Mountaingrrl00

I've let this settle for a few days before trying it again, and I'm glad I did. Previously there was a strong impression of Irish Spring soap - that has now mellowed out of existence. Now I get a creamy matcha and sandalwood combo, an almost saffron-like hay, and that floral-shop green smell others have mentioned. The ferns are distinct, too, and the deeper scent of moss. Lovely memories of the Pacific Northwest from this. Clean, but with depth. I think this will be a regular in the warm-weather rotation.

A mineral note and something sweet like vanilla. I love the mix of natural and perfumey. I would be surprised if there weren't benzoin in this. Definitely a happy scent in my brain.

I need to be careful with words like "breeze" and "wind" in scent descriptions. They almost always translate to ozone notes, which are headache triggers for me. I'm bummed that this one did not work for me, because it's got so much going for it with its realistic green spring flowers, and warm, floral honey. That's some of the nicest honey I've ever smelled in a perfume. I hope to encounter this honey in a non-breeze scent.

Total comfort scent. Nuzzly, savory, toasty, warm without being overwhelmingly rich. It reminds me a little of BPAL's Morocco scent with its dry warmth, but this is more refined. For a scent with three listed ingredients, it has a lot of depth. It stays close to the skin, and lasts a long time.

At first sniff this is authentic pine, very green, a little woodsy, a little sharp, really beautiful. I love that the pine bark is part of this. If you're afraid of smelling like cheap pine air freshener, don't be - it has a lot of dimension, and is like being in the Rockies, not in someone's car. Along the way it gets softer, more powdery, drier and more floral, with just a breath of crushed pine needles. Later on it becomes a diffuse earthy sweetness that lasts a long time.

Chocolate with brandy, maraschino cherries and a little spice. Such a cheerful scent, and the brandy element makes it appealing and not so much a kiddy gourmand.

At first sniff, this is so realistic it makes me laugh! The whiskey has a sharp bite at first, very high-pitched. But it calms down pretty quickly, and gets to smelling more like an aromatic cologne. The weed note is not green, but resinous and sticky-sweet, almost a hash note. It's a nice combination that gets better and better as is warms up on my skin.

You know those red anise hard candies that come wrapped in red cellophane? That's what it smells like in the imp, and wet on my skin. Strong almost straight-up anise, mouth-watering, not too sweet. It makes me want to eat a whole bunch of candy. That anise blast takes awhile to burn off. when I can catch the Smut underneath, it's a beautiful combination. Eventually it dries down to pure Smut, and since I love the original version that's great with me!

I amp the cinnamon like crazy. For about an hour all I can smell is cinnamon. Later I get more spices, and if I sniff closely enough, the pumpkin and musk. Still mostly cinnamon on me, though.

Pecan Pie Oud is mostly Oud, and definitely not Karo-syrup sweet. I'm getting more of the savory aspects of the pecans, which smell toasted and a little salty. There's warmth here too, but it's understated. There's a little bit of spiciness from the crust note. This is a surprisingly sophisticated, lightly gourmand scent I could see wearing on a regular basis if not for its rareness.

Whoa, that is some neon-bright maraschino cherry coming out of the vial. Almost boozy in its strength. Applied on my wrist, it becomes more like pie filling, and suddenly, I can smell a distinct brown-sugar crust and even the sweet cream. I don't know how Beth does it, but it's so funny and delicious. I can catch little wafts of citrus, and I can tell there are some deeper perfume notes underneath, but mostly it's bold cherry. Great throw and longevity.

A beautiful, uplifting scent for an important cause. It starts out smelling like springtime with the soft blossoms and citrus notes. Then fizzy ginger ale with strong ginger and sweet amber. At this point it reminds me of the Christmassy Origins Ginger scent, effervescent indeed, nose-tinglingly spicy. It lasts on my skin as a warm fruity-floral amber. So glad I blind-bought a bottle.

In the bottle, it's like a weird cocktail made with pastis and green bell pepper juice. (The dead leaves base often reads as green peppers to my nose.) It's definitely an aromatic black licorice, not the sweet kind. The wet stage is strong, heady, kind of aquatic in the way men's colognes often are. The drydown is another thing entirely, with an earthy, warmer, slightly gourmand anise vibe. I love this last phase and re-applied several times just to get to that place again. I'm going to have to try this one in a locket.

Cuddly vanilla is the main thing here. The patchouli never really comes forward for me, just grounds the scent and makes it last. I love the addition of woodsy hemp, not an everyday perfume note, making this simple scent a little unusual but very warm and comforting. It's just the kind of thing I want to wear to feel cozy on a winter day. Oh, and the decant I have is very similar to my bottle of BB, though maybe RR is a little more vanilla and BB is a little more patchouli.

The cedar, gardenia and tuberose are most prominent on me. Something here smells like orange blossom, too, although it's not a listed component - may be the fruitiness of the pear combining with the floral elements. When it dries down, it's a soft woody-mossy scent. I'm not really getting aquatics. The herbal blend is enticing. This stays close to the skin and does not last a long time.

Mysterious, resinous, multifaceted.. The oud and smoke stand out to me in their unusualness, but really everything is well balanced. Resins, woods, mineral, animalic and floral notes blend beautifully. Not an extroverted scent, but one I love smelling on myself, and will be nice to share with someone close.

Normally I don't like sarsaparilla, so I wouldn't have chosen this, but since I got it as a frimp I thought I'd test it. I'm very pleasantly surprised that the gurjam balsam is so prominent. Vetiver isn't listed, but I'm getting the dirty-vetiver earth note - maybe that's in the gear-lubricant accord. It's all very nuzzly, earthy and lumbersexual with a spicy undercurrent. The lab gods must have known I would love this.

Wet: The Lab's "sour candy" note plus a hint of powdery cotton candy. Dry: The cotton candy note has gotten stronger and vaguely disturbing. It's burnt sugar and a bit of strawberry jelly. Several hours later: This is the good part! The sweetness has become a kind of powdery floral, and the lime zest lends some bitterness to round out the now-soft sweet-and-sour.

Darn skin chemistry! On me, I can hardly pick out anything but the tartness of the cranberry, and it doesn't even smell cranberry-specific, since I don't get the berry's tannic edge. It's more like the pixie stix intensity of some of the candy Yules we've had in the past. There's a tiny bit of dough and gritty fig if I press my nose to my wrist. Will have to pass this on to a more compatible home.

This arrived just when I needed it, when multiple tasks, creative projects and social opportunities coincided. Applied at the beginning of the day and handled everything with aplomb. The "expanded perspective" part happened quite literally with a piece of visual art I was working on. And while I understand that the House Blends in particular are not formulated as perfumes, this one has a scent I find inspiring, full of sweet anise like a Scandinavian bakery.

This is potent! Very strong, almost manic energy to this one. And it smells like citrus, frankincense and something a bit like root beer?

Verrrrry strong almond note after the initial dusting of cocoa. And something is reading to me as beeswax candles. The middle phase is wild! Then it's an intriguing gourmand scent, more blended. Definitely not an everyday scent, but a very cool ride. I might try wearing this to a winter party or two, see if I attract a confused stranger with a sweet tooth.

The hyper-realistic grass note scared me for a moment. I get why some have compared it to heavily scented soaps. But it calms down pretty quickly and smells more like a picnic in fancy dress. I love the cognac/opium/tobacco lace blends, and I like this herbal variation on the theme. It takes me by surprise on dry-down -- what's that gorgeous smell? Oh, it's me! Rich, smoky, just sweet enough.

A russet chypre slathered in vintage patchouli and black tea with golden amber, hiba wood, and iris root. This one feels like an instant classic, sophisticated and gorgeous. I first smell the tannin-heavy black tea, the mossy chypre and the strong wood - an earthy but somehow sparkling combination. The patchouli then comes into play, and it reminds me of rich fragrances my grandmother's generation wore before hippie patchouli existed. The amber is sweet and has almost a citrus quality, which plays back and forth with the soft dryness of the iris root. The resulting combination is an assertive, long-lasting dress-up kind of perfume. It's definitely a nose-glued-to-the-wrist one for me.

PROGRESSUS Make a purchase at Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab on Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, or Cyber Monday, and receive a free imp of PROGRESSUS: a blend of Solar oils believed to generate abundance, augment success, and bestow good fortune, including golden amber, honey laurel, heliotrope, saffron, and Atlas cedar. Yum! This smells rich, appropriately enough. It's woody, resinous, and somehow metallic. The Atlas cedar is not a pencil-shavings scent, but has a real depth, anchoring the brightness of the saffron. There's a warmth from the amber and a sweetness from the heliotrope. I'm unfamiliar with the scent of honey laurel; I think it might be the sort of bay-leaf tinge I'm getting initially that contributes to the "metallic" impression. As it dries down, the resins and woods remain and I get more vanillic heliotrope, less metal. There's also something earthy that I can't identify, but love. I'm so glad I ordered when I did to get this lagniappe. It's delicious in a strong, dark-golden way.