ReallyZeb

This is lovely - the cucumber dominated in the bottle but you get both notes on the skin. The tomato comes out more once it has dried properly. It's far more real tomato than tomato leaf on this one. It reminds me of another favourite, Planting Moon, but doesn't quite have the staying power..

When it’s wet I get pear drops and a bit of bubblegum too.

Once it’s dried the champaca moves to the front. There’s a hint of the white musk. I don’t get any fizz, or any grapefruit which is a shame, and it’s all quite faint. Very girly and probably not for me.

In the bottle it’s all leather and saddle soap

Wet on the skin I can find the cardamon and it’s quite strong, with a background of old leather. The patchouli is playing nice.

Once it’s dry I get cardamon, leather, Snake Oil and Smut - but still no patchouli. This might well change after it’s rested for a while.

In the bottle - bitter, sharp florals

 

Wet: I get a bit of pear drop but the bitterness persists. The cedar wood starts coming to the fore as it dries. There's a tiny touch of salt.

 

When dry I don’t get any blackcurrant but I do detect the gardenia, along with the still present cedar wood and some green bitterness which I think must be the henbane. It’s a very dry scent when I was expecting something much juicier. After about an hour the blackcurrant finally turns up and makes it a softer scent, but still with that tiny background bitterness

In the bottle it’s expensive woody traditionally men’s cologne.

Wet on skin its all balsam and benzoin, I can’t get any other notes. Slightly sharp. As it dries I get the tiniest hint of tomato leaf and the mahogany. It’s hard to stop huffing my skin. The patchouli is hiding.

Once dry the mahogany amps up and this is a gorgeous woody, spicy blend. I can’t quite pick up the cardamon yet there is a touch of spice. Still no trace of the patch.

Throw is quite wide and I keep walking around wondering what smells so damn good. It me.

In the bottle - GREEN!!!!!

Wet -Slightly floral green tea, light, fresh, delicate, not sweet. Like the scent you get when you break some thicker green flower stems, the green of a florists shop.

When dry it's slightly less green and I get a touch of sandalwood which warms it a little, and maybe a tinge of rice but still very light, stays close to the skin and doesn't overpower.

Since this arrived I've been struggling to pick anything else to wear at all. It's old and dusty and endless and burrows right into my soul. When I try to separate the notes I end up with tears in my eyes because it is so damn beautiful. That doesn't help you know what it smells like  but if you get some and don't like it, sell it to me!

1 hour ago, VioletChaos said:

So, I'm pretty excited about BOTH 13 Nights Halloween Swap and *also* a possible Weenie Switch Witch, but I might only have the resources for one or the other. So my question is: What is the likelihood that there's going to be a Hallowmas Switch Witch? It's my preference because of length and passion, but I definitely do NOT want to miss out on 13 Nights if it looks like there won't be a SW this year at this time.

Thoughts? Anyone who has inside knowledge???

Hi former witchee! Coldie has said this autumn SW is definitely going ahead and will be a memorial round for Joni and will incorporate something in her name/spirit 💔

When wet it's a strong, bright and fruity oil, nothing much else.

 

Once it dries it's still beautifully fruity, but not at all sweet. There's a distant incensey back note, like you just walked past a hippy shop with their door closed, and that works to round the scent out but the overall impression is glorious red fruit. I don't get a bitter note at all.

This is straight out of the mail so I may add more once it has settles.

In the bottle: its praline with a back kick of vetiver and nothing else
Wet: The first thing I get is the sage, and a dryness that I presume is the orris root.
Dry: As it dries, the sage stays in the forefront, very herbal. There's a depth of patchouli/vetiver but it's not overpowering. I'm not getting any currant and the praline has vanished.

Sorry, this one ended up a bit stream of consciousness!

In the bottle it is a very sharp sage with an edge of the cedarwood. Wet on my skin I get a peatiness that makes me think of a good whiskey, but the patchouli is just behind it peeking out from under. Drinking whiskey in a long established library on a rainy day somewhere in Ireland.

As it dries I'm having a problem tearing my nose away from the scent, it is gorgeous. There's a slight citrus fizz to it and the sage has softened a lot.

Gradually it softens out to a smooth herbal patchouli, so mellow and comforting that I think I will fall asleep with my wrist pressed to my nose.

There's still a faint trace in the morning.

When wet it is laundry washed in seawater, a saltier version of dryer sheets, but on me it morphs quite quickly into a fresh men's cologne scent. After half an hour or so it turns into beautiful soft sun-bleached woods with just a touch of the ocean. It only hangs around for a couple of hours but is somehow very comforting, and not particularly masculine. If a partner of mine was wearing this I'd just need to snuggle as close as possible to them.

Thank you everyone for your suggestions and kind words. (I'm now trying to find some of any of them so have posted in the Wanted section)

Hi all,

 

I don't normally dabble in TALs but wondered if anyone could recommend one to deal with dread and foreboding?

 

My Dad has cancer which has metastasised into his lungs, and every time I go to visit (he lives long distance) I get worse and worse foreboding that this is the last time I will ever see him. I know at some point that will be inevitable but in the mean time, this feeling is paralysing me from doing anything useful for several days once I get home again.

 

I'm hoping someone can recommend something that might be useful.

Anyone ready to dream of cooler weather with an early fall dreaming shotgun swap of some sort?

memememe!!!

I'm sorry if this is in the wrong place or is a bit of a silly question, but I've read the site FAQ and through this thread sand I'm still at a loss!

 

I'm trying to place my first order ever from bpal, and I can't figure out the shipping at all. I just wanted to try 4 Imps, sent to my Belgian address, but the price for shipping keeps coming out to 68 dollars. That can't be right, can it? I tried switching to my California address to see if that quote would be more practical and it was normal (I'd have it shipped there if I could, but I'm not there right now). I thought that if I went through to the checkout page and filled in all of the information it'd show the correct shipping rate but it's still 68 bucks.

 

Am I doing something wrong? I can't think of how to get the shipping price to change and I just can't see how that's the right rate.

 

 

I just read on one of the Facebook groups that there's a glitch on the Lab site that's screwing up shipping for imps. Apparently bottle-only orders aren't affected but as soon as you add an imp or imps to your order, it triggers the glitch.

You also might find it more economic to post an ISO post to see if anyone has those imps, as for definite, even with the site working, shipping will be more than the price of those imps. Or alternatively, look in the Decent Circles and Group Orders section - there are frequent EU group orders to help the shipping, usually appearing just before the full moon.

First impressions - bitter chocolate with a citrus note. I could eat this! But it's fresh out of the box so more after it has settled for a few days.

When first applied, and in the bottle, this has a lot in common with Black Moths - a very dry scent, it almost rustles, and definitely conjures up black insect wings of some type. It starts differing after the drydown, where this is a spicy but still dry fruity scent. Maybe fruity like those semi-dried plums? It doesn't have a lot of patchouli throw on me, in fact the patch is far less prominent than I'd expect.

 

 

 

FYI, people, I WILL be starting a Yule/Christmas gift exchange type swap soon.

I am so disappointed I was too sick to remember the deadlines for the questionnaires for the winter swap and 12 Days swap.

 

So if anyone else feels the same, or just wants another one, be prepared.

I might(big maybe) resurrect a winter solstice swap too. We shall see. Lots of medical stuff going on.

Yay!! I'm so excited. I hoped there would be another Yule/Christmas swap (I was participating in SW and I only commit to one at a time with work being so busy).

 

I'm definitely going to sign up.

 

I will probably sign up too

In the bottle it's minty candy floss. When applied it's sharply mint first, then sugary mint like creme de menthe.

After it dries its fruity and pink, reminding me most of Rosy Maple Moth but less citrusy, more minty. This would be a perfect early summer scent.

Freshly on, it's all perfect sea salt air on a cold day in Greenwich. Wind coming from the cleaner part of the Thames, a touch of spray in the air and the old trees covered in new leaves. It stays true to this on me after drydown and I love it.

In the bottle the main scent I get is Dorian.

 

Freshly applied, the red musk comes to the fore, with a green and spicy background, and the spice from the carnation keeps intensifying over the next half hour. I agree that a blackberry note peeps out but I do get a touch of smoke too - the sort where you just get a distant whiff on the wind in autumn.

 

It settles down to become less spicy and some honey finally appears, but that turns to beeswax on me quite soon. It kind of reminds me of a spicier Lady Una, but I think it will change once the bottle has settled down.

When wet it's a sharp lavender with a background of the rosemary and an almost citrus edge coming in as it dries. Once dry the bergamot comes to the fore with the rosemary still around. After about 30 minutes its turned into a lovely smooth blackberry and white musk which is mellow and beautiful and makes this a definite keeper. I might even need a backup.

This was the special imp from the Trading Post shirt grab bag.

 

When I was younger and I was away at school I got sick one hot summer day, and had to go lie down in the sick room. Just outside they were redoing the drive and the smell of hot sticky tar made me heave even more. Since then I try to avoid going past roadworks as it brings it all back, including the nausea.

 

This on me smells exactly like a freshly poured road and because of that it immediately made me heave.

Vanilla: Detestable Putrescence, Eat Me, Good, Hollywood Babylon, O and Mouse Circus plus you really should try Dorian even though it includes a little tea

Honey: O, Alice, Cockaigne, Crib Girls, Kill-Devil, Good,

Strawberry: Hollywood Babylon, Bon Vivant

LE recs: Mother Shub's Gingerbread Temples (ginger & honey) and Gingerbread Goblin (Gingerbread with black coconut, patchouli, and sweet benzoin), Iulia, L'Artiste du Diable (currently available), Womb Furie (LE but available almost every Jan/Feb)

 

Also look out for people selling Chaos Theory VII Gourmand bottles - you can usually find the notes for each particular bottle listed in reviews