Lycanthrope

This is a predominantly soft, slightly spearmint-y snow blend. A bit like the top note of Snow Bunny. There's a touch of slightly dry greenery - and maybe moss? It's definitely on the more environmental of snow notes. While pleasant, it has pretty low staying power - although this may just be my nose getting used to it really quick, and it being remarkably smoothly composed so that I'm not getting struck by any powerful recurrent scent theme.

I like this a lot. It's not super 'minty' but has that sweet, slushy snow note with a kiss of powder, and then the outdoors.

Violets are always my jam. So this definitely found its way into my cart.

Wet, it smells definitely a little high pitched from the lilac and plum, reminds me a bit of purple wine, for some reason. On the skin, wet, oh, it's a cacophony of smells! I get the sharp citrus snap and bite of lime pretty strong, and then it goes a bit more fruity because of the plum. Over all this is the pale gray-purple of lilac. Blue musk is always hard for me to pin down, but it's binding these high pitched notes down, only a bit. It's still very sharp while newly applied.

As it mellows, what is interesting is the oil/citrus/lime bite remains, even if it's not as uniformly LIME as previously. It adds a chewy bitterness to the blend, always a bit of an edge. Over time there's a thrum of violet. Not candy like, but more like melding with the blue musk to create a smooth shadow flower underneath the fangy lime.

This reminds me of a much less candy-like Purple Phoenix in some ways, but definitely not grapey or winey. It's got that same dusky purple fruits/floral as Morgause but sharply present, and definitely lime forward. Cold, iridescent white-green-gray-purple with shadows of blue-violet.

I think I may have stocked up real fast on this. It's a very bright lilac-violet-lime, once settled.

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!

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)

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 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.

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.

 

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.

Wet, in bottle: A swirly melange of slightly brackish leafy notes. I get a strong, reedy dry grassiness.

Shortly after application: A little bit of mud? Or is that my bias due to the copy? I'm getting more of that sappy green, perhaps the honeysuckle and white sage together. I'm also getting a distinctly fleshy lily note, but unlike others I've experienced before, there's an interesting... cold waxiness to it?

On for a bit: Oh, there's a kiss of honey. I guess that sort of chewy sweetness is what I was detecting changing my usual experience of lily, which is strong, brash, and not at all demure. I think the leafiness is transitioning more and more to sage, as opposed to pure grass. I'm enjoying it.

As time passes, this stays more of a grassy herbal floral, with a little incensy/southwestern smokiness or haziness (more haze!) from the sage. There is an undercurrent of warm honey lurking in the background, and I can detect the honeysuckle as soaring backdrop to the herbal. I think the lilies are rounding out the purely sweet honeysuckle and giving a bit of round waxiness and 'substance' to the scent. This is certainly, to me at least, not an aquatic. I can see it as a warm afternoon spent in a sun-dappled park where daylilies and honeysuckle grow by the side of a stream, with wild sage adding a haze to the air while little bumblebees doddle around, attacking flowers.

Not sure what I have in my collection that resembles this... it's very unique!

I always love a challenge, and I'm generally terrible at picking apart any kind of 'garden,' melange of green, planty things. So here goes.

Solanine as the oil itself is a faint, quiet and unassuming light green.

On the skin and wet, it's immediately a blade of snapped, crushed grass, and I get a tiny bit of wet, crunchy lettuce-like notes. This must be the sappy mucilage. It remains in this very heady grass headspace for a good 3-5 minutes. It's like someone cut the grass, and you laid down upon it and are getting whiffs of the fallen blades. I also do detect a tiny hint of charcoal/woodsmoke, lingering about in the background. It's akin to the Steamworks Smokestack, but only a tiny hint. As the scent starts to calm down, the initial grass and green tropical rubbery leaves recedes. So far nothing with the fungus or mushroom family, as that's usually a dealbreaker for me, although the rubberiness could be built into the smoke. Now there's a veritable cacophany of 'PETAL' but which PETAL? I don't know? Perhaps, Everything Twists and Agony Lies. I am trying to get the wisteria, roses, but the classic florals are not leaping to the forefront for me. I am getting a very 'Funereal' bouquet vibe, although this isn't like funeral parlor lilies and baby's breath. It's a twisted bridal bouquet cinched with drippy poisonous vines from tropical plants. With a bit more time, I'm getting something like Le Fleurs de Mal, a combo rose/wisteria coolness, but still supported by and primarily a sappy green thing. The color I'm getting, for some weird reason, is a faded yellow cream streaked with blops of green.

Low overall lasting power on me, but I'm also in arid Colorado, so your mileage may vary.

This would be great for any Rapaccini's Garden fans. If you're a plant person, do try this.

Wet, this is pine, and a hint of the slushy delicious wintry notes of Beth's Yules.

The comparison for sure would be to Snow, Glass, Apples, which this does have some relation to, but the pine is definitely present in this scent. It doesn't make it masculine, but it does take the scent from a purely poisonous, translucent apple (SGA) to a more grounded, earthy kind of scent.

On me, the snow/slush note goes more into the 'sweet snow' note, similar to the room spray Christmas Present, so not the spearminty/eucalyptus snow present in things like Nuclear Winter/Country of Eternal Light. This is a cold scent but illuminated by an unearthly warmth, even if the lady's skin is pale white you know beneath it there's blood, pulsing, purring. The apple note is also not a green/winesap type of scent, but rather the fleshy, slightly mealy (in a good way) red delicious, one that gives way under the teeth a bit too well and lets your incisors rend through its flesh. I don't get a huge amount of lemon peel, or the rose part of rosewood. I think the osmanthus and rosewood are lending a bit of complexity to the scent but not overpowering in any way.

This reads most forward as a top note pine/forest that segues into a snow-kissed apple resting on an ornate perfume box carved of rich, brown wood, sparkling with devilish, cold intent.

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.

I was very excited about this, being kind of an ur-mythology, mixing all these different divine tropes together and into a jumble of tumultuous divinity, swirling and such.

Here goes!

This smells interesting in the bottle, like a tiny touch of green, sappiness, a little snow note. I get a hint of the clay-snow slush from Kumari Kandam, but then it veers off a bit.

Wet, this is still pretty sweet, still green-ish, and musky. There's a bit of an ozone snap but it's not terribly strong. Reminds me a touch of Lightning. And then there's a subtle bump of aquatics, salt? Then honey - followed by a touch of a papery, dry note. All still over the rocky base. The amber starts to hum here, midway through, and what was once initially very elemental, swirling with leaf, thunder, water, elevates into a resinous honey with incense, and then reminds me of Anubis - golden, glowing, yellow thrum of incense. I'm primed to look for 'blood' as a note, which is usually grungy and kind of funky, but I don't get that at all. Near the end of the major drydown, I think I can get a touch of rose petals, but it's not terribly overpowering or strong.

This started off whirling, rotating, turning, and ends up drying down into a supremely smooth amber incense, with moderate chewy sweetness from honey, and a little spice and earth.

Smokey in the bottle. Rocks. Gray gravel.

On, wet, a weirdly sweet, dark, biting caramelly resin. The topnotes of the resin recede a bit and I'm getting a bit of the burnt/dried leaves note, but not much, and it's tempered by a dry woodsiness. There's a depth beneath this all with the patchouli and myrrh lending a soft, but solid base. I was hoping for a bit more front-forward violet, but I'm not getting that as much with the initial drydown. Over time, the resins/woods unify and turn more towards a very excellent, subdued but dark patchouli, with a touch of rockiness - not Black Opal rockiness, but... still a huskiness. There are whispers of violet petals but don't be afraid if you're not a floral person. This is just enough to lend a glint to the feathers.

I will not F this blend! It's quite good!

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.

I'm not getting much vanilla at all. Mostly a kind of sappy/stemmy green, with a light airy yellow-gold floral topnote. I think I get maybe a little hint of like a bourbon sweet vanilla, but still very planty, not very rich. It's nice... not sure I'm going to hoard it, although I did grab two. It's nice. Have to play around with this one and blending.

Nom nom, smells like a dark blue-purple jam, grapey-blackberry. Applied wet, a big burst of the blackberry fruit which dries out and I get a chunky burst of patchouli! It's a drier one, and it doesn't stick around long since the fruitier notes re-emerge and keep the scent light. It's vacillating between the patchouli and the dark fruits. I'm definitely getting a sharp wine-y like scent but it's only the top schmears from a medium toned wine. Over time it becomes a bit more husky. I feel like this scent is on the tipping point between gritty and dirty, but keeps getting pulled into a jammy seedy fruit pulp aroma, smooth fruit.

 

It's ok, but I'm not sure this is working with my skin chemistry.

 

I think this may be a similar drier, not as dark patchouli like in Wild Woman with Unicorn, which I do like, but since it was balanced with green-ish wildflowers, in this situation it's a bit too much sweet and dark for me.

More of my wisteria kick! I love the note. My favorite is in Night Scene, although that gets a touch lemon-citrussy, and Cordelia is another one of my favorites, although it's a bit cedar-y and dries sharply musk on me.

 

Bottle impressions, more wet tuberose with maybe a hint of the wisteria aura (that kind of shimmery-sticky gauzey smell). A touch of green in the background. On me wet, very tuberose forward. Wisteria is a side player, giving this a bit of a different vibe than some of the more tropical tuberose blends, or things like Muse, which are citrus/lime and elevated by the tropical tuberose. I'm not getting much moss at all while still wet and drying. As it dries, the waxiness of the tuberose still remains, but deep chuffs bring up droopy wisteria petals. I'm really not getting much oakmoss, unless it's quietly binding everything under the surface.

 

With further time, there's tickles of the oakmossy note like in Fae, a slightly dry greenish powder behind a primarily tuberose base.

 

This is certainly pretty - can't quite tell how people will react when I say it's Consoling Pussy...

I was most excited about this scent as I love wisteria, and lilac is also one of my favorite notes. I am a bit wary of benzoin, since it tends to turn into a sappy sour vanilla on my skin in general. But here goes!

Bottle: Whiff of wisteria, more than lilac, but certainly that type of airy glow that hovers around both spring flowers.

Wet: Whoa! That's definitely a strong wisteria, and you can detect the more sharp lilac underneath. I definitely am getting a stronger pepper vibe, too. It's not a sharp high pitched warmth but it's like crushed peppercorns between the fingers. Over time, the pepper stays pretty consistent. The sharper petals stay very light, airy, purple, light purple. It's spicy, warm. Yet also blushing light violet? It's a very interesting scent at this stage.

Over time, as it dries, it's staying a kind of overall neutrally warm scent, with the pepper staying stable, I think that I get a whiff of crushed incense, that's probably the champaca. The floral component of the champaca seems to be melding with the other two florals. It's veering towards wisteria as the dominant floral, as I'm getting a bit more sweetness and powdery purple. I'm not getting a straightforward 'clove,' and the benzoin is slightly souring the blend (not in a bad way, just adding a hint of chewy resin)...

As it dries, my overall impression is: fascinating spicy, neutral to warm purple floral, with gray incense smoke trailing upwards. Deep huffs bring forwards wisteria blossoms and occasional airier kisses of lilac.

Hmmm. Intriguing!

This is a very pleasant, light incensey scent that reads primarily as a soft violet. It's not as lush as in Sybaris, per se, and definitely not as 'chewy' as Fleurette's Purple Snails, which was a robust, unfurling PURPLE violet.

On the skin it's sweet, gentle violets, mixed with maybe a wisp of light sandalwood. The star jasmine I guess reads as a hint of misty floral, but this is not a jasmine-forward blend at all. It's mostly a slightly dewy absolutely beautiful violet, and I must get tons of it. Light overall throw, but it's delicious.

This is a really floofly magic cookie bar on my skin, veering towards white chocolate fudge and marshmallows. Definitely foody, but a yummy foody. I like it. May need a few more bottles... medium throw.

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.