heygraycatbird

I'm getting a clean white tea base with the perfumey kick of ambergris. After a few minutes an unfamiliar zesty greenness comes through, which must be the eucalyptus. The white tea reminds me of The Torture Queen, but the ambergris is much stronger here than in TTQ, making this a bolder and perhaps slightly more masculine blend. I'm really enjoying this one.

While wet the snow note is pretty dominant, but it seems softer without an added pine note. The fruits and florals are not distinctive, but altogether they do add a slightly citrusy/perfumey backdrop. Like all the snow blends, this starts off with a good amount of throw for me. Once it dries it takes on a soft, almost candy-like scent that stays close the skin. If you like the Lab's snow note but not the evergreen/pine that often accompanies it, then this is a good blend to try.

I've been collecting perfume for a little over a year now. I wear a scent almost every day, usually a few swipes from a wand cap or from the inside of a regular cap. One of my oldest and most favorite bottles is Alkemia's Midnight Garden, which is about half gone. Most of my other bottles are still near the top of the label or higher. Rose Red '12 is almost half gone as well, but that's mostly because I've been using it as a room fragrance in an oil burner (in part because I'd like to get a bottle of the 2013 version for perfume use if I like the label better than the 2012 version's, is that bad? )

This is for the 2013 version: Lots of favorite notes here, so I had high hopes. Fortunately, I was not disappointed. While wet, this is dark, lush, and lovely. There are too many notes to pick out everything, but in the throw I definitely get the orchid, and closer to the skin there is a slightly fruity tartness that could be the currant. There is an overarching sweetness that is probably a combination of the florals and the benzoin. Once dry, the scent that lingers on the skin is more of the fruity tartness with a dark greenness that could be the moss and chypre. Throw is a bit heady at first but not overwhelming. This strikes me as an evening blend, but that doesn't mean I won't end up wearing it during the daytime as well.

Thought I would check in and say that Octopus is currently my favorite marine blend. It's nice and salty and ocean-y. It's more soapy than perfumey, but I like soapy too so that's ok. Thalassa is more perfumey, but the bitter almond ended up being a bit overwhelming on me. I will look into Pirate Moon as well. I've found that I do like ambergris as a note, even if the SN wasn't what I was expecting.

Sweet, woodsy, and resiny. On me this is more frankincense than bourbon vanilla, though the latter does peek out at times during the drydown. I agree with violetblue that it's sort of like benzoin: vanillic but not obviously vanilla. The throw fades rather quickly, but the scent stays on the skin for hours afterwards. Resins are not a go-to scent type for me, but I am enjoying this and can see myself keeping it for when I'm looking to wear something different than my usuals.

In the vial: Yep, it's chocolate. To me it's a chocolate sauce/syrup sort of chocolate. My first thought is that I could layer this with Alkemia's Patchouli Cacao when I want to bump up the chocolate-ness. Wet: Mmm, good chocolate throw. But wait, when I take a closer sniff, there's something else... something darker, almost musty. It seriously smells like a basement. I originally smelled it on the inside of my elbow and thought maybe the oil was clashing with my body lotion or something, so I applied some to a clean patch of skin on my upper arm, and within a few minutes I get the basement smell again. Very odd. On the surface, in the sillage, it's all chocolate... but the deep nose-to-skin sniffs keep giving me that weird smell. It is strongest a few minutes after application, then fades and starts to blend with the chocolate during the drydown. Could it be the "Other" aspect of the Other Hot Chocolate, or is something weird going on with my skin chemistry? I've never noticed this smell with any other chocolate/cocoa blends before. Did anyone else experience this?

Big thanks to TTP for including the Dark Delicacies scents in her recent decant circle! Wet: I get wafts of vanilla and a spicy sweet tobacco (though it doesn't smell like caramel to me). When I lean in for a closer sniff I also get a very light citrusy floral that reminds me of Cottonmouth. Drydown: Spicy, slightly citrusy tobacco. The spiciness makes me think of a room fragrance. Dry: Wrists smell like vanilla; inside of elbows smell like spices. Overall, the combination of vanilla and citrusy florals reminds me of Cottonmouth, which I like. The tobacco adds some extra interest to distinguish this blend from Cottonmouth, but unfortunately I think the spiciness may prevent this from being a "must have" for me. It smells too much like a room fragrance spice to me, which is not what I prefer in a perfume. I will have to try this again and see if it turns out spicy again.

Finally getting to try my decants! Wet: I get mostly the white florals, with a lily-like flower in the forefront. It's a strong scent, yet it's not quite as sharp as lily sometimes is. I read online that asphodel was originally classified as a part of the lily family, so the similiar scent makes sense. Throw is pretty noticeable, but not headachey. Dry down: A clean aquatic comes through. It's not salty or very perfumey/cologney; I agree with RiverPoet that it's more of a "fresh-water aquatic." Throw is starting to lessen. Dry: Similar as before, but close to the skin now. Hours later: A powdery floral scent remains on the skin. I am a fan of white florals, so I like this. However, while it is pretty, I'm not sure if this is a standout for me. It's a slightly different white floral, but perhaps not quite different enough. I will have to see if I reach for the imp in the future.

Aww, that's too bad about Titania. She's one of my overall favorites and lasts a good while for me. Another one that I like is Aizen-Myoo (Excolo): Yuzu, kaki, and mikan with cherry blossom and black tea. I find it to be quite fresh with the tea and interesting citruses. Then there's 'Tis The Voice of the Lobster (Mad Tea Party): A woody, musky-weird base glooping over with blackberry preserves, a twist of mandarin, strawberry juice, pulverized watermelon, and a handful of smushed gardenia petals. The woodiness/muskiness makes it less fresh perhaps, but it's definitely fruity and I get some whiffs of gardenia at times.

I was intrigued by this one because it seemed like a rather odd combination of notes. While wet it is nice and salty. No joke, it almost smells like tortilla chips to me. Perhaps it's the combination of the sea salt and the seaweed, plus maybe the hay absolute (I'm not familiar with the note). As it dries it starts to turn into pencil shavings (cedar tends to do that on me). I don't get much lemon, besides maybe just a tiny hint. No trace of Snake Oil as far as I can tell. Obviously this is pretty weird on me, but I keep sniffing it out of fascination. I actually like the seaweed tortilla phase. I'm less of a fan of the cedar pencil shavings though. I'm going to have to try it again later and see if I get something different. It would be nice if the Snake Oil would make an appearance. It's definitely a fun blend to try!

I really love a good floral perfume, so I needed to try Sweet Alyssum since it's 100% floral. Also I was curious about the flower itself because I don't think I've ever knowingly smelled it. I've tried this twice with the same results: While wet, it is slightly nectary, at first almost citrusy even, but it is not very sweet and doesn't smell like honey to me. I do like the scent because it reminds me of white florals but is a bit different than others. It's not as creamy as tuberose or gardenia, yet not as sharp as lily. Throw is quite strong at first and a bit heady. I can usually be quite liberal with my application of floral blends without a headache coming on, but this one brings me close to edge during the first 10 - 20 minutes of wearing. After about 30-40 minutes the sillage is pretty much gone and I have to put my nose to my skin to get a whiff. The scent is gone completely after an hour. It is a nice fresh floral scent, even if it wasn't as sweet as I was expecting. The combination of almost-headachey and short wear-length is unfortunate though, for it means I can't slather to make it last longer.

I tried Velvet as part of my continuing quest to test BPAL's cocoa blends. I received it as a frimp, so I'm not sure of the age. This is the first one I've tried that really reminds me of chocolate. It must be the fact that it's "cocoa vanilla" because the chocolate scent is similar to that of Alkemia's Patchouli Cacao (which has cacao + bourbon vanilla and is my current go-to chocolate scent). On my skin though the sandalwood takes over in a weird way. Chocolate pencils. It's like the chocolate sister of Tombstone (which was all vanilla pencils on me). Throw was not huge, though it lasted a good few hours. Just too much pencil unfortunately.

Similar to what others have reported, Araña starts out with the sharp cologney/perfumey woodiness of Antikythera Mechanism. On me, the wood in AM dominated throughout and the vanilla never really came through, but it comes through in Araña. It's a sweet vanilla-type scent... the first adjective that popped into my head to describe the vanilla was 'thin," which may sound like a bad thing, but it's really not. What I mean is that it's not a warm golden vanilla. To me it's a light, almost "cooler" vanilla, perhaps due to the benzoin. Throw is reasonably strong at first, then fades after about an hour. I can still smell it on my skin for several hours after though. Araña is definitely worth a try if you wanted to love AM but thought something was a little off. I will be using my decant to see if I end up needing a bottle.

I got a frimp of Wolf's Heart (from the GC Conjure Bag) in a recent lab purchase. The oil is bright red/orange, so I was expecting something bold, but it actually smells quite comforting to me, not outwardly aggressive. An inner strength I suppose. It might have dragon's blood in it because it reminds me a bit of Dragon's Eye, but the white flower is less harsh and dominating than the sharp lily in DE. I'm not familiar with most of the scents you have as bottles, but I feel like if I were in your position I would pick a scent that is unusual; one that you really like but others maybe (probably) wouldn't. I'd bask in it and let everyone else back off if it bothers them!

Thanks kashmira and fufu_berry for the suggestions! Thalassa sounds like a good potential match based on the reviews I read: almost everyone talked about the saltiness, and a few described it as "perfumey," which I think is what I want. I'll have to put it on my wishlist and keep an eye out. I'm not too familiar with dragon's blood; I have imps of Dragon's Milk and Dragon's Eye, but I can only smell the sharp florals in the latter. I'd be willing to try another dragon's blood blend, so I'll add Dragon's Tears to the list. I do have an imp of 51. It's definitely a nice aquatic, but it doesn't have a marine scent to me. Oddly enough, I swear I smell something peppery in it, rather than salty!

Wasn't sure if I needed a new thread; I thought this one was close, but I'm sorry if it seems like I'm butting in here... So, I had hoped that the Ambergris SN would be a bottle of the salty marine note from Lyonesse that I love, but it was mostly a lemony powder on me. Can anyone recommend a really perfumey marine blend that might better match what I was imagining? I'm not looking for the beach with coconuts and suntan lotion, just the salty ocean and air. It doesn't have to smell exactly like the ocean either; I'm really just craving that perfumey saltiness, perhaps with something airy or aquatic to freshen it up. I hope that makes a little bit of sense to someone. The Arkham series seems like it might be a good place to start: Cthulhu, The Deep Ones, R'lyeh, and Y'ha-Nthlei have all been mentioned already. Anything I should definitely pursue, among these or others? Thanks.

I purchased this bottle from Etsy, and like greedygirl I have not tried the released version. When I first starting collecting oils, I was reluctant to order anything with cocoa/cacao because I thought chocolate wouldn't translate well into perfume. Then I tried Patchouli Cacao from Alkemia and loved it, so I decided to give BPAL's chocolate a try. The Black Temple Burlesque Troop did not work for me at all (though that may not have been the cacao's fault). I decided to try Boomslang v2 next because the reviews here and elsewhere on the forum suggested that it was more "milk chocolate" compared to BTBT or the released Boomslang. Both in the bottle and on my skin it definitely has a creamy richness to it, with a little sweetness. It just doesn't smell chocolatey to me. A little nutty maybe, as others have mentioned, but beyond that it just smells like slightly odd Snake Oil. The Snake Oil is nice as always, but I have other Snake Pit blends (plus Snake Oil itself of course), so I'm not feeling like I really need this. I'm still hoping to try Bliss and Velvet before I reach a verdict on BPAL's chocolate note, but I think I'll stick with Patchouli Cacao for now.

I really like Crow Moon as a wintery scent that isn't as strongly "snow note + pine" as some of the Yules I tried this season (e.g. Talvikuu and Frau Holle). There are a lot of notes listed and I'm not going to attempt to distinguish them all, but here are my general impressions. On skin: This dries down quickly to a soft woody scent (perhaps the cedar and sandalwood/patchouli) and then disappears almost completely in a few hours. The throw is pretty light throughout. In scent locket: Much better throw and longevity. I can't make out the individual floral notes but overall I would say they're quite "green" in their scent. A bit of pine adds to the greenness, but it doesn't come off as strong "Pine-Sol pine" to me. Not much morphing in the locket; it stays pretty true to the wet phase. Overall, it is a clean scent and I can see it being too soapy for some, but I think it's fresh and enjoyable.

I purchased this from the Etsy Carnaval Diabolique release, so presumably this bottle has aged a bit? In the bottle: The Torture Queen is pretty and a bit aloof, which is quite reminiscent of the Queen's expression in the label art. There is a cool, bright, sort of airy scent dominating; this might be how I interpret chrome. I think I can detect the gardenia underneath. This is a bit less sweet and citrusy than Metal Phoenix, which is the other chrome scent I own. Wet on skin: The creamy gardenia is wafting well. Leaning in for a closer sniff, I'm getting something else that's clean and gentle... the white tea maybe? This is right up my alley. Dry: This hasn't morphed much. The gardenia has faded a bit, but it's definitely still present. I'm not familiar with white amber or vanilla musk, so it's possible I'm overlooking them, but I'm not getting anything that's obviously perfumey or vanilla at least. Much later: It's not wafting much on its own anymore, but it's still there when I lean in. Overall, this is quite gardenia-heavy on me, which is just fine because I enjoy white florals. Glad I picked up a bottle; it's different enough from Metal Phoenix that I'm happy to have both. Conclusion: This is a very pretty, "day-time professional" sort of scent that I can see myself wearing frequently.

I wish I could mirror all of the positive reviews above... In the bottle- Light and almost purely lemon. I applied to the inside of my elbow and back of my hand. On skin, wet - Crook of elbow: I'm getting decent throw, even with my arm lowered. Slightly powdery, slightly lemony. It's similar to what I get from The Black Temple Burlesque Troupe, but I'm not sure if it's from the musk or tobacco aspect. It's more pleasant than BTBT though, and I fortunately don't feel the headachey queasiness coming on this time. On back of hand: This must be reacting with my morning hand lotion or something, because it smells like Off! bug spray... I'm going to ignore it for the rest of the review. 30 minutes in - Crook of elbow: The lemon is gone, but the slightly sweet powder remains. Getting a little headachey, not bad, but enough to make me refrain from the deep sniffing. About 2 hours in - Crook of elbow: I feel like something else is trying to peek through... something perfumey, but it's faint and I can't really describe it. I keep holding out hope for some saltiness, but it's not making an appearance for me. 8+ hours later - Crook of elbow: A pleasant, slightly sweet skin scent remains. I had high hopes for this... I was looking for the salty marine note of Lyonesse, but I'm not getting that at all. It's just powdery and slightly sweet the whole way through. It's pleasant enough, but I can't see myself wearing this as is, and I don't think I have the patience to let it age. I'm glad I tried it, but I think it will have to let it go...