archaesophilia

Holy moly, this is a close relation to Cave of Treasures! It's a little sweeter and creamier, but otherwise it's really showing why dragon's blood blends sometimes read as lilac. So happy I got a bottle of this!

Amber, fig, vanilla flower, oak, patchouli, vetiver, dragons blood resin, leather, and neroli. I haven't smelled the perfume version of this, but the hairgloss has rapidly become one of my favorites! This is a very sophisticated blend-reminiscent of "Yet, She Persisted" from last year in that it has a patchouli/fig base-yet, entirely it's own thing. The fig/patchouli fade and blend with the woodiness of the oak and the sweetness of the dragon's blood, amber, and neroli, balanced by the vetiver and grounded by the leather. It doesn't have a huge throw when applied on wet hair, but an extra spritz when it's dried makes it more long-lasting. This is one that lasts through the day and renews itself when whetted in the next shower even after a shampoo.

I'm sitting here with original eve on one wrist and WSFU on the other and they are both amazing! The original is more rose/honey/incense, but the sage is amping to incense/herbal/honey. The sage is definitely adding a depth and a richness that isn't present in the more ethereal original.

Wow! I wasn't sure what to expect with this, but it turns out that it's a summery version of Sanguinem Menstruum! It's a bit of a morpher; sometimes it's more fruity, sometimes it's more floral, sometimes bloody! But overall, it's a lighter version of sang, so if you were scared away by how heavy that one is, you should give this a try.

In the bottle and wet it's dry, sharpish lavender over caramel. The lavender quickly mellows and blends in, followed by the caramel. After an hour or so the other notes start to come out, and a couple of hours after application it's a close to the skin, really well balanced, classic lace scent. It's a very demure lace compared to Emerald and Solstice, more along the lines of antique lace.

This is from the new run. Eve isn't a stand out in the bottle, but really blossoms and comes alive on the skin! For me, it is a gorgeous rose, herbal, incense over honey. It's a nearly perfect scent for a honey and incense lover, which I am. It doesn't throw a lot, and I found that it doesn't last all day. This is a really gorgeous, femininely powerful, scent and I'm thrilled that I got to try it!

I wish this worked better on me than it does; I can barely give a good review, because my hair just eats it, which has never happened with a hair gloss on me before. Initially, I mostly get the sharp florals of the lily and wisteria, with maybe a hint of something behind? Then by the time my hair dries, it's gone. Alas, I'll have to pass this to someone who can appreciate it.

This one of those blends that's so well done that it's hard to pick individual notes out-the honey musk is gorgeous, and the apricot is the musky side of apricot, the rose is a sharper, spicier variety, and the amber seems to be the glue that holds them all together! Wonderful!

This is my perfect spring floral blend; all lilac and roses, nothing too sharp, nothing too fruity, just sweet new blooms! Paired with Cave of Treasures from last year, and I'm in lilac heaven!

This is...a warm spiced cookie you eat while wearing a wool sweater. The grass note fades after just a few seconds, and what is left is all baked goods and comfort-I'm guessing that the ivory fang interacting with the cardamom? Not exactly the musky, doggy scent I was hoping for, but definitely nice!

This took...2 weeks to settle? Something like that. For a while, I was worried that I'd have to pass this by as a purely high note floral, but I tested again last night and it's starting to come good! It's a surprising scent-the notes made me (and others) think it was going to be a chewy, plummy, earthy kind of thing, but in reality it's...more like the thin ribbon of smoke floating above aristocratic prostitutes. Definitely floral dominant for the first 4 hours or so with moderate throw, then it fades in to a close to the skin smokey poppy. The sweet patchouli modulates the jasmine in a really, really interesting way. This is one to put away and age for a year, and then probably regret only getting one bottle.

This is a gorgeous, chewy (without, somehow, being gourmand) blend! The notes balance wonderfully. The vetiver and myrrh keep the current and cream from being too sweet, which in turn temper the sharpness of the vetiver. Not a ton of throw, but it has decent staying power. I'll keep the bottle, but I don't think I need a spare.

On the spectrum of SO wearers, I'm the tricky kind; only Womb Furie acts like it should AND has staying power. Even regular SO vanishes within the first half hour. So, every time there's an SO blend (and there are so many!) I have the hope that it will at least rival Womb Furie in how it lasts/reacts to my skin chemistry. This starts out a super chewy, delicious patch/dragon's blood/honey SO and then...Poof. By the hour mark, all that is left is powdery dragon's blood and faint traces of the rest. I was really lucky to get a bottle of this, so I'll keep and age it for a year and then re-asses, but I'll keep looking forward to other blends (and buy another back up of Womb Furie. Look, a woman can never have too much, can she?).

I get a whiff of sweet almond when this is wet, and then it's gone. The rest is a lovely, close to the skin, rosy incense.

I don't get a huge grass hit with this at first; instead it's allll green congac and lace. The grass comes out a bit more once the booze burns off a little, along with the tobacco and rue. To me, this smells like a green papered victorian room-all rich cognac, tobacco, and vanilla. Another hit!

This is almost a dupe for Flickering Lantern from the 2017 Lupers, except it has the dusty patchouli instead of purple rose. I found that Flickering Lantern was aggressively sweet initially, but a year of aging made it my favorite shunga from 2017. I'm hopeful that Dalliances by Candlelight's honey will also mellow to bring the patchouli out more. Definitely a winner! If you were scared off Flickering Lantern because of the rose, you should give this a shot.

I have to agree with the first review; this is what I wanted Vanilla Orchid SN to be! This is a lovely green, spring floral. The green character in it is reminding me of Venus Verticordia. This will be excellent when spring hits in a month or so!

It took a few tries to really understand this blend; it morphs as much as the eclipse it is named for! It starts out as herbal-fruity-sharp, then fruity musk, then musk with a clarifying juniper and sage. It is lovely.

This is an amazingly balanced patchouli! I haven't found a patch scent as sophisticated since Nasty Woman. The rose and myrrh balance out the patch and vetiver in a way that I wish all patch and vetiver could be smoothed out, and the vanilla and ambrette lurk underneath. Velvety darkness is exactly what this is.

I had a tin of tea a few years ago from the republic of tea, I think it was called Desert Sage? Or something. This dries down to smell exactly what that tea tasted like with honey. There is a quite sharp note at the beginning, but after an hour or so it settles down. Very little throw on this one, and I thought it faded quickly. This is a comforting, hopeful scent.

This dries down to a sharper patchouli-floral than I was hoping for. It's very well blended, and very nice! It just has that bite on the back end that patchouli can have. I was hoping the musks and fruit would balance that out more, but this'll be one to age and revisit to see if they do after a while.

The Lady of the Graveyard! Autumn leaves, wild roses, bourbon vanilla, dry chamomile, and a bouquet of bright chrysanthemums and Mexican marigolds. It took me a few minutes, but eventually I realized what this reminds me of-STRONGLY-which is Harvest Moon 2013, the one with the roses and leaves. Sniffing them side by side, HM13 is a simpler, more grounded scent, while the florals of La Calavera Catrina are more complex (obviously, because there are more of them) and it's a little more herbal like other people have mentioned. I think this is going to age really well; hopefully the leaves note will mellow a bit with time like HM13. Definitely a keeper!

I discovered how much I like red musk recently enough that I never got around to sniffing this scent directly from the lab or otherwise. I voted for this iteration in the lunacy, and then happened to be making another purchase when it was available so I took a chance on it, knowing that someone would gladly claim it if it didn't work on me. I am so glad I did! The red musk and patchouli leaf and fruits are so perfectly balanced! I didn't jump on it when it appeared at the lab because I don't like fruit scents that much, but this is something where the sum far exceeds the parts. The gloss is also highly scented-it lasts well into the next day.

This is a really lovely sandalwood/rose scent. Unlike Frau bei der Selbstbefriedigung Bath Oil a couple years ago, it doesn't instantly make one think of skin so soft, which is a good thing! The honey and sugarcane notes really elevate the scent, I think this is the snow/honey note from one of the lupers bath oils from last year.

This is very honey/honeysuckle forward, with the sage and lilies coming in as a whiff second. I was hoping for a more sagey scent, but this is still quite nice; a refined version of the honeysuckle single note. Not a ton of throw, faded out after a couple hours of wear.