Lycanthrope

Fleshy pumpkin again, orange meat and slightly spicy. A hint of the hay note, a little tiny bit of vetiver or smoke lingering in the background. Comparisons would be made to Scarecrow, which has a stronger cologne/topnote bite and definitely more hay. This is a pumpkin kissed a little bit by grasses and smoke. There's a huskiness to the blend, and while it is not SWEET, this is not a very dark blend. It is holiday appropriate. Not as atmospheric as I would have liked...

That being said, this would be more a 'trick or treating' smell of lit jackolanterns in suburbia' type of scent!

I love violets, but pumpkin goes horribly bad on my skin in most blends. Was most intrigued by this particular scent!

Sprayed in the air and on a small corner of a blanket, this is definitely dominated initially by a squashy, yet warm pumpkin. It's not a cold one, I see the guts and stringy seeds. While violet is listed as a note, I'm not getting that the flower is a dominant player (wolf sad-face). There may be some slight coolness, but I still get a spicy, slightly fruity (blueberry? playing tricks on me with the violet?) pumpkin with a touch of creamy spice. I get a hint of the dry mosses (this is a little oakmoss tinge), but no particular strong mushroom scent.

A slightly cool pumpkin scent. Not quite what I was expecting. I got too many of them, although I can anticipate using these as WONDERFUL Halloween party scenting.

Wish there had been more of a pure violet but pumpkin trounced that idea flat!

Puddin' put a note 'Violet Weenies!' in my order. See, if that actually happens, please go to your nearest ER to treat gangrenous priapism :|.

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!

To me this reads really smooth foodie, like an iris cookie covered with vanilla buttercream. It is very exquisite. I have two of these atmos, probably won't need more but one extra may make its way in to my cart...

I see that this is sold out on the page as of my review. I am on the fence about this one.

 

It definitely is a 'more acceptable' patchouli, in that I can tell there is patchouli in this but it's not a very potent, or pungent form. That's mostly what I smell with this wet on my skin. Throw is moderate, less than I expected. It goes sweet and towards an inobtrusive vanilla over several minutes. There's a touch of spiciness but it's not like a huge amount of pepper as in like a black pepper EO. It's truly a bit more dry, subtle. I don't get nearly as much champaca as Khajuraho (which is like, my favorite thing ever), but near very distant drydown this reads more like a deeper, vanilla-champaca. Still quite light.

 

I would say this is... comparable to Laughter of Loki, although LoL is a bit more leafy and to me more smooth. There's a little disconnect in the dark elements and light elements to me here, in that the scent is bouncing between the two for me. Mostly I get the vanilla-champaca a bit further away from my wrist, more even patchouli when closer. Strange. Although I may want to pick up a spare bottle, this would be a great cold weather or autumn scent.

Right, so this is not 'the weirdest' BPAL that I have ever tried (I think that belongs to Licwiglunga (sp?)), but is certainly super strange.

 

So super fruity. But mostly yuzu rind. I do get a high pitched touch of thyme, and it has a rosemary-like top note, that veers towards... sharp, high pitched woods. Then the mandarin comes out and it's like CITRUUUUS (rind), even with the touch of bitterness when you bite into the wrong part of a grapefruit. Since I amp citrus, this runs away into the lime-orange-yuzu field.

 

I vaguely remember ordering this but am not sure why, since I know what citrus oils do on me. I think I was hoping I would get more 'red' or 'purple' but the overarching color I get from this is 'light yellow' or 'orange yellow.'

 

/doge So sunny, so fruity, much citrus.

I was very excited about Little Metalmark, and overall it's not a wow on me. I was particularly interested in Nagarmotha (Cypriol), which is described as vetiver-like, woodsy.

 

In the bottle and wet this smells sweet, so I can detect the 'sweet musk.' It reminds me a little bit of smoke, sweetgrass incense smoke. On my skin, the musk pops for maybe about five minutes before being gobbled up completely by a vetiver-like, very smoky woodsiness. The wood is dry feeling, crackly, like a smoother cedar, but without the sharp shavings-like aroma (no pencils!) The smoke continues to amp, so this gets more gritty over time. It does kind of dry down to a slightly sweet, rounded, complicated dry wood, not terribly powdery, and not as deep or thrummy as sandalwood... but similar.

 

I don't think I will need more than this bottle, since throw and longevity is quite good. I would say if you like Cathedral, anything of Beth's that is woodsy or atmospheric, or a more natural scent, you should try Little Metalmark.

 

I am, however, curious now about getting some pure Nagarmotha EO.

A soft, musty and a little sharp (bone?) leather-patchouli. This is a neutral leather in terms of warmth, so more like 'Dee' leather rather than Quincy Morris / Brom Bones (cool, slick) and not fiery or red like The Red Rider. It kind of smells like paper, but is more of a dust and deep, thrummy woods kind of scent. I like it a lot but it's more atmospheric on me than pleasant, to my nose. Fitting!

So, definitely not what I was expecting, this starts off very sappy and green, the galbanum coming the the forefront. There is not a very strong push towards 'aquatic/ozonic/O3' and definitely no mint or slush notes (I think the snow refers more to television static more than any kind of atmospheric suggestion, my bad). The scent also has a strong resinous feel to it, and it becomes a very spiky, spicy resinous and deep scent on my skin. It has a strong kiss of woodsiness. I kind of think of a classic 50s TV made of walnut or some type of polished wood with the fuzzy sound of static in the background. Starts off really strong but then becomes a mild inobtrusive background scent. Just like channel static!

 

This is a very straightforward but potent cherry blossom scent. It is heavier on the woodsy, 'fleshier' blossom aspects of cherry blossom. It starts off quite wet-smelling and then develops the dry floral sweetness after a few moments. In terms of aldehydes and electricity, there is a flash of metallic that is somewhat similar to Kataniya. As time passes and this is allowed to dry down, I am getting much less of the cherry blossom and more of a cologney base - not quite natural, making this into a somewhat surreal sakura.

It's similar to Voyeurs amongst the Cherry Blossoms but definitely veers towards artificial in only the best way possible - this is an ominous, quietly mechanical cherry blossom.

Yup, whoa, yikes.

This thing scares me. It's definitely got a strong blood note, as well as that strange combination of dry, salt, white, and crusty that happens when Beth does bone, which is so scary. This does not smell like Gore-Shock, so no meat, no ham, but it has a very strong presence that screams "Battlefield." There's grit, and a touch of rich loam, so I'm getting a bit of that Graveyard Dirt base, and, dry, dry salt, smoke, white white bone, desolation, death. The color I see is white speckled with little silver flecks. I have no idea why.

Yet through this all, it's immensely wearable. The throw is more manageable as an ashy, high pitched vetiver, so I could actually probably get away with smelling like this.

Yiiiiiikes.

/runs

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.

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.

Me and mugwort have an understanding. I put it on my skin and it smells like muddy butt, so take that with a grain of salt.

That said, here goes. Testing in decant mode.

Bottle? Pipette? Muddy butt! Holy carp! Butt and herbs, actually, mostly the thyme giving it a little rubbery-herby leaf smell. Kind of like oregano water, or oregano oil, even though I don't think this has that in it. Not sure what mayweed is.

On my skin, the butt rises and I have a little of that smokey, slightly off scent that mugwort transforms on me into, but this burns off real quick, thank goodness. It's transitioning rapidly into very clean, clear aquatic, sort of along the lines of Windward Passage rather than oceanic. I'm reminded of Vial of Holy Water, which is on me basil water, except this is much less sweet. In all honesty, I can't find the mugwort after it is on me for a while and this is a pure, sparkling water type scent, more reedy and salty.

I think maybe like, Hatmethit?

Sorry about the stanky butt. I can't extract my mugwort skin chemistry from my review! All in all it dries down and behaves better, so give this a spin if you like fresh water or herbal scents.

So, this is a very interesting, drippingly thick scent. It's almost pitch black and thick as a mofo when decanting.

The immediate feel is R'Lyeh, that similar murky citrus salt scent with a hint of seaweed and decay, except that this is a little more sweet, less citrussy, and it is feeling much more complex. The amber is not the same as the ones in like, La Lugubre, but it is definitely a sweet resin. I get the multiple smokey components as a thrill of incense smoke running over the predominantly sweet-ish environmental oceanic, and while I get a touch of bitter from the khus it is not terribly overpowering. The moonflower is probably in there somewhere, making sure this doesn't get too muddy, but I honestly can't find it as a dominant note.

I would get this if you like R'Lyeh, and other deep oceanics, and want to try an artistic variation. I have to retest this one maybe in the dark of night.

This is a very strong, vetiveraceous rocky scent.

The blood note is quite strong in this as a sour, metallic tinge over granite pebbles. There is a little musk but this isn't a sweet, singing one, but more of a thrummy, deeper one giving this a little bit more complexity than just ash and stone. It's extremely evocative and again, very granite-y rocky. Not like Black Opal rock shimmer, sadly, more like... um, gritty, husky pulverized rock.

It's really not my style of scent, but if you go for the quirky and striking, this is definitely worth a try.

Holy fargle!

 

This is so spicy!

 

And it reminds me of... (showing my age)... Three Witches.

 

It's sweet-ish, and a bit more musky, but has a beautiful dry, spicy scent. It's in the family of Wrath without being so sweet, and is a husky, very raw aroma. It's not pretty, but it is spicy, and it is made of cocks!

 

Ok, talking about cocks distracted me from describing the scent further. Rich, red, kind of... red-orange in color, smells peppery (pimento?), and the ginger and cubeb I would say are much more potent than the resin amber. I don't get much floral at all from this. Clove is really pretty. Skin scent, but spicy enough that I could probably NOT get away with this at work.

 

I think I need to buy... TWENTY SEVEN COCKS.

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.

Wet, this smells like... powdered sweet tarts?

That doesn't last long, though, as this goes firmly into winter/Yule style pine, environmental greenery, and a delicious, sweet ice note. This has a similar feel to Skadi/Ice Queen/Almond Blossom from this past year's (and prior) yules, and the spruce is much more subdued than I would expect. This does not smell like a pine tree! The oak lends a slightly different base and veers this away from going Yulestyle. The ambergris is noticed mostly as a slightly salty ocean tang, and though I can't smell the myrrh distinctly, the opoponax does its weird grungy twang thing, which in this case makes the Ship of Hel creaky and splintery.

This pretty much smells like the frozen, collapsing ships at the end of Disney's Frozen. Ooooo.

I think I must obtain a bottle. This right up this wolf's alley.

These long, white winters, are very lemony, fresh, and cleansing!

Wet, on the skin, it's a very potent lemon top note. Not so much lemongrass, more lemon balm, over a hint of a eucalyptoid mint. Maybe a form of eucalyptus that is minty? Throw is very light, but so very fresh. It's not super snowy, so I don't get much of Beth's sweet, soft powder. This reminds me of a very gentle, environmental scent. Maybe there's just a hint of dirt in the background, to get the earthiness and lack of other touches. No sweetness here.

I would say this is kind of like... slushy dirty snowballs, made of lemon ice.

Intriguing. Not what I expected, and not usually my type of ozonic snow, so I can pass on bottling up, I think.

Ah, pressure's on!

Wet, this is the dark musks with a hint of red rose. There's mostly the sweet resins and amber, all a deep, thrummy, spicy melange that provides a nice base for the subtle rose in this scent. I am mostly getting a rich, chewy, deep and delicious amber/myrrh base. The rose is just a gentle hint, but it provides a touch of lighter floral in this resinous choir. Worth a try!

ETA: This reminds me of the rose in Elizabeth of Bohemia, but more resins. Also, strangely, the rose amps MORE over time, so different from my first impression.

What an interesting scent. High resins and deep sparkly pepper are in the forefront. Drying, it goes both ways - the sweetness of the tuberose but the sharp downturn and lushness of lily petal. Black pepper continues to provide a bit of a dry, scruffy base at the bottom of the whole fragrance. Melds together into something that reads to me as 'gold-orange.' The petals remain fairly strong so drydown leads me towards spicy stargazer lily. Very interesting. Keeping my bottle.

Hooray! I hope this doesn't smell like teh pewp. Or, if it does, it will be my precious BPAL PEWP. Sweet.

From the bottle, this smells like a little gritty, chewy, resinous chocolate.

Wet, the initial cocoa rises to the surface, and reminds me just a touch of a less-lavender Wulric. It has hints of that delicious Boomslang-like cocoa absolute! It is marvelous in this initial wet stage. Over a little more time something slightly remniscent of corn flakes does arise, but only in the best way possible, giving the entire scent a touch more of a mild food-y vibe without veering into cake or cookie territory.

I don't get much floral, but there is a gentle sweetness suffusing the scent, reminding me a touch of the Xmvlzencab soap, which was more sweet ginger honey floral to my nose.

With more drydown, the copal is maybe a hint more noticeable, and I have no idea if what I am smelling is cotton blossom. Definitely no strong florals in this one.

This reads and projects like an awesome, deep, dirty cocoa that I could swear has patchouli in it due to the wonderfully deep, chewy and rich chocolate, that dries down into a smoky, complicated slightly foody drydown. I think the pitch/chapapote is manifest as the slighty dirt-y but mostly sand-like essence that is granting the cocoa some wondrous complexity.

I have my bottle, and I will HOAAAARD.

I'm running low on my bottle! Could anyone tell me if there is a similar scent to The Witch's Repast that's GC? I've been trying to use it as few times as possible, but I would like to find something to replace it that I can still order more bottles of. It's all dark hops, night-like warmth, and grains on me.

 

It's hoppy, but... maybe Beer from the Marsh Woman's Brewery?

Whurps! Then I just paid an LE bottle for a GC bottle. Oh well, still sounds magnificent.