Teaotter

Leading a host of spectral hounds, he scours the earth in search of errant souls: black pine and vetiver, leather and clove. First? Really? Wet: spicy woody incense. Dry: this stays pretty much the same on me the whole time I'm wearing it. It's so seamlessly well-blended that I can't pick out individual notes. The clove is definitely there, but it isn't screaming its name the way it usually does on me. I wish I could describe this better, because it's GORGEOUS! A little smoky, a little spicy, just a bit of leather and pine. I get the impression of cool incense smoke dispersed from a swinging censer under high trees. Soothing and centering.

Sweet honeyed patchouli, very reminiscent of Feed Me and Fill Me with Pleasure. I don't really get any cinnamon, but there's a dustiness to this once it settles onto my skin. But where FMaFMwP has hella throw on me, this one is a soft skin scent with almost no throw. Lasts for hours at that level.

If I stick my nose right against my hand, I get dusty wood and warm velvet with a hint of some old-school sultry perfume. The throw, on the other hand, is a shifted version of those notes -- sultry opium perfume with a woody base and a hint of body-warmed velvet. A beautifully elegant, old-fashioned feminine scent with an unexpected twist. I love Beth's 'perfume-plus' scents, and this is no exception. So lovely!

Formed into the crux ansata, symbolizing his absolute power over life and death: golden myrrh, calamus, iris root, and cardamom. Wet: the myrrh goes to baby powder on me immediately, darn it. That's unusual for my body chemistry, and doesn't bode well. Dry: yep, baby powder. I get a bit of spice and floral if I stick my nose right against it, but the throw is all baby powder. Decent throw, but it only lasts a couple of hours. This would probably be beautiful on someone else's skin, but it's not for me.

The Sorcerer, the Cunning-Man, the Sage. He is the Kerux, Initiator and Psychopomp, the Divine Messenger who leads neophytes on their paths through the Mysteries and shepherds the souls to the underworld. Honey absolute, Oman frankincense, and asphodel. Lots of honey, with a floral note I'd probably guess was dandelion if I didn't know better -- my nose really isn't familiar with asphodel. The frankincense is just a gentle woodiness under the other notes. This stayed true on me through the whole wearing. Fairly mild throw, good longevity. Straight-forward and very pretty.

Wet, this is all soft sesame-almond nuttiness. It reminds me of the almond note in Romans 13:8, actually. As it dries down, the oud comes out more, giving it an incense quality, but still with that soft nuttiness. .. and then it's gone from my skin, POOF! I liked it while it lasted.

Fizzy motor oil? When wet, I get a blast of fizziness, like the Lab's champagne note but without the usual sweetness. After a bit, an almost buttery notes comes out that I can't place for a while. Drydown, fizzy beeswax and something mildly chemical. The throw makes me think 'fizzy motor oil' and I can't get it out of my head. Decent throw and great longevity.

On wet, this is definitely patchouli-heavy, with a chewiness that reminds me a lot of #Occupywallstreet. After a few minutes, it settles down a bit and that tobacco/cocoa note fades out. Then it starts to smell like cedar. (My skin chemistry, clearly.) Once it's dry, this is a spicy woodsy scent, with a strong hay note. The vetiver is definitely more grassy than smoky on me. Overall, it's definitely on the masculine end of scents, with a pretty low throw but decent wear length.

I've been using this oil as a meditation focus this week, and it works. Hoo boy, does it work! But this is no soft, wishy-washy peace. This is LOUD, almost militant in its determination. It's kinda like being hit in the forehead with a 2x4 made of the most amazing sunny garden afternoon. It's a symphony tuning up until it reaches a single triumphant chord that carries you with it. It makes all the brain-weasels fall into line and calm right the fuck down. There WILL be peace.

After reading the scent description, I'm not at all sure that my review is going to be any help to anyone. The main note I smell in this is frankincense. Wet, it's straight up woody frankincense with a balsam edge to it. Maaaybe a bit of oudh around the edges. Dry, it's powdery frankincense and greenery. Lovely incense, very mild throw, decent longevity. I have no idea how I'm getting frankincense out of this, or why I don't smell the cinnamon.

A scent of misdirection, of 140 frantic characters typed out in spite at 3am, and paranoia-clouded churlish accusations hurled at perceived enemies: crushed pink pepper pod, bitter white tobacco, gnarled patchouli, all covered in glinting, garish slashes of gold. In the bottle, this reminds me of #occupywallstreet. I'd swear there was cocoa in there with the gnarly patchouli. Wet: Whoa, that's some rooty patchouli! The strength of it knocks me over for a minute. Dry: This settles into something much smoother and utterly gorgeous. It sweetens within a couple of minutes of hitting my skin -- when I put my nose right up to it, I smell something creamy like melted vanilla ice cream, but I don't get it in the throw. Just smooth, sweet patchouli with some warmth from the tobacco and a hint of something more traditionally perfume-y. This is amazingly wearable and very pretty.

I've been wearing this for the last two days and I still can't figure out how to review it. Wet: Gauzy rose and spicy carnations; not a hint of the other notes Dry: So freaking difficult to pin down! White rose and carnation still. I don't exactly smell either the moss or the oud, but there is something grounding this scent, and I just can't put my finger on it. There's a hint of something almost like white musk maybe. Relatively low throw but good longevity. Very feminine on me, womanly as opposed to girly. Velvety, sensuous, romantic. Reading the other reviews, this is clearly one that plays very differently on different chemistries!

I don't get any clove or leather from this at all. it's all vaguely sweet and fruity. My nose keeps telling me it's watermelon candy.

This one started out beautifully, all honey and herb-garden -- and then it turned. Sweaty, metallic gym socks. Honeyed gym socks, but still, no. I'm sad, this one should've worked on me!

Infinite kisses: white honey, red currant, sugar cane, and ginger. In the bottle: Red currants and sweet (not spicy) ginger. Uh-oh. I really wanted the honey to dominate this. Wet: Oh, that's different! Something tree-sap like takes the forefront, probably a mix of the sugar cane and ginger. It smells like vines to me, green and leafy and sappy. The honey is just barely there right now, and I don't get any currant at all. Dry: Once it settles in, it blooms gorgeously on my skin. The ginger takes a back seat to the honey and currants. The sugar cane is definitely present, but there's also a mild waxiness from the honey -- not as waxy as the usual beeswax note, but definitely there. This is a subtle scent but it wafts around me gently. It fades pretty quickly, but I find a lot of scents do when they're brand new. If this is like other honey scents I have, it'll have a lot more lasting power once it's aged a month or so. Summary: Not as fruity as I thought it would be when I sniffed it in the bottle. The final scent is a soft, fruity-floral honey with just a tang of green sap to it. If it were a color, it would be the translucent green-champagne-pink of ripening pink currants. It's gorgeous!

Meus Amor Aeternus When our tarantula, Pinky, died, Lilith buried her. She cradled Pinky’s little body and placed her in a special box. She dug the grave with her own hands. She composed a memorial for Pinky, and spoke at her funeral. She laid a heart-shaped stone that she had found at the beach on her grave, and many months later, she still does what she can to tend Pinky’s grave. She has a reverence and respect for both life and death that is as beautiful to me as it is uncanny. Just recently, Lilith asked Ted and I to compose eulogies for our Soccer Mom Car, which was recently totaled, so we could share our memories of the car and let the car know how much she meant to us, thanking our poor, unfortunate SUV for keeping us safe for so many years. I love and treasure many things about my daughter, but to me, her big heart is her most beautiful aspect. She seems to love everyone and everything, she forgives all, and she truly values other people’s feelings. Lilith, you are a good person. You are a better person than I, I suspect, and it is an honor to be your mother. A cotton candy-suffused blend of Snake Oil and Dorian, touched by earthy green moss and raiz de moras, hope-filled vanilla bean, sweet honey, and joyous carnation. In the bottle: mostly honey, with a faint hint of red musk and something vegetal. It reminds me a bit of Womb Furie, but the honey is softer somehow, and the red musk is definitely far in the background. It is definitely more snuggly than sexy. Wet: This is one of the perfumes that disappears the instant it touches my skin. Nothing, nada, zero, zip. But it's cold today, so I'll give it half an hour to warm up. 30 minutes later: It came back! It's a skin-scent with low throw, but it's delicious. Honey-forward, slightly tangy. The Snake Oil is something I get in the throw more than when I stick my hand to my wrist -- I'd almost think it's something left on my clothes, except my clothes didn't smell like Snake Oil when I put them on this morning! I don't get cotton candy or moss, and I'm pretty sure the raiz de moras is blackberry root and not vetiver -- there is something in here that keeps reminding me of blackberry leaves, but nothing smoky or grassy about it. Drydown: The vanilla comes out a bit in the later drydown, but it's just grounding the scent. Basically, this is a light, non-sticky honey on me, with a hint of red musk and a bit of spice and greenness. The notes don't quite come together for me, but it feels like one of the perfumes that needs a month or so to fully come together.

Triple-cream butter, plasticky vanilla, and freshly-sharpened pencil. The lovely brown musk tries to fight its way through, but alas, it is overpowered. To be fair, bourbon vanilla and cedar both tend to go wonky exactly that way, but you know how it is -- BPAL hopes spring eternal! Good throw and longevity.

I was worried at first, because the first wave of scent was very aquatic and cucumber-y. But it settled down after a few minutes, and then started smelling exactly like my BPAL box. A little green, a little musky, a little leathery, a little foody. Incredibly well-blended, warmer than I was expecting, and just utterly familiar all at the same time. SO MUCH LOVE!

On my skin, this is fresh-cut iris stems and benzoin. I never got even a whiff of metal or bergamot, this was consistent all the way through. It's a very elegant floral, decent throw and longevity.

This is a beautiful spicy vanilla amber scent, right on the edge between gourmand and oriental. My only complaint is the very low throw -- I hope it'll age into something a bit stronger.

Then said Gangleri: “How did the races grow thence, or after what fashion was it brought to pass that more men came into being? Or do ye hold him God, of whom ye but now spake?” And Jafnhárr answered: “By no means do we acknowledge him God; he was evil and all his kindred: we call them Rime-Giants. Now it is said that when he slept, a sweat came upon him, and there grew under his left hand a man and a woman, and one of his feet begat a son with the other; and thus the races are come; these are the Rime-Giants. The old Rime-Giant, him we call Ymir.” The first people: mugwort and thyme, fennel and frankincense, honey and myrrh. Wet: peppermint candy canes. Drydown: still very minty, but it backs off from candy cane territory and starts to smell more like the leaves of the plant Dry: This ends up very lovely and well-blended, after the first overwhelming MINT!!! burns off. I can't pick out particular notes, just a mildly sweet herbal incense. I usually amp honey and frankincense, but they're definitely staying in check here. Impression: cool, wistful incense, with a decent throw and longevity.

This really ought to work on me, but the vanilla immediately does the curdled-cream thing that usually only happens with foodie blends. The honey and oudh combo is delightful, but it can't drown out the curdled cream. *sigh* Skin chemistry, why must you do this?

You might try Loup Garou -- (the wild, untamed essence of lycanthropy. Primeval in its raw power and insatiable hunger: juniper, cypress and galangal with the barest touch of eucalyptus). You can probably find a bottle of Wolf Moon 2011 for sale on the forum here, too. I think I've seen it around, or I may be confusing it with another year.

In the imp: sweet amber and leather. Wet: Nothing. My skin eats it all up for the first fifteen minutes. Dry: Powdery sweet and the mildest hint of leather. I was hoping for more black leather from this blend, darn it! It's a pretty scent, but it sticks very close to the skin and just doesn't stand out from other powdery amber scents for me. Oh, well.

Wet, this gives off a wave of fresh pie cherries -- not cherry pie filling, but fresh sour cherries, pitted and juicy and waiting to be turned into pie. The cherries calm down after a minute, enough that I can tell there's an herbal honey in the background. Lavender, maybe a little thyme, and some other dark fruit -- maybe dates - and a hint of rosewater. Once it's dry, it settles into something not at all foody, just a lovely honey-herbal incense with occasional wafts of dates and cherries. I get a hit of cedar here and there, but nothing that threatens to overtake the rest of the incense. Looking at the notes, my nose clearly confused almonds and cherries with this. I usually amp rose and cedar, so I'm thrilled they stayed well-behaved here. This is a lovely soft incense with a Middle Eastern bent.