roxyhead

Because I am very, very crass this year. Slushy white mint, vanilla cream, lemon drops, grapefruit, and yuzu! I tend not to do "snow" scents, as much as I want to, so I was a bit hesitant about ordering it. It was too funny not to, though, and I'm glad I did - almost wishing I'd ordered a second, in fact! It's like the winter version of my beloved Spinning Multicolored Metallic Pinwheel. In the bottle I can smell maybe the tiniest bit of citrus, but mostly fizzy ginger ale and a bit of sugar, and then as it dries, the Christmas trees come out! There's maybe a tiny bit of musk in there, but I don't get any vanilla, and the citrus I get doesn't seem like grapefruit, to me. Not too sure what yuzu smells like, so I can't say on that. It doesn't have a huge amount of throw (but neither does Pinwheel, on me - I'm not a slatherer), and it's pretty faded after 8 hours or so, but I love it. It's not like any other "snow" scent I've tried - the rest have all been cold florals or aquatic scents, and I'm glad!

This stuff is all the amazing yummy foody goodness of Gingerbread Poppet with a bonus hit of cinnamon just for fun! I'm not sure if I'm getting the clove as mixed in with the cinnamon or as what's causing the gingerbread, but it makes me feel a little less regret for only getting one bottle of GP before it was gone. Almost vaguely like eating gingerbread cookies wearing Tintagel, some similarities there. This scent doesn't morph much between the bottle and me, wet or dry. Seems like a lot/most of my favorites don't, not sure if that's my skin, my luck, the types of scents I tend to like, or my nose not caring much between minor variances of "yum". Will probably order another bottle.

I've been very ambivalent about a lot of scents recently, I've still got about a dozen bottles sitting on my desk in the "undecided" category going as far back as the last batch of Yules, and I've been trying to get an opinion on them. Finally got one for Moon of Ice. In the bottle, it smelled promising, cold and piney and maybe a bit of juniper? I go downstairs to leave for work. From my dad: "I don't know what you're wearing this time, but it smells like you just put on Deep Woods Off." I give it some time to set, then later ask someone at work. "Yep, that's exactly what it smells like." I think I'll lend my bottle to someone else at work if she goes back up to the cottage, this last time I think she ended up going through about a dozen different kinds of bug sprays and still got eaten alive.

Gleaming eyes, screeching voices, glistening wings: black amber, black orchid, black currant, olive blossom, wood violet, lavender, blue musk, rose attar, and cedar. Amber, rose, and cedar - three things I'm not too fond of, why did I order this one again? However, I only read the ingredients again just now as I went to write this. When I first put it on, it smelled like caramel and a bit of currant, not as strong caramel as many of my other foody favorites, which was nice because it didn't make my dad go "What *are* you eating???" when I wandered into the kitchen for breakfast, as some other scents have done. After an hour or so, I start smelling nice woodsy stuff, like mild holly and juniper, but the caramel's still there in the background. It's a very good woodsy, and I don't get any cedar at all, which is a very good thing. I love this scent! I'm so glad I took a chance on it despite the scary things in the ingredients, because they're not showing up at all on me, yay!

Cassia, cardamom, and something cold, empty, and haunting. Like if the Undercity had a little country store that even the undead were no longer inhabiting. I didn't think of cherry or patchouli at all until I read the description for it, and even after doing so, I *still* can't smell either in it. I don't know if I like it or not. Hollow. But because of that, it's incredibly fitting, too. Even though I'd like patchouli and cherries better. Empty, empty, empty. I should wear it to work tomorrow night and see what one of my friends there smells it as, he's good with that sort of stuff, unlike my family. I think I'll keep it, even if the cherries and patchouli never show up.

In the imp, it smells kind of like decaying leaves, but not moss, and a bit like some of the leaves are burning. Once it hit my skin the leather popped out, but it only stayed for maybe half an hour before going to soap. Not floral soap like most florals turn to, but kinda like nondescript soap that you'd find in a liquid soap dispenser in a public washroom. Actually, it's *exactly* like that kind of soap. I'm not a huge leather fan anyways, though Western Diamondback is good, and it was a frimp, so I'm not too terribly disappointed, at least.

At first this one smelled a tiny bit floral and a tiny bit musty on top of something else, but then it rapidly dried to...Snake Oil! Yep, another one goes Snake Oil on me...good thing I like it. I don't seem to get any patchouli from this, and usually if a scent says it's got patchouli in it, I smell it. Not anything particularly recognizable as ginger, either. Just Snake Oil. Same color, too.

Definitely lots of throw with this one, I walk into the kitchen and my dad wonders what's smelling like caramel, but I swear I don't remember putting any more than normal on. Almost a little to the buttery side of the caramel, especially in the bottle. As it dries, though, the currant comes out to share the spotlight, and I start smelling so much while eating breakfast like I've already had dessert that I feel too full to finish, which is odd for me at McDonalds. The tobacco shows up behind the main caramel and currant notes just enough to give them some company, but not enough to be entirely sure that what I was smelling was tobacco until I got home and checked the description. I'm not getting any sandalwood, cinnamon, or patchouli from this at all. I think this'll do quite nicely when I want foody and throw.

In the bottle, I can't really describe it, but since it smells nothing like it when on my skin, I guess that's ok. On me, this is...exactly what I'd expect, from the description. Wow. Milky and fruity, maybe a little coconut. There's a bit of similarity to Dana O'Shee. This is milk and honey, with figs and grapes being fed to you by hotties wearing loincloths as you lie back and relax in the sun, or the shade, whatever suits you. Mmmmmm...

First time I wore this, I liked it but couldn't identify why, this was before looking at the description. Wearing it again,I can pick out the pineapple when wet, a sort of fake pineapple that I like better than the real kind. Then it gets a bit warmer and almost...butterier? A bit of coconut and maybe some other fruits, as it's drying, but it never smells particularly overtly fruity or foody, maybe as mentioned above it's the pepper toning it down. It's just *good*. Might need a bottle of this.

*This* is what Dragon's Blood should be, or at least what I expected it to be. The myrrh dominates, with the clove and cherry providing a nice warm backup, and just a tiny hint of the lilac in the background, but you largely forget it's there. I don't like lilacs, and I don't like any of the other dragon's blood blends, but this is beautiful. The name doesn't do it justice, it doesn't seem particularly vampiric to me. I love it. Think I'm going to need a big bottle.

At first sniff in the imp, and when it's fresh on my skin, this smells exactly like "green" should smell, without florals. It also seems a tiny bit amber-y or incensey. But within half an hour, it turns to something slightly cedar, with a little bit of smoke thrown in, and something reminiscent of moss. It smells...dead, for lack of a better word, compared to the bright alive green it looked in the imp. I got it as a frimp, but it's still kind of unfortunate.

From beginning to end, honey. Not the kind in jars, the kind with the comb still in it, ripped straight from the hive, eat at your own peril lest you sink your teeth into a bee. I swear you can smell the comb and hear the buzzing. Unfortunately, while it's the most amazingly realistic simulation of busting open a beehive without getting stung, I don't really *like* the smell of honeycombs, and there's nothing else in this. But top marks for realism here. Wow.

*dies* Snake Oil and chocolate. Mere words cannot express how I love this scent. I suppose it's the teakwood that keeps it just a bit dark so it doesn't go foody. I'm not really a slatherer, particularly when testing things for the first time, and this was the first scent that elicited unprovoked comments about how good I smelled. If I could just keep one bottle of my collection, this would be it. I don't miss not having any unadulterated Snake Oil around so much now.

I'm not really smelling apples here, but maybe what I think of as "apple" and what others smell apple as is a bit different. No citrus/orange here, either. I'm smelling...Tintagel! Or something else I've tried that I've filed in the "Yummy like Tintagel" pile. But starting from the moment I put it on, all day I've smelled Tintagel. Good thing I like it. It seems to have slightly fewer herby/spicey things in it, though. And I'm not smelling any Snake Oil at all. I opened the bottle of Tintagel that came in the same order to see if *that* smelled snakey at all, but it doesn't seem to. So while I like the scent, I can't really smell anything in it that I'm supposed to be smelling in it!

The hope of springtime penetrating winter darkness. Snow, darkness, and icy air illuminated by the thrush’s song: warm amber, soft orris, and melancholy violet. I'm coming to the unfortunate conclusion, after going through a bunch of yule bottles, that I don't like the Lab's snow notes, much as I *wanted* to smell something like fresh snow, it always seems to come out as greenish-something-floral, which I'm certain is what some aquatic bubblebath smells like, instead. However, this one seems to be the best of the lot, not having any giant florals of doom, nothing that would smell like soap if it weren't for the fact that there's a kind of soap that smells like *it*, and it seems to calm down to something a bit warm. I can almost vaguely smell the dryer sheets if I try hard, but that may just be my imagination. Having once owned a perfume intended to smell like dryer sheets, that would be a good thing, but alas, I haven't had anything turn obviously dryer sheets on me. I can't seem to smell any mint or pine, much as I'd like to. Maybe yule at the Lab just isn't my time of year...I keep hoping for something that'll smell like the snow covered pine of the nightlight Airwick in the bathroom! Oh well.

I was hoping for the cherry that other people have mentioned, but instead, it's just some sort of...redness, but the red is rancid or something, it's not a good red...mixed with lilac. And something greener and stemmier in there, too. Not knowing what dragon's blood was supposed to smell like, I was hoping for something fruitier, like cherry or Dr. Pepper. I think this might be part of the disappointment I get from Wrath, which is quite icky on me. :-(

This one smells like...incense and spices, would be my best guess, but it's not the incense of most other ones I've tried that I've said the same about, very light, and not the spices of Tintagel, either. I guess I just don't really know how to describe it, but reading the description, I guess I'm not that far off. After several hours something a little reminiscent of Snake Oil slithers out, and then back the way it came so that I'm never really sure if I was just imagining things. But it never changes into something I don't like, so I suppose I don't have a problem with vetiver - I'm still not sure what, exactly, it smells like, only some scents with it I hate and some I don't, but it's probably not that. It's very warm and good, more subtle than Snake Oil in the sex department, and not as firey as Tintagel. It goes in the "I'm pretty sure I want a bottle, should I ever get past my list of *need* a bottles" category.

I could have sworn I'd reviewed this the first time I wore it, but unless I'm hallucinating, I can't see my review, so maybe I didn't get around to it. I pulled it out and wore it again because it was sitting in the "like but not sure if I want a bottle of it" row in my ammo box (a somewhat more difficult to find item in Canada than the US), and I couldn't remember what it smelled like, other than I liked it. This time, however, I can't remember what I liked about it. It starts off vaguely floral with maybe a tiny bit of amber, not what would normally be my thing but with this, the floral's so light as to be inoffensive, and there's not enough amber or whatever's there that isn't the floral to give me a headache, but I couldn't identify it either. Then, after about an hour or two, it turns to... Enraged Unicorn Musk! Seriously, I can't find a trace of anything other than light musk. I know the "light" and "enraged" may seem to contradict each other, but I can't imagine a unicorn, no matter how enraged, giving off anything but a very delicate musk, and I wouldn't think that they normally smell musky at all, so... I'm not a musk person, so I'll have to try this again when I'm not ovulating, to see what it was about it that I liked and edit this review.

In all fairness, it smelled pretty much the same in the imp as it did on me, so I can't say I wasn't warned that my nemesis, the sweetpea, was coming. At least I put it on lightly. Or maybe it's not quite as strong as the knock you down and beat you senseless with the flowers Desdemona. Still, it's sweetpeas and soap from beginning to end. Though, reading the scent description, maybe my nose is hallucinating and I've forgotten the difference between sweetpea and rose. And I sure as hell am not going to open Desdemona back up to compare! Either way, I'm only smelling one flower in this, and it's one I do not like. Bubblebath and ick.

In the imp, it's red smelly markers! Red smelly markers!!! Yum! It starts like this on my skin, but dries very quickly to what I can only describe as buttered wood. Yes, it's an odd combination, but that's what it smells like. Mostly cedar but not the full-on hamster cage of Lear/Anne Bonny/Aureus, so there must be some other woods in there, guessing that's the mahogany. Kinda like my guitar. Only I'd rather nobody butter that. The butter remains stronger than the wood until the whole thing disappears entirely. Very strange, and disappointing given the really yummy red smelly markers stuff at the beginning.

Sniffing the imp, and when I first put it on, this smells like I expected Bakeneko to smell like, mostly orange with a bit of tea. Quite nice. Then it turns into something I can only describe as reminding me of bubble bath, but it doesn't smell soapy. It might be the scent of something associated with bubble bath, because it's pleasant and comforting, and I can't come up with a specific bubble bath, as I could with a couple other scents that reminded me of it, though those were a bit soapy. In fact, I'd like some of this *as* bubble bath! Think the sandalwood's kicking in a bit here. A few hours later, the yummy-type-bubble-bath fades away to some extent, and out comes the country store votive candle section. Still quite nice. They could have filled my Bakeneko bottle up with this and I'd be blissfully ignorant that it wasn't the real thing, instead of trying to swap it! I'm not sure what this smells like when fresh, I'm guessing the imp's aged a bit, because I got it off eBay and it seems to have a different label on it than my others. I'll probably order another imp my next lab order before I get a bottle.

Another frimp from the lab, also not one I'd have ordered myself. In the imp it smells like cherry cough syrup, but somehow *good* cherry cough syrup. Not bad. Stays like that on my skin a bit until it dries, and then it turns into what I identified as "hair dye before the ammonia kicks in" even before reading the review above calling it "perm solution". We must have somewhat similar skin chemistry. Stays like that for an hour or two until it gets into its final form of only a vague hint of hair dye, mostly I-guess-this-is-rose, and it's fighting not to turn into bubble bath, I can't tell whether or not I *actually* smell soap. I don't seem to like the "rose" or whatever it is, not surprising there. Definitely within the realm of "ick". Every fragrance I've tried with dragon's blood in it, the dragon's blood seems to willingly hand over control to whatever else is in it, not much similarity at all between the ones I've tried.

Got this one as a frimp, and I don't even know where this city is! Didn't even know it was a city until I found what category it was under on the lab site! I tried it on before finding the description, and it reminded me somewhat of Tintagel, which I love...surprised to find violets in it, as I'm not a fan of florals. Still not sure what tonka smells like, but I seem to be rapidly developing a love of spices! It started out nice and I just kept waiting and waiting for it to turn soapy or icky and it still hasn't seemed to! It's different from Tintagel, but I can't say exactly how. I like this one.

I ordered this with a bunch of other imps after missing when Wolf Moon went up, was looking for something similar, before I found it on eBay. And when wet, it smells a lot like my beloved wolf, only sweeter. And then when it dries, I find out where the sweetness is coming from. It's like Wolf Moon mixed with Snake Oil! Two of my favorite scents, and they combine beautifully! Another one of those days I just can't stop sniffing myself...ahhhh... The only problem is the name. Golden Priapus...dude. For a guy, it just sounds smarmy. But for a woman? Even just ordering it seems weird. How am I gonna leave a bottle of that stuff out on my desk? I don't know how I'd explain that one to the non-BPAL-initiated. Maybe I'll just peel the label off. Oddly enough, my imp is missing the little tab on the cap that helps you push it off. It doesn't seem to have broken off, there's just no evidence it was ever there to begin with. Strange. ETA: This just smells too sweet to be manly, on me. After several hours, the Snake Oil type stuff mostly overpowers the juniper and pine. I'll have to try it on a guy to see what it turns into. I love this stuff.