captainecchi

I can't recall how I came across this decant - it might have been included as a freebie in a decant circle. In any case, this thin, clear oil does just what it says on the tin. The primary impression is indeed one of sugary mint, like a candy cane. The mint fades down fast (I find the pepperment lotion I layered it with much more lasting); a few hours later the prominent impression on my wrists is a warm, sugary vanilla-like scent. Verdict: Good for seasonal usage (some days--like today--you just need peppermint!), but nothing spectacular. 2 out of 5.

This is one of the few of this year's Shungas I've enjoyed. Very fruity out of the decant and fresh on my skin - I would have guessed cherries, but I'm guessing that's the quince and mandarin. It seems to die down quickly, like many fruit notes do on my skin, but the honey and vanilla pick up the slack. The tobacco seems to be adding a dry, leafy note, almost like tea. Overall: It's a warm, drunken scent, but not quite like any of the other drunken scents I like (Hellcat, Smut, etc) - very nice.

This decant is from Lycanthrope's Misk Valentine decant circle. In the decant: a dazzling chocolate raspberry scent. It reminds me of raspberry jelly rings that I love so very much. On my skin, wet: the apricot comes out, a little - there's a fruity note there that doesn't seem like raspberries. There's a certain booziness to it at this point - I'm guessing the cordial aspect of the apricot. On my skin, dry: This takes a long time to dry down, and stays intense throughout drydown, which surprised me. There's something about the base note of chocolate - in this, and throughout the collection - that serves as a fixative for this scent, which is great, because fruit notes don't usually last long on me. Anyway, wafting I still get the raspberry jelly ring impression, but close to my skin it's a more mellow apricot. Verdict: Lovely! I like it about as much as, or a little bit more than White Chocolate, Strawberry & White Pepper. We'll see how it plays out into spring and summer.

I received this decant in Lycanthrope's Miskatonic Valentine decant circle. This is all chocolate and strawberry on me - the chocolate note is more subtle than other BPAL chocolates, and the strawberry reminds me of dried strawberries. The white pepper doesn't seem noticeable. I was amazed by the staying power of this blend, as fruity smells don't usually last on me, but I could still smell strawberries 12 hours later with this one. Verdict: You have to really like strawberries to wear this all day. I'm fond of it, but I'll be interested to see how often I reach for it through spring and summer.

I received a decant of this is meaganola's Dark Delicacies decant circle. This is a wonderful plummy honey scent. There are florals right out of the gate - the carnation note is not terribly strong - but they fade rather quickly. In time the plum fades, too, leaving only the honey. This particular combination reminds me a lot of Blood Countess, actually. I imagine this will layer very well with the other Blacks! Also think it will layer with the Sugared She-Goat Chocolatier scent my husband was wearing that day (Milk Chocolate, Coconut, Cardamom, and Rum).

In the decant: I get similar notes to Black Lace - fruity and a little boozy. On my skin, wet: The fruitiness fades, and it quickly becomes a very pleasant, woodsy mix of sandalwood, patchouli, and amber. There's a little smokiness there, too - thank you, tobacco. It actually reminds me of a balsam-y incense I had as a teenager. I can't really smell the clove, but it makes itself apparent by giving me contact dermatitis on my neck. Grr. Clearly I'll have to put more lotion on when I wear this one. On my skin, dry: This dries astonishingly quickly into a gentler version of the above. I was actually expecting more throw and lasting power from something with so many powerful base notes, but it's not overwhelming. Verdict: So far, I like - it's one of the better woodsy scents I've tried, and the patchouli is quite well behaved. If I layered the three Blacks, I imagine this would be the base note, with Black Lace providing the heart notes. (Still haven't tried Black Heart - that's next).

Just a few limited notes on this: fruity and boozy wet; as it dries, the vanilla warms up. After a few hours, it's all vanilla musk. Not unpleasant, but not terribly memorable. I'm eager to see how this layers with the other Blacks.

I received a decant of this as a gift from my forum-pal Rocza In the decant: I never thought I'd have to use the words "aquatic chocolate," but that is indeed what this is. On my skin (wet and dry - they don't seem to differ much): the chocolate simmers down a little, and a briny, salty, smoky note joins it. I get occasional whiffs of something a little unpleasant, almost like wet dog. Which seems... appropriate. Verdict: Um... I have no idea what to think of this blend. One minute I like it; the next I don't. It will require some more extensive testing.

In the imp: A dry, musty wood. Cypress, I'm guessing. It's very faint. On my skin, wet: Almost as soon as it hits my skin, the florals really bloom. I would describe them as white, aquatic florals - my first thought was lily-of-the-valley, so I see I'm not far off. On my skin, dry: This is really intensely LILY. There's my skin, amping florals again! Close to my skin, it's a little sour and unpleasant, but wafting it's fine. There's a little something spicy there, too. Verdict: I'm pleasantly surprised. This is both one of the better aquatics and florals I've tried. (I'm not a huge fan of the families, overall). It's refreshing, like stepping into a green house. As I've said in other threads, I'm looking for more summer scents to wear, so this is potentially a candidate; we'll see how often I reach for it.

This was a frimp in my last Lab purchase! In the decant: Fruity-sweet - definitely sparkly or bubbly. In fact, it reminds me a little of Nerds candies Without looking at the description, I would have pegged it as cherry, but on noting the melon and champagne grapes, that's very clearly what I'm smelling. On my skin, wet: The bubbliness gets more intense - yay champagne grapes. I am not getting much of the mint. Thankfully, I'm also not getting much of the lemon balm, which tends to overpower other notes. I am pleasantly surprised with how unique this smell is - it doesn't remind me much of any other BPAL. On my skin, dry: Unfortunately, most of the beautiful notes in this are top notes, so they fade rather quickly on my skin. I'm left with a sweetly resinous base note, almost like vanilla sugar. Verdict: I like this one. It's a keeper. I want to add more light, summery scents to my collection, so we'll have to see how often I reach for this one.

I get aniseed from Mother Shub's Pfancy Pfefferneusse. It's LE, but you should be able to find it in the sales/swaps forums pretty easily, since it just came down.

Man, I love One Piece! I have to give this a shot. Zoro wouldn't be caught dead wearing any perfume but his own manly, manly musk, of course. So I definitely recommend something very earthy and musky. Off the top of my head? Al-Azif or Brown Jenkin. Black Pearl's another good one, and somewhat in theme. Sanji can run towards foppish, so I definitely see him splashing on a little aftershave or something. Jolly Roger? Vicomte de Valmont as a runner up. And any fragrance for Nami has to include oranges of some sort, right? Akuma might be good for that, or Blood Countess.

In the decant: A woody, grainy apple. On my skin, wet: This really warms up on my skin. Almost immediately the grainy note become boozy, which I assume is the ale. The spices start to come out at this point, too. They definitely remind me of mulling spices - think cinnamon and cloves. Thankfully, not enough to burn my wrists. The milk notes seems to be missing, or at least very subtle - which is a relief, since milk notes tend to go sour on me. On my skin, dry: After about a half-hour this is basically mulled cider on my wrist. This scent ultimately doesn't have a lot of throw, but it does have more staying power than I expected. Verdict: I like it! I definitely see keeping the decant and using it for seasonal purposes. Don't think I'll be tracking down a bottle, however.

In the decant: Hm. Not smelling much pumpkin here (or at least not the buttery pumpkin note I think of in Jack). A dry, woody, dirty smell predominates - the pitch or the fir needles? - backed by a sort of vegetable note - it makes me think of the dusty smell of carrots or parsnips. On my skin, wet: The rosemary starts to come out, and the vegetable note becomes more prominent. It reminds me a little of Aizen-Myoo, which I'm guessing is the persimmon note in that matching up with the tomato note in here. I agree with whoever called this a fall garden smell. On my skin, dry: This dries down very fast, and doesn't seem to change much in the process, although the rosemary fades a bit. I can see where this does turn an eensy bit soapy, as other reviewers noted, but it never fully becomes so. Overall, I appreciate the uniqueness of this blend, and I can see myself getting some seasonal use out of it. It's a keeper!

Just wanted to add, for those who might be sad that Loviatar is going away, that I find The High Priest Not to Be Described to be very similar. I also find Azathoth and The Music of Erich Zahn to be similar, although Azathoth is a... grittier scent? I think it's the vetiver...

I'm always wary of lemon or lemongrass notes, because on my skin they have a tendency to drown out anything else in a blend, and then disappear, leaving nothing in their wake. But I decided to give this one a try, because I'm always curious about metallic notes, and because the seller I bought this from was selling other Phoenixes I was more eager to try. In the decant: Oh, hello there, Mr. Herbal McLemon. On my skin, wet: First impression: lemon sherbets, Dumbledore's favorite candy. Second impression: Ricola Honey & Echinacea cough drops. Reminds me a bit of Old Man Ackerman's Instructional Toys, which I tried recently. On my skin, dry: Going, going... gone. In a pale yellow pouf of lemon scent, but gone no less. Verdict: Yeah, lemon is still a.... lemon, on me. Sigh. I'll probably try this again when my sinuses calm down from whatever they're on about right now, because hope springs eternal. But I foresee a swap in the future, nonetheless.

So I've discovered, as others before me have, that a croquembouche is a fancy French dessert made out of profiteroles. I should know that, as I've lived in France, but I didn't. In the decant: Almond, something fruity, and something almost dusty. Wet, on my skin: The almond disappears, and the fruity note takes center stage. It is an intense, grape-y, boozy note, like the wine in Madrid. Why is this in here? Did someone slip me a decant of Suck It by mistake? Is this the caramel, and I'm just totally failing at identifying notes? Dry, on skin: Same thing - intensely boozily, woozily fruity. Of course, since it's lasted more than a nanosecond on my skin, maybe it's not a fruit note at all. Yeah, I have no idea what's going on with this scent. I don't love it, or even like it very much, though. I'll see how it smells on my husband, but I'm leaning towards swapping this one away. ETA: Very, very dry on skin - like, 6 hours later - this is starting to smell like something I like. Namely, Hellcat. Maybe I should let this one age before I pass judgment on it.

I swear I must be channeling MamaMoth's review, because my first thoughts on opening the imp were that this was an astringent floral, tinged with citrus. Or in other words, lemon dish soap. I really wish I could do this scent more justice, but it does nothing for me.

This is a complex, tricky scent! In the decant: Woody and resinous, with a touch of citrus. I assume the wood is the sandalwood, the resin is amber, and the citrus is the sweet orange. Wet, on my skin: Every time I sniff this, I get something different. (Of course, this could be my stuffed nose from my allergies playing tricks on me). At first, I get a chocolate-orange scent, reminiscent of Vice. Then, trying it again, I get a scent that reminds me of Anne Bonny - probably the mix of the sandalwood and patchouli. I'm not sure I could pick out the cardamom or the apricot - but then, those notes usually escape me. I'm surprised the rose is MIA - usually I amp rose like crazy. Dry, on my skin: This has dried down to honey and an almost commercial-perfume note - perhaps the amber (I'm not sure I could isolate amber). This is a sort of unisex scent, maybe slightly masculine. Verdict: It's okay; not great. They're all notes that work on me, but they don't do anything special together - and I already have perfumes with all these notes. Might or might not keep the decant; definitely don't need a bottle.

This is the resurrected version, for reference. In the decant: Mint and a strong, bitter green scent. On my skin, wet: I realize the mint IS the strong, bitter green scent. It's so intense it smells almost like sage to my nose. Overall it reminds me of the savory smell of herbs being sauteed in butter. There's a touch of a coconut, too, and my husband swears he can smell the cocoa, but I don't. On my skin, dry: Now this is has calmed down to the smell of a buttery cookie, with only a spritz of mint. In this stage it reminds me a bit of Mother Shub's Pfancy Pfefferneusse. I'm surprised by how little throw and staying power it has, however - a couple of hours after application, I can only really smell it if I huff at my wrists. I also have a bit of Mason & Jenkin's Port Jelly from yesterday left on my coat, rubbing against my wrist, and from that I conclude that these two might layer nicely together! Verdict: Nice enough for a decant, but I have other, similar smells with more staying power that I would prefer over this one.

The name of this scent refers to the HPL story The Dreams in the Witch-House, which involves a witch named Keziah Mason and her familiar Brown Jenkin, a rat with the face of a man. The protagonist of the story meets a, uh, bloody end to these two. I'm a little dubious about the ingredients of such a "port jelly," as a result In the decant: Fruity! Specifically, I'd say raspberry or cranberry. It could be the red currant that some of the reviews note. Definitely "red and sticky." I understand the comparison to Swedish fish or gummi bears! On my skin, wet: Now a musky note starts to come out. In this, it reminds me a little of Tweedledum (which is fruit + patchouli). I'm not sure I ever get the booze, unless this is it. On my skin, dry: The fruit softens but doesn't disappear - which is rare for me, because my skin eats fruit notes for breakfast. The bottom note - musk or patchouli or whatever it is - is well behaved. Pleasant. Verdict: The decant is a keeper, but I don't think the scent is unique enough that I need a bottle.

I'm trying not to read the previous reviews for this one (because I feel like it affects my sniffer), and failing miserably. Oh well. In the decant: At first sniff, I get a whole lot of difficult-to-parse impressions. There's something spicy, something incense/resin-y, something sweet and something floral. Hard to put my finger on specific notes, though. On skin, wet: Ugh, baby powder. It reminds me of what Queen of Sheba turns into on me, so I'm concluding that there's a similar note there - almond, I think. Likewise, I think the spice is probably either cinnamon or clove, which are both probably in QoS. On skin, drying: Just as I'm about to write this one off, however, it starts to warm up nicely. The baby powder is still present really close to my skin, but there's a nice, warm sweetness wafting from my wrist and chest that reminds me of the almond milk note I like in Eden. Maybe this is the sweet creaminess some of the reviews talk about? Some reviews identified a carnation note in this. I'm not sure I have a good enough handle on carnations to notice that. Likewise, I could see there being an amber or another resin, but I'm not 100% sure of that. On skin, dry: Sweet, creamy, slightly spicy almond and carnation(?) that's just on the brink of going powdery, but not quite. I'd almost call it a foody smell for people who don't like gourmand scents. Verdict: I'm pleasantly surprised by this one. I think I'll keep the imp around, and consider a bottle. I love it when I find new notes to try!

In the imp: I smell nuts (hazelnuts, presumably), something sweet (honey, presumably), and a touch of something fruity (the berry notes). On wet: The hazelnut note predominates. It reminds me a lot of the Irish coffee note in Misk U, but without all the booziness. Wafting I get the berries and honey notes in waves. The berries honestly smell more apple-y to me than anything else. Dry: About 30-40 minutes after applying it, the honey really starts to come out as the scent warms up. I can kind of see how some people consider honey notes to go plastic-y on them; this one hovers on that edge but never crosses it on me. Unfortunately, the scent quickly becomes the All-Honey Show, to the exclusion of the other tasty notes in this. Verdict: I might or might not keep the decant. Not a bottle purchase. Sad, really. I had high hopes for this one.

I've been thinking about this lately, because I'm very picky with florals. A lot of notes like rose and gardenia amp up to something dreadful on me (see Mata Hari, Sacred Whore of Babylon); and there's also the dreaded "I smell just like my mom's perfume" smell. (Shadow Witch Orchid and Opium Poppy come to mind). But I do like to have summery scents! And right now the only one I really have is Nemesis, which I'm surprised hasn't been mentioned on this thread yet! Its stated notes are "Cypress, ginger, fig, dried rose, red patchouli, tonka bean and cyclamen," so it's really a surprise that it works on me, because 1) rose and 2) patchouli. But to me it has a wonderful fresh, aquatic smell to it, like walking under a waterfall, or into a room where someone's been showering. I also like Ultraviolet (violet and mint) and should really pick up a bottle one of these days. And I'm scolding myself for trading away Amsterdam.

This scent is pretty straightforward: it reminds me of a brownie, fresh out of the oven, or Mexican hot chocolate. Or Mexican hot chocolate brownies (which my husband makes - mmmm, they're good)! This one doesn't morph much on my skin, hence the lack of a detailed, multi-part review. It's chocolate, sugar, and cinnamon all the way down, although the cinnamon fades quicker than the chocolate. I'm not sure I could pick out a distinct coffee note, but I suspect it blends supremely well with the chocolate. Verdict: It's delicious, obviously. Is it bottle-delicious? I dunno. I love gourmand scents, but there have been so many foodie Yule scents that I'd have a hard time picking my favorite. I'd probably choose Mother Shub's Pfancy Pfefferneusse or Spiced Lait de Chevre over this one, but it's definitely in my top three.