strahlend

First sniff from the decant – I don't usually seek out foody scents, but this is compelling. It is sweet and creamy but with a freshness to it that reminds me of a previous Weenie, Gunpowder. Pumpkin is tricky for me, I often find it to smell too obviously artificial and straying into candle territory, but I'm loving this particular pumpkin. There's a fresh almost hay-like element with it that really makes it work. Skin testing – this stays true to my first impressions on initial application. Reminding me of Gunpowder with the addition of pumpkin, which might seems like it might be similar to the pumpkin from last year's pumpkin latte (but minus the latte, of course). This smells really great and finishes up smelling like there's a wee hint of coconut with the creamy pumpkin. Delightful!

Sniff from the decant – sort of “perfumy” and floral with a base that must be the cologne; the combination of booze and tobacco brings Black Lace to mind. Skin testing – this does go on dark musk and cologne. This scent seems sophisticated. I like the opium with the lilies and tobacco. This scent seems elegant and professional... like a perfectly tailored lady's suit with a hat and gloves. This scent has a classic feel I think, putting in my mind visions of noir movies. I've been really into resins and lily lately and this scent is fitting in well with my current tastes. When this softens up in the dry down it smells mostly of soft sweet tobacco, opium, and lily. Decadent, rich, and classy. This dries down into a gorgeous soft tobacco sweetness. Very lovely. The more I smell this, the more I love it. Every stage is absolutely wonderful.

Light, sweet, incense with coconut? Try Mlle Lilith, Fortune Teller. Also in this general category might be Fire For Thy Stepmother's Daughters. On the darker and heady side of incense Bien Loin D'Ici & Masquerade.

Without looking at the notes my impressions were of wood, incense, and a sweet flower. In the imp it seemed a little bit more perfumy and sharp, but on my skin it becomes sweet and atmospheric. The cloud of scent that wafts up from my arms reminds me a little bit of the light, sweet, mildly fruity incense feel I get from Mlle Lilith, Fortune Teller and the orange from Ravenous. When I huff my wrist up close it smells more sharply floral. This scent meshes with my skin chemistry beautifully and it strikes me as being mildly orangy, incense, and soft warm wood. I've had this imp for who knows how long and since it didn't really grab me when I sniffed it in the imp it was looked over, after testing it out I'm on the lookout for a bottle.

After The Macabray was discontinued I comforted myself knowing that Cloister Graveyard was always available. ~sigh

After finding this imp hiding out in a box under my bed I've tested it out a few times during the last couple days. In the imp it seems sort of perfumy, the kind of white floral I usually associate with perfumes where you get the alcohol blast when you put it on. What makes this interesting is that in addition to this there's also an unusual sweetness to it that reminds me of dried fruit. On my skin (without looking at notes or reviews) I smell a floral but it's mixed with what smells like fresh tobacco, like when a fresh pack of cigarettes is opened, it's totally different than most scents associated with tobacco products, kind of fresh and sweet but earthy, sort of like raisins or maybe figs. I also feel like I'm smelling some kind of resin, I'm not sure which one. Flower, figs, fresh tobacco, and resin... that pretty accurately describes what I smell. It smells exotic somehow, sort of mysterious but not in a dark shadowy way, more like an oasis. It reminds me of what the main character in the Tom Robbins book Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates would smell like when he's out in the desert. This scent couldn't describe Switters or that atmosphere any better, it fits perfectly. Perhaps the name predisposed me to thinking of the book, but it's a strong match regardless.

First sniff – oh dear. I'm not getting any of the notes I was looking forward to - the opium tar, frankincense, cedarwood, coffee, coconut or vetiver. The notes I wasn't so excited about are the ones I can smell,lemongrass, tobacco flower and white plum. Upon further sniffing I the coconut, tobacco flower and white plum seem to be the main dominant notes. Skin testing – at first there was a lemon blast (I amp lemon like crazy) but it quickly shifted into a pleasant airy coconut scent. It has a fruity twang to it from the plum and feels carefree, healthy, and tropical. Although it's not at all what I was expecting, it is very pretty and seems like it would be lovely in warm weather.

Hoggle reminds me a whole lot of Velvet Dogs Playing Poker and Miskatonic University. Very rich, sweet, woody (teak? mahogany?), intense. Partner walked in the door shorty after I put this on and said it smelled like caramel corn in the living room. This is potent stuff.

13 Hours starts out interestingly incensy and ends up as a oakmoss dominated scent. Quite a resilient scent, long lasting. While I had this on I couldn't smell anything else in my environment. Powerful!

Flaming coals, hellfire, and blackened bone. In the imp this reminds me of a red fruit, maybe plum, and a hint of ginger. Wet on my skin this does smell a lot like ginger to me. It has a sort of sharp, mineral, planty, bite to it. After a very short time the ginger fades back and the fruity note, warm spice, and floral become the dominant notes. It's a little bit juicy sweet with spice, but still light in feeling. After about 10 minutes this scent melds together and becomes smells like slightly woody, slightly fruity incense. All of the stages are nice, but this part is my favorite, luckily it's the one that lasts the longest. A lovely scent for the transition from winter into spring. I wish this scent lasted longer on my skin, but it fades off in about an hour.

I've come across Masquerade a few times over the years but never gave it much thought, which is weird because there's nothing objectionable to me in this blend. This starts out with a lot of sharp patchouli, reminds me of the kind in #Occupy, it almost has a burnt smell to it to my nose. Luckily the ambergris and orange blossom work with the patchouli to soften it up a bit. This scent makes me think of Vixen (orange blossom, ginger, patchouli) and Ravenous (red patchouli and orange blossom) - similar components, quite different results. I think that comparatively Masquerade has more of a warm, woody, incensy feel, Vixen features more ginger, and Ravenous has a much sweeter patchouli and features more orange.

Thanks for the good ideas everyone! I think I have some of those in my stash, I just need to do some re-testing.

I'm in the mood for a super cinnamon-vanilla scent. Dragon's Milk is sort of what I'm thinking of, but more cinnamon and no dragon's blood. The smell I'm thinking of is sort of like vanilla-cinnamon french toast.

At first this scent strikes me as a smokey floral. Later, the currant comes up in the dry down and is an interesting partner with the lavender. It keeps the scent a little lighter and brighter and keeps the lavender out of the realm of antiseptic or powder. Unfortunately it does lean toward the soapy (very fancy and expensive soap) end of the spectrum for me though.

Sniff from the decant – very powdery rose. Second sniff seems more lavendery. Skin testing - Lots of lavender. A minute later it's powdery-rose-lavender. Nicer than it sounds. It's soft and sweet and pleasant. A while later it's mostly lavender, on a velvety plush purple pillow of opium poppy and white musk. Later, this is a soft, powdery lavender. The rose is not overwhelming at any point, which I appreciate. This is a fairly strong scent, I get a decent waft up from my arm.

At first I got pink grapefruit and orange, then mostly orange. This is such an ORANGY orange. Skin testing – It's still very orangy. It's like smelling a real orange, with the pith, leaves (maybe from the lemon balm), flowers, and juice all in tact. After a little while it still smells mainly of orange but it has mellowed and smells a little softer and lightly musky (maybe from the lightest touch of cumin). I love peppermint, but do not smell it here. I also do not smell the tuberose. It feels clean and refreshing but never goes into cleaning product territory. This is a lovely scent. It's both soothing and uplifting.

Well.... at first it reminds me a bit of the Chinese Floor Wash I got from the TAL. I can groove on that. Sadly, as time passes it seems like the flowery parts become more intrusive. I stuck my wrist under my boyfriend's nose and he physically recoiled. We don't always agree on scents, but we do this time. Since I have an affinity for water (I'm a pisces) and dragons (chinese birth year) I'm going to keep this partial bottle for sentimental reasons, and the label is BEAUTIFUL, but at this point I'm not sure I'll ever wear it.

This is a warm, soft, clove with a faintly sweet musky base. I really like this kind of clove, so I'm happy. It seems like clove is often in blends with booze or leather, but here it's pretty much standing on its own. Much more subtle than other blends with clove or cognac, but it is noticable and sticks around for a while. I'm testing right out of the mailbox, so I'll update later if there seems to be a noticable difference.

First impression - very much a snow scent, would fit in great with the Yules. Testing – wow, the white pear is really lovely with the snow notes. It's a subtle fruitiness that I wasn't sure would work for me. At first glance it's similar to other bpal snow scents - but with a hint of floral and a subtle application of pear this really turns into its own thing. After a little while it is more noticeably snow than anything else, but it's very soft and lightly sweet and very, very pretty. I think it's the honeysuckle in here that's really lifting the scent. I'm not getting sandalwood or amber – both of which often come across as powdery to me – and this doesn't seem powdery at all. Just snow and a gentle sweetness with just the tiniest little hint of that pear. I'm surprised this isn't getting more rave reviews, it's a beautiful scent.

First impression - lots of cypress. Testing – hmmm... this smells like dry wood in the forest. Juniper is lending a bit of an edgy green feel, maybe the mulberry leaf is in that mix too. The cedar here has that deep, rich reddish/cedar smell that I remember from sniffing my mom's cedar wood trinket box. I think it might be the neroli and jasmine that are adding the depth to the cedar. Oh man, this smells really good. Starting to smell like gentle incense. It's hard to describe, there's a hint of the juniper berry, the warmth of the jasmine and neroli, and this great cedar base. I'm not getting cypress at all any more. This scent changes a lot from application to dry down. It starts out kind of dry and cold then becomes a sweet, warm, woody, floral.

I've already got a couple bottles of this stashed, it's fantastic! The sandalwood is dry and smells authentically woody, not perfumy. There's a sweet resinous feel to it from the olibanum (frankincense) and opoponax (myrrh). Just a little hint of green in here, maybe the violet leaf? This scent makes me feel centered and confident when I wear it.

This is LOADS of vanilla and I can't help but think that it smells really good even though I don't usually look for vanilla heavy scents. The copal and beeswax are lovely partners for the vanilla. Testing – it seems like as soon as it hits my skin the honey goes crazy and takes over. Where did the vanilla go? I guess it's still there but it's being overshadowed by the honey and amber. The amber is the sort that goes powdery on my skin. Later - The vanilla is starting to come back through. There's still a heavy dose of honey here, which is what I get if I sniff close to my skin, but if I back up just a bit I smell more vanilla. Well.... I think there's just too much honey and powder in this for me. I was hoping for more emphasis on the copal - I've been on a resin kick lately.

At first this came across as banana laffy taffy candy - sweet and edible. That idea captures the opening of this scent so perfectly, I'm not sure what else there is to say. The super sweet fruit fades down really quickly and I'm left with a thick, rich, creamy vanilla. Then it's gone! Sadly this scent doesn't stick around very long.

In a word.... unique. Green, fresh, cool, almost like cucumber, but not that either. I enjoy many "green" scents and I can't think of another one like this. Although I usually find Egyptian musk to be too sharp it's working perfectly here as a compliment. Captivatingly unusual. This is a lovely and refreshing scent will be perfect for spring and summer.

I love this scent! I didn't think that I would from the note list, so it was quite a surprise. I was mainly worried about the honey and rose and not knowing what helichrysum is. This is a sort of medium weight musky, woodsy scent to my nose. It doesn't smell particularly like vetiver or honey... or any of the notes listed. This is a blend where the whole is more than just the sum of its parts. Unexpectedly beautiful.