Czarina

This is almost pure anise on me. This is funny, because I've been known to wear a dab of anise oil as a perfume (usually layered with something else) in the past. I'd like to smell the sugar cubes, wormwood, and lemon a bit more. Nonetheless, it is quite intoxicating.

In the bottle: fir. Wet: fir and musk. Drydown: fir and musk. Virtually no throw or wearlength on me. A bust. If you like this try also: Tintagel, the Black Tower. Sigh.

I used Euphony when I was feeling very stressed about work and wanted to be able to unwind with my husband in the evening without taking out my stress on him. With intent, I applied a single drop to my heart chakra. It was quite amazing. I could smell the scent of Euphony the entire evening, quite strongly too. It was a constant reminder to me of the peace and harmony that I was seeking to cultivate at home. Stopped me several times from making intemperate comments. Very interesting. Under other circumstances I might use it to dress a candle, but it was very effective to soothe me when I had identified myself as a possible source of the discord.

I can smell cream in Egg Nog. I think there's a touch in Beaver Moon 07. I second the recommenation of Glowing Vulva.

In the imp: pine. Wet: pine resin. Drydown: pine and something that smells like the coconut in Snow White. Huh?? Verdict. Disappointing. I wanted woodsmoke. I can't smell the complexities in this scent that others can. Alas.

Got a decant in a swap, oil has been aged about nine months. In the imp: p-p-p-atchouli! Wet: musk, vanilla, patchouli. Drydown: heavenly sexy vanilla musk incense. I can catch I think a tiny hint of the pomegranate. Dead sexy. A real keeper. Oh, and layers well with Glowing Vulva.

This one was on my wishlist for a long time, because BPAL's smoke scents really intrigue me ever since I tried Bonfire Night. I finally got this as a frimp or in a swap, I now forget which. In the imp: intriguingly smoky. Wet: church incense and graham crackers. Huh? Drydown: lemon pine tree. ETA: One hour later: morphed into: Crayola crayon. Where is my smoke??

Worm Moon? I can't smell flowers in that one.

I find Yemaya more than faintly salty in the drydown. It's actually a lot like prosciutto i meloni in a bottle.

Tried this at a Meet-n-Sniff side-by-side with Kill-Devil. The two were almost indistinguishable! Kill-Devil might be slightly sweeter. Grog truly is the scent of rum. So much so that I wonder whether it might be cheaper to use actual rum as a cologne if I want to smell like this. I'm not sure I do. I agree that it does have a buttery sugary note along with the rum scent.

I can't smell the peach in this at all. I can smell the galbanum (makes this smell like a commercial French perfume, notably Bal a Versailles), the florals, maybe the jonquil a little bit. The touch of vetiver gives this stuff some backbone. I like this one a lot, though I don't think I need a bottle of it. It's more subtle than many of the Gothic-themed scents.

In the bottle: buttered popcorn. Wet: buttered popcorn and coffee with cream. Drydown: caramel popcorn and coffee with cream. Try this if you like: Midway, Gluttony, Eat Me.

The Lab kindly frimped me their flagship scent. In the imp: pow! almond extract. Wet: Almonds. Drydown: the almonds disappear completely! And are replaced by incense? Resins? Sandalwood? Magnificent.

Source: Lab frimp with my Worm Moon order. This one is like Tintagel off its meds: it's got armor, leather, wine, and plants, but it just seems so...unhappy. Desolate is a good word. I love the ambergris note in it. This really is a beautifully evocative scent. Without knowing the "narrative," as it were, I'd have a hard time discerning the notes. Well-blended and balanced. ETA: this has a very strong throw. Wow.

I love this scent, but I'd be lying if I told you I could identify a single note in it without the aid of the description. To me it smells like sugared herbs. The scent is unusually consistent from wet to drydown. Not much of a morpher on me, and delicious, just puzzling.

First of all, mad props to the Lab for the label, which looks like May Day 1909 at Bryn Mawr, of all things. This is a complex blend of florals and mint that had people sniffing appreciatively in my office all day. I can't pick out the rose or jasmine at all (usually a good thing). The mint is most prominent in the bottle; it recedes into the background somewhat on drydown, and the ivy and sandalwood (and all the other stuff) come forward. I couldn't tell you most of the notes without looking up the description, but this is really nice.

This is really interesting. Bought a bottle from the Lab. In the bottle: potting soil. Wet: freshly spaded earth, full of humus...like in a forest. Drydown: dirt. But complex, good smelling dirt. I really can't pick out any rotting notes. I can, I think, detect peat moss. Truly unique.

Got any TALs in your stash?

Decant from a circle. In the imp: Candy! Smarties! Mmm. Wet: Definitely Smarties. Drydown: the candy scent lingers, and the florals and coconut scents make themselves known. Very complex. Lovely. Because there are so many florals, it's hard to pick out those notes. For example, I wouldn't have known there was neroli or monoi in this without peeking at the notes. I also can't smell any pineapple at all (for that, I have to go to my Screeching Parrot). Good throw, not sure yet about wearlength.

Decant. In the imp: furniture polish. Wet: Improves considerably. Vetiver is not listed as a note, but this has a "men's cologne" air at first. I can definitely smell the coconut and lemon duking it out. Drydown: this settles down and blends well. I can smell the coconut, lemon, and woody note together and the musk ties it all together. Very nice, though I don't think I need a bottle of this.

I like Marae better than Tupapau, which had kind of a sickly note to me, or Tiki Queen, which was insufficiently coconutty to satisfy my expectations. But that's just me. Marae has more throw IME.

OMG. This is just fabulous. If you read the notes in the description, yup, they're all there, but the amazing thing is this smells like it is an actual drink. I think it's pure pineapple and rum, but my daughter thought it was mango-scented. At any rate, it transports me instantly to the beach. Brava Beth!

Lab frimp. In the imp: evergreen. Wet: evergreen. Drydown: evergreen with a heavy overlay of sugar. Sorry, this just doesn't seem like that complex a scent to me. Although I like sweet evergreens, don't get me wrong.

Decant from a Novel Ideas decant circle. It's a deep amber in color. In the imp: creamy! Mmm. Wet: creamy amber. Drydown: what an amazing combination of wood, amber, and cream. The lotus is a very faint overlay. This didn't do much for me the first time I tried it (maybe Lupercalia overload) and I did not buy a bottle. I am now regretting that because this works on me so well.

I really ought to review this oil, which is one of my all-time favorites. The first time I ever used it I got sick for about a week (I think influenza--high fever and severe cough). My associating this with the use of the oil could easily be a post hoc fallacy on my part...and yet...there's no doubt that this oil stirs up all sorts of stuff, and it could just as well have been that I was overwhelmed by what I dredged up the first time. Since that first time, I am happy to report, I have not gotten sick any time I have used this oil, so clearly I'm not allergic to it. I am also somewhat more cautious about attending to the energy that is released when I use it. I'm pretty non-ritualistic--all I do is use the oil with intent before I meditate--but let me just say that it is very useful for shadow work, and the results manifest both immediately and long after use of the oil. If you, like me, are a person who tends to live totally in your head, this oil is great as a facilitator for grounding. Among other things. I have also gone from absolutely hating the smell of this stuff--although I would use it anyway--to liking it a great deal. It smells like I imagine Egyptian embalming herbs would smell, with perhaps a coriander note. One thing it doesn't seem to have is a dirt note, like Graveyard Dirt. I suppose that would have been too obvious.