Soupy Twist

Sour herb? in the bottle and on application. It smells greasy, if that's a thing. Clearly wild bergamot disagrees with me. I mean really disagrees; this smells like puke for about half a minute. Eventually the fog of vomit clears and the lovely, delicate apricot from Katharina appears, and that's where it stays, mercifully. The gross wet stage is over very quickly — less than five minutes. So big thumbs up on the finish if you can get past the opener. The beautiful apricot stays like 10 hours, although it doesn't have much throw.

oh, this is yummy. Strawberry Kool-Aid powder in the bottle. Goes on as baby aspirin, but that very quickly matures into a gorgeous blood orange/vanilla blend. It's a wee bit powdery, but very little. Mostly it's the most sophisticated creamsicle you've ever smelled. Might be worth a bottle depending on how long it lasts.

In the bottle: blood orange with oh no, incense! Goes on as baby aspirin which briefly morphs into something pungent — osmanthus, maybe? The baby aspirin returns, with a powdery overlay, and this sort of matures and sours into orange candy powder, like a Sour Straw. This isn't too bad, but then the tobacco comes in. It's not tobacco in the pipe, which I love, but already smoked tobacco, full of ash and smoke. Then the incense stick returns and I'm done. No bubbles, no clove, no vanilla. dammit, I had high hopes for this.

neroli and green stem in the bottle. Goes on as a musky, hoarse stem note, which sours into a fake soapy neroli. Significant throw. I am going to be very unhappy if the Fortuna line teaches me that my skin hates the Lab's orange blossom note.

In the bottle: a bad sangría and gin. Goes on as mostly gin. A gout of eye-watering red wine splashes in, but hold on, because this passes shortly. It starts to calm down more as it dries, developing into a blend of gin with a warm, almost tobacco-y aftershave note. Like you started the evening with the screechy, gossipy aunts but then escaped to the other room where the cool uncle hangs out, and you spend the rest of the visit sitting with him on the couch playing weird old card games and listening to him rumble stories about him and his brothers when they were all kids. The Lab's tobacco and gin notes are two of my favorites (ironic because I don't smoke and rarely drink), so this certainly ends well, but wow, that opening is tough. ETA okay, as the day goes on, the tobacco note gets stronger and really gorgeous. It's deeper and more fruity, almost a cherry tobacco, not the high white tobacco of Sherlock Holmes. I'm glad I gave this a shot, because it went from to huh... I might need a bottle of this.

Spearmint in the bottle and on application. Juniper quickly comes in, but the whole thing starts to sour. It dries as stale old spearmint gum — that must be the mastic. not for me.

you might try ED Luce. They definitely have wand caps.

Black pepper and juniper. Like Pottaskefill jumped into a pine tree. Pass. So much of the Garden line hasn't worked for me, and the only one I was really fond of, Squirting Cucumber, is DC.

2009 decant. A high, cold pine, with a little sweet fizz around the edges like 21's gin. Surprisingly nice. No musk, which is great for me.

oh my gods it's perfect! it's absolutely perfect! this is the "sweet grass" note from Sagittarius I love so much! I LOVE IT!!

I just started using bath oils also, as a post-shower moisturizer in this ridiculous dry weather. Dana O'Shee is gorgeous. It goes on slightly thicker than other oils and spreads widely. The scent remains all day, although close to the skin, and is true to the perfume oil — sweet creamy grains. Magnificent.

It's an olfactory portrait of Rosie Cotton, Sam Gamgee's wife. Nuts and pastry in the bottle. Goes on as a buttery crust with nuts, like a nut tart. Then a sweet note comes in, like a floral honey. It morphs to pine briefly, and then returns as a sweet pastry, or maybe an oatmeal cookie, as others have noted. I totally want to eat this. Very little throw. Might pair well with Dana O'Shee.

In the bottle: Cherry! a really gorgeous cherry. Goes on as a great cherry (cough) syrup. There's a brief note of dry, spicy cinnamon, but it doesn't stay long. The entire lovely thing disappears in under an hour. I might try it in a locket. No licorice at all.

heady marshmallow, with definite graham cracker notes. there are chocolatey undertones as well. as ZZ noted above, if you're into s'mores, this is for you.

It's gotta be me at this point. My skin has gone off the rails. Eucalyptus and something sour and astringent in the bottle and on application. It's like an unpleasant dentist's-office mouthwash. Eventually it dries to a a dry, crumbly mint with lime overtones.

2017 version: After an initial blast of — is that cat pee?! — it settles into a more proper snowy mint. It develops into an aquatic menthol once it's dried. Pleasant, but not the Lab's classic snow note or the Snow White series which so much of this Yule update has been featuring.

Ginger and orange in the bottle. Goes on as orange spice, similar to Only a Sip, but then it sours and goes weird, which might be the carnation. Not for me.

no, it's not. It's the Lab's jasmine stamen note which always goes sour on me. there's no honey or snow. I had such high hopes for this. It's definitely the floral from Snow White; that went to stinky stamen on my skin too.

2007 decant. Powdery sour wet red fruit. yuck. And I love actual pomegranates.

Like wearing a particularly complex sangría. Dark red fruits with a boozy undertone, like Lady MacBeth, shifting here and there to add a hint of musk and then a hint of melon and then some red wine and then some dry raisin thing going on.

Dammit, this is the Lab's vanilla note which turns into "dollar-store vanilla candle stuck in a milk jug and set on fire" on my skin. Sigh. It's not the Lab's fault; it's just my skin chemistry. It's the same one which is in French Vanilla, so whatever that did for you, this will too.

The perfect thick sweet summery fir single note. I get nothing else and don't need it; this is exquisite.

Almost identical to my beloved Sagittarius 2007 or Nothing Gold Can Stay. Sweet grasses, a breath of pine which thankfully passes, and some florals which dry back to sweet grass. Beautiful.

Generic white floral. Maybe hints of sweetness, like honeysuckle or gardenia. Becomes waxy on the drydown. No vanilla at all. I have prettier florals than the opening, and the florals in this don't even last.

If you want honey notes: Josie: Heady magnolia and honeyed peaches Against Idleness and Mischief: Pollen-dusted honey, diligent tonka, steadfast chamomile, and goodly hyssop Honeyed Apple: Slices of apple dipped in golden honey Door: Golden honey, nicotiana, blue chamomile, and cistus For sweetness, you could also try some of the Lab's sweet snow combinations, like Almond Blossom and Skadi.