Lycanthrope

There's a certain Slant of light, Winter Afternoons - That oppresses, like the Heft Of Cathedral Tunes - Heavenly Hurt, it gives us - We can find no scar, But internal difference, Where the Meanings, are - None may teach it - Any - 'Tis the Seal Despair - An imperial affliction Sent us of the Air - When it comes, the Landscape listens - Shadows - hold their breath - When it goes, 'tis like the Distance On the look of Death - Thin, tinny ozone with frankincense, white sandalwood, white amber, hyssop, bitter violet leaf, and shadowy wisps of smoke. Was most looking forwards to this scent because of the amber and violet leaf... sounded like parts of my beloved Darkling Thrush. Wet in the bottle this has a slightly peppery warm kick to it, on my skin there's a shift immediately to a cooler pine-like aroma, not quite minty but there's definitely a green herb in this mix. I can start smelling the violet giving a little bit of a rough push to the green base, and underneath it all there's a creaminess. This does smell somewhat similar to The Darkling Thrush of past years except without as much frank mintiness - this is more of that deep violet-like floral, with a hint of peppery bite from the smoke at first, evolving into a dusky floral hanging out over a sandalwood amber that is more on the lighter side. It's nice. I'll keep my bottle but I don't know about hoarding... yet.

Held on December 5th, this is the festival of the Horned God of the Forest, one of the di indigetes of Rome, god of cattle, fertility, wild, untamed nature, and prophecy through dreams. The scent of a thick, starlit, unspoiled forest, with a burst of wild musk, opobalsamum, black bryony, mandragora, and hemlock. The label art on this is a little strange, a dapper young man riding Krampus. The dood on Krampus has a Victorian mustache. Anyways... Sniffed from the bottle, this is a sweet, cool pine with a touch of a skin-musk, sort of like Coyote / Ivanushka. On the skin, this scent develops a little bit of the metallic snap of pine, similar to Black Forest/Nocnitsa (without the dirt). It's not a sharp, airy pine by any means, and there may be a hint of snow but this is not a predominant note. The scent dries down to a soft, snuggly Coyote-esque forest aroma, with the pine and woods being a full, rounded note as opposed to bracing. It's actually quite nice and close to the skin, and if you're scared of 'forest' notes, you shouldn't be of this one!

In 2014, we had the great pleasure of collaborating with Jim Jarmusch on our line inspired by Only Lovers Left Alive. It is impossible to put into words what a great pleasure it was to translate this film and its soundtrack into scent. In the process of creating the series, I sat behind Henry Rollins at the press screening and, a few nights later, watched as he interviewed Tilda Swinton at the screening at LACMA. The first scents in our Kabuki line for David Mack were introduced, and this year gave birth to our Pretty Deadly series for wise, witty, radiant Kelly-Sue DeConnick and Emma Rios, and our first Clive Barker series, the Forbidden. Chic vampires, Old West death parables, Moroccan spices, and futuristic assassins: gleaming black leather and dusty brown leather, chthonic smoke, and cold, gleaming metal meandering through a labyrinthine souk. Oooh! Smells like Brom Bones (cold, musky leather) right on cold sniff. I'm excited. I kind of had a bit of a 'Firefly?' moment when I read the description, so, of course, in it went to the cart. Wet, on me, it's like you can see the leather note kind of... separate... like there's a distinct cold thread spiraling away while this warmer, spicier leather (with lambs-wool, warm, fluffy, worn, loved) emerges, with a hint of incense and spice. But the incense and spice is not overwhelming, and it veers back towards a leather scent just touched with a throb of warmth. I can get a bit of the chrome note (think Katiniya, Torture Queen) underneath everything all, just kind of little neck studs glinting through the leather. There's a bit of smoke in the background, which has a bit of mossiness to it. Overall very well blended. A sexy, kind of edgy western leather scent. Stays close to the skin. It's fabulous!

Snowballs of blue lilac, lotus root, Roman chamomile, sandalwood, and cade. Wet this smells a lot like the top note of Blue Moons (like, the 2007 version in particular, not the classic one), then it veers right into wet but pretty lilac territory. After the very fresh, true to life lilac scent fades a touch, you can really smell the herbal push for the chamomile. I'm not getting frank cade from this (thank god!) but it may be adding a little bit more depth and sharpness to an otherwise initially floral blend. I then get both lotus root and petal, although that may be the lilac still playing tricks on me. While wet, it is very complicated, still very much lilac, without it being a very masculine scent. I would say this is a traditional strong floral. On drydown it melds together and stays pretty true to form as a blustery, springtime lilac bush, hazy in the heat from the bees, with the fragrance dripping off the petals so strong you swear you can see the air around the bush dance and you temporarily lose your place as you get taken by the sheer presence of flowers. ... Uh... well now. So if you like lilacs you must try Glaucous Snow!

So... super weird. Wet, it's a very brash, green, leaf-y grassy scent with a touch of an airy, daisy-like floral. On me at least, once I keep snorfling it, that recedes and I just get a ... fresh petal with loamy muddy dirt twang. Huh. Is it just me? Sappy muddy dirt with clear white petals. And pollen. What? It's realistic... that's for sure!

On the last day of school, some of the families get together at the beach to celebrate the onset of summer break. It was cold, grey, and overcast, but that was hardly daunting for this little Oceanid. Lilith and her friends splashed and played in water I couldn’t put a toe into. She boogie boarded for the first time that day and fell in love. The beach bunny I have now is a far cry from the Tiny Virgo who wouldn’t go near the sand because she didn’t want her Doritos to get dirty. Driftwood and sea salt submerged in a marine layer, a touch of sweet carnation, bright neroli, and a sandy strip of kelp. So my past few years' worth of experience with oceanic and coastal BPAL has not always ended well, since the sea salt note = tortilla chip on me. Apparently I'm made of GMOs, and become quite snackable when that specific ocean-themed accord strikes my fur. I am a sucker for anything marine and ocean themed, though, so, well, of course this ended up with me. Wet in bottle: A bit more on the cologne/sweet marine musk in the bottle. Not too much of the slight corn-chip that I get from some sea salt blends. Maybe a hint of green snap at end, Ogygia-kelp-style. On skin: Whoa, 180! Swish and swirl and KELP me, baby. There's a swift whoosh of neroli, and the marine/cooler musk I initially detected gets uplifted by a slightly citrus-blossom whisper, and then I get that rising golden neroli hum and yellow-gold aura. The kelp asserts itself briefly, but doesn't overwhelm, although it does give me a bit of a Beaver Moon (non cheesecake) and Sturgeon Moon vibe. Drying: Once it's had a bit more time to settle, I can get salt, but amazingly it's not making me into a bag of Paqui chips, it's a little bit of spikeyness overlying the scent, which is segueing quite nicely into a bit of a dry-ish but subtle wood. It's definitely a quiet wood in the background, maybe a gentle soft cedar or even sandalwood-type whisper. It's still wrapped in kelp, draped just so. It's fading pretty fast on me at this point, but after longer wear, it sits close to my (man) skin, mostly salt and a quiet seaweed, supported by a swoosh of aquatic musk and neroli. Since neroli is sometimes recruited in modern colognes, I do get more of a 'mainstream' vibe from this but it is eminently wearable and I'd recommend this to anyone who likes a good BPAL aquatic. No corn chips here! It's like a softer A Fit of Artistic Enthusiasm, which is one of my all time faves.

In the hospital while I was doing clinicals, I wore my locket (clocket) scent locket. When I didn't want to stink up a storm I'd either put it in my workdesk, or even just above most of my clothing, since then it wouldn't warm and exude a touch of scent. Then when I did want to enjoy such as when I was at the computer stations and away from patients and other staff, I'd just put it against my chest and I'd get a little bit of scent. It's like a detachable way to enjoy, and worst come to worst (and it didn't while I was working) you can just completely take the locket off.

Wet, this is very dry, rooty, kind of airy wet petals. Very much true iris. I can swear I smell a bit of vegetal root, and a hint of the earth. That fades, and it lingers as a straightforward, kind of cool-clay light violet-gray floral. Definitely fades towards quiet an subdued, regal floral.

As one of the Lab's resident Violet Groupies, this was the one scent other than Dead Leaves, Violet Candy and Sugar Crystals that caught my eye during the Halloweenie update. Followed by a oh, hell. My budget. This year I'm supposed to be a bit more restrained, due to situations of my own doing, so I was perusing the Halloween list, thankful that I could actually pass on most of the offerings for 2017, but, whoa. I read this note list, gave myself a big hefty 'heave-ho' and resigned myself to the fact I was going to blind bottle this one. I eagerly awaited its arrival, and then once it was here, gave it a good wear to one of my meetings. The entire drive there I was huffing my arm, trying to find some reason why I would be spared Violetapocalypse. Wellllllll I just ordered a whole bunch of bottles, and I rationalize that because I didn't buy anything else in backups from this year's Weenies. (Yay, rationalization!...) Stealthily, Stealthily, is a very quiet, unassuming scent with many layers. It is a medium strength blend which from the bottle reminds me a bit of a Farewell to False Love - very lavender forward. I thought that would be my saving grace. On the skin, it sparkles again initially with a slightly dry powdery (iris?) lavender, but there's a hint of a smoky background, like in Tristesses de la Lune (another of my favorite iris-y smoky lunacies). The smoke unveils a very dark, velvety violet. An embrace of that sweet petal, but still elusive. It would like most mysterious violet notes disappear into almost nothing, willing me to snorfle and snuff just to get some tantalizing hint of the floofy purple petals. The more I tried to search for the violet, the more elusive it became. I would get a mix of dusty iris root, or occasionally the top herbaceous glow of the lavender. But, then, without warning, a random hint of violet petals blooms, like a hidden florf of violet. Not a candy-powder violet, but that rich deep purple, regal violet that wows me with its strangely sweet, cool, familiar yet space-y otherworldy floral kiss. And then when I try harder, it skirts away, only to return again, as only ionone fragrances can. I love how this flirts and changes. Throw is both elusive, medium, but sporadically pops! It mostly stays close to the skin. The color I see is definitely a rich purple with smoky gray-blue-gray-violet tendrils. I'm so glad to add this to my violet and purple florals collection. Thanks, Beth, for surprising me with another subtle, artistic flavor of violet for me to experience and treasure! (like a hoarding dragon. RAWR)

It was a cold, cold day, and a thick fog obfuscated everything. It was tremendously symbolic in myriad ways. It’s funny. Lilith was two months old when Obama was elected, and I remember how I felt that night as the election returns were coming in. When his presidency was announced, it was like a fist surrounding my heart unclenched, and I could breathe again. With Lilith in my arms, I inexplicably wept with relief, suddenly believing with all my heart that she was safe, and that her future—all of our futures—were on a trajectory of kindness and justice buoyed by hope. The country is flawed and imperfect, but we were on our way to making things right. Then November of 2016 happened, and in January, a thick fog descended on the National Mall and the fist clamped around my heart again. The hope and valor of iris blossoms twined with chrysanthemum’s bold fearlessness, violet’s vigilance, oleander’s caution, and white and red roses for unity. I have one of those things with iris and violet, where I have to try any blend that has it. I also am feeling the same melancholy and strangeness this past year, for reasons in my country that I'm not sure I understand anymore, as well as my own personal catastrophe and rebuilding. Wet in bottle: Strong iris, powdery, rooty, dusty purple ash color that I associate with that smell. On skin: When it gets a chance to settle, it starts off powdery iris, and then I get a strong, but solid rose petal. This has dewiness, wetness. It's like the more heavy, non-tea-rose BPAL rose. Iris and violet are hard for me to pull apart since they activate the same ionone button for me, but I do swear I get a little bit of that dark, sweet, powdery background. With more time I am getting a bit of that mum-green-stemmy, slightly sour but radiant herbal. It's not overpowering. It elevates the blend above a floral and gives it a bit of bittersweet. I will be honest, I have no idea what oleanders smell like. With time: Oh, this is nice. I'm a rose amper, which tends to make most roses a no go. Somehow, this remains tempered and is a bit of a powdery iris predominantly with a restrained bouquet of roses nearby. It's a beautiful and elegant, non-trumpeting floral blend. Strangely, even with the flowers, it's austere, and feels like it has a good depth and strength to it. Huh.

Wet, it smells like a sweet, summery, slightly dewy floral. On me, the jasmine rushes up to greet me like the Aunt I wish didn't Hug so hard, accompanied by her more reasonable wife, Osmanthus, which is providing a little bit of tea. I'm a person who takes jasmine and amps it to high heaven, so I fear a bit this may be all I can get out of this blend. I think I'm getting a whiff of dandelion leaf around the corners, and sap, trying to temper the brashness of the jasmine floral. Oh. With some time, I get a bit more of that rounded golden honey-sweet osmanthus, and jasmine may be settling down. Certainly I can still get its white-hot-frisky floral cascade as I smell, but I think there's at least some complexity rising to the surface. There's a bit of that (as said above) Bayou-moss note bringing it down a notch. I'm only getting florals, but Southern florals for sure, and with a bit of temperance by the moss and dandelion to add a herbal green speckle. I don't get a big whiff of either of the parent blends. It is pleasant, but quite floral on my skin.

Wow! This at first whiff brings me immediately to Talvikuu (I think I started the BPAL craziness back in 2006 or so). The snow note is not too mint-forward, but it's that slushy note that includes, somehow, the ozonic whiff of any remaining pine greenery, mixed somehow with how the cold air feels and smells as it chills your nose and numbs your ability to smell a bit... definitely there's vanilla in the background, and it warms the last bit of the ozone snap. The snowiness dies down pretty quick to leave a tasty smear of vanilla whisper behind. I'd get more of this just to experience the first few moments of slather!

I have very little else to add except that this is a perfect melange of something like Pop! and Cake Smash. I love both. The back of my hand smells like an amazingly awesome dessert that I would like to find and decimate. It starts off higher on the bubblegum-ness, and vacillates between trying to be UBER-FROOT while the creamy cheese cream cheese cheese frosting (...?) ... cheese wallows up from below, all blurbly and like chortle chortle. Behind it all remains the perfect cake with a kiss of cocoa. On me, the bubblegum does burn off first and it remains a delicious red velvet cupcake, where if you stop huffing for a moment, glimmers of tutti-frutti sparkle at the edges if you catch a repeat whiff of yourself.

Serpentine green musk with fiery red ginger, sweet basil, alder leaf, white patchouli, cistus, and mistletoe. Quite an interesting scent. The oil itself is tinged with green, and is a murky, thick beast. I really had no idea what to expect, since the notes are kind of all over the place. In the end, I would describe this as a smooooooth light patchouli, with less herb and spice than I would have thought from the description. Predominantly patchouli, but a brighter one. I don't recall that butterfly scent with 'white' patchouli, but this is reminding me strongly of LUSH's Jungle conditioner, if only for the style of delicious non-gritty patchouli that product has. I will say, the ginger is present but not terribly strong, and the basil is NOT super herby, so I do not smell like food in that respect. Not a morpher on me, but worthy of a try if you like patchouli, and it is very complex! Loki's laughter is not expected, smooth, a little fiery, and cool-ly malevolent.

Wild strawberry and red currant squished into a deep green blend of oakmoss, crushed mint, green tea leaf, mastic, petitgrain, Terebinth pine, and cypress. Good God, Lemon! Actually, I only mean that in the 'Good God, Liz Lemon' way phrased by Alec Baldwin. It's a very weird mishmash wet, it smells like pine trees and care bears (pink ones). There's lots of 'airy green' elements to this that I can get the sharp edges of, such as the petitgrain for certain, and the sour sharp green tea note. I'm sure that part of the leafiness I'm detecting is 'crushed mint,' although by no means does this have the sweet peppermint aroma. On the skin, Aurelia blooms with cypress and pine needles supreme, with an extreme rush of lime green mint leaf madness. You can feel the coolness of the mint, even though still there's no severe overpowering peppermint. The strawberry/currant combination is doing its magic to provide the world's most strangest basenote, probably trying to find the oakmoss (which is lying dead in a gutter since mastic sicced the Greek mafia on it). As it starts to fade I get mostly the top bits of berries, and pine, and tea. It's certainly pretty and a strong whiff pulls in all the leafy leafy green. It smells like Christmas! I think because this has only a few supporting, deep strong notes, this is a super light, airy, herbal berry. It has very little staying power on me, and I feel a little Christmas in July right now. <it's beginning to look a lot like Christmaaaaaas>.

Eau de Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab. The cumulative weight of hundreds of scents -- a cacophony of mythology, fiction, folk magic, and other arcane influences, all clamoring for your attention at once. Wet... this smells like... chocolate? A waxy kind of chocolate scent? And then maybe the... touch of a cookie-like vanilla. It's surprisingly foody but then also registers as 'weird floral.' On me, the color of the oil is a faint slippery translucent green. As it first dries, I definitely get a mishmash of leafy... chocolate... malt?... This is giving me flashbacks to Chaos Theories of past. Is that... caramel? No... I ... what. This is like the equivalent of nose static. I can't identify any one thing, but it just smells... pleasantly everything, but nothing. So it's not super sharp or overbearing. I keep saying 'wafer?' Like those square wafer cookies you can buy, Manner, I think. I smell crunched up Manner cookies, but like the same slightly neutral powderiness. If you've had those wafers before they're pleasantly bland but not terribly powerful in terms of their flavor. Oh. Bother. I think I'm getting a hint of... formaldehyde??!?! That can't be right, but it's like the weird mishmash of all smells merging into a vaguely rubbery everything. Oh GOD, why is it doing THAT. As a former medical student, how is THIS the smell I'm getting? Holy cow. Yikes! Oh... a little more time and the chemical scent starts going orange/citrus? Man, I'm so confused. Starts off foodie, then goes totes chemical, then... fruit rinds? I can't even.

LADY AMALTHEA Molly Grue had taken the white girl's head onto her lap, and was whispering over and over, "What have you done?" The girl's face, quiet in sleep and close to smiling, was the most beautiful that Schmendrick had ever seen. It hurt him and warmed him at the same time. Molly smoothed the strange hair, and Schmendrick noticed on the forehead, above and between the closed eyes, a small, raised mark, darker than the rest of the skin. It was neither a scar nor a bruise. It looked like a flower. A luminous white winter musk with lilac, wisteria, white chocolate, white mint, and tuberose. This is a cool, very light purple scent, definitely strong on the lilac and wisteria, so it's quite sharply floral, but in a good way. I mostly get an undercurrent of neutral mint. There's the waxiness of tuberose, and it is reminding me of lying in near a snowdrift, with tons of petals, the small delicate lilac flowers with drippy purply cold, fleshy wisteria, and the icy tuberose... drydown is more towards lilac wax in only the best way possible. The mint is also present as a freshness behind the whole thing. It has a Yule-feel without being overly Yuley, if that makes sense. Drydown is not to strong on chocolate, mostly sweet hint of mint and mixed florals / cold flowers.

Siste viator. I have very short hair, and was very excited about this because as a guy I can't usually (as much as I'd like to) pull off the more floral, exotic, strongly scented glosses. I don't need much. For some reason this iteration of hair gloss spray has a much more clear and easy to spray, non-clogging top. Hope this holds up! In a nutshell, this is dark, broody, but a bit drier and more high pitched than I expected. I expected some dark, thrummy musk, but this is predominantly a smoky tobacco (more the flower, although it's dry, crisp, bronze, if that makes sense). The clove, while present, is not as strong as in such things as Velvet Bandito or the Black Clove candle. The type of dirt is not the exuberant moist filthiness of Graveyard Dirt, but more the same tone found in Down the Rabbit Hole. The overall effect is a truly 'environmental' and evocative scent, while not traditionally pleasant, will appeal to those who like dry, potting soil, and an earthy, yet not overpowering, light aura of fragrance in the hair. I kind of smell like a hipster zombie. Two paws up!

A haven of warmth glowing within tumultuous darkness: rose-infused amber, copal, and blood lily surrounded by labdanum, opoponax, and myrrh, and splashed by ozone and rain. I took a big risk on this, because it has a few death notes, such as 'rose infused amber,' yet has a few intriguing aspects like the combination of the promise of aquatics with warm resins. This is a very weird, yet interesting oil! This is a rich, deep orange/reddish oil and quite thick. From the bottle I'm getting tons of the resins - amber, copal, labdanum. Definitely getting tons of that costus note, it smells almost like some of dilute single labdanum I have at home for massage purposes. There's a dirty note of myrrh here that lends the true 'darkness' (wow!). Through this very murky blend of resins, the lily and rose are peeking through. Both of these flowers are the kind that would cut you, watch as you bled out, and then step over you, clove cigarette in one hand, martini in the other, and then laugh. Although neither is really dominant, you can tell that they are hanging out in the background, a little bit of burgundy and small flashes of crimson. It's a little confusing because the airy top note of both that may be 'dewy' actually may be the 'splash' of rain and ozone note. This is definitely not an airy, breezy ozone by any means. The drydown is super weird. It's not really 'pleasant' by the standard definition of the word, but for a person who loves bizarre scents, it's mostly a sweet resin with menacing florals. It's more biting than Cathedral, yet I get a hint of the 'church incense' from this. Over time there's a little bit of rain, a hint of storm in the background. I'm not sure I will need more than one bottle as this is really, really strong.

The offspring of Fenrir, known in whispers as the Moon-Hound, the Moon-Snatcher, the Enemy, He Who Hates: ironwood needles and blood-matted fur. This is actually really pretty. The description doesn't give much to run on. It's not as lemony as I recall the only other ironwood containing thing I own (Tiki King) being, so maybe my idea of ironwood was inaccurate. It's a slightly creamy powdery light pine, with a softly sweet, cuddly Coyote-style musk running behind it. In fact, on me this is like Coyote, but without sweetgrass and smoke and amber. I think if I saw Managarm I would give him a giant fuzzy hug! Surprisingly cute, but a very wearable, subtle pine and one of my favorite types of musky fur notes. I don't get much blood, at least not as much as The Rending of the Rock (also a bloody one this series). D'AWWWW MANAGARRRRRRM.

Orbiting alone: cold black labdanum, olibanum, and eucalyptus bulb drifting on a starry white aldehyde. The oil smells cool, like a little wisp of the eucalyptus. On the skin, it's a very rich, resinous oil. Quite thick. Reminds me very much of Oblivion, the chewy, costus/labdanum is strong, and one of my favorite essential oils. There's just a tiny little whisper of cold. I don't detect too much brightness from olibanum. It's nice, and quite resinous - a little bit like a colder Jacob's Ladder from the Yules, but not nearly as complex. It's a chewy resin that does veer towards cold, but not minty by any means. Once it's drier, the dry aldehydic notes do arise, kind of like an aura of shine.

Iron and fire: red-hot ginger, fossilized amber, prickly poppy, red cedar, cubeb, star anise, and scorpion pepper. This scent is very hot. Crimson red oil. I can feel my nostrils singe a little smelling it. On my skin, it's immediately spicy and I get a whiff of pepper rind, like in the Mayan/Annatto/Pepper chocolate scent. That fleshy warm pepper foodiness. This goes away pretty fast. Anise and cedar are there to add a very potent dry twangy chord to the overall scent. This amber is not sweet, but there is that powderiness on me. Ambers tend to go sweet on me, and this is starting to go that way. I get no poppy, but I'm notoriously bad at finding that note in perfumes. It's very jarring, doesn't quite mesh into one thing on my skin. I can't tell if this is trying to be purposely cacophonous, but it's doing a good job of being very fragmented and chaotic. I smell more fire than iron. Over time this is trying to settle into a spicy wood. It is not melding well with me, but if you like warm, woodsy resins and are okay with ginger, I would give this a whirl.

Snow-speckled white chocolate and fir needle. Well, I don't have much to say... This is going to one of those pop-up christmas tree stands set up in an abandoned Sonic parking lot, where the tree-monger is bundled up in two layers of coat and has an old, weatherbeaten touk that has seen better days. He's trying to be cheerful, but hours of standing on hard concrete with demanding hipsters who are bemoaning the lack of symmetry in the trees or the haggling down the price of his long-harvested, patiently grown crop wear at his soul. You overhear an innocent family conversation between two trenchcoat, tweed-scarved gentlemen and their fully REI-clad daughter, Ava. "Richard, honey, don't you think Ava would love this little threadbare tree, it's so Charlie Brown." Todd pats the top of the diminutive, skanky little tree. It shudders and loses a few needles. Richard's eyebrow raises. "Todd, you know I want something a bit more grand, more traditional." Richard gazes lovingly up at a magnificent but utterly impractical seven foot Douglas. Todd rolls his eyes, it's always about size with Richard. Looking just a bit miffed, he turns to his daughter and asks her, "Hmph. Ava, what would you like?" The little girl wearing the poofy purple Polartec that she'll outgrow in two months blinks up at all the trees towering overhead. A little snow, but just a hint, is flurrying into the square. The man with the touk coughs impatiently. It's possible he only has one functioning lung at this point. Remembering the artisanal hot chocolate she had at Vosges as part of her fifth christmas celebration with her fathers, her eyes light up and she knows exactly what she wants. "I want the little tree!" Richard's lips pull sideways in a tight line. Todd knows exactly how to get his way. Just like his mother. He's reaching for his wallet when Ava tilts her head to one side and adds jubilantly, "I want the little tree dipped in white chocolate!" Both men look a bit stunned. The treemonger coughs again. Todd says, "Wait, what? Honey, you know that's not-" The treemonger puts up a single gloved finger to silence the dads, lets out a great big sigh and trundles towards the shed, where he keeps his economy vat of 50 pounds of white chocolate simmering exactly for this purpose. ... TL:DR This is a super unique scent. Very weird. Wet, it's all fir, very realistic needles, the very slight powdery resin rubbing off on your fingers if you inadvertently touch a glob of sap, leading to stickiness and much cursing. As it dries, the chocolate starts to rise to the surface, but the scent retains its needly-fir essence. In the end it's still predominantly a 'nature' scent, it doesn't veer to me into foody territory, but neither does it avoid it completely. There's a richness, cocoa-butteryness, almost shea-butter depth beneath the fir so it's not a pure essential oil type scent. It's definitely not unpleasant, but it's... super weird. Like exactly the type of strange hipster thing that may happen with a bit of off-the-wall imagination. It totes smells like a bough of a christmas tree coated in white chocolate drizzle. Tickling at the edges is a hint of maybe a eucalyptus like snow-note, but as above... just a slight sprinkling. That may also be the top-notes of fir... but I can get a bit of a cooling note mixed in here and there.

The Lord of All Waters, Master of Wealth, Keeper of the Secrets in the Depths of the Ocean, Lord of the Lightless Deep, God of the Unknown. This secretive and enigmatic Orisha is symbolized by the Seven Seas, and the vast riches and unplumbed mysteries of the ocean are His. Though His reach extends over three-quarters of earth’s surface, He concedes the right to rule to Obatala out of respect for the age, wisdom and discretion of the venerable King of the White Cloth. Olokun is the depth of the ocean at which the sun’s light fails to penetrate. He is perpetual darkness, incomprehensible pressure, and his abode is the birthplace of mythical monsters. The ocean floor is also a Land of the Dead: in its darkness, all will fall to rest, and in this darkness is the Home of the Spirits, souls that, in the cold and dark, rest awaiting reincarnation. Olokun represents all things that remain unknown to man, and all questions may be answered in the halls of His Kingdom. In this, he holds sway over the power of divination. Though decaying matter settles in His home, the Kingdom itself does not decay or erode. He is represented by the mudfish and his favor is shown through red coral and shark spines. His ofrenda is the scent of the lightless deep: the glorious, unknowable gloom of the ocean floor. This is a remarkably fresh, bright marine. It reminds me of Jolly Roger without the leather and wood notes, a fresher, saltier scent... which may be a good alternative when JR is too pirate! for me. Over time this goes really, really grassy on me. Like fresh cut grass. Edited to add description - clover

It's strawberries! But not too artificial - this is the smell of gooshed strawberry pulp when you're hulling just a few too many to put into a pie. Fingers stained a bit red, and this kind of moist fruitiness, aura of seedy berry. Over time it gets a tiiiiiny bit candy like, but it's still excellent. No green/leaves/sap here.