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It's Friday the 13th in the Miskatonic Valley! A base of Mother Shub's dark chocolate fudge, raw vanilla, and sibilant black incense dusted by thirteen merrily malefic, ill-omened herbs, resins, and flowers: prune, musk seed, baneberry, myrrh, wild tobacco, hemp, datura, bluebell, cypress, hemlock, snakeweed, opoponax, and black hellebore. When this first went on my skin, my initial reaction was that it's like a diluted version of Gelt - the chocolate smelt very similar. But that changed within seconds when the incense and vanilla showed up. About 15 minutes in, it went very floral-y and herb-y, and the chocolate completely disappeared. Half an hour later, I can barely find where this is on my arm - there's just a very faint remnant of musky resins/incense, some prune and mixed florals. It's nice, but not enough of anything interesting really and the disappearing act is a dealbreaker.

Wow.. this is *strong* when first applied, I could swear I smelt ginger in there, like ginger cake. And a very strong musk - "alarming" from the description is bang-on.. I was kinda startled by the intensity of this when it first hit my skin. But once dry, that changed into a musky tea smell and I am definitely picking up some lemon. After about half an hour on my skin, I'm finally getting the berries, cream and chocolate but that cake-y vibe is still lingering, the musk is still quite intense and there seems to be something anise-like in there as well - a definite licorice type of smell is lurking somewhere. To me, this is quite a cacophony of smells - I can't quite work it out, which is somewhat unsettling to my nose/brain. I keep huffing it, but it keeps changing and I'm still not sure exactly what's going on. It's just intriguing, and I agree with previous reviewers that this is definitely one to keep and age a little - it's rather loud right now, so a short stay in Stashville might smooth it out a bit. I think it perfectly embodies the chaos of the "Left His Nurse.." story, which is actually one of my favourite Belloc tales - although I was always on the side of Ponto the lion rather than Jim, who clearly deserved his fate

OK.. so it's official, my skin is weeeeird On me, this is very much like Fearful Pleasure, but not quite as cidery or wood-y as FP. When it was wet on my skin, I could smell fir and pine, but that was very fleeting and it dried down to... apples. Lovely mulled apples, slightly smoky, but 99.9% apples. After about a half hour on, I think mayyyyyyybe there's a teensy bit of plum, and it's taken on a more fruity and golden tone - now it's reminding me of Hellion but with apples.

The jasmine here is very strong, but it's not the 'normal' sweet and tropical jasmine.. to me, this is more like a jasmine incense.. it has a smokey edge to it, which I'm guessing comes from the patchouli, bergamot and vetiver. Once the jasmine fades out a bit, which it does reasonably quickly for me, the lovely vanilla and cocoa start to come out, and I can also pick up a faint whiff of orange and nutmeg. The rose may be making an appearance.. it's hard to tell whether it's rose I'm smelling, it may just be that the jasmine has sweetened up a bit from the vanilla. The oil itself is light and smooth, lovely in the bath and also straight on the skin. I think the trick with this one is to use it in moderation, because it's quite a heady blend, but quite lovely. I think it's quite a unique blend of scents for a bath oil, and as a bonus.. after using it my bathroom smells absolutely divine!!

Alara - with international packages, unfortunately the tracking information doesn't update any further than that so all you will ever know is the date on which the Lab sent your package out. So that means yours was sent on or around Dec 23rd, it will most likely arrive either late this week or next week - next week may be more likely, due to the holidays around this time so we've lost a few postal service days. I'm in Australia, and it's usually around 2-3 weeks from the US to here, sometimes a little quicker though so fingers crossed yours isn't too far away!! First orders are sooooooo exciting!

The combination of amber and cognac in this is sublime - the voluptuous richness of cognac is tempered by the dusky powderiness of the amber, so that neither is dominant - they're blended beautifully. The tagette is lending just a touch of sweetness, a bit of "shine" to the overall softness, but on my skin this is all about the amber and cognac. I'd love to smell this on a man, I think it would be drop dead sexy on the right guy. The longer it stays on my skin, the lovelier it gets.. it has warmed up nicely but still has the beautiful duskiness of the amber. It's warm and comforting, like a soft cuddly blanket. Gorgeous!

Ayup.. this is champagne, definitely - fizzy, bright and boozy. The initial blast of champagne-i-ness dries down into a softer, fruitier smell, but the boozy fizziness sticks around. This would be one of those bright, shiny and glittery baubles on the tree

Quite sharp and almost metallic at first.. then it dries down into baby powder! Quite soft and pretty.

Hmm.. musky nuts, with a slight pastry-ish vibe. Something slightly fruity, like cherry, but it's faint.

This smells vaguely like that mentholated cream you rub on for muscle aches. With a touch of vanilla and something resinous/wood-y. Interesting, but not my thing.

I could have written this myself! Trinket is all soft powdery honey, sweet and musky on me too! w00t!!

This is so pretty - on me, it's mostly apple blossom sweetness with a little musk, lily and orchid, and the amber & sandalwood are adding to the overall muskiness, which I'm happy about because I think that without those, Flora would be far too sweet and floral-y. After it's been on my skin for about 20 minutes, it's turned into a very soft and wispy apple - I have to lean in before I can smell it, but that's kinda nice - sometimes I like to wear things that only I can smell, especially when they're as pretty as this one. I may have to buy a bottle of this one, I'm really enjoying it

Very lush and heady - this is a very lovely blend of the rich aroma of a magnolia flower on a hot summer's night with the sweet syrup of peaches. The honey is mixing nicely with the two, keeping the sweetness grounded but maintaining the richness. I have a magnolia tree in my front garden, so I know the smell well, and this is dead-on - it's exactly the same smell that I get when I open my front door on a breezy warm night and the smell of the magnolia flowers comes in to the house. This is actually too much for me.. for the first hour or so it was wafting sweet rich syrupy smells all around me, almost to the point where I was tempted to go and wash it off, but once that stage passed then it became a lovely sweet and powdery wispy fragrance - still with the magnolia, but far more mellow. This should be worn with a flowery dress and a big floppy straw hat whilst you sit under a shady tree at the park on a sunny day.

This one isn't really working for me.. I took a risk with it - hoping I would get the wormwood, rum, star anise, vanilla and cognac, but alas - on my skin it's all peppermint and tea with a smokey and slightly metallic undertone. The anise is *just* there, but hardly noticeable. What a bummer - vanilla and cognac would have been luscious.. BOO to my skin not letting them come out. It's not unpleasant, but it's not particularly pleasant either - it's just.. disappointing. And actually - it is "clamorous" and "noisome" - it's like this isn't sitting right on my skin, the notes are clashing and just aren't working out.

I'm very happy with this one.. and I'm in agreement with Little Bird - I like this blend more than Marshmallow Poof and Plastic Pink Flamingo - MP is very sweet on me, and PPF was very sharp and sour. But.. Chewing Little Bits of String is a lovely soft fluffy white marshmallow! The tea comes out a little after about 20 minutes, but the lemon never really makes an appearance - which is just what I was hoping, since my skin usually amps lemon badly. The honey is also very faint, it's just taking the edge off of the girly-factor with the marshmallow thing, and adding a smoothness to the sweet. I really can't detect anything lettuce-like in here, although there is a 'fresh' and 'clean' feel to it.. maybe that's the lettuce. Overall, a very pretty blend that's not too pink/sweet/sugary/foody - it's just right! Very very nice

First up, thank you to bluberyaplsaus for sending me a decant of this one! Yum.. this is a stunning vanilla - deep and rich, sweet and syrupy with a definite boozy swagger, like a shot of rum's in there somewhere, but mostly it's all about the vanilla. I agree this is very much like Antique Lace (but to me, heavier on the vanilla), and also I'm voting for this being a Boo-alike as well, but again much heavier on the vanilla. Absolutely delectable, it lasts for ages on my skin and I can smell it all through the house. What's not to love?!?

Ooooh! Thank you, bluberyapulsaus and cfrancesca - the bottles look great, I love the labels that are done in a set like this. And your goodies too.. !! I'm really excited about these Inquisition oils, can you tell?

Who's got Naughty or Nice bottles to show meeeeeeeeee???!!!???

I had to try this one, because I've recently discovered Snow White which has become a major love for me. I don't usually handle rose very well - my skin amps it badly. However.. I've had some luck with very soft pink rose, so this was worth a try. When the oil was still wet on my skin, I thought OH YES this is gorgeous - beautiful vanilla, the lovely touch of snow that's very Snow White-ish, and a gentle sweet soft pink rose. Then.. WHAM the rose overtook the vanilla, and it all went horribly wrong from there - in the end, I was left with something that smelt like those cheap air freshener sprays people use in the bathroom. Given that my favourite Snow White is from 2005, I might hang on to this bottle and see whether it changes a few months from now, but I don't think I'll be keeping it. It is, however, very very pretty and I'm envious of people who are lucky enough to have rose-tolerant skin.

When I first put this on, I immediately knew I'd encountered a BPAL like it before. So I went nuts for a few minutes trying to remember what it was.. I'm not sure that I completely solved the mystery, but I'm 99% sure it's Wezwanie/Hold - nutty, woody, honey. Then it turned into The Antikythera Mechanism - honey-ish wood and tobacco. Oh, and then it almost completely disappeared - not even 15 minutes on my skin and when I inhale the spot where the oil was applied, I get very light berries with a slight honey. Err.. what? It was *so* rich when wet, but I swear I can barely smell it at all now. I think Odin just kept right on riding and didn't stop to fill my boots

On my skin, the sugar cane is the most dominant note - it's very waxy. Next in line would be the blood orange and guava, followed by the black plum (which has gone very dusty) and just the faintest touch of frangipani, pear and coconut. I can't really find any trace of the berry, violet or caramel. I think there's just too much going on in here - it's a lovely sweet and tropical fruity concoction but it's just not quite working somehow and the strength of the sugar cane is just too much. Bummer, I was really hoping for a nice rich blood orange but this isn't it.

I heartily second tragedy's recommendation of Pickled Imp - the cinnamon and clove together are divine with the slight sweetness of the vanilla. Also, if you can hunt some down.. Velvet Bandito reminded me very much of clove cigarettes - Dust, tumbleweeds, cedar, and tobacco - even though clove isn't a listed note! It may be harder to find since it was a limited edition blend that came out in April this year, but a good search through the sales section of the forum might do the trick, I'd say it's worth buying a decant to try

This is everything I was hoping for.. and more - it's completely true to the listed notes, and ridiculously smoky and sexy. The cacao is very languid and dark, not at all sweet or foody, and combined with the black musk it's amazing. I think the tobacco absolute is fairly subtle, but it gives the blend a little lift and a slight incense-y sort of vibe. It fades fairly fast on my skin though - after about 30 minutes it's much more smoky, musky and dry than it was when first applied and it's sweetened up a bit too. I too am a huge fan of Boomslang, and I can see how the comparisons have come about, but to me the two are quite different - the Snake Oil part of Boomslang makes it sweet and vanilla-y where Black Temple never goes there - the black musk keeps the sweetness in check. Very, very nice.. this is a lovely blend for anyone who loves their BPALs dark and sultry.

Not much to add here.. this is a lovely gentle peach blossom, sweet without being sickly, and light without being too faint. I agree with previous reviewers about this being 'blossom' rather than 'fruit' - it's definitely not a syrupy style peach. It reminds me very much of Tamora but far less rich and heady than the peach was in that one, and it's more clean and light than the peach in Aglaea. The jasmine is very light and softly sweet, but comes out more on my skin after about 30 minutes.. unfortunately at that stage it began to overpower the soft peach but jasmine always does that on me - it's a big stinky bully. The white tea and musk are very subdued, and I honestly can't say I'm picking up any chrysanthemum in here but the ho wood is vaguely present far beneath the jasmine and peach. Overall, very clean and pretty and light, stays close to the skin but lasts well.

So.. I officially have no idea what pfefferthingamibob is, nor am I familiar with the little cookies people have mentioned.. or are they one and the same? I dunno.. but this does smell like peppery nuts. I don't like peppery nuts. Nor spicy nuts. Actually I don't much care for nuts at all. Except cashews, I like cashews. The nutmeg here is nice, and the cinnamon & clove are fairly subdued - this (to me) is more sweet than spicy, but it's a spicy kinda sweet. Unfortunately, after a short while on my skin there's some nasty slightly cat pee-like thing going on, and I need to wash this off. This is another one I'm glad I have a decant of to try, but I won't be needing a bottle.