alterosen

I enjoy the frosty pumpkin amber but this particular snow note has a lot of evergreen which takes it towards cologne territory on me. It is very pleasant but not my style.

Love the bay & spices in this! Wish I had more!

This seems pretty similar to the perfume version: a strong red-purple fruity scent. I get a hint of something a bit sharp, too but it will take someone with a better nose than I to tease it out.

My haunted house must have had a fire at some point because the wood here has sustained some smoke damage. I get a sweet, blackened wood note with cinnamon & a bit of syrup. Maybe this is a teakwood heavy version? No fresh cut cedar here (dad was a carpenter so I actually dig the smell of sawdust, but I'm not sensing it either). It gets more foody as it dries but I'm not loving it.

I like all these notes but somehow this just didn't resonate with me. It was fine but I expected to love it. The lavender is a bit too herbal & the violet & orange blossom combined with the white musk make it too perfumey for my taste.

I was a little worried this would be too similar to Gingerbread, Vaniila Sugar & Pink Pepper but once the sandalwood warms up, it is its own gorgeous self. The Gingerbread blast at the beginning fades & becomes a supporting player to the vanilla & sandalwood with a bit of marshmallow wafting in and out. I don't notice a butter note but I do get hint of fruit once in a while that reminds me of Sugar Skull. I blind-bottled this one & have no regrets!

Mmm! Rather than anything metallic, I smell petrichor/wet stone layered with some berries & maybe a hint of herbs or woods. Drydown is mostly berries with a witchy, dancing at a stone circle vibe. I really like this & plan to upgrade to a bottle. I was expecting something with a sharp red musk, so I'm very pleased to be wrong.

Lovely! To me, this feels like the offspring of Tattered Lace & Paper Phoenix. It has a bit more zingy citrus than Dorian but is very much in the same family with that smooth vanilla finish. I'm so happy that I blind-bottled this one! eta: I bet this will go really well with Platinum Wig Spray...

My son (16) likes The Bow & Crown of Conquest which is crisp, clean & intriguing. He also likes The Buggre Alle This Bible from Good Omens which is a nice sandalwood leather scent. Sherlock Holmes & John Watson would be worth trying, too, as well as The Scales of Deprivation & Death On a Pale Horse. Eta: I missed that you were possibly looking for something spicy - woody & spicy are my husband's favorites! He loves Wild Men of Jezirat al Tennyn, Port Royal, Dee & Orion. I like him in Gingerbread Villain & Samhain, too.

DXLIV (544, recent purchase from ETSY) First impression: a purpley pink fruity/floral. I'm guessing grape or plum with maybe a hint of gardenia. A bit of citrus, too. As it dries, the fruit changes to berries & a mild incense-y/smoky note develops. I'm starting to sense a little Dorian in the background - some fougere & vanilla overlaid by the smoky purple notes.

Snake Oil DCCXLI (recent purchase from ETSY) A bit citrusy in the bottle (blood orange maybe?) but that doesn't last long once on the skin. As it dries, I get a chocolatey note along with the Snake Oil & a smidge more vanilla, yet it's not totally foody. I tested it alongside Boomslang but they are quite different. This isn't nearly as dark a chocolate nor as sweet. I also get a tiny bit of red musk that isn't present in Boomslang & possibly a hint of wood.

For a sweet fruity floral, try Titania (A nocturnal bounty of fae dew-kissed petals and pale fruits: white grape, white peach, iced pear, musk rose, sweet pea, moonflower and snapdragon). Super strong & very pretty. Miskatonic University (The scent of Irish coffee, dusty tomes and polished oakwood halls) was purely caramel on me. 

Hi there! I actually have an ancient imp of Severin (Dry black teas, Earl Gray, and leather) but it is so faint that all I can smell is a tiny bit of bergamot, so that's not much help but I'll see what I can find. Here's a bunch of mostly LE or unimpable suggestions (sorry) but you should be able to find decants to try on the Sales & Swap pages. I would also post an ISO to see if you can rustle up some Severin - you never know! And a wishlist never hurts. The one usually suggested when people are looking for Earl Grey tea is Theodosius (Earl Grey tea leaves, a white fougere, jasmine leaf, pearlescent white musk, and vanilla bean). The jasmine went bad on my skin (bug spray!) but you might have better luck. Lady Death: Savage (White musk, grey amber, Calabrian bergamot, vanilla absolute, French labdanum, styrax, wormwood, caraway, and bois de jasmin) has a strong bergamot note & something in there reads as tea-like to me, anchored by white musk & light amber. L'Intention Fait Valoir les Bagatelles (Black tea, lavender buds, Italian bergamot, and Siamese benzoin) looks promising but it was mostly lavender on me. Many of the reviews mention Earl Grey tea, though. The Silver Dollar from American Gods (Gilded iris and Siamese benzoin, silvery-white musk, white tea leaf, and bergamot) has the tea & bergamot combo, too, but it might be more fresh & citrusy than you're looking for. Maybe layering it with something with leather would work? I bet it would be amazing with The White Rider (White leather and sandalwood). There's also Furo (Black tea, bergamot, red patchouli, peru balsam, and bourbon vanilla) - a long shot but some people don't notice the patchouli. If you get some of the leather from Severin, you might like Jareth (Ethereal lilac fougere and gleaming leather with ti leaf, tonka absolute, white musk, and oudh). I love the leather in The Bow and Crown of Conquest (sage, carnation and cedar with lavender, vanilla, white musk and leather) & I can see it as being in the same scent family.

The notes for Theodosius are: Earl Grey tea leaves, a white fougere, jasmine leaf, pearlescent white musk, and vanilla bean.Though Theo doesn't work on me personally, I do love these types of scents. I think Lady Death Savage would be worth trying since it has the jasmine, bergamot (Earl Grey), white musk & vanilla combo (White musk, grey amber, Calabrian bergamot, vanilla absolute, French labdanum, styrax, wormwood, caraway, and bois de jasmin). Perhaps Jareth? It has a bit of an edge to it (Ethereal lilac fougere and gleaming leather with ti leaf, tonka absolute, white musk, and oudh). Knight In Shiny Armor seems to be in the same family (dapper lavender fougere with white carnation, sweet oakmoss, clary sage, crisp leather, bourbon vanilla & a hint of armor polish) Also Silver Lace (bitter black vanilla husk, bourbon tobacco, white cognac, juniper berry, white musk, ti leaf, and Italian bergamot) though I think it's sweeter than Theo.

#76 - Samhain with a bit more dead leaves & a splash of booze.