Gin

Love-Lies-Bleeding

 

Velvet flower, indeed. How does Beth make oils that smell like velvet?! There's an initial hit of cherry, and something that's almost chocolatey, and it's just so smooth, like velvet. It doesn't smell like rose, but it evokes the feeling of rose petals--the deep, deep red ones. I don't know how Beth bottled it, but she did.

The Sea Foams Blood

 

The Lab has been frimpin' fantastically lately. This is another that I was frimped and would never have chosen on my own. Blood? Foamy blood? No thanks. But it. is. gorgeous. It's not really bloody at all. It's aquatic. A beautiful aquatic--and I don't usually like aquatics too much. This is tangy salt water. Maybe a tinge of metallic, but mostly just sea water. And maybe grapefruit.

Tweedledum

 

This has been in my imp box for forever, and I'm not sure I've ever even tried it. It's definitely different, and not unpleasantly so. The mango is high and bright, with the fig for sweetness and the tea and patchouli lounging in the background. Not a bottle for me, but I think I'll hang onto this imp. (Like I need more absurdity in my life! )

The Red Queen

 

Yup, cherry and wood. I don't smell the currant, which disappoints me. Not a keeper.

Robin Goodfellow

 

This was a frimp from the Lab... I definitely wouldn't have chosen it for myself, based on the notes. On my skin, I'm pleasantly surprised. It's a *sweet* green mossy scent. I don't know what I was so afraid of. This is really well suited to the character and I like it quite a bit, though I tend to shy away from anything that seems so earthy (on paper). The heather gives it such a lovely, light airiness. Beautiful!

Hurricane

 

Oh, vetivert. Inhaling, there's a quick tang of ozone and then the vetivert come stomping in. It's not unlike what I'd expect a hurricane to smell like, but I don't care to smell like a hurricane.

Pumpkin IV - 2008

 

Pumpkin and vanilla cherry honey tobacco. Yeah, I said it, vanilla cherry honey tobacco. The cedar's wayyyyy down there, and not apparent until after awhile. And then it's honey vanilla and a tiny bit of cedar. This is really good. Remind me why I thought I didn't like the Pumpkin Patch?

Lavender is what I smell first, but is quickly replaced by... lemon smoke? Smells a lot like Carnaval Diabolique. I don't get a lot of plum--and I was hoping for plum--but mostly a sort of smokiness. Meh. If I could smell more plum or even more coconut, this might be a keeper.

The Apothecary

 

Smells like tea! ...And my mom? I like the tea part, and actually the "my mom" part isn't bad... it just means that I probably won't want to wear it. Eventually, the tea fades, but the mosses and grass and herbs are there. And my mom.

 

P.S. I don't know how to describe "my mom" but she usually wears something that I find a little too floral or cloying or something. She used to wear one of the Cashmeres by Donna Karan, but I don't know if that's the scent I'm smelling.

Sturgeon Moon

 

Argh, another case of liking a scent but not wanting to smell like it. This is really pretty. Cool and calm, it smells like water. And blue mallow flowers? I don't know where that's coming from, but that's what I think of when I smell this. Very pretty, but still not something I think I'd wear.

War

 

Musk and ginger like whoa! Underneath is the sweetness of honeysuckle. This has that sugar-crunchy smell that some BPALs have--like when fruits are dipped in sugar, and the sugar gets crunchy? Like that, but not fruity. War is metallic instead. I like this for the character in the book, but it's definitely not a scent I'd wear.

Faeu Boulanger is a watery violet-mint. Very refreshing on a hot day. And a lot more pretty than I expected from something with 'mushroom gases' in it!

Enraged Groundhog Musk

 

Really? This is an ENRAGED groundhog? Hm. I get a sweetly spicy cinnamon cardamom vanilla. I thought this would be a lot stronger and more chocolatey than what I actually get. I like it anyway, but it's very faint. I'm wondering if I got a weird bottle or something because it seems so weak. I'm glad it's not overwhelming or cloying, but it's very close to the skin--and it's about twelve million degrees here, so I feel like it should be radiating off my skin in waves (though I see other reviewers thought it was a fast fader). Meh. I like it but I don't think this 'hog is a keeper.

Marotte

 

This makes me think of my grandfather at first. The oakmoss makes it very masculine-soapy until the amber jumps up to keep it in check. The pear is really golden and syrupy for a minute and then fades into the sweet background.

Green Tree Viper

 

I had a really difficult time imagining this one. Snake Oil and mint and... no, just no. But since I'm curious as a cat, I found some in the sales section, anyway. It. Is. Lovely. Mint and green tea take center stage while the Snake Oil gives it just a bit of an interesting edge. This is so perfect for a day like today when it's a million and six degrees outside. (Though I think it would be perfect for any day.) Gorgeous.

Saw-Scaled Viper

 

I sniffed the bottle and kind of recoiled from the ginger. Dabbed it on anyway, though. On the skin, the ginger recedes, and it's a marvelous cinna-ginger Snake Oil. "Sexy cookies" is a really good description for this. I love the sweet-spicy foody Lab oils, as well as Snake Oil, and this is a beautiful marriage of the two.

Reindeer Poop

 

Love this. Spicy cake with a fresh musky note that prevents this from being over-the-top foody.

B-Horror

 

This is a weird one. Fresh from the bottle, I think I smell the grenadine, peanut butter, and chocolate, but mostly I smell coconut. It reminds me quite a lot of White Chocolate, Marshmallow, and Coconut. The grenadine disappears almost immediately, and I'm left with the PB and chocolate, and presumably, corn syrup. It mostly still smells like coconut, though. I keep sniffing the back of my hand where I applied it, thinking it's really good, but is it something I want to smell like? Oddly enough, a few hours into it, all I can smell is... vanilla musk? (!) I'm glad I was able to grab and imp of this and try it, but I don't think I'll spring for an entire bottle.

 

Later: I think the vanilla musk phase I get might be the grenadine returning.

Al Azif (on the imp as Al-Azif)

I try to not rely on the listed notes, but when there are none, I flounder about like a fish out of water. This is syrupy sweet at first, but dries down to flowers. It actually makes me think of dead flowers, out in the heat and humidity. But... in a good way. The flowers are a little too fragrant--maybe they're not dead, but crushed, and they're dampened by something. Some sort of haze. A very interesting and morphy oil.

Pumpkin V - 2008

 

This is actually really pretty. I'm not a fan of the pumpkins, I don't think I even looked at the notes in this past year's patch. This one came to me with another purchase, or I'm sure I would never have tried it at all. It's not pumpkiny at all, it's red fruit and flowers. I couldn't pick out any specific fruits or flowers on my own, but cranberry, strawberry, rosehips, and carnation sounds about right.

Tomoe Gozen Bath Oil

 

Love it. It's pretty much all red currant. I think it almost has a tea scent, but I don't know if it's really there or if I just always associate red currant with tea. The honey mght be there, but it's definitely not the strong honey I usually get from BPAL. Anyway, it's beautiful and RED and fruity and I'm glad I took a chance on this.

Xanthe, The Weeping Clown

 

Xanthe is the one of two CD scents that really stuck with me when I sniffed 'em at WCWC when they first rolled into town. They weren't available for purchase yet, so instead of getting a bottle, I've just been thinking of getting a bottle... for what, two years? The label art and the whole clown thing really put me off, even though I remember liking the scent. In any case, Xanthe popped up in a sale thread, and I figured it's now or never. And I'm *so* glad I went for it. In the bottle, it's all bubblegum. On the skin, it's pretty much the same. The pepper is there for a minute, and then it's all sugary, bubblegummy fruit. Which is just my kind of scent.

 

(I might have to remove the label, though. )

Miskatonic University

 

I got rid of my original bottle, and I couldn't remember why. However, the Lab saw fit to frimp me with it twice! Unfortunately, under the yummy Irish coffee and dusty books and gleaming wooden tables... is ... cat pee. It smells sooo good and then.. er, what's that? Oh! So sad! And now I remember why I sold off my bottle.

Oh wow. Seeing those beautiful labels definitely makes me want to order all the sets! They are stunning!

I know! I thought I had gotten over my pretty bottle hoarding, but I guess not. Plus, now that reviews are coming in, I'm wondering if I should have gotten more, anyway. (Oh, if only my bank account wasn't empty...)

Marcilla

 

Fresh floral, tea, and nectarines. This is really pretty. I think the nectarine/bergamot/tea is a winning combination.