alicia_stardust

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Thanks,

Alicia

I agree with the others that the rose is not dominant. It's soft, on the edges. It mostly comes across as a gentle lavender with a hint of vanilla. I can't get enough of it for bedtime!

To me, this smells like brownie batter with a swirl of gingerbread. It's the best foody scent I've ever tried, and that's saying something. AMAZING!

I was most hopeful about this one from the first Act of The Nutcracker, but it smelled so different than I imagined. I was picturing a cool vanilla snow with lots of dark evergreen. However, the evergreen is barely present and the juniper ends up smelling like a mint-menthol amidst the vanilla. It's a light, fluffy, fuzzy vanilla mint with menthol. It's nice and is highly recommended for those who love Snowblind, but neither of those works on me.

This is a very fluttery scent to me, meaning that it has a soft and feathery quality that almost tickles my nose. It reminds me of grey-white fuzzy paper wings.

On my skin the egyptian musk is dominant, and the vanilla is warm and smooth but not a sweet vanilla. I get cardamom in there, but it's not spicy to me, just warm and fuzzy. There is just enough sugar in there to give it a dusty sweetness, but it doesn't turn this into a sweet blend overall.

Very lovely, and somewhat subdued and comforting. I think this is going to be a hit for many.

On me this is very creamy, almost cream-soda like; but it's not quite foody. It has a sweet, rich vanilla-tonka vibe with lots of coconut husk. While the coconut is definitely prominent, it doesn't take over the blend like most other coconut blends tend to do with my skin chemistry. I do get hints of the ginger in there, and I smell the black licorice on the drydown but not so much after that. As time passes, the blend gets more "dry" and I can smell the bite of clove over the sweet-tonka-coconut.

Overall, this is very warm and enticing with just the right amounts of spice and coconut. This is probably my favorite of the new honey/bee line. Definite keeper.

This is at the top of my atmo spray favorites, up there with Thousand Pillar, Snow White, Samhain, and Erebos. I missed out on Thriambus at Bat's Day, so Puddin gets extra smooches for allowing people to order it from him.

To me, Thriambus smells just like a fresh pack of Djarum cloves. That semi-sweet clove scent seems to be the most dominant part of the blend, followed by the red wine (smooth and sexy) and tobacco (just a hint). The accent notes seem to fill in the spaces between the clove, wine, and tobacco so that it becomes a very well-rounded, smooth, sexy, goth club scent. This blend has a strong gestalt to it, and it's truly a work of art.

Off the top of my head, most of BPAL's clove scents that I can think of are more of a sharp, spicy dry clove. In Thriambus, it is sweeter and smoother, probably because of the notes that are paired with it.

This blend brings back so many good memories of my crazy twenties, spent in dark and sexy goth clubs on weekends, smoking cloves, and making the most of my weekend nights to counterbalance the intensive college weekdays. And it's just so sexy.

This has a very magical feeling to it, dark and mysterious and yet not heavy or strong. It's not just the scent of resins, but also of tiny wisps of light incense on the air and a smattering of wood and rose petals. It is very well blended, and a must for anyone who likes resinous, incense, and/or occult shop blends.

I should also add that this very unique, so even if you have a lot of resinous blends in your collection, you don't have this one.

I can't add anything profound that hasn't already been said here, but I will divulge my thoughts anyway. Pink Snowballs is a must-have for this year's Yule series. It is a no-brainer if you love any of the Lab's snow notes, and especially if you love Snow White. It is still a must-try for anyone that's iffy on rose notes. It's just that good, and that unique, and the rose takes a backseat to the vanilla softness and the powder snow.

I get Snow White as a base for this, and Pink Snowballs stays on my skin just as long and with almost the same level of throw.

Pink Snowballs comes across as creamy and soft, and it brings to mind a swath of fresh powdered snow with a soft pale pink tint to it. Vanilla softens the rose which is already light and pale and blushy pink to begin with, and both those things are accents to the Snow White-like base. Soft, rounded, delightful, playful.

Dreamland. It's a past LE, but was revisited for a DD Trunk Show a year or so ago and shouldn't be terribly hard to find if you put up a round of ISOs.

I can't recall if tuberose is listed in the description for Dreamland, but to me, that's nearly all I get from the blend, and I LOVE it! Very soft, waxy, and classic tuberose. It smells exactly like Illuminations' Tuberose candle that they sold each spring.

Peach Moon is a surprise hit. It doesn't smell like the peach fruit, but it smells peach if that makes sense. It has a dominant white tea note, followed by the peach blossoms and white musk. I only get the barest hints of jasmine and ho wood. This one is a major keeper. It's very smooth and rounded and the pitch is neither too high nor too low. Stunningly elegant.

Seconding The Snow Storm. It's an amazing unisex pine forest and snow blend. Probably one of my favorites after the unobtainable Skadi.

Black Phoenix Trading Post has a bath oil in the Wanton Voluptuousness section the Limited Editions page that is specifically honey and orange blossom. I know many forumites who use the bath oils as an after-shower moisturizer.

When I compare Trick or Treat 2005 to Trick or Treat 2009, they are overall very similar. However, the former is more smooth and sweet, and the latter is more warm and has just a tiny hint of autumn spice in it. And yes, it's a little more "corny" as Beth said in her update.

I really do love both, but I think the 2009 version would win out over the older version.

Fresh lime, lime popsicles, key lime pie, a twist of orange, and lots of salt! Love this!

This is definitely mint, but to me it's a soft and very gentle smattering of fuzzy mint leaves, where you have just rubbed your hands through the plant after having spent some time in the garden. It has an herbal, magical quality to it, perhaps with a hint of sandalwood and lavender in the very far background, and a warm smattering of dark earth and soil. This is very grounding, and ethereal, and the mint is so very gentle and leaf-like. Beautiful.

This is absolutely the most amazing resinous incense blend. It is deep and red and warm and if you love Al-Azif, then this one is three times better. It is that amazing. There's a vanilla-like golden undertone, and the Al-Azif sort of resin mix. Beautiful!

Vanilla-lemon buttercream, cake batter, and a thin wisp of sweet incense smoke in the background. This is a foody lover's dream.

No scent description.

This is the most perfect red musk blend, with just the right amount of patchouli to temper it and darken it, yet it's not too swarthy or strong of a patchouli. This seems a little less floral than the released version of Lust, but without doing a side by side comparison I can't be certain. One thing is sure: this is SEXY! And I love it more than the released version.

I get banana tree, huge tropical leaves, rainforest dew, and a very dark musk. The dark aspect of this blend is what makes it so truly unique.

I don't have the GC version of maiden here to compare them side by side, but this is an intoxicating honey-dipped carnation, with just hints of rose-tea in the background. I was ambivalent about GC Maiden, but this prototype version with the honey is to die for. I really wish I had gotten more of this.

No scent description.

Just the name alone almost scared me off of this. I gingerly handled the tester bottle and nearly put it back down without even sniffing it. But then curiosity got the better of me and I gave it a whiff. It's surprisingly light and fresh on the surface, almost like a smooth aquatic blended with a floral tea. But just under the surface there's a hint of something more sinister. On my skin it has a light smoky quality, not like brimstone and vetiver, but more like the smoky quality in blends like Pumpkin Smash and Hand of Glory. There's almost a waxy quality underneath the smoke. It's really interesting to behold, and not at all the horror that I expected. This is a more subtle sort of putrefication. It's like zombies with a cloud of air freshener sprayed around them.

(A novelty, too, is that the label is spelled Putrefincation.)

This is a lush and sensual green scent, full of voluptuous foliage, crushed stems, cut leaves, and soft damp grass. As time passes, it smooths out into a bed of flower petals with hints of lily, rose, and possibly jasmine. Those lie in the background, though, and the menagerie of green foliage keeps center stage throughout.

In the bottle this has an almost bitter fishy smell to it, but once it hits my skin it smells nothing like fish. This one is elusive but it's a lighter blend, and it has a soft fuzzy quality to it that reminds me of the type of brown musk in blends like Hunter Moon and Buck Moon. I also get a lot of sandalwood and a trace of coconut. In the background there's a sort of herbal medicinal quality that's quite nice. I'm so glad I tested this instead of being put off by how it smelled in the bottle.

This is a soft, fuzzy, bubbly champagne... a pale, golden champagne that's dry and a bit sweet. There's possibly another fruit in there which really counterbalances the dry champagne. It adds a cool, watery, brightness. Whatever it is, it's what makes this blend work for me. I've had champagne blends, but whatever is in this is just so uplifting and refreshing and different. Lovely!