LiberAmoris

Startled Toad also has my vote for the best Shunga art to date. There's just so much going on there, a girl hardly knows where to look. When reading the notes I was like yes, yes, yes...lemongrass? ::record scratch:: And the first few times I tested it, the lemongrass felt a little too bright next to everything else going on. I don't know if my bottle has settled, or if the lemongrass has mellowed—or maybe my chemistry has changed since last testing—but I wore this again last night, and somehow things clicked into place. The lemongrass is still a really citrusy, grassy, citronella-esque high note at the beginning, but it falls back quickly and then I get the amber and coconut and frankincense. The carnation, vanilla, and patchouli trail the other notes on my skin. I'm still not sure this one is quite right for me, but I'll definitely hang on to it and see if it mellows a little more with some aging.

YUM. Chocolate and oude, so damn good. Layers well with Boomslang, Bliss, and Velvet, just to name a few! I'm so glad I have a backup of this, because it might be my new Sunday after-shower moisturizer.

Creeper Dragon is so much fun. I've tested this five times, and even though I'm not sure if this is really 'me', I keep coming back to it and testing it again! I can pick out the dragon's blood note—that's very clear. And I do get something green, but it's very faint on the leather. The red musk, honey, and cream are somehow transformed into something I barely recognize. All these notes, which could be familiar to me, in this particular combination really smell like something totally new. Even if I was capable of passing on the art/title combo here (which I was not), I'm really glad I got to try this because it's so unique.

2015 version: Liaison really does capture love in the dark. The black musk here is no joke, like a heavy drape of sky in which there's no light. Pushing through that, I can smell the frankincense and clove, and something sweet/floral, which must be the honeycomb and jonquil. The black sandalwood comes out on the drydown, and provides another dark sweep of scent. I'm left with an incense-driven dark floral that seems like Morocco's nighttime counterpart. I like this, especially once it's fully dry.

Venus Verticordia really does smell like springtime, which is pretty much the best scent to have in a bottle in late March. It's dandelion in the foreground, surrounded by a meadow's worth of spring wildflowers, and the sweet smell of honey stitching everything together. Sunny florals aren't even usually my BPAL sweet spot (and maybe it's just the long winter talking), but I'm really enjoying this.

Peachy champaca! The Wet Nurse and the Old Monk is very fruity-floral on me, with peach as the strongest note. The sweetness of that combo is cut by the white tea, and the red sandalwood grounds everything. Even so, somehow this is just a little sweeter on me that I'd like, and at times it smells a bit bubblegummy. It might just need a little aging to bring down those top notes a bit. The peach and red sandalwood together are really wonderful!

Bourbon Vanilla bath oil (which I use as after-shower moisturizer) is great to have on hand because it layers well with so many perfumes. The scent is relatively light, but I can smell an almost floral vanilla...almost like a combo of vanilla and honey from wildflower-loving bees. I'm glad I picked this up, and I wish I could wear it in my hair like some people can!

Mars Rigonemetis is my favorite of all the Mars blends so far. The musk here reminds me of the black musk in Haunted—dark and a little sweet. There's a strong pine note when wet that I really love, and with the birch and the ivy...woodsy, green, musky goodness. The black cedar is present, but it's not overpowering in any way, and the black pepper adds just a little kick at the end. It dries down to a woods and ivy musk scent that stays close to the skin. LOVE.

Mars Loucetius is a really beautiful twist on a white tea scent. Wet, it's a classic white tea cologne, but as it begins to dry, the rockrose and champaca add sweetness and a floral layer that's subtle but dimensional. The sandalwood provides a contemplative, incensey, woody base. It's really elegant and wearable, and I can't wait to test this on my own personal Mars because I think it will smell amazing on him.

Mars Ultor is a smoky, ambered floral on me, with a hint of nutmeg and tobacco. On my husband, it smells like dark amber and vanilla and tobacco, in almost equal proportions. I agree that this will age well!

Wow, yeah, the wet stage of Lenus Mars is really strong...and does smell a bit like a Ricola cough drop. But once it mellows out and dries down, it's nice on the husband. Ambergris/chamomile/white musk are such an interesting combo, and when they've settled down, they're like an herbal, ambery, sweet-ish musk? Clean and yet musky. At times I get phantom notes of a just-unwrapped bandage and honey. It's kind of fascinating, and I'm glad I got to test it.

I love a good gardenia perfume, and Venus Cloacina is lovely. White, bright gardenia, underpinned by light musk, frank, and vanilla orchid. It's the epitome of a summer scent for me, the kind of perfume I'd wear on a night out in July or August. Gardenia can skew heavy, but this is a really beautiful and almost translucent take on it—not cloying or overwhelming in any way. At times, it smells a bit like moonflower, which is a nice surprise. Once fully dry, it's almost like a 'white flower musk'. Throw and wear length is good. Definitely a keeper!

From the description, I was expecting 'woah pear' in Pleasant Embrace, but this is just so lovely and balanced between the pear and lemon musk. The pear is stronger when wet, but everything dries down to a lemony, pear-y musk that's actually very subtle. And it's not too sweet on me! It feels...sunny? But like pale sunlight, if it were somehow transmogrified into musk. Nice for springtime!

Yum, pink lady apples! Venus Obsequens is wonderful pink appleappleapple wet and upon application. After a minute or so, the blackcurrant, honey, and cardamom start to come through, and they soften that apple note and add a bit of spice. The apple note can be too strong on me at times, but I really like it here and this is very wearable and pretty. The cardamom is very faint, so if you love apple and honey and blackcurrant—give this a try!

Eyes Made Strong and Grave with Sleep is really wonderful. It does have a cologne-y vibe, which I also attribute to the musk and ambergris. Those notes last a long time on my skin, and the tobacco, opoponax, and cacao give them dimension. The cacao melts away first, and then the tobacco. They leave a subtle shaping on the ambergris, musk, and resiny opoponax—and the result is a sweet, musky, clean drydown that has very faint overtones of tobacco, chocolate, and something nearly marine (not really aquatic, more like sea salt). It's like if Lyonesse went out clubbing in the 80s! And yes, that's a compliment.

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No description listed at the Twilight Alchemy Lab website Please report this thread for merging after first review has been added. Thanks!

No description listed at the Twilight Alchemy Lab website Please report this thread for merging after first review has been added. Thanks!

No description listed at the Twilight Alchemy Lab website Please report this thread for merging after first review has been added. Thanks!

No description listed at the Twilight Alchemy Lab website Please report this thread for merging after first review has been added. Thanks!

I had the craziest experience with Faces Cleaving Each to Each today. Wet, it's strong apple. Dry, it smells so much like Honey I Washed the Kids soap...and I have no idea how that's possible, looking at the note list. But it is, and I love that soap, so this is a wonderful thing.

I get loads of that crisp white apple interior scent when I first apply Faces Cleaving Each to Each, which is really apple-y strong for a while. I really enjoy it, but it's definitely the lead note for a while. The benzoin and oudh are more prominent on the drydown, where they balance that apple zing and bring a woodsy, resiny feel into the picture. The drydown is definitely my favorite stage...the bottom notes meld and smell a bit like vanilla-infused oudh. Very pretty!

Knight in Shiny Armor is one of my favorite scents on my husband. Perhaps because it shares four notes with The Bow and Crown of Conquest (leather, vanilla, carnation, and lavender)? Knight is brighter, perhaps due to all the polishing—and the lavender is more prominent. The oakmoss and clary sage also add a nice mossy, herbal quality. An hour or so after he applies it, the metal dulls a bit, the other notes deepen and muddle, and oh my, does it smell good.

Mmmm, mossy white rose. This is a very slightly sweet white rose, framed with mosses and resins. It's the resin + rose combo that gets me in the end, because they're just so good together! On me, the closest comp is Parlement of Foules plus Zombi, minus the dirt note. Definitely white rose here. Very nice, relaxing rose. Good wear length as well.

Gold and Tears is glittering in the same way that the champagne blends are effervescent...there's definitely a shared quality between the two. It's also one of the strongest perfume oils I've tried in a while. It's really strong! Just a dab will do ya. The combo of amber, carrot seed, and grey musk is very peculiar and tough to describe. I also pick up on something watery in here (reminds me slightly of the warble-y amber from House of Mirrors). Wet, it's almost too much on me—it's sweet and musky and almost fruity, if there was a bright sweet fruit that smelled like musk. Dry, everything calms down a lot, and the carrot seed comes forward (smells a bit like carrots and earth and something herbal to me?), which is great. It ends as a sweet carrot musk, which is better than it sounds. I really enjoy the ride and it's wildly unique. I'll let this one age a bit before making a final decision.