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Showing results for tags 'halloween 2018'.
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Louis Gauffier Lebanese cedar, chamomile, frankincense, and cinnamon. This starts of as cedar, and frankincense with a whiff of cinnamon. As it dries, the chamomile comes out, and its a chamomile-cedar blend, with hints of resin. Medium throw and wear length. This one is sort of manly to me.
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[No additional description provided.] Pomegranate, and lemony Embalming Fluid. This is a citrusy-pom mix for Embalming Fluid. Clean, lemony, sparkling. Good throw and wear length.
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The prince had provided all the appliances of pleasure. There were buffoons, there were improvisatori, there were ballet-dancers, there were musicians, there was Beauty, there was wine. All these and security were within. Without was the “Red Death.” Gushes of black and red wine splattering damask rose and white pear, engulfed in thick clove incense. Ton of red wine and clove incense. Loads of wine. This is a very red wine blend. Whiffs of roses on the drydown. Good throw and wear length.
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It was toward the close of the fifth or sixth month of his seclusion, and while the pestilence raged most furiously abroad, that the Prince Prospero entertained his thousand friends at a masked ball of the most unusual magnificence. Opulent golden oudh, red benzoin, and bitter almond. A very strong almond on wet, and it dries down to a golden oudh and resin blend. Medium throw and wear length.
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The California Leaf-Nosed Bat prefers the desert. Theyre homebodies and do not migrate, and theyre also definitely Type A bats, as they dont hibernate. Go go go! Nightfall in the desert: Mojave yucca, creosote bush, saguaro, dusty clove, and sacred datura. I've never been a first review before. I will also note that I am emotional because I'm trying this the same day I'm trying Resistance, when we're a week away from an important election in the (not-California, but very close) desert that I love. In the bottle: I smell the creosote first, though by the time I have a full inhalation, the dusty clove note is stronger. And "dusty clove" is a good way to explain it. It is dry but not overly biting. On my skin: Immediately, it's creosote and yucca. For people not from the desert, the closest parallel I can draw is that of sweet, live grasses. It's a little bit green and a little bit golden and a little bit woody and a little bit sun-kissed and just a touch smoky (which might be unique to the desert). It is very much full of the spirit of live desert plants... creosote and yucca, yes, but also ocotillo and palo verde. It is not so sharp as a wood but not so delicate as a flower. It is earthy but not pungent, spicy but not biting. It is hiking through the desert one week after a good rain. It is earth and old plants and dormant plants promising . It is gentle and lovely, and if I had to compare it to anything, it would be Fledgling Raptor Moon, though it is more for the soft woody feel than for any particular note (though yes, the general gentle spicy feel is the same on me for both). If I have any sadness about this scent, it is that it is so close to the skin on me (as is Fledgling Raptor Moon). But I've never had such a grounded scent have much throw, so I suppose it's unreasonable to hope for this to be the exception.
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In an assembly of phantasms such as I have painted, it may well be supposed that no ordinary appearance could have excited such sensation. In truth the masquerade license of the night was nearly unlimited; but the figure in question had out-Heroded Herod, and gone beyond the bounds of even the prince’s indefinite decorum. There are chords in the hearts of the most reckless which cannot be touched without emotion. Even with the utterly lost, to whom life and death are equally jests, there are matters of which no jest can be made. The whole company, indeed, seemed now deeply to feel that in the costume and bearing of the stranger neither wit nor propriety existed. The figure was tall and gaunt, and shrouded from head to foot in the habiliments of the grave. The mask which concealed the visage was made so nearly to resemble the countenance of a stiffened corpse that the closest scrutiny must have had difficulty in detecting the cheat. And yet all this might have been endured, if not approved, by the mad revellers around. But the mummer had gone so far as to assume the type of the Red Death. His vesture was dabbled in blood –and his broad brow, with all the features of the face, was besprinkled with the scarlet horror. When the eyes of Prince Prospero fell upon this spectral image (which with a slow and solemn movement, as if more fully to sustain its role, stalked to and fro among the waltzers) he was seen to be convulsed, in the first moment with a strong shudder either of terror or distaste; but, in the next, his brow reddened with rage. “Who dares?” he demanded hoarsely of the courtiers who stood near him — “who dares insult us with this blasphemous mockery? Seize him and unmask him — that we may know whom we have to hang at sunrise, from the battlements!” Blasphemous mockery: blood musk and vetiver. Smoke and bloody musk. This is dark, brooding and a little disturbing. Medium throw and wear length.
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But from a certain nameless awe with which the mad assumptions of the mummer had inspired the whole party, there were found none who put forth hand to seize him; so that, unimpeded, he passed within a yard of the prince’s person; and, while the vast assembly, as if with one impulse, shrank from the centres of the rooms to the walls, he made his way uninterruptedly, but with the same solemn and measured step which had distinguished him from the first, through the blue chamber to the purple — through the purple to the green — through the green to the orange — through this again to the white — and even thence to the violet, ere a decided movement had been made to arrest him. Death unimpeded: bone-white sandalwood, dry cognac, and chilled ambergris accord. Softly aquatic sandalwood with a whiff of cognac. This is an interesting aquatic sandalwood - sort of solitary, and sort of chilling. Medium throw and wear length.
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But to the chamber which lies most westwardly of the seven, there are now none of the maskers who venture; for the night is waning away; and there flows a ruddier light through the blood-colored panes; and the blackness of the sable drapery appals; and to him whose foot falls upon the sable carpet, there comes from the near clock of ebony a muffled peal more solemnly emphatic than any which reaches their ears who indulge in the more remote gaieties of the other apartments. But these other apartments were densely crowded, and in them beat feverishly the heart of life. Night-blooming jasmine and cereus reflected through ruddy musk and crimson amber. Jasmine, musk, and a whiff of amber. This one is a floral jasmine, with heavy red musk. It smells like dusty velvet jasmine. Medium throw and wear length.
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MOD NOTE: Yes, this is a prototype and we have another review sub-forum for protos. But as the Lab website tagged this as part of the Halloween 2018 release, I am following suit and placing this review topic here in Halloweenie. Were running out of room at the Lab, and its been a long, long time since weve had a trunk show. When Brian and I were rifling through the prototype and snafu shelves a few weeks ago, we dug up two busticated Snake Oils one that was a mispour of Lemon Scented Sticky Bat, and another involved an Aggravated Vanilla Incident and we unearthed the very first Samhain prototype from 2002. We dont have time to do a full-blown trunk show right now, so were offering these three for sale. Theyre in very, very limited quantity. Years ago, there was a retailer in PA that gave me what she *believed* was the Original Samhain in an unmarked bottle. The scent was one of cathedrals and mass and spooky autumnal things and everything lovely and creepy. I eventually traded the bottle away during a hasty destash, and now we -perhaps- are meeting again. Let's see if I know this scent from another life... In The Bottle: I get all the various spices (heavy on the nutmeg and allspice) and some of the sweet apple in the background. Wet On Skin: The damp woods and black patch have entered the fray, but there's not misbehaving, which is pure relief, as "damp" notes, like water and ozone, are usually death notes on me. But so far, this scent is rich in atmosphere with no obvious drawbacks. Dry Down: A sweeter, spicier version of the typical Samhain, which, for me, is preferable. I'm getting all the good aspects of the note list and none of the bad. The aging has perhaps done this proto a great service! While I remain unsure if this scent is connected to that "mystery bottle" of long ago, I'm glad to have this in my collection either way!
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A venerable and well-respected bat, Ghost Face Bats can trace their ancestry to the late Pleistocene era. Sugared coconut meat, vanilla pods, condensed milk, white honey, and benzoin. In The Bottle: The soft, cuddly scent of sweet coconut mixed with benzoin and white honey. It's not foodie per se, just warm and snuggly. Wet On Skin: The benzoin comes to the front a bit more, but the vanilla pods are in the mix now too, giving the scent some depth. The fragrance moves further from gourmand at this point, and is reminding me a bit of Hod. Dry Down: The condensed milk finally joins the party and sweetens the mix just a bit. However, the scent retains what it basically had as traits from first sniff: warmth and cuddles. This is a perfect cold-weather scent, and I expect to get lots of wear out of it in the next 6 months!
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In the black furrow of a field I saw an old witch-hare this night; And she cocked her lissome ear, And she eyed the moon so bright, And she nibbled o’ the green; And I whispered ‘Whsst! witch-hare,’ Away like a ghostie o’er the field She fled, and left the moonlight there. A leaper between worlds, the tiny trickster; she soars through liminal spaces, dancing in the strange shadows of dawn and twilight. Warm fur and mandrake root, blue sage and tall grasses, honeysuckle-tinged moonlight, carrot seed, comfrey, and dandelion. My mother would say, "Quick, quick, like a bunny," and here I am to give the first review. This one is soft, and sweet, and green. The honeysuckle is what I notice first, and then the carrot, which i haven't ever experienced as a perfume note before, but it's nice. Fresh, and gently sweet like a cup of fancy carrot juice. I'm guessing dandelion adds to the general sweet, green feel. A teeeensy bit of herbal spice starts to peek out in the dry down, but mostly, I think the herbal notes balance Hare and keep it from being too floral. Honeysuckle can smell very wet and sappy to me, but this is dryer and creamier. A fresh, tempered floral that wears close to the skin. I could see a baby smelling like this, or a pretty, shy woman peeking over a book and drinking her tea, or a fluffy brown bunny nibbling clover. Lovely.
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18th century Russian lubok, illustrator unknown Red amber, frankincense C02 absolute, green fig, labdanum, King mandarin, Atlas cedar, and bitter almond. I got this because it has some similarities to a long discontinued favorite of mine, Mad Meg. Almond is usually a straight up NOPE before it even gets to my skin, but MM surprised me, and I hoped Boar and Goat would as well. And the almond is very definitely prominent at first. It settles down quickly, though, and then the frankincense/cedar/labdanum peek through just a bit. The fig and the mandarin blend together into a high-pitched, light-fruity note. Juicy, not jammy. The amber is undetectable, which is strange because I usually amp amber like crazy. After it's been on my skin for a while, it starts to remind me of ... Swank, maybe? I don't have an imp anymore to cross-reference, but it has that alcoholic fruity thing going on now, and the almond has disappeared.
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The Gene Simmons of the Phyllostomidae family, this little buddy has a tongue built for harvesting nectar, extending up to a third of its body length and covered in hairy and horny papillae. Smoked chili peppers, caramelized saffron, and clove bud. Something about this is a little pumpkiny. Not like the Lab's usual pumpkin note that goes kind of buttery on my skin, but closer to the one in Jack. I assume it's mostly the caramelized saffron, with the help of clove bud. The smoked chili peppers are reminiscent of Raven Moon 2012, but milder, and they come out more when applied to my throat and higher up my arm. Mexican Long-Tongued Bat is comforting, subtle, and perfectly autumnal. As good as it is now, I believe it's going to get even better and could be worthy of a backup bottle.
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And, anon, there strikes the ebony clock which stands in the hall of the velvet. And then, for a moment, all is still, and all is silent save the voice of the clock. The dreams are stiff-frozen as they stand. But the echoes of the chime die away — they have endured but an instant — and a light, half-subdued laughter floats after them as they depart. And now again the music swells, and the dreams live, and writhe to and fro more merrily than ever, taking hue from the many-tinted windows through which stream the rays from the tripods. Dreams writhing to and fro, bubbling up from half-subdued laughter: pink peppercorn, jasmine sambac, and cypress bubbling up through half-subdued white lavender, stabbed through with streams of red musk and black currant. Jasmine, pink peppercorn, red musk and a whiff of lavender. This one has the floral elements rising to the surface over the red musk. The jasmine and lavender do a good job of keeping the red musk in check, and the pink peppercorn actually smashes down the jasmine in this blend as well. Overall, great balance. Medium throw and wear length.
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It was then, however, that the Prince Prospero, maddening with rage and the shame of his own momentary cowardice, rushed hurriedly through the six chambers, while none followed him on account of a deadly terror that had seized upon all. He bore aloft a drawn dagger, and had approached, in rapid impetuosity, to within three or four feet of the retreating figure, when the latter, having attained the extremity of the velvet apartment, turned suddenly and confronted his pursuer. There was a sharp cry –and the dagger dropped gleaming upon the sable carpet, upon which, instantly afterwards, fell prostrate in death the Prince Prospero. Then, summoning the wild courage of despair, a throng of the revellers at once threw themselves into the black apartment, and, seizing the mummer, whose tall figure stood erect and motionless within the shadow of the ebony clock, gasped in unutterable horror at finding the grave-cerements and corpse-like mask which they handled with so violent a rudeness, untenanted by any tangible form. The wild courage of despair: a screech of blood orange and a splash of blood entangled in a corpse-mask of tattered white sandalwood stained with balsam and a grime-crusted winding sheet. Blood, sandalwood, linen. This is mainly a blood/sandalwood blend. Medium throw and wear length.
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But, in spite of these things, it was a gay and magnificent revel. The tastes of the duke were peculiar. He had a fine eye for colors and effects. He disregarded the decora of mere fashion. His plans were bold and fiery, and his conceptions glowed with barbaric lustre. There are some who would have thought him mad. His followers felt that he was not. It was necessary to hear and see and touch him to be sure that he was not. The swirl of a thousand glittering vices: absinthe and laudanum, opium poppy and neroli, star anise and black currant, whip leather and iron shackles, gilded vanilla flower and King mandarin. This scent is WHOA in a great way. Complex, sophisticated, sweet oriental. So deep that it sucks you in. The whip leather is what ties all notes together. Fans of Loviatar should try this. I can't stop smelling it. Its all the opposites: clean, sweet, dirty, leathery, oriental resinous, feminine and masculine, every color under the rainbow... I'm impressed and forever intrigued.
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Every leaf tells a story. Hod, is that you? I get mainly red carnations over Dead Leaves. So Hod does Halloween Leaf Piles? Yes. That. Medium throw and wear length.
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Every leaf tells a story. I get mainly juicy blackberry over a dirty dead leaf note. So blackberries, dirt, and leaves. Medium throw and wear length.
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Every leaf tells a story. Red wine dominates on wet, and then as it dries, the oudh starts to come through. The dead leaves base is a distant third. If you like perfumey red wine blends, give this a whirl. Good throw and wear length.
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Dead Leaves, Sweet Myrrh, Leather, Green Pomelo, and Red Currant
zankoku_zen posted a topic in Halloweenie
Every leaf tells a story. I get mainly red currant and citrusy pomelo over dead leaves. Medium throw and wear length. Leather is MIA for me. -
And the revel went whirlingly on, until at length there commenced the sounding of midnight upon the clock. And then the music ceased, as I have told; and the evolutions of the waltzers were quieted; and there was an uneasy cessation of all things as before. But now there were twelve strokes to be sounded by the bell of the clock; and thus it happened, perhaps, that more of thought crept, with more of time, into the meditations of the thoughtful among those who revelled. And thus, too, it happened, perhaps, that before the last echoes of the last chime had utterly sunk into silence, there were many individuals in the crowd who had found leisure to become aware of the presence of a masked figure which had arrested the attention of no single individual before. And the rumor of this new presence having spread itself whisperingly around, there arose at length from the whole company a buzz, or murmur, expressive of disapprobation and surprise –then, finally, of terror, of horror, and of disgust. Terror, horror, and disgust: a bowel-churning sweet clench of myrhh and green musk in a pool of suffocating black moss and a shock of white cognac. Call me crazy. This smells clean and fresh and herbal green with a white sheets background. Overall this could've been called Citrine Waterfall in a Serene Mossy Wood and I would've said "Uh Huh. For sure!". The myrrh comes out in drydown and stays meditational due to the cleaner notes. Quite relaxing actually.
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We’re running out of room at the Lab, and it’s been a long, long time since we’ve had a trunk show. When Brian and I were rifling through the prototype and snafu shelves a few weeks ago, we dug up two busticated Snake Oils – one that was a mispour of Lemon Scented Sticky Bat, and another involved an Aggravated Vanilla Incident – and we unearthed the very first Samhain prototype from 2002. We don’t have time to do a full-blown trunk show right now, so we’re offering these three for sale. They’re in very, very limited quantity. I happened to like Lemon Scented Sticky Bat when I tried it years ago and Snake Oil is magic on me, so I thought what the heck, give this F@ck-up a try. First impression from the bottle--wow, this smells weird. No other word to describe it. Snake oil with citrusy lemon, but not like Coral Snake citrus. On me, the description is note-perfect. It's Snake Oil...Wait, no! Sticky Bat!...No! Snake oil! It morphs back and forth between the two. Finally, it ends up smelling like the kind of home-made lemonade that you find at county fairs. No tea note at all that I could pick up. I think it would be wonderful in the summer. I like it!
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Wild plum oudh and crushed violets. Ugh, I love The Violet Window HG. I love violet in general, so there's that. But the plum oudh falls like a purple shadow across the floral note in a way that makes this so huffable and addictive.
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King mandarin, wildflower honey, cognac, labdanum, honeybush and blood orange. The Orange Window HG is like an orange-lovers' dream. The king mandarin and blood orange are in the forefront, with the honey. The cognac, labdanum, and rooibos trail, making this a bit boozy/resiny and adding a subtle tea note. I think this is my second-favorite of the Halloween hair glosses I've received this year, and would layer so beautifully with any orange-dominant perfume or Snake Oil.
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Red musk, saffron threads, molten honey, and tobacco oudh. Red, red, red. The Blood Red Window Panes HG smells like dark red incarnate. I would call this a red musk-prominent blend, but the other notes really get their fingers into it. The saffron and honey sweeten this and turn it sideways, and the tobacco oudh makes it smell decadent and perverse. It's a bit like if the Infernal Lover took a dose of debauched tobacco oudh and went out on the town. The oudh is definitely present, but I wouldn't call it overpowering.
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