VetchVesper

On me this is heavy on the silvery musk and orris. I can smell the violet but it's more subtle. Sadly, I don't get one bit of licorice. I do get a bit of the patchouli root grounding the fragrance and giving it a little bit of earthiness. Overall, this is a complex silvery musk that doesn't really smell particularly like any one of its notes. It's interesting, feminine, and chic, but probably not something I would wear a lot. Very appropriate for spring.

This is very earthy on me.  Lots of rich soil and iris.  It smells purple and cool, though I don't get a typical "snow" note per se.  It feels like it belongs with Deep In Earth, Crossroads, and Zombie, that sort of loam and floral combo.  It's odd, but rather addicting, and manages to smell both regal and dirty at the same time.   

This is mostly orange blossom and sandalwood on me.  After warming on my skin for a while, a smooth, subtle vetiver shows up.  'Tis Not Madness has a very eastern, old world vibe, like something I'd expect to smell at an incense shop.  It's not soapy, but I keep thinking of nice, Indian soaps. nI wouldn't call it masculine, but I think a man could wear it.  It's not super floral or sweet.  It has a similar feel to Paramatman, but is more subtle.  It fades quickly and becomes more of a skin scent, again leaving me with the impression of having washed with a luxury soap. 

Mildly incensey, gender neutral, orange blossom soap.   

Fun fact - Orange blossom and neroli both come from the blossoms of the bitter orange tree, but OB uses fats to extract the blossom's fragrance, while neroli is steam distilled. Petitgrain comes from the same tree, but is distilled from the leaves and twigs of the plant vs. flower petals.  🤓

In the imp, this smells yeasty, like bread or beer. On my skin though, it becomes vanilla dominant but not really foody. It' s warm smelling, and makes me think of a good vanilla candle. It gets more bready and spicy, though it's still not super foodie, and I'm not sure what the spice is. I don't get anything citrusy at all.

Iago is extremely harsh to my nose, like polished, military shoes or something. I guess that COULD be sexy to some folks, but it's too rigid and chemical for my taste. Might be a chemistry thing though. (Shrug)

Delightfully bloody!  The clove is quite strong, and this smells very red. It's deep and fruity, like a good mulled wine. It's not real sweet. It IS quite sexy. 

This is a beautiful chypre, very classic, and it was a surprise hit for me. It's very mossy at first, then sweetens gradually as the amber blooms and the fragrance warms. I get greater complexity as it wears, and it's really just gorgeous. 

The orris, moss, and amber give this a raspy, powdery texture that powder haters might dislike, but it's far from baby powder or the prim powderiness of violet. 

If you wants something soft, elegant, classic, and not stereo typically feminine, check this out. I think it could work well on a man too. Chypre and amber lovers should be very happy. 

I got this to wear with Chocolate Rum Scarab from a few years ago. They are definitely complementary scents, but different enough to give a unique vibe on their own. 

Stitched Together is lighter and less blatantly foody. Most of the chocolate note fades away after a few minutes, leaving me with creamy, sweet mint. The green tea comes out a little in the dry down, giving this a bit of an herbal and grown-up feel. The fragrance seems to last 6-8 hours. Overall, it's a sweet treat I'll be enjoying this summer. 

This is SO dang good. I went a bit looney and blind bottled this and a couple other Hallowenches HG's this year. NO REGRETS!  But THIS one's my favorite. 

Yes, I DO love the lab's basmati rice note. It's warm, a bit nutty, a bit like fresh popcorn or warm bread, and here, it mingles delightfully with champaca incense, another love.

Comforting, but still sexy, I kept getting whiffs of this in my hair for several days and loving every minute of it. 

@MelissaK Some folks do use the HG's on their skin, yes. I wouldn't think it would hurt anything.

Very nice!  I get mostly hay, smoked vanilla and soft amber, along with a supple leather sort of vibe.  The vanilla leans more perfumey than foody, and I don't really smell cocao, especially when compared to Muddy Armadillo. I agree with Frills; this would be very nice on a man, but it works for a woman too, and something gives the vibe of lux cologne.  Cuddly, but still sophisticated. This is grade A beef and it knows it. ❤️

This is one dirty armadillo!  Definitely an earth note in here, so be prepared, but it's rather delightful in my book.    Something almost smells like cedar in the background.  I guess it's the tobacco?  It's dry and a tad bit camphorous.  The chocolate is there, but it's not very sweet.  Somehow, muddy chocolate manages to be an enjoyable combo, and I could see this being really nice on a guy.  It dries down to a warm, playful, woody chocolate smell, with a few lingering hints of rich loam.  I look forward to seeing how it mellows and ages.

Side note - I decanted 3 bottles of this.  Two were a light brown with little flecks of chocolate, one was downright sludgy with chocolate, but they all smelled the same.  I guess the muddiness of your armadillo may vary.   

Wow,  this one smells surprisingly floral to me.  I expected something warmer and woodier with florals taking a back seat. The violet leaf is prominent, and its got a green bite that separates it from just smelling like normal violets.  I think the cardamom may be adding to the sense of green floral as well.  The cedar and sandalwood aren't prominent, but they add a little husky complexity in the background.  A flamboyant floral, but not a super girly one, and the cedar behaves on my skin, which is rare.    This one's not for me, but it will be nice for summer, and I imagine it will gain depth, and perhaps more woodiness, as it ages. 

I almost get coconut from this. It's woody and warm any vaguely foodie. I smell strong clove at first, but the clove blends in with everything else after a few minutes. The leather comes out, and this becomes a beautiful, warm, sexy smell that could work on a man or woman.

Fans of Brown Jenkins should try this one, though they're different enough to both be bottle worthy. 

Have you tried the GC Port-Au-Prince?  Another one that comes to mind is St. Clare from the unicorn release, but it could be hard to find. 

Without the cocunut, Elegba is mostly syrupy, dark rum on me, with just a hint of chewy tobacco, so I'd look for rum, mostly.  Kill Devil and Perversion might be worth checking out too. Neither have rum, but they're boozy, sweet, tobacco. I love it Perversion, so I'll plug it all day long. 😉

This one kind of blew my mind. I wasn't that interested in marshmallows or snow, but this smells like Mountain Temple (White sandalwood incense smoke drifting through snowflakes) to me, which is a fragrance I missed out on and wish I had more of. 

I'm definitely also getting the foresty notes, though they're very soft, and sweetened with an undertone of mintyness.  

On 1/10/2021 at 11:17 AM, ShleepySnorlax said:

I love Mountain Temple (2019 yule). Does anyone have similar recommendations? 

So...I don't know about a GC that's similar, but this year's Marshmallow Snow gave me similar vibes. Very unexpected!  Maybe see if you can try a decant. My nose could just be crazy.

I'm surprised by how much I like this.  I've been curious about it for a while, but I was scared away by the slush note and the reviews saying this is aquatic.  It IS aquatic, with a good dose of ozone, and these kinds of blends usually turn pure soap on me.  In this case, though, I'm dig'n it. 

Black Ice smells clean, minty, and yes -- icy.  There's a hint of sweetness, but not nearly as much as I get with most snow notes.  The vetiver (and maybe the pavement) gives it depth and darkness, elevating it above a "generic soap" blend.  It suits its name well. 

This is very out of my normal wheelhouse, but I'm happy to have a partial.  I'd put this in male cologne category, but am still happy to wear it.   

This is very nice.  The leather doesn't really smell black to me, more like a brown suede, but leather tends to lean subtle on my skin, so take that with a grain of salt.  This is warm and spicy, nicely balanced, and not too sweet.  Definitely a crowd pleaser, and could be worn by a man or a woman.  I have about 50 bajillion gingerbread scents at this point, so I'm not sure if I need a full bottle of this one (though it's tempting) but if you like gingerbread, and you like leather, and you DON'T have 50 bajillion gingerbread scents 😜 -- this is a good one to bet on.

Almond, rum, orange peel, and a bit of fig.  I don't smell dates, per se, but I'd believe they're in here.  Honestly, this really smells like fruitcake to me.  It's nice, and definitely foody, but I think people who dig fruity smells might like this too.  I get more candied fruit that "baked good."  Like any good fruit cake, there's a lot of stuff crammed in here, and I'm enjoying the notes shifting around as I sniff.  

As it starts to dry down, the lemon is finally making an appearance.  It's adding more of a dry bite to the fragrance than any citrus juiciness, and makes things a little less sweet.  I'm also getting some nice spice.  No cinnamon.  And yeah, I agree with groovyrooby; I could see this being a good holiday tea.     So, much less fruity and much less baked good, but still very festive.  A fun holiday scent journey, and a nice, cozy alternative to more traditional Christmas perfumes.

Hoooooo!  That's some champagne!  Very tart, probably extra so from the lemon.  The gingerbread part of this smells kinda stale to me.  Still, I've not come across many BPAL blends that cause my mouth to pucker.  The gingerbread is kinda secondary for me here, and I'm not sure this one is loving my chemistry, but if you like tart notes, this one delivers.  

2 hours ago, gothteacup said:

I have both Skyborn and We Wear The Mask on the way, they seem promising for me, with lavender featured in both. I do love those airy florals, but the Lunacies tend to have so many notes they are intimidating. I really need to jump on some decants when I see them available. 

Not trying to pimp my wares 😜 but I have a couple decants of Blue Moon 2020 on my swaps/sales page.  Blue Moon releases often seem to have a silvery feel, as do the two Cancer fragrances, though I think they have violet. 

You might check out the Cracked Mirrors weenie. More orris than iris, but it has a silvery feel and is really pretty

If you've only had bad experiences with violet once or twice, you might not give up on it completely, especially if it's mixed with a lot of other notes. Some violet goes more powdery on me then others. Violet leaf usually doesn't. And I find orris tends to go powdery too (vs. strait up iris) so sometimes, that might be our culprit.

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This is SUPER pretty.  I'm not even that much of an evergreen fan.  I like foresty smells, but I usually prefer them in background, bolstering resins or florals.  The fir needles smell realistic to me, and though I don't really smell smoke, I get the sense that the greenery is soften by its presence.  I'm thinking I might try layering this with Amber and Cardamom and see what I get.  I'm also wondering if it would smell like the SN Discarded Popcorn Garland from a few years ago if it was mixed with the Cranberries and Popcorn blend.  Hmmmmm... I might have to report back on this one. 

This one is sooooooo pretty and just works with the concept so well for me.  I've always been fond of this Christmas carol, and can't hear the lyrics without hearing Joan Baez singing it.  But I digress.  

To my nose, The Cherry-Tree Carol is a perfect blend of sweet, red cherries and bright, pink roses.  The roses lie somewhere in between Pink Snowballs and Rapture Pig, but the other notes give it a bit more weight.  Overall, the fragrance is sweet, bright, gentle and somewhat perfumey.  I get just a touch of the cherry wood, but don't really smell the resins unless I really go sniffing for them.  It's very feminine smelling.  Very pink.  And I would say, you probably have to be a fan of florals to enjoy it, but I really think it's beautiful.  

On 2/5/2021 at 12:03 AM, gothteacup said:

How is the steel note in this? I don’t think I’ve tried anything with steel/metal. Is it prominent?

I agree with hhelix about Nevertheless being ouderific. It was rather masculine on me as well. 

Have you looked into Skyborn?  It has similar notes as The Silver Dollar.  We Wear the Mask also features iris without violet. Blue Moon 2020 might be worth checking out. There are a lot of different stuff going on in the notes, but no violet.  It has a cool, airy feel to it, and the florals dominate. 

P.S.  Also thought I'd mention Posset's "Silver Iris" perfume. Their "silver" note is a sweet, airy, white musk. I'm not sure if they carry it year round, but they do retours of LE scents frequently. 

Mmmm.... yummy.  Boozy, but the scotch smells buttery and sweet.  It's a little stronger on me than the dead leaves note, which is dry and gets a bit fuzzy in the dry down.  This one reminds me a tad of Dead Leaves and Maple Syrup.  Not quite as sweet, but a similar pairing of vague foodiness with the dead leaves.  Unisex, but his would be a great blend for guys who fancy the comfort of foodie blends, but not smelling like cupcakes.  Thank you to the lovely Artisjok for the sniffie.    

I'm rather sorry I missed this one.  I don't love it enough to scour existence for a bottle, but I certainly wouldn't mind a bit more falling into my lap.