stellans

When I first sniffed this in the bottle, I didn't care for at all. The fresh greenness wasn't what I wanted an autumn scent to smell like, and then there was this really strong aquatic note which gave me a bit of a headache. Sadly, I closed the top and put it away. After a year of waiting, I am in love! The green scent is there only in the bottle, while the headache-inducing aquatic note seems to have mellowed to the point of bearability, yay!

 

On, this blend smells exactly like a pile of wet leaves, but there is the definite sense that the wet is more sea-spray than rainwater. There's no burning note, as in a leafy bonfire, but the sense of nearby ocean waves and breezes is unmistakeable. Not quite The Phoenix, nor Pirate Moon, but similar in feel - with leaves! I love this scent, and I'm so happy I still have it. Sometimes aging a scent is all that's needed.

 

ETA: 4 of 5 stars for this Halloween blend.

Bumping up in hopes of a pic of the Tattered Lace label.

Here's a not-too-good shot via my iPhone: Image clipped to save space

 

 

Thanks Stellans!

 

So did you like the scent? I haven't decided if I'm going to get it yet.

It's on my list to wear this week. I sniffed the bottle, and it seemed nice but we'll see...

 

I'd love to hear about this one too!

my review is here!

 

But to keep this on topic: I heard that October 2011 has a cat on its label, which is totally cool because the icon I made for it is also of a cat. Anybody have a picture of it?

I can't believe I haven't reviewed either of these yet, when October is my birth month and I've loved October the blend since its first introduction. Well, since this year has brought yet another incarnation of October (which review shall be added below), it's time these amazing scents were reviewed.

 

October 2007:

This is dry leaves, and the slight smokiness of a bonfire, but it's mostly leaves. Just smelling this evokes Autumn in all it's glory: the reds, oranges, and yellows of trees, and the fun of jumping into a huge pile of leaves. Someone above mentioned a slight saltiness in this, and I agree, there is a slight saltiness but it's not the sea salt of the ocean, it's more earthy, as if you'd found the salt lick in the woods used by deer. This is a definite keeper! 5 of 5 stars, for sure.

 

October 2010:

This release is almost the same as the original 2007 release, with maybe just a hint more spice on my skin. The same lovely leaf/fire/wind notes abound, and I am still in love. I have multiple bottles of the 2007 already, though, so I think a single bottle of this year's vintage will be enough. Since the 2007 release aged magnificently, I have no doubt this year's bottle will as well. Much love to Beth for her skill in evoking the sense of my birth month so perfectly. And again: 5 of 5 stars.

 

October 2011:

This release is slightly dryer than the 2010 release, a bit more like the original, but there's a hint of sweetness in this one which wasn't present in the first two. For some reason my skin is amping anything sweet this season, but luckily the sweet is so faint that even with my treacherous skin's ampage, this scent is still amazing on me, and I love it so much. The smokiness is also less than the first month, but it's still there, ever so faintly, and the dry leaves are just wonderful. Again, like the 2010 release, because I have so many back-up bottles of the 2007, I am not going to hunt down multiple back-ups of this one. These three October scents are all so perfect, I almost want to wear them excusively for the entire month of October! And rating: why spoil a perfect record - 5 of 5 stars again!

Sadly, what angelicruin said here:

lab's snow/winter note in this blend, which is always chilly mint and pine to my nose

is exactly what Halloween: Montreal smells like on me, with the added sweetness of maple syrup which unfortunately doesn't sit well with my skin chemistry. There is a slight smokiness, and I can also smell a hint of the leaves promised -- but unfortunately, the mint overrides everything, so this blend is not anything I can wear or even have open around me.

My oh-so-fabulous Switch Witch arranged to have a full decant sent to me, and it arrived today!

 

I really, really love the pomegranate note in this blend, but even more I love how this blend morphs: it starts out as really juicy pomegranate, then a slight woodiness begins to emerge plus maybe a slight floral hint, but then the scent descends into a dark incense-y patchouli with just a bit of the fruit still evident, but then the pomegranate comes back strong, and the patchouli and pomegranate finish in a very pleasing duet. I wasn't able to pick out lilac as an individual note, but there is definitely a floral sweetness (unidentifiable by me) in the middle of this blend. I think I got the spiciness of the pepper there at the end, but I'm not sure what dracaena smells like. If it's a form of Dragon's Blood, that has always reminded me of lilac and I just didn't smell lilac. To my nose and on my skin, this blend is a very wonderful combination of patchouli and pomegranate, which are two of my favorite notes. The Crypt King is a fabulous blend, and a perfect consort for Crypt Queen. Maybe some day I can hunt down a bottle.

 

ETA: Four out of 5 stars for Crypt King

Oh. My. Goodness. This is the lovely summer garden scent I've been lusting for ever since Planting Moon was released! (I wear Lunacies at night, so I wanted a 'sister' scent to wear during the day!) This blend is amazing: I get all the different vegetative notes, plus the underlying darkness which represents the "Curse of Hagsgate." The tomato leaf, squash etc. are amazing just by themselves, and would be enough to prompt a bottle purchase, but the vetiver and the patchouli just make this blend a must-hoard! I love, love, love it! 4 of 5 stars.

On me, this beautiful fragile scent is almost totally vanilla. I might get the faintest touch of rose, and maybe a little teeny bit of frankincense and/or sandalwood, but the dominant scent in my nose is definitely vanilla. Sweet, sweet vanilla. Cloyingly sweet...vanilla. I'm not a big vanilla fan, especially when it's practically unadulterated vanilla, because it's just too sweet for me. Le sigh.

I wanted this to work for me so badly, I practically willed it to work. Unfortunately, perfume oil listens just about as well as a Westie with a squirrel in his sights. That is to say, not at all. Pallas Athene smells quite nice in the bottle, and for a brief shining moment on my skin I thought all was well. Then, disaster. Powdery, then rather sour disaster struck. The amber in which you all glory does what it usually does on me and turns to powder, but I am not quite certain where the sourness comes in unless it's the cedar mixing with the amber unpleasantly. Whatever it is, this blend is not for me.

This is an absolutely gorgeous scent, full of spice and redolent of the desert. I like it better on my skin than in a scent locket, as it has a very 'foody' scent both in the bottle and in my scent locket. But once on my skin, the spices overcome the toffee-like scent and turn Ma'at into a glorious red homage to the Egyptian Goddess. The sillage is quite remarkable as well, holding out for well over 3 hours without diminishing in power. 3 of 5 stars.

Trying Old Demons of the First Class today, and it strikes me as very similar to Smut and The Elephantine Colossus... sexy, sweet, smooth red musk with a little extra something you can't quite put your finger on. Very nice. I think it'd be a great GC stand-in for any of the red musk-heavy LEs.

ITA; Old Demons was a surprise hit for me, and I want more.

How does Victorian Rose Milk compare to the other rose-and-milk blends - Katrina van Tassel, Dawn: Maiden, and Alice? (I don't mention Klara because I haven't tried it.) Or for that matter, to rose blends London, Peacock Queen, and The Rose?

 

I ask because there's a bottle on eBay and I'm trying to decide whether or not to buy it, since I loooove Dawn: Maiden which is available from the Lab any time.

Of the ones you mention above, I would say Peacock Queen is the sharper, closest-to-pure deep full-bodied rose scent. The others (except for maybe London, which is a soft tea rose to my nose) all have soft ameliorating additional notes of cream, milk and/or honey, other florals etc.

 

Of the GC blends, The Rose is the closest to pure rose for me but it is a soft pink rose rather than the red rose.

 

My personal favorite BPAL rose blend is any year release of Rose-Red. To my nose, it is the best purest rose blend ever, where once I believed it was Patou's Joy. Rose-Red has nothing which gets in the way of that beautiful young red rose scent, and it not quite as sharp as Peacock Queen (which is my second favorite.

Old Demons is a lovely musk blend, and is on my "Want a Bottle" list. Night Raven, on the other hand, had too much jasmine and that was all I could smell in the imp, and then on my skin it did what jasmine usually does: turned sour and nasty.

I have 2 bottles with a black on white label: 05/13/05 and 01/13/06.

I didn't buy decants of this year's Metamorphosis update, and there were really only two which called to me: Io and Purple Spotted Swallowtail.

 

I ordered Io first, and must say I'm happy to have it. This is a light, happy scent - all fruit with very little musk or herbs at first sniff. On, the light happiness of fruit continues but as it dries, I can smell a little red musk, and even some sage and thyme. This isn't a very long-lasting blend, maybe 2 hours at the most on my skin and another couple of hours from my scent locket. I really like this blend very, very much but it's not going to last long if I have to slather all day just to keep smelling it. Two of 5 stars.

Oh. My. This is an exquisitely blended vetiver-heavy blend that absolutely loves my skin! It is a tame vetiver, not a rampaging beast: a gentle, sweet, and lovely vetiver which supports the sandalwood, tonka bean, coconut and black currant (I know there's supposed to be oude in here, but I don't get any), marrying them all in the most amazing smoky, sexy, and seductive polygamous relationship. This is the kind of vetiver that will make converts of any fence-sitters, and might even mollify the haters, it's just that good. Four of 5 stars for this lovely, lovely blend. My only quibble? It was an Event Exclusive, so might be hard to find. I will cherish my 2 (yes, TWO!) bottles because I doubt its like will come again.

This is a very gentle scent, far more so than I might have a scent representing a Paladin, a battle warrior, would be. The leather is soft, more suede-like to my nose than hardened leather tack. I don't get the metal note others have, though the frankincense is definitely there. The vanilla only shows up for me after the dry-down, and even then it's very soft, just barely there. It doesn't last very long, but while it's there, it's lovely. Two of 5 stars.

The notes of this blend sound awesome, and many are ones that I love which almost always work well with my skin chemistry. Alas, this blend as a whole does not. There is a strange nutty and icky-sweetish scent in the bottle, which only intensifies on my skin. It took almost everything I had to keep this oil on my skin to the drying stage so I could be sure it wasn't for me, but I did...and it isn't. I'm not sure what component is the 'bad guy' to even watch out for, and I'm not totally giving up on this 13 yet. No stars as of this posting, and I hope to revisit it at a future time with better success.

OK. I love this. I think this is possibly my favorite of all the Dark Delicacies Annviversary blends to date, and that says a lot because I really, REALLY love the original Black Lace.

 

First sniff, the tea note is strong but as it dries the vanilla note comes out, but so softly it doesn't make me recoil. I really like the tea note in this blend, I think more than any other tea note I've liked so far. The frankincense, when it shows up, merely serves to underline the mellowness of the tea note. Thankfully, the vanilla note remains lightly in the background, gently sweetening the blend. The only downside is that it doesn't last too long on my skin, though it does hang around for a bit longer in my scent locket. Because of that, I have to mark the rating down from 4 to 3 of 5 stars.

Those look lovely!

Thank you, Penance and Stellans

You're welcome!

I only bought the one moth, Io, and this isn't a very good picture (iPhone) but you can get the idea:

 

Bumping up in hopes of a pic of the Tattered Lace label.

Here's a not-too-good shot via my iPhone: Image clipped to save space

 

 

Thanks Stellans!

 

So did you like the scent? I haven't decided if I'm going to get it yet.

It's on my list to wear this week. I sniffed the bottle, and it seemed nice but we'll see...

Bumping up in hopes of a pic of the Tattered Lace label.

Here's a not-too-good shot via my iPhone:

I am a major leather note nut, so this was the Pretty Indulgent scent I was looking forward to the most... but alas. It is more a blend for Mr. Stellans, who doesn't wear scents at all, than for me. And I say this very sorrowfully, trust me. There is something too aftershave-ish about Hochelaga that just does not work with my skin. I'm going to hang onto this bottle in the hopes that it ages or my chemistry changes, though.

oh dear. Where's the lilac in this? All my nose picks up is a sickly-sweet plastic-y lily. I am so disappointed because this was a much-looked-forward-to blend, and now it's all I can do to keep typing and not run wash it off tout suite.

 

ETA: I think, after a process of elimination, that it's the lily note which is not working on my skin. I don't have good luck with lilies, unless there's another stronger note which keeps it in line.

I like this soft, gentle scent very much even if it doesn't last very long. I admit to being a little nervous about the anise/licorice scent problem because I don't care for that at all, BUT...in this blend, it's so slight as to be almost invisible but yet it's there, and it works so well with all the other notes. The iris was what I looked forward to most, and it's iris and that light airy musk I smell most. I don't really smell much apple blossom, tonka bean, or patchouli root, but it's all right because I like how the iris and musk with the oh-so-slight bit of anise works on my skin. This is a keeper, but it probably won't last too long if I have to keep reapplying it all the time. One of 5 stars.