naeelah

Midnight Mass is a rich and well balanced incense blend. Overall, its character is cheerful and golden, but without sacrificing the depth and smokiness of a good incense. It doesn't have the bright, lemony aspects of solar incense, nor is it spicy, so I don't mean golden in that respect. It just has a warm glow. The heart of this warmth might be the beeswax. This incense is well grounded by a rich wax, which is one of the things that makes it distinct, compared to the lab's other incense blends. It has a strong evergreen wood note, which lends a Christmastime character but doesn't overpower the resins. (Compared to Cathedral, it's less woodsy. Compared to Heavenly Love and Earthly Love, it has far less sandalwood and powdery amber.) It's tough to identify the resins. Frankincense and myrrh, of course but I'm not sure what else. Possibly benzoin? Opoponax? So, on the whole, this is a rich incense that isn't too smoky but also isn't too powdery. It isn't a dark blend, but it isn't bright and clean, either. It's very nice and one of the lab's best incenses, I think.

As for the scent, this is very...southern smelling to me. There is a piercing white floral note. Other reviewers have alluded to white clover, and I think I'll take their word for it. There seems to be a strong green component to this note. I also smell gardenia and magnolia. Jasmine and honeysuckle might also be present. They blend so well with gardenia that it's often difficult for me to differentiate. Some reviewers mention rose, and now that they mention it, I'm pretty sure I smell rose. Some people have mentioned vetiver, but I'm absolutely certain there is no vetiver -- all of the sharpness comes from this other green note. The oil is tinted orange, and I suspect dragon's blood is here. There is something of its sweetness and its power. There is also an aquatic quality that seems to get stronger as it wears, on my skin. So in short, I'd say this is a strong, sweet white floral with strong green/aquatic aspects and a hint of dragon's blood. (Being a voodoo oil, there are likely other ingredients I'm not placing.) As for the effect... I put this on before going to bed, and today I've had absolutely terrible luck in all possible ways. :-\ So that remains to be seen. I do find the scent uplifting, though, and it seems to have a nice short-term cheering effect.

First, let me say, my imp is at least 5 months old. I seem to recall it turning up shortly after the Magician went live, so I might have had it way longer than I realize. (Since it's a wood and resin blend, that means it's probably pretty different, and much better, than fresh.) Dry, I smell wood overpowered by dry, musty resins. It's almost chokingly dusty. Tons of turmeric, with a bit of smoky resin and dry, bitter foliage. As it dries, the rosewood blossoms, and the turmeric calms down. After about 15 minutes, it morphs into a very smooth, fragrant rosewood scent. The natural smoothness and sweetness of rosewood is offset by the resins and turmeric, which make the overall scent extremely dry. There is a faint hint of curry, but primarily, this is all dry, slightly bitter wood and resin. As it wears, it becomes slightly smokier, covering up the sweetness of the rosewood. It isn't as resiny and smoky as similar blends. This brings to mind a heavy wood table with lingering traces of previously burnt incense more than it does incense itself. A table scattered with herbs and ingredients for potions. Throw is quite light, staying close to the skin, as wood scents often do. It reminds me of a woodsier, far less sweet Scattered Gloom. Likewise, a much drier and more bitter Heavenly Love and Earthly Love. Actually, it's perhaps most similar to Parliament of Monsters, with its dry, ancient feeling. I like it. It's an intriguing combination, and it manages to avoid being like any other incense blend. Try this if you want a dry, lightly smoky wood blend that isn't very heavy.

Last spring, some planters along the streets near where I work had daphne in them, and I never failed to think to myself, "what is that amazing scent?" when walking past. They had a wonderful bright but sweet aroma that carried even over all of the pollution and funk of NYC traffic. Daphne honey is VERY floral, but there is plenty of honey to back it up. It's a really gorgeous, sweet floral honey, with a green edge, reflecting the evergreen family the plant belongs to. To my nose, the lab's daphne is something similar to a blend of white rose, ylang ylang, and jasmine. Unfortunately, it turns incredibly faint on my skin after only an hour or two. It becomes more of a predominately floral scent, a bit dry from the evergreen, with the honey lingering on the finish. Still lovely. It sticks around close to the skin for another couple of hours, then vanishes.

This begins very strong on the lily, with just enough black pepper to give it a little bite. The effect is very austere and funereal, but I find this slightly lusher than most of the lab's funereal oils. I suppose because the only flowers here are lilies -- something about lily has a soft, round edge, to me. They aren't just white and shrill. The ginger gradually shows up and rounds out the scent a little more, making it less somber. Over the course of an hour or so, actually, the lily steadily fades and the ginger takes its place, so it becomes more of a gentle, citrusy ginger blend w/ pepper and lily. Given the nature of fresh, citrusy ginger, it then fades pretty quickly. Throw is decent at first, close to the skin in the gingery stage. Wear life is relatively short. It's a beautiful scent, though, and I'm contemplating getting a whole bottle. If you're a lily perfume fan and would like a decidedly funereal take on lilies, give it a try. If you're a fan of the Ars Moriendi blends, or if you wanted to like them but nothing quite worked, then also give it a try. (It reminds me slightly of Demeter's "Funeral Home".)

This goes on a bit strange, very cool, dusty, and dry. I thought that it contained frankincense or myrrh from this initial impression, but I suppose that was the combined effect of the musk and patchouli. The musk is not too musky. Like the ebony musk (as opposed to black musk, which is a different type), the indigo musk is quite glossy and cool. Perhaps it's most like green musk, as they act on my skin. There is something bright and chemical about it, but it has a more substantial character than the pale musks. However, it lacks the oiliness of heavier musks, such as black, brown, or blue. (Blue musk lies somewhere in between the black and indigo musks, oddly enough -- you'd think "blue" would have a brighter character than "indigo", but, for me, it doesn't.) If you wonder what the indigo musk is like, think of the sheen of raven feathers, and truly, it smells a bit like that. It doesn't have the weird fluffy bird-ness of something like Fledgling Raptor moon, but it is slightly peculiar. I ignored it for about 10 minutes while it dried, and next time I got a whiff of it, it had turned into a wholly new scent. Suddenly, it's 10 times sweeter and fruiter. There's the plum! As it dries, I can the flowers, but once dry, the plum is so dominant on my skin, it's difficult to pick out such delicate flowers. (Night blooming jasmine is very light, and faintly sweet. It's not nearly as heavy and cat-pee-inclined as normal jasmine.) The rose geranium is there, but doesn't stand out. I can't quite pick out the benzoin yet. I think it's being overpowered. Behind it all is dry patchouli. I tend to amp patchouli, but here it behaves itself pretty well. It's not a very dirty patchouli. It does smell very much like a church resin to me, so on the whole, this blend has a quality reminiscent of incense, without being overtly smoky. After an hour or so, the plum recedes, and now it's plum tinged, pale flowers anchored by patchouli and glossy musk. Somewhat like a more substantial Midwinter's Eve. The scent faded quite quickly for me, so now it's very light. So in a sentence, this is a dusky, cool plum and patchouli scent. It isn't dark like Lovecraftian incense, it's dark like the night sky -- smooth, chilly, expansive. It's quite similar to Kitsune-Tsuki, but the inverse; Kitsune-Tsuki is a light, airy, sunny, plummy floral and the Night-Raven is a dusky, cool, floral plum. If you wished Kitsune-Tsuki had more plum or were a little darker, give this a try. I never thought I'd say this, but I wish the plum was a little less prominent. I seem to be amping it, and it drowns out the other notes. I'll hang onto it and test it again in the future. If the balance of notes works well for your skin, I think you'll find it a sweet, well-rooted nighttime floral scent. Definitely worth checking out if you're a plum fan.

I love the lab's opium note and I love fragrances in this family, so I was eager to try this -- but red sandalwood and I have a history, so I didn't get my hopes up too high. When it goes on, it's a sweet, creamy floral with a prominent puff of opium smoke. The lab's opium smoke note never strikes me as overly smoky -- it isn't sooty, it's like a soft incense. The vanilla isn't too strong, but it blends with the sweetness of the opium. The opium, however, keeps it from being overly foody, and the cool lily note also helps to temper the rich sweetness. The floral and sweet qualities balance well, and the scent is grounded by the sandalwood. (I always find red sandalwood to be very dry and a bit prickly, almost spicy, so it's also a good foil to the vanilla.) I guess I never really pick out the mandarin as distinct. Unfortunately, after about 10 minutes, it turns into 90% red sandalwood on my skin. This always happens. If you want a sweet, creamy, subtle floral scent -- something voluptuous, but also pretty and a little delicate -- then give this a try. There are several scents in this family (such as Sacred Whore), but many of them contain rose, jasmine, or red musk, so this is a good choice if any of those are death notes for you.

This is almost a single note pomegranate scent on me, but just nuanced enough to be a beautifully simple fruity floral. I like Fruit of Paradise, but it never quite grabbed my attention. This smells almost the same, but it's lightened and given more depth of character by the jasmine. The jasmine is pretty well balanced with the pomegranate. I'm tempted to say that the pom is stronger, but I think the jasmine becomes stronger as it wears. The benzoin, oddly, seems not to stand out as much as it did when it was new. I love benzoin because it's vanilla-like but has a sharpness, so it behaves quite differently in a blend. It adds vanilla without sweetness, without making a scent gourmand. Sadly, I can't detect much vanillin here, but the resiny quality helps to anchor the perfume and blends well with the bitter edge of the pomegranate. Benzoin only gets better with age, so I have high hopes. Basically, you'll get exactly what you expect from this. The jasmine is a light, sweet, and delicate sort of jasmine. It isn't as heavy and cloying as some jasmines can be. If you like jasmine and you like pomegranate, it's pretty hard to go wrong here.

This is fantastic! I've gotten completely overwhelmed by my stash and trying to keep 294839 lists updated, so I'm horribly, horribly behind. I hope that this feature will help me keep a handle on things, and I think it should definitely help me stay organized whenever I start swapping again. (My life is way too disorganized right now, but having a list of what I want to swap already established should be helpful when I find myself with a free month...) Thanks for all of the work on this! I look forward to seeing how it develops.

I got this because I wanted something that would smell like Christmas. I've been hoping for an atmosphere blend -- or a perfume oil that I could burn -- that would smell more or less like Hearth. This is basically it! It's such a rich and complex scent, it's difficult to review each note. Primarily, it smells like evergreens, bay leaf, and wood in the fireplace. (Definitely no vetiver in the wood fire bouquet here.) It's a little bit cold, but also warm because of the fire, so it pretty much balances out. I can smell the apple beer and the berries, but their sweetness just rounds things out. Mainly, this smells like different types of greenery to me, with burning wood. This is less like the excitement of Christmas morning than just the scent of the holiday season in general. It's a night in by the fire place with a mug of cider and the scent of holiday greenery wafting around you, trying to stave off the draft from the window. It's nice and comforting, and the spray itself is very strong, with great lasting power.

In the bottle, it smells like honey wine and pomegranates. Specifically, the sweet, syrupy, front edge of the lab's pomegranate note. But the note here behaves a lot like it does in Fruit of Paradise, which is sweet at the start and has a dry, tart, almost woody edge on the finish. The second this oil touches my skin, it reverses and turns into straight up hyssop with beeswax. Fortunately, the hyssop relaxes and the other notes come through and round things out over the next 15 minutes or so. Once it has settled, it smells like hyssop, massoia bark (which, together, have an almost spicy and smoky aroma, the same way that frankincense is sometimes spicy -- I think frankincense is definitely a good point of comparison for how this smells on my skin), rounded out by gentle, waxy raw honey. The pomegranate is there if you look for it (simultaneously sweet and bitter), as are the apples, but neither dominates the blend (although I am finding that the pomegranate is gradually getting stronger as it wears). The apples are very fresh and true smelling, BUT, nestled in the honeys, and with the spice-like hint of the bark and hyssop, the effect is somewhat like apple cider. I don't like apple scents. But I do like this. It suggests apple cider without actually being apple cider. I tend to amp sweet, so the sweetness of the honeys soon returns, but it remains balanced by the herbaceous qualities. I don't know if it's from the hyssop or from the bark, but there is just the slightest trace of evergreen here. I have never smelled actual massoia bark, but the scent here reminds me of peeling bark off of pine trees as a kid. I wasn't sure if I'd like this scent, but it's gorgeous. So, in a sentence, Mitzvah is a well-rounded, sweet, gently herbaceous honey scent, colored red by the pomegranate and apple. Try it if you like: Fairy Wine, Eros, Lambs Wool, Delphi.

I was somewhat surprised and dismayed to find this imp in my bag, because the same day, I found ACTUAL bed bugs in my apartment. So I give this review with the caveat that I've tried this on once and won't be trying it on again. This is a spicy scent with a light, somewhat citrusy base. It has lots of cinnamon, ginger, maybe some cassia, who knows. There's also a note of something kind of like caramel or butterscotch, but it's not very strong. This all floats over something that reminds me almost of Embalming Fluid. Perhaps there are some tea notes in this. I don't think it smells so much like a cookie, because I don't smell cake. Comparisons to spiced herbal tea earlier in the review thread are probably pretty good descriptions. Over the course of the weekend I accumulated about 20 imps of this (because the lab ran out of other frimps). Luckily, I'm not so fond of wearing cinnamon scents, so I feel no remorse in passing all of them along to other people. It's a cute idea, but right now I want bed bugs OUT of my house in every way, shape, and form.

When I saw New Orleans as a perfume, I thought I'd have to order it just to burn as a room scent. I'm so glad the atmosphere spray is saving me the trouble! The sprays are definitely a lot longer lasting and more economical and burning perfume oils. As far as I can tell, they smell identical. Sniffing directly, it's rich southern blossoms with some aquatics and a vaguely lemony quality, backed by spanish moss. Sprayed, you smell everything at once, and then it seems dominated by moss. In the air, the aquatics are pretty subtle. They contribute to a general freshness and atmosphere, I guess. There is a tiny bit of lemoniness [probably the olive blossom], but it definitely doesn't smell like I've been waxing the woods in my house. Once the scent has lingered and settled, I feel like I smell the flowers better. I think this smells much more like the south than the New Orleans wanderlust perfume. I haven't been to New Orleans myself, but I grew up near the SC low country, which is a pretty similar landscape. (Maybe that landscape would have a saltier aquatic -- now that would be an evocative scent...) On the whole, a gorgeous and realistic outdoors at night in the south type of scent. It definitely has a cool, night-time, crisp air quality, but the flowers are lush and provide nice balance. ETA: I hosed my place down with this last night. Coming back in from running errands today, all I smell is a rich floral bouquet with just a hint of moss. Lots of olive blossom. It's fabulous.

I've been looking for a light coconut scent and I loooove pepper notes, so I was pretty excited to try this one. Typically, the black pepper is very strong when this first goes on. I like heavy pepper, so I don't mind this at all, but it dissipates very quickly and balances out with the coconut notes. I can pick out the white sugar while it's wet, but this soon blends with the coconut to create a general sweet, cakey feel. I'm not sure if this is angelica flower or angelica seed, but in either case, I can't pick it out. I understand angelica has a slightly peppery, earthy quality, so it might be contributing to my sense of the black pepper note. It somehow feels less austere than usual. Once it dries and the black pepper note settles in, this changes very little on my skin, except to fade. It's sweet and smells quite like a macaroon, with an almost tart prickly note on top. Because the coconut is so sweet, it tempers the pepper very well and creates a unique scent that isn't as abrasive as black pepper scents can be. On the whole, this is a bit foodier than I thought it would be, but I quite like it and it's a lovely summer scent. Sometimes it fades a little quickly, other days it has more throw. Either way, it's a relatively soft, fuzzy scent that seems to stay close to the skin.

Vishpala is an Indian warrior woman in some legends and a horse in others, so I thought this could end up smelling vaguely spicy and leathery and/or musky. I'm half right! It smells quite similar to Nanny Ashtoreth, on me. I forgot about the part where Vishpala lost her leg and was given a "leg of iron", so stupidly, I didn't think about this being a metallic scent! Vishpala starts out really strong on leather, but then light florals become apparent -- similar to the ones in Nanny Ashtoreth or maybe Galvanic Goggles. As it dries, the florals steadily overtake the leather, but a smooth, black leather note, like de Sade, remains in the background. There's a hint of metal, and it's a subtle, soft metal, like pewter. It's not bright or tangy like some metal notes. So, in short, I get: leather, airy florals, iron. ETA: After about an hour, the flowers fade enough to reveal a smoky base note. It must be some kind of resin, but it kind of reminds me of wood embers. ETA 6/18: This smells really different to my nose now than it did when I first got it. It's better. I can definitely smell light pine now. Fairnymph describes snow slush, which I can see. I think I was smelling the snow before, thinking the leather was stronger than it is. There are definitely some light florals, and I still feel like it's the same sort of ones in the lab's "indian flowers" bouquet, because they all turn to soap. That's what this smells like on me when dry: floral soap, with a hint of snow, leather, pine, and iron. Anyway, this blend is chock full of stuff that turns cool and soapy on my skin, so it's hard to differentiate. If there is indeed leather, I still think it's the De Sade variety, which -- you guessed it -- smells like soap on me.

I'm not sure how to describe this, except as some kind of sexy ointment. It's medicinal, but in a way that I find appealing. Much like fresh Snake Oil, though, I can tell that this will get richer and sweeter and spectacular as it ages. Wet, there's a lot of something sharp and medicinal - the laudanum, I suppose - with a liberal splash of booze. Smells like rum and red wine. I can also smell tobacco and cool black leather. As it settles in, the booze notes kind of burn away and it becomes a bit richer and rounder. The tobacco becomes sweeter, like a pipe tobacco, and it's apparent that there's some honey and vanilla here. The core of the scent smells a lot like O, actually. But with the addition of the tobacco, leather and laudanum, it isn't cloying at all. I don't smell so much musk. I'm sure that musk is present -- skin musk, for sure -- but it's subtle and blends well. I also don't smell any patchouli, FWIW. Perhaps it's there, but it's hidden. This is definitely a cousin to Perversion. I don't remember Perversion working very well for me, but I think this will be a keeper. I wanted a scent that would smell smutty, and I got it! It certainly isn't a clone of Smut or Snake Oil, but it is in the same family of scent, so if you like those, give this a try. I didn't put on a ton, but it seems to stay close to the skin -- a good thing, for a scent like this. You want it to pull people in. I look forward to updating my review in about 6 months when it has aged!

I got this hoping it would mainly smell like chocolate stout and tar. Instead, it smells like CINNAMON with some chocolate and a little tar. Wet, it's tons of cinnamon, like a red hot candy, backed by a liberal amount of pumpkin. It's the fresh, sweet, watery variety of pumpkin, as was in Pumpkin Smash! Unfortunately, like Pumpkin Smash, the tar note is far too weak for what I apparently long for. I can barely pick it out as a dark grittiness grounding the whole scent. There is a strong chocolate scent also. I suppose the pumpkin note is stronger, but chocolate is just so recognizable that it seems to dominate. As it wears, the cinnamon fortunately fades a bit, and the pumpkins gains some ground as a result. Some of the beeriness comes out, with the cinnamon no longer drowning it. The tar also becomes a little more noticeable. So, it becomes a tiny bit less foody, but it's still rather dessert-like. It's like dessert with a hint of dark incense. In short, I'd call this a heavily spicy, deep chocolate blend lightened by pumpkin but grounded by smoky tar.

First of all, I don't know what this "thick crust of salt" is supposed to be. Mine had a light sprinkling that fell off while unwrapping the soap. Probably for the better, anyway. I don't have an imp of Port Royal to compare to, so I can only speak for the soap. This is a bit of a masculine scent, but it's rich and perfect for a soap. In bar form, I smell a lot of ozone and salt, plus the whore's (hereafter: hoor's) perfume. It's very cologne-like, which I wouldn't like in a room scent, but for a soap, it's nice and clean. In the shower, I smell a lot of dry, spicy wood and salt water, with a little bit of the hoors and rum. The spice element is mild and blends well, rather like actual spiced rum -- it's not like a holiday spice blend or anything. Afterward, a sweeter scent lingers in the bathroom -- lots of rum, with some salt water and wood. The scent is pretty strong and definitely stands out while in the shower, but I don't find that much scent lingers on my skin. My skin tends to be dry so I often avoid clay soaps, but it's summer and I can use all of the help against summer gunk that I can get. The bar has a nice, creamy texture and doesn't leave my skin feeling dry or tight at all. In short, I think it's pretty great and I'm looking forward to trying more of Villainess' soaps. I'd definitely buy this one again. It's a great summer bar.

A chilly, bright scent: flurries of virgin snow, crisp winter wind and the faintest breath of night-blooming flowers. Water, saponified free-trade palm kernal oil, coconut oil, soy oil, shea butter, jojoba oil, castor oil, and Snow White fragrance. Wow, my first first review post! Snow White is the first of the Yule soaps that I've used. I've never actually smelled the fragrance, so I can't comment on how it compares. The bar is milky white with a pale beige marbled swirl. The scent is very light, but not faint. It's about equal amounts of light, breathy flowers and frost. The frost has a cool quality that's hard to describe. It's not quite ozone, and it's definitely not mint. It's just... cold! There seems to be a very, very faint sweetness, like a light dusting of powdered sugar. Light florals sometimes give me headaches, but this doesn't bother me at all. In the shower, the scent doesn't seem to get stronger (the steam tends to carry the scent). But I was congested while using it, so I probably couldn't smell it as clearly as people with non-evil sinuses will. It didn't leave any noticeable scent on my skin after drying off, but the bathroom did seem to have a light fragrance. This is a beautiful soap scent, because it's so light and clean. As for the soap itself, it's the same as the other new formula soaps. The texture is comparatively hard, and the lather is a little thin. It lacks the creamy feeling that the clay containing soaps have. My skin was very happy and moist after showering, so as usual, kudos Macha!

This is exactly what I hoped it would be! I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with cherry scents. A lot of the time, I don't like them. And yet I love both Bloody Mary and Velvet Unicorn (which are sort of like bitter/dry and sweet/creamy sides of the same coin). I don't wear fruit scents often because...I don't know, they don't grab me as perfumes. Seeing Egyptian Musk in this was exciting and I thought it would be the key to wearability. Well, the musk does the job! Wet, this definitely has plenty of cherry. When it first goes on, it is very much like Velvet Unicorn -- lots of sweet, red fruit with a rich creaminess. The alcohol quality seems subtle, to me. It blends very well with the other notes, so it doesn't come off like a fruit punch. As it dries, the vanilla deepens and the musk comes in and marries everything together. The musk reminds me of the one in Black Lace. I don't know if it's the same, but the effect with the black vanilla and booze is similar. Replace the tobacco and antique linens in that blend with black cherries, and you might have something similar. If you wore Velvet Unicorn when you were a little girl, Gothabilly is what you'll wear as an adult. It's a dark and sexy scent with a flirty edge from the cherries. I mention little girls, but this is unisex. At least, I think it would smell great on a guy. Throw seems good, wear life is about average.

I have tried probably every incense blend the lab has ever released, looking for the ideal one. Somehow they all end up being ideal in a way -- it's amazing how many variations Beth can produce on this theme. I've been trying black/dark incense blends for ages and never found one that really grabbed me, but when I saw the notes for this, I knew it was the holy grail. This stuff is DARKNESS. Blends like Penumbra and On Darkness were beautiful and complex, with carefully balanced resin, floral, fruit, and earthy notes. Not RomantiGoth. This still is Ubergoth-ness in a bottle. It's just as dark as the lab's other black incense blends, such as Al Azif, but the incense notes are *completely* different. It isn't sinister, it's heady and even a bit swarthy. The musk is what really sets it apart from other black incense blends. It smells like black musk, to me. It isn't advertised as such, but on my skin, it's how it smells. The musk is very strong. In fact, this whole blend is very strong. I put on the usual amount, and it gave me a headache. So use a light touch if you're sensitive, because a little goes a long way. (On the other hand, smelling like a walking nag champa censer is part of the GAF experience, so, do as you will.) I don't really smell plum. I don't really smell opium (the way you sometimes get that sickly sweet quality on the finish). I don't really smell specific resins and I don't really smell amber. I just small black musk and black tar, with a hint of sweetness and a whole lot of velvety darkness. This is very smoothly blended. It lasts a good long time. I'm in hour 12 now and it's still very noticeable. After several hours, the musk recedes and you can begin to smell the balance of different elements. I'd swear there is bitter clove in this. (It's RomantiGoth, there must be cloves.) I forgot it was supposed to have plum in it, and I thought, this would be really to die for layered with Bordello or another plum-heavy blend. Hopefully the native plum will become more apparent over time. As it stands, it's unisex darkness in a 5mL bottle. It's already magnificent, and I'm sure it will only become richer and more complex with age. Check this out if you want a seriously heady incense blend.

It goes on fragrant honey with bitter foliage and green wood. There's a somewhat gritty quality in the background. Other people have mentioned citrus or linden blossom in this. I agree with that, but personally, this didn't scream citrus or flowers to me, until it was pointed out. I just smell honey, which should always have a subtle floral edge to it. As it wears, it becomes deeper and grittier, with a somewhat sour undertone. Perhaps it's wishful thinking, but I *swear* there's an actual ash element at the heart of this -- ash as in the stuff that's leftover when you burn wood, not just Ash the tree. The sweet sap and honey are less predominant once dry, but it's a nicely balanced and rich scent. A little bit woodsy, a little bit floral, a little bit smoky and a little bit sweet. Definitely recommended if you're a fan of the lab's honey blends, but want something that isn't just straight up honey. They haven't made anything else quite like this. Perhaps this is a more unisex option.

This is another lovely, lusty Conjure Oil. It goes on very sweet and rich. Lots of jasmine and dragon's blood. There might be some a hint of magnolia or gardenia. (Magnolia often gives me a headache, but this blend doesn't, FWIW.) I think there might be some honey and/or vanilla, because something reminds me very much of Dragon's Milk. This is even sweeter than normal, plain dragon's blood. I believe there is also some red musk. As it wears, it actually becomes a little bit richer and smokier. There's definitely some frankincense here, and after a few hours, the syrupyness goes away, revealing a darker, sexier undertone. So in summary, I get these notes: jasmine, dragon's blood, frankincense, red musk, the usual indistinct voodoo herbal base, and possibly vanilla or honey. (And as usual, there could be more things going on, that's just what I know I smell.) This one reminds me a lot of Sacred Whore of Babylon, but somehow slightly less voluptuous. The musk is definitely much more subtle. Recommended if you're a fan of that, Unheavenly City, Love Me, or Dragon's Milk.

In Neil's words, "'Sunbird' smells like resin and deserts and the phoenix." Well, it's a good thing that I never got a whole bottle of this. When this was fresh, it was all warm, dry, woodsy spices, and I liked it, but something seemed off. So I kept my decant to age. Now that it's about 6 months old, I've found the source of the problem: vetiver. I remember the debates about this. When I sniffed the prototypes I didn't smell vetiver, but I guess my nose was broken from will call. Because now there is no doubt, and I'm getting the headache to prove it. I can't give hugely detailed notes on this one, but the vetiver seems to blend in better as it dries, giving way to more of the dry spices and woods again. Overall the effect is still very desert-like. Grass, sandalwood, and subtle spice, creating and very warm and sun-baked feeling. I smell both aspects of the vetiver here -- it's cool and grassy and also smoky and bitter. It's quite nice, overall, but I'll stick to Fire Phoenix.

I wasn't sure if I'd like this, but took a chance on it because general reports were so favorable. I was hoping it would smell something like Castitas, which I love, but alas, it's completely different for me. Wet, this smells like the usual silvery, watery lunar herbs, a drop of ozone, and clean flowers. As a whole, it actually smells rather like some kind of cleaning solution on my skin... ah, now I know what it reminds me of: Scrubbin' Bubbles! That's exactly what this smells like. (It also reminds me of the '07 Blue Moon.) Once dry, after about 10 minutes, the cream note and more of the nuances of the flowers become apparent. It's a little bit richer and perhaps slightly more herbal. Now it doesn't smell like Scrubbin Bubbles, but it is still a very white and clean scent. The milk is very much like the actual scent of cold milk. No vanillin whatsoever -- it's just smooth, round, neutral. No butteriness or sourness. And then it's gone. It lasts about 30 minutes on my skin. Oh well. It definitely portrays the quality of chastity, without smelling little girl-ish. This is a sophisticated purity. I'll probably keep a decant to age to see how it goes, but even if this ages spectacularly, I don't think it will suit me. Alas.