torikitty

I didn't look at the notes when I tried this on. Out of the imp, I smelled amber, woody, and clove. Not exactly something I would be drawn towards. Then at drydown, I swore this was mostly a sweet tobacco. So I was surprised to see no tobacco in the notes here. I think mixing amber, clove, oudh, and saffron has this magical effect on me. When I think of clove specifically, I can smell it. But the woods, amber, and spice blend together that smell so similar to a sweet tobacco that it makes me deliriously happy.

Vanilla mint all the way. Totally smells like the sweet mint gum. It's not bad, but it's not my thing.

For whatever reason, the ozone didn't work in this blend for me. There's the opium and smoke making it feel dark and eerie, and I get what the ozone is doing for the lightning, but it's not working for me nose.

In the bottle: chocolate and herbs?

Drydown: leather and black musk ooze out from the back. There's a bit of pungentness from the castoreum accord and a hint of champaca flower. It's going a high-pitched bitter on me.

Dry: I seem to amp all the wrong notes on this one. I'm thinking the castoreum is just not working for my skin because everything else in this list is fine on me. I'm hoping that someone with a different skin chemistry can help the notes blend together better.

 

Edit: Hours later, the funk has worn off. Now it smells like a nice, incensey light leather sitting around a heart of amber. It took quite a while to get here, but it is pretty when it eventually calms down. Maybe I'll try this again tomorrow.

I usually just type bpal <scent>. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=4&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwii8oORpOnVAhXslVQKHdfTBpUQFgg6MAM&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bpal.org%2Ftopic%2F291-sin%2F&usg=AFQjCNHIllZ1UydF8ffGDrKiwOO1ZBuXPA

 

You just have to click on the bpal.org link, and not The Lab's link.

 

I would say Scherezade is similar, but more musky. Perhaps Belle Vinu or Black Lotus.

 

Dawn: Cernunnos might work, too. https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/dawn/dawn-cernunnos/

You can also just search for notes in the searchbar at the top of The Lab's website. You'll get a pretty good list if you search for sandalwood.

Out of all of those beautiful notes, I smell mostly lilac and vanilla. I do think it's blended well because I can get hints of the other notes, but I seem to be amping the lilac. I wondering if this would be a better nighttime atmo for me.

I can't believe I haven't tried this before! It's heavy, but in a sweet way. I think musk, cocoa, and citrus with tobacco in the background is apt. I think my skin is eating it. Within 5 mins of applying a tiny amount, I can hardly smell it. I guess it needs time to blend. Citrus is becoming more apparent, and the musk. It ends up smelling like honeyed-musk on me. Maybe a bit of the tonka and tea, not sure.

Green and woody. Wet: I think the idea of "just cutting back the shrubs in your backyard" is pretty apt. During drydown, I ended smelling something smoky or incensy. This is beginning to remind me of a cheap hotel. You have smoky rooms mixed with clean sheets and the free soap. What an odd combination.

Still trying to figure out how I feel about this. It starts off with almond and rootbeer floating around the edges. During drydown, patchouli and pine start to come out. It somewhat switches to smelling like cleaner while drinking rootbeer. I think I get a bit of leather, too. I wonder if that's the High John root blending with things. I did only a bit of research on what this smells like. Dry, the pine definitely fades off. This ends up smelling darker and shady, kinda like a sexy, dirty, licorice. I know that's weird. This is one that's worth trying if any of these notes interest you. An hour later the tobacco returns, it's sweet. The licorice definitely fades.

Received this bottle in a swap. Wet it smells like candied almonds. I wouldn't say the whiskey is as strong as it is in Mad Sweeney. I think I'm bringing out the musk the most right now. The tobacco starts to come out, and it's a bit more astringent. Not as sweet as SN: French Tobacco. During drydown, it starts loosing sweetness. Then, magically, it starts sweetening up again with the whiskey. This is weird. I'm trying to think of a good situation where I'd want to wear this. It's leaning on the masculine side on me. I might play around with layering. I can see adding a bit of sweet vanilla to this to make it wearable for me. Hours later, the tobacco settles down, and is more wearable, less masculine. It's still a bit dry, though.

I'm so sad that Elegba was mainly coconut and St. Clare was mostly incense. They smelled lovely before I put them on my skin. And, technically, they do still smell lovely, but not anything worth keeping.

Coconut loooooooooove! It does kinda smell like a slightly boozy pina colada that's just coconut. It smells real, it doesn't smell artificial. During drydown, I can smell the vanilla candle thing others mentioned. I think I'm amping coconut because I get that and a bit of creamy vanilla. The tobacco definitely gets pushed to the back.

 

Edit: after hours, the tobacco came out more, but it was still coconut and tobacco.

 

Sandalwood and incense. I can see how this gets translated into tobacco initially. And it smells clean, which i'm guessing is mahogany. It's kinda like clean laundry mixed with tobacco. I wonder if this is a weird reaction with sandalwood, or just the incense. This totally reminds me of walking past a washateria on a warm Saturday night with some people smoking cigarillos outside. I totally appreciate the sample, but this isn't giving me the tobacco smell I was wanting. Darn skin chemistry.

 

Well, this is interesting.

 

Wet: tobacco flower and mint. The mint is just hinting around the edges to make it appear more cool.

 

Drydown: tobacco and vanilla.The teakwood or oak seem to morph into a sarsaparilla note on me. It smells more like a microbrew root beer, heavy on the root.

 

Dry: tobacco comes out a bit more. The vanilla backs off a bit. The woods are still making me think of rootbeer, although less sweet now.

 

Overall: it's nice. I don't know that I'd recommend it for tobacco lovers since I think the woods take precedence, but that could be just my chemistry. I do think it's unisex enough that men or women could wear it.

Finally ordered an imp from the Lab. Part of me is like "Why didn't anyone tell me to order this earlier?", and another part of me is "It smells nice, but you definitely don't need a bottle". I find it interesting that people are matching this up with chocolate or green. I get neither of those. To me, it's sweet, and more like violet powder. This smells like when the sunshine would warm up the freshly-watered violets in my grandmother's window. So, take that smell, mix it with a sweet, fruity bathroom powder. I wouldn't attribute fig to this since I've been making tons of fig jam all week. In a roundabout way, needing to assign a sweet fruit, you could attribute to fig; but I assure you, this is not what green figs smell like.

 

Overall, it's nice. I can see this being too powdery or sweet for some folks. I don't know that the description does it justice. It's definitely worth trying before buying, IMO.

I sampled the oil, which definitely was heavy on the vanilla. I was expecting the same for the hair gloss. It ended up smelling like lightly perfumed linens to me. It was not the creamy vanilla I was hoping for. Off to swaps.

I don't know what's up with the 2 previous reviews. I get neither of those things. I tested this on my husband. I was worried because I didn't want it to be overpowering on any of the notes. Surprisingly, they are lighter than I was expecting, and blend well together. It does totally remind me of an Agent Cooper working in an office. I wouldn't say it's similar to any name brand colognes, and it's not strictly a coffee or leather smell. It's just the mashup of all of those together, but with 3-4 hours to wear off.

The musk and whisky in this are so nice. Sweet, inviting, somewhat homey? It reminds me of someone's home, it's a nice scent memory.

Whoo, first! In the bottle, artificial fake strawberry and and shiny, patent leather. Maybe the faintest hint of vanilla. This smells soo cheeky. Like you're going out to party, and have a good time. I imagine confidence-boosting tall, leather boots and a bright, pink lipstick.

As it dries down, the leather softens a bit, but it's still got a high sillage. The strawberry definitely mellows out, but surprisingly melds really well with the leather. Smells a bit more jam-like. It's like you wore Eat the Strawberries last night while wearing your favorite leather jacket. You put the jacket on the next day, and you still pick up hints of strawberry. It's nice if you're into these 2 notes separately. If you're unsure about leather or strawberry, I would pick up an imp.

 

Edit: as the day wears on, this blends together so well. The artificialness calms down, and it smells like a sweet, fruity, leathery note.

Any recs on an oil that smells like Young Man with Long Hair? "Chestnut and mahogany with black coconut, vanilla, and a drop of tobacco absolute."

Black coconut and tobacco. I'm in heaven.

 

Just another shoutout for how much I'm enjoying this.

The fruits in here are great when wet. Very sweet, citrusy, and summery. However, I get a smell in the background that ruins it for me, and I'm guessing it's the gardenia. It's wonderful until I get that note on my skin.

I get only orange peel. It smells like a lovely old-fashioned, minus the booze. I wish I could pick up on the rosemary, but alas, nothing. I would recommend this for someone who wants something orange, and knows they wouldn't amp the other notes.

Wet: How interesting. I can pick out a lot of the individual scents, but a quick sniff smells like laundry to me. I guess the ocean mist is what comes out the most.

Drydown: the rum and leather come out more. It definitely leaves the clean realm, and makes its way into masculine. I think I can even smell the gunpowder. Gonna try this on the husband.

wet: Yeah, I can see cola for this.

Drydown: Instead of going more almond on me, I seem to be amping roses? Powdery roses. Not a fan.