SmellsPrettyGood2Me

I'm still a BPAL toddler, but this got me really excited at first sniff. There is something sweetly PURPLE about it that harkens back to the powdery fragrance formulations of a century ago, intermingled with a less dust-like and more dirt-like note, and a very floral honey. WOW, does this absolutely bloom on skin!!! I'm not even really sure how to describe it, but it makes me feel like a jazz singer about to get up on stage at a speakeasy, maybe dressed up a bit more elegant than you'd expect to see given the surroundings and the crowd, but nevertheless fancy and earthy at the same time. The sillage is intense and bold for the first hour in particular and stayed pretty potent for the next 7; I could catch whiffs of myself as I moved around about my day. Mr Smells, who rarely notices a fragrance unless I'm shoving an arm in his face going "WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THIS ONE", said "Hmmm, whatever you're wearing today smells nice." I can see why this combo may not serve everyone, but if you love iris and a dirty patchouli, and don't mind a slightly fruity floral honey opening act to introduce them, this is an incomparable trio.

Not being entirely confident in the nuances between crimson musk and red musk, if there are many (or any), my sense of this being incredibly musk and nutmeg forward persists beyond the imp and onto skin, where it remains so for about 2 hours before any other note really has a chance to present itself. At that 2 hour mark, everything takes a hard pivot to Soft Town; the amber and saffron are there, the tobacco is dry and leathery, and I can finally smell the patchouli on its own. This reminds me a lot of Satyr, with nutmeg instead of cloves, and I wish I had my sample of that handy so that I could do a true side-by-side comparison. Not boozy, not cloying, and keeps getting better as the day goes on. It's a gorgeous scent, likely to age beautifully, with strong projection and over 12 hours of wear.

In the imp: pickle juice On skin: pickle juice and grass It's a hard pass for me, dawg.

Gorgeous musky sweetness in the imp plus what I could swear is a hint of either the chocolate note or the powdered sugar I get from Bliss. While I don't actually really like Bliss, this was love at first sniff. My instinct was to absolutely slather it on, but I restrained myself to one generous swipe of the wand. On skin, the lightly cinnamon waxiness that others have mentioned pops up very quickly. I start to waffle here, because the projection is moderate to strong, and this is the second scent in the past 2 weeks where I got slightly icky candle melt vibes in the drydown. I decided to try to shift my focus to other things and see where the journey took me. About 50 minutes post application, things shifted again in the direction of sugar powder dusted pancakes. Does this share DNA with Please Scream, minus the coffee and ice cream notes? It's weird; when I put my arm up to my nose, it's not my favorite smell. But wafting gently around me as I sit here in the 9th Portal of Documentation Review Hell, it's really great. One modest dab on each arm should be plenty to create a pleasant cloud of sweetness around you for 7+ hours. While others find this sexy, I think it has an innocent element to it that would make for a great tween/teen first fragrance. Even for someone like me who amps cinnamon by a factor of 100, it's nicely balanced and a little perfume-y, in all the good ways.

Medicinal, damp, dirt-y, root-y greenness in the imp that is pretty bracing to behold for the first time. I made note of the comments other people had made on its potency, and was still taken aback. Once applied to skin I can start to more carefully tease out the individual scent notes. This cedar is BIG, like primeval forest level big, and I find myself wanting to make big barrels with it, fill those barrels with potent, clear liquor, and bury them for a hundred years. The patchouli is as dirty as it gets, and mixed with the vetivert there is a misty, boggy quality that makes it feel humid and sinister. Would it be so hard to imagine that Death puts this on before he picks up his scythe and leaves the house in the morning? I don't think so! Loud, atmospheric, and unapologetic, this clung to my hands and clothes; even though I never touched my eye, I could swear I could feel it tingling from the proximity to my arm and fingers. 8 hours of wear, and I could still smell it the next morning with almost no loss of strength. Not work safe, not transit safe, and likely to inspire rugged passions and behaviors. My imp is safely in quarantine until the time comes to repel the marauders. Wield with caution!

🎶 Haaaaaang on Prune-y, Prune-y hang on🎶 The song that inspired the melodic association has a completely different meaning than how I interpreted this wet in the bottle, but I found myself silently singing the modified lyrics in my head every time I took a whiff. Bright purple prune juice gives the old nose hairs a good slap, and no matter how many times I pick it up and put it down that's what dominates. On skin, something immediately goes awry, and I get that metallic plastic smell of a new cassette or VHS tape when you first take off the cellophane wrapping. More surprised than put off, I sniff through it to get the benzoin beneath the fruity plastic. Eventually the caramel note joins in and the brief flashback is largely over, save for a few small ghost whiffs of tape later on. Vanilla? Wherefore art thou, vanilla? I wait about 45 minutes for the fruity top notes to melt away a bit before I can really catch it. It morphs into something very "top crackle layer of a fruit creme brûlée served in the church hall after a Catholic wedding". Do I like the benzoin here? Is it Sumatran and that's why I'm getting the post mass vibes? I walked around Target sniffing my arm every 60 seconds or so as the fruit retreated trying to figure that out. It took me a few hours, but I decided yes, I do. (I did not make it out of Target unscathed for my trouble. I mean, can a person even have too many 3M Command hooks?? They come in multi-packs now, I can't see how buying in bulk is ever a bad thing. *side-eyes BPAL collection*) What started out liquid laxative leaning ended up being somewhat enjoyably event dessert-like in the end, with a brief detour through media of days gone by to get there. My gut tells me that this will become even better with time as that spanky purple open gets tamed and toned down a bit. It's good, and because it fades down into powdery sweetness, I'd say it's probably pretty safe for corporate workplaces and confined spaces.

In the bottle, I get a cold, milky oatmeal that has been sitting out too long on the kitchen table after breakfast because everyone got distracted before they left the house and forgot to clear the bowls. There's some sweet orange oil in here, even more prominent than any waxy, honeyed sweetness. On skin, the oats note seems a bit drier, the honey comes out, and the sweet orange oil persists. Maybe this is a hint of a glass of juice nearby instead? I'm not getting any other spices, but the creaminess comes back after a few minutes of soaking in. Over the next hour, the oats turn powdery and the honey note thickens a bit, getting darker and sweeter. I'm starting to envision oatmeal less and more of a muffin with little bits of orange peel zest that give certain bites a bit of a zing. By 30 minutes in, the orange has gone. Although it doesn't cast a large throw, it's a very present scent; I'm aware of having it on as I go about my day. My brain knows it's foodie, but it doesn't FEEL foodie in the same way as a cake, jam or pastry scent usually does. It's just nice, cozy, and comforting even in the blazing, brain glazing heat of a late July day. Low to moderate throw that sharply drops in olfactory impact after only about an hour. By hour two I am getting an oatmeal cookie scented holiday wax melt, by hour four it is largely gone. Where and when would I wear it? When I want to invoke memories of family gatherings and time spent sitting around the breakfast table, maybe? I like it, but I don't know how often I'll need to conjure up therapy fodder in the near term.

I ordered this with some trepidation, not being the biggest fan of wine notes, and while also still figuring out how much violet I'm willing to let into my life. But, there were not a lot of Shungas that spoke to me this year (cream and milk everywhere, hard pass!!) so I forced myself to take the risk here because if we don't keep supporting the brands we love in some way, shape, or form, they'll go away. Haunches tensed, for the glory of our collective futures, I sniffed and dabbed. There was a rather unmistakable, nostril smacking fruity must in the open, but after a mere 10 minutes it gave way to the prettiest, most gorgeous amalgam of Other Things that I have smelled this sniffing season. I'll be frank; I could not pick out any of the other notes individually, but the effect in combination was simply beautiful. Much closer to a skin scent than something that shouts at you, the slightly powdery affect from the violet was charming. This is the ideal scent to wear when you want to smell lovely in a non-overbearing way, and I would go so far as to say there is no situation where it would not be appropriate due to it's low sillage and overall pleasantness. I wore this for 3 days in a row in disgusting heat and humidity, and it never turned on me. I do wish it lasted a bit longer than the 4 hours I got from it, and I would suggest more of a slather than a dab if you're looking for a bigger olfactory bubble to billow around you. A real stunner! I am so happy to have her.

Incredibly orange blossom forward, both wet in the imp and on skin. Miyabi is right that this is hand-soapy in nature and very linear, although not unpleasant to my nose. For those who want a bit of delicate sweetness, it could be a lovely date night scent; I would be a bit wary of wearing it in high heat as it got a bit cloying when I got sweaty doing some cleaning. The honey here is more honeysuckle than edible and pairs nicely with the orange blossom. I did not get much musk until a couple of hours in, and even then it was not overpowering. Moderately strong projection to start, but begins to wane around the 4 hour mark. I can see this being a nice atmo spray scent for a guest room as well. Very "1980's summer visit to see your boss lady aunt" coded.

Bright, almost floral (orange blossom?), bold honey dominates in the imp, with maybe the tiniest whiff of chewy patchouli in there somewhere. Applied to skin, I start to catch some cassia along with a hearty dose of mulling spices. After about 10 minutes, I smell fried dough with powdered sugar??! It takes a good 45 minutes for everything to settle down and the patchouli to feel comfortable peeking out to say hello for only a hot minute. Largely, it gives hard cider for as long as it lasts, which was 7 hours of wear and even detectable the next morning when I woke up. I would describe the sillage here as potent, verging on what may be considered nuclear for an oil based scent. It may have a time and a place in your fall rotation if you like evoking state fairs and festivals, hayrides or outdoor cider pubs. Not work safe unless you're a social media influencer who closes your clips with "And it was another great day of saving the beeeeeeees"..

In the imp, a powdery, lightly burnished, golden amber, but not a lot of leather. This changes on skin, where I get a slightly smoky, musky, leather with the tiniest hint of dried, salty sweat. It's a sweeter and more subtle scent than I was anticipating, but I'm not mad about it. Over time the masculine, mildly aftershave-esque vibe starts to soften a little. To me, this is a fall/winter scent hiding in Shunga clothing. It makes me want to save a horse and ride a cowboy. 100% full bottle + backup bottle worthy.

I'm so mad at myself for missing out on a full bottle of this! In the imp, I get a strong impression of a cologne-y fougere and a touch of fresh sap. It's not until the dab has dissipated on skin for about 15 minutes that the black amber creeps in with a deeper, sweetness layered underneath it all. An hour in, it goes from soapy to a bit powdery. Medium to strong projection, lasting about 5 solid hours. Decidedly masculine leaning, I'm imagining that this is what Virginia Woolf smelled like when she dressed as an Abyssinian price and snuck onto a Royal Navy ship for a tour. There is something a bit cheeky about it!

A little bit of soil, a handful of cotton and the same Indian musk as Galvanic Goggles mingles with sweet tobacco when wet. Applied to skin, a boozy vanilla comes out to play and the tobacco really warms up. I don't really get any moss, or incense. This is softly sweet, lasting just under 7 hours, with moderate projection. I can see why this is such a highly coveted scent; it's gorgeous. The tobacco and cognac are a great combo, and as always the Lab's fabric notes are on point. It truly feels like a "best of" some of the nicest parts of other scents that I like all wrapped up into one. Hopefully it can make a reappearance somehow in the future!

Always here for the Lab's ozone note! Very mineralic, atmospheric open on skin of a spring storm with a bit of resinous incense. Is the plum-color blackcurrant? As someone who intensely dislikes anise, I'm thrilled that the wormwood is nicely dialed down by the sweetness of the opium tar. The petrichor note sticks around post drydown, and the incense gets a nice spicy bite to it. Medium low sillage that only lasts about 5.5 hours before largely fading away. I like this; the more fragrances I try with opium tar, the more inclined I am to seek out others that include it.

Thick white sticky sap beading up on a freshly cut stem in the bottle. On skin, that lightly chlorophyllic morning glory is bright and herbaceous as a top note, followed closely by a creamy lilac. By minute 30 the vine note has moved on. Something a little bit bitter is there, too, but overall the scent softens quickly into a very wearable, non-indolic floral. After an hour or so, a lightly powdery element emerges. Medium strong sillage that lasts just under 7 hours; just a little too potent for the initial couple of hours to be considered entirely work safe, I think. A lilac scent done well is a pleasure to wear, and this was done very well. Perfect for those days when you're feeling hardcore spring cottage core vibes, regardless of what the weather outside is like.