feyofthefellwood

I'm pretty picky about aquatics, but the reviews for this one intrigued me enough that I found myself a decant. And this one is good! The beeswax reminds me of Lights of Men's Lives, the salty wood and crimson musk of Anne Bonny, and the sea salt of Mary Read. But where Mary Reads goes too sweet on me for me to enjoy the leather and more grounded notes, this one maintains a good balance on my skin. Sexy pirate lady is an accurate vibe! ⚔️ I definitely want to try this layered with Anne Bonny.

I got this as a lab frimp. I like it better than I thought I would - the honeysuckle note is gorgeous and forward, and is pleasantly heady combined with the opium. I'm not sure I enjoy the vetiver beneath it, though, it's a tad bitter for my tastes.

At first, the rose in this is very dominant and soapy. (Disclaimer: I've noticed that cherry blossoms also tend to veer soapy on my skin, so skin chem weirdness probably has something to do with this). This does eventually dry down to a pretty nice, light cherry blossom scent, but I'm not sure I want to go through the soapy rose phase to get there. I don't smell much of the red sandalwood. The cognac peeks through once the rose quiets down.

I'm in love with this one. ❤️ I don't smell the leather very much (I love leather), but that's okay. The sweet cookie component balances so nicely with the sugared florals and paper. The paper smells more like fresh paper to me than antique: light and smooth, glossy with ink. This, combined with the name of this scent, brings back memories of reading the Trouble With Trolls books around Christmas as a child. The flowers in this actually remind me a bit of the candied floral aspect in Fairy Market, which is of course a plus. Underlying it all is that creamy almost-almond thing that I smell in Snow White. The only downsides to this scent are that it doesn't have much throw or longevity on me, but I will definitely cherish my partial bottle.

I like this one! The tea rose goes slightly soapy, but doesn't overpower the Lab's lovely vanilla musk note. The lily is so good, but a bit faint and I wish I got more of it (I love me some heady lily, though I've heard it's hard to capture in perfume). Although the rose is a tad soapy, it's light and not at all matronly.

This is so nice! Gentle, sweet incense over an almost green carnation. The carnation's spice gives this a nice spark, although overall this is pretty understated on my skin. I think I prefer There's No Bliss Like This for my spicy carnation needs, but this is also a good one for carnation lovers.

Blends like this remind me of why I love carnation so much. This scent also has clove and cinnamon, which makes the carnation extra spicy in a very good way. The vanilla and ylang-ylang give this blend some sweetness to keep it from being bitter, and I think the ylang ylang also helps with throw. The vanilla gives the scent a creamy quality that reminds me of Morocco, which is one of my ultimate favorites. This is definitely a winner in my books.

Wet, this is pure tart green apple on my skin. It dries down to a dewy apple musk with a hint of white floral. Understated and pretty.

I knew I'd like this after seeing the comparisons to Skadi and Elf. To me, this is a vibrant green forest scent, which is apt for a scent encapsulating winter turning to spring. Weirdly, smelling this makes the top of my tongue tingle . . . An odd side effect, but otherwise, 👍. 😄

This kind of smells like fancy shampoo to me - elegant and pleasantly floral, but also a bit soapy. I haven't rested my decant yet though, so I'll update if it changes.

A light, sweet, floral scent. The honey-flowers combo actually makes me think of honeysuckle, although this has no honeysuckle. The white honey is much lighter and sweeter than the other types of honey the lab uses; it's a kind of ethereal honey. The star jasmine (a note I adore) is almost soapy but never actually gets there; it's lifted by the powdery orris, amber, and sweet osmanthus. This is basically the scent equivalent of eiderdown, soft and pale and floating. I'm tempted to get a bottle.

Hmm, my favorite foresty scent is Elf, but that would probably be too sweet for your purposes (plus, it has a lily note). Black Forest is a good one, although you'd have to like the black musk that emerges as it dries. Epidote Phoenix was a LE, but it's a really nice redwood forest scent with amber. Oh, and Berzerker is quite foresty and nice! It brings me back to the juniper forest around the place I grew up. I definitely smell the trees more than the leather or metal in that one (although skin chemistry can always vary).

I wanted to try this one because I feel like Denna is an unfairly maligned character and was curious about a perfume interpretation of her. Mostly, this smells like sweet, green grass to me. There's a hint of dewiness and florals. The scent doesn't have a lot of throw (although I don't usually slather, so maybe it would be different if I did), but I do catch a whiff of springtime about me when I wear it.

I was excited to see this come back into stock, so grabbed an imp. It's slightly soapy, but in a pleasant way - it's like a high end laundry smell, but also captures the cool sweetness of the desert just before the sun rises. A light green kind of scent. My only complaint is that it's a bit faint on me, but with resting and aging, that might change.

As others have mentioned, this definitely makes me think of Phedre from the Kushiel books. 🌹 Also, it's a gorgeous rose blend. Sometimes rose tends to me a bit sweet for me, but the leather grounds the rose here and makes it lighter (also, I'm a fan of leather, so that probably helps). Very fresh and sensual.

Rosewater and . . . a hint of jasmine? This is fairly light and inoffensive, but sweeter than expected. I don't think it's my thing, but I'm glad I got to try it. Might be good to layer with something like Paladin.

I've been finding vanilla and sandalwood combos really calming lately, so this is lovely. The ylang ylang starts strong, but the three notes blend together nicely after it dries down. The scent actually stays pretty close to the skin after dry-down, so not a lot of throw. Overall, this is an almost creamy vanilla-sandalwood with the cheerful sweetness of ylang ylang.

This one reminds me of Storge, another lavender/honey combo I love. This starts off a bit astringent/herbal, I'm guessing because the honey is acacia honey. But it tones down pretty fast into a floral honey with just a bit of kick. The beeswax backs up the other notes and gives them a pleasant waxy chewiness (lol, I don't know how to describe it, obviously). Anyway, I'm digging it. It also reminds me a little of Sucreabeille's Beekeeper's Daughter, but this is heavier on the sweet honey than the herbs. Edit: Yeah, okay, even though I already have a bottle of Storge I had to full size this. *ignores the sound of wallet complaining* Apparently honey + lavender is another weakness of mine.

An almost green, dry-smelling patchouli sweetened with a little honey and benzoin. It's not really my style, but it's pleasant and gives off a warm impression.

Sampled my sister's decant. This reminds me of Black Butterfly Moon (florals + moss), Ava, and Butterflies, Flowers, and Jewels Attending to some extent. After a while the heady florals dry down and you're left with a vanilla musk type scent. Very nice if you're into florals and scents that lean more "commercial."

This is really nice! Toasty rice with sweetness from the sugar and fuzziness from the hay. Understated, cozy, and comforting. Edited to say that the more this one settles/ages, the more I love it. It's sweeter to me now, almost vanilla-like (but still unmistakably rice milk), and has a gentle throw that's very elegant. Bottle has been ordered.

This has a really nice, grainy rice note underlying the florals. Unfortunately, the florals go a little sharp and soapy on my skin, but the rice note stays pretty yummy.

This is an amazing blend! Rich chocolate sweetened with tonka and amber. It has a milk chocolate vibe to me, but like expensive, fancy milk chocolate, something that would come wrapped in gold leaf. I sampled my sister's bottle, but might have to grab one for myself at some point before the Lupers come down.

Love this! It's a pretty strong sweet cherry when wet, but it softens considerably as it dries. It really does smell like cherry buttercream to me, noticeable in my hair but not cloying.

When I was a kid, I had this sheer white scrap of cloth that smelled of faded perfume. I used to like rubbing it between my fingers and just enjoying the gauzy texture (wow, those were simpler times). Anyway, that is what Ava reminds me of, a gauzy, pale, floaty wisp of a thing. When I first smelled it, I thought it was just okay. My go-to "fancy vanillas" are Zorya P, Inez, and BFJA, and Ava is more reserved in sweetness than those. (My bottle is also of indeterminate age, so maybe that's why it's pretty mellow). It does remind me of a toned-down BFJA, which is unapologetically lush florals. But as I wore Ava, I began to appreciate her magic. She's floral but not overpowering, vanillic but not sugary. She makes me feel pretty, sophisticated, and confident. A little mysterious, even. On days when I want to feel feminine yet badass, I'll definitely gravitate towards Ava. I also think Ava is understated enough for work (I don't slather though), which is nice.