fairnymph

Smoky, sweet, maybe a dark fruit; reminded me a bit of Hellion, and some other blend even more so - it's definitely strongly familiar and I'll have to sniff around to figure it out. Possibly Mme Moriarty?

NOT the same as the proto at the Will Calls or that people won in contests and has been reviewed in the unreleased review forum; much less smoky vetiver, and a lot more sweet, foody cinnamon, but I'll do a side-by-side comparison test when I get a moment with the imp of the contest-version & update this post. I'll be curious to see which version Beth ends up releasing eventually!

Spicy, autumnal (melange of spices, like pumpkin or apple pie spice mix, and well balanced) pumpkin, but not nearly as sweet as I expected. Foody, but not in a traditional baked goods way; it reminded me of Pumpkin King quite a bit, but was softer, foodier and noticeably sweeter. Candied, but not sugary - not a spun sugar/candy floss note as I was expecting, and I'm not sure where the 'blue' came from as I didn't get a blue smell or vibe from this scent.

This is quite unique, so yet another reason it reminded me of Pumpkin King, and like PK, this was a more true, cooked pumpkin custard/pie sort of note, not the standard BUTTER/tonka which pumpkin normally registers as to my nose. I think many people would be very happy if this were to be released similar or identical to this version. While it's not my personal type of scent for a variety of reasons, this one seems perfected for what it is (much like Lamia v3 and Jingo-Kogo in that sense - in terms of popular protos - not that this actually resembled either of those blends in terms of the actual notes themselves).

Leather (De Sade/Spanked style, but softer and less overwhelming, at least in the bottle) and other stuff, but this was an overall light scent, as many at this trunk show were, and my nose was rather scent-exhaushted, so thorough skin test is definitely needed.

Pleasantly light, soft blend of florals and possibly greenery - a botanical/outdoorsy, classic, inoffensive type of scent. I'm really excited that we might be getting a Byron scent at some point!

Skin test reveals:

LILAC and a sweet floral that has a fruity tone, such as freesia or hyacinth over fresh cut grass and a little sandalwood. Later I feel like a bit violet comes out and this goes a touch powdery, as well as growing increasingly sweet in a vanilla-ish way -maybe vanilla musk, or honey musk? Creamy and sweet and rather innocent in feel. A light, classic, softly feminine scent that's very well balanced.

Nice, don't recall & didn't take specific notes, a little nicer than v7 I think - fresh, cologney, unisex from the best I can recall.

Skin test reveals:

LEATHER, not too dissimilar from the one in Sacrifice or Dee, with some woods, a little spice (including some coriander or cumin), and some definite herbs including some culinary ones - maybe some basil or oregano? But it doesn't smell foody, it's more like a manly dude who's been gardening and running around in the forest.

Sharp, soapy, synthetic chemicalness (isopropyl/rubbing alcohol with a bit of fake butter); aptly poisonous.

Please note that I really hate anything buttery personally, so I am not likely to review any blend that is buttery in a positive light, even popular foody GC scents, so your experience may differ. I also have yet to skin test this one. It did sell out though, I think?

Snake oil with a softer chocolate note than in the release version; overall much lighter and less rich/dark/heavy than the released version, maybe bc not aged? I am unsure, but definitely a softer & lighter blend in potency and feel. Not so heavy on the red musk as the released Snake Pit scents.

VETIVER VETIVER VETIVER! The dark overwhelming in-your-face, stompity sort.

Fruity - red cherry, I think? With maybe some soft cassia and/or sweet clove?

Spices, wood, woods and fruits - I think it's actually cassia, combined with clove, dry ginger, carnation and definitely cedar. At first there is a strong plum that fades or is overtaken by the cedar and spice which my skin love to amp, but I do still get the plum note on drydown - it's possibly that wild plum note from The Witch Queen. There's also a grainy/nutty note here, that reminds me of the Harvest Moons and a little bit of Pomona - maybe that azereole nut? I also get a more evergreeny sort of woodsy note, but resinous - copal, I strongly suspect, or maybe pine pitch - this reminds me of The Illustrated Woman & The Pickled Imp quite a bit but with fruity sweetness instead of vanilla. This becomes spicier and sweeter on my skin over time, unsurprisingly, as I tend to amp both of those.

Extremely similar to Amaterasu v2, but with a drier sandalwood note and a light leather note (reminiscent of the note in Clockwork Couture Female, so the De Sade/Spanked type leather note, but much softer and more subdued here than it is typically on my skin), a bit less sweet/vanilla, and less musk, but I also really amp leather so this may be more like A. v2 on another person with different skin chemistry.

Sweet-tart bright food that develops a deep, rich and sexy creaminess over time on my skin. Definitely a vanilla note, and maybe something like white cognac and some actual cream. I'm having great difficulty pinning down the fruit note(s) in this - strawberry and rhubarb, maybe? So those two fruits with a sugared vanilla cream and touch of booze and a very rich musk, Indian or Egyptian - that sort of deep and sexy type that isn't black or red. It's almost like a strawberry-rhubarb version of Gothabilly. It definitely gets sweeter and foodier on me over time, almost becoming cakey.

Creamy vanilla & sexy, musky mysore sandalwood (but not red or dark - definitely ivory-toned sandalwood): very similar to Jingo-Kogo but without any citrus and with a richer & stronger vanilla note. It also has great longevity and good throw, much like how J-K is on me. A personal favourite, perhaps the best from the event for my own wear.

Delicious, sweet, tropical fruit and berries, decent throw and longevity; definitely some tropical notes like gauva, papaya, maybe pineapple - and I think a raspberry note (almost boozy, like Chambord raspberry liqueur), and I agree with the grenadine assessment. The berries don't go artificial or plastic on me, amazingly! There could be a light, sweet, fruity-toned floral here, such as plumeria or pikaki, but it's definitely in the background with the fruits dominating. I think I get the same lemon blossom from Tiki King and The Zieba Tree. Definitely sweet-tart and totally Tiki/tropical in theme - just gorgeous. I also get a musky-creamy backdrop that strengthens this scent overall and adds a sweet, sexy richnesss - maybe amyris a musky mysore sandalwood and a little vanilla?

Lots of dark woods and some dirt but more softly earthy than soil. WINE is foremost then the dark pomegranate note and sharp, shockingly floral mimosa.

Stale incense smoke, and DUSTY stone. Totally agree with Inganok comparisons.

Sweeter, darker TKO. Exact same lavender note. I don't get any jasmine or, sadly, tea.

Lots of dark, dark opium and sour, old-smelling, soapy ROSE.

Exactly as the notes would suggest; dark polished wood (but not too heavy or bitter, more smooth and deep), surprisingly light and softly smoky tobacco - more like lingering smoke, not someone smoking currently, and the slightly sharp-bright freshness of traditional men's cologne. I get hints of what I suspect are spice, incense, and maybe green musk - vaguely reminiscent of I Married a Vampire.

Instantly sweeter and spicier - cinnamon and clove, most likely, maybe some ginger and almost definitely some black pepper, too - a lot of dry spicy warmth that's a little like holiday potpourri, but more masculine. The wood is so smooth (polished, truly) that I struggle to pick out on my skin, and it's also a bit overwhelmed. The cologne is also harder to pick out, and what I can pick out is more deeply musky than fresh or bright. The tobacco is stronger and smokier, and just richer overall with a that sweet, rounded, gourmand quality. It's just beneath the spices, which are many and which I'm amping above all other notes. I think the combo of spice and tobacco was giving me the incense vibe, which I'm no longer as sure of - although if there is incense, I suspect frankincense.

Whoa, more morphing. The wood has amped up and is once again distinct; I suspect mahogany with maybe a touch of rosewood or red mysore sandalwood. Very smooth, very deep, but subtle, not like being clubbed as dark wood notes can behave. This is still quite spicy, but less so than initially wet on my skin - btw, this oil is very slow to dry, and in fact hasn't yet fully. Cinnamon and a sweet clove, yes, and maybe a touch of mace (dusty/peppery)? I get a lot of 'red' coloured vibe. This has gone a lot muskier, and I suspect a blend of musks. Some black, Egyptian or Indian with that exotic sexy depth, and dashes of red and green, too. In the wake of the amped musks which now dominate and the stronger wood, the tobacco is harder to pick out. It's definitely still present, but as in the bottle, more of a background note, and I think it's melding with the wood, but it still has a light smokiness. Cologne - almost entirely turned to musk.

This is a very complex and paradoxical scent, bc I get a lot of deep notes but I don't get a feeling of heaviness and I'm surprised by how light, and almost airy, or perhaps hazy, this scent feels. The notes blends more and more together coalescing into a very seamless scent quite quickly. After several hours, it becomes a very well-blended balance of the dark but gleaming mahogany wood, softly smoky and slightly sweet/gourmand tobacco, a bright yet also deep and sexy blend of multiple musks, and a melange of slightly dusty dry spices that I can't pick out individual notes from. It has decent throw, but fades quite a bit before holding faintly. Masculine to unisex.

Definitely one that must be skin-tested and probably my favourite of the series (other than TFH, which is the only Black Helicopter I actually LOVE and WANT) despite the spicy phase! But, nonetheless, not something I would wear.

Sweet, bright, tart and complex, with a bright, light yellow-green feel, almost pastel neon. I get the sugar, the citrusy/lemony notes (in order of potency: citron, lemongrass, elemi), lots of white musk, and I definitely get the zdravetz, which adds a refreshing herbal green note that's like a minty geranium, as well as the mentholic, slightly medicinal ravintsara, which is both literally and to my nose, camphoric. But it's a blend that works, and reminds me a little of Schrodinger's Cat and greatly of a sugared Phobos.

I instantly get the bright smooth cologney white amber, which grounds this scent along with the rather heavy, slightly perfumey white musk (the same note from Thoos). The sugar is stronger, sweeter, and richer - verging on foody. The various citrusy notes merge quickly into a blend that I have difficulty dissecting, other than being able to determine that the citron is clearly on top, so this smells much more like real lemon than the notes would suggest. With the sugar, this is almost a 'lemon sugar cookie' version of Mr. Nancy's lime sugar cookie aspect, and like that blend, has some sort of creamy note like tonka or vanilla that gives it the foody edge. The geranium is still going strong and the ravintsara has smoothed out into note that's still bright and green, but not medicinal. I don't get the 'chemical undertone' of this scent, beyond white musk smelling a bit generic and synthetic on my skin as it can in some blends.

This stuff has some crazy-ass throw on me. Like...whoa. Distractingly potent.The white musk and the citron are really the standouts, though this is a pretty well-blended scent and those two aren't necessarily overwhelming the other notes, but they are clearly dominating. They are also both notes my skin loves to amp, and the combo reminds me a lot of Whitechapel. The wafts I get with my wrist far from my face are almost exactly Whitechapel, with geranium in place of the lilac. But if I sniff more closely, I get all the other notes, other than the lemony ones which remain firmly melded into one whole note.

The final drydown after several hours is a bit odd, and it could be due to the time of month, though it shouldn't be. I'm left with cotton candy, exactly the smell of cotton candy, and a softly earthy, oakmossy-sort of musk. In fact it's exactly how oakmoss dries down on me, or how musks of any type dry down on me during 5 days a month, so either there's some oakmoss in here, or my skin is doing weird things to the white musk. Regardless of form, that white musk sticks around. And if I sniff intently, I can pick out the citrus and greenery, but none of these as listed distinctly other than the geranium. In summary: sticky, sugary cotton candy, oakmoss, and white musk comprise 90+% of this blend in late drydown. It has very strong throw for hours that fades gradually until it's still good throw, but most of the notes have burned off, at which point it holds extremely well.

Better than I expected based on the initial white musk blast and the listed elemi which can be problematic for me, and overall I enjoyed testing this, but it's not something I need.

Dark, slightly bitter, sharp and medicinal woods. Definitely some evergreens, that sort of harsh piney note that verges on Pinesol, but with a little bit of lighter cypress and dogwood. I get the dryness of the sunflower. I get some vetiver-ish bark and dirt. This is conceptually spot on - an overgrown dark forest, sweetened by a hint of syrupy sassafras.

MUCH stronger on my skin, sharp, sharp, medicinal, harsh, bitter, eye-watering, cringe-worthy woods and noxious weeds, with that harsh pine note jumping out the most. The sassafrass is quick to jump out though, as this dries within seconds, and adds a much needed sweetness to counteract the dirty, dark greenery. But it's still, not the sassafras note of rootbeer, but the one of sap, dark and sticky and not without its own medicinal bite. The sunflower has amped and adds an almost powdery dryness to this scent.

Still incredibly strong throw, but it's settled down a little bit - some of the harshness has burned off. Still, this is, as so many of the scents in this line, a combination of notes that I really detest. The only note that I'm liking here is the citrusy-fresh cypress, and the dogwood and comfrey are pleasant light greenery, more grassy - but quite overwhelmed, by the PINE, SASSAFRAS, vetiver and maybe patchouli, some sort of resin, and did I mention the PINE? I also still get the sort of 'bitter dark green vines and weeds' feel, ominous and swamplike, a tangled scary mess. Again, very much accurate conceptually.

This scent blends together quite well - I'll give it that; for what it is, it's very well made and well blended, it's just not something I personally like at all. The sassafrass and some mysterious resin sweeten this up, the pine settles further, and all the various greenery, woods, earthy notes and dry sunflower merge into a unified whole. It's no longer medicinal or biting, but it's still very dark, woodsy, and masculine with roughness to it, like bark and thorny vines. It's just darker and much more intense than I expected. It has great throw and longevity.

Powdery, a little sharp (maybe the citrusy cistus), shockingly resinous/deep, with lots of powdery, heady white florals - the muguet and orris are rooty and intense. I get an almost cedary, dry, very dusty sort of sandalwood note, and barely any vanilla. I am underwhelmed to say the least.

The muguet and orris instantly amp on my skin into the heady floral mess I expected from the bottle smell, with a ton of baby powder that has an almost plastic edge. Also, I swear to god this must have the dry, dry dusty sort of cedar note because I am getting it very strongly, pencil shavings galore. I am getting the vanilla though, too - unfortunately it seems to be the fake plastic vanilla candle type of vanilla. The cistus's sharpness has faded (or been overwhelmed), but I get a sticky resin base nonetheless. Not a simplistic scent by any means.

Recently, I've tried some orris blends that have made me think orris can be pretty nice. This orris note, however, is the type that made me think orris is demonic. I'm being SMOTHERED by powder, huge swathes of sickly sweet powdery, clogging my throat, making the bile rise. The muguet is sweetening and strengthening it, as is the fake vanilla note (it's that same horrid note from O) and the sweet resins. In light of the orris-muguet-vanilla takeover, the cedary pencil shavings have faded a bit, and now I do think I can get a little white sandalwood, and yes, some types can be that dry and dusty I now believe, bc I've tested white sandalwood blends before that smelled like this and I swore there was cedar then, too.

This reminds me of a feminine version of Smoky Moon and Sitting Up With a Sick Friend, were they to breed a daughter. But it's more powdery than either, perhaps the most powdery scent I've tried, and much more floral and 'traditional perfumey' with the fake vanilla. You might think that the resinous base would somehow smooth out or balance or otherwise mitigate the sweet, floral powder, but no - it just makes the whole mess more sickly sweet, more heavy and overwhelming. Enough of this - off to the sink.

WHY is this entire line so mediocre to atrocious on me? GAH!

Sweet, perfumey, musky, floral - it really does remind me of older perfumes. I get lot of orange water and ambergris and benzoin, the soft rose that's fresh and demure, and some dark wood that is maybe the lignum? This has the orange water and rose as light top notes but there's a bunch sweet and musky resin below.

Orange blossom water galore. Fortunately, unlike orange blossom itself, this is a scent that plays well on my skin. It's very refreshing, a little masculine (with that bitterness one gets from chewing an orange seed accidentally), and a little exotic bc I associate it with baklava and Balkan/Middle Eastern sweets. The very honeyed benzoin, which amps too, only adds to this association. The rose is stronger, as expected, on my skin, but it's still behaving - it's by no means stealing the show. I think this fits the concept very well - I can see a Medieval minor royalty wearing this, lounging about maybe in Spain or Portugal - I think it's the musky, strong ambergris that recalls maritime cultures.

Whoa. Apparently Reptoid Dominion is not the only scent from this line that I amp. Bc this orange water is powerfully amping on me. Again, it's a scent that I like, but it's not a scent that I would wear myself and it feels very masculine, as well as very - well, it smells like a Medieval cologne, but for me that conjures up the reasons why colognes became popular - to cover up the stench of premodern life. And, this also seems - simplistic, generic - this is not what a king would wear, but some minor lord who can't afford a scent more complex and unique. The lemon balm is coming through a bit now, but faintly, while the rose and benzoin hold. The ambergris, meanwhile, has softened and become much more rounded and pleasant, perhaps it's melding with the 'vegetal musk' which I certainly can't pick out. Regardless, this is still heavily ORANGE WATER.

Yeah, after the initial drying and amping this doesn't morph on me. It's 80% orange blossom water, slightly bitter, slightly floral, and quite masculine, 5% honeyed, golden benzoin, 5% classic, slightly dried (like crumbled petals) rose, 5% masculine, deeply musky, slightly salty-oceanic ambergris, and the rest a faint, oddly powdery blend of wood and herbs and maybe other resins and musks - it's a haze I can't decipher into its component parts. Overall, other than the strong orange blossom dominance which may be my skin chemistry, it's a pretty well-balanced and blended scent, with no particular flaws but no particular appeal, either. As with most of this line...meh. Strong throw and longevity.

Totally unlike what I expected. Wet, sweet, dark soil and an aquatic note. Very outdoorsy, reminds me of the Nile-themed soil-based aquatics strongly.

On my skin, it's instantly much sweeter and rounder with some creamy, nutty grain notes emerging. Still, the dark wet soil note is strongly in command, with only a bit of the almost honeyed grain notes (reminiscent of Dana O'Shee) peaking through. The grains are almost foody, but not quite - I get a note that somewhere between vanilla and tonka but doesn't seem to be either that's giving me the sweet creaminess.

Due to spillage, I slathered quite a bit accidentally, but this still seems to be drying quite slowly. As it does, the sweetness amps, the grains amp,and the soil fades, but the inexplicable aquatic note remains. Maybe it's recently rained heavily on these crop circles? There's a definite freshwater feel that rain could explain. More and more of a honeyed aspect to the grains, so now these are not like any grain notes I've smelled before; this is a unique grain-based scent in many ways.

45 minutes later, this is finally mostly dry, but it hasn't changed much after the first 15 minutes on my skin. Despite the slathering, it's a mild scent, and it still feels very outdoorsy with the soil and rain notes, while the honeyed grains add a sort of harvest feel, almost autumnal - this could almost be a Harvest Moon scent, and I think the grain notes here are most similar to the grain notes in those lunacies. If I sniff carefully I can pick out the barley and maize (the latter reminding me a tad of Feeding the Dead), but I can't pick out the wheat.

So, in the end, it's a well-balanced blend of wet black soil and sweet, honeyed, creamy-nutty grains that verge on foody but don't quite become so. It is a subtle scent, and doesn't have a lot of throw, but it holds very well on my skin, or at least it does if you slather it as I did. Definitely worth trying if you like soil notes, clean aquatics (not a hint of soapiness), and grain notes. Very evocative. By far the most unique and interesting of the Black Helicopter line, but not something that I'd wear.