Soupy Twist

Minty in the bottle. Slushy snow and menthol on application. Dries as mostly menthol with some sweet bits struggling to surface. Great if you need your sinuses cleared.

Gin, lovely gin. The minty snow note is only there when wet. Dries to a lovely gin. Marvelous, but I don’t need a bottle.

Sherlock Holmes lasts for-freaking-ever on me, but I think a lot of it also depends on your skin chemistry. I concur with the lotion and location tips.

A surprisingly sweet lemon in the bottle and on the wrist — I think it’s the eucalyptus blocking the lemongrass. The peppermint underlines the scent without actually being a separate note. This is so refreshing. I want this as a drink over ice.

It does not morph at all while it dries, which is unusual for Beth. Just stays the same not-sour lemon-eucalyptus blend.

Depending on how this wears, this could be FBW.

A delicious wet cocoa in the bottle and on application. There’s a tiny bit of extra sweetness which might be the honey. Some cinnamon coming in on top as it starts to dry. The cocoa fades as it dries completely, to my astonishment, becoming more of a dry cinnamon with a faint honey underneath.

Cherry and almond extracts in the bottle. Goes on as a sweet, slightly boozy maraschino cherry with a hint of pie crust. This is gorgeous for the five minutes that it lasts on me.

Sweet cream and grains in the bottle. Goes on as the lovely toasty grain from Halfling, with sweet vanilla cream on top. This is really nice. Continues as the vanilla orchid plus sweet toasty oats. But alas, as it dries, the cardamom comes out, and I amp cardamom like a cardabomb. The bitter edge of the spice starts to sand off the vanilla and grains. The grains go first, while the vanilla is still fighting not to be drowned out. That’s where it finishes: as a pile of cardmom with a fading orchid in the middle of it.

Menthol and snow in the bottle. Goes on as a particularly sour, medicinal menthol. The menthol burn eventually calms down as it dries, but it’s still a sour kind of snow.

Cake in the bottle. Some lemon comes in on application, but it’s still slightly dry lemon cake. The cream note develops as it starts to dry. It settles as a creamy lemon cake, but it’s still a bit dry, with almost no throw. That’s what my skin does with citrus, so not a huge surprise.

Sweet fizzzz! in the bottle. Goes on as a sweetly fizzy ginger ale. Like there’s ginger ale fizzing away, and a sweet note on top of it, but they don’t quite mesh. Starts to sour a bit as it dries; it’s now ginger with a little sweetness underneath. Eventually it fades into a more generic sweetness smoothing out the ginger. I never get any of the Lab’s swoony honey note at any point. It's a very nice ginger, and a close skin scent, but I have other gingers and I miss the Lab's perfumy honey. So it's very nice, but not FBW for me.

In the bottle and on application: The mint from Lick It with a citrus note on top which makes it oddly ethereal, and a layer of marshmallow underneath. It does smell watery and “boiled.” JFC, Beth. Honestly. You are amazing. HOW DO YOU MAKE SOMETHING SMELL BOILED, THIS IS WITCHCRAFT

The mint + citrus is reading as eucalyptus? I guess? A boiled eucalyptus cough drop? This is fucking weird. Not bad, just weird.

Alas, this is only jasmine stamen on my skin, which is the sour, stanky note. There was so much promise in that description. I haz a sad. 😞

Grains and a dash of nutmeg in the bottle. The clove appears on the wrist. Oh, this is like Castitas! Only more wheat-like and less rice-like, but that same comforting toasty-grain feeling. No honey. The clove is a slightly sour background rumble; I wish I did get the honey because it would have balanced this out nicely. The clove eventually clears out as it dries.

If you loved Castitas and Halfling, this is for you. I may get a bottle.

Spiced cherry Nyquil in the bottle and on the wrist. Oh lordy I want to drink this. unf. amazing. Rich and cherry-forward and heady in the best way.

Sadly, as with all cherry on my skin, it fades in a few minutes, leaving not even the booze behind. A lovely summer afternoon fling. I’ll think of you as a permanent friend, Spiced Cherry Bourbon.

Clove and cinnamon with a drop of something bright in the bottle; can’t tell if it’s the peppermint or the gumdrop. Goes on a dry spices with a wee splash of wet gumdrop. Both notes are good but they don’t blend; they are clearly co-existing, and they aren’t happy about it either.

The spices start to fade as it dries, and the gumdrop/artificial jelly note comes forward, but it’s turning stale, or maybe that’s the spices beating the gumdrop back, I’m not sure. Once it's dry, it's completely about the spices, and the Lab's “the spice rack exploded” blends never appeal to me.

No marshmallow, no vanilla, no anise. No peppermint! I was kinda hoping for “Lick It plus Gumdrops.” @kaileycatface I think it's hilarious that we got exactly opposite impressions. Skin chemistry is so weird.

Sweet peppermint oil in the bottle, which augurs well. Goes on as minty powdered sugar. The keen bitter edge of the peppermint comes in quickly, but the sugar doesn’t disappear entirely.

It dries into a realistic, slightly vanilla-tinged candy cane without the dollop of powdered sugar which some of the other Lick Its have slathered on, but also without some of the bitterness or sourness of other years. No skin burn, which is nice. A good solid middle-of-the-cane Lick It, although not FBW for me as I have four Lick It bottles and two backups. If you are early in your Lab journey and don't have other Lick Its, by all means get this one. You'll be happy with it.

Deep vanilla with LICORICE!!11!!!ELEVENTY!-ONE!!!! and a dash of honey in the bottle. Goes on as licorice fistfighting with nutmeg. Wow, where did the vanilla go? The licorice wins and smooths out as it dries with the influence of the honey. The honey is almost present but not really detectable as its own note.

This is unfortunate. I like my licorice bolder and my honey uncluttered, and they’ve somehow become less than the sum of their parts.

Linen? in the bottle? with a dash of wood?

Goes on as a swoony, rich sort of linen — I guess that’s the white cognac. The balsam joins in shortly, and the vanilla underlines the cognac. There’s a smoky, slightly woody undertone as well. The linen, vanilla, and cognac all blend, smelling both heady and light.

After like 10 minutes it’s too heady. The linen is turning musky. I’m actually getting a bit dizzy and I have to wash this off.

I think I would love this on a guy. It’s a brilliant blend, but I know my skin chemistry is not doing it justice. I would concur on the relationship to Pediophobia and Antique Lace.

mmmm butterscotch. Just pure, rich, deep, spicy butterscotch. Like Grog but better. Heavenly. Great job, Beth!

Candy powder and a little fizzzzz! in the bottle. Seriously heavy candy powder, like you ground a packet of U.S. SweetTarts into dust. Goes on as… flat fizz?

Yeah, this is SweetTart powder dumped in a glass of cold but flat ginger ale. There’s a bit of dust in the air, but no fizz. It’s a lovely sweet candy note. I want to be sad about the lack of fizz, but it’s so delightfully sweet I can’t be bummed. I guess that’s the mystery powder tripping me out!

Baked apple with a little something powdery sickly sweet on the back end in the bottle. Goes on as baked apple. The artificial note comes in pretty quickly on top. It’s like powdered candy. It’s delightfully gross. If this were a serious perfume I’d be annoyed, but it’s a perfect execution of the concept. As it dries, it further curdles into a corn-syrup-heavy apple candy, like a knockoff Jolly Rancher.

Well disgusting done Beth!

American coffee with cinnamon in the bottle. Well, that’s already a disappointment, but pressing on. Cinnamon-heavy black coffee on application. Nutmeg and clove appear quickly. The black pepper makes an appearance as it dries, pushing out the coffee, but it’s American coffee so I don’t care. Finishes as a generic off-brand spice which turns my stomach, and I had to wash it off.

Reviewing my notes, I see that the Lab's "black coffee" works on me but "coffee" doesn't. "Coffee absolute" disappears. "Fresh-brewed coffee" was fine on me in Cola di Mono, but here it didn't work at all.

Alas, my quest must continue; no rest for me at this tavern.

A deliriously beautiful soft white floral, all honeysuckle and sweetness. Nothing artificial or cloying. Magnificent and sophisticated.

Peach, vanilla, and “baked goods” in the bottle and on application. Really delicious fresh peach when wet. The toasted cream and the vanilla notes start to come in as it dries, with the peach receding.

The toasted cream is… okay. I really liked the peach better. The vanilla bean remains as an underlying sweetness, but the peach is gone in half an hour. I am devastated to learn that my skin disposes of the Lab’s peach the way it does citrus.

A little more throw on this than the other two peach bottles. But I'm really heartbroken.

Something baked or bready in the bottle and on the wrist, but I can almost smell the peach cream being poured on as it settles on my skin. The peach advances as the baked note starts to recede slightly, but then they balance.

The “peach cream” note is not as nice as the “pure peach” note from Peach and Sugared Orange Slices, and the bready/baked goods note, while I usually like it on its own, is not working well in tandem with the peach cream. The bready note does start to vanish as the whole thing dries. After about 15 minutes it does become the lovely pure peach note.

After two hours I can just barely smell it if I put my wrist right up to my nose. *sob*