Teamama

I'm in rainy, rainy Seattle WA, and so far, Snake Oil, Wolf's Heart and Harlot are my favorites when there's rain (not drizzle, mist, or a passing shower.) For me, serious precipitation makes me want warm notes, but not hot or scratchy ones.

I tested my decant straight out of the mailbox, and again today after letting it rest.

 

In the imp: sweet apple, clove, a hint of vanilla, and another fruity, red note that must be the blackcurrant bud.

 

Wet: Mmmmm, sweet! All the above notes are there, but it's got a dry, condensed sweetness. It reminds me of the tobacco sweetness in Antikythera Mechanism.

 

Dry: Within the space of five minutes, my skin has devoured everything except the clove and the condensed, sweet note. I smell like a pack of Djarum clove cigarettes.

 

Boo hoo hoo, where did my apples go?

 

Verdict: I really like Apple IV, but will not be able to wear it unless I get a scent locket.

On the wrist: this smells like when you lick your skin and it dries. I like the smell on my elbow but I really don't think it's worth it to wear for that yucky smell on my wrists!!

Beekeeper's daughter here, and yes, honey can totally smell like spit. I have spilled a lot of honey on myself, and depending on the bees, the season, and what the bees got their nectar from, spit (scent) happens ;-).

 

Wearing O, I smell like the most fabulous honey cake ever, plus Amber. The honey is strong, and smells it's been heated (which I should have expected, because how could you extract fragrance from raw honey?)

 

My fantasies about smelling like all the flowery secrets present in raw honey did not come to pass, but I'm happy I bought a bottle. ETA Can't stop wearing it. My daughter's review: "Like eating honey cookies in a room with incense."

Yum. I love it. Red apples, juiced for cider, with lots of the notes that apples can offer. Some floral hints, a spice note, a little wine, fresh apple skin...

Yum.

 

After aging for a year, the cinnamon note is more prominent. I wore it in my scent locket, and by mid-day the cinnamon was all that was left.

I amp Red Musk. Spellbound was the BPAL blend that first made me notice that my skin chemistry could change a fragrance radically, like acid changing the color of litmus paper.

On my skin, Spellbound, which has my BFF's Amber & Rose, is single-note red musk. End of story.

Had to build up to reviewing the legendary Snake Oil. I got my imp in my very first lab order, and duly waited 4 months to try it. It's warm and wonderful, with lots of subtle resins backing up an excellent sugared Vanilla. I have a bottle on the way, 'cause it's superb.

 

HOWEVER, I am one of the minority on whom SO does not smell at all sexy. Teapapa and my kids all say I smell like a cookie when I wear it. This is not a "sexy cookie," with fishnets and pasties that look like glittery sugar cookies, and a naughty spatula, This is straight up vanilla sugar cookie, like us Scandi types have with coffee.

 

So, all you SO sex bombs out there, good for you! And for any other SO cookies out there, don't worry, there's lots of other BPAL to be sexy with .

So far all of the Conjure Bag blends I've tested have been awesome, and I've ended up purchasing 5ml bottles.

 

I'm testing a frimp from a forum purchase. Yellow-blonde color in the imp.

 

In the imp: This smells fantastic! Jasmine, vanilla, citrus, & a little baby lotion? Surprising blend. Wasn't expecting the baby lotion.

 

Wet: I should have known better than to put this on my neck--the citrus irritated the skin on my neck, but not my arms. There's a hint of spice in there, but mostly jasmine, vanilla and baby lotion. I know baby powder & lotion are "supposed" to be based on roses, but I really can't call this a rose note. There's also sweetness, more sugar to me than honey.

 

Dry: The sugar and vanilla develop a lot as Follow Me Boy dries. The vanilla and jasmine are almost equally in front, and then comes the baby lotion note, and then way in back, the citrus.

 

I really like this, but I'm not sure whether I need a bottle. I own other oils to satisfy my jasmine & vanilla urges, and the boy I want already followed me home . If he goes wild for it, it might be worth another bottle...

 

Adding: Follow Me Boy lasts and lasts.

Adding again: I think I'm going to need a bottle. The compliments keep coming .

In the imp: grape juice & leather & myrtle.

Wet: where is it? Almost undetectable?

Dry: faint, sweet grape, the ghost of leather, and a memory of myrtle.

This is the first blend that my skin vanished. I'd try slathering, but I think my daughter's a better candidate for this blend.

This started out very promising for me, and I can totally understand all the praise for Dance of Death. In the imp and wet,there's wonderful interplay between the dark of the musk, myrrh and patchouli and the sweet dryness of the orris. I was preparing to add this to my bottle list for the first ten minutes.

 

Unfortunately, orris seems to be a note that my chemistry flattens out as it dries. By 20 minutes, all the magic was over. The orris was the dominant note, and it was flat and medicinal. It reminded me of a smell that's in Ben-Gay,

 

Obviously, I need a scent locket!

This lovely scent is tricky to wear, because it's got an oil that disagrees with the more sensitive parts of my hide. If I put it on my neck, chest or abdomen, it stings. The prime suspect is the orange rind, which also keeps me from wearing Ravenous. Patch test if you're sensitive!

That said, I like it.

Wet, the almond is in my face. For about five or ten minutes, it's like MARZIPAN and some spices.

After the almonds have gotten over themselves, the spices, rose and orange rind show themselves. I like Seraglio, but the Orientalist harem image isn't what I get. For me, this is the outrageously feminine smells that would have signalled preparation for Christmas in the kitchens of my Norwegian ancestresses. Ground almonds, grated orange rind, rose scented cold cream, and all the spices.

This is about a 4 hour fragrance on me. It dries down into a spicy whisper with no throw.

Wet and dry, I got a subdued (damp?) rose, but only the faint echo of leather. My imp was from a forum purchase, without an age, so I'm going to reserve judgement. Whip gets a lotta love on the Rose Apologists' forum.

In the bottle: Granny Smith apple skin, after several months in storage (I'm from an apple-growing state, and that's NOT a good thing for me.)
Wet: Granny Smith apple skin. Tantalizing hints of the other notes occasionally, overwhelmed by the apple.

Dry down: After about 4 hours, the apple skin smell simmered down enough for me to detect the tobacco and tea, occasionally.

 

Verdict: I have finally found a note (besides vetiver,) that I "amp." None of the Lab's other apple scents have done this . I'm going to have to swap it away for someone else to love.

Magical smell, but the orange is too strong for my cheap Scandinavian skin IT BURNS!! Had to wash it off, and the areas I applied it to are totally red (redneck city.) If you're at all sensitive, patch test this one!

 

I will have to get a scent locket if I want to wear this, or use it as a room scent. So sad! The patch and the orange come together in a resin-y, vanilla-like way that is just magic.

In the imp: apples and green bitterness (the birch?)

 

Wet: Wow, this is FABULOUS! Wet, just-sliced tart apples, with some bitterness like bark, or leaves.

 

Dry: It's close to the skin, not a lot of throw, but still FABULOUS! The apple smells real. Dry, it's more like apple skin than juicy cut apples. The bitterness is in the background. I don't have enough experience with birch to know how true it is, but it does seem like it could be wood or bark. It's subtle, like the bitterness of tea. The apple blossom is also in the background, and hard to find, but it's there.

 

I really like this, and need a bottle.

Edited to add: lasts longer in a scent locket. Super for summer weather.

Mmm! This is the rose that I love in The Place Wherein Love Grew. It's very sweet, with a lemony note (that could be coming from the olibanum,) like some of my favorite red roses have when they're full-blown.

 

During the dry-down, I was sure that I smelled cumin! I didn't see anyone note that in their review, so I'm going to revisit another day, in case this was coming from me (we do love our cumin in refritos at my house.)

The incense isn't smokey to me, which is good, because my daughter is a major smoke-hater.

 

I'm not getting honey today, just sweet roses.

 

A total win! I'm happy I bought a bottle.

 

Update: I'm now confident that cumin is part of Hedylogos. And I love it.

Edited to rave a little more.

 

Harlot is MAGIC. Roses & Cinnamon are a fabulous combination. Roses are related to apples, and there is a tart, fruity note in Harlot that confused me at first. Then I recognized rose hips! Swoon! This is totally my jam.

 

This is sweet, fruity roses, with spicy cinnamon. I've gotten a lot of compliments while wearing it, it's definitely in my Top Ten.

 

Foody sidebar: My teen son compares Harlot to cinnamon jelly bellies, and complains that hugging me while I'm wearing it makes him crave cinnamon jelly bellies.

In the imp, pineapple butterscotch! On me, butterscotch, heavy on the candy, light on any hint of booze. My teen son LOVES it, and has taken custody of the imp, which is just as well because it's too foody for me.

Sweet, dry Tobacco leaves and vanilla, with wood peeking out in the background. No smokiness on me, thank heavens. This is sweet and butch, so I want to try it on my honey.

I have an imp of reddish-colored oil.

In the imp, I smell strawberries (!?)

On me, wet and dry, I smell soft Amber and vanilla with a hint of sandalwood. No sweet pea, alas.

It lasted around 4-5 hours, not a lot of throw. Gentle, sweet, and unexciting.

 

Edited to add: Mouse's seems to vary some, because I encountered another imp, which was a LOT more interesting. So I purchased a bottle from forum sales, and I enjoy it and get compliments when I wear it.

The Sweet Pea is definitely a player in the second & third versions I got (imp & bottle.) Maybe my first imp was a weak mouse. Anyway, I have become a convert :-).

Alice is all foody on me? Where's the rose? The carnation is lightly spicy, like cinnamon, so on me, this was cinnamon-honey cookies and milky bergamot. Not a success for this rose-lovin' gal.

I'm reviewing my daughter's bottle, which she generously let me sample.
She and I were instantly in love with this limited-edition. Snarky jab at the Supreme I love to hate, coupled with support of excellent organizations, AND BPAL? As they say, shut up and take my money!

Mummeries is subtle. The Rosemary and blackberry are very well blended, with the sweet warmth of the blackberry surrounding the resinous rosemary. We have both of these plants in our vicinity, and this reminds me of warm, late-summer afternoons in the Northwest. The musk and lavender are in the background, and the bergamot must have rolled into the blackberry note on me, I couldn't find it.

Not a lot of throw, this Scalia-inspired scent is safe for work.

I was intrigued by the notes, and risked buying a bottle unsniffed. And, hey, I'm a sitting duck for the whole Scalia project. Snarky jab at the Supreme I love to hate, coupled with support of excellent organizations, AND BPAL? As they say, shut up and take my money!

 

In the bottle I smelled peppery root beer. That was the way it smelled on me, too. Disappointingly simple.

 

However, on my man, it's a very different scent (rowr!) The leather is there, the pepper is there, the patch is there in the background with a bass line. This is sweet and butch.

 

On me, meh. On him, a definite keeper.

In the imp, smokey wood and aromatics. Can't pick out the lemon.

Wet, more of the same, with an undertone of plastic (?) that faded quickly. A little powdery, the way sandalwood can be powdery.

Dry, the lemon is there in the background. I'm catching a hint of ponderosa pine up close on a hot summer day, walking on dry needles. Overall, it's perfumey sweet dry wood with a little bit of citrus way back there.

 

Nice, but I'm not inspired to need a full bottle (yet.)

 

Thank you to the many forumites who reviewed Wolf's Heart--I bought a bottle unsniffed, and am SO glad I did. This is a big hit with me, my daughter, and (unexpectedly,) my son.

 

The oil is a beautiful clear coral-red color (I know because I had to split the bottle with my daughter, and decanted hers from the amber bottle into a clear glass one.)

 

In the bottle, I could pick out dragon's blood and jasmine and spice. It's really well-blended, so none of those predominates.

 

Wet and dry, the scent stays close to the skin, and feels very personal. It's not a "signature" scent, it seems to blend with the wearer and change itself to match the wearer's chemistry.

 

The reviewer who said Wolf's Blood is like a blanket is right--both my kids are attached to comfort objects, and the comforting effect of Wolf's Heart is just like a special blanket.

In the bottle: Jasmine, a little bit of incense, and a hint of the same "soft" note that's in Wolf's Heart.

 

Wet on my skin, the jasmine and incense have TREMENDOUS throw. My incense-averse daughter has forbidden me to put it on in the same room as her. The jasmine's still the easiest note to pick out, but the incense, the other florals and the bergamot are definitely involved. The bergamot is more citrus than herb. Can't find the vetiver at all.

 

Dry, the throw is much subtler. The bergamot and the incense are on top, the vetiver is in there, and there's a powdery sort of iris. It's not very long-lasting on my bare skin indoors by the fan on a 90-degree summer day.

 

I've had some world-class photosensitivity with bergamot oil in the past, so I do not plan to wear this blend anywhere that the sun can shine if I'm outdoors.

 

Update 2 months and 1 bottle purchase later: The Caterpillar is wonderful. I get compliments on it, I love the way it smells, and it plays well with Wolf's Heart, my go-to fragrance for work. Back-up bottle, here I come!