Blood onmy hands

PX4 starts off pretty cloying and buttery on my skin, like a gingerbread cookie swimming in melted butter and something like maple syrup. My hubby hates buttery scents and threw a fit about this one. It's a sweet, sticky, buttery, spicy, foodie smell. I might smell some sort of nutty note in here as well. I've been amping up sweet notes lately, and this one is definitely cloying on me. After fifteen minutes or so on my skin, this mellows & fades a lot. It smells kind of like some sort of dry wood note with a gingerbread biscuit smell. Dry, warm, and bland, with a bit of spiciness. I don't hate this one, but it's a little too cloying for me at first, and the hubby hates it, so I doubt I'd ever wear it again.

In the bottle, this smells sharp and a bit dusty. I might smell something pine-like along with some golden resins, but it's definitely sharper & more perfumey than I was hoping for. It smells like a cheap floral perfume. On my skin at first, this smells like a sharp floral perfume :/ I think I'm getting a bit of sour rose from it as well. This definitely isn't the sweet resins, incense, spice, and wood that I had been hoping for. Gothic Horror is sour rose, heavy, sharp floral perfume, and just a hint of dusty, sharp, golden resin on me. It's all sharp, sour, and makes me feel like I'm going to cough when I smell it. I hate it, honestly, and am sorry I went for a full bottle of this one. Boo.

In the bottle, this smells like baby powder, sugar, and a sweet musk. I also flip between thinking that it smells sort of pink and sort of clean. On my skin, this is powder, something syrupy and cloying-sweet, and the musk goes sharp and hairspray-esque. When I slather this on, it's intensely powdery with a cloying, perfumey sweetness. Psych Horror just isn't good on me - too powdery and too musky-sweet. It actually reminded me of this carpet powder that my family used a lot when I was younger (you sprinkled it on to scent/deodorize carpet & then vacuumed it up). So, in my mind, I keep thinking that this is way too strong, too powdery, and too much like cleaning supplies. I suppose it also might smell like a really cheap, strong, cloying children's perfume. I had to wash this off after a half hour, because it was starting to give me a headache. Cloying, musky powder. Bleh.

In the bottle, Gore-Shock smells like someone crammed Thanksgiving ham in here, and added in some extra smoke. Salty, glazed ham and smoke. I like the smell of smoky ham, but do I want to smell like smoky ham? Not so much. It does make me want a sandwich, though :/ On my skin, much to my surprise, I really like this. It has a sort of resinous, spiced woods smell on me. Certain types of vetiver smell like smoky mesquite BBQ planks on me, and I get that at first, but the drydown of this is pretty good. Like spicy, resinous smelling wood and a bit of smokiness. It still smells just slightly of ham as well, though. I kind of like this, and then I catch a sudden whiff of ham and just feel weird about the whole thing, lol. Gore-Shock reminds me of Mutant Hot-Rodders a bit (and I love MHR), but minus the leather & clean cologne and with the addition of ham... This is weird, but it's not awful on me. I can't decide whether or not I like it. I might have my hubby wear it, lol.

This smells like the Thierry Mugler Alien dupe oils that you can get from a lot of soap making supply shops. TM Alien is a very distinctive, original smell (like sweet yellow floral, warm amber and green musk with citrus tones). It's one of those scents that doesn't really smell like anything else, unless someone was trying to dupe it. Bpal's Alien Invasion smells like one of those dupe oils + some extra grapefruit. I think the same base was used in the 51 blend as well. Dries down to a bland, plasticy, cheap dupe version of the real deal. The real TM Alien is better...

In the bottle, this smells like caramel cream and a fruity something that is both sweet & sharp at the same time. On my skin, this is a very mellow fruity note. It's not overly sweet, but it is sweet and makes me think of jam with large chunks of fruit and not a lot of sugar in it. I think it smells like strawberry. It also keeps remining me of strawberry fruit roll-ups. As it dries down, there's just the tiniest hint of something like caramel cream underneath the fruit. This is a light scent that doesn't have much throw. It only lasts about 3 hours on me as well. I like it, though. Strawberry fruit roll-ups and caramel cream candy, but not overly sweet or cloying at all. Soft, creamy, strawberry candy... This is a really simple, light smell on me, but I can still see myself wearing it from time to time.

In the bottle, this smells like a puff of clean, soft baby powder. It's also a little bit sweet. On my skin, it's the same. Clean babies, powder, and a touch of sweetness. It smells just like baby wipes and baby powder on me. There's really nothing diabolical here; I don't get any brimstone or darker notes at all. This is a really lovely, clean, soft smell on me. I don't know if I'd ever wear it (clean powder is not exactly 'me'), but it does smell nice & sort of comforting.

When I wore this, my husband said it smelled like: "Flowers. But not very good ones. It smells like plastic flowers that someone sprayed with cheap flower perfume." The rose, of course, amps up on me like there's no tomorrow, and the amber tosses baby powder all over it. Sweet, powdery, perfumey rose... a shame, because the resinous, woodsy, musky qualities in the imp are gorgeous (and totally nonexistent on my skin).

In the imp, this smells like ripe cantaloupe and honeydew melons. On my skin at first, I can't really smell anything but the melon. It's a cool, smooth, sweet melon. It's also very light and doesn't have much throw on me. As this dries down, it gets more citrussy and fresh smelling, and just a bit sharp. Melon and sharp citrus. I was hoping that the mint and grape would come out and make things more interesting, but they never do. Little Bat smells very clean, simple and summery on me, but it's not really my sort of fragrance. I love the melon note, but I don't really like the citrus.

I tried on Alice's Evidence and instantly had a flashback to trying on Frumious Bandersnatch & The Dodo. My skin chemistry amps up spice notes, and this is all spice all the time on me. It reminds me of that terrible, head achey feeling that I get when I wander down the potpourri section of a craft store, or get trapped in an aisle with hundreds of holiday spice candles. Yes, this smells like cinnamon and cider spice on me (just the spice, no fruit) in the worst way - cheap home fragrance. Alice's Evidence is cheap cider spice candle on me... not good.

I usually love the lab's rose notes, but my skin chemistry tends to amp up the rose until it's all that I can smell. I'm pleasantly surprised that the rose in Snooty Rose isn't overwhelming. I can actually smell the fruity plum and sandalwood in addition to a lovely red rose note. The combination of plum and red rose here is sweet and candy-like on my skin. Red sandalwood often smells slightly spicy, incensey, warm, and wooden on my skin (almost like carnation and wood incense, but darker). Snooty Rose is a pretty, smooth, sweet mix of all of those notes. It smells like a mix of sweet pinks and spiced reds on me, with a little hint of wood. The smooth, cool, sweet, fruity plum is probably my favorite thing about this blend. I don't know if I need a full bottle of this, but I'll keep an imp, at least.

In the imp, this smells like pineapple candy with more of a watery sharpness, thanks to the tangerine & seltzer. On my skin, this scent definitely isn't sweet enough for me. It does smell bizarre. The tobacco smells like bitter cigar smoke, not the soft, sweeter variety that I find wearable. Something in here also smells boozy (probably the seltzer), like the lab's champagne note that goes all pukey on me. The pineapple is the only sweet, candied thing about it, and it's sort of hiding in the background with some powdery amber. In the drydown, this calms down a bit, but it's still not good on me. It has an overall very clean, sharp feel on my skin, with hints of candied pineapple, baby powder, and dirty tobacco. Something about the pineapple keeps making me think of oily suntan lotion as well. Golden Afternoon fades pretty quickly on me, but it makes my head ache while it sticks around. This definitely is not a keeper for me.

In the imp, I was immediately hit with a blast of sweetness. I think it might smell kind of like molasses, and I don't know why :/. Molasses, violet candy, and something earthy. It's not good, though. On my skin, that funky sweetness is still here. I'm not getting the sharp greenery that others have mentioned. A weird, almost wooden sweetness (like wet sugar dripped over dry barn floors), violet candy, and a cool feel that must be the mint. As this dries down, it smells sort of dirty on me, like unwashed skin rolled in dust. Something brown and unpleasanty earthy is creeping into the mix. Brusque Violet is like a tour of bad for me. It starts off with an unidentifiable, cloying sweetness and then dries down with an unidentifiable dirty brown something (and taco seasoning? wth). It honestly makes me feel sick to my stomach when I smell it. It just goes all wrong and weird, with a powdery violet dancing around in the middle of the mess.

In the bottle, this smells like a sharp, citrussy men's cologne. It makes me think of bpal's green tea & lemon blends, but this is sharper, more sour, and more masculine. On my skin, this almost smells like fizzy lemon soda at first. It's like lemon soda mixed with a man's cologne. The cologne softens on my skin, thankfully, and the scent isn't so sharp. As it dries down, I think I can smell a bit of soft mint in here somewhere. The lemon or cologney aspects of this get warmer and a bit sweeter on me. After letting this settle for fifteen minutes or so, Phosphorous is like a warm amber & sweet lemon men's cologne. It's cozy and refreshing at the same time. I also still catch a fleeting hint of mint every once in a while. This is a little too masculine for me, but I'm going to love this on my boy.

I really like this fragrance, but it's incredibly short lived on my skin. I can only smell it for about fifteen minutes before I have to reapply. If this had better staying power and throw, I'd probably try to track down more of it. As it is, I’ll enjoy dabbing on the few drops left in my decant vial, but I don't need more. P013 smells something like buttery yellow cake batter, creamy white frosting, and a hint of lemony citrus on me (it also smells a little cream cheesy on me for a bit & then is slightly powdery in the drydown). The lemon gets a bit stronger before the whole thing fades. It’s just *so* light. I can barely smell it at all, unless I press my nose right up against my wrist where it’s applied. And it only lasts for about 15 minutes before I can't smell anything left at all. I already own a lot of foodie-cakey-lemon scents with better staying power, so I don't need to track down more of P013. Still, it's a cheery, delicious fragrance.

I'd definitely recommend checking out the Rappaccini's Garden series, especially Squirting Cucumber & Strangler Fig. Squirting Cucumber is cucumber and green grass. Strangler Fig smells like crushed green leaves, sap, and bark.

I think that Good Death is my favorite of the Bats. I love chamomile's warm, golden, herbal smell. I find it so soothing. I can pick out the chamomile here, hanging out around the edges of the dry cedar, creamy, sweet coconut and resins. The coconut goes through a strong, sun tan lotion phase on me at first, but it quickly calms down and the cedar takes over. After about fifteen minutes, something in this goes a little powdery on me and a sharpness pokes through, but it's still nice enough. This doesn't have a ton of throw on me, but it sticks around for 6 hours or so, smelling mostly like warm herbs, wood, & a hint of coconut. It's the sort of scent that I'd dab on my wrists so that only I could smell it, and I'd enjoy it & find it soothing. I really like Bat of Good Death. It goes a little more powdery & sharp than I would love in the drydown, but I'm still going to keep my decant. I find this scent to be very comforting and soft.

Oak King smells strange on me. It goes on smelling like someone spilled cherry cough syrup on a very dry oak table, and then smeared minty herbs through the mess. It's medicinal and just not good on me. As it dries down, this goes a little smoky and sweet on me, like burnt sugar and burning wood. There's also a little bit of spiciness here. The longer this sits on my skin, the more it's very dry wood and a bit of sweet spice. All in all, I doubt I'll wear this again. It's too dry smelling and the beginning stage is just strange and unpleasant on me.

Awww, the Stinky label is so cute.

There's not much to add about this scent that hasn't already been said. This smells like tons of sweet clove and a little bit of dry wood on me. Sometimes I think it smells like sandalwood and then other times I think it's cedar, because it smells like more of a spicy wood, but perhaps I'm smelling some sort of other spice in the mix. Cloves and wood. I like it, but I have other clove-heavy perfumes and don't really need more.

My skin chemistry absolutely murders this scent. The blackberry on its own is pleasant enough, but a bit bitter & funky on me. The bergamot makes it even sharper and more sour on me, though, and the pomegranate smells like bitter sweet tarts. So, I get an overall feel of bitter, sour fruit with an extra shot of sour lemon. Heliotrope smells like sweet vanilla powder on me, so I was hoping that it would come in and soften the blend, but heliotrope is nowhere to be found . As this dries down, I get a bit of earthy, funky patchouli. I normally love patchouli (except the red variety), and this one isn't working on me. Something about the mish mash of fruit is just going all wrong on me. My boy told me that I smell like spoiled fruit when I wore this :/

Akuma is very sweet and fruity, and I don't think I've seen that one mentioned yet.

I got this bottle in a swap. The numbers are rubbed off & smudged, but I think it says CCXXXII or maybe just CCXXX with some smudging :/ In the bottle, this smells a lot like Eat Me mixed with Snake Oil. I get a strong vanilla cake note, a bit of sweet, dark fruitiness and the incensey Snake Oil. On my skin at first, this smells like musky, incensey Snake Oil + foodie vanilla. As this dries down, this smells like musky baked goods (kinda reminds me of peanut butter cookies) with lashings of vanilla, and an overall dark feel from the Snake Oil.

I like The Obsidian Widow for a black dress & red lipstick combo. It doesn't give off a black feel, though, more of a dark red, sexy feel. Intrigue smells dark and shadowy to me. Whip makes me think of black and red because of the leather and rose combo. Voodoo is also a sexy, mysterious, dark scent to me, and it's described as "a midnight scent."

Some scents that might be good for conjuring up a hot desert feel: *The Ifrit (desert sand, red musk, blackened ginger, dragon's blood resin, black pepper, cinnamon, & tobacco) *Morocco (the intoxicating perfume of exotic incenses wafting on warm desert breezes: arabian spices, warm musk, carnation, red sandalwood, and cassia) *Scarecrow (the scent of a hot wind blowing through desolate, scorched, barren fields) *Ozymandius (dry desert air, dry and hot, passing over crumbling stone megaliths and plundered golden monuments, bearing a hint of the incense of lost Gods on its winds -- though this is more classical-perfumey & soapy on me, personally) You might also want to check out Australian Copperhead in the Carnaval series, though. It doesn't smell like hot desert to me, but it does smell lovely, and it has Australia right in the name, lol.