tartchef

We moved just before Tartlet turned one, and I used Panacea: Safari to help ease the transition from snug apartment to creaky old house... it's lavender-based, and so helped I think with getting back to a sound sleep despite lots of new noises. I dabbed a bit on his little sheep lovey, and on my shirt when we nursed.

(OT: yay extended nursing & co-sleeping!)/AP-hooray hijack

Now that we're facing a transition to group daycare & a big boy bed in the next few months, I'm turning more to calming scents that don't necessarily mean sleep, per se. Sudha Segara is what I put on at night when I'm feeling restless & out of synch, so I think we'll start with that, or perhaps White Rabbit - sweet, but light scents. There's a thread somewhere on BPAL & kidlets, and I remember Dragons Milk being referenced a lot.

Ooo, compare & contrast!

I got an imp of Kathmandu with my very first Lab order. I had very high hopes, and was somewhat put off by the rootbeer & BandAids opening I got... Once it dried down, it was a pleasant enough blend of sandalwood & faintly sweet spices. I wore it, but always a bit wistfully, pining for the saffron & smoke of my dreams.

Fast forward 3 years, and I get my hands on a bottle of Old Kathmandu... Now this is more like it. There's still a hint of antiseptic, but it's gone in a matter of seconds. Now I get a full rich dry cedar, with the sandalwood & lotus hovering in the background. After a few hours on my wrists, it fades to a faint but beautiful vanilla-like incense, strangely akin to White Rabbit & O on my skin; in the crooks of my elbows, the woods are still morphing, throwing off dry smoke & resins with a waft of bitter saffron lurking at the edges.

It's not an all-day oil - I can see reapplying this mid-afternoon, or layering another resin & woods-based oil on top for longer wear - nor is it a "public" scent, to me... It's one I'd wear when I knew I'd be alone all day & wanted to feel relaxed & focused.

This is akin to Sri Lanka, Cathedral, The Coiled Serpent & Mandrake, but somehow more austere & ascetic. It feels faintly medicinal, and I think I'll be wearing it more for meditative purposes than as fragrance...

This starts off amazingly fresh & green, with the dry woods hovering in the background. Picture a rocky mountain path on a sunny day, winding through scrubby evergreens... there's a nice breeze coming up from the valley below.

As it dries, the myrrh surfaces, but thankfully it is a bit player, not overwhelming, just spicing things up a bit. It's still a very fresh, outdoor scent, like how your hair would smell at the end of the trek mentioned above...

This is beautiful, all I'd wished Kathmandu would be. So very very glad I gambled on a Big Bottle - this is an instant Top 10.

ETA: Hours later, OMFG. Sweet mother of woodsmoke & pepper.

Ugh. Count me in on the civet-haters. I grabbed this & slathered it on this morning, thinking it was Depraved... you can imagine my dismay when, instead of sticky apricot & patchouli, I was enveloped in a fug of ripe cat's butt & burning rotten leaves... It was a generous frimp from a fellow forumite, but alas, this must leave my house post haste...

In the imp: lovely lush dark green ferns with a haze of lavender

On me: expensive triple-milled lilac soap.

Pooh.

Oh golly.

When I pulled Hod out of the mailer, I very nearly wrote it off then & there - I could smell it already, and it was heavy & cloying & teh ick. I parked the bottle in my eBay box & forgot about it for a week or two.

Something made me fish it out yesterday, and I can only believe that it was the Universe guiding my hand... Hod is absolutely gorgeous. I agree with maijasu - it's honey & heavy cream & the most beautiful, spicy carnation I've ever sniffed. The elements are very distinct to my nose - the deep, almost bitter sweetness of the honey; fresh, cold cream; and freshly plucked carnation petals - there's even a hint of the green sepals floating around in the background...

Bonus points: this lasts for-ever. I put it on in the morning & could still catch its warmth on my wrists as I went to bed.

I don't think I need the whole 10mls, but I'll be keeping a goodly decant for myself...

Um, yeah! This is spectacular. I don't get any of the cherry & leather - on me, HD is all hot buttered pannetone & smoked cinnamon. It's foody, but not overwhelmingly so - just enough sweetness to round things out. I can't wait to wear this on a cold, crisp November morning...

Oh.

My.

Heavens.

This is incredible, if only because for the first time in recorded history a floral blend hasn't gone bathroom cleanser & dishsoap on me. To my nose, it's freesia & paperwhites - white, sweet, & faintly spicy, with a fresh greenness underneath. I'm getting just a hint of paper & mild incense, too, like a vase of flowers on a library desk... As it dries, there's a hint of orange zest, bitter & juicy.

It fades so quickly, barely 2 hours start to finish, but it is absolutely worth wearing. Infinitely glad I got a bottle before it disappeared...

See my avatar?

That's what Crow Moon smells like... Impossibly delicate, sweet little flowers pushing through the last crust of snow. Lots & lots of violet, but not a powdery guest-soap violet - this one is very deep & sweet, and you can smell the dark green-ness of the foliage - it's a spiky green, though, like evergreens & crocus leaves...

I agree that Darkling Thrush lovers will embrace this as well - it's a more complex, chillier scent, minus the warmth of the amber... This is not a scent you wear for other people - it's very quiet & private, but absolutely lovely....

Ferret.

Expensive, pedigreed, bathed-in-exotic-oils-&-draped-over-the-shoulder-of-a-stunning-woman-clad-in-silk ferret.

I can't stop sniffing my wrists, though, so it can't be all bad, eh? Seriously, this is amazing. It starts out a rich dark honey, thick & sweet... Then the musk comes out to play, and the spiciness of the mums comes up underneath. It is undeniably sexy, but in a quiet, langourous way - I want to drape myself over a divan & have my toenails painted... Just wish I got more ginger...

Lab frimpage:

Eh. I'm getting a faint whiff of Emma2403's burning something - faint, but enough to turn me off the whole thing. I'm blaming the blackberry leaf, as the scent is reminding me a lot of the raspberry leaf tea I drank during my pregnancy... There's a trace of lilac musk & something dry & cologne-like lurking in the background, but none of the lime, & none of the lovely roundness of the tonka. Ah well...

Oh noes. Vetivert is in my BPAL, stinkin up my World...

(too much time in the Macro thread, yes)

Lab frimpage

OMFG, I want to eat this. I'm getting the cinnamon everyone's talking about, but I'm getting clove, too, nice & hot & pungent. As it sits on my skin, an incredibly yummy fruityness comes forward - like a tart but really ripe pear, with a little booziness in the background... hard pear cider? It's threatening to go craftstore/scented candle on me, but the tartness & booziness is keeping the Michael's funk at bay...

Not something I'd wear as a public scent at all, more to wear at home when, like today, I'm feeling lost in a PMSy fog & in need of simultaneous pampering and a good kick in the pants...

Lab frimpage:

Wet, this is toothachingly sweet honeycomb candy - I can almost feel it crunching between my teeth. It mellows quickly, though, and goes all lovely & fresh & sweet like the tiny vanilla orchids we found in the Pyrenese with a bit of beeswax flirting around the edges. So, so nice...

Wow.

This is gorgeous - greengreengreen, verdant, lush ferns & the faint whiff of sea air. Really vegetal, not at all "fresh" like laundry detergent or Jolly Roger, say. I barely get any wine, just a faint waft about 6 inches off my skin - it disappears if I press nose to wrist. Up close, now that it's dry, I'm getting lovely bracken & hairy brown stems, like I've gotten down & crawled under a thicket of ferns. It's perfect for a hot, humid day...

An unexpected delight... the Mister is strangely taken with it, and it seems to have gotten him all frisky-like...

There's a common note in Hurricane & Queen that morphs into sinus-piercing pink peppercorn & cheap soap on me, and I'd like to avoid it from here on out... I suspect the culprit is vetivert, but without a list of Queen's notes, it's hard to verify. Any ideas?

A lovely herby, woody lavender - definitely the dried stems & leaves, not just the flowers. I agree that there's something else lurking in here - something more flowery, but still herbal, and a deeper, earthier note, quite possibly a tiny dab of patchouli. A very personal, restorative scent - it lingers on my pillowcase and makes waking up that much nicer... Looking forward to trying it when my inevitable winter sinus headaches kick in, and during the whirlwind 10-day holiday trip home. I may try a few drops in the humidifier bowl in the nursery, as well - if it can ease all the teething wake-ups we've been having this week, I'll buy a gallon jug!

In the vial, green & fruity. First applied, there's a slap of sweet fig & deep greenery, with an odd, almost cocoa/PlayDo back note. It's strong, and at this point I was bracing myself for an eventual wash-off...

But an hour later, it's incredible. I can't stop sniffing. All the greenery is gone, and what's left is a gorgeous blend of sweet, spice & dry smoke. It's like a plump dried fig rolled in incense ash. Just amazing. It's got a good bit of throw, so I don't know that it's an every-day scent for me, but it's got that "Who smells so good? I must find them!" element that would be perfect for attracting a bit of attention, if you know what I mean...

Longtime lurker, first time poster...

I have to chime in here because my experience with the Darkling Thrush is so different from what I'd expected. By all rights, this should have gone toilet bowl cleaner & dishsoap on me, like just about every other floral under the sun...

But no. I get sweet, clean nectar, like the droplets we used to suck out of the honeysuckle flowers when I was wee. It's barely floral, but I can tell it's violets, fresh & green with a bit of rain or frost. Once on, it fades quickly to a soft, delicate amber, much quieter than any of Beth's other ambers. It's a very private scent, as it clings close to my skin...

This is gorgeous. Very sweet & delicate, but not overly girly - just clean. It's not an everyday bottle for me, but perfect for those days when I'm feeling a bit out of sorts & in need of some time alone with a book & some tea...