mxtine

I remember I avoided this initially because it had vetiver. As I discovered later on, vetiver works in certain blends, especially those with Snake Oil (Tombeur). This is a darker, more venomous Snake Charmer; or like Goblin and Snake Oil together. The gorgeous, sinuous black coconut, vetiver and opoponax notes take the already sexy Snake Oil to another level. I's so in love with this, and I'll definitely be stocking up on backups!

The Carnaval going dark temporarily scared me into finally buying a bottle of this unsniffed. The "pine pitch" note scared me off, and I hoped a decant would float by one way or another but never did. I'm SO glad I tried this. There's not much to the first sniff. I was expecting "whoa pine" from previous reviews, but there's only a faint woody pine note there. On my skin, it's a very faint smoky sweet vanilla-honey with woody pine, but in a couple minutes it jumps to a whole other level of awesome! I can pick out every note here, and they are so well blended that no note is fighting another for attention. It's such a unique, exotic and sexy scent. The dry stage makes me think of what a sexy patchouli/resin men's cologne smells like at the end of the day. I can't wait for this to come back with it's new label. I'm telling you right now this is multiple-bottle worthy.

This was positively nauseating in the imp, like a blackened rotten banana. I didn't smell anything else, but perhaps the combination of oak, sugar and molasses = banana, which is a note I dislike. I couldn't bear to skin test.

This Grand Guignol prototype is a heady blend of red musk, apricot tobacco and plum brandy. It's very boozy and completely different than the released version, which was straight apricot brandy on me. My nose is doing weird things with scents tonight or my skin is just sucking it up, because it's not lasting at all.

This prototype is a combination between a lighter version of Mme. Moriarty and Snake Charmer. It's a sweet, smokey plum and patchouli with a smooth vanilla like the one in aged Snake Oil. It fades significantly once it dries, and I'm left with a sweet plummy resin that has virtually no throw. It's nice if you think Mme. Moriarty is too heavy for you, but I prefer the released version.

… Her scent is a bounty of golden honeyed almonds and a whisper of African and Middle Eastern spices. AAACK! ALMONDS! Spicy, sickenenly (is that a word?) sweet almonds.

This is a lot less threatening as it sounds. Olukun was murkier and more Cthulhu-like. It's actually a bright aquatic men's cologne. I can imagine it smells nice on a clean shaven man but I prefer resiny musks on my men.

Orange blossom is always iffy on me. It can be amazing in creamy musk blends but soapy-perfumey with other florals or resins. This is the latter. It's very intense, like fresh orange oil mixed with dirty-smelling resins.

I have a sniffie of this so I can't really give a proper review, but it's a mildly sweet blueberry with something spicy/mossy. Now I want to go smell Blue Fire because it's kind of like that blueberry before the gin kicks in...

This has the same vanilla from Tombstone or aged Snake Oil, plus fresh, intense juniper and pine sap. Smells manly but sweet. I like it!

Lemongrass, lemon verbena and tart grapefruit. I get a Mr. Clean and Lemon Pledge vibe from this but it doesn't smell like cleaner, rather a very syrupy sweet drink. Minutes later...I guess it reminds me too much of cleaner that I just have to wash it off.

I'm happy I finally received an imp of this to try. I love dirt, moss, bourbon and bay rum, but not florals. In the imp, it's delicious dirt and Spanish moss! They fade once it's on my skin, and the bay rum and bourbon come out sweet and smooth. Some decaying florals make an appearance, and while they aren't headache-inducing I'm still not a fan of how heavy they become. Later, it dries down to sweetgrass and rum. It's a very interesting blend and I love how many changes the scent goes through.

I had an imp of this previously, but never reviewed. I get the resins, black currant and a lavender note that doesn't smell diaper-y. It's kind of cologneish because of the ozone and white musk.

Menthol!? Sweet coconut, fresh roses, orris and menthol. Something isn't right here, I don't know what the menthol note is doing in my imp and I don't see anybody mentioned this in their reviews. I'm a fan of coconut but this isn't my thing. The menthol burns off and I'm left with a powdery, cool coconut-rose with a very high white musk.

Grapefruit isn't listed as a note, but this has a citrus zest that makes me think of grapefruit. There's also a light green tea note, something green and a bit of soapy floral. It's really pretty and fresh once it's dried, there is no soapiness which makes me very happy because I love the citrus/tea notes. Grapefruit isn't listed as a note, but this has a citrus zest that makes me think of grapefruit. There's also a light green tea note, something green and a bit of soapy floral. It's really pretty and fresh once it's dried, there is no soapiness which makes me very happy because I love the citrus/tea notes.

Fetish.Goth leather is very smooth. I'm very sensitive to chemical-harsh leather notes and this is nothing like that. It's soft leather and resins. I think the myrrh in this stands out more than the leather, and it's my favorite myrrh scent right now.

Thanks Penance and Stellans! You're right, looks like a Lab oopsie! Those are gorgeous labels, I need to place an order ASAP.

Mahogany wood, black cherry and currant. The cherry is a grown-up cherry like the one in Gothabilly. At first, I feel like this imp is very aged and I feel like this would be so much better fresh, but then the notes start to get stronger on my skin. I really love the tart dark fruits with dry woods in this blend.

This is a very strange ginger. It's like ginger that's old and has lost it's fresh spiciness. I can barely get vanilla or even apricot from this.

Sweet apples and stale perfumey rose.

This is like rotting wet grape blunt wraps in a stale opium den. I really dislike grape!

I was unable to put this on my skin since it smelled like diaper rash cream. BPAL's lavender note is notoriously bad on me.

Smells like rugged man, freshly showered and slathered with an outdoorsy cologne. Black Forest is one the best forest scents I've smelled yet. It's a forest full of evergreens and wood. The ambergris doing something amazing to this blend in the dry down stage, there is still a lot of cypress and juniper but a sweet musk is developing. I kind of want a 5ml of this one.

The smell in the imp is that of a real rose with fresh-cut stem. This is so much more realistic than Rose Red, which was ice-pick in the brain intense. I don't even want to skin test it for fear that I will amp it and get a headache. It would make a lovely room scent.

Pungent juniper and pine trees and some dirt. It's like the smell of concentrated forest, which is interesting to smell. I think this would have been something I could wear, but there's a menthol note that's turning it into Ben-Gay.