thekittenkat

I used to drink rum-based drinks at university, but not since. That being said, I would still rather drink rum than smell like it. Strangely enough, I'm not picking up any rum here as a precise note, but I'm afraid that it's the rum that's turning the milk chocolate a little sour (again that sour cream note?). There's not much coconut or cardamom, as the ginger note rises up and slays them. Later on in the evening, the notes I could detect did do a lovely blending, but it took a while to get there. I really wanted to like this, and the dry-down is good after a while, but while it's wet, it's too odd, perhaps. It might work best as something to layer with.

The Gilman House Hotel is quite the surprise. The scent description is probably putting off many who would otherwise like this oil. Much like Julia Stone from last year's Halloweenies, pay no attention to the scent listings, and just try this. It's a pleasant combination of many light florals and herbs, maybe some fresh spring green grass. It's what I would call a very green scent, without being in the least aquatic or like a traditional men's cologne. And anchoring everything is a skin musk that keeps all the other notes from being too fresh and too green. (Btw, no comparison to Julia Stone is meant; it's just that both scents have interesting scent descriptions that did not prepare me for how lovely both oils smelled in the bottle and on the skin.)

Of all the Shungas, this one really stood out when I looked at the notes. Everything sounded so lovely, and seemed that it would blend so well--with one exception: the cognac. I've mentioned in other reviews how I seem to amp the Lab's various liquor notes quite often, a sad state of affairs. So, I was worried when I first put this one on, and it seemed as though my fears would come true. The cognac was the top note, with all the other notes swirling underneath. But, as the evening wore on, all the notes came forward and surrounded the cognac; not drowning it out, but allowing it just enough presence to temper the sweetness of the rest of the notes. In the end, this is mostly a honey scent, but the fruits and the tobacco keep it from being too sweet. The vanilla has blended into the honey to give it a bit of an edge. This is what one wishes that good pipe tobacco or one of those little cigars could smell like. Autumn Moon of the Mirror Stand will be in rotation next autumn for me, on those days when Falling Leaf Moon might be a little heavy and dark. Of all the Shungas so far, this is my fave.

The Steeple is pretty much as advertised. It's green, made up of notes of fungi and herbs, and something dark lurking in the depths. I kind of like this, but can't see wearing it much. As it dried down, something sweetish came out. This could be a scent that one wears on sunny hot days when one is wishing for a cool day that's damp. If I check into this hotel, can I leave?

Never having had matcha green tea before, I wasn't sure what to expect with this. When wet, there seemed to be something sour (like sour cream, perhaps) about the chocolate. Not what I wanted to smell, of course. As it dried down, that sour tang slowly disappeared, but it's not a likable start. The tea is different from other green tea scents such as Dorian; instead it's kind of a green mint tea, but different. In the dry-down, the tea came to the foreground, and the chocolate receded. Once it dries down, this could be a good spring scent. Not too sweet, and the chocolate is more like cocoa powder in the end.

Let me state for the record that I adore blackberries. Also, my mother loved gardenias and gardenia-based perfumes. So, I thought that this would be a wonderful combination. Very, very wrong. I don't get either of those notes. Not even sure where the musks ran off to, but they must have been scared away by the khus and the mandarin rind turning into something like a burnt leather note. I like leather; I don't mind the scent of burning leaves; but this burnt leather note is nothing like. I can't say how much I wanted to love this, since the Lab's blackberry note is usually so wonderful on me. ETA: After another test, I found the blackberries and the gardenias. The blackberries are sour, those tiny hard ones by the side of a dirt road (no dirt note!). The gardenias are the wilted ones that are fixing to fall off the bush, or already have. Still so sadly disappointed in this scent.

The expected sharpness of the lily and the bergamot never materialized all evening. I'm rather pleased by that. Instead, this is an elegant and lovely blend of the olive blossom and the amber (not going to powder, and that's amazing!), with just a hint of the cardamom to spice it up in a very mild fashion, and a breath of cold mint (the snowball) drifting away. Don't be fooled into thinking that this is a wintery snow scent, as the snow note is very, very delicate and mild. ETA: On another testing, the lily and bergamot are sharp to start with. Otherwise, things are rather much the same as before, just with the added sharpness of the lily and bergamot. This is certainly unisex.

Where did the florals and leaf and fruit go? In the bottle, wet on my arm, now very dry on my arm, this is just vanilla and anise all the time. Like the vanilla, don't like the anise. Had hoped the anise would be tamed by the other notes, but this was not to be. Basically a two-note scent for me.

I must admit that I was somewhat afraid of testing the Signior, as orris and violet don't usually work on me. However, this oil has the leaf and not the flower of violet, so that made a difference. But the vanilla overwhelmed everything, so that came up vanilla with some florals. It's surprisingly pretty and sweet and good. Not at all what I was expecting, so pleasantly surprised. Also: I love vanilla.

The new GC bath oil, Hedonism, looks to be a winner: Cocoa absolute, sugar cane, honey, black currant, vanilla, and caramel. That this is GC is just wonderful!

In the bottle: The fresh blackberry and some sweetness, which I suspect is the beeswax, as that can have a honey-like scent to me. Wet: That's now a very tart blackberry! But there's some hints of ozone (the wind) and a brief flurry of snow. The dry-down: The berry is slowly backing off and the beeswax is coming forward. A bit more minty snow, as well. The milk note is not too obvious to me, as it has been in other blends with the milk note. I think it's the base note. The wind has died down. What this is slowly turning into is a dish of blackberries, washed in fresh powder snow, with maybe a teaspoon of honey poured over the berries. Then there's a sprig or two of a dried mint that's been crushed and sprinkled over the berries. And let's don't forget a splash of milk. It's all blending together beautifully, but yet it's not foodie, but just a soft and lovely scent that I will need to slather. If you like Lines/Hills and The Winter Maiden, Candles Moon is perhaps their sweeter and not so snowy cousin who's been keeping close to the best candles in the house, while raiding the fridge for those half-frozen blackberries.

I'll be honest. I did not skin test this. I opened the bottle and got lots of very obvious whiskey and cognac. Not sure where the chocolate went. Perhaps it would have shown up on my skin, but I really didn't want to test this after sniffing. Although I liked a couple of the Bar scents from the Atomic Luau Lounge series, I just didn't care for DC,W&CT. It's seemingly all about the booze. I would rather drink it than smell like it. And I am afraid that my skin chemistry amps alcohol notes. ETA: I'm now skin-testing the imp that has had time to settle. This is obviously a scent that needs time to settle and age a bit. It's basically a nice combo of the three notes, and the sharpness of the alcohol note seems to have gone somewhat. This isn't so bad after all, but I don't know that I'll need more than what I have in the decant. Btw, it is dark chocolate.

I either adore the Chocolate Box scents or they are kind of meh on me. This one is pretty damn amazing. It is really like a dark chocolate key lime truffle. The chocolate is dark, not milk or white, and the lime is the little key lime, which is softer and not as a tart as a regular lime. (And it's not like that fake nasty artificial "key lime" note that is like what some bakers and restaurants use in their so-called "key lime" pies. Nope, this is like real key lime juice, from the fruit or that little bottle in the grocery store, bottled right in Key West, FL.) Everything melds together in a yummy but not overly sugary sweet concoction. I'm going to need back-ups on this. It's outstanding!

This is a morpher, indeed. Sniffing the bottle I get a mash-up of fruits and florals--there's so many, and it's so well blended that it is difficult to pick out individual notes. As soon as it hits my skin, it's all about the beeswax and ginger, both scents that I love, but I'm not sure how I feel about them together--not bad, though. The dry-down becomes powdery amber. It's interesting, but I think this is one that needs to age. It might be best as a springtime scent.

This Florist shop is full of high sharp florals; I'm not certain of what florals are in this, but I'm betting on a lily note. Later the soft grasses and the wood sap come out to play. What I would like to know is why the florist won't deliver to houses with cats. Obviously, I must start re-reading Lovecraft, not like that's a problem or anything.

Fresh Snake Oil doesn't excite me at all. However, aged SO is awesome. (Wonky skin chemistry.) And of the Snake Pit, it seems that SO works very very well in combination with other scent notes. (I adore Boomslang, for example.) So when I first read about Womb Furie, I thought immediately that this would be the runaway hit of the Lupers. After tonight, I think I'm right. This is yummy! I can't say that I got three different types of honey, but there is honey coating and dripping off the usual notes of spices, musk, and vanilla. Not only is this bottle-worthy, I may have to stockpile on this. Not too foodie sweet, just gorgeous and honey sweet. Did I mention that I adore honey and honey musk? If you like Lady Una, also, this may be a scent for you to try. (Lady Una has that wonderful honey musk.) For those of you who would like to try Lady Una, but can't deal with or don't like the blackberry leaf and/or the green tea leaf, Womb Furie may suit, indeed. I'm sniffing the back of my hand, and this is lovely still, hours later.

I've scanned over the whole thread looking for another recommendation. I love B&BW's Vanilla Bean Noel. Way back in the thread, someone suggested Mouse's Sad and Long Tail, which I have and love. But I don't think it's that close. Mouse's notes are: Vanilla, two ambers, sweet pea and white sandalwood. VBN has vanilla bean, warm caramel, and cream. Is there anything else in the GC or any other category, including DCs, LEs, protos, etc. that has just those three notes? Or any layering ideas? Thanks in advance!

This is a good one! I too would like to know, as this is probably my fave B&BW regular line. I just wish that they offered more products in it. Maybe layering Lady Una with one of the more resin-and-vanilla scents? Or perhaps O or Snake Oil?

Thanks for the recs. I always get lots of rose, medium-to-dark rose, when I sniff Joy. And something that sparkles.

In the bottle: Sweet, but not foodie, floral but not overly so, some herbs. Wet: On the skin, this became sharp. But it's slowly softening. Still doesn't have that moon-lit night quality that I received from sniffing the bottle. The sage really seems to be the dominant note. I like sage, but at the moment, all the other notes are bowing down to it. The dry-down: Another one for the scent locket, I suspect. There's a combination of florals in and amongst the sage, like flowers bordering an herbal bed. The sharpness has come back, but in a different way; I'm thinking that that is either the anise or the iris, neither of which work well with my acidic skin chemistry. I really liked the scent out of the bottle, so I'll break out the clocket for this.

In the frimp: Lots of vanilla, with sage and carnation as middle notes, and the musk as a base. Wet: Creamy carnation, with sage and cedar lurking underneath. The lavender is adding to the sweet cream note. The dry-down: It seems to be turning into a soft leather note, but with some of the creamy sweetness from before, underneath, very lovely and soft. I want to try this on the bf, as I think it will smell even better on him than me. His skin chemistry is more basic or neutral, whereas mine is more acidic. I like the first two stages of this better than I do the last, even though the dry-down is nice. It's certainly a comforting and calming scent, and it would be lovely in my scent locket, and as a sleep-time scent. I can see why people love this.

Did a quick search through this thread and nothing turned up, so is there anything in the BPAL/BPTP catalog (current, LE, discon) that would be close to Jean Patou's Joy. According to the entry at the Wiki, it has rose, jasmine, tuberose, ylang ylang, but "does not smell like any specific flower". The wiki entry is here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joy_(perfume) It's a lovely perfume, but very expensive. ETA: Lots more info about scent notes here: http://www.fragrantica.com/perfume/Jean-Patou/Joy-1436.html Orris, muget, aldehydes, civet, peach, orchid, sandalwood, musk, pear, green notes were the notes mentioned in the description and reviews.

Cloister Graveyard in the Snow and Death of a Gravedigger both went very very mint on me. I don't remember which mint, or if I did a review of them, but do please check the review threads. Pink Snowballs or Snow White may indeed be up your alley. Granted, they are both Yule LEs, but I don't think of them as Christmasy or piney in scent at all. Snow White is coconut, some pale florals, and of course the snow. Pink Snowballs is not like Snow White to me at all, although most reviewers seem to think so. (Just another example of how perfume oils can be different on individuals! ) With Pink Snowballs, I get a delicate pink rose, not quite a tea rose, some vanilla, and snow. I would consider both of these to be feminine and icy scents, but not too icy. I second the rec of Snow, Glass, Apples. If you like the idea of frosted apples, SGA is lovely.

I wore Snow White 09 for the family dinner on Christmas Eve and Pink Snowballs on the day itself. I got compliments. (Both were layered with B&BW Vanilla Bean Noel body lotion, after using VBN shower get.)

In the imp: Lots of cocoa powder, the kind you use to make quick-and-easy hot chocolate with. Wet: The instant mix cocoa-powder hot chocolate is being mellowed by the little marshmallows, like someone just dumped a ton of sugar in their cocoa. This is yummy, and my nose doesn't want to leave my arm. The dry-down: It's like sweet hot chocolate with lots of marshmallows floating and melting, and with tons of sugar. Oh, wait, there's felt and glue lurking in the background. And a metallic note, like the safety scissors used to cut the felt. I think I'll just layer some Marshmallow Poof or Boo! with Milk Chocolate Buttercream or Gelt or Bliss and see what happens, instead. If the dry-down had just continued with the smell of the wet stage, this would be a winner. Skin chemistry strikes again! I'll wait and re-test another day before reaching a final verdict.