lady_pandora

This is why I love frimps! Sometimes the Lab sends you a scent that's just perfect for you, that you never really took notice of on your own. The name of it just didn't jump out at me when I browsed, and I think we all have scent categories that resonate more with us conceptually and Alice just isn't one of mine. If this had been called, IDK, Doomed Gothic Heroine, I'd have tried it years ago. It starts out with a honey or beeswax note very similar to Lights of Men's Lives, which I love, and in the early stages there seems to be a fruity note hanging out underneath. What it eventually becomes, though, is a blend of the beeswax note with a clean white floral that I'd describe as powdery or even papery. Before I checked the note list, I'd have guessed something like gardenia. It's soooo pretty; innocent and feminine. As for gothic heroines, I have the Haute Macabre review of the Weenies fresh in my mind, and they described one of the Poe scents as reminiscent of a gothic heroine running for her life over the moors. If that scent is the heroine's mad dash, then this one might be the heroine herself, with the beeswax representing the ubiquitous candelabra and the white floral her diaphanous gown. You could have called this one Edith Cushing and I'd have believed it. I could see this becoming a staple in my rotation. Thanks Lab

This is an odd one and a morpher. It starts out super bitter, then turns to wood and incense. One of the incensey notes is a sort of musky sweet note that I have smelled in exactly one other place: TAL Ascendancy. Checking the note list, I think it must either be the hyssop, or else a frankincense note unlike the Lab's usual frankincense. And then the wood fades out entirely, and a candy-sweet floral emerges--I can totally see where people are getting the fruit associations! It reads as a floral to me, though, like honeysuckle. Very pretty! I love the concept, and it's an unusual blend with a TALish vibe. I'll be keeping the imp.

Yup! In the bottle, I can smell the grass note, but once on my skin, I get the freshest, juiciest apple pie with some cinnamon. Close to the skin, I can smell a little bit of the "burnt" effect I always get from baked goods scents (darn skin chemistry), but it's enough in the background that I think I can deal. This is a nostalgic apple pie scent that I'll wear a lot during the holidays.

Oh, man, that does sound perfect! So many smellies I've never tried! Maybe I'll get something perfect in my frimps today too (squee, I have an order Out for Delivery)! ETA: Oh my, what about Tyrannophobia? It has the advantage of me already having it, and it's mostly raspberry (i.e. pink) but also has tea and also is sinister! She's certainly tyrannical in her little fiefdom... That sounds PERFECT! The party was this past Saturday and I did go with Tyrannophobia! It's not very strong on me, so I doubt anyone else smelled it, but it helped me get into the spirit of things! And everyone loved--or at least rightfully shuddered at, lol--my nauseatingly pink ensemble.

My book was a zombie novel called Spore! Jolabokaflod is a warm, cozy fragrance befitting the concept. I don't get much chocolate; it's mostly sweet beeswax and soft leather on my skin. It's a perfect expression of the idea behind it, and will definitely get a lot of wear from me during the winter.

I blind bottled this because it sounded so intriguing, though the marigolds had me a little worried--I remember planting marigolds as a kid, and they kind of stunk! But it turns out that La Calavera Catrina is really nice. It's not much of a morpher; from beginning to end I mostly get a yellow, dry, herbal, wildflower-y scent that makes me think of sunset in a golden field in late summer or early fall. There's a girl in the field, maybe, with the sun picking up highlights in her hair. I can't tease out where one flower ends and one begins, and I can't make out the rose or vanilla at all, but I think they're what keep the other notes from being too bitter. Lovely scent, and unlike anything else in my collection; definitely a keeper! This is a death scent in a way, yes, but not human death; this is the death of the sun at sunset, or the crops at harvest time.

Am I ever gonna learn I can't wear pure gourmands? Magic 8 ball says...signs point to no. When I open the bottle, it smells like opening a jar of apple butter...mmm! The first few minutes on my skin, it smells like eating butterscotch chips straight out of the bag when I'm supposed to be making cookies with them...mmmmmmmmmm! Then it goes all appley for a little while, nice! And then all of that disappears and my skin basically turns it into a dupe of Hot Buttered Rum from the Yules. It vacillates between smelling pretty good, and smelling somewhat burnt, which is what the buttery note always does on me. Probably destined to either be swapped or to become a room scent. It's not bad on my skin per se, but if only it could be as good on my skin as it is by itself!

Oh, man, that does sound perfect! So many smellies I've never tried! Maybe I'll get something perfect in my frimps today too (squee, I have an order Out for Delivery)! ETA: Oh my, what about Tyrannophobia? It has the advantage of me already having it, and it's mostly raspberry (i.e. pink) but also has tea and also is sinister! She's certainly tyrannical in her little fiefdom...

I do have Poisoned Apple! It's an old fave of mine, too, so that's a good idea.

Maybe layering something pink and sugary over something a little more sinister? The first thing I thought of for her was High-Strung Daisies Ack, I think I had High-Strung Daisies long ago, but swapped it away. Not sure I really have much in the way of sugary scents in general, other than maybe Midnight on the Midway.

Thread necromancy for any Umbridge recommendations! I'm dressing as her for a Halloween party. I feel like it ought to be something kind of evil, but that someone of her tastes would see as ladylike. I'm kind of stuck on Wicked at the moment, but any other ideas would be welcome! Maybe even Lucille Sharpe, but I think Lucille might be offended.

I let out an audible "unf" when I opened this, which is always a good sign! On me, this smells kind of like a Yankee Candle, in the best possible way. I think it smells like a specific one I loved, called "Harvest," but I haven't smelled the candle in years and can't say for sure. I looked up Harvest and the listed notes are cinnamon, apple, clove, vanilla, musk, and pumpkin, so I can see how they'd end up similar. Anyway, this is largely a spiced cider scent on me, but with something sweet and amazing rounding it out (other reviewers mentioned brown sugar; that might be it! I'd been wondering about beeswax or sweet resins). There's a hint of smoke, too, and there's something green and vegetal hanging around in the background, which I've never been able to pin down but think of as the "celery note." This note sometimes gets out of hand, but it behaves well here and doesn't try to take over. It's really lovely, and probably the first oil that stands a chance of stealing Fearful Pleasure's throne as my favorite autumn scent--time will tell. I'm very glad I got this.

2016 version, decant, accidentally aged a year before testing. (I know, I know!) This is one of those times when I'm not totally sure my experience makes sense with the listed notes, but here goes. Witch Dance starts out smelling like vetiver and cherry cola on me, and gradually the cola-ness goes away and leaves a throw that reminds me of the cherry/vetiver blend from Blood Kiss, though without the honey sweetness of the latter. Then, I have this red musk amping thing, so eventually that comes out to play. The throw remains largely fruity vetiver while the skin scent is the musk. It smells like Blood Kiss went out dancing in the woods and got sweaty and funky, except it smells better than real sweat does--it smells like what sweat would smell like if it were more poetic. I probably don't need a whole bottle of this, but will be keeping the decant.

Mmmm...if oil and pitch were perfume, this is what they'd smell like. Dark heavy slightly sweet resins. Reminds me somewhat of Event Horizon but without the high-pitched floral notes. I think I'm going to join the "wish I'd bought more of this" club.

Hoo boy, I used this a few weeks ago, and I was not prepared. Disclaimer: there were a couple of different things going on. I was at a convention and cosplaying a famously fanservicey character, and I've also lost a bunch of weight. So it might not all be the oil. But still, I dressed cute the previous evening, had the same figure, and didn't get this weird effect. I put this on to complement the sexy costume. Liked the scent--it smells kind of like Venus and Charisma mixed together, which seems appropriate--I get the watery floral of Venus and the warm ambergris(?) thing Charisma does, and it's quite pretty. As I walked around the convention, I got a ton of attention. None of it was even really bad; mostly it was just random guys walking by and saying "Hi, (Character's Name)" or "How you doin', (Character's Name)." But after about half an hour of it, I just started feeling really bombarded, like every random comment was a tiny little needle sticking me. I'm not used to getting that much attention, I guess? I felt like I was missing some vital protective membrane. I will definitely use this again, but I'll have to remember to shield first, for my sanity's sake.

O and Lights of Men's Lives definitely! Also in the GC, I find Brown Jenkin and Miskatonic University to be cozy--you don't necessarily expect that in the Lovecraft section, but they totally are, to me! From last year's Yules, Winter: My Secret, if you can find someone selling it.

I was pipe-dreaming of something akin to Lucille with this, with the rose/black lily combo, but now that it's here, it reminds me more of Fresh and Blooming as a Rose from BPTP's Yules a couple years ago. Except I like this one better, as it has a "perfumy" element to it that smells more mature and upscale than Fresh and Blooming. I'm getting this very elegant lily note and a rose that comes across as "sweetened," like maybe there's an unspoken amber note in here. Definitely going to be looking into a bottle. Rose fans need this.

ESBAT OIL This is a full moon ritual oil, and is suitable for both celebratory and religious ritual. Like all of our small-batch short-run TAL blends, it contains subtle energies imprinted onto the oil by shifts in intention, subtle changes to the formulas, and the effects of astronomical phenomena. This batch of Esbat oil emphasizes Luna’s sense of mystery and wonder, and as such, this oil can also be used in spellwork to draw into yourself a dreamy, wondrous sort of creativity, to rekindle childlike wonder, and to awaken an understanding and appreciation of the beauty of the Sublime within your soul. It is an oil of understanding your true potential through unconventional means. This Esbat Oil contains steam-distilled fractionated white camphor, organic clary sage essential oil, orris C02 extract, liquidambar, blue lotus absolute, steam-distilled lemon scented gum essential oil, organic lemon essential oil, Hungarian juniper berry essential oil, and ethically farmed Roman chamomile oil from flowering tops. I recently had the opportunity to buy a decant of this small-batch oil, and this month's Full Moon seemed a great time to give it a whirl. I really like this--it has a palpable sense of the sacred about it. I get mostly the lemon up front and then the sage, scent-wise; it's got a smoky, incensey vibe to it and I felt a warm, peaceful energy from it. I will definitely use this again on other Esbats.

My general sense of Luna is cool, watery, green. It has a family resemblance to Water of Notre Dame to my nose. I think there's maybe water lily in this, and rose, and there's something herbal that reminds me a bit of mint, but isn't mint, and I think might be mugwort. I used it in worship rather than in spellwork, so I can't speak to its power in that sense yet, but the ritual definitely felt charged-up, and it's a lovely scent. I will update if I use it in spells.

I'm normally all about orange/amber combinations, but Four Seasons: Winter goes wrong on me in a way it really shouldn't. It's just too sweet and reminds me of a shampoo I didn't really like much. I can't pick out the apricot in its own right--I mostly just smell SUPER SUPER SWEET orange--but maybe I can't wear apricot, despite how much I like eating them! Depraved didn't work on me either. Ah, well, at least I have my other orange ambers to keep me warm at night.

2016 version AMBER AMBER AMBER. ALL THE AMBER. It doesn't really morph much on me; it's a bit powdery in the early going, and then stops being powdery pretty quickly and is just sweet resinous amber amber amber amber amber SO MUCH amber. Lasts forever. It reminds me a bit of Brisingamen, which makes sense because that has multiple ambers in it too, but Jacob's Ladder is without the honeyish note Brisingamen has (I know Brisingamen is not supposed to have honey, but I totally smell it there). Pure and golden. Probably more one for the cold weather. Maybe that's why it's a freaking Yule and I shouldn't have waited until June to test it.

Eden and I did not get along, but I love Nasty Woman.

Her Strong Enchantments Failing starts out grape gum, and then shifts to a less gummy grape combined with an incense note I last smelled in 7 Word Love Story: Lust and something "clean perfumey." I think it's white musk representing the "pale rage"--I know Beth likes that kind of scent pun. I can see the comparison to Morgause, though Morgause gets jasminey in the later stages on me while this doesn't have jasmine. It's mostly a purple fruit/incense/I-think-white-musk blend. And the morning after I tried it on, it was AMAZING. I have no idea what magic happened to this when I was sleeping, but it went from "This is a nice scent" to "HOMG." Definite keeper. Might be nice for when I want to jump somebody and then jump him again in the morning.

My nose thinks VILF is cherry for a brief moment when it's wet, then it morphs to leather. At this stage it kind of reminds me of Haute Macabre and As Above. The leather is really strong at first and gradually softens, as I start smelling some vanilla coming in to calm it down. At about the half-hour mark, I start to think I can smell a blend similar to Blood Kiss hanging out in the background behind the leather--I can smell that whole vanilla/honey/clove magic back there, but the leather is still kind of whomping on it. At an hour, I really like it! Patchouli has joined the party. The leather is behaving, and the Blood Kiss-like thing is still going on in the background. The throw starts to get smokier. In the later stages, the whole scent fades a fair amount; I can still smell it on my arm, but most of the throw is gone. I like this, and it's definitely sexy, but I probably won't move the earth to locate more of it--I have other oils that fill the same niche in my collection. VILF sits at sort of an intersection between Blood Kiss, the Haute Macabre scents, and maybe Pleasures of the Imagination I, all of which I have.

Capricorn starts out with a pleasant soapy greenness. It's not a piney sort of green--is this the ivy? I suppose I've never actually sniffed an ivy vine before, so I'm not sure. It becomes less soapy as it dries down, but there's still some of that mingling with a mossier green note that reminds me of the drydown of Bewitched. I'm not really sure what I'm smelling here, but I like it! Very clean, very green, watery without being an ozone headache. I get none of the dark notes, oddly! ETA: When applying a bigger slather, I can make out the poppy!