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Showing results for tags 'Halloween 2018'.
Found 151 results
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Albert Bierstadt Ponderosa pine, mountain big sagebrush, black locust, pinon pine, white fir, fragrant snakeroot, and Rocky Mountain sage. Just from the bottle, I can already tell that this is exactly what I was hoping for! I spent most of my life in Montana and also lived in Colorado for a few years, and now that I live in the desert, I really miss the smell of those evergreen forests. I have Elf HG, which I love, but it has more of a spring and summer vibe, and I’ve been wanting a darker forest hair gloss to wear with scents like Golden Priapus, Theoi Nomioi, and some Yules that I have with the pine-y snow note. So this was the scent I was most looking forward to from the Trading Post Weenie update (part one)... because it's a darker evergreen forest scent WITH GOATS ON THE LABEL. This hair gloss did not disappoint. When I smell it, I am transported back to those wonderful forests. There’s a blast of pine at first, and it remains the main player throughout, but I do get the sage behind it, and after a while, some fir. I feel like the sage becomes more prominent after a few hours of wear. While some scents become light after a few hours after being applied to damp hair, this isn’t one of them, and I imagine that the scent would have even more longevity and strength when applied to dry hair, as that’s usually the case with most hair glosses. I am thrilled that this is a thing. If you are wanting forest-scented tresses, don’t let this one pass you by! I absolutely adore this and am so glad that I leapt for a bottle.
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Variety is the very spice of life, That gives it all its flavor. ― William Cowper, 1785 Forget about the War on Christmas the years most contentious seasonal battle is actually waged over this inescapable melange of palate-massaging flavors. Weve got the formula down pat, and invite you to join us in a mad-science experiment: Just how far can we bend it before it breaks? #1 When I sniffed in the bottle, I thought "ehhh, probably a no". But after letting it settle a few and spraying it in my hair, I'm in love. Pumpkin spice of course, but subdued by what I think is a pine/spruce note, gingerbread and champaca. Heady and perfect for the season! Crazy how random mashings of notes can turn out so gorgeous. I would never have purchased a scent with all those note together, but would be missing out by not! Definitely going to "spin again" and order another!
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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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Gleaming black and green! Dark chocolate rum and chilly mint! I think I am getting tipsy just sniffing this! Dark chocolate rum, the very best and most expensive; icy cold crème de menthe; mixed with the richest chocolate ganache. So delicious! I need a backup bottle or two.
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Invention, it must be humbly admitted, does not consist in creating out of void, but out of chaos. ― Mary Shelley, 1831 This Samhain, were reveling in the desecration of a classic blend: Damp woods, fir needle, and black patchouli with the gentlest touches of warm pumpkin, clove, nutmeg, allspice, sweet red apple and mullein. #7. I was excited for my number. First sniff of the Chaos HG is fresh and floral which is an interesting counterpoint to the leafy deep smell I was expecting. I still get the lovely apple but its tropical fall. Pikaki or plumeria? Almost a cocoa butter undercurrent. Not chocolatey.
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Fairly antisocial as bats go, Western Bonnie sticks to colonies of less than a hundred other bats. A girl needs her privacy, you know. Butterscotch tobacco. Butterscotch laced with tobacco. A yup. This one is sweet sugary butterscotch supported by some brown chewy tobacco. This will age to a sugary tobacco mess. Good throw and wear length. Which means, if you like sugar or tobacco, GO GET IT.
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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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And now was acknowledged the presence of the Red Death. He had come like a thief in the night. And one by one dropped the revellers in the blood-bedewed halls of their revel, and died each in the despairing posture of his fall. And the life of the ebony clock went out with that of the last of the gay. And the flames of the tripods expired. And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all. Darkness, Decay, and the Red Death: blood musk and black tobacco, birch tar and bleeding cypress sap. I'm such a sucker for tobacco. Even when all the other notes don't particularly call me, I'm still willing to try it for the tobacco. Wet: musk, perhaps of the red or blood variety. I don't really know the difference. I can smell the cypress in the background. Drydown: Oh, hello, tar. Why are you here to ruin this party? Darkness and Decay, indeed. Cypress is still hanging out, just kinda waving from the back of the room. Dry: The birch tar and cypress have combined to create this interesting platform where they work together to hold up the musk and hint of tobacco. In an oddly bright red, but in a dangerous way. I feel like this leans masculine on me, with the tobacco, tar, and cypress holding back any sweetness. The musk is slowly trying to round out these scoundrels, bringing a bit of sweetness. I didn't expect this sort of change. It's still too much tar and cypress for me to enjoy, though. Much later: It's sweetened up significantly. It ends up smelling like an slightly evil version of Smut on me. So, I guess there's blood musk in Smut, and I'm amping the musk here.
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Every leaf tells a story. This is probably my favorite Dead Leaves scent ever. At first it's heavy on the classic dead leaves, with a hint of incense. As it dries, I get more of the incense, then just a wisp of dusty vanilla. Gorgeous!
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Every leaf tells a story. This starts out like the perfect autumn scent on me. It literally is dry leaf meets a fresh sugar cookie straight from the oven. Half an hour later, the dry leaf predominates and the sugar cookie recedes into a faint bakery smell. But still very nice. I think this is my favorite of the dead leaves line.
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But the Prince Prospero was happy and dauntless and sagacious. When his dominions were half depopulated, he summoned to his presence a thousand hale and light-hearted friends from among the knights and dames of his court, and with these retired to the deep seclusion of one of his castellated abbeys. This was an extensive and magnificent structure, the creation of the princes own eccentric yet august taste. A strong and lofty wall girdled it in. This wall had gates of iron. The courtiers, having entered, brought furnaces and massy hammers and welded the bolts. They resolved to leave means neither of ingress or egress to the sudden impulses of despair or of frenzy from within. The abbey was amply provisioned. With such precautions the courtiers might bid defiance to contagion. Imprisoned in frenzied joy: ribbons of raspberry and red currant streaming through thick goats milk. Wet: Same tart raspberry from Raspberry Sufganiyot mixed with red currant to give it depth. Deliciousssss. Dry: Tartness calms down and now I'm getting a bit of the goat's milk to smooth it out. Still quite fruity. Drydown: Becomes mostly red currant with the tartness of raspberry and a bit of milk with some goat-y nuttiness around the edges. Very bright, moderate to strong throw and average longevity.
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Shavings of white pumpkin rind and honey powder. I tried this at NYCC and I will never forget it. Sweet pumpkin with a sprinkle of honey dust on it. True to form.
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According to William Shepard Walsh, the Gentleman's Magazine for May of 1784 stated, "this is a constant ingredient at merrymaking on Holy Eve." He also quotes Vallancey's etymological speculation: "The first day of November was dedicated to the angel presiding over fruits, seeds, etc., and was therefore named La Mas Ubhal, -- that is, the day of the apple fruit, -- and being pronounced Lamasool, the English have corrupted the name to Lambs-wool." A popular holy day beverage in 18th century Ireland: roasted apples mashed into warmed milk and ale, with nutmeg, sugar, ginger, and clove. bottle: softly sweet, warm spiced milk. this is not the same jarring milk note that i get from milk moon 2007 though, it's far more soft. wet: i can definitely smell the ale as this warms a bit on my skin. it's not "boozy" per se, just there. i get the mashed apple scent too. the milk and spices have faded quite a bit to be almost just a faint trace. dry: very lovely. the milk note creeps back in after about 15-20 minutes and mixes well with the apple. this reminds me of baked apples, filled with oatmeal and spices and covered in cream. (edited for spelling idiocy)
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[No additional description provided.] Pomegranate is a note that can be hit-or-miss on me, but Alice is one of my top favourites, so I had to try this! This is mostly juicy, slightly sweet pom mixed with carnation. There is a hint of the honey-milk sweetness underneath, but the scent doesn't really say "Alice" to me. The throw and staying power are moderate right now, but I'm hoping settling and aging will improve everything. Overall though, it is a pretty scent.
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Engraving by Jacques Jordaens Goat’s milk, nectar, ambrosia, and honey. Wet: Gingerbread and honeyed fruit. Yummy! Dry: Fruit with honeyed milk. Slightly soapy. Drydown: Thankfully, soapiness turned to floral nuttiness. Milk note is more of a soft cloud around me. 2nd time testing: Bready, like yeast and hops. Reminds me of Narr. Getting a bit of rubber at the end, but that comes and goes. Still soft and milky. Average wear and throw.
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With vanilla bean scrapings. In The Bottle: The light, sweet buttery pumpkin note from the Lab we all know and adore. Wet On Skin: A little bit of spice comes out- a touch of ginger here, a dab of nutmeg there... Dry Down: Pumpkin, autumnal spice, and vanilla bean. I don't get a custard thing like some might expect from a Brûlée, but it's a really lovely autumnal gourmand scent just the same. It's a good daytime scent, and I could see layering it with something a little richer to either heighten the food aspect or a deeper one to make it a bit more of an evening scent. For pumpkin scent lovers, this is a pure win- don't miss out!
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It was in the eastern or blue chamber in which stood the Prince Prospero as he uttered these words. They rang throughout the seven rooms loudly and clearly for the prince was a bold and robust man, and the music had become hushed at the waving of his hand. It was in the blue room where stood the prince, with a group of pale courtiers by his side. At first, as he spoke, there was a slight rushing movement of this group in the direction of the intruder, who at the moment was also near at hand, and now, with deliberate and stately step, made closer approach to the speaker. A sycophants polished stench: green musk fougere, lime, and rose-tufted wig powder. Bottle fresh from the Lab. In the bottle: A cool fragrance somewhat reminiscent of a men's cologne, as I had expected from the list of notes. But hopefully not too much. No particular thing jumps out at me. I check the list and still don't pick out any of the notes. Maybe a bit of lime, but even that isn't definite. Maybe some lavender in the fougere? This is a well-blended perfume that really just smells like itself, not like specific ingredients. It figures that when I get a first review, it would turn out to be a scent that is difficult to describe! On me, wet: Just like in the bottle, but cooler and sharper. Then a single lovely whiff of floral that is too quickly gone to identify it as rose. At 5 minutes: The hint of floral is back, faint but there. It seems to have settled in to stay for a while this time. It still doesn't smell like rose, but is nice anyway. The lime and lavender notes are also tentative but pleasant. There is a sense of greenness, but I have no idea what green musk smells like, so can't tell if I am smelling that. At 10 minutes: The overall scent is light, bright, and cool, very refreshing. Rather sparkly, even. Perfect for the warm day that we are expecting here today. It doesn't smell like a traditional men's cologne at all, yay! At 20 minutes: It is getting even prettier. A bit more floral-ish and feminine, but not strongly so. Is that the musk starting to gain notice? The cool sharp edge has faded away, making it softer (in character, not in strength) and slightly warmer. Strength and throw are both light, but stable so far. At 30 minutes: At first sniff, I notice that the sparkle is still there, although the sharpness is gone. The close-in scent is beginning to lighten. At 45 minutes: This is a consistent perfume, not a morpher. The differences I mention are subtle, not distinct comings and goings of different notes. It still smells much the same as in the bottle, but without the sharpness. There is still a cool vibe. It is now becoming powdery, as musk does, in such a lovely way. It's a green powder. Well, that makes sense. At 1 hour: Soft, light, gentle. Musky, greenish, mildly floral powder. At 2 hours: Considerably faded. Otherwise, same as above. Still cool, which is unusual this late in drydown. That's probably what is making me think it is just a little men's-cologne-ish again. After wearing so many different BPAL oils for so many years, I have kind of lost my sense of "masculine" and "feminine" in perfumes, unless they are at either extreme end of the spectrum. I suppose that's a good thing, but it makes it hard to describe them for others! At 3 hours: Faint men's-cologne. No trace of powder remains. At 4 hours: Very faint plastic. No problem, it's time to reapply anyway. Prominent notes: None that stand out Character: Light, cool, blended. Fairly unisex. I agree with the description of it as "polished." 4 out of 6 stars: Not particularly exciting, but quite pleasant and pretty
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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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In the vein (GET IT) of Boo, Suck It, and Spooky, this is a gushing font of sweet bloody black cherry cream and crushed dried blackberries. First review for this.... I am a cherry fiend, so this was a must buy for me. In the bottle: strong cherry cream. Very similar to the cherry in Ghoulish and Gothabilly. Wet on the skin: Same as the bottle. Very strong. No blackberry detected. Dry: this quieted down very quickly on my skin, becoming a skin scent within moments. Nearly a dead ringer for Ghoulish and Gothabilly, a soft cherry cream scent. No blackberry. I'm a bit disappointed in this. I have 4 bottles of Ghoulish, and I've a decant of Gothabilly, and so far this is nearly identical to them. I'm going to let this age in the hopes the blackberry comes out, and the strength increases. I won't sell it as I can always use more soft cherry fluff, but I was hoping for something different in this.
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Tassili NAjjer, 4000-1500BC Tonka bean, red clay, rose tobacco, and oudh. In the Bottle: Rosy tobacco and dust On the Skin: Definitely a dusty clay note, which I love, tobacco with a subtle rosiness and a little woody oudh in the background. On the Drydown: Seems like there might be a bit of whiskey in this. Overall reminds me of a cross between The Writing on the Slate and Flickering Lantern. It has low throw but is tenacious on the skin. Pretty - softly dusty rose tobacco
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On All Saints Day, Spanish families visit their loved ones in the cemeteries, keeping vigil throughout the evening, saying prayers for the dead. Family burial plots are cleaned and tended, and graves are adorned with gladiolas, chrysanthemums, and roses. Bone-shaped pastries called Saint's Bones, or the Bones of the Holy, are baked and shared in honor of the souls in Purgatory, and to remind us of those who no longer share our repast, but with whom we one day hope to be reunited with again. Orange-glazed cake, dotted with anise seed, and filled with custard, set beside a bouquet of celebratory funeral flowers. Hello deliciousness! This smells just like orange poppyseed cake with a thick layer of custard cream in the middle. (it also kind reminded me of the dry smell of orange fruit loops) This is the first bpal that has any kind of "cake" scent that works for me. All the others made me sneeze. But this is just wonderful without being cloyingly sweet. Nom
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A strangely romantic, disturbingly erotic perfume. This is a weird one, but in a good way. The pumpkin is not what I usually associate with BPAL pumpkin notes-- it's none of the usual super sweet and spice. It does have sweetness, though. Pumpkin musk is an odd concept, but, yeah, that is what I smell. It's a gentle, sweet musk. A touch sexy. The oudh is dark and rich without being heavy. It's a nice oudh-- I get neither band-aids nor barnyard. I really like this one. Every time I smell my wrist, I catch another nuance to it.
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A joyous celebration of La Catarina, La Flaca, La Muerte... Glorious, Beautiful Death. In Mexico, death is not something to be feared or hated; She is embraced, loved, and adored. La Muerte is fêted, as the celebrant "...chases after it, mocks it, courts it, hugs it, sleeps with it; it is his favorite plaything and his most lasting love." This is a Mexican paean to La Huesuda: dry, crackling leaves, the incense smoke of altars honoring Death and the Dead, funeral bouquets, the candies, chocolates, foods and tobacco of the ofrenda, amaranth, sweet cactus blossom and desert cereus. Okay, I've been wearing Dia de Los Muertos in my hair as it seems to be one of the best places for me to use many scents without smelling this overpowering scent on one part of my body. I put in one drop in my leave in conditioner (mind you it was a largish drop). When I first put it on, I definately smelled a smokiness that I can only assume is the tabacco. After about an hour or so I noticed that the scent had mellowed and that I was picking up smells that were a cross between Pan de Huevo (mexican pastry- it an egg bread type product with vanilla and other stuff) and Dulche de Leche candies. Later yesterday I noticed another scent as I was bowling, probably because I was sweating a little, That I believe was the cereus (I haven't been back to Tucson in blooming season for those in over two years). I washed my hair this morning and I can still smell the scent. Given that I normally go girlie girl with scents, this one is a bit out there for me (as it I wouldn't normally seen it smelling really good on me) but I think it smells amazing, and I spent most of yesterday catching whiffs and thinking man I want to go back to desert. Edited to add the lab's description--andrabell
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Our spin on a traditional Guy Fawkes Night treat: treacle toffee soaked in rich, dark bourbon. I wasn't sure what 'Treacle' was (or is, honestly). But this scent sounded interesting and different from other Halloweenies. In the Bottle: Dark boozy caramel On my Skin, Wet: A burst of what smells a little bit like burnt coffee with a touch of smoke. Carries some kind of a sweet note with it. On my Skin, Dry: Dark sweet molasses with a faint waft of smoke. It's not listed, but I detect a very small note of chocolate or cocoa. This scent reminds me of a childhood dessert that I can't place. Verdict: It IS different from other Halloweenies in my collection, and I love that it is a sweet but broody perfume. I may buy a backup bottle of this one.
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Harrison Weir Golden apples, cedar and redwood trellises heavy with grapevine, beeswax, hemp, vanilla benzoin, and bois de rose. I like this blend a lot when I first put it on. The apples, wood, grapevine and hemp all combine nicely. I can't smell the beeswax or vanilla. It mostly disappears after about ten minutes, sadly. I've only had it for a week, though, so maybe it needs more time to become more than a close skin scent.
