themeaningofV

Just to keep track of what I've skin-tested. Nabbed from my spreadsheet. Yay. Random notes on scents that left an impression. Asterisks besides my favorites/keep forevers. Italics are big bottles. red = swapped or sold blue = up for swap/will send away soon GENERAL CATALOG Ars Amatoria Brisingamen Debauchery* - one of my firsts and still cherished. I'm so glad this works on me, omg. Golden Priapus Harlot Jezebel Kabuki Les Bijoux - smelled like NOTHING on me O Perversion* Saturnalia Satyr Sed Non Satiata Snake Oil Spellbound Vixen Wanda* - hngh <3 Whip Ars Draconis Dragon's Hide* - literally finished a 5 mL, need more Ladon Ars Moriendi Dance of Death Embalming Fluid Haunted - omg, what took me so long?! -faints- Jazz Funeral Zombi Bewitching Brews #20 Love Oil Absinthe Black Tower Bliss Blockbuster Blood Blood Amber Blood Kiss* - <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 Brimstone Dana O'Shee Dee Delirium Follow Me Boy The Forest Reverie Highwayman Inferno - skin reaction The Jersey Devil Jolly Roger Lightning Mary Read Masquerade Namaste Plunder Poisoned Apple The Raven Scherezade Swank Velvet Voodoo Diabolus Black Phoenix Bloodlust A Countenance Forboding Evil Dracul Goblin Horreur Sympathique Maenad Malice Nephilim Nosferatu - this is possibly one of my favorites in the imp, but my skin drank it like nothing. :'( I finally sent this off to a better home. Excolo Al-Shairan Centzon Totochtin Czernobog - nooooooooooooooo Elegba Eve Himerus Kali Osun Persephone Sacred Whore of Babylon Santa Muerte Shango Thalia Verdandi Yemaya Illyria Helena Othello Tamora - skin reaction Mad Tea Party Alice Alice's Evidence - yup, skin reaction! The Caterpillar Cheshire Cat Imperious Tiger Lily King of Hearts Mouse's Long and Sad Tale* Queen of Hearts The Sluggard Snap-Dragon-Fly Two, Five & Seven - my first BPAL :') Märchen Grief Old Demons of the First Class The Rose Pharmacopeia Stimulating Sassafras Strengthener A Picnic in Arkham Al-Azif Azathoth Miskatonic University - no, just no Nyarlathotep Shub-Niggurath Y'ha-nthlei Rappaccini's Garden Black Rose Blood Rose Death Cap RPG Cleric Druid Evil* - I once wore this while I was in a terrible mood and it made me feel like a vengeful wrath-goddess. It was AWESOME. Sin and Salvation Anathema Dorian Faustus Greed Hymn Jailbait - skin reaction Laudanum Les Infortunes de la Vertu Malediction* Roadhouse Rose Cross Seraphim Sin Wrath Steamworks The Antikythera Mechanism Smokestack Wanderlust Athens Cairo Cockaigne* - omgggggggg Eden El Dorado Glasgow The Isles of Demons London Morocco Ogygia Port-au-Prince* Santo Domingo Sybaris The Dark Crystal skekNa the Slave Master - boozy whipped cream, air freshener-like. I was expecting more, idk. Labyrinth Goblin Cider - fermented yuckiness! I was so sad, this smelled great in the bottle. Jareth Neil Gaiman The Beldam - is this ever coming out?! this smelled like gloriously real cherries on me. I loved it and I needs it. Bilquis Lamia The Marquis de Carabas Mouse Circus The Other Hot Chocolate* The Other Miss Forcible The Silver Stream Snow, Glass, Apples Spider Only Lovers Left Alive Streets of Detroit* - holy mother fuck I will take all your bottles DISCONTINUED / LIMITED EDITION / ETC Carnaval Diabolique Agrat-Bat-Mahlaht Coral Snake Death Adder* L'Heure Verte Mme. Moriarty, Misfortune Teller - Do you know how relieved I was that this didn't work on me? Super-relieved. Stormclouds Over the Midway Temple Viper Western Diamondback The Wild Men of Jezirat al Tennyn* - loooooooove Dark Delicacies Autumn Lace Black Taffeta Dark Delicacies The House Summer Lace Tattered Lace Discontinued Annurca Apple Blossom SN Baghdad Blood Countess Golden Wave March Hare* Nuit Psyche Severin VILF* - why? Why? Why must I love you? Halloweenies Apple IX The Black Apple of Saturn - skin reaction? Count Dracula* - I LOVE YOOOOOOU. Dark Pumpkin Mead - skin reaction Dorian in the Pumpkin Patch Fearful Pleasure The Glittering Apple of the Stars The Hell-Gate of Ireland 2013* Placophobia Pumpkin II (2008) Punkie Night 2012 Quincey Morris Samhain 2013 Spiced Autumn Cider The White Witch Lupercalia Anactoria 2008 Aristocratic Couple Burning Vulva Dark Chocolate with Merlot-Infused Black Cherries and Star Anise Destructive Vagina of the Fox Spirit Feed Me & Fill Me With Pleasure Haunted Bonbon The Imperfect Enjoyment In His Hands All Thy Cruelties Thrive Ivory Vulva Mars Ultor* O Daughter of Death and Priapus A Peculiar Spirit Phoenix & Dragon Playful Wooden Mallets Qaeris Quot Mihi Basiationes Red Lantern Reflected Vulva Serving Tea After Coitus Venus Genetrix Venus Libitina Venus Murcia Venus Verticordia The Vine Womb Furie 2010, 2012, 2014* Yules Beautiful and Adored Days of Winter Sunshine Gingerbread Goblin Gingerbread Satyr Gingerbread Snake Gingerbread Zombi* Gluggagægir Horror Unthinkable and Unexpected Incipient Madness Krampus 2012 Krampuslaufen - all smoke and chains, blah Mari Lwyd - PURPLE PEZ CANDYYYY Peacock Queen 2013 - this did not like me... Pink Snowballs (unknown year) A Thought and a Legend Too Hideous for Sanity or Consciousness A Wonderful Light Lunacies Harvest Moon 2013 - celeryyyyyy :( Hungry Ghost Moon 2013 Hunter Moon 2007 Oak Moon 2011 Wolf Moon 2013 Limited Edition 13 (July 2007) Aurelia Baby's First Krampuslauf Blueberry Picking Conjunction of Mars and Saturn Desmonema Edge of Chaos DCIII Elaphospyris Elegy No. 1 S. 196 Ezekiel's Phoenix Herodotus' Phoenix La Notte - holy crap I need to find more of this?! Lilith's Bubblegum and Roses A Little More Tea Love Lunar Eclipse: April 2013 Marche Funebre Monastery in the Mountains Motherhood Ossa Arida Outlaw* Rapunzel in Ballpoint Rosy Maple Snake Charmer Res. Spanked Revisited - skin reaction St. Clare Stentor Velvet Panther* Event Exclusives Snow, Glass, Apples v4* Zmey Gorynych* - possible bottle upgrade, this just crept up on me The Salon The Great He-Goat Lot and His Daughters Lucifer BLACK PHOENIX TRADING POST Dead Leaves, Black Fig, Cacao, & Copal HG* - ALL DAY EVERY DAY Crypt King Eldritch Dark - yaaay i have a half-bottle now Hellion Knight in Shiny Armor* - <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 La Fee Verte Lightning Storm Hair Gloss Red Patchouli and Fig Hair Gloss* Revenant Rhythm Hair Gloss Rose-Boughs and Rose-Roots Hair Gloss Rose Red Hair Gloss* Vain Sorceress*

Oh, I adore this. I'm not sure what there is to say - it's a perfect blend of Zombi and gingerbread. The earthiness prevents the gingerbread from going too sharp and foodie on me, and there's a really nice bite from the roses and moss. It seems like such a strange combination and concept, but it works REALLY well. I'm in love.

In the imp, this was mostly rose, cherry, and musk. On my skin, it's almost entirely lavender and red musk. Moderate throw.

Lab-fresh frimp. Pink bubblegum and a hint of fruity lollipops. The bubblegum becomes spicier as it dries down, but stays as bubblegum. Not much throw. I actually love how this smells, but wow, my skin hates this - I have a burning rash that's persistent as heck (it's there even after washing with dish soap and applying a scrubby bar), and it's not even on a particularly sensitive place (the back of my wrist as opposed to the underside or the crook of my arm). So, those who have sensitive skin, watch out.

I have a decant of Dark Chocolate with Merlot-Infused Black Cherries and Star Anise that has that nice cocoa sludge/separation on the bottom. Re: thick/sludgy oils in general: I have an imp of Debauchery that's 6+ months old that's pretty thick, but I got a Lab-fresh frimp of Smokestack that's super-dark and slow-moving already. O_O

Take a guy wearing very nice, spicy cologne. Cover him in oil and grease and throw him in an auto or machine shop. That's Smokestack. It's nowhere near as scary as the description makes it seem, but it's also the first BPAL to make me think, "I wonder what this smells like on a dude." I like my "masculine" scents, but I don't feel rugged enough to wear this. It's also STRONG AS HECK. A little goes a long way!

Lab-fresh frimp. In the imp: Cinnamon cloud! And almond... but it reminds me of the almond in Port-au-Prince. The rare almond that doesn't read as cherry to me! Yay! I heeded the warnings and put a small dab on the inside of my arm. Aside from a barely-noticable warming feeling, nothing happened - I just sat and basked in Red Hots glory. I marked Inferno as "to-keep" in my spreadsheet and wrote "hell yeah hell f*cking yeah" in the notes. A few minutes later... "huh, is there a welt?" I compared my right arm with my left arm, where I was testing O. It could be a rash, but it could be the oil color! WHO KNOWS. I rolled down my hoodie sleeves. A few minutes later, I roll up my sleeve. OH GOD NO THE RED DISC OF DOOM. My eyes sting when I try to sniff my arm. It is still very cinnamony. I thought I was only a victim of cardamom, but the cinnamon in this? It's just so strong. Gosh. I should probably swap my imp. But I do like it. Maybe if I put some lotion on beforehand... ?

The rose in this is very light on me. There's a definite salty tang to it. Slightly waxy, smoky, and woody all at once. It's very clean-feeling to me and there isn't much throw. It'd probably be a good unobtrusive scent... actually, this would probably rule in the summertime. eta: Hours after application, this fades down to a VERY dryer sheet-esque type of smell. I've never smelled that particular type of drydown since I usually avoid aquatics, but there you go.

In the bottle, this was mostly vetiver. On my skin, there's a slight herbal/earthy undertone that comes out with time, but I amp the lemon verbena and neroli notes to heck and back. Reminds me of Elaphospyris. Hours after application, it dries down into a very earthy, almost nutty scent. I'm not sure if I'm keeping this one.

Eve! Apple blossom, rose, ylang ylang, and honey. A gorgeous sweet fruity-floral. If you're looking more for past/recent LEs, Beautiful and Adored from the 2011 Yules is very pretty, too: "Rose musk, white gardenia, English pear, vanilla bean, red currant, and honey."

The first time I tried this, I found it a bit unsettling - it might've been too heavy on the vetiver and patch, I'm not sure - but I had a feeling that it'd improve, so I stashed it away. I was right. Five months later, this is fantastic. Still a blast of vetiver at the beginning, but it dries down to a sticky resinous scent - there's a definite sweetness from the amber and fig, with patchouli at the forefront. The vetiver stays well-blended and rounds out the earthiness. It's gooooood. <3

Lab-fresh imp. In the imp: Vanilla-chocolate with a woodsy undertone. On my skin: For a few seconds, I thought "hey, is that almond?" Then, it became THE FUNKIEST FUNK TO EVER FUNK. Like a mixture of sweat, pencil shavings, and plastic. Vanilla peeks out and tries saying "o ha --" and then gets PUMMELED INTO OBLIVION by the atrocity that is this sandalwood note on my skin. It is like this both where I swiped the imp wand and where a bit of oil splashed on my fingers. What on earth happened here? No, just... no. I am lucky enough to have The Other Hot Chocolate for my cocoa needs, thus: TO THE SWAP PILE WITH YOU. Since everything I tested that day went terribly, which I thought was strange, I wound up retesting this the following day. Turns out that yeah, I just had an awful skin chemistry day, because this was MUCH better upon retesting - it was still a bit too heavy on the sandalwood for my liking, but it didn't amp and take over everything. The cocoa-vanilla came out really well and actually made it smell fantastic. I'll still rely on Other Hot Chocolate for my cocoa needs, but I'll keep this one around because it's nice.

Lab-fresh imp. In the imp: Vanilla and clove, with a hint of florals in the background. On my skin: Abandoned musty head shop. :| It's very dry, makes my eyes water, and there's a weird muskiness to it that's just... eurgh. Nope.

Lab-fresh imp. In the imp: spiced raisins and a buttery note. Mmm! On my skin: unrepentantly tart candy-fruit and meat fat. Damn, this is bad on me. I am sad now...

Lab-fresh imp. On me, this was mostly VETIVER with a background of orange - the patch didn't come out until much later, and then it sort of smelled like an orange-tinged Malediction (which is a blend I love). I'm gonna stash this away and try it again in a few weeks, because I have a feeling it'll improve with aging.

2013 version. Warm, spiced apple and pumpkin. There's an apparent woodsiness when I take a deeper whiff. Even after it's dried down, it never strays into "craft store candle" territory like other spiced fruit blends. This was one of the first blends recommended to me by a forumite, and I'm so glad I finally got to try it.

This smells fantastic - at first it's pumpkin pancakes sweetened with maple and honey, and then it settles down into something boozier. Alas, one of the spices didn't agree with me - I tested it on the inside of my elbow, and there is now a bright red welty disc. Sadness.

This is such a strange scent! I was rather surprised when I opened the imp - I was expecting a soil note like Zombi, Yorick, or The House, but while it was earthy it's definitely not in the same category. It starts off as a soft earthy scent (I swear I placed it as chocolate), but then it turns into high-pitched screeching sweetness - there must be a vanilla or something in it that doesn't agree with my skin. Sadness.

Sweetened leather with a hint of greenery. This is nice right out of the mailbox, but it'll probably be even better with some aging. If you liked the Marquis de Carabas, give this a shot.

Decided on The House.

Dorian-infused gingerbread cookies. Foody and spicy, with good throw. It's a very pleasant and comforting smell, but I'm not sure if it's necessarily "me".

In the imp: Musk and smoke. When I first smelled it, I said, "Yes," out loud. On my skin: blooms into smoke, clove, and black musk. Faintly metallic. I definitely get the "copper feathers" part of the description. Strongly reminiscent of Count Dracula, but without CD's coffin wood and cinnamon. I'm very pleased with this.

First thought: Moist, rotting leaves. Second thought: Celery. There is an undertone of pleasant roses somewhere under there, and maybe that'll come out later with time. But it's going to be tough to stick this one out. :| edit: An hour later, the roses have come out, and they're gorgeous. Which makes the opening stages of this even sadder. Probably swapping this.

This is a gorgeous blend - the spices at first definitely remind me of being at an open-air market in the desert. Upon drydown I mainly get amber, saffron, and juicy mandarin. It stays very close to the skin. Subtle, yet evocative. I am super-sad that this is discontinued.

Ahh, geez. I like rose, but rose doesn't always like me. When this hits my skin, it becomes an awkward combo of dragon's blood and musty rose, with a hint of wine in the background. It becomes completely resin when it dries down and is quite pleasant at that stage, but it's not worth the hours of waiting. Swap, and a shame, too - I was so looking forward to this one.