doomsday_disco

This features a bold black cherry note at first that quickly gives way to the fizzy elderflower seltzer. Then it's all about the elderflower seltzer in the throw, but I can still smell the cherry up close, and it somehow has a bit of a resurgence with the elderflower fizz by the end of the day. I wish the cherry had remained as strong as it was initially, but I'm glad it didn't completely disappear and think this will be really refreshing during the summer months. I'm debating a bottle. This is my favorite cherry from this year's cherry bomb collection.

This features a very bold cherry note floating over some red wine, so it's kind of like a boozed up cherry lozenge (but not in the same way as Spiced Cherry Bourbon -- I feel like this one is better than that one, as I didn't get liquid cough medicine vibes). It becomes less cherry-dominant and more wine-heavy over time. It's not something I feel the need to grab more of, but I'm glad I decided to try it!

I was really curious about this and almost blind bottled it, but I decided to go with a decant since I wasn't sure what kind of incense this would contain. It goes on as mostly dried cherry and incense on me (the cherry is not as intense as some other cherries). I feel like the incense may have a tiny bit of champaca to it, but isn't nag champa and may be more like a previously lit, but recently blown out stick of incense. Over time, the cherry fades, the incense sticks around, and the spun sugar comes forward, so that it's mostly a lightly sugared incense on me. I really wish the cherry had stuck around, but I am glad that the incense wasn't nag champa. I'm going to retest this before it goes away to see if I can get some more longevity from the cherry, but at the moment, it's not my favorite from this year's cherry bomb collection.

A new year’s blessing! Peony, China’s national flower, with bamboo for flexibility, plum blossom for perseverance, courage, and hope, tangerine for wealth, orange for happiness, lychee for household peace, pine resin for constancy, golden kumquat and pomelo for prosperity, narcissus and King mandarin for good fortune, cypress for longevity, sticky rice cakes for abundance and hopes for a rich, sweet life, and a splash of blazing red of dragon’s blood… to help you scare away the rampaging Nian. Thanks to ladymeag for the decant! In the decant: I honestly thought that I wouldn't like this one due to the fact that it contains so many notes, but it actually smells really nice in the decant! The rice cake note reminds me of Hungry Ghost Moon 2013 (the only Lunacy that has actually worked for me thus far). I'm mainly getting citrus and that rice cake note in the decant. It kind of reminds me of Froot Loops (which is the same thing I thought about Hungry Ghost Moon... the combination of the rice cake note and the fruity notes must be what is giving me that impression). Wet: Froot Loops! I am just getting the sticky rice cakes and the citrus at the moment. The rice cake note was really strong at first, but the fruity notes are becoming stronger. It still reminds me of fruity cereal, though. Dry: It pretty much stayed that way the whole time, but with more fruit (and perhaps a hint of a floral and a resin in the background). I'm sorry I can't be more specific in my review, but it is hard to identify specific notes as there are so many notes in this blend. Verdict: This one was actually better than I had expected it to be (after initially dismissing it due to the amount of notes it contains). While I don't feel like I need a bottle of this, I'm glad that I was able to try it!

This smells AMAZING. It's like cocoa puffs plus some creamy eggnog. I've never jived with the Lab's actual Eggnog scent (it's usually more booze than creaminess on me), and I wish that they'd release an eggnog scent that's in this vein, because this is bomb. I'm so happy I was able to grab a bottle off of the secondhand market. Hoarding.

Pontia starts off as lavender backed by bergamot, but over time, the bergamot overtakes it and becomes the main player, with the lavender in the background. It really reminds me of Anesthesia from the Neverwhere line, if the mint were taken out of it. In fact, the bergamot-heavy phase after several hours made me realize how prominent the bergamot is in the other scent. I like this and will definitely be hanging onto my decant, but I don't need to hunt down more of it since I prefer Anesthesia with its mint.

Whoa! I got a decant of this one and had bottled the Teahouse HG, but I think I may like this one even more??? It's very much about the juicy mango, backed by the mandarin. AND IT IS GLORIOUS. Oddly enough, I don't get the honeyed patchouli or ambrette, nor do I smell any cream, but that's fine by me. It's so juicy and summery, and I love it! The only downside is that it is short-lived, both on wet hair and dry hair. I am debating a bottle, but I really wish this had better longevity and throw!

I tested this on dry hair one day and did not love it. It was fizzy plastic-y candy-like strawberry on me. Some strawberry notes just smell plastic-y on me and do not work out, and this is one of them.

I'd describe Agape as a fruit-tinged floral as opposed to a fruity floral, but perhaps that's because I tend to amp carnation. The spicy carnation reigns on my skin throughout wear, but I can smell the apple and passionfruit when freshly applied, as well as a nice dose of sugar. After that, it becomes so well-blended that it becomes hard to pick out any of the notes aside from the carnation, which continues to be sweetened by the other notes (I was not able to detect the sweet pea or vanilla, but it at least makes sense not to get the sweet pea when it's so delicate and I'm amping the carnation). I think this is nice, and may be one of the best non-Mad Tea Party carnation scents, but I don't need to hunt down more of this.

Full disclosure: I have never had proper fruitcake. The only fruitcake I've tried was an awful store-bought one that my aunt insisted we try one New Year's Eve and it was gross. But this smells nice! It smells like a cherry-studded, slightly buttery baked good with some dusty spices. The only downside is that it stays close to the skin. Now I want to try a cherry fruitcake that doesn't contain any raisins.

I tested this on Monday and decided to give it the full-slather scent of the day treatment today. I think To Lallie is one of the standout rose scents from this year's Lupercalia update. It's a sugared rose, although I wouldn't have been able to tell you that it's honey or vanilla doing the sweetening (although I do get the creaminess from the coconut milk after the scent leaves the wet stage -- however, it is no way overtly coconut-y). I agree with the comparisons to Katrina van Tassel. While I did not deathmatch the two side by side, I did retest Katrina van Tassel yesterday and noticed the similarity, although I'd say this one is sweeter and even better. Slathered, I do get some slightly salty, musky ambergris by the end of the day, but when I tested it on Monday (no slather), I didn't pick up on it. The resins do not stand out to me, and I'm thankful for that as rose + resins aren't really my jam. This is really lovely and I'm debating grabbing more of it, although I already have plenty of rose scents in my collection.

This one didn't jive with me, and I think that was mainly due to the honey (although wildflower honey is usually a safe honey for me). It was mostly wildflower honey, slightly lemony white tea, and ginger on me at first, but then it became a wildflower honey party on me. There's some sandalwood and ginger in the background by the end of the day, but I'm not getting much vanilla despite it being the first note... that could just be because the floral honey is so strong on me, though. I'm not sure if the honey itself, the florals within the honey, or the honey and ginger were combining to create a slight funk on me, which is sad, because I was here for a vanilla-infused chamomile tea scent!

This is a honeyed (but not overly honeyed!) amber-like scent on me accompanied by some sheer bourbon vanilla, although there's a slight medicinal undertone beneath the resinous scent, and I'm not sure if that's just my sniffer or if that's part of the bushman's candle absolute or what. It sadly never lost that undertone on me, although it did get slightly more powdery and amber-y with wear. Oddly enough, the pink pepper didn't stand out to me, nor did the labdanum (or if that's where the amberiness is coming from, it wasn't like the sour or cola-like varieties of labdanum that I've experienced). I don't need more of this one, but I'm glad I gave it a try! ETA: After more settling, the labdanum became much more noticeable, and I think that is what wasn't jiving with me.

This was almost a blind bottle for me, but I held off because of the incense, and I'm glad I did. Because the incense is sadly what I get most of out of this, although it's a light one. It's a light champaca-infused incense on me throughout wear backed by a little milk. Alas, I was not able to detect any almond, which is really weird, as that's usually a powerhouse when a scent is freshly applied. I did get the amber with the incense by the end of the day, but there was just not enough sweetness (wherefore art thou, almond, vanilla, and honey!?) on me to make me love it. And I was so hoping I would love it because of the name! ?

This, like recent snek variants, is strongest on the musk on me, and the dark musk seems to be infused with some red musk, unless that's my sniffer playing tricks on me because of the red rose mingling with it so well (the rose is not as dark as I was expecting from the description). It has some serious throw and stays that way for hours and hours, although it did morph into Snake Oil by the next day (I guess I got it on the sleeve I tested this near), albeit the lighter, newer version (not as strong on the spice or vanilla on me). I like this and agree that it's definitely BPAL, but there are other rose scents that I enjoy more from this update. I'm going to hang onto my decant and retest it before it goes away, though. I'd really love it if the vanilla showed up on me after getting a few more months of rest!

This may be the scent with the strongest gasoline scent that I've tried from the Lab (and I've had the fortune to try Wasteland World). It goes on as rose and broken green stems doused with gasoline, but then it becomes mostly about the gasoline and asphalt on me, with the rose and greenery in the background. I think the asphalt note may contain a resin, and I think it may be the same one found in There's Water Here from the OLLA collection. It has some serious throw, too. So if you're longing for an atmospheric industrial scent, this is absolutely worth a try, provided you aren't anti-rose. I really enjoy this and am debating a bottle, but this was strong enough on me that slathering might be a bad idea, so I'll have to give it a full day wear to see if I need more of this. It is definitely a highlight from this year's Luper update, though!

I love the Lick It variants, but the Valentine version isn't really my cup of tea. I do get the traditional vanilla mint candy cane of Lick It in the beginning, along with some strawberry and wine. I'm not sure if it is the wine in conjunction with the honeycomb or pink sugar, but there's something in the background that reminds me of a grape-like sugar that I dislike that's used at low quality boba tea places. The vanilla mint is quick to fade and I'm left with the red wine and strawberry notes with that undertone that is just not jiving with me. It's not a skin chemistry thing, as I could smell this in the vial, too, and that's why I put off testing it so long even though it was one of the scents I was originally most excited about from the update. But it must just be my sniffer, because no other reviews have mentioned that weird undertone. While this isn't for me, I'm now hoping we get a summery variant of Lick It, perhaps with some yuzu!

This is mostly about the effervescent aldehyde on me, backed by a baby powder-esque floral note. I'm not sure if the vanilla note (not obvious on my skin) or the chrysanthemum (I'm only familiar with dried chrysanthemums) producing the powderiness, but I'm not really digging the fizz and powder combo. I'm thinking this one is a skin chemistry fail, sadly.

Holy heck, this is green. It's more of a grass scent than a floral scent on me. It's accompanied by a bit of the Lab's weed note during the wet stage, but then it ends up settling into a grass-dominant melange of greenery that is hard to pick apart aside from the grass, although I think the hemp flowers may be next in prominence by the end of the day. I tend to amp carnation, but that wasn't the case in this one at all. If you're on the hunt for a green scent, this one is for you. I don't think I could see myself reaching for this one, but I'm glad I decided to try it.

This starts off with a blast of green on me. I think it's from the yew branches, but it smells more green-leaves-cliniging-to-branches than coniferous needles to my nose. Then the fougere increases in strength and it becomes a nice, green-tinged fougere (emphasis on the fougere more than the lily). I didn't really like the wet phase of this, when it smelled like green leaves, but the fougere is nice. I don't think I'd reach for it over other fougeres in my collection due to that initial blast of leafiness, but if you're looking for a fougere with a little bit of greenery, this might be up your alley.

This started off unexpectedly green on me (is that some stem or leaves from the lily? I honestly thought that I grabbed the wrong decant and applied Sister Death instead, but no, it was this scent!), but then morphs into a fierce ginger and lily scent on me. It's more about the ginger earlier on in wear, and it's a pungent one -- I feel like it's a fresh ginger that may be mixed with a deeper, Shub-esque one. But over time, the lily gets tired of being second to the ginger and declares dominion over it, so that it's a straight-up lily scent on me by the end of the day. I don't think I could see myself reaching for this, but if you're looking for a lily scent that's packing a punch of spicy ginger, this one is for you.

Of the four silk flower scents I tried from this update, this one is my favorite. It's primarily a peony scent on me, backed by some rose cream, and sweetened with some cotton candy. The cream part of the rose cream is not buttery whatsoever (I've had some bad luck with cream notes doing that on me as of late), and I think it may be the same/similar to the one featured in The Poinsettia Gown from Yules past. At first, the peony and rose swirl together and are pretty inseparable, but the peony ends up winning out after a few hours. The cotton candy also increases in strength over time, sugaring up these floral notes. I forgot there was cognac in this, so I wasn't trying to isolate it when I tested this, but I'm sure it is there, adding that magical quality that cognac tends to lend to scents. At the moment, I feel like there are some rose and peony scents that I don't reach for enough in my collection (De Vos' Unicorn and Tea Roses and Lace come to mind), so I'm not sure if I need a whole bottle of this one. I'll retest it before it goes away to make sure. But if I do upgrade one of these flowers from this silk bouquet, this will be the one. If you're a fan of sugary florals, you should definitely try it!

My review of this is not going to do this justice. But if you're thinking about getting this... get it. This is, unexpectedly, one of my favorite scents from this year's Lupercalia update. I swooned when I first smelled it in the decant, and it was just as swoon-worthy on my skin. The reason I grabbed a decant of this was because of the mugwort note. I love mugwort. It's very herbal, and I love slathering on scents containing it before bed. While the mugwort is present, it is much tamer than it normally is, and it's accompanied by some really smooth, well-blended resins (with zero sharpness from the oak -- actually, I wasn't able to pick out any oak). But there's a sweetness to this scent that I'm not getting from the listed notes. If it's from the blood or bone, it's the best blood or bone I've ever smelled!? I keep thinking it is nectar or pollen-like, as it has a similar addictive quality to it as Arcana's Unearthly Lovely. I wish I could describe this one better, but I am so, so happy that I grabbed a decant of this one and will be upgrading to a bottle. Of the Lupercalia scents I've tested thus far, this is definitely one of my favorites. ETA: Retesting this almost a month later, I wanted to add that I am now getting dragon’s blood from this, but I think it is a lighter than it usually is, and honeyed.

Cluster of Cherry Blossoms is a honeyed, cherry-tinged floral scent on me. I am glad that there's more cherry blossom than rose here (as I feared the rose would overtake it), but both notes are noticeable. The scent becomes more honeyed over time (with the honey eventually becoming the dominant note), but it is a pale honey. The cherry, on the other hand, is light. I feel like it just serves to accentuate the cherry blossom. And the musk part of the rose musk never makes this a musk party. I think this is pretty, but at the moment, I don't feel like I need more than my decant. But if you're looking for cherry blossom, this is the Shunga from this year's update that features the note most prominently.

This starts off as a fruity floral and then becomes a predominantly floral scent. The lily is the star here, not the cherry blossom, and it's accompanied by lots of apple and pear in the beginning as well as some green from the grass, but it ends up settling down into a non-heady, non-soapy lily scent on me. Obviously, skin chemistry is everything, but if you're a cherry blossom hunter wondering which cherry blossom scent you should grab from this update, you might have better luck with a Cluster of Cherry Blossoms (provided you can wear honey notes). I preferred this scent in the wet stage, even though I'm not big on fruity florals, but it's not something I need more of since I already have Tiger Lily for when I want to wear a lily-dominant scent.