dawndie

I was unsure whether this would be a product for me -- my dyed, shoulder-length hair tends to get oily, and while I can get away with washing it every other day, by day 2 I'm using a dry shampoo on the crown to soak up the excess oil. So why would I need extra gloss for my hair? I'm glad I splurged on this though -- I'll squirt once, then run through only the damp ends right after shampoo. I end up with pretty soft waves, and there's no extra oil on day 2. Hooray! The honey fragrance, as others have mentioned, is more floral than "O"-type. I'd love for the fragrance to be stronger, but it's just as well -- I'd overapply and stinkbomb my husband and workmates. A great product, glad I purchased.

In bottle: cherry syrup On skin: blast of cherry, pow! Half-hour later: hey, where'd it go? The cherries disappeared, leaving vague spicy plastic. Drat! In conclusion: I love cherry, and the amaretto from Bordello and Countess Willie is another favorite. But the vanilla turns on me, and I don't get any creamy sweetness. This will be one for the scent locket, like a few other super-charged fruit blends that don't turn out right on me.

This is a golden delicious incense blend, with something dark scrabbling in the dirt beneath it. Like a less-sweet, dirtied-up Haunted. I hope this pops into the general catalog!

In bottle: dirty dry leather and cedar On skin: kinda sweet! like citrus Half-hour later: the light citrus and dusty leather go back and forth In conclusion: like others have noticed, this is a real morpher. One minute it's the dirty leather and cedar, which reminds me of the stinkbomb that Enkhespalos became on my skin (like a stable, ugh); then it's light and sweet, citrus with just a tinge of green tea; then every so often fuzzy champaca pops in, one of my more favorite florals. This one's worth keeping, to see what happens next!

In bottle: fragrant wood On skin: nuts? Oh right, must be the acorns Half-hour later: lots of creamy vanillaness with some sweet greenery -- it reminds me a tiny bit of the acai berry from Australian Copperhead In conclusion: I don't know what combination is giving me that luscious vanilla, but it's dreamy and addicting -- I keep reapplying so I get more of a delicious cloud around me. I hesitated ordering at first, afraid of the OAK OAK OAK being too woody, but this is edible wood. I want to snap a piece off and chomp away.

Wet: dark musks Initially on skin: soapy red musk Half-hour later: dirtied up nicely with some patch and clove In conclusion: I love most red musk blends, but was leery of the patchouli and clove being overbearing and obnoxious. Luckily they stay in the background, a great dirty base to the musk. Unfortunately there's no hope for the vanilla orchid or mandarin -- they're smothered by all the musks and sludge. I should order a bottle of this one, it's pompous and disagreeable

Wet: dusky musk Initially on skin: lots of animalian brown musk Half-hour later: the vanilla honey has arrived, yum! In conclusion: the "feral brown musk" is so strong and discouraging at first. But it totally morphs, and the honey is like the decadent delicious vanilla from Banshee Beat that I just want to eat with a spoon. Too bad I didn't like the beginning more, but I wish I could buy a bottle of that ending!

Wet: stinky dirt Initially on skin: lots of light wood and dark dirt Half-hour later: hazelnut has sweetened this up just a tad, but still very "outdoorsy" In conclusion: I'm glad others mentioned Samhain and original Hexennacht, as I'm getting echoes of those in this blend. This one belongs more outside with the patch and wood, but I like the ending with what ends up being slightly sweet tobacco on me.

Wet: bubblegum! Initially on skin: super-sweet candy apples Half-hour later: this has softened and darkened nicely with musk and incense In conclusion: I don't go for most apple scents, as they're too sweet and foody, but this one's great -- very autumnal and dark. My favorite 'Weenie so far.

Wet: light rose Initially on skin: lots of pomegranate and rose, nice! Half-hour later: a bit more dark & dusty from the opoponax In conclusion: I really liked this one, the pom and roses are great together. Light and pretty without being old-lady perfumey.

Wet: green vegetation Initially on skin: lots of brown crunchy leaves Half-hour later: mishmash of dry flowers In conclusion: I really liked the beginning, Beth does the best "dry leaves in fall" blends. Something in the flowers wasn't coming out right on my skin, however -- maybe chamomile was causing a slight plastic smell. Oh well.

Wet: chemicals Initially on skin: light rose and dusty frankincense Half-hour later: lilac musk has appeared, powdery and fancypants, with the rose and frankincense In conclusion: this one was quite a morpher -- it seemed every sniff was something different. Light rose, a bit of honey, watery pom, then the dusty wafting of musk. Fades quickly too, like it's snooty and fickle.

Wet: watery floral Initially on skin: lots of "clean dirt" and light flowers Half-hour later: pom has finally appeared, a little bit of sweet fruit among the watery flowers In conclusion: this is very pretty, lots of florals without giving me a headache. Worth waiting a bit for the pom to show up.

In bottle: sugared red musk On skin: slightly sweet red musk Half-hour later: more dusty from the amber and incense In conclusion: I liked the beginning, that aggressive red musk which is more prominently featured in Marianne and Spawn of the She-Demon. The ending is mellow, sweetened dry incense. It's demure and shy instead of its bawdy and loud red musk sisters.

In bottle: sweet red wine On skin: cream cheese frosting Half-hour later: the wine has reappeared, that and the frosting over a base of resins In conclusion: I knew I needed to order this as we got married in Vegas also, but I was unsure I'd like "frosting" as the first ingredient. I don't like foody scents in general and didn't want to smell like wedding cake. This one, however, is like the original Beaver Moon with red wine and a light Snake Oil base. A foody scent that's more enjoyable for me to wear.

In bottle: funky wood On skin: dry-dusty incense Half-hour later: the dry incense is a bit sweeter, but not overpowering In conclusion: I liked the wet stage, it reminded me strongly of shopping for incense in a good store that has a whole aisle of it. This ends up with lots of tonka and tobacco, with just a bit of honey and brown sugar. Very light, but great to slather.

In bottle: vinegary berries On skin: giant dark cherries and berries bopping around Half-hour later: musk has warmed up in the background of the cherry-berry explosion In conclusion: I had a blast of BPAL nostalgia, as this ends up similar to Perversion on me (my very first bottle, ordered way back in October '04 and still a top-10 favorite). Lots of sweet darkness, with musk swapped in for the tobacco & leather of Perv.

In bottle: slightly sweetened rubbing alcohol On skin: lots and lots of musk, red and black Half-hour later: delicious dark fruit sugaring up the musk In conclusion: I love the combo of aggressive musks and dark fruit, and with the amber ends up reminding me of a dustier Corazon. Less staying power than Corazon, but a great backup. I'm glad I splurged on this one.

In bottle: peppery floral On skin: orchid straight out, with a bit of dirt from the patchouli Half-hour later: flowers juiced up with pear, yum! In conclusion: I didn't order the previous Black Moon, as I was afraid the thick heady florals would be too much. However, this is bright and juicy, and the patchouli adds a nice touch of gritty earth to the bottom. Delicious and not too heavy, even in this obnoxious heat wave we're having.

In bottle: busty plum On skin: smack of red musk Half-hour later: lots of Bordello plum with mellower musky base In conclusion: I'm so glad the Lab is releasing these prototypes, it's interesting to see the evolution of a blend to a finished product. I love the final Madame Moriarty and this is a great variation with that extra bump of luscious plum. Juicy, dark and delicious

Huckleberry, frankincense, rose, strawberry, violet, and star anise. In bottle: strawberry gum On skin: Bubblicious fruity gum Half-hour later: more dusty from the frankincense and rose In conclusion: I was a bit concerned about violet and star anise, not favorite notes, but they aren't strong compared to lots and lots of strawberry. I like the frankincense base -- it's like the wooden crate full of strawberries right out of the patch. A fun fruity blend.

In bottle: sparkly lemon On skin: lots of bright lemon with a sprinkling of white flowers Half-hour later: mellowed into more of a lemon-tea scent, like Crib Girls In conclusion: this lasts all day on me, no need to reapply, and smells clean and sparky. I've worn this all week as work's been weird -- lots of people are leaving or moving, making my desk seem adrift. I've been using this for a semblance of calm and a jolt of confidence. I'm really glad I got a bottle of this, I predict a lot of wear.

In bottle: green veggies (?) On skin: supercharged purple plum Half-hour later: melding of Shubby ginger, plum and cocoa musk In conclusion: like others, this reminds me a lot of Bordello (one of my top 5 GC favorites), it's that delicious amaretto and plum. The big difference is the chocolate musk, which veers between dark & delicious and plastic & fake on me. Not a replacement for Bordello, but a pretty good variation.

Before spraying: green powder Initial spray: super-unripe green tomato After drying: sweeter greenery In conclusion: I was unsure about trying a room spray called "Swamp," thinking it would be stagnant water and rotting plants. This is a springy green, though, really refreshing. Like Disneyland's version of a swamp, clean and meticulously maintained.

In bottle: light winey grapes On skin: peppy fizzy white grapes Half-hour later: still nice and sweet with some light honey In conclusion: these are the grapes from Glitter making another cheery appearance. It took me a couple of outings, but I realized this smells like Pink Phoenix on me, swapping out the strawberry for the grapes. Light, fresh and perky.