artisjok
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Everything posted by artisjok
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This is definitely a creepy creeper. A band-aid-type note is strrrrong right off the bat, and has me cringing to put my nose close to my arm. *shudder* Underneath lurks a juicy red blood note, emerging from beneath to give the scent some intrigue, some oozy softening, yet retains its spooky power. If you want to be a f***ed-up doctor/nurse killer for Halloween, I definitely recommend this duet!
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Raminou is the embodiment of a red musk blanket, with a few stray leaves and twigs stuck to the fringe that were blown in from an opened door. It gives a very Autumn vibe, with a window view of some rugged terrain. Not immersed in it, just able to gaze out upon it from the comfort of a warm, cozy chair. All the notes are blended so well it’s hard to say what else is present besides the red musk, yet it’s a complex red musk, with many fireside stories to tell. A lovely representation for an orange tabby, truly.
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Copulating Couple Mimicking a Pose in a Shunga Book
artisjok replied to Seajewel's topic in Lupercalia
I grabbed a decant of Copulating Couple secondhand once I realized the scent could be very close to the Two Pairs of Lovers atmo (Green tea, oakmoss, frankincense, mint absolute, and raw green patchouli.), and it is! I agree with doomsday that the washi has a cucumber-type smell, and it makes this feel more water elemental than the atmo, and I’m enjoying it! There’s a slight… juiciness to it, like eating candy that makes your mouth water, yet it’s also dry & papery green. Yum! I saw a partial bottle I hope to snag next time I have funds. Wearing this scent is really making my morning feel relaxed and easy~ -
Inspection really tickled my brain when I read the notes, and I considered blind-bottling it. I’m glad I found a decant, because it did not play out as I hoped…. An almost soapy clean scent in its wet phase, a cleanliness that carries into the dry phase, yet entwines with a smoky note and some dry cedar. I’m guessing it’s the incense that’s not working for me, though not sure. There is a tiny hint of jasmine in there, but I only notice it because I’m looking for it. Not getting tea, and maybe just a scrape of sage. Hmmm… glad this Inspection works on other skins. In theory, it’s gorgeous, in practice, it fails for me.
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Blood Rose is a sensual blend, but not the way I was hoping. I really wanted juicy wine with the other two notes, but I’m getting more of a red musk experience from the blend, with some rose and a touch powdery resin. Not a win for me, though a good scent if you like to smell dark sensual. Reminds me of Love and Time and Sin, which I like more & decided to destash because I didn’t reach for it much.
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I was testing a shea-heavy scent last night from another company, and it was way too strong on the note for me to enjoy it. This Little Owl is somehow so similar to that scent, & I’m totally surprised. It’s a bit more sophisticated, but still not my jam.
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He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing. Hay absolute, patchouli, agarwood, and vetiver. Wet, Deut. 10:18 is a heavy woody, spiced patchouli, very masculine. I'm guessing the spice & woodiness are from the agarwood, and I can sense some smokiness from the vetiver. As the perfume dries, the hay comes in and coats everything in its sweet grassy warmth- yum! The patchouli remains, but takes more of a background role to the wood spice& hay on me. Throw is stronger than most scents I have, same with wear length. This is a cozy blend on me, but I'm salivating just thinking of trying it on my partner! Mmmmm...
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Final Girl is one of those scents that I think is okay, yet not my favorite. Then, I can’t stop sniffing, and can’t get it out of my mind when it’s not on me. A growing obsession. I agree with @tinyvulture that it’s strongly reminiscent of Love’s Philosophy! I think the clove is giving me the saffron vibes, and something about the vanilla/honey combo is just like LP smelled on me. The berries seem non existent on my skin, but I’m sure they contribute something… Grateful to have a bottle, so I can sniff contentedly for days~ Oh! And editing to remark that this is one of the few scents that sticks on me all. day. long.
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I usually don’t enjoy the Lab’s champagne note, though I had a hunch this would be good. I’m glad I scored a decant, because it is really good! I think there’s a sharpness that usually accompanies the champagne scents I’ve tried. Here, the pumpkin cheesecake smooths out that hard edge. It’s like a spiced Italian cream soda, or something like that…. lightly spiced, gently creamy, sparkling brightness… intriguing! Also, it lasts really well, and I always appreciate scents that can hold up on my thirsty skin. I can’t stop sniffing. I’m tempted to get a full bottle, since I don’t know if I’ll find another champagne scent that works so well for me.
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Yep. This might be my first encounter with the “burning plastic” phenomena…. Thankfully, it only strikes upon application! The scent, once it settles, in is unremarkable light vanilla on me, though I think that’s my skin on the Lab’s cheesecake. Eggnog Cheesecake was similarly disappointing. Sadness. Glad I got to try it, though, and someone will love the bottle I’m sure!
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Wow, just searching stone on the Lab site, there are quite a few LE scents featuring stone right now! Maybe you can find some secondhand decants floating around… An Enchanted Cellar with Animals A cacophony of feathers and fur, cracked clay and moist stone, scattered rushes, upturned herbs, red sage, and frankincense smoke. A Summer Night Salt-crusted stones, azure moonlight on pale sand, ambergris clinging to cream linen, driftwood, and rose-tinted sandalwood. Columns of the Temple of Neptune at Paestum Cypress wood and dry grasses, sun-baked stone, faded incense, and olive leaves. Night’s Bridge (Stone and darkness) is the one that immediately came to mind, though I haven’t tried it. Should be plenty of reviews to peruse. Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris is my favorite stone-featuring scent, though might be hard to find. stone and ancient incense, beeswax and lavender smoke I’ve got a decant of Summer Rain to test, looking forward to see how concrete features!
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Definitely a popcorn scent, Ticketed is! In the beginning I got a decent dose of soda, even cola-ish. I wasn’t expecting the cola type, reading other reviews. Pretty quickly, though, the soda dissipates, and I’m mostly getting buttery popcorn sweetened by the cotton candy. It’s highly reminiscent of Mouse Circus, though stronger on my skin (yay!). I can’t be sure how much I’ll reach for this one, though it’s delicious. I have a bottle of Popcorn Ball SO that I love, and still don’t wear often…. May see if my littles enjoy the scent and add it to their stash.
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SO GOOD I have been waiting on a chonk to be shipped to me, but caved and grabbed a full bottle in the meantime. Totally worth it. A spiced sugar cookie, but spiced with lovely carnation. Simple and unique. I don’t get rose, yet, but maybe it’ll come out more with some aging? If not, I’m not mad. I’ll be wearing this spicy sweetie a lot.
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Pom Tiramisu was one of the scents I was looking forward to the most of this year’s Weenies…. Sadly, it’s so faint on me. I slathered 3 times and no real impact. I do think it dries to something like Ghost Milk, though that’s just the tiny whiff I can grasp. Ghost Milk itself was also too faint on me, so if a fruity version of that sounds appealing, you might find some success in this scent.
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Brown Sugar, Cream, and Earl Grey Tea
artisjok replied to Seajewel's topic in Duets & Menage A Trois
Traded for a bottle of Brown Sugar, Cream, & Earl Grey Tea, and still felt it was a gamble…. Turns out, it was a well-played gamble! Opens quite smokey, disconcertingly so. Fairly swiftly, it shifts into this clean tea note, lovingly embraced by brown sugar and an echoing cream. The overall effect is brown-toned, yet feels like I just stepped out of the shower. At the same time, it feels like a classy scent that my alter ego living in New York, and frequenting fashionable bars and restaurants nightly would rock. It also works as me now, wandering through the backyard jungle garden, cleaning the kitchen, reading and daydreaming next to the window… -
Ut Ameris, Amabilis Esto is a fairy-touched wonder blend. I keep comparing it to Rose-Tinted Mirror, since they are both sweet roses with compassion-centric vibration. ~Rose-Tinted is definitely that inward-focused love. It’s melting into your skin to coat a hardened heart, to gently take your face in its hands and kiss you with tenderness and a little heat. You can face yourself again, and thus face anything. Each wear opens the heart a little deeper. ~Ut Ameris is shining outwards, a twinkling in it’s eyes. There’s an uplifting sense that pulls you outside to bask in the sun, and, in turn, attracting the attention of the other. The glimmering shimmering feminine (we’ve all got it) invites everyone to break into smile. Before we even know what’s happening, we’ve joined together and are moving through space with grace, our hearts synchronizing beats. So lovely! The scent is excellent. I am glad to have a bottle. It was instrumental in getting me through the recent Libra Full Moon weekend.
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I have a friend who loves to smell like white musk, and the brand she uses has cut back on quality (the scent isn’t very strong anymore). Does anyone have a favorite recommendation, that’s in stock preferably, from any company? She’s into the single note, though I’m sure some simple blends would be appreciated. I’d stick with oil over alcohol-based, too.
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Here to join team “love this” and “this is beautiful”! Shadow Self is sultry smooth smoked lavender and sandalwood and myrrh on me. There are complex gems hidden beneath, waiting to be dug from their earthen house, to be seen in the light, washed and polished. I cannot sense the identity of these gems, I can just feel the power and complexity they impart to this lovely scent. A humming beneath the primary notes. Movement behind the theater curtain. It reminds me a lot of A Noiseless Patient Spider, but that one was too faint on me, and it was a sadness. This one has throw! Shadow Self is a gladness. It is glamorous and comforting. I would wear it anytime, all the time. Embrace the shadow and you will find the light hidden within~ ???????????????
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blends containing that coveted lemony vanilla?
artisjok replied to stainedglass_siren's topic in Recommendations
The Thirteen from March 2020 has it going on! And from the reviews, Lights, Camera, Something may also have that lemony aspect. -
Shelter-in-Tomb is potentially amazing, yet the fig goes really green on me. Vegetal in a way that works in some blends, yet not so much right now. I really wanted a sultry red incense-y scent with a touch of sweet fig…. It does smell like that on my hands. Will the fig calm down after a while? Is it better in dry hair than the damp I applied to? Will keep sniffing to see if it shifts. Maybe I’ll try it as a body spray & see if it’s more appealing to me that way.
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Flickering Lights, Fluttering Curtains gives me the visual of walking towards an open window in the night, layers of sheer curtains flowing into my face as the wind enters the room. The moon is shining outside, and no matter how close I get to the window, I never seem to arrive. Stuck in a bedroom full of dried flowers and antique face powder, aching to see what in just beyond the windowsill, I continue wading through the floating fabrics until I open my eyes in another reality. Which one is the dream?
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If your top 5 scents are... Then try these!
artisjok replied to Ella LaRose's topic in Recommendations
My most recent “dry” love is Pyramid of Skulls (A blend of four sandalwood oils stained by tobacco absolute.)! Real good. -
I was having a Sugar Cookie Cathedral kind of day recently (fun and laughter with sprinklings of ritual and internal emotional work), and I was so pleased to have this blend with me to wear! I enjoyed the mix of resins & sweet, though it was hard to explain the overall effect. Definitely get some frankincense and wood, sugared up in a tasteful manner, as in it didn’t make me hungry or feel too youthful for profound occasions. A little after I applied (and forgotten), someone in passing commented “mmm smells like palo Santo in here…” I shrugged and looked around, realizing an hour later that I was the smell bearer. If you need some coziness during your spell working, or a reminder that you are supported in times of trial, if you want to be purified with loving laughter or feel sparkling under scrutiny… this blend does the trick. Feels appropriate for Aquarius season, too! Very glad I got decants of the full Sugar Cookie set, or I would have skipped this beauty.
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I was wary committing to a bottle of Pinched with Four Pumpkins, because coffee rarely stays on my skin. There was the chance it would feel… hollow, unfinished. Yet, I’m over here rejoicing at my leap of faith! ??❤️? I can’t quite tell if the coffee bean husk actually sticks around, actually. My dearest beloved Pinched with Pumpkins bottle is both rich and dry on me. Syrupy pumpkin tobacco (not as syrupy as Pumpkin Snake Latte) and strong woods backing it up and lifting it out of complete gourmand territory. There’s an almost chocolate feel to it (coffee husk, is that you?) It’s regal and snuggly, disciplined and extravagant. It’s pure unadulterated yum!
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Warm rice granules and grapefruit pulp, sweetened and decorated with flowers petals and candied ginger shreds. The wet phase (above) is great, and then the rice flees and the flowers amp, and it’s just not something I would reach for… more perfumey that I like. It does convey a spring festival full of tradition and sidelong glances and fresh breezes.