stellans

This is very much a rose scent; in fact, I get very little else from it, but it's a very soft and pleasant rose -- not a sharp, hungry sort of rose. Which surprises me a little, since the concept for this scent is based on hunger: a longing, a desire, an intense and agonizing hunger.

OK, as the oil warms on my skin, I start to discern the other notes: violet peeps out first, followed by freesia and a teensy bit of pear. I'm not sure what the QE root would smell like, but perhaps that's the touch of woody earth I smell at the bottom. But even warmed, the main scent in this blend is rose...and I love it.

Again, a very masterful blend from the lab makes it's place permanent in my collection.

And that one, teeny little dot of perfume? Would. Not. Come. Off. Srsly.

p.s. I finally got rid of the smell by a heavy application of baking soda paste. Whew!

I get nothing except jasmine, both in the bottle and on my skin. Maybe a bit of gardenia peeking out under the sourness of jasmine, but no lavender and no evergreen -- pine or otherwise. Fortunately, the sourness of this jasmine blend seems to settle down and sweeten up before I feel forced to wash it off, but this will not be a favorite go-to blend, sadly. I love the Moon card, and what it stands for, and what it brings to my life, but I only tolerate the scent. And it doesn't work in my scent locket at all.

This card, and the Empress, are my cards of the whole Major Arcana. And luckily for me, the BPAL interpretations of each works on my skin as well. Today, I'm wearing (and reviewing!) Strength. The light golden color of the oil is pleasing to the eye, and foreshadows the loveliness of the scent within.

Lilies! I get lilies on first sniff, and though there is definitely a hint of resin at the back of this, lilies hold center court from beginning to end. Which is fine with me, especially in this blend, because lilies are my friends. Strength has good throw, as it doesn't take a lot to give me delightful wafts as my hands go about their normal business of the morning. It also seems to last quite a long while, as I first applied my first dabs about 3 hours ago and the scent is still making my nose happy. 4 of 5 stars for this lovely Tarot Oil.

Well, color me totally heartbroken... although it isn't listed as a note, both fresh in the bottle and on my skin is a strong mint note. I dared not wear this at night, as I usually do, last night because just sniffing it out of the bottle made my stomach jump, and then the littlest bit on a toothpick to my wrist had me scrambling for the bathroom and the soap to scrub it off.

It's not the sharp peppermint of the Lick It series, but it's there...it's there...mocking me.

For those interested, here are 3 of the new DD scents.

 

I'm assuming The Nameless City Drive-In bottle is probably the same as The Snack Hut, based on Story Time & Puppet Show being the same.

 

 

Yep, my Nameless City Drive-In bottle looks just like The Snack Hut. (Thanks again, Cinderfallen, for picking this up for me.)

When first out of the bottle, the florals in this blend have the upperhand, but they don't stand in the way of the burgeoning leather and iron notes, not at all! This is a very lovely-beginning blend, then a powerful blend, and finally a deep, resin-y blend, a journey which fascinates me. I'm going to enjoy getting to know this bottle better...and my thanks to the lovely cinderfallen, who picked this up for me at the Dark Delicacies Trunk Show last weekend! You rock!

Right off the bat, a heavy citrus note hits me in the nose (and I think this is what might have influenced my take on a newly-purchased bottle of Dead Man's Hand from an eBay seller too), and I wonder if I've made a mistake in buying this bottle unsniffed. But the citrus (lemon, I think) fades to a dull roar and then a really nice leather note comes out and shushes the citrus into submission, a bright counterpoint to the smooth leather. I don't get much cedar (which can go to pencil shavings on me) and no wood. I like this leather blend, and will probably buy a backup bottle before the Carnaval folds its tents and leaves town. 3 of 5 stars.

 

UPDATE: This blend has been elevated to one of my favorite leather blends status! Now I just hope I have enough backup bottles to last me once the Carnival goes dark for the last time.

On first sniff there was something evergreen and metallic, with maybe a little sweetness underneath, but as soon as I put it on: ack! Mint! It wasn't immediately discernible when sniffing the decant, but once on my skin...

Into the swap pile with this one!

This is a very nice, fresh lily blend with very little oak in it -- at least, so it starts out. As it sits on my skin, the blossom part of the lilies gives way to the leaves ands stem: lots of green, both leaves and sap. Finally, when the dry-down finishes up, the wood appears in a soft and subtle way, though never overpowering to the lilies. All in all, a good blend to wear when the weather clears up, the sun is shining, and it's warm enough to stay out in your yard to enjoy the fresh air. 2 of 5 stars for this one.

*sigh* I wanted to like this one so much! I wanted soft, gentle book smells, smooth wood, and all the goodness described by others. But it wasn't to be... instead, I get mildew, bad mulch, and chemicals. Back to the Lurid Library for me...

For such a rough start, Nephilim sure has a lovely finish! When first applied, the medicinal scent nearly makes me want to wash it off but something is strangely attractive about such a non-pretty scent, and I bear with it. Possibly the hyssop is the cause of the unusual medicinal note, because I quite like frankincense normally. I was hoping for a bit more patchouli and vetivert, but the description of a 'drop' wasn't an understatement. On the drydown, a really pretty sweetness ameliorates the harshness a bit, and makes this blend very nice to wear. This must be the fig, and there is just a slight hint of the lavender promised, but I really don't smell cardamom or rosemary (a shame, that). I do like this blend very much, even if the patchouli and vetivert and the other spices aren't much in evidence, because the total blend is lovely at the finish. This is a bottle-worthy imp, I do believe! 3 of 5 stars.

In the bottle, I smell a rich creamy sweetness, some green, and a bit of leather, but once the oil settles in on my skin, the snake oil blossoms and adds an interesting base to the above. When the oil dries down, what is left is the most wonderfully smooth leather I believe I've ever smelled. It reminds me of the first leather purse planner I bought for my first 'real' job (at a bank): deep, rich, and extravagant. That purse organizer was a total splurge for me, and it's really nice having an olfactory memory of it.

 

My bottle is not Lab-fresh -- I bought it not long after the Snake Pit arrived in town. This oil definitely pays to age a bit before wearing, as I thought I'd made a mistake when I first opened this bottle for a quick sniff and got a nose full of men's cologne. Now? I love it, and have another bottle aging as back up. It's one of my favorite leather blends, and I hope to get another bottle before the Carnaval leaves town. 4 of 5 stars.

 

Most definitely a lily blend; that's the note which jumps right out at me as soon as I open the bottle. On me, the lily warms up, and the pepper pricks my nose just a bit, in a pleasant way. The lily of the valley seems uppermost, and this is a very nice spring-type perfume -- light and delicate, cool and fresh -- but maybe not what I wanted to wear on Thanksgiving Day. 2 of 5 stars.

I wore this Lunacy for the first time last night, after its arrival the previous Saturday. I'm thinking a 3-day rest period should allow for the blend to be as it was intended, right?

 

This is a lovely, light and refreshing blend, with enough peach to make my nose happy and yet it is not an overly sweet and cloying peach by any means. I got absolutely no bad jasmine (yay!) and the barest hint of ho wood and chrysanthemum, but the musk and white tea are there holding up the peach blossom: a pale and gentle Lunacy which soothes the senses and lulls one to sleep, to dream of a Spring to come...

 

Or maybe...

 

the Babe!

Verbena is the one form of a lemon note I can bear, if it is moderate. Jonathan Harker's verbena does not start off as moderate but with a verbena vengeance! Mercifully, it calms down soon enough after application that a wash-off is not triggered, and soon the more calming notes of lavender, iris, and white tea can be discerned. The sandalwood is so subtle as to almost non-detectible, though, which is a shame since I love sandalwood. Taken altogether, this is a very pleasant scent, and very unisex in my opinion. The verbena gives a more masculine edge while the lavender and iris keep it gentle and feminine. 2 of 5 stars for this blend.

p.s. The misspelling of his first name drove me nuts at first; then I finally just let it go and even spelled it on my icon the same way.

Green! Green, green, green...and then sweet...then gone. This is a lovely blend which reminds me of One to Tie, Two to Win though sweeter and 'juicier.' I wish it had longer staying power though, because I have to apply it again in less than 20 minutes to be able to smell it on my skin again. It also doesn't have a lot of throw, as I need to bury my nose in my wrist to really smell it. However, it does last quite well in a scent locket and it smells really great layered with a dirt blend, like Deep in Earth. One star out of 5 for this blend, due to the lack of stay power and low throw (I know there's a correct term for this, is it sillage? I'm never sure).

Very nice dirt blend made wonderful by the floral notes! Dirt tends to amp on my skin, which is fine since I like that note, but it's also nice to smell other notes occasionally. When I first opened up the imp, I smelled no dirt at all which made me a bit apprehensive because I wanted dirt, but once it was on my skin there was dirt, all right. Dirt + rose geranium at first, then I smell the yew note underneath. I never did smell much moss (I don't think), but this is still a great dirt-based blend because there is just that little bit of difference from the Lab's other earth blends: the rose geranium and the yew really are good combined with the earth note. Three of 5 stars.

This was a long-ago frimp in a swap, and I'm just now gettng around to testing/reviewing it. Unfortunately, it's not a blend which is working for me. First, there was no chocolate in this for me at all, which was a major disappointment. I may have come late to a deep appreciation for the Lab's chocolate notes, but come that way I did and when a blend lists chocolate as a note, I really want to smell it. Second, the fruit notes were really indistinguishable from one another, and turned to a sugary-powder on me, I smell like Lik-M-Aid, and that's just not a scent I want to have wafting under my nose all day. Vice is not for me.

At first, I thought this would be too sweet for me; it seemed to be all 'super Snake Oil' for some reason, and I got no deep incense or evergreen to leaven the sweetness. But it didn't take long for the sheer beauty of this blend to bloom, and now I'm in thrall to the incense-y goodness. I am reminded of a nice, dark little Pagan shop I used to visit all the time before moving to TN, and that is a very good memory to be reminded of, IMO. I think I'm going to add this to my bottle-want list.

I didn't know about this thread until the Snake Pit was being discussed on the Carnaval Diabolique thread. My favorite Snake Pit blends are:

 

1. Western Diamondback (mmmmmm, leathery goodness)

2. Habu (the teak in this is just amazing)

3. King Cobra (wonderful incense, yum!)

4. Australian Copperhead (the acai in this works on my skin wonderfully)

5. Boomslang (I didn't used to like chocolate as a note; this changed my mind, and now I like many chocolate-containing blends!)

6. Cottonmouth (love the florals in this!)

7. Temple Viper (lighter incense, but still yummy!)

8. Coral Snake (blood orange and apple are delicious, and the lemon doesn't interfere at all)

9. Death Adder (vetivert! Rawr!)

 

I can't wear: Green Tree Viper (eek! Mint!), Saw-Scaled Viper (raises welts on my skin), and don't like to wear: Asp Viper (the almond makes me feel sick to my stomach), Banded Sea Snake (aftershave!)

This is a lovely leather blend, not least because of the lavender note which lends a crispness to the smooth, sinous smell of leather. On me, it's leather right off the bat, but the lavender shows up quickly and duels with the leather for dominance. This does not happen. Leather is the dominant note and Lavender learns her lesson. But soft, demure, yet strong (the iron fist in a velvet glove?), Lavender is still there: like wearing a lavender sachet next to one's skin, under the leather corset.

 

p.s. the lime? Total no-show.

When I was little, my favorite thing in the whole world to wear every day I could get away with it was a pair of real leather chaps. And not just any leather chaps, oh no: mine were red! With silver bosses! These were the coolest thing in the world to a little girl growing up in west Texas, and I wore them until they didn't fit any more (I think it was about 3 years because they started out too big).

 

Red Rider is what I remember those chaps smelling like: smooth, sweet, just a touch spicy, and wonderful. I think the balsam gives this leather blend a really different and lovely sense of being in the woods but not too far in...the leather is stronger than the other notes, even the balsam, and I like it that way!

Leather! Myrrh! Red Musk! (Yay, no black amber on me!)

 

This is powerful leather, with the deep underpinning of myrrh and the sexiness of red musk (which can turn on me, but doesn't in this blend) and it takes one by the nose and says, "Hello, mortal!"

 

This is what it smelled like at the Renaissance Faire, when I bought a leather belt which was cut to my measure right there: the raw edges of the leather combined with the smooth finished part, and then what it smells like after being next to my skin. The resins are just amazing, but it's the leather which is the star of this particular blend, and it rules. Mightily.