Mordath

For those speaking about hops and gluten: It's a contamination issue from how they are processed. By my research/experience they are nearly always processed in plants that also process wheat and wheat products.

 

As someone with Celiac's disease, it's better for me to assume they are contaminated that to risk how sick I could get.

 

Oats don't technically have gluten in them either, and those are almost totally off limits. Contamination is major to people with my disease.

Seriously. I only got my Celiac diagnosis a little over a month ago, so I'm barely on my way to healed, but the reactions I had from my one run-in with gluten (trace amounts in cheese, of all things. And not moldy cheese.) have driven my paranoia up to absurd levels. I haven't even eaten out since then, at any of the places locally who are gluten-aware and responsive. Cross-contamination is scarier than most people realize.

And yes, there's always an excuse for another order! I broke out my bottle of the original Mabon in celebration!

Anyone know if actual hops are used to make the oils for Mabon 2010? I'm severely allergic to gluten and don't want to have a major reaction.

 

Wow, better ask the lab directly on that one.

 

 

I sent them an email. Still waiting on the response. I was just hoping maybe someone happened to know the answer. Thanks!

For what it's worth, I asked them about gluten a couple of weeks back and was told that none of their oils had gluten in them.

I guess I've just been immersed in the world of traditional perfumery for awhile. People take a lot of pride in craftsmanship, on assembling their perfumes molecule by molecule or using the finest essential oils. Maybe I am being a bit prejudiced...

And you think Beth et al don't? That she doesn't spend sometimes years developing a scent, sweat blood trying to source the perfect components, etc? Because if you believe that then you're wrong. Dead wrong. Her posts here and elsewhere are a tribute to her artistry and dedication.

So, today I went strawberry picking, to try to take advantage of the tail end of the season. When I got home, Strawberry Moon was waiting for me, so I had to compare the two. Ten pounds of sun-warmed strawberries just picked off the plant? Strawberry Moon perfume? Dead-on match, it was incredible. The rich, warm strawberry smell, with the faintest undertone of greenery and a hint of rich earth.

I get a tropical feel out of this - not floral, but almost pina colada fruity. Not quite coconut, not quite pineapple, but a hint of both on a base of freshly sliced ginger. On dry-down there's a rich, almost floral scent that I can't quite pinpoint that gives this a lovely feminine edge

rich, red clay, damp potting soil, the garden after a rain - complex, and much nicer than I was expecting

Sweet, herbal lavender over sandalwood. There's something cool and refreshing about this that I really love

This is AMAZING. It starts off fairly simple - cool, antiseptic mint and a hint of ozone, very much a light green sort of scent. As it fills the room, however, it paints a freaking scent-picture like only the lab can do. This is the scent of a genteel mansion scrubbed clean and institutionalized, a doctor with a stiff, starched collar and an elegant coat gone threadbare at the elbows, a quiet light of madness in his eyes. This is the faint scent of rubber restraints and ozone in the air, hinting at horrors performed in the name of science. And it's fantastic, all cool, civilized Victorian horror, hidden under a facade of gentility. I'm going to be using the HELL out of this for the summer, it's absolutely perfect - this is to Victorian medical torture what Nuclear Winter is to post-apocalyptic wastelands, and I'd class it in the same scent family.

Minerals stored in a wooden chest that once held exotic herbs and spices. Beautiful and evocative

No scent description given

Musk over cedar, with a hint of mint lurking in the background. This is almost a masculine Glowing Vulva, with incredible depth.

This is like walking into an ancient shop filled with polished wood, old books, and shelf after shelf of Wonderful Things. You know there's magic here, but it's an old, elegant, restrained sort of magic contained within aged chests and leatherbound books. Simply gorgeous, I love this one far more than I had thought I would.

Prototype, unreleased, no scent description.

Cream poured over fresh, oranges, both sweet and tart at the same time. Fresh and foody, calms down after drydown to a tart creamsicle scent.

Spicy-sweet sugar cake - absolutely lovely! Not much like Sugar Skull on my skin at all

In the bottle this really doesn't smell like much - the cherry reminds me more of cough syrup than anything else. But once it hits my skin it blooms beautifully into a creamy DARK chocolate cherry scent - seriously, this smells just like chocolate covered cherries taste. It's incredible.

Pontia is fabulous, like the richest, most elegant Earl Gray with a heavy dose of lavender. This is just as described - bergamot and lavender, true lavender and nothing sugary at all - but while it's simple, what it does it does very, very well. Deep, elegant, soothing and sophisticated. I'll be hoarding this one.

On first sniff, this reminds me of Bliss. On second sniff, it reminds me of Bliss again, but there's a sugary, almost boozy base that adds some nice depth. This is nice - not my favorite of the chocolate box by far, but one I see myself wearing pretty regularly.

Deep chocolate, rich caramel, and a subtle smoky scent that works with the first two and transforms it into something delightfully complex and sexy - this is incredible, I need another bottle. Or twelve.

Creamy butter and tons of sugar, with an edge of spices. If this had a hint of a dusty flour note it would smell exactly like sugar cookie dough - as it is, it's pretty close, and absolutely lovely.

Creamy coconut, orange, and a hint of chocolate and cardamom - this one is an interesting surprise! I used to not like foody scents, but ones like this one are winning me over to the dark side.

Spices, apple, and lurking woodsmoke. This shouldn't work because of the patchouli, but it's absolutely lovely! If I slather it I get an hour or so of SMOKESMOKEpatchouliSMOKEdeadleaves before it settles down into the smoky spicy apple goodness, but even that isn't the choking horrible smell that patchouli usually ends up as on my skin.

Autumn scents are apparently my favorite - this is a new discovery. My favorites (pending the current batch of Halloweenies):

 

-Punkie Night

-Harvest Moon 2005

-L'Autunno - the patchouli should make this one horrible on me, but somehow it behaves and becomes apples, spices, and a hint of woodsmoke lurking in the background

-Creepy

 

I need a nice dead-leaves-and-cold-air blend, too.

 

Have you tried October? It has a kind of dead-leaves sharpness that makes it seem colder to me than others I've tried. November might be even cooler, but I've yet to try it.

I haven't tried either one yet - I'll have to add them to my list. Thanks!

Autumn scents are apparently my favorite - this is a new discovery. My favorites (pending the current batch of Halloweenies):

-Punkie Night

-Harvest Moon 2005

-L'Autunno - the patchouli should make this one horrible on me, but somehow it behaves and becomes apples, spices, and a hint of woodsmoke lurking in the background

-Creepy

I need a nice dead-leaves-and-cold-air blend, too.

The Grindhouse, all the way. None of the ladies have worked on me, but the whorehouse itself is love.

If you were to take a candy cane, lick it as the name suggests, and smear it all over - that's pretty much what this smells like. Except without the stickyness, and the attracting ants, and the unpleasant fuzz that develops. Not that I'd know, of course. Icy-crisp and sugary sweet peppermint. Yum!

I don't understand this one. In the bottle, it's soft and subtle woods and herbs. On my skin? OHAI ROOT BEER. That can be smelled from approximately a mile away (scientific fact!). I've never had anything morph so completely on my skin before.