hammy

His fingers closed around the Liberty dollar in his pocket, and he remembered Zorya Polunochnaya, and the way she had looked at him in the moonlight. Did you ask her what she wanted? It is the wisest thing to ask the dead. Sometimes they will tell you. Gilded iris and Siamese benzoin, silvery-white musk, white tea leaf, and bergamot. In the bottle - Definitely silver and metallic. I get the metallic tang of Flintstones vitamins and just a touch of citrus brightness. Wet - Gah! Crazy morph. It's dead citrus and dull flower petals and old chewed gum. I'm really turned off. Drydown - My skin ate everything but the iris, which doesn't smell good on me. Kind of reminds me of the staleness of my grandma's house. Verdict - Good news! It leveled out a bit the longer I had it on, eventually drying out into a faint and inoffensive floral. Also: my coworker tried this on herself and absolutely loved it. She said it smelled gentle and exquisite -- and on her it did. I'm bummed that this didn't work for me, but my loss is her gain. Shes absolutely enchanted by it, and I like it way more on her skin. This blend seems highly dependent on skin chemistry.

With tea leaf and cistus. This is fantastic. When I first spray it, my hair smells like fresh tangerine. The blast of zesty citrus lasts a good long while, and then slowly but surely morphs into something with a little more depth. If I make any sudden movements and my hair swishes around it's all fruity spiciness with a tang to it. Maybe that's cubeb? I'm not familiar with it. White ginger seems far more playful than its regular counterpart. I can definitely see myself wearing this at the park in the spring or at the beach in the summer months. Heck, I'd wear it to the beach today. Living in a coastal town means I will probably be reaching for this one quite a bit in the coming months.

Cascades of honeyed oudh. Blonde seems bright and bubbly and almost citrussy at first, but eventually settles into a really heady oudh. I sprayed this on my hair at lunch, and when I got back to work the other people in my office were sniffing around me and going "it smells like incense over here." Eek. I was expecting more of the honey sweetness -- something to remind me of a sunlit head of golden hair. This is more of a tousled Marilyn blonde. Not bad by any means; I just had to adjust my expectations. My boyfriend loved it. When we snuggled up, he told me how good I smelled and asked if I had changed shampoos. Nope, just wig spray! Long story short: I wouldn't wear this during the day again, but it's really sexy and I'm definitely keeping it.

In the bottle - Funky citrus. Wet - Oh crap. This is one of those blends. It's going into a weird "charred plastic" territory. Drydown - Worse. Washed it off. Not sure if it was the oudh or the saffron that offended, but I wasn't sticking around to find out. Verdict - This absolutely did not work for me, which is a shame because the description, notes, and reviews all sounded gorgeous.

In the bottle - ...Exotic, I guess? Weirdly, I’m not getting much on cold sniff... Wet - Wow. Holy crap, you guys. This is fantastic and unexpected. I don’t like cacao/chocolate, so I almost didn’t buy this. I’m really glad I did. It’s so gorgeously blended that my trouble notes (myrrh, cacao) aren’t shrieking at me. Drydown - A little more of the desert wind and myrrh. Less foodie and far less sweet. Noticeably drier than before. It smells like enchanted sand being blown in your face by a warm wind -- but in a sultry, sexy way. Verdict - This definitely feels related to The Small Brown Cat. If SBC is the warm ball of purring fur in your lap, this is the sensual woman from Shadow’s dream. I love the parallels and the storytelling at play here. I’m going to try wearing this for sexytimes.

In the bottle - Vanilla cedar. I love it already. Wet - My skin does wonderful things with cedar, and it’s happening now. The blend is getting sweeter by the second; it’s starting remind me a little of Amicitia, one of my favorite blends with sweet cedar. Where that one has a touch more greenery, this one has spice and vanilla. God, I’m loving this. This is the first time in a long time I’ve been so in love with a scent so quickly. Drydown - OK, there’s the fuzziness. It roars to the front for a few minutes and then the whole blend just purrs. "Nuzzly" was a great word for this. "Snuggly" also jumped to mind. Verdict - It feels like this scent was made for me. My skin loves it, and I feel peaceful and content when I sniff my wrist. It even reminds me of a vaguely cedar root beer float at times. Not quite Anti-Saloon League, but my nose thinks there’s a connection. I definitely see the Tombstone comparison. Amazingly rendered blend. Highly recommend.

A growling good time: the scent of grape and red cherry swirl ring pops, licorice whips, and a touch of vanilla cupcake frosting. In the bottle - Cherry syrup vibe. Grenadine for the win. Wet - It definitely smells wet. Like red gummy worms that you’ve sucked through your mouth spaghetti-style a few times. (C’mon, I can’t be the only one who did that.) Drydown - Slippery, sticky, wet lollipops. I’m getting a teensy bit more grape than cherry now, and the whole effect transports me back to when I’d spend all day running around with a wet Ring Pop on my finger. For some reason I expected the licorice whips to be black licorice, but if there IS licorice in the mix it’s definitely not the sharp anise smell that I’ve come to fear. No vanilla frosting to speak of. Verdict - I never did get any vanilla out of this blend, but it doesn’t matter. I can’t tell you how thrilled I am to have Papa Monster. It’s all childhood and happiness and sugar on me. I think I’ll have to get another bottle. *Edited for typos.

Gilded amber saffron, indigo chypre, pearled gardenia, blackcurrant, ylang ylang, frankincense, fir needle, and white patchouli. In the bottle - This is a doozy. There's a lot going on, and my poor nose is having a heck of a time trying to suss anything out. Definitely smells like the color green, but it's not a grassy-type "green perfume" if you get what I'm saying. Wet - Really well blended. Every time I put my nose to my wrist I'm smelling something different. A hint of floral here, a hint of sweetness there, a whiff of patchouli over there. It's giving me the sense of rushing water, but it's not an aquatic. And then, all of a sudden, it feels like I'm in a spring meadow. For a split second I'm eating a pastry, and then I'm walking in a garden. I don't know what to make of this, though I sure like it so far. I realize I'm giving the impression that it's a morpher, but it's not at all! It's just SO well blended that the tiniest little edge of a note will catch the light (or the nose) from one minute to the next. Drydown - Ooh, more of the amber-saffron is coming out. Not quite sure which, but it's golden for sure. Fir is one of the things I tend to amp, and I'm getting more of it now. It's not overpowering by any means. The softer components are tempering the notes that tend to go loud on my skin. I usually hate frankincense because it makes me stink to high heaven. Luckily, I can't even tell it's in here. Ditto on the patchouli, although that might just be because it's white patch. The longer I wear this the more I like it. Verdict - This may very well be a new favorite. It's interesting enough to keep me sniffing all day, and long-lasting enough to make that possible. Plus its mild sillage means it's OK for cubicle wear -- another bonus. So glad I blind bought this. Creation for the win.

Golden amber and dragon’s blood resin with champaca, honey, and macadamia nut. Downright delectable. All the notes in here are fantastic on their own, but damn do they sing as a group. Golden amber, usually the star of the show (and deservedly so) is in perfect harmony with the resin. The rich spiciness of the DB is counterbalanced by the creamy floral of the champaca, which in turn is buoyed by the nutty warmth of the macadamia. Honey is just the cherry on top, so to speak. This charming scent swept me off my feet.

White oak, pine pitch, and a shattered shard of golden amber. In the bottle - Gentle oak with a nip of pine about it. It’s foresty, but despite the pine it’s not a “cold” forest. Wet - Wow, that’s getting sharp. It feels like there’s something green in there, which doesn’t quite fit with the scent description. Maybe the white oak is throwing me? I think I've only tried blends with plain ol' oak in there. Except this scent doesn’t smell like a woodsy, freshly-chopped trees kinda green ... more like mossy rocks green. I don’t know what’s happening. I don’t like it as much as I did in the bottle, but this isn’t a dealbreaker. Drydown - Ahh, THERE it is. Amber saves the day. Everything evened out and I’m quite pleased with where it ended up. If I had to sum it up, I guess I’d say golden woods in the family of Haloes? But that's not quite it. If Haloes smells like a sunlight-dappled grove, King Pursued would be a forest where all the trees are gilded with gold leaf. There, that's the best I can do. Verdict - King Pursued has an elegance befitting its name. I’m cuckoo for woodsy scents, so this was right up my alley. This unicorn has definitely earned a spot in my stable of staples.

If at midnight with a pumpkin light, You steal to your room unseen, In the mirror appears the face, Of your lover true on Hallowe'en Pumpkin seeds and candle wax. Yes please! I'm definitely in the Halloween mood, and this hits the spot. Not in a spooky way, though. Pumpkinholics like myself would likely find it comforting. It's very soft and unobtrusive. The pumpkin-wax combo reminds me a liiiiittle bit of a craft store candle, but it's so much better than that. The pumpkin smells like the same one from Gourd of Deprivation -- not too buttery, not too vegetable-ish, just enough spice. I can see this being a staple for the rest of this season.

White musk, cypress, Italian bergamot, pink peppercorn, clary sage, white sandalwood, and terebinth. These are all notes that I go apeshit over, so beware that I'm biased. It smells like the very best day you could ever have at a secluded cabin on a mountain ridge. It's clean and a touch herbal, yet still light on its feet. Fresh. Almost like a damn breeze is blowing through the scent. It's uncanny. I don't meditate at all, but this is the kind of thing that makes me want to. It just clears everything else away. Ozone gives me an insta-headache, and this manages to give me the "wide open spaces" feel without the migraine. I would love it for that alone, but it really and truly won me over.

Peach and orange blossom with amber, apricot, red pepper, cistus, lime, white musk, and vanilla. Renoir was a surprise disappointment for me, since I like most of its components individually -- with the exclusion of red pepper, which is (naturally) the only thing I can smell. I find myself actually wrinkling up my nose in distaste. It's very very heavy out of the bottle, though it fades somewhat after things dry down a bit. Unfortunately it doesn't die down enough, and I just can't get a handle on the rest of the blend through the red pepper fog. To be fair, I'm getting over a cold ... but there is still no situation where this would be a winner for me or on me. As an avowed pepper hater, I should have known better. My bad. Edit: Re-sniffed without the hindrance of a stuffy nose. There's more peach this time around (which improves it significantly), but ultimately I'm still not the biggest fan of Renoir.

White chocolate with thirteen luck boosting elements: pomegranate pulp, red mandarin, five-finger grass, stephanotis blossom, star jasmine, pink carnation, white chamomile, irish moss, Jamaican ginger, acorn blossom, a pinch of sweet basil, a drop of peppermint, and strawberry juice. Fair warning: I've been sick the last week or so, and I'm still a bit sniffly. I hope my impressions aren't too far off the mark, but I wanted to post something because I know folks are always anxious for reviews -- especially when it's a scent like 13 with a limited window of availability. In the bottle - Alllllll white chocolate. Maybe some pomegranate in the back if I sniff hard. Wet - Oh, wow. This is so crisp it's almost minty. Something sharp and fresh -- chamomile? ginger? -- is taking the lead, with a beautiful dollop of assorted florals right behind it. Jasmine haters, take note: the star jasmine is not acting up here. The white chocolate note goes a bit plasticky on me (as usual), but it's so short-lived that I don't mind. Drydown - Ah, now there's some fruit. White chocolate has disappeared almost completely at this point, which leaves room for a delicate sweetness. It's hard to pick out anything in particular. There's the friendliness of the carnation, the recognizable sweet-tart of the pomegranate, and a gentle twist of peppermint that is FAR lighter than you'd expect. It really is just a drop of the peppermint. Even though I can't get much more specific, I can tell you that this is a peppy and invigorating blend. I expect it will be one of those instant-good-mood scents for a lot of people. Verdict - When I sniffed this in the bottle, I thought it'd go straight to swaps. I'm glad I gave it a shot. It's happy and soothing and uplifting all at once. Exactly what I want from a Friday the 13th blend. Bonus points for the creative "shattered mirror" label art.

Mod Note on review topic location: From BPAL's FB page: "...our con exclusives include a set of brand new Wig Sprays (in the style of our atmo/linen sprays)..." A glittering cloud of cotton candy and rhinestone white musk. First thing I did was unscrew the cap and stick my sniffer in the bottle to see if it was, indeed, the cotton candiest. It did not disappoint. There was a juicy fruity vibe in the bottle that took on a more crystalline quality when sprayed. There wasn't much else going on with the scent at that point, so I carried on with my day until I got a sudden noseful of ... don't kill me for saying this, but ... pink. It was just a soft, sweet, pleasant pinkness. If I hadn't already known the notes, there's no way I would've been able to pick them out. It actually took a minute to figure out that it was the Pink that smelled so damn good. It's not that it morphed, exactly -- more like the components were given the time and space to finish blending together completely. Catching whiffs of this at random intervals really brightened my day, and that's exactly what I want from a scent. I have a feeling I will be enjoying this one quite a bit in the spring and summer months.

In the imp - Innocently sweet. Wet - So pretty. Not a high-pitched obnoxious kind of sweet, but rounded and substantial. Drydown - I did NOT except to love this as much as I do. Anytime Beth mixes florals with this kind of sweetness, it's like friggin' catnip to me. And the berry wine on top is just perfection. I wish I had more to say, but my nose is glued to my arm and it's kind of hard to type that way. Verdict - Please sir, can I have some more?

In the imp - Wow, that’s intense. And definitely very plummy. Wet - It’s getting plummier. How is there this much plum? I can tell it’s tussling with the blackcurrant, but the plum is definitely winning. Yowza. Drydown - Jeez. Plum refuses to back down from center stage, but there are finally some other characters in the background. I’m getting wisps of the florals now, and the blackcurrant is still hanging around. No tea, thankfully. That’s hit-or-miss on me. Verdict - I wanted to love this but I just can't. If you like plum, OHMYGODBUYTHISNOW. If you’re not completely gung-ho on plum, look elsewhere.

In the imp - Vetiver is a death note on me, but thankfully I don't smell it here. Wet - Oh gawsh. So good!! I love how slap-you-in-the-face sweet this is, and I hope it stays this way for a while. Drydown - I'm guessing the ylang-ylang is doing the same thing that it did in Love and Sleep (another Luper from 2014) -- it comes in and makes everything all swirly silken sweetness and then recedes on drydown. Ah, well. It's still a lovely scent. Mostly strawberries and creamy vanilla. If I didn't know there was citrus in here, I wouldn't have guessed it. And no hint of the vetiver, mercifully. Goes a little plasticky on me toward the very end, but it's so faded by that point that it doesn't really matter. Verdict - I adore this when I first put it on, but it loses points with me as the sweetometer drops. Probably good I didn't get a bottle.

In the imp - A little odd. I'll give it a shot. Wet - Wow, that's a lot of lavender. Too bad. I was really hoping the rest of it wouldn't get eaten by lavender, which always amps to high hell on me. Drydown - The lavender has settled down a bit, but it's still the predominant note and I kind of have to sniff around it to get at the others. (Not a pun.) There's a bit more sweetness as it wears on, and I definitely get the sense of being outside in harvest season. It's fairly lovely, actually. Takes about half an hour to get to an acceptable point for me, and another twenty or so before I start to really like it. Somewhere along the way it went a bit anise on me, but maybe that's just my chemistry. At any rate, that stage passed quickly. At this point (2 hours in), it has faded a touch but is really divine. I'm definitely getting the sense of fall. Thanks, hay. Verdict - This blend reminds me a lot of A Moment in Time, but not really scent-wise. Just in the sense that they both have domineering French lavender at the outset but then eventually settle into a beautiful place that evokes the outdoors. Heartbreaking, since I don't tend to be patient enough to wait through notes I don't particularly like. I'll keep my imp, but I doubt I'll need a bottle.

The scent of fallow fields, faraway conflagrations consuming dry, parched grasses, and crops failing under the relentless heat of a dying sun. Last year's Gourd of Deprivation atmo was one of my all-time favorites, so this was a no-brainer when I saw the new Weenies. It doesn't disappoint. I've been spraying the atmo for almost a year now, and this hair gloss holds up against the original blend. Oh man, I can't tell you how wonderful it is to finally be able to spray this chai pumpkin tea scent in my hair! It's got the same qualities I loved about its predecessor: sweet spices, cozy pumpkin, and the feel of gentle sunshine on a hayfield. Reminds me of harvest season back home when the wind picks up loose bits of dry grass and swirls around a bit. I finally feel like fall has arrived. This hair gloss will not disappoint you.

Myrrh incense and olive blossom drifting over peaches roasted in honeyed wine, cumin, and mint. This. Is. Fantastic. It was a last-minute impulse addition to my order, and I'm SO glad I threw it in. I usually avoid anything with the word incense, but this is heavenly. Takes me right back to a summer I spent in Greece. The olive groves, a whiff of incense on the breeze, and the overall atmosphere of late-night outdoor dining. I'm almost getting beeswax in here too, but I suppose that's just the honey? (Or me imagining tapers on the dinner table. One of the two.) My god, but this is good. It walks the line between sweet and savory with incredible skill, and I find I desperately want more of it. This will be used with fondness in the colder winter months when my heart needs a bit of summer and sunshine and maybe a little European nostalgia.

Inspired by Southern Conjure, this imp was crafted with herbs and flowers that are traditionally used to stimulate a burst of good fortune and a shower of prosperity. Let's keep passing tokens of shining luck and good cheer forward! Lift each other up, and brighten our futures together! In the imp - Is that rosemary I smell? Wet - Well hello, lemon. This is an herbal citrus scent on me. I can't smell any of the herbs individually because they're all soaked in lemon. It's a little Pledge-like, but not in a bad way. Drydown - The citrus has dried out a bit, and now my whole arm smells like thick, juicy lemon squares. It's activating my sweet tooth. And there's juuuust a touch of herbal in the background. Not really enough to notice, but perfect for cutting through the sweet-sharp of the lemon and making it a wearable blend. It gets dirtier/earthier a couple hours in. Verdict - I tend to amp lemon. Someone who doesn't might have more success with this oil. I'm really glad I tested it in the morning; this is definitely a daytime scent. While I found it perfectly pleasant, I won't be trying to track down more. That's probably for the best since Seven Herbs Charm was a one-off.

Pale golden musk, honeycomb, amber, parma violet, hawthorne bark, aspen leaf, forest lily, life everlasting, white moss, and a hint of wild berry. This is everything I wanted it to be and then some. Aspen is effing magical, you guys. The evergreen aspect of this scent makes it very winter-appropriate, but who am I kidding? I’m wearing this sucker year-round. Can't. Get. Enough. On the surface, it’s a simple and sophisticated sweet-forest-woods scent: honeyed amber and golden musk eating berries in the forest. But DAMN, y’all. There’s a rich complexity here that really blooms once it hits my hair and I can’t even put it into words. Yeah, the gloss does everything it’s supposed to and all that ... but O! the dreamlike brilliance that is Elf! Golden and ethereal and haunting and magical. It’s the comfortable stillness of walking through an ancient forest resplendent with dewy fairy flowers and a swirl of sweet honey and berries in the air. It's absolutely enchanting, and I’m sorely tempted to sell every other hair gloss I own to make room for more of this. If Elf disappears quickly on your skin or you enjoy scents like Fae Forest, try the perfection that is Elf hair gloss.

I'm not a huge fan of Antikythera in perfume form, as tobacco is a problem note for me. I do LOVE the rest of the notes though, so I bought this hoping that a hair gloss would help circumvent the nasty "tobacco vs. my skin chemistry" ordeal. Not so. I really wanted to smell like oak and teak and vanilla, but I mostly just smell smoky. Like I've spent the evening at a bonfire. Sigh.

In the bottle - Sweet ginger musk. Wet - The spiciness jumps out at me. This is now GINGER. Also some heavy-hitting clove to back it up. Drydown - I know what this is. It’s ginger beer. Effervescent, not-quite-sweet, and VERY ginger-clove. Go drink a bottle of Reed’s Ginger Beer if you want to know what this smells like. It’s STRONG. Not strong in sillage, but that’s OK. Verdict - I was really excited for this one since brown sugar blends are always champions of my skin chemistry. Unfortunately, the sugar and vanilla didn’t make much of an appearance on me. If anything, it was more like molasses. If you’re looking for a more delicious and reserved ginger, allow me to point you toward Brahmin or Gingerbread Poppet.