miss_rynn

In the bottle I get sweetened condensed milk laced with snake oil.  Historically, condensed milk scents end up being all kinds of awful on my skin, so I was concerned.  On the skin it becomes more of a candied or a salted caramel snake oil.  It's pretty, but the muskier incense notes don't quite sit well with the candied notes.  I'm sure all that it needs is a bit of aging to smooth things out a bit more.

 

Also, it's pretty clear that this one is using the aged patch and vanilla that have been missing from the pandemic snake oil varients.  The vegetal notes and the musks are more tempered and well behaved, the patch less high pitched, and the vanilla more full-bodied.

This one is a bit unexpected.  It starts off on the skin as dry coconut husk that reminds me of Eden.  I was concerned that the cinnamon would be too dry, but it played nicely.  Thick, rich, dark honey.  You can get the cocoa, but it mostly adds depth and texture to the honey.  Oddly, though, it really doesn't feel 'foody'.  It has that kind of richness that you get from some arabic attars or ouds, where you can pick the gourmand notes but they are blended in such a way that it becomes a strong, heady perfume.  The honey is almost too dark and heavy for me, but it's still wearable.  The drydown actually reminds me of Hellcat, but it's nowhere near as foody.

I was expecting something like cinnamon buns or hot cross buns, which this certainly wasn't.  Gingerbread with a very strong yeasty bread note to begin with, but dries down to something very much like Three Witches.  Unexpected but a lovely non-foody ginger and clove skin scent.

Disappointing floral soap.

I do love me some Beaver Moon, but they can be a little hit and miss for me.  This year's version actually reminds me very strongly of one of my favourite LEs from long ago: Monster Bait - Closet.  I've spent years trying scent after scent to try to find something that is similar to Closet, and I'm super surprised and delighted to have found one!  This smells like a mix of classic Beaver Moon and Monster Bait - Closet, a cream cheese frosting on a red velvet cupcake drizzled with blackberry and cherry syrup.  Just plain lovely.  ❤️

2019 Version

 

This smells like... like an old lady version of Snake Oil.  It's not as lemony as the previous edition, but the honey and cream comes across as the scent of the lovely old neighbourhood lady who babysits kids while their parents go out to dinner.  Well-washed, hand knit pink angora twinset and pearls, practical rubber soled nurse shoes, and perfectly puffed and primped white fluffy hair. 

I'm forever looking for the red velvet cake note found in Monsterbait: Closet, but once more, alas, it isn't here. That's not to say that Senator Barriel isn't lovely, though. To me it smells very much like sprinkles, with a base of cake crumbs. It's not too foody or overly sweet and isn't hugely strong, so it's worth a try if you're on the fence about foody scents.

I found this really odd. The lemony note actually comes across to me as acai - it's like Australian Copperhead (I think), except with less snake oil. I'm going to let it settle and try again later.

There's no way I can respond to that without coming across like an extremist harpy except yes, I agree, it's incredibly stupid. (No fault to the Lab!)

 

 

EDIT: Success! It took about three weeks in customs, which (having whined at friends) is not that unusual if it's been detained for extra man handling.

My order has been "held in US Customs for further inspection" for over a week. Has anyone else had this happen?

Just plain lovely. It's a little different from the perfume, but it comes across as the same vanilla note from Snowblind. Not overpowering by any means, but it feels like the powdered softness of a gentlelady's boudoir.

 

 

The good news is that if you like the Lab's frost/snow note and the Lab's bready note, this will work fabulously for you. I've found that I don't like the Lab's frost note, but that being said it feels like a cooler, less complex version of Samhain.

ALL the red musk. I had to tone it down with some Snake Oil gloss, because red musk is a headache note for me. I hope it settles, because I was really keen for a more sweet/dragon's blood kind of feel.

This is surprisingly not sweet in my hair at all. It seems to be unisex, almost masculine, with the rum and spices coming across as bay rum. It's a very nice 'every day' scent rather than a special occasion hair gloss. This is right up there with Alice in my everyday work horse gloss.

This is a fancier, sweeter version of Velvet. It has that elusive soft and fuzzy scent memory. At first it comes on all pencil shavings, much like Tombstone, but if you wait long enough it settles. I suppose you can think of it as the love child of Velvet and Tombstone. Soft, but with a sophisticated coat. If you can get passed the sharpness of the cardamom and cedarwood it settles to a very sleek scent indeed.

Bast is a tricksy scent. It reminds me of what I wanted Bilquis to be, way back in the day. Something about the myrrh and amber comes across as a heady lily. It's that oddly floral note that only thick and rich resins can. The cacao is a warm, throaty base, but it's hard for me to get beyond the resin/floral heart. It's probably the mix of the myrrh and the honey that does it.

 

If you're after a deep, thick, unapologetic sweet resin, this is for you.

Super cardamom right off the bat, but certainly a more bakery style than a savoury scent. Not at all stabby or intrusive, just very clear and true. The cake note comes through softly with wear, but it starts to turn ashy on me like many of the cakey Liliths do before I could get a real feel for it. Certainly worth trying if more cakey-scents work on you!

This feels like a very apple crumble scent. Or, rather, the brown sugar/oats/cinnamon crumble part with a huge dose of unbaked green apples. Even to the point of green apple peel. It settles into a more rounded apple note, but the apple crumble vibe is still there. My skin eats it pretty fast, but it is a perfectly pleasant little perfume.

 

 

Starts up as a super juicy and sweet version of Hideous Heart (a deeply unappreciated scent, IMO), but settles down to a weird kind of junket scent. Almost like one of those cherry/berry scented dolls, but just on this side of creamy. If you are the sort of person who doesn't morph vanilla into plastic, this will be a delightful perfume.

This comes across as a chocolate flavoured Sacred Whore of Babylon to me. The jasmine and orange blossom really compliment eachother, and gives me a scent memory of Singapore for some reason. This is really floral forward, with a wisp of chocolate in the background. If you are a jasmine lover, this is for you.

This is a weird little critter. If you've tried the unreleased "Dragon's Pecker", Boner comes across as the female counterpart. Not that it's a particularly girly scent, despite the sweetness. It's sweet, sure, but it feels more... Dragon's blood, freshy laundered sheets (in the hopes of getting laid that night), a dash of last night's perfume, and an underlaying... boy... smell... from the evening's frolics.

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.

It's best to not think of this as a chocolate scent. It's dark, almost earthy, with a rich sweet core. To me it comes across as patchouli sweetened with honey, given depth by the chestnut, and a deep, dark cocoa swirling in and out. Perfect for resin lovers who are scared of anything too foody.

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.