thekittenkat

In the bottle: Cool rose's sweetness mingled with sandalwood. Wet: Much as when sniffed. The dry-down: A lovely scent that does not morph and is well-blended. The wood and ambergris appear during the dry-down. I'm madly in with this gentle scent. I can see wearing it all year-round, and during the winter holidays layered with a frankincense note. The tea rose note may be the same or similar to The Rose and Pink Snowballs '09.

No problem! I'm just not sure whom to contact, since I emailed the Lab with no answer, and I've never been to the TAL site but once, and that was years ago. I do appreciate all the help I can get in this matter.

The reason why I'm asking who is in charge of shipping TAL is because I received a TAL bottle of Samhain 2011 in my most recently shipped Lab order (it has the TAL label on it, as seen in the TAL Etsy shop), instead of the ordered Lab bottle of Samhain 2011. I have emailed the Lab, several days ago, and have received no answer. I suspect that this is just an honest mix-up, and would like to send back the TAL bottle and receive the Lab bottle instead. So, who do I contact?

Thanks for all the Halloweenie labels so far. I really need to see a picture of the label of this year's version of Samhain--thanks in advance!

In the bottle: Pumpkin, amber, some sweet notes. Wet: Not much different from the cold sniff. The dry-down: Alas, the amber is floating on top of all the other lovely notes. At the moment, I prefer the Pumpkin Queen. However, I'm keeping the bottle to age, and besides, the label is super-cute. Here's hoping that I can later find the chocolate, honey, and vanilla. A couple of hours later: This has softened and is not so powdery (my main problem with amber, alas). There's faint hints of the chocolate, honey, and vanilla, and yes, here's guava, late to the party.

In the bottle: Spicy apple juice spiked with orange juice. Wet: More spices, less juice. The dry-down: A little less spicy, and a little more sweet from the juices, but this is a really dry scent. I think that I will have to layer with something like a single note apple cider scent. This is lovely, don't get me wrong, it's just not what I was expecting. I do suspect that this will just grow more wonderful with age. The only thing that I wonder about is where the butterscotch liquor wandered off to. An hour or so later: Getting more sweetness now. I think that the apple is coming back.

AATOS POLEMOIO Insatiate of War Cedar, black currant, and saffron. I'm so impressed by how many of these Ode to Ares oils are so well blended, and Aatos Polemoio is no exception. It may be seemingly a simple scent with three notes, but it is gorgeous. It's exactly as advertised, with aromatic cedar wood, a rich currant (very much like in one of the Motley trio), and the saffron just rounding the other two notes out. This strikes me as an autumnal scent, just right for when the leaves start their change in colors.

In the decant: A mess of florals with some amber acting as a base note. Wet: Much the same as in the decant. The honeysuckle is a little more prominent than the other florals. The dry-down: This scent doesn't morph. It's okay, but not really my thing.

In the decant: Oh my goth, but this smells good: like sweet milky coffee. But I am worried about what the coffee note will when it hits my skin. Wet: Very different on the skin. Not so sweet or coffee-like, either. The cypress and oak bark have made their presence felt. The dry-down: Still mostly the woods, but faint hints of the mallow and the coffee bean. No real trace of vetiver that I could detect; it probably mixed in with the woods. I am surprised that the coffee bean didn't amp as coffee notes usually do. At any rate, I think this would work best as a scent locket scent, though not for the reason that I had thought it would be.

In the decant: So well blended that it's difficult to identify single notes. A milky feeling is coming from the tree sap, the corn stalks, and the rice milk. Wet: The almond blossom jumps out. Oh dear. The dry-down: In the end, this becomes a grassy, milky scent. A nice and pleasant scent for the long hot days of summer still left to us.

In the decant: Lots of lemon! Wet: Lemon and anise. The dry-down: The lemon notes are not so strong no, but the anise is still present. The sage is there, but faint. I'm not sure what dusty beige musk should smell like. Lemon notes don't work on me as well as they used to, and lemongrass is not a fave note. I knew all that going in, but still decided to try this.

In the decant: A light honey with other sweet notes. Wet: Much the same as in the decant. The dry-down: The orange blossom aspect has come out strongly, and so has the saffron. There are hints of the sugar, the tonka, and the tobacco, but not enough to make this scent as lovely as I had hoped.

In the decant: Red musk and fruits. Wet: Still lot of fruits and the red musk, but with an herbal quality from the sage, thyme, and the angelica root. The dry-down: The angelica root is starting to overpower even the red musk, alas. I got a decant because of the various fruit note, esp. the blackberry, but I never could pick out the fruit notes as individual one. A nice scent, except for the angelica root.

In the decant: Lovely myrrh and kumaru, backed by beeswax. Wet: The sandalwood has powered on, but the myrrhs are hanging in there. The beeswax and almond milk make a nice base for the spices. Kumaru's "fragrance is reminiscent of vanilla, almonds, cinnamon, and cloves". The dry-down: The kumaru is now the overall note, just lovely. This is going to be a good scent for the changing of summer into autumn; if dried fields could yield a sweet note, this would be it.

Black plum, opium poppy, dusky amber, opoponax, castoreum accord, dried berries, tolu balsam, clove bud, and lime. In the decant: Fascinating! It's like I'm getting a whiff of many of the notes. It's a blackened purple feeling, very goth. Wet: The black plum and the opium poppy are most obvious, but sweetened by the berries and the tolu balsam. The dusky amber doesn't do too much of that powder thing, thank goodness. The dry-down: This is a dusky scent, good for long summer evenings in a bar that's not well-lit, down some alleyway in a city that you've never explored before, drinking cocktails made with Stoli's blackberry or blueberry volka. Wear a LBD, black pumps, a pearl necklet, and some vampy red lipstick and lots of black mascara, and pretend that you're at the start of a film noir when John Garfield walks in.

In the decant: The caraway seed, the myrrh, and the black peppercorn just pop right out under my nose! Intense. Wet: Lots of pepper, backed by the sweetness of the rose otto and the vanilla orchid. Thank goodness the caraway seed has disappeared. The dry-down: Still lots of pepper and myrrh, but the rose otto and the vanilla orchid are still trying to soften the spices. I like this a lot, but I think that this will work better in the autumn.

In the bottle: Light rose and light leather. Lovely scent. Wet: The rose and leather and opium are blending together in a darker scent than sniffed. The drydown: The leather (and this is a soft sueded leather) is amping a bit, as the rose settles in. The opium is like a heady incense. Yet another candidate for the scent locket, as I really like the sniff of the bottle that I started with. I'm totally surprised that the rose is not amping, but then it is not a dark rose on me, but more like a tea rose. The lighter rose notes tend not to amp on me, which is a good thing, indeed!

In the bottle: A brassy metallic scent, tempered by lavender. Wet: Much better now! More like a masculine lavender, touched with the brass. The engine grease must be deep in the blend. The dry-down: The grease seems to be rising to the top, like some sort of cooking oil, but not a buttery scent. Still a hint of brass, but the lavender seems to have vanished away. This is one for the scent locket, seemingly. It might do better on the bf.

Really liked Candles Moon. It was mostly beeswax, with hints of the blackberry and the milk.

In the frimp: Woods and incense. Wet: The light woods dusted with saffron, nutmeg, and something my nose interprets as incense. The dry-down: This scent does not morph much. At a later stage I do get faint hints of the rose and the musk. Mostly, though, it's still the light woods with incense.

In the frimp: Seems to be powdery (what, already) amber with a hint of red musk. No roses. I'm not being hopeful about this. Wet: Now the red musk is coming to the foreground. The dry-down: Finally there's a hint of the roses, but that's all. Usually I amp rose notes like nobody's business, but the powdery amber and the strong red musk have stomped the roses into the ground, and not much is left of their loveliness.

In the frimp: Certainly the purple herbs. Sweet herbs. Wet: More herbal, and less purple. Good throw. The dry-down: There's a powdery scent coming out, probably from some of the herbs. And also a hint of violets. Alas, the Lab's violet note does not work very well on me. This smelt lovely in the imp, so I'll just use this in my scent locket.

In the decant: Dirt that's all wet and loamly, with the baby's breath flower growing near-by. Wet: The floral note is dominating, whilst the soil softens and recedes. The dry-down: Soft dirt and light florals, with an almost sweet note about it.

In the decant: Myrrh and musk. Wet: The blueness of the musk appears, as the myrrh recedes a little. The dry-down: A slight touch of the other notes, but this is mostly a blue musk and sweet myrrh scent on me. It's nice, but I don't think that I need more than my decant.

In the decant: Seems like the sandalwood, castor, and bourbon vanilla are combining into something that smells rather masculine. There's no bay rum here, but I'm getting a similar vibe. Wet: Seems to be much like I sniffed in the decant. I'm really not liking this at all, and was really looking forward to it because of the teak, the vanilla, the sandalwood, and the patch. The dry-down: A little hint of tobacco flower comes out after a while, and also a touch of my beloved patch. This is a rather dry scent, to be expected from the woods and the castor. This could be great on a guy, but it's not really a perfume oil that I like. I'm glad that I was able to test first, instead of ordering it, as my first impulse.