ravenscanary

Source: Decant

 

In the decant: Amber and citrus, predominantly orange. Floral sweetness, but I couldn't put a name on it.

 

Wet: Blood orange seems to be the dominant note on my skin, though the amber is there (slightly powdery undertone) and the floral. I'd never guess marigold and sunflower as the floral notes, but they are very pretty.

 

Dry: The amber comes out more, which is common for my skin chemistry. I don't really get the autumnal/winter edge to this, it's very red-gold late summer to me, slightly powdery due to the amber. Very warm scent.

Source: Decant

 

In the decant: wax over a cologne-like base.

 

Wet: unisex cologne, very clean-smelling. the wax disappeared.

 

Dry: no change.

 

Pretty disappointing. This one smells very much like some generic mainstream unisex splash on scent, just without the unpleasant alcoholic edge. It is pleasant, but not remotely what I was expecting. I'll be sticking with Aziraphale for my "bookish" scent.

Source: Decant

 

In the decant: deep tobacco, like a cigar

 

Wet: This is sweet, sweet, sweet. Lots of google can't tell me what "bunn" is, but I'm getting tobacco with brown sugar and incensey frankincense undertones when I huff deeply. It's not quite what I expected. I don't really get a wood note. It almost smells like a spicy baked good - I think the sugar is causing me to interpret the tobacco as cinnamon. It's so strong it gives a Yankee Candle sort of vibe, if Yankee Candle made a Brown Sugar & Pipe Tobacco candle. (If they did, I would buy it, probably.)

 

Dry: It's just...so...sweet. For so long. I think I would love this if it wasn't quite so sharply, nostril-stabbingly sweet at application. It does wear off on drydown, but it takes a long time to get to tobacco & frankincense holding hands and skipping merrily through a field together.

 

I like the long-term effect enough to keep the decant, but I don't need a bottle. I'm going to experiment with application with this.

Source: Decant

 

In the decant: Patchouli and sandalwood and leather. Bitter.

 

Wet: This reminds me forcefully of Nanny Ashtoreth, a favorite blend of mine, and they do share some notes in common - leather, honey, eastern flowers, wood. I get less leather here with VILF, more patchouli, and for some reason the leather just doesn't feel as smoothly-blended as it is in Nanny Ashtoreth.

 

Dry: Leather and patchouli remain prominent. Not really getting the red musk at all, only a faintest edge of sandalwood. A nice scent - and it has to be to make me fond of something with patchouli that doesn't stay in the background - but not something I need a bottle of.

Source: Lab Imp

 

In the imp: Candy, purple sweet tarts to be precise. The heck?

 

Wet: Oh, there we go. Herbal myrrh and resins, a very deep base scent, with a touch of lilac. Nice.

 

Dry: Unfortunately, the sweetness comes out more, and my nose is not accepting it as honeywine at all for more than a few seconds: it is the nice balanced resinous blend...with sweet tarts. It is not actively unpleasant, but neither is it doing much for me.

 

Notes: Decent wear and throw. Oil is fairly dark gold, and there was dark brown sludge in the bottom of my decant.

This one is all fir on me, with an undertone of something between ozone and burnt plastic. Despite that burnt plastic thing, it's not actually at all unpleasant.

Normally I try to break down my reviews a bit more delicately, but:

 

Cracker Jack and Dunkin Donuts iced coffee with cream and sugar.

 

It gets a bit more buttery/deep as it wears, but it smells like Cracker Jack and Dunkin Donuts.

In decant: spun sugar!

 

Wet: Spun sugar!

 

Dry: Spun sugar...also a faint berry/rose undertone.

 

A very pink, girly, SWEET scent. It is not at all complex on me, though it deepens a little as it dries as the berry note comes out. It's all candy sugar, all the time.

This soap is very much what it says on the tin, so to speak - mostly thick, heavy honey with a spicy floral undertone. It has a rich, heavy scent, and as a fan of the Lab's honey note, I really enjoy it. It may just be my imagination, but it seems like when I wear a honey perfume after bathing with this soap, the perfume scent gets amplified and richer from the lingering soap scent. Even if I don't apply perfume for a while, I can smell this soap on my skin for a good while.

 

Along with the Embalming Fluid soap, this was the only one of the five that I can smell on me after bathing.

It starts out as a really nice, mild, dry corn scent. After a few minutes, and for hours after, though...I swear to heaven, I get fresh, hot cornbread with a touch of butter and honey from this.

 

I may need multiple bottles. It's divine.

I have each of the soaps to try, and this is the one I chose to break out first. I'm right in the middle of finals week as a grad student, so I wanted something clean-smelling and refreshing, and this soap really worked for me.

 

The scent out of the wrapper is great. I've never tried Embalming Fluid perfume, but it's fresh and clean, warmed a little by the musk. I've tried a few Villianess perfumes before, and this one is similarly-scented - very noticeable, but hardly overwhelming. In the shower, this lathered well and felt nice and smooth on the skin.

 

Out of the bath, the scent lingers, but very close to the skin. I have combination skin - oily in some areas, dry in others - and I didn't feel overly dried-out, as bar soaps are wont to do.

 

I really like this one, and this will probably be a repeat purchase for a refreshing morning soap for spring and summer. (I'm also probably going to have to track down an imp of the perfume. I'm boggled as to how I've missed trying it, when I'm a fan of "green" scents.)

Source: Full decant from circle.

 

In the vial: Musky lilac and wisteria, with an oddly smoky undertone - the oolong tea?. This seems more complex than I expected.

 

Wet: All lilac, all the time. It immediately goes a bit soapy/powdery on me.

 

Dry: This actually improves on drydown for me a ton. I get a cool floral blend instead of the "Lilac single note", and it's lovely and fresh instead of powdery. Good morph! there's a hint once again of the tea note, though it's very, very faint, which makes me sad - I was hoping it would be more prominent.

 

Notes: For a fairly delicate floral, this seems to have good staying power on me. I'm not sure this is bottle worthy, but I love the art...this will be a hard decision.

Source: Full decant from circle.

 

In the vial: Sweet, sweet fruit and a liqueur-like booze-note.

 

Wet: Honey and vanilla and fruit, all the way. It smells, like an earlier reviewer noted, like the kind of imaginary dessert that you can only dream of eating. The honey is a very pure honey, to me - it smells like honeycomb over delicately-cooked fruit, finished with a liquor-infused sauce. It's sort of foody to me and yet not like any other foody-scent I love.

 

Dry: This stays very sweet, but the tobacco note comes out and deepens it. It's still absolutely delicious and makes my mouth water. There is something in this that does remind me faintly of a Yankee Candle shop, as others have noticed. One note in here is tickling my brain that way, but I think it's well-blended enough so that it, itself, doesn't smell like a candle.

 

Notes: Long wear and pretty good throw. I'm pretty sure this is bottle-worthy.

Source: Full decant from circle.

 

In the vial: Pepper and strong, dry sandalwood with an earthy undertone. Very masculine, very strong. It almost gave me an insta-headache to huff it.

 

Wet: Skin contact seems to tame this scent for me, but it's still predominantly pepper and sandalwood with this musky thing going on - the oakmoss and honey. I really adore honey, but it doesn't come out for me in a lot of BPAL blends. Here it's just a faint hint of sweetness that makes the oakmoss scent more pleasant. Overall, still a very harsh, masculine scent.

 

Dry: After about 45 minutes, the honey and delicate floral really seems to come out. Both the sandalwood and the oakmoss are much more balanced, and the harshness is gone. Don't get me wrong - unlike some other reviewers, I am still getting a strong, masculine, musky-damp feel to this, but it's sweetened up. Nicer, but I think I'll be more than content with my decant.

 

Notes: Pale yellow oil. Moderate wear and throw.

Source: Second-hand half-decant.

 

In the imp: All red wine, with a hint of what I think is the "aged oak" giving it a bit of bitterness.

 

Wet: Wine and cherry, predominantly, with a pleasantly bitter undertone of smoky wood and coffee. This is really rich and well-blended. The lab's wine note works well on me, and this scent is no exception.

 

Dry: The sweet richness of the wine fades, and the dry smoke and coffee come out more on me. This is still excellent and pleasant. Unfortunately...

 

Notes: This doesn't last and has almost no throw. My skin eats this like the desert sucks up water. I've reapplied heavily from my decant three times on the back of my hand and I still have to press my nose into my own hand to smell it at all. It's really too bad - I love the scent, but it doesn't wear at all.

Source: Second-hand half-decant.

 

In imp: A sweet floral, with a hint of sharpness - the greenery, perhaps.

 

Wet: Bright, sweet floral. A big bouquet of light-colored flowers and leaves. Lily, moonflower, jasmine, perhaps? This scent, to me, feels like a Lunacy. It's a cool floral, it almost chills my nose!

 

Dry: Still going strong and sweet. Little to no morphing. The sweetness is giving me a bit of a headache, though.

 

Notes: Long lasting, big throw for a floral. This is pleasant, but a little too sweet for my tastes, and likely the sort of thing that will give me mild headaches and the urge to sneeze. My little bit will be plenty.

I can't wear Snake Oil alone and find it actively unpleasant, but many (if not most) Snake Oil blends (the Snake Pit, Lilith Victoria, Cake Smash) work wonderfully on me. And since I love honey scents like O, I thought this was going to be amazing...

 

Source: Fresh decant from circle.

 

In the vial: Snake Oil. I don't have my old imp of Snake Oil any longer, but this matches my memory.

 

Wet: Ouch. All Snake Oil harshness. I don't smell any honey. This is not pleasant to my nose at all.

 

Drydown: I finally get honey after about...yes, it's been 6 hours. *sigh* This is really unfortunate. To the swap/sell pile, because if I want a pleasant, warm honey scent I have lovely lady O there for me.

 

Notes: Moderate throw and decent wear, though it morphs all the way to honey over time on me.

Source: Fresh decant from a circle.

 

In the decant: Fruit liqueur. Very much all the apricot cordial.

 

Wet: Sweet, sweet, sweet fruit. Apricot and raspberry candy. I get a mental sugar shock just sniffing this. I don't detect anything that reminds me of white chocolate.

 

Dry: The fruity scents blend together much nicer after about 30 minutes. I still don't get any white chocolate from this, and it's a very artificial hard candy smell, but it's not unpleasant. I normally amp boozy scents like crazy, but I've been forgetting that it's supposed to be - whatever boozy elements it had in the decant, it doesn't come out on my skin.

 

Notes: This one seems to have pretty good wear and throw. I think it might be a fun summer scent for the right kind of mood.

Source: Fresh decant from circle.

 

In the decant: BOOZE. I do occasionally drink both whiskey and cognac; this smells like I stuck my nose in a sticky, full glass of the latter.

 

Wet: BOOZE. Spilled on me. I could dab cognac on my wrist and get the same scent.

 

Dry: The booze steps back a bit, and I get a whiff of the chocolate - a dry, powdery baking chocolate smell. No sweetness in this at all, it's almost burnt. A faintly plastic undertone as it dries. I do not love this, which is a shame because alcoholic scents tend to do well on me.

Source: Bottle, purchased from the lab about 18 months ago.

 

In the bottle: Creamy rose, with a spicy vanilla undertone from the Tonka.

 

Wet: Oh, HI THERE coconut. As soon as this hit my skin the musky, coconut notes came out prominently. This is the same creamy rose, but I was reminded forcibly of simmering coconut milk on the stove being infused with spices when I make Thai food. This is not a foody blend, per se, the rose is still very prominent, but the creamy coconut and the spice from the tonka make a really fascinating blend. Lovely.

 

Drydown: This fades after some hours back to, basically, a lighter version of what I smelled in the bottle. The herbal/spicy coconut has died down, and we're back to a creamy rose.

 

Notes: Moderate throw, moderate-to-long wear length. I really like this, and regret that it took me so long to test. I bought the whole set of Grindhouse Ladies but had put Gywneth in the back of my box, since I'm not a huge fan of rose scents generally, but this is complex and creamy enough that I think it might be a nice summer scent for me.

When I received my half-bar from a circle earlier this week, I was very excited about Shub. It smelled divine, and was powerful enough for me to smell across the room. Shub was also the only variant of the old soaps I'd ever tried, so I was curious to compare the two.

As usual with Villianess Soaps, it lathered and moisturized quite well for bar soap, and smelled fabulous in the shower. While using it, I think the scent was, of course, similar to that of the old soap, but creamier. I think the base soap ingredients are simply superior, and while they don't dull the scent of the perfume, they make it a bit richer, less sharp.

However, the scent was completely gone after I got out of the shower. While the Embalming Fluid soap left a lovely clean green tea and citrus scent on my skin for the rest of the day, I can't detect even the faintest hint of Shub-scent on my skin. Very disappointing. My skin does eat the Shub perfume a bit, so this may be a skin chemistry issue rather than one with the soap.

Source: Circle decant

 

In the decant: bright, sweet herbal. I can't pick out any particular notes.

 

Wet: ...fruity marshmallow? I think? It's very sweet, light, and very powdery. I do get a little pear, but none of the other notes are clear to me.

 

Dry: I'm not sure if it's the nature of the scent that makes me think it's so powdery - it's certainly light/clean/fresh/sweet - all of which tend to be associated with powder in my instinctive brain, so that may be it. It's very airy; I don't get a strong feeling for any kind of base note. I like my scents a little more solid - I suppose I was expecting something a little more sharp. Luckily, Tin Phoenix gave me the oomph I wanted.

 

Notes: For such a light scent, it has pretty decent wear and throw.

Since no one's mentioned it in this thread thus far that I can see, the 13 from June 2008 has a very distinct apple note to me. I describe it to others as hot cocoa and apple cider.

Source: Secondhand decant

 

In the imp: Plum wine! Sweet and incense-like undertones. Pleasant and rich.

 

Wet: Immediately the wine and sandalwood begins to dominate. I tend to amp alcohol notes, so this is unsurprising. However, this doesn't smell like burgundy wine at all to me. Normally, as something of a wine snob, I disdain non-grape 'fruit' wines, but I think I would drink this plum wine!

 

Dry: The sandalwood has totally overwhelmed the other notes after not very long. Twenty minutes or so? It's a very pleasant sandalwood. For me, usually it's kind of a boring note, but the fruity touches underneath are nice. I'm surprised the wine has died down so noticeably, because normally wine notes linger on me all day. It's a .warm scent. I might keep this one for cold days

 

Notes: Some other folks claim this smells like vetiver in the drydown. Since vetiver is my absolute scream, gag, run for the shower note, I can say I don't get that at all. A strong scent, long wear, good throw.

Source: Imp from swap

In the imp: Wood polish.

Wet: Wood polish, with a hint of melty plastic. I'm trying with all my might, but I can't smell ANY cherry or fruit or anything but wood polish with a chemical undertone.

Dry: After about two hours, I can smell a bit of sweetness under drying wood polish, but it's about to fade.

Notes: Moderate strength, short wear.

This one is going back in the swap pile. I like wood scents -Nanny Ashtoreth is a favorite that seems to have a slightly similar "wood polish" note - but it's blended with a lot of other things there, unlike here where it doesn't just predominate, it's all there is.