my imp is also mislabeled as Loralei!)

In the imp, this is a VERY astringent apple. Crisp, raw, and very green.

 

Wet, this is still all apple. I like it, but I wish it had more depth. Patience, grasshopper.

 

Dry, this gets very herbal, but apple remains the strongest note. This is very nice; I will be wearing this exclusively in the fall when I'm getting nostalgic for Michigan autumns. Lovely--a perfect scent for anyone looking for a clean apple single-note with depth.

In the imp, this was sweet. Rot your teeth right out of your head sweet. I couldn't pick out the individual notes; it was just sweet candied fruit.

 

Wet, this got some dimension, thanks to the wine. I think this is the first boozy scent I've ever tried. I see the comparisons to Lady Macbeth. It has the same fruit note, but the wine in Bordello sets the two apart. I really like both scents, but I think Bordello is a lot easier to wear, whereas Lady Macbeth is a much more brash and loud fruit scent.

 

Dry, this becomes even more lovely--this almost smells like a sangria upon drydown. This was frimped to me by the lovely tuffins, and I'm so glad; I probably wouldn't have tried this otherwise. It won't be a bottle purchase for me, but I will certainly keep using the imp.

Ouija was such a chameleon! In the imp, it smelled so acrid I literally recoiled. Still, a lot of the notes work on me, so I wanted to give it a shot anyway. Let me say, I'm so glad I did! The rosewood and teak add a cozy, woody softness that balances the florals. Altogether, this is a very supernatural scent. It has very little throw, and each time I smell my test patch I get something a little different. It is a lovely shapeshifter. It does creep me out a little because of what it evokes, but it's brilliantly blended.

I'm reviewing 2005 Snow White and dear lord, it is perfect.

 

In the imp, wet, and on drydown, it is all the same: frozen flowers with a hint of vanilla and maybe a little apple. It is so sophisticated and whimsical, romantic and fresh. I will need to take extra care to use my decant sparingly, because I have the urge to dump the whole vial on every time I take it out of my imp box.

 

This is my favorite BPAL by a long shot. My dearest Snow White, I adore you.

Ahhh, I was so excited to try this after reading all of the hullabaloo about it here on the forum. I was lucky enough to snag it here, also, so I didn't have to wait for my lab order to arrive.

 

In the imp: Overwhelming and headache inducing. Maybe aged it would be okay, but not fresh. Blech. The spices are so strong to my nose they almost smell medicinal. I was afraid this would happen.

 

Wet, it's not much better. I don't get any vanilla, just a cacophony of spices that my nose can only translate as "OMG NAUSEA!"

 

Upon drydown, though, something magical happened. It took a good hour for this to mellow on my skin, but once it did, it was spicy vanilla goodness, and sexy as hell. I understand the hype! I'm bummed my husband is sleeping right now and has to work in the morning; I'm feelin' all sorts of frisky with this stuff on.

In the imp, I get a lot of moss; it reminded me of Zombi, but with drowned flowers in the background.

 

Wet, the florals bloom, but it's still a definitively aquatic scent to my nose. It's a departure from what I usually like, but this is so evocative of its namesake that I want to keep wearing it out of reverence!

 

Dry, this is a lightly floral, very mossy aquatic scent. I've only ever driven through southern Louisiana, but I imagine this is precisely what it smells like! I can almost hear Jazz horns in the background somewhere.

 

I really appreciate the execution of this scent, but it's not for me. I'll probably wear out the imp, though it will take me awhile, but this is not bottle-worthy to me. Still, it's very well done.

Really nice in the imp--strawberries and champagne!

 

Wet, it's just as lovely, not to mention true to the description. Unfortunately, after about 15 minutes it turns to Play-Doh. This would be nice as a room fragrance, though. I'm really sad I can't wear this.

In the imp, I get all the gorgeous notes in the description. This is something I would have worn on my wedding day. How could this possibly go wrong?

 

Ugh, I spoke too soon. This goes straight to powder as soon as I apply it. Why??? I had such high hopes for you, Veil. Why do you hate me so? I think BPAL's violet note is bad news bears for me, because I had a similar experience with Queen Gertrude. What a disappointment. To the swap pile you go.

Lots of kumquat and a splash of orange soda? It smells like Cheshire Cat's cousin, only less interesting. I suppose that's fitting. My skin doesn't eat this like it does Cheshire Cat, though. I don't know why my skin is translating the orange blossom as orange soda, but there's a definite hint of carbonation in this that I don't care for.

 

All in all, it's not bad, but it won't be a bottle purchase for me.

In the imp, the grapefruit overpowered all the other notes, but I could detect the lavender lurking somewhere in the shadows.

 

I really liked this wet; the grapefruit mellowed a good deal and allowed the musk, currant, and chamomile into the party. It's still a grapefruit-dominant scent, but it's a sweet, almost candied grapefruit. This is surprisingly complex; I really like it!

 

My skin ate this scent, unfortunately. About 20 minutes after I applied it, Cheshire Cat had completely disappeared, smile and all. It's too bad because it was such a nice change of pace from what I usually wear. Oh well, maybe I'll just slather what's left in my imp on and enjoy it while I can.