White_rabbit334

This is the first scent that I've taken the time to review in about a year. That being said, it should be pretty evident how highly I think of Czernobog to actually get off my ass and review it. In the bottle, this has a STRONG pine-pitch smell; it reminds me of Thanatopsis, which smells similar in some ways but is much greener. If Czernobog had a color, it would be dark, golden amber, like the color of dark honey illuminated by a fire burned down to the embers.... around midnight to 3 AM, no less. Other than the pine, I can smell the myrrh and musks, maybe even the vetiver; this scent reminds me a GREAT deal of Voodoo, in fact. On, the Voodoo-like experience continues. The musks (I wish I knew which ones!) bloom immediately, and with the vetiver and myrrh it becomes dark, sultry and filthy. This is mysterious and dirty, like burning incense in the middle of the forest, still around midnight. The myrrh deepens the blend with a lingering spiciness, and I imagine one of the musks is responsible for that spice also. By about an hour later, the musks have gone powdery---which is usually something I'm VERY averted to, other than lemongrass and citronella. However, with the spiciness of the myrrh and the darkness of the vetiver, it smells smooth and rounded, not at all like baby powder but still.... dry, perhaps. It has these amazing nuances of soda to it also, leaving it quite sweet and intriguing to smell. I may have people mistaking my nose as being super-glued to my wrist at this rate; DEFINITELY need a bigger bottle. I know the mullein is in here somewhere, but I'm not sure how it plays out. Whenever I make tea, it doesn't have such a pronounced smell (at least to me); even in the wild, it isn't super noticeable. Either way, for having only a couple of notes, this is an amazingly well blended perfume. 5/5!

I'm a little surprised no one has mentioned Entangled; it's a bit too heavy on the honey for me, but it has ginger cream as a note. It certainly is very creamy, and even a bit green and smokey from the kudzu. If the honey had been lighter, this would've worked out well on me. It started out so promising, but someone who amps honey a bit less might have better luck than I. Morocco obviously has a sweet creaminess that I think comes from the carnations? It's pretty amazing. Haunt's Gloomy Sunday has REALLY similar notes, and may even be a bit creamier thanks to the 'warm spiced tea'. Monsterbait: biggerCritter is the creamiest grapefruit-jasmine blend I've had the courtesy of owning. Sprinklecake goes to loads of cake and creamy frosting, and Mother Ginger fades to ginger and marshmallow cream. Lyonesse is another one that's gold and creamy on me, but not as much as Glowing Vulva. Gardenia notes sometimes go really creamy on me without having any actual cream notes. Little Flora is simply peony and cream, but unlike gardenia the peony overwhelms any creaminess I might've gotten from it. Other retailers like Nocturne Alchemy has Bes; it's a spicy-cream scent that's simultaneously a powerful and delicate cup of chai. Honey, if you're looking for lilac notes, their Lilac Kobalt is one of the best I've ever tried (except for a Chaos Theory I bought recently >.>) for lilac and amber notes. It almost goes entirely into a creamy lilac single-note with just a hint of spicy, resiny depth.

I'm not sure about either of those; I haven't been fortunate to try them. However, I have tried "Memoirs of a Trespasser"; the closest I've gotten so far is by blending Antikythera Mechanism with Aperotos Eros. I've been trying to find an appropriate scent heavy on myrrh and not much else---maybe, MAYBE Penitence. If you ever smell that and find a close approximation, let me know

in the bottle: chocolate, pomegranate, lemon on skin: immediately starts smelling like lemons and pomegranates---maybe linen? I'm getting a distinctly...clean scent from this, maybe even a tea. 10-30 minutes: Chocolate, pomegranate, something darker.Maybe the fig? Vanilla, maybe the honey musk are starting to come out. I finally looked up the notes; I know what the tea-impression is now! It's bergamot! But it's more or less dominated by the pomegranate on my skin. I definitely get the tonka but it's an undercurrent, and not a dominant player. hour in: Pomegranate, honey musk, hints of lemon and tonka. The vanilla adds a creaminess that's VERY well blended. It's almost a single-note at this point however; pomegranate dominates all! Overall, 4/5 for me---one of the few fruity blends I enjoy. If you're leery about chocolates, try this one! It just adds depth and is barely detectable otherwise. It's what made me brave enough to try other chocolate and cocoa scents, admittedly!

I can tell this one definitely has red musk in it; it smells.... Well, like Mouse's older sister, who is much more mystical, self-assured. It's like someone added a heady dose of incense to it or something, it just is.... deeper? I don't know how to explain the scent but it certainly is different from Mouse's, which is on the whole a paler, sweet scent... Delicate, I would say. This is much more robust, but the ironic thing is that the pale Mouse lasts a lot longer than the red. Weird. I certainly enjoy it at least, but I'd be lying if I said it didn't mystify the @$(# out of me trying to figure out the 'new' secret ingredient. Like I said, *must* be red musk or incense or...something! Hmmm. I almost want a bottle of this; maybe I just have to slather to get it to last a while.

So... I wish I could include a picture, because this is the oddest thing I've ever seen. I have here before me two imps of Mouse's Long and Sad Tale. In the left corner, we have a completely colorless oil, literally pale white. The one I stepped on before this was also the same color. The oil I recently received from arsinoe9 looks....well, BRIGHT red. It looks like it's all red musk or something! I don't know of too many oils that are this rich of red, except for Sin maybe? My question is whether or not anyone else has MLaST that's this color. Does it turn red when it ages, or was it reformulated? I have no idea what to make of this. x_X

I definitely will. I just sniffed my bottle of Voodoo, my imp of Snake Oil, and my other imp of Banshee; I'm about 75% positive the vanillas are the same, or very similar at least, and that the patchoulis in Voodoo and Banshee are in the same boat. It makes me wonder if I can get away with layering Rogue for the hemp with Voodoo without it going into a stinky, oily mess.... You bet your butt I'm going to try! Short of Beth putting out Hemp and Patchouli single-notes... Fat chance, but I know if I'm patient it may be possible. =) Besides, in the meantime it gives me a chance to hunt down an imp of #occupy. I'm not usually a fan of chocolate scents but reading the notes made me drool, so I'm hopeful

Sunshine.... I love you. :wub2: :wub2: That's the *perfect* plan of attack. I think the vanilla in Banshee Beat is similar to the ones in Snake Oil and Voodoo... I could be wrong, though. I also saw Rogue has hemp in it! One of the few that does, truthfully, without getting too complex... So the real question is, is can I find a patchouli that doesn't necessarily have a chocolate note to it...

Apparently vanilla, sandalwood, and most patchoulis are golden-notes on me; they can do no wrong! And tonka works pretty well too, admittedly. I'll have to try that out, maybe if I'm lucky someone will send me an imp! =) Although, I am a touch worried; most chocolate notes amp to the point they overwhelm honey, ginger, sandalwood AND vanilla---which I thought was impossible, because those and amber/resins tend to overwhelm anything else in every blend I've tried. x_x I did just try Midnight Gypsy's Murder of Crows which has a dark chocolate basenote, and coconut apparently is the one note that can conquer it. Actually turned out pretty nice, to be honest. They say there's always a blend out there that'll turn one of your hated notes into one of your favorites... Scales of Deprivation revived lavender blends for me, and the lemon in it worked well too! So I suppose I can't knock it until I try it! =D Which I definitely will, if it means I can start wearing chocolate AND smelling like Banshee!

I have not, but those notes sound pretty amazing! =D I amp all those notes actually... I wonder how it would smell? I wonder if there's anything with patchouli I could layer it with... >.>

Hahaha I have Tombstone... For me, I amp the pines in it too much and then it suddenly turns to rootbeer

I've always been curious about what other people like to layer with their BPAL collection---both LE and GC. Me myself, I really enjoy layering Raven Moon 09 and Harp of C'noc Chosgair I believe it is. DELICIOUS, makes it a bit more sweet when I need a sweet fix. I've also layered Raven with Antikythera Mechanism, because sometimes for whatever reason I amp the woody notes instead of the vanilla and tobacco, turning this into something super-masculine. x_X Also, I'm curious if anyone layers anything with Voodoo---it has a ton of notes already and is quite a morpher, so I would consider it more of a challenge.

Okay... So I'm addicted to Banshee Beat, along with hundreds of others, no doubt. Not wanting to sift and sort through 70 pages, what are some good substitutions or blends to replace it? Short of writing up a petition to bring the damn siren that is Banshee Beat back, I have to make due with my imp or hope I can find a bottle that isn't exorbitantly priced. I hear that Goblin is a good substitute; however, are there any blends that don't have coconut in them? I tend to amp coconut to high heaven, and it either turns into a dry, husky coconut (think Brown Jenkin-like) or suntan lotion (ewwwwww).

Goodness gracious, now THIS is one I can complain about them not having in the GC---in this instance, the Lab isn't just shooting themselves in the foot. No, they're shooting themselves in both feet, kneecaps, femoral artery and genitals. I thought Antikythera Mechanism was addictive---which yes, yes it is ---however, this is addictive in a completely different way. A-M is addictive like alcoholism. Banshee Beat is like whatever drugs old Voodoo priests would blow into peoples faces to make them into zombies. It really blows me away that much, and good gods what I wouldn't give for a hundred bottles of this! It's a shame that this WOULD be the type to be my signature scent, but is so damn rare and hard to find. In the bottle: The vanilla reminds me of an aged Snake Oil vanilla, sweet but with a lot of depth! The patchouli also reminds me of Voodoo---both have an almost soda-pop vibe to them at first. Incredibly spicy woods and vanilla! on the skin: Someone must have laced this with meth. MUST have! x_X And possibly Gorilla Glue. This is the most AMAZING scent I have EVER had the fortune of trying, and I can't get my wrists off my nose. I'm practically huffing this. x_x Again, the most perfect spicy-sweet scent EVER, I don't know how anything could ever get better than this. So far, it's long lasting and has AMAZING throw. I only put on a little from the imp I received, and I barely have to sniff myself at all. That, however, doesn't stop me from sniffing anyway. Obviously avoid this if you hate vanilla, but if you're ambiguous about patchouli, give this a try! My old art teacher used to wear patchouli single note; it was so powerful and cloying that you could literally find him by following the scent-trail he left behind in his travels around the building. If you have similar memories of a friend, relative or acquaintance sporting overwhelmingly strong patch SN, have no fear! This patch isn't very high pitched, but slow developing, spicy and earthy. Think oozing magma compared to raging wildfires; the patchouli certainly adds a fiery... something to this mix. Lab, if you read these notes regularly, seriously, what are you DOING. At the very least bring this back so I can stock up on 100 bottles. Even a quick resurrection! This scent is just too good to be so damn rare. Okay, I guess just 50. I'd have to share with its other fans, who I have no doubt are as ravenous as I am for it. x_X but really, you think I'm kidding when I say I want to wear this until I die, but I really do. I've never encountered a more mysterious, beautiful, brilliant scent in my life until today. A thousand thank yous to surlygurl for including this as a little frimp! I knew as soon as I saw the notes that this would be instant love(and lust) at first sniff!

I'm going to start by saying this has to be one of the most satisfying reviews I've ever had the pleasure of doing. Why this isn't in the general collection as a permanent staple is mystifying to me; with the fervor after it, it seems to me that the Lab is doing itself a great disservice not taking all my money, limbs, and first-born children, because yeah, this scent is THAT GOOD. EDIT: Apparently it is, much to my delight/my bank's horror. In the bottle: At first whiff, it ALMOST smells like cheap cologne. Almost. The tobacco is in the backround, urging me forward; I bought a half bottle off the forums, so obviously I'm going to try it regardless. All the notes were winners for me.... I knew it couldn't go wrong. First ten minutes: Oh my goodness, my chemistry turns everything super sweet and spicy! I swear to the good gods there MUST be sandalwood in here as a hidden note; I can smell the teak, and DEFINITELY the oak (good Dagda it's BEAUTIFUL ), but even together it shouldn't smell this much like sandalwood.... should it? My nose is convinced, but it may be that I work really well with woody notes Half hour later: It smells like rich, sweet, sandalwood incense being burned inside a tobacco shop. You head in, buy yourself a big bag of vanilla pipe tobacco, chat with the owner for a few minutes and head back to your car. You then proceed to take a drive up to the national forest, already chomping on a pipe, the sweet smell filling the car, mingling with the scent of sandalwood incense that permeated your clothes. You park, step out, and the intense smell of damp oak leaves and bark joins the clouds of sweet, incense-like smoke billowing from your lips. It's a lot like that. I have a feeling a certain handsome redhead I know would enjoy this immensely..! This would smell amazing on him, as he actually DOES smoke vanilla pipe tobacco, and enjoy sandalwood or woody/spicy scents. I have a feeling he would amp the oak more than I did; on me, however, this is tobacco dominating with vanilla, his right-hand-man so to speak, while sitting atop a throne made of oak and teak.