bheansidhe

That's exactly it. Tropical Christmas. Made the boyfriend sneeze so violently that he couldn't get within ten feet of me, but I loved it. *wistful sigh* Oh well. Out PdlC goes. I pick what keeps me warm at night.

I won a bottle of Rubedo v4 in the Dirty South Will Call raffle to benefit Georgia Organics' Flooded Farm Relief fund. After I'm done reviewing it, the bottle is going on Ebay with proceeds from the sale to be donated to charity. Rubedo v4 is a solid, heavy scent, which would fit the concept of manifesting tangible form from inner Light. The first day I tested it, it was an overwhelming bloom of rose or rose geranium backed by another white floral (maybe magnolia), with a middle sweetness that suggested lotus. As the florals aged they became metallic, like a rose carved from copper and steel, but somehow still alive. I tested it again after the bottle had rested for a day. That time it opened with a sinus-clearing green camphor note married to the floral. It reads a bit like Red Devil or Schwarzer Mond at this stage. There are resins, but I can't decide which ones. Benzoin? Galbanum? On drydown, it has a earthy herbal sweetness laid over a resonant, resinous metallic finish. I like this stage the best, and it lasts for a good long while. This blend is insanely hard to describe. It's not a metallic or a floral or a resin, but it has all those components. It really does smell weighty and complex, like alchemy in motion. I can't wait for this line to be released.

Smells like Irish coffee served next to a big slice of cheesecake - emphasis on the coffee. It's a DEAD ringer for coffee topped off with milk foam, a sprinkle of cinnamon, and a big shot of Frangelico or Kahluha. This is delicious and delightful in the vial, and I might get some for a room scent, but my skin eats it to dust and nothingness in fifteen minutes flat. At that stage, it so resembles the dregs of Eggnog or Sugar Cookie that I may as well have worn those scents instead. Boo! Maybe I'll hang onto it and give it a second try.

A big warm cup of spiced wassail, a smoky hearth, a roaring fire, and a tiny sprig of bitter white mistletoe. At first this blend is mostly "upper" notes dominated by apple or some other fruit juice, with hints of cinnamon, smoke, burning wood, and a slightly bitter earth note waaaay at the back. (I wouldn't classify this blend as alcoholic or foody, though.) As it dries, I still have wassail, but I get more evergreen, snow, and smoke with the wassail...and maaaaaybe a plate of dark chocolate Christmas fudge lingering at the finish. Subtle and delicious. REALLY great. No. REALLY.

This Hanged Man dangles like ripe, meditative fruit on a windless day. Apples, thin afternoon sunlight, blonde woods (oak? maybe birch?), and some kind of flowering vine twined round its base. Goes lighter, sweeter, and more ethereal as it dries, but it's definitely made of apples. Well, mainly apples. [ /Pratchett mode ]

I love the meaning of this oil's name. The image on the label is a bright swath of golden flames in a many-armed oil lamp (not candles) - after some Google image searches, I believe it could be... an aarti? (http://ifornature.blogspot.com/2009/08/jan...tami-pooja.html) The blend itself is warm, resonant, and meditative. It's subtle, with no one distinctive component. Holding the wand under my nose for a while, I get a warm, woodsy, slightly spicy resin incense on a faint waft of smoke. The burning / smoke component reminds me of Hanerot Halalu, but I don't get either honey or beeswax. Olive oil would make sense as a fuel source for the oil lamp, so I'm guessing olive oil (or some similar ancient lantern fuel) as the base. Or, given the culture, could this be ghee? I agree with the reviewers who suggest sandalwood (possibly with oud and nag champa). I get resins, but not myrrh, because myrrh goes awful on my skin and Daya does not (so if it's present in this blend, it's not dominant). There's also a spiced but non-foody warmth here that's just incredible. Like opening a carved sandalwood box that used to hold precious spices, whole nutmegs, scraps of cassia bark, pinches of scented resins, and getting just the velvety roundness of those notes without the spices themselves. After a while I get very low fruit notes, but I couldn't pick them out. I also get a hint or either rosewater or orange blossom water, but not a "floral" component. Sadly, Daya is *not* wearing well on me right now, but I'm going through some physical issues that may well be affecting my chemistry, so I'm holding onto the one I have for a while.

I just got around to testing this GC catalog staple for the first time. It smells happy in the vial, all right - I think it'd be great as a room scent. (Hey BPTP! Can we get Aunt Caroline's Atmosphere Spray, please?) Freshly applied, I smell candied orange pith - not as sharp and assertive as zest, but more pith - and possibly citron. There's a herbal note that smells like silver thyme or lemon thyme. I don't get any berry at all from this (strawberry or otherwise), but maybe some lotus root, which does smell pink and billowy. And possibly a hint of ..... banana? Pineapple? As it wears it takes on a burned-sugar note, not caramel, not spiced, but clear white molten sugar. Soft, cheerful, candied citrus and thyme. It doesn't quite like my skin, but it might make some bang-up drawer sachets.

In the vial, and just applied, this is an intense and realistic juicy green scent, full of of crushed stems and lily pollen. I can clearly smell the oak note underneath; it's reminiscent of the varnished flooring note in Pulcinella and Teresina. On me, this is Unfortunate Daylily Incident at the Bottom of the Gasoline Can. The lilies stay green and lovely, but the oak flooring note turns into something... wrong. Menacing, even. As I did my grocery shopping last night, I thought I'd maybe tracked in gasoline from the parking lot on the wheels of my (clingwrap-free) shopping cart, because I kept getting this faint but stomach wrenching whiff of something as I tooled up and down the aisles. To my horror, I realized it was DATBOTS. It's like missing the final step at the bottom of an olfactory staircase, and staggering into air. Disappointing chemistry. Not the fault of this blend. It will delight someone with better-behaved skin.

Well, after aging an imp of this specimen since its initial release, I have to say I'm REALLY pleased with the result. ETA: NEVER MIND. I was pleased with the result because I was actually testing CARFAX ABBEY and not The Carpathain Mountains. Wherever I sent my imp of The Carpathian Mountains, I'm sure it's still wintergreening away, bless its medicinal little heart.

Has no one suggested Miskatonic University? (A venerable New England MAGICAL university, whose vast library holds many rare, diabolical and obscure arcane works, including one of the few surviving legitimate copies of the Necronomicon. Home to innumerable scholars of the esoteric and the occult, and the notorious Dr. Herbert WestSeverus Snape. The scent of Irish coffee, dusty tomes and polished oakwood halls.) And for the bubotubors... Squirting Cucumber.

Sniffed from the bottle, Myth and I both got green flower stems of the more aggressively pungent type, like marigold or mum - that good, earthy green pungency, maybe sprays of fern. It smelled vividly of a fresh florist's bouquet, the expensive kind. Other than that.... floral. I'm not a floral person. It was floral. I'm sure I'll be embarrassed later when people post intricate and accurate descriptions later, but for right now I got.... floral.

Isn't it funny how not only our chemistry but also our noses are different? Myth and XOMom both sniffed this at Dirty South Will Call and got mostly "sugar" with notes of peach. I got, I swear, a peach cobbler version of Crumpet Rebellion - buttery, bubbling sweet pastry, fresh from the oven, with crystallized sugar baked into the crust. It was served with fluffy cotton candy and spun-sugar flowers. It's not a replacement for Candy Butcher (for one thing, I got not cream or chocolate notes), but it will make foody lovers very, very happy.

Sunbird has some of the smoky-myrrh smoulder of Priala, but it's brighter and, well, sunnier. I didn't get any citrus or verbena notes, though there's some herbal note in the background. Warm, glowing yellow. Lovely.

Dorian CLXXV - 175 (decant from bookandbroom) News flash: Dorian Incites Crumpet Rebellion! ...yep! My initial impression was correct: sweet red fruits and buttered, yeasty pastry added to Dorian. I have an imp of Crumpet right here, and the notes are *very* similar to this Chaos Dorian. I was going to call it "Drunken Dorian" because the very first whiff out of the vial was of red wine or dark red fruit, but once the cap was off, the red fruits and pastry rose up and dominated the nose. Possibly currant notes too. The lemon overlay in Dorian gives this a candied sweetness (almost like the candied peel of Pumpkin Queen). All in all, too sweet and foody for me, but someone else is going to LOVE this. ETA: After an hour of wearing both Chaos Dorian and Crumpet on my arm, the similarities are still striking. However, Chaos Dorian has a faintly boozy red note with the candied citrus, which is now reminding my nose of Sugar Skull. (You know you've been using BPAL too long when all of your scent descriptions are nothing but references to other scents. )

Uh, WHAT? The first time I tried it I got a weird bright-yellow miasma somewhere between artificial butter and overheated electrical wiring. Now, three weeks later, AFTER it's gone off sale, I am getting a smoky pestle-paste of peppercorn, cardamom, bitter chocolate and hazelnut. Because it's a quarter imp, I suspect accelerated aging due to oxidation. If you've been waffling on this one, definitely hang on to it for six months and re-try!

The concept is beautiful, but I had no hopes for this scent based on my skin's reaction to blackberry notes. Straight off, when I uncap the vial and sniff, I smell sharp armpit sweat - that's the blackberry. Blackberry doesn't like to be bottled up, and it lets you know about it. After a few seconds it backs off and I catch a bit of the orange blossom, and a touch of mint, but it's not foody. On my skin, it's again ruined by blackberry, which turns to dusty cat pee. After about thirty minutes I can catch the amber as a delicious warm middle note, but I only get it if I try hard. "Amber mint" is a strange but lovely concept, but on me the layers stay sharply divided; they never blend. For the right person, this will be an amazing and unique scent.

This smelled eerily familiar on my skin... not foody, but something that reminded me so much of food. Finally, I got it. On me it smells exactly like a really strong, fresh brew of Thai iced tea. Have you ever ordered it in a Thai restaurant? It's a deep brick-red, and as you pour in the condensed milk it swirls and becomes a lovely opalescent orange. It typically contains star anise, cinnamon, vanilla, tamarind, ginger, and red or orange food coloring (no lie. I've tried making it at home and stained everything from sink to stovetop bright red). I cannot guarantee that this is anything but a quirk of my personal chemistry, but when I asked for my boyfriend's opinion he agreed that I did, in fact, smell exactly like it. For reference: http://www.oneletterwords.com/thaitea/recipes.html Badger also has a distinct cedar note, not sap-fresh but weathered, and something earthy but without the dusty pungency of any of the lab's "dirt" notes. I like it - it's strange, strongly androgenous, and herbal without being foody.

My apologies if this is covered elsewhere, but what do we do when gallery space is full? I can't post my new pics either.

Wet: a blast of malevolent red wine and dark rose. The alcohol note burns off within about fifteen minutes, at which point it becomes rose and jasmine anchored by sandalwood. Heavy, heady. I don't know what variety of jasmine the lab uses for its other jasmine blends, but night-blooming jasmine (cestrum nocturnum) is not common essential-oil jasmine (Jasminum officinale or Jasminum grandiflora). Night-blooming jasmine, in this blend, smells much more like the jamine sambac (Jasminum sambac) of Kanishta, which I love, than to common jasmine , which hates me. Drydown ends in myrrh and rose, anchored by sandalwood. Myrrh also hates me. Throw level starts out *snort* WOOT ARGGGH MY NOSE MY NOSE heavy, then subsides after about 30 minutes (or my smeller goes numb). The florals go a little powdery. I'm sure the patchouli is in there as a base note anchor, but I never catch it. I predict this one will rely on your individual skin chemistry for success or failure (even moreso than other Lab blends).

Oddly, on my skin this smells very similar to Queen of Sheba ("a bounty of golden honeyed almonds and a whisper of African and Middle Eastern spices") or Seraglio (Sweet almond and Mysor sandalwood enveloped by a heady veil of Bulgarian Rose, neroli, nutmeg, clove and orange peel). There's definitely a honey warmth, an almond note, and a faint, dusty spiciness, hand-in-hand with the lily floral. Sadly, instant headache.

Whoa! Everyone who was disappointed by Saw-Scaled Viper's red-hot, cinnamon-sharp cassia-fest (including moi, last year) - Either set a half-imp out to age, or get your hands on a sample that's one year plus. Just as aging benefits its parent, venerable Snake Oil, the mellowing effects of oxidation and time make a HUGE difference with this viper. It becomes .... "clouds of foody billowing yum." At least on me.

Well, I don't think there's any way I can improve on the reviews by galleywest and fairynymph. So I won't even try. :-) A rich, heavy, polished scent. The balsam green gradually hardens to a metal-tinged musk. I would love it on a guy, but it's too masculine for me.

Despite the listed notes, Men Ringing Bells is dominated by mellow ginger and a rounded citrus note - it smells like yuzu, but doesn't go overwhelmingly sharp on my skin as the yuzu in Aizen-Myoo did. Could this be the rice wine? There is also a juicy green middle tone, cushioned by moss, but not earthy or dusty. I was expecting this to be too cologne-y, too sharp, or too metallic. It is none of these - it is gorgeous. Soft, humid, golden, overlaid with a clear hum of ginger and spiced tea, without any shrillness or bite. This is what I *want* citrus blends to smell like on me, but they never do. Why didn't I order this? Must find.

Wet: Pineapple upside-down cake, soaked in spiced rum. Drydown: It goes through a pina colada stage, but overall this scent is much more cake-y than alcohol-y. In fact it smells like a kissin' cousin of Drink Me, with the same cinnamon-heavy, yeasty, sugary bread-pudding smell. Right down to the rum sauce. Did I mention the rum sauce? The... SPICED rum sauce? There isn't any fresh pineapple in this smell; it's caramelized, gooey baked pineapple in a strong cake base, with lots of cinnamon and allspice. Very strong. In fact, on far drydown I smelled like a Yankee Candle shop. Not quite my cup of spiced rum.

I love this one so much. Which is a complete shocker as every other BPAL blend with "jasmine" has ended up a shrieking floral horror on my skin. But the jasmine sambac of Kanishta has a round, voluptuous, almost nutty weight, anchored by the spicy Haitian patchouli. I'm not sure what opium is supposed to smell like, but I get the magnolia underneath, blooming like a luminous ghost over the heavy black floral. Kush is... a type of cannibas flower? No idea. Good old Wikipedia informs me that "jasminum sambac" is a related but different species than regular jasmine (jasminum officinale) or night-blooming jasmine (cestrum nocturnum). Jasmine Sambac is the national flower of Indonesia and the Phillipines. And - aha - it's also Hawai'ian "pikake" flower. I wonder if the jasmine sambac oil is not regularly available, hence the LE. When I wear this, the boy knows he's getting lucky. Or bitten. One or the other. VERY strong with lots of throw on me, so my bottle will last a very long time.