LiberAmoris

Hurricane is really evocative, so much more so than I was expecting. For me, this is the hurricane's aftermath: trees split open to expose their green heartwoods, grass bent and bracken stirred, and humid marine water in the air with that salty tang that Beth always captures so well. This is also the first blend I've tried where I actually enjoy the vetivert. I knew I'd find one eventually! Here it adds an edge that does smell like rotting, water-soaked wood. Growing up by the ocean and on various other bodies of water, I am very familiar with that scent and it feels 'right' somehow.

One of the Biblical Cities on the Plain, destroyed by God with fire and brimstone because of its people’s pride, prosperous ease, deceit, hedonism and indolence, and their callous, uncharitable hearts. A gritty, sordid and languid scent: ripe fig, date and currant with black herbs. Mmmmm, Gomorrah is light, sweet figs and black tea on me---such a great combination. I wanted to love Intrigue, but Gomorrah is much more up my alley. It smells just like blackcurrant tea, fresh from the tin. So good.

I'm so surprised by Juke Joint. Normally I can't do the alcohol notes...they make me feel kind of queasy. But I sniffed this at the NYC Meet-n-Sniff last month and promptly feel in love. And then, those prescient Labbies included an frimp of this in my latest order. I love the mint and sugar here, and the bourbon note is really warm and golden. It does go a little powdery after a while, and the mint doesn't stick around as long as I'd love it to, but the drydown is very cozy. It wears sort of like a minty Haunted on me, yum.

Les Infortunes de la Vertu, when first applied, is screaming orange blossom. When it dries a bit, it's like a sexy wrestling match between orange blossom and leather. Leather wins. I can detect the oakmoss, but I get hardly any rose, amber, or incense. I agree with QS, this would be devastating on a guy.

Mantis is a light herbal citrus --- the citrus oils evaporate quickly but while it lasts it's very nice. I wouldn't know there was patchouli in this blend if it wasn't listed. It dries down to a greenish amber, very much a second skin type of blend. It's very, very light. I detect a very slight cucumber note. This is one that I like wearing on the days where I don't feel like wearing perfume. Mantis is so light it's almost like herbs on sweet spring air. Very refreshing.

I'll concur with earlier reviewers, Penny Dreadful is reminiscent of Graveyard Dirt and Gingerbread Poppet. I also get a lemon note that no one else has mentioned...so it's probably just a phantom note created by the combination of other things. There's something very compelling about Penny Dreadful---something that reminds me a bit of the effect Nosferatu had on me. It's a lovely blend, but it feels like there's a harrowing backstory behind it, something lurking, a plotline gone awry. Like a character who fell out of her story and into another one. A character who shut a door quietly in one book...while in a separate book a door closed with no hand on it. I don't think I could wear this often, but I'll keep the imp to remember what dread smells like.

Chaos Theory CCVII: Obtained via a trade with Latzoni at the NYC Meet-n-Sniff. This smells like the husk of a coconut along with the dried meat of a coconut. There's something very natural about it and dusty, utterly unlike any other kind of coconut I've sniffed from the Lab before. Alongside that is an white floral note---gardenia perhaps, or magnolia? I can never tell the difference. This blend is very tropical and lovely. It's like a Hawaiian vacation in an imp! I'll be tucking this one away for use next summer. (Last reviewed by OriginalWacky.)

Yum, Imp is a lot like Depraved with peach instead of apricot. I also love the patchouli + fruit blends, and Beth's patchouli just rocks. The amber and musk here are so golden and warm, making this an almost gilded patchouli note. I'm keeping my imp of Imp to wear on some of these late autumn afternoons. I think it will also layer wonderfully with Jack.

Bottled happiness. Helps reverse misfortune, brings light and laughter to even the most troubled and discordant place, and aids in alleviating the stress and discontent that accompanies so many of life's daily trials. Aunt Caroline's Joy Mojo on me is a combination of the milky-white stuff in dandelion stalks and sweet-tarts candy. When first applied, there is an herbal, astringent note and then as it wears, the candy sweetness lifts above it and bubbles with happy sugar jubilance. All in all, it's way too sweet for me to wear as perfume, but I have used this with a candle to great success. There's just something about it that is cheerful and anxiety-banishing. My imp has been leaking all over the place, I like to think it's a sign of uncontainable joy.

I really wanted to love Blood Kiss, but the vetiver just makes my tummy feel weird. It does back off on the drydown, but I can't stomach (literally) the wet stage long enough to get there. Everything else about it is lovely! I particularly enjoy the musk, cherries, and clove here. I think I'll stick to Bengal for my go-to decadent honey blend.

This was a freebie from the Lab in my last order---thanks lovelies! Ingenue is totally gorgeous. The clover is really predominant for me, and it's one of my favorite notes. There's just something so perfect about the scent of clover. It's sweet but not cloying, fresh and herbal and green but not astringent. The melon rounds it out and then the floral notes support, but do not overwhelm. Violets normally overpower a blend for me, but here they are lovely, perhaps because this is violet leaf and not violet proper. In some ways Ingenue reminds me of Danube, sans grapefruit. In other ways it reminds me a bit of Pink Moon, as herongale mentions above. It's so sparkling and fresh and uncorrupted, just like an true ingenue. This is the actress arriving in Hollywood fresh off the bus from Iowa with her suitcase in her hand and nothing but $50 worth of pocket money from her parents and starry eyes. It reminds me of Lynch's film Mulholland Drive. This is one end of that sliding scale of dreams and embitterment. I hope that the recent profusion of imps means that Ingenue might come back some day.

Why it's taken me so long to try Bliss, I have no idea. I love chocolate! This is rich, heady chocolate that smells just like fresh baked brownies, as other have mentioned. It's the same cocoa I love in Velvet and now I have it all on it's own, to add a choco punch to Velvet, to blend with just about anything else foody in my BPAL stash, or to wear on its own when I need to combat a craving for something sweet. My love for Bliss is like that scene from the (old) Charlie and the Chocolate Factory film when the kids are ogling everything in the candy store. I have a 5ml and I anticipate plowing through it pretty quickly. This one will be a definite re-order.

I am really surprised by how much I like Omen. It was a freebie from the Lab---thanks y'all! And I can't believe I've never gotten around to trying it before, as I love patchouli and the Lab's patchouli blends are fab. This is definitely a forest bordering on the sea type of blend for me---mossy dirt and trees from the patchouli and juniper, and a tang from the myrrh that reminds me of sea air. There's something almost bracken-ish about it, like water on fallen, decaying leaves. When it dries down it's mostly oakmoss and cedar on my skin, but it's tremendously grounding. Very nice. Somehow it reminds me of late fall, so my imp will be perfect for the upcoming months.

Marie seems to me a deceptively simple blend---at first it is an even balance of rose and violet, but as it wears, it develops a subtle leather-like note that implies a kind of violence underneath the violets, so to speak. It's evocative of the scent of a woman's hankerchief that's been stored in tissue, or of the sleeves of an 18th century gown. There's something faded and aged in the floral notes here that makes them tragic. Like a worn kind of decadence that has long been fallen and laid to rest.

I love Beatrice, but as other reviewers have mentioned, she disappears fast, like the transient beauty she is. There is definitely something wistful and tragic about the combination of vanilla-musk and rose, and the spices on me were a light and gentle undercurrent, like shade in a garden. All in all, a lovely capture of one of my favorite Hawthorne short stories. I wish it lasted longer, but then, I always feel that way about the story, as well.

or maybe it is after all...... Yeah, maybe I should be careful about where I wear it. No snakes need apply! My boyfriend loves Sin on me. I'm not sure if it's the association with the word sin, or the oil itself, but he loves it. He's an Ex-Catholic, go figure.

Wolfsbane is sandalwood with vetiver and pine on me. The drydown is sandalwood and cedar with lots of vetiver. I really like the concept, but the vetiver is making it difficult for me to appreciate it. There's just something about it that always makes me feel sick. I don't do this very often, but I think I'm going to go wash this one off. For people who like vetiver, I think this would be very nice.

Versailles is a regal floral. It's what I imagine the floral arrangements in the Hall of Mirrors would smell like. The jasmine and rose are most obvious, the citrus notes evaporate pretty quickly but they're lovely while they last. The amber is a very subtle anchor. As this dries, the orris note seems to muck things up. Orris never seems to go quite right on my skin, it's such a shame, as this blend is beautiful. I'll try it again on a different day with the hope of a different outcome.

I had the same experience as MsBraz did---Bengal is like baklava! Baklava is one of my favorite desserts, and Bengal captures it perfectly...I was a little worried about how the honey would play out in the blend, as honey can go either way on me, but here it is definitely kept in check by the spice notes. It's sweet but not cloying. This dries down to second skin honey and cinnamon on me, and is actually quite a comfort blend, although I also think it could play off as quite sexy. It's like Chimera with honey instead of milk. A perfect blend for curling up with a cup of tea and a good book in bed...

Al-Shairan is mostly spices on me--the peaches barely bubble above the surface of the blend. The cinnamon and clove are quite yummy with the patchouli. It's very holiday spice, as others have mentioned, perfect for the upcoming months. In fact, this smells a lot like spiced apple cider to me, as the peach is almost apple-y to my nose. The longer I wear it, the more like apple cider it becomes. I am having good luck with a lot of the new releases, and Al-Shairan is no exception.

Old Scratch is such a yummy and sumptuous lavender blend! I get lots of lavender and rosewood, with underpinnings of tonka and amber. I wouldn't know there was patchouli in here if it wasn't listed in the description. After a while, it's a sweet luscious diabolical lavender, like a sinner's recipe for Lavender Poundcake. More, please.

Mmmm....upon uncorking Black Opal, my first sniff was a happy one. I detect some of the luscious florals from Xiuhtecuhtli, a creamy musk that seems similar to the one in Chaste Moon, and the spices from Morocco. I don't get any vanilla, surprisingly, but loads of creamy soft musk. I do get the mineral note that others have been mentioning, as well as a slight watery tinge. Opals are water stones, after all, so it does seem appropriate. Black Opal just gets better and better the longer it wears on my skin. It really is a skin scent, and one that manages to be both subtle and alluring. I have a 10ml of this on the way.

I love the camomile in Ephemera, and there's a dappled, sunny note that smells like autumn wind that is just delightful---but after ten minutes these notes are overpowered by the violet, and that's all I get from then on. I always thought that I was the kind of person whose skin did not amp up certain notes overmuch; recently I've discovered that violet is a note I should steer clear of. On my skin it just drowns out everything else around it. I love the smell of Ephemera in the vial, this might be one to try with a scent locket.

Numb on me is super strong violets. Wow. So strong. I actually feel like there is just a smidgen of mint in here, so faint I might just be imagining it. There's another note I can smell that I think is giving it the 'soapy' quality that others have mentioned. I'm not sure Numb is for me, as violets are not my favorite and it is so strong. But I'll definitely try it again before I make up my mind. This might be nice as a couple of drops in the bath, because it's so concentrated.

Wow, Fruit Moon is like fruit punch! The good kind, with all kinds of chopped up fruits bobbing about. I wasn't so sure about it in the bottle, but this is a blend that loves the skin. It just blooms and gains dimension. The lunar notes sparkle like sugar on top. I'm so glad I got a bottle. This will go next to my bottle of Titania in my BPAL box for the days when I want something mouthwateringly fruity.