miss_rynn

I'm forever looking for the red velvet cake note found in Monsterbait: Closet, but once more, alas, it isn't here. That's not to say that Senator Barriel isn't lovely, though. To me it smells very much like sprinkles, with a base of cake crumbs. It's not too foody or overly sweet and isn't hugely strong, so it's worth a try if you're on the fence about foody scents.

Brown sugar cookies with fat chunks of cinnamon-dusted apple and swirls of caramel. This feels like a very apple crumble scent. Or, rather, the brown sugar/oats/cinnamon crumble part with a huge dose of unbaked green apples. Even to the point of green apple peel. It settles into a more rounded apple note, but the apple crumble vibe is still there. My skin eats it pretty fast, but it is a perfectly pleasant little perfume.

I'm pretty sure I'm the first on this one; I'm sorry if I'm not! This is an incredibly soapy, colongey smell on the skin. It's not so much aquatic as it is damp, fresh water smelling. It rounds out with a spiced undertone. The original is supposed to be all swampy and wet and bog lilies; I find this to have an almost under-ripe fruit scent under the soap, with a masculine streak of spice beside it. It's the clean-soap smell of Lightning rather than the salty-aquatic of Cthulhu. In fact, that's what the fresh-aquatic and damp-greens reminds me of; the true smell that comes before a storm, not quite the sharp and piercing scent of ozone. It's a very hard scent to pin down, but I'm pretty sure that I like it.

I found this really odd. The lemony note actually comes across to me as acai - it's like Australian Copperhead (I think), except with less snake oil. I'm going to let it settle and try again later.

There's no way I can respond to that without coming across like an extremist harpy except yes, I agree, it's incredibly stupid. (No fault to the Lab!) EDIT: Success! It took about three weeks in customs, which (having whined at friends) is not that unusual if it's been detained for extra man handling.

My order has been "held in US Customs for further inspection" for over a week. Has anyone else had this happen?

In Irish folklore the Dana O’Shee are a fae, elven people that live in a realm of beauty, their nobility akin to our that own Age of Chivalry, eternally beautiful and eternally young. They surround themselves with the pleasures of the Arts, they live for the hunt, and to this day can be seen riding in procession through the Irish countryside at twilight, led by their King and Queen. However, the Dana O’Shee are not benevolent creatures, despite what their unearthly beauty may imply. They are vengeful and treacherous and possess a streak of mischievous malice, and many have whispered that their true home lies deep in the shadowed groves of the Realm of the Dead. Hearing even a single chord of their otherworldly music leaves one stunned and lost to the mortal realms for ever, finding themselves prey to the Dana O’Shee’s hunt or enslaved in their Court as servants or playthings. Offerings of milk, honey and sweet grains were made to placate these creatures, and it is that the basis of the scent created in their name. Just plain lovely. It's a little different from the perfume, but it comes across as the same vanilla note from Snowblind. Not overpowering by any means, but it feels like the powdered softness of a gentlelady's boudoir.

Bittersweet chocolate cupcakes whisked with stout and topped with inky dark chocolate frosting. This is amazing - it's what I wanted Monsterbait Underbed to smell like. It's a dark and rich scent to begin with - somewhere between dark and mean chocolate and dark and mean stout. Not too sweet, not too boozey, and just barely savoury. On the skin it blooms. I becomes a rich, devil's food cake with the dark, yeasty tang - just a little - of stout. The chocolate cake shifts to a somehow less foody but more like frosting after a little while. It's like leaving some frosting behind on the plate when you've finished the cake. Very faintly boozey, and the stout takes the edge off of the sweetness. If you like chocolate but don't want to smell like candy, give this one a try!

The good news is that if you like the Lab's frost/snow note and the Lab's bready note, this will work fabulously for you. I've found that I don't like the Lab's frost note, but that being said it feels like a cooler, less complex version of Samhain.

ALL the red musk. I had to tone it down with some Snake Oil gloss, because red musk is a headache note for me. I hope it settles, because I was really keen for a more sweet/dragon's blood kind of feel.

This is surprisingly not sweet in my hair at all. It seems to be unisex, almost masculine, with the rum and spices coming across as bay rum. It's a very nice 'every day' scent rather than a special occasion hair gloss. This is right up there with Alice in my everyday work horse gloss.

This is a fancier, sweeter version of Velvet. It has that elusive soft and fuzzy scent memory. At first it comes on all pencil shavings, much like Tombstone, but if you wait long enough it settles. I suppose you can think of it as the love child of Velvet and Tombstone. Soft, but with a sophisticated coat. If you can get passed the sharpness of the cardamom and cedarwood it settles to a very sleek scent indeed.

Bast is a tricksy scent. It reminds me of what I wanted Bilquis to be, way back in the day. Something about the myrrh and amber comes across as a heady lily. It's that oddly floral note that only thick and rich resins can. The cacao is a warm, throaty base, but it's hard for me to get beyond the resin/floral heart. It's probably the mix of the myrrh and the honey that does it. If you're after a deep, thick, unapologetic sweet resin, this is for you.

Super cardamom right off the bat, but certainly a more bakery style than a savoury scent. Not at all stabby or intrusive, just very clear and true. The cake note comes through softly with wear, but it starts to turn ashy on me like many of the cakey Liliths do before I could get a real feel for it. Certainly worth trying if more cakey-scents work on you!

Starts up as a super juicy and sweet version of Hideous Heart (a deeply unappreciated scent, IMO), but settles down to a weird kind of junket scent. Almost like one of those cherry/berry scented dolls, but just on this side of creamy. If you are the sort of person who doesn't morph vanilla into plastic, this will be a delightful perfume.

Black Phoenix's Christmas Pudding is loosely based on a medieval recipe, and is crafted, as tradition dictates, from thirteen ingredients (representing Christ and his apostles, natch). Thick with treacle, smoky with suet (suet accord, sillies - there's no mutton fat in this perfume!), and sweet with stirred custard. I don't really get much Christmas pudding from this, but it certainly *feels* Christmassy. I get a lot of plum in this - probably from the historical plum pudding recipes. It's actually quite green, like freshly sliced, slightly under-ripe plums. The suet is in there - a slightly savoury, fatty scent - but it doesn't smell like lard. Almost like pie dough with less flour. Oddly, the treacle is quite understated. I normally amp things like treacle, but this one is playing nice. I am just faintly getting the custard, but I'm hoping it will come out more with wear. Unexpected, given the description, but very Christmassy.

This comes across as a chocolate flavoured Sacred Whore of Babylon to me. The jasmine and orange blossom really compliment eachother, and gives me a scent memory of Singapore for some reason. This is really floral forward, with a wisp of chocolate in the background. If you are a jasmine lover, this is for you.

It's best to not think of this as a chocolate scent. It's dark, almost earthy, with a rich sweet core. To me it comes across as patchouli sweetened with honey, given depth by the chestnut, and a deep, dark cocoa swirling in and out. Perfect for resin lovers who are scared of anything too foody.

This is a weird little critter. If you've tried the unreleased "Dragon's Pecker", Boner comes across as the female counterpart. Not that it's a particularly girly scent, despite the sweetness. It's sweet, sure, but it feels more... Dragon's blood, freshy laundered sheets (in the hopes of getting laid that night), a dash of last night's perfume, and an underlaying... boy... smell... from the evening's frolics.

I was trying to pin down why this seems so familiar, but I finally worked out that it comes across as the lovechild of Antique Lace and the Mouse's Long Sad Tale. It has that perfumey vanilla and white flowers vibe to it. The magnolia is a bit too old fashioned floral for me, but the vanilla base is beautiful.

Certainly what it says on the lable, but SUPER PERFUMEY on my skin. I suspect that it's the smoked vanilla bean that does it, edging the scent into Big Perfume House territory with what they call a vanilla note, but actually ending up more like tonka. Maybe it's a scent association issue. In any case, a good foody perfume for people who are leery of being foody. Think Miss Dior Cherie in feel, though not in scent.

This is certainly a weird little creature. It reminds me of clothes that have been washed in vanilla scented laundry detergent. I know that sounds bad, but it really works - imagine the smell of freshly washed sheets mixed with a cool vanilla. It may be that the cherry comes across as vanilla. I wouldn't call this foody, though. It has a subtle musk note, which is a little hard to pin down - it's not as harsh as black or red musk, but not as pale and fresh as white or blue musk. Maybe a vanilla musk? I suspect that the sand note is giving it the musky flavour; imagine super dry sand, not a beachy sand. I was worried about the blood note, because they can be a little too bitter for my liking, but you can smell it if you think about it. It doesn't really smell like blood, but it does give a coppery edge. I think the sand musk and the whisper of copper stop this from being too foody. Cool, a sensible level of sweet, softly musky, and a faint metallic note.

This is a true work horse - it never lets you down. I jog before work in the mornings, and I am always both scared that I'll be bad-stinky and scared that I will be over-the-top with good-stinky. Alice solves *all* of my problems. It's less sweet and honey-like than the oil, but instead a slightly spicy carnation with supporting backbone of sugar. Totally lab work friendly, and totally lovely. The throw isn't as strong as some other HGs, but that makes it more user-friendly for work. I really wish that this becomes a GC HG, because it's just plain pretty.

I love foody scents to bits, but they so often turn to ash on my skin. I keep buying them, though, in the hopes that they end up fitting into that magic 5% of oils that work on me. To my delight, this is a pure winner! It starts off as unbaked or slightly underdone pumpkin pie - soft and delicate pumpkin puree, condensed milk, eggs, and just enough cinnamon and nutmeg to give it a delicious accent. It fades pretty quick, but it dries down to a warm, but subtle, moist pumpkin cupcake. It reminds me a little of my gingerbread cupcake recipe with less spice. Warm, sweet, soft, and eminently wearable. I am full of pumpkin loves.

I have a feeling that this is one of those little beasts that needs to age before it shines. Imagine a super rich version of Eat Me, with more currant and less cakey fluff. I do so like my foody scents, but at the moment LLM is a bit too much of ALL THE NOTES. I think that it's the honey that pushes this into the realm of extravagance. I love honey, but this is probably a bit too golden - especially when paired with the richness of the currants. This reminds me a little of Gluttony or Hellcat in terms of syrupy, toothsome scents. I expect that this will settle as warmer and smoother as it ages rather than as it is fresh.