Zeljana

I found a bottle of this scent in the forgotten box in the back of my closet. It's been almost 9 years and oh my goodness...This is a rich scent of pine and berries with silent musk sneaking in from the background. It is just lovely. I also get hints of laurel bay or some other dry mediterranean herbs. As it is summer now, and everywhere around me is Mediterranean pine forest here in Turkey, I can picture a Greek goddess wearing this on a full moon night. Mystical, deep and so very feminine with a little sharpness.

It also reminds me  very much of Masabakes, another one of my favorites, in a best possible way. Must be the black currant in both of them. 

thanks everyone for recommendations! I see myself going bankrupt real soon. off to the hunt for some LEs

 

p.s. I know about the Shiny and New, but I wanted to hear some personal thoughts on what's not to miss I got this year's version of Smut cause I was following what was going on, but didn't have internet connection being at sea all the time, so wasn't checking reviews. I don't like buying before reading reviews, that's why this forum is so precious!

Greetings to the wonderful bpal community!

 

Due to some personal reasons, I was not able to follow whatever was going on with the lab over the last 18 months or so. I know many things have changed, some faves have been discontinued etc. However, it would be more than helpful if you could fill me in with must try oils that are still available that were launched in 2010./2011. no matter the scent family.

 

Thanks in advance!

It does remind me a little bit of Philosophy's Amazing Grace.

 

It's a beautiful tropical floral, a little bit sharp and a little bit sad. It reminds me of rain on a tropical island, a lush rainforest and waiting.

I love Lunar Eclipse's dry dusty feeling. It's like blooms of flowers on a hot dry day and they smell like peace.

wonderful afternoon in late summer, just before the end of vacation.

I love Perversion! It's so creamy but with a twist. This is not gourmand, but it tastes yummy. Leather note gives it an edge and the booze note is very subtle. It's mostly dark coconut and smokey vanilla scent.

A friend of mine always says it smells like a very expensive car with leather seats and coconut car freshner after it's been lying in the sun for a while.

 

It's perversely good, but a fetish ball is not my first association. Maybe a voodoo surf beach party

 

5/5, definitely bottle-worthy. + gets better with age, very smooth.

I really wanted this one to work, but its lasting power is very poor on skin. However, as a room scent this is absolutely divine. Beautiful aquatic notes with powdery ambergris. Bergamot is barely there, but it gives the scent some edge.

 

I wish it was a little bit stronger so I could wear it on my skin, though.

this smells like a dishwasher detergent to me. a nice one, though, but it's still very soapy and not really wearable. green, sharp and soapy. would probably make an interesting layering note.

it smelled quite scary in the imp, but it's actually rather nice. I get patchouli and leather with a sharp woody note, which might be cedar. It gets much softer as it dries down and it's wonderful after an hour or two.

It's not a mind-blowing scent, but it is definitely well blended and interesting. I'd love to wear this in fall/winter.

sharp sugary lemon with a hint of verbena. this smells like a perfect summer lemonade. however, I can't see myself wearing this scent at all. I might keep the imp just for sniffing, though.

I got soapy rose with a minty feel. After it dries this "minty feel" translates into cinnamon. I got a little bit of frankincense but it is well in the background and is not pronounced enough for me not to call this almost a pure floral. It's interesting when it dries, but it is way too soapy for me to wear.

this is very masculine on me. also very perfumey. mostly harsh notes of woods and musks. boi will like this, that's for sure. I like the musky part of it, that's what makes it bearable to me. Othewise I would have washed it off immediately.

Overall unremarkable on a woman, might be good on a man.

 

edit: when it dries it is MUCH better than in the first phase. worth waiting!

this is so wonderful I don't even care what's inside. It's so airy and mellow but still there. There is ozone in there, but the soft kind which doesn't irritate my nose as I inhale it deeply. The only problem is that it doesn't last a long time.

 

Very evocative, very dark blue scent.

medicinal, with a hint of lemon. rather bright scent, completely opposite of what I expected of a scent named after hemlock. interesting to smell but not to wear as a perfume. would make a great room scent for witchy ladies.

Piercing. Metallic and earthy. It has a bitter cherry-almond vibe, together with something sharp and medicinal, like some strange sort of moss and something minty, and pine-like.

Regal, indeed. But not in a floral kitschy way.

 

It really makes me more focused and it clears my mind in a second. Definitely a keeper.

Wet, this smells like a mixture of melon and mimosa (none of which are listed, of course), and it's NOT a good thing. A little bit later, gardenia comes out to play. Rose comes out 5 minutes later.

There something incredibly sad about Iambe, and also very very heavy. It makes me wear it in spring, just before rain. It is fruity, but ambers makes it cosy at the same time. I don't get patchouli at all.

It's very evocative of a beautiful snow-covered pine forest in winter. For that matter it is wonderful and as a room scent it is downright stunning. It's the scent of a Christmas tree in wilderness. It feels solemn but untamed, if you understand what I mean.

I used it as a perfume but felt it was a little bit sharp. It works if I'm in the right mood, but it's not the scent you would grab on any occasion.

I hope it will age wonderfully, though.

I wore Frau Holle for Christmas, and I'll definitely wear Talvikuu tomorrow night. I'm not going out so Talvikuu was the choice, if I were, I'd probably wear Smut.

I must have strange olfactory experience of the world because all I can smell in the imp are mushrooms. Fresh mushrooms, damp fresh mushrooms, but it also smells like a plate of a perfect mushroom soup. it's THE mushroom scent. On skin - dirt. Love it. Not as a perfume, but just to sniff. like, all the time.

My boyfriend stole my imp. 'nough said. Need a bottle.

the most prominent notes in this one are red musk and mandarin but very well blended. it's rather sweet, but rich - it really is a pre-raphaelitic painting in a bottle. when wet there is something green about it, like freshly cut flowers, but very rounded with fruits. dry, musk comes out to play. very elegant.

it's like a more complex and sweeter version of vechernyaya.

it's very strong upon application, but staying power isn't that strong at all. it will definitely age wonderfully.

verdict: too sweet for me, but will keep my decant in hope that the aged version will have more "edge".

first time I tried this I tested this with 7 other scents ( :D) at the same time and all I got was almost alcoholic note when wet and pipe tobacco in the dry stage. when it got a proper testing, straight away I recognised the scent which was rather cologne-y.

this is a combo of Thierry Mugler's A*men with a little bit of Byblos cologne on the side to amp the tobacco.

I still love it, though. The drydown is gorgeous and much softer than of the above mentioned colognes, so a woman can pull this one off, thanks to the oil form which smoothed the notes out.

This would be fantastic on a man. My b/f wears A*men, I'm sure he's gonna love this one.

The wet stage was beautiful, very evocative shiny aquatic. However, as it dried it got soapy, with hints of floral sweetness.
It smells like the surface of the ocean, which is not a bad thing but it lacks depth as a scent as well. Ozone is well balanced, so it's rather refreshing but only for a short time. This one needs regular reapplying.
sentence: imp-worthy.

this one's not your usual lily. it's almost aquatic, rather deep and *sparkling*. I'm not a floral fan, but this one's interesting. it develops beautifully, but I prefer the wet stage when it's green and voluptuous.

Not much throw, however.

Black Tower really reminds me of Coco Mademoiselle, but it is a much deeper and more beautiful blend.

rosey but green, very feminine. a little bit heady, a little bit perfumey but if this was an edp or edt it would probably be terrible. oil form suits it nicely.

beautiful rose accord.