IronMollyBlack

`Ah, ah! you thought to find your lady love, but the pretty bird has flown and its song is dumb; the cat caught it, and will scratch out your eyes too. Rapunzel is lost to you for ever--you will never see her more.' The Prince was beside himself with grief, and in his despair he jumped right down from the tower, and, though he escaped with his life, the thorns among which he fell pierced his eyes out. Then he wandered, blind and miserable, through the wood, eating nothing but roots and berries, and weeping and lamenting the loss of his lovely bride. Thorn-spiked vines, blood, and tears. Warm, polished wood and what I'm guessing is dragon's blood? A bit of a "salty" note to it--the tears, I suppose. The wood predominates initially, as it dries down, the spicyness comes out bit more. Definately a gender-neutral scent, I bet it would smell really good on a man. Edited to add: Took a second sniff after the lovely Sookster's review, and of course she's right, that's vetiver! I think I must've burnt my nose on Rumpelstiltzchen prior to this review!

I dunno. "Jiggery Pokery" just felt like it needed a whimsical scent attached to it, so here's some pink pepper cotton candy with a sliver of orange peel and a hint of vanilla cream. Hot out of the mailbox, so I may have to edit this review in a day or two! Right off the bat, it seems to be just about as described. Strongest note is the pink pepper cotton candy. The pepper tempers it a bit so it's not teeth achingly sweet. Just a hint of orange and vanilla, and the cream is not so much an element of itself but giving the scent a creamy sort of vibe. Although it is a sweet scent, it doesn't strike me as overly juvenile. It's not over the top foody. To me it smells like a very upscale summer cocktail. Throw is light. A great summer scent!

`What ails you, dear wife?' `Oh,' she answered, `if I don't get some rampion to eat out of the garden behind the house, I know I shall die.' The man, who loved her dearly, thought to himself, `Come! rather than let your wife die you shall fetch her some rampion, no matter the cost.' So at dusk he climbed over the wall into the witch's garden, and, hastily gathering a handful of rampion leaves, he returned with them to his wife. She made them into a salad, which tasted so good that her longing for the forbidden food was greater than ever. If she were to know any peace of mind, there was nothing for it but that her husband should climb over the garden wall again, and fetch her some more. So at dusk over he got, but when he reached the other side he drew back in terror, for there, standing before him, was the old witch. Morning glory vines twisting around a patch of rampion, carrot, and parsley, with monkshood, hemlock, elfwort, sage, wormwood, and mandrake. This is most definately a green, growing scent. It evokes a scent memory for me, in general of picking wildflower (mostly considered weed) boquets as a child--the flowers, and also the stems and the green sap from the plants. On drydown, it reminds me of a flower I've smelled before, I think it might be the four o'clocks that used to bloom outside our house? Not sure that I'll need more than an imp's worth, but I'm enjoying it.

It was a long way to her own house, and the chest seemed to grow heavier at every step. Sometimes she felt as if it would be impossible for her to get on at all, but her greed gave her strength, and at last she arrived at her own door. She sank down on the threshold, overcome with weariness, but in a moment was on her feet again, fumbling with the lock of the chest. But by this time night had come, and there was no light in the house, and the woman was in too much hurry to get to her treasures, to go and look for one. At length, however, the lock gave way, and the lid flew open, when, O horror! instead of gold and jewels, she saw before her serpents with glittering eyes and forky tongues. And they twined themselves about her and darted poison into her veins, and she died, and no man regretted her. Serpentine green herbs, glistening red currant, sparkling yellow lemon rind, green musk, lime, and snakeskin. In the imp, effervescent lime. On the skin, sweet, soft citrus. not sharp, the sweetness I think is the currant, which is not overpowering. The musk is also soft, and beautiful. The herbs in the background anchor it. It is one of those well-blended fragrances where one element doesn't steal the show. It is gorgeous, I can't stop smelling my arm! I expect this one to be a big hit! Edited to add: Although the site description is "Forky tongues", the label on the imp says "Forking tongues"... No matter WHAT kind of tongues they've got, they sure smell nice...

Blood and Judgment So Well Commedled This year, Lilith started cultivating a love of Shakespeare, especially Hamlet. Man, this kid loves that play. I assumed, when we started talking about Shakespeare’s works, that she’d love the comedies, particularly Midsummer Night’s Dream and all its attendant fairies. Nope; it’s all about the mopey Prince of Denmark and his teen angst. When she started at her Shakespeare summer camp this year, one of her teachers asked which characters she liked best. She replied, “Horatio.” “Horatio? But he doesn’t have many lines, does he? Why do you like him so much?” “He’s Hamlet’s best friend, he’s always there for Hamlet, and he’s the only one that doesn’t die.” Wise words, kiddo! This is a photo that I took of her watching Kenneth Branagh’s Hamlet with her trusty sidekick, Wednesday. The dog, for her part, is a huge fan of the Two Gentlemen of Verona. A little kid’s interpretation of Hamlet’s BFF. A scent of kindness and devotion, friendship and loyalty: soft brown leather and brushed suede with bourbon vanilla, toasted almond, tonka bean, and amber. This is the scent I was most excited about in my order, although I was a bit nervous about the almond. Unfortunately, it does go to cherry on me, and mixes with the leather in a way that makes it smell sort of like gasoline when it first hits my skin. That fades within a few minutes as the almond backs off. After dry down, I get mostly sweet, ambery leather. I can't detect the bourbon vanilla. The dry down is really nice, and I'm hoping some aging will mellow out the almond.

I have not been able to find a single new name; but as I came over a high mountain by a wood, where the fox and the hare bid each other good-night, I saw a little house, and before the house was burning a little fire, and round the fire danced a very funny little man, who hopped upon one leg, and cried out: – “To-day I brew, to-morrow I bake, Next day the queen’s child I shall take; How glad I am that nobody knows; My name is Rumpelstilzchen!” Firewood and ash with an oddly otherworldly blend of patchouli, cardamom, nutmeg, black pepper, tonka, vetiver, and myrrh. Figured I'd give this one a try, since it sounded interesting. In the imp, smells like wood, smoke, and some spice. On me, used charcoal briquette. I waited it out a while before running to the sink and washing it off, hoping that I would get something of the spice in the imp. Nope. Nothing but burnt log. If you are fond of the smell of burnt-out campfire, this is for you. Or perhaps with a different skin chemistry, some of the spice will appear.

Walking the Prime Meridian This is the scent of the Royal Observatory at Greenwich on a cold, stormy day in March: ancient oaks and deep green mosses dampened by rain and sea salt. I was not sure if this scent would work on me at all, but I took a chance and ordered it blind. It's fantastic! Very evocative of the description. It smells like a cold rainy day outdoors. To me it's gender neutral, the throw is medium. It's fresh and clean without being sharp, if that makes any sense. If these types of scents are your thing, I would give it a try!

[No additional description given.] Starts off with a blast of mint--peppermint, but not a sweet mint. Then a watery slush note. Not a sharp aquatic, not fully frozen snow, this is definitely slush. Underneath is a spicy wet dirt note, similar to Graveyard Dirt. The mint calms down after a few minutes, and more of the dirt comes out. I'm getting a slight almost lemony vibe along with the mineral scent of the dirt. It's nicer than it sounds, and I would wear this in any season.

It's an old LE, but you might enjoy Gunpowder: Carrot peelings, hay, chaff, molasses, maple oats, red apples, stable wood, and musk. Also Hay Moon. I haven't yet tried Community Church Manger Hay. I am still searching for my perfect horse stable scent!

2016 Version: Starts out with a slightly piney sweet snow note, maybe with a touch of berries. Which is then clubbed to death by narcissus. Very heavy on the flowers. It does smell realistically like paperwhites. It calms down a bit after a few minutes, and the snow note begins to peek out again. I'm hoping age will balance it out. It is already much better than it was cold from the mailbox. Strong throw, long wear length. I think I prefer The Snow Maiden, which is similar, but more snow less narcissus.

When I ordered Outlaw, I was hoping for something like Le Pere Fouettard with rootbeer instead of licorice, and that's pretty much what I got! On me, the rootbeer is strongest when wet, but all the notes blend together and even out on drydown. If you are a fan of Le Pere, and like rootbeer, this is a must have.

ziggystardust13: I recommend you give Gypsy Moth a try now that it has some age on it. When I first got it, the vanilla was sort of plasticky, and the other elements didn't seem to mesh. I stuck it in the back of my BPAL box and forgot about it. Now that it's got some age on it, it's soft creamy vanilla with some spice. It's lovely, and at some point I may search for a back-up!

Rainy day scents for me are Shanghai Tunnel and Walking the Prime Meridian. Both evoke a rainy day really well, if you are looking to match the scent to the weather.

EMBALMING FLUID BONBON Chocolate and embalming fluid: perhaps an acquired taste? This reminds me very much of a Chaos I have, and treasure. Pretty much what it says on the tin--chocolate embalming fluid. The chocolate is rich and fudgey, like a very rich chocolate brownie. Combined with embalming fluid, it reminds me of candied citrus dipped in chocolate. The chocolate is quite strong at first, fading into the background as it dries. Throw is medium to light. Very much a winner in my book, I can't stop huffing my wrists!

The root of these scents (SEE WHAT I DID THERE?) are foresty and camphoraceous, riddled with deep greens and lush brown tones. I'm really horrible at distinguishing notes, but here goes! Reminds me of the smell of being in an evergreen grove, after a rain, with the dirt and fallen needles underfoot. I don't get one wood scent overwhelming it, although I think there might be a touch of cedar in here. Color wise this is dark green and brown. Can't wait to see how it ages! Edit: Now that it has settled down from the mailbox, it's much softer and sweeter. I'm getting some resin in here. Fades quickly, but really nice while it lasts. ETA: This is Woods #28

TKO has been my sleep scent for years, so I had to give this one a try. To me it's a more herbal version of TKO. I can definitely pick out the chamomile. I don't get very much vanilla. I find that these type of scents get softer and just more wonderful with age. All the sharp edges are smoothed over. Although I really like the scent now, I think I will love it with some age on it!

Hot out of the mailbox, so I may need to edit once it settles. I definitely get more of the hemp and cannabis, and less of the patch. The vanilla is just barely peeking out on dry down. This is a lighter/less earthy patch than the one in Goblin/RR HG. I do think it needs some time to settle down from the journey. Update: This one really creates a scent memory for me. It's the smell my jean jacket probably had way back when--a roach of cheap columbian in the pocket while wearing patchouli.

You could also try Libertine - Rosewood and chamomile with bergamot, violet, red sandalwood, primrose and Arabian musk. I really like chamomile too, and Libertine is my favorite.

My first impression of this one is it's the cake note from Huesos de Santo. But not quite as buttery. Or maybe it's vanilla caramel custard. It's fresh out of the mailbox, so it may need to settle a bit. Most definitely foody! ETA: This is Gourmand #75

I never tried the original oil, but judging from the HG, I can now see what the fuss is about! As has been said, pretty perfectly balanced patch, hemp, and vanilla. Sometimes vanilla goes plasticky on me, but not here. It's gorgeous, and the scent lasts all day in my hair. Most definitely hoard-worthy!

This is the blackest black. A very aggressive scent. I get strong vetiver, then patch. I can detect a sliver of mint that gives it a coldness, and a touch of salt spray. A full moon over a icy cold ocean. I am a big fan of vetiver, so I like it now, but have a feeling I will love it once it gets some age!

2015 Version: Very fruity olive oil, with a bit of soft leather and wood. In just the few days since I've had it, more of the leather and wood seem to be coming out. It may need to settle/age more to reach it's full potential. It's a very bright, warm, happy smell, to me. Reminds me a little bit of the Panacea Moxie. Very glad I bought a bottle! May have to pick up another.

I am in New England too, and have a hedge of Dog Roses. They smell wonderful in summer! The closest scent to them that I've tried so far is Two, Five and Seven from the GC Mad Tea Party. It's got grass instead of beach, but it's all rose, all the time.

If you are a fan of TKO, get your hands on a bottle of this! It's TKO's slightly darker twin. The tea is gorgeous. I was a bit scared of the florals, because they don't tend to work on me, but here they are quite light. I'm sure this is going to age wonderfully.

Oh lord, when the goblins chose this for me, I thought it was off to swaps because I hate coconut. I was wrong. Trust the goblins... Dirty cocoa, definitely not dry, more like cocoa mud pies, with just a hint of not too foody, NOT suntan-oil, coconut, backed up by the resins. As it drys, the scent gets drier, too. It sweetens up for a bit, and the coconut comes out. Then it becomes smoky-sweet, with the "charred woods and resins." The cocoa and coconut slowly fade out into the background. I'm thinking there's some vetiver hanging out back there somewhere. And I'm getting a bit of cedar, and is that a smidge of pine? Maybe that terebinth type? Anyhow, it's very well blended, it's a morpher, and all the stages are lovely.