Soupy Twist

Mostly grains with a little fresh apple juice in the bottle. Goes on as wet cereal with fresh apple juice. Brown sugar and a breath of nutmeg come in as it dries. Fades back to regular apple juice. Finishes as soggy apple oatmeal.

First test: I put it on after washing my hands with Toasted Vanilla Chai soap from B&BW, and I needed to retest because I wasn’t sure which scent was which. It started as a musky toasted coconut, with flickers of sweetness and chocolate as it dried. It eventually dried down to a beautiful perfumy vanilla. Second test: Something toasty in the bottle and on application. Maybe it’s actual gingerbread instead of the “spice jar exploded” experience I always get from the Lab’s gingerbread blends. As it dries, it becomes more of a toasted coconut. Why am I getting all these notes that aren’t in the actual ingredients? This is drying to just the vaguely toasted note. All the sweetness from the prior test is gone. After three hours the perfumy vanilla finally surfaces. This part is very pretty. I just don’t think I want to sit through three hours of musky toasted coconut to get to it, especially when there’s practically no throw.

Menthol and eucalyptus in the bottle, which eventually dries to a pleasant foodie mint. Not really “snow.” The marshmallow comes out when it’s completely dry, as a faint perfumy vanilla.

Peppermint extract in the bottle. Goes on as candy cane. It’s nicely balanced between mint and sweetness; it’s not a sour peppermint like some years. The vanilla doesn’t really come out until it’s dry, but when it does, it’s light and perfumy. Then the mint returns. Settles as a fairly normal candy cane with perfumy, powdered sugar/vanilla overtones in the air. No burn at all. Pretty sure this is a bottle.

Spices and pastry/dough in the bottle. Goes on as spices and rum with a hint of almond extract. Continues as a stale kind of rum scent, like “rum extract,” when that was a thing. More of the date and lemon emerges as it dries completely. Finishes as a vaguely spicy, vaguely citrus date which is surprisingly appealing. A moist spice, not "eating the bottle of cinnamon directly" spice. I would probably eat 20 of these — in fact, being Sicilian, I'm sure I have at past holidays — but I don’t think I’d wear it often.

American black coffee in the bottle. Something slightly sweet and spicy comes in on application and as it’s drying. This is nice! Mostly gone in half an hour, leaving traces of coffee and maybe a sweet vanilla or a cream. I was expecting it to be more bitter given the opening and I'm pleased it's not.

Sour, raw booze in the bottle. Goes on as clove, and sweetens a little with cinnamon as it dries. I really hoped my skin might react differently to pumpkin spice after a few years, but alas, it's still on my no-no-notes list.

Older, slightly oxidized green apple juice in the bottle and on application, which dries to a stale, dusty generic booze. The recipe sounds like a delicious drink, but boy is it not working on my wrist.

The gorgeous white tea of Kumiho in the bottle and on application. Some sticky lemon comes in as it dries, but it doesn’t stay. Just a lovely sibling of Kumiho. I concur on the aromatherapy suggestion.

oh my sainted aunt what the hell happened?! This is burnt French tobacco and gross smokey musk, even in the bottle, so it's not just my skin chemistry. Did someone set the sweater on fire? Did I get the wrong decant?

A red Jolly Rancher. Not "apple," because I know from the Lab's magnificent and varied apple notes, but red. Slightly more perfumy after an hour. Gone shortly after that. No spice. A fun, playful, but short-lived scent.

2020 Version: More honey on the open than 2016's apple, but otherwise the same deliriously gorgeous blend. Perfumy honey, sweet apple, cycling and blending. Lasts for hours. Fun fact: I did not need to get a bottle of this scent this year, because I already have a bottle and a backup bottle of 2016. Ya know what? I BOUGHT IT IMMEDIATELY ANYWAY, BECAUSE IT IS SO DAMN BEAUTIFUL. This is one of my top five all-time favorites. If my house was on fire and I could only save a handful of bottles, this would be one of them. If someone wants to swap with me and offers me a 2020 backup bottle, I will take that swap. That's how much I love this perfume oil. 😍

An even-more nauseating knockoff of Nuclear Winter, which I didn't like either. There’s no lemon; just stomach-turning menthol. Off to swaps for someone else to enjoy.

Boozy chocolate in the bottle. Goes on as a caramel-tinged whiskey which quickly smells “old,” as in “turned.”

Creamy, cocoa-heavy chocolate. A really lovely chocolate, although no honey. This starts to turn stale as it dries, and when the honey note does come in it’s like a dry honey-flavored candy.