miss_rynn

I was trying to pin down why this seems so familiar, but I finally worked out that it comes across as the lovechild of Antique Lace and the Mouse's Long Sad Tale. It has that perfumey vanilla and white flowers vibe to it. The magnolia is a bit too old fashioned floral for me, but the vanilla base is beautiful.

Certainly what it says on the lable, but SUPER PERFUMEY on my skin. I suspect that it's the smoked vanilla bean that does it, edging the scent into Big Perfume House territory with what they call a vanilla note, but actually ending up more like tonka. Maybe it's a scent association issue. In any case, a good foody perfume for people who are leery of being foody. Think Miss Dior Cherie in feel, though not in scent.

This is certainly a weird little creature. It reminds me of clothes that have been washed in vanilla scented laundry detergent. I know that sounds bad, but it really works - imagine the smell of freshly washed sheets mixed with a cool vanilla. It may be that the cherry comes across as vanilla. I wouldn't call this foody, though. It has a subtle musk note, which is a little hard to pin down - it's not as harsh as black or red musk, but not as pale and fresh as white or blue musk. Maybe a vanilla musk? I suspect that the sand note is giving it the musky flavour; imagine super dry sand, not a beachy sand. I was worried about the blood note, because they can be a little too bitter for my liking, but you can smell it if you think about it. It doesn't really smell like blood, but it does give a coppery edge. I think the sand musk and the whisper of copper stop this from being too foody. Cool, a sensible level of sweet, softly musky, and a faint metallic note.

This is a true work horse - it never lets you down. I jog before work in the mornings, and I am always both scared that I'll be bad-stinky and scared that I will be over-the-top with good-stinky. Alice solves *all* of my problems. It's less sweet and honey-like than the oil, but instead a slightly spicy carnation with supporting backbone of sugar. Totally lab work friendly, and totally lovely. The throw isn't as strong as some other HGs, but that makes it more user-friendly for work. I really wish that this becomes a GC HG, because it's just plain pretty.

I love foody scents to bits, but they so often turn to ash on my skin. I keep buying them, though, in the hopes that they end up fitting into that magic 5% of oils that work on me. To my delight, this is a pure winner! It starts off as unbaked or slightly underdone pumpkin pie - soft and delicate pumpkin puree, condensed milk, eggs, and just enough cinnamon and nutmeg to give it a delicious accent. It fades pretty quick, but it dries down to a warm, but subtle, moist pumpkin cupcake. It reminds me a little of my gingerbread cupcake recipe with less spice. Warm, sweet, soft, and eminently wearable. I am full of pumpkin loves.

I have a feeling that this is one of those little beasts that needs to age before it shines. Imagine a super rich version of Eat Me, with more currant and less cakey fluff. I do so like my foody scents, but at the moment LLM is a bit too much of ALL THE NOTES. I think that it's the honey that pushes this into the realm of extravagance. I love honey, but this is probably a bit too golden - especially when paired with the richness of the currants. This reminds me a little of Gluttony or Hellcat in terms of syrupy, toothsome scents. I expect that this will settle as warmer and smoother as it ages rather than as it is fresh.

Sadness. This starts off as strawberry and Dorian, with a background of Snake Oil - kind of odd, but kind of cool, too. It ends up drying down to a men's aftershave. It's like the sharper notes in both Dorian and Snake Oil, with the faintest hint of the sweeter notes. I'm hoping it will settle down to a more vanilla forward scent as it ages, though.

2014 edition My dream scent, the one I crave to bits, is a true Creme Brulee perfume. This isn't a creme brulee scent, but that's the kind of custardy sweetness to it. On me, it's some kind of foody cross of creme brulee, creme caramel and the custard in Chinese egg custard buns. It's rich, custardy and vanilla forward, but isn't an obtrusive scent. I like it! Alas, like most creamy scents it turns to ashtray after wearing, but it's still fab

All dry, bitter cocoa and sickly flowers. I cannot express just how disappointed I am in this. I know it's an issue with my skin and nose, not the perfume itself, but I am devestated. I had such high hopes for this, having missed out on the original, and it's just so very sad to have all those years of waiting end on such a whimper. My personal feelings aside; it is a strongly dark and bitter cocoa that is sweetened with florals. The florals strike me as lillies, or some other kind of white, waxy-petalled flowers, maybe even a dash of orchid. This would work well on someone who likes foody or floral scents that aren't too sweet or cloying, and who are looking for a lively alternative to conventional florals.

Super witch shop scent on first spray. It's that mix of incense, resin, herb and scented oil fragrance that sticks to you even after you've left the shop. I love amber and dragon's blood, but most incense notes from the lab give me ice pick to the brain headaches. This seems to juuust sneak into not-headachey territory, though I was a bit scared when I first tried it. The honey gives it just the right amount of sweetness without being over the top. I love Honey and Hair Loosened and Soiled in Mid Orgies - they both have different honey notes. Honey is bright and clean honey, and HLSMO is a more O like sex honey. DWLM is different again, a more raw, thick honey with a beeswax muskiness. I was expecting a combination of the Lion, Dragon's Milk and perhaps a dash of O, so this was a really pleasant surprise to me. I keep getting scent memories from two of my favourite occult stores, so this evokes in me a sense of peace, of acceptance, and a reminder of my faith. My spiritual beliefs are often at war with my job (I'm a research scientist), so wearing this will give me a small measure of spiritual comfort in my day to day life. It's perhaps a shade too ooky kooky for everyday at work, but it will definitely be used on days that I need a boost of faith.

Alas, pickled cabbage. A very savoury, vinegary smell on my skin. It starts out with a lovely sugary pink pepper, which I always like more than I think I do, but... pickled cabbage. I'm hoping that letting it rest a while will make a difference.

I've had this for a long while, hoping that the lemon note would settle a little. It initially smells like lemon drops, all sugary and tart, but with wearing the lemon note fades to a bright, but note overpowering, spark in the centre of it. The sugar reminds me of making toffee - that magic moment when the sugar melts, but before it starts to brown. The honey note is deep and warm, forming the base for the perfume balance. It's a rich honey, rather than a bright honey, and manages to ground the sugary lemon explosion. Top note: candied lemon; heart note: melted sugar; base note, honey.

I'm always torn on CT scents - I love the idea, but my skin chemistry is so persnickedy that it's rare for me to find a scent that really works on me. The risk of a CT not working on me usually out weighs the fun of it, and so I usually nab at least one. I got two Gourmand bottles, and I struck lucky! The very most perfect vanilla. It is pretty much my holy grail scent. It's a warm vanilla extract scent that doesn't turn to plastic or ash, like many vanillas do. In fact, it reminds me of the vanilla of Snake Oil. I am in LOVE. I am going to nab a few more bottles of CT on my next order because if this bottle is the pay off it is TOTALLY worth the risk.

I really like this. I've always found TKO to be all head-throbing lavender, so I've always been worried about anything that has it. I was super pleased with this one, though! To me, this is the perfect "clean house" scent. It has the freshness to feel light and airy, but the vanilla stops it from being too soapy or artificial. Or, if you look at it the other way, the vanilla and sandlewood are kept from being too perfumey by the lavender and oudh. It's light but pervasive - scented enough to be noticed and to cover dusty or stale air without being overpowering and distracting. This is an atmo that *enhances* a room, rather than trying to be the *star* of the room.

I think I've figured out what is going on with this one - the vanilla is the base note, tobacco is the heart note, and the cardamom is the top note. The vanilla is there, but only as a back drop the the cardamom. It's actually quite a masculine scent, rather than the foody scent I was expecting. While it doesn't really work on me (I'm a sweet/foody/girlie type of perfume person) I think that this would work fabulously on a guy.

This starts out as ALL the APPLE. I am not a huge fan of apple scents, but the blackcurrant and honey dragged me in. It's a very red apple kind of scent, made sweeter and 'pinker' (for want of a better word) with the blackcurrant. A bright red apple, rather than a syrupy cooking apple. After a few hours on the skin, it darkens and deepends to something more like what you would expect from one of the Weenie apples. It reminds me of Samhain, even though it doesn't actually smell like Samhain, if you know what I mean. While it's not really my kind of thing, I can see this as an ideal scent for someone looking for an apple scent that's good for spring rather than autumn.

This is lovely, sweet, smooth and delicious. It starts off with a soft but rich marzipan scent, like the vanilla and the almond blossom are making sweet, sweet love. The mimosa peeks in to stop it from becoming foody. As it develops it becomes more floral in character without actually being floral, if that makes sense. The longer it's on the skin, the more of a powder sent it becomes. Not a baby powder scent, but more like an expensive dusting powder a 50s film star might wear under a drop of perfume at the pulse points. It's a slinky kind of a scent, and ideal for getting your wiggle on.

All the apricot! A very true preserved apricot note - it's not fresh and juicy, but concentrated and intense. The cardamom is pretty fierce on the skin to begin with, but settles down to a slightly spiced haze at the edges. The vanilla isn't very strong on my skin, at it is more a perfumey vanilla than a foodie one. If you liked March Hare, you will love this. It's like March Hare's sexy cousin.

This is very coconut-husk to me, a kind of dusty woodiness. I think it's the saffron that is drying it out a little. The honey keeps it a little sweet without being POW HONEY. This actually reminds me a lot of Velvet for some reason. I suspect that the coconut is making me think of myrrh. It seems to sweeten up a bit more on the skin, but it isn't a foodie or girlie scent. Understated, and elegant without being fussy.

The cherry was a tang in the bottle, but on the skin the rose water blooms like no one's business. It's got that turkish delight feel to it - the cherry is probably kicking in as the almond-ish note. I actually like the orris root in this one. Usually I can't pick it up, but in this I catch the floral dustiness at the back. Despite the turkish delight feel, it's not a foody scent. It's definitely a floral, but without the whole I AM ROSE thing that I usually get. I think that this is what I was expecting from Seraglio, to be honest. A lovely scent for people who love florals but find straight rose a bit too much.

Soooooth and silky. It actually reminds me of the chinese layered coconut and pandan jelly that you get in little striped squares. Actually, that's what I get from it - pandan. I think it's the mix of coconut and macadamia. If you've never tasted pandan, it has a mild coconut/nutty flavour that works really well in chiffon cakes. It's not overly sweet, nor overly flavoured - just mild, airy and slightly sweet. It tastes like walking past a bakery. Anyways, this smells like pandan with a mild coconut note, with the whisper of amber underneath. Actually, mild is the perfect word for this. It is not in your face, and I suspect that you could easily get away with slathering it on without offending anyone nearby. I really like it!

Full disclosure: I really, really don't like the lab's ice/snow note. It's an ice-pick to the skull migrane note for me. That being said, though, I get none of the stabby pain I normally get from the cold/ice/snow/slush notes that I've experienced in the perfumes. Yes, it is very much a honey scent. But it's a cool honey scent. It is most certainly the same honey as the Honey HG, but it has been tempered and... not so much softened, but civilised. The extra depth of this - or, rather, the extra light - brings it out of the animalistic foody category and more into the sophisticated scent arena. It still has the oomph of honey, but it is checked. It is not a heavy perfumey type of scent, but a lighter, fresher take on honey. Not light in terms of scent carrying, but in terms of being less opulently rich. If Honey HG is a bawdy week-end scent, White Bees is a work friendly scent. A leashed animal. This is all kinds of awesome, and you really should snag a bottle if you kind of like honey, but don't want anything in-your-face foody.

Super perfumey plum. I was hoping so hard for this being more chestnut, cedar and violet leaf, but it's way too much plum to me. This would be great for a fan of Bordello.

This one, unfortunately, almost made me gag when I sniffed the bottle. I'm pretty sure that it's the orange blossom. I thought that orange blossom honey would be more honey than blossom, but I was sadly mistaken. For someone who likes their waxy flowers without any of the light but cloying scent of many florals I suspect that this would work much better.

This scent confused me at first, but the longer it is on the skin the more sense it makes. It's a whole lot fresher and brighter than I thought it would be. I was originally picking up the lavender note as a tea note; it's not a harsh, medicinal lavender, but more like the kind of dried lavender that you'd keep in your knicker drawer to keep everything faintly scented. It reminds me of the lavender and lemon shortbread cookies I made as a wedding favour for a friend's wedding - not too sweet, a little herbal, and a little citrus. The ale isn't heavy or yeasty or overpowering; it's a bit more like a wheat beer than a standard beer. The sweetness I'm getting is more from the cakes than the lavender. It feels to me like it's in the same family as Mother Shub's Stygian Nougat (my favourite Yule scent ever), even though they smell entirely different. I think the lavender between the two is similar. In any case, sweet without being cloying, wheat ale rather than dark or yeasty, dried lavender instead of madicinal. Well worth a try!