ramblingrambler

I like to leave extended reviews with more scent impressions than this, but this is all I’ve got for this particular blend: grandma perfume. This is a very specific type of scent that I associate with older women. Personally not my style, but you may enjoy it and wear it well!

The 2017 Yule snow note(s) feature(s) very heavily here. It takes about 45 minutes for me to smell anything other than snow, and then it is an exceptionally subtle floral undertone. This is nice, but I went crazy with the Yules and don’t need another snowy bottle .

I’m typically a patch and honey fiend, but the beeswax is very dominant in this blend and unfortunately does not work on me. It absolutely reminds me of a dalliance by candlelight, however... dripping, waxy candles, some just blown out, witnessing... well, you know.

This is a lovely, delicate, honeyed white tea. Perfect for spring and summer wear! I probably won’t get a bottle since I’m about tapped out on my BPAL Lupers budget, but later, when things aren’t coming at us at full speed with updates over the summer, I may get one then if anyone needs to let theirs go. An imp will do me for now as I work my way through the other 2018 Lupers I’ve yet to try.

I am a foodie/gourmand lover, and this is foodie/gourmand to the nth degree. Wet, it’s like slathering yourself in King Cake from head to toe... with massive throw, this scent fills a room and makes stomachs either growl or ache, depending on whether they can handle the sweet factor. Personally, I find the wet stage much too overwhelming and am torn between keeping the bottle or rejoining to someone who loves a good sugary-sweet scent. Drydown is glorious—memories of a dessert you downed during lunch, but of not the heavy, weighted down feeling after consuming far too much of it —but I’m not sure if I can deal with the huge, interminable wear of extreme sweetness until it gets to that point. I’ll give it a few more go-rounds and update!

Irish Spring soap, to a T. I think this would be great to do a load of shirts in for that “always zesty clean” smell, but on my skin it turns sharp and pungent.

This is spiced chai tea without the tea. I think a nice tea base of your choice layered with this would smell exactly like a cup of chai tea. I have to pass mine on, however, because every time I smell this, I am reminded of the unused $45 Chai from Teavana sitting in my pantry (I am honestly chai’d out).

When I first got this years ago, I loved it. Different time, different skin chemistry, I suppose. Before, it read as a vanilla-apricot fragrance with a slight zing. Understated and mellow. On me now, it is extremely floral with a sharp, almost biting citrus and ginger undertone. Something tells me my partner could probably wear this (he always smells great in oils that don’t work for me for some reason!) and leave me jealous it works on him. Like many of you, this was a beloved scent. We’ll see if he enjoys it or if I will have to pass it on.

Eight years later, Infernal Lover smells mostly like O, Scherezade, and Morrocco made love to Smut and Snake Oil. It’s a soft skin scent that is a little creamy, a little spicy, and a little powdery, but it retains a honeyed sweetness above all else. Understated, subtle, and just right for a laid-back day.

This used to be one of my very favorites, but after some skin chemistry changes, I can no longer tolerate the drydown. In the bottle and wet, it smells like sugared candies and cream—a veritable paradise of sweets! Before skin chemistry changes, the drydown became a softer version of itself with what I assume is (one of) the Lab’s candle notes (this is a different note than Lights of Men’s Lives or Flickering Lantern, for example, at least to my nose). Now, after the skin chemistry issue, it becomes a rich, buttery caramel—which sounds delish, but caramel notes have *always* made me nauseated, and this is no exception. I am so sad about this one!

Honestly, this reads as almost a cherry vanilla on me if I didn’t know I were looking for pear. It’s beautiful: sweet, creamy, and soft—a delight that I could almost eat! Only when I bring my nose to wrist (or wrist to nose, I suppose) does it smell vaguely like pear. Otherwise, I would think, from afar, it smelled more like a Ben & Jerry’s Cherry Garcia ice cream. I love it either way, pear or cherry.

Just scored this after many moons trying to find it. Lab eBay finally came through, or at least I finally had a winning bid . (Y’all are merciless snipers, HAH! ) On me, this begins almost like a sweet suntan lotion, which is perfect for hot Floridian days. The wet phase’s strength lasts for a full hour until it blossoms into an herbally and almost floral bouquet, retaining its sweetness. There is no chemical undercurrent here! Citrus is definitely present, but in a very understated way. It dries into what smells like (Sweetarts?) to me. Ugh. I can’t believe it took me this long to get this scent. I fuggin’ love it.

2017 version: Is there tobacco in this, or is it just me? I amp tobacco to high heavens—put it on and immediately got a whiff of something very similar to a tobacco scent. But it was like tobacco meets rum meets syrup. I didn’t smell the banana as mentioned above, but I probably would have preferred that, even though I can’t really wear banana myself. My boyfriend said I smelled like a drunk pirate. We both hated it for the four or five hours it remained, strongly scenting the room around us. And then drydown happened. And it was glorious. It smelled like five sugars lightly dusted with candied fruit—exactly as the description details! Why couldn’t it begin this way? Unfortunately this stage isn’t worth the hours of stank emanating from my bod, so I’ll have to swa it. Huge loss because, damn, do I smell delicious right now. But as soon as I crawled into bed a few minutes ago and pulled the covers to my head, getting a whiff of the delectable sugary goodness, I began sneezing. My enjoyment: Thwarted again!

A myrrh-darkened amber chypre sweetened by newly-ripened black pomegranate. 2017 Release: Wet, this is a dark, woodsy scent that fills the whole room. As it continues to dry, the woods fades and out comes the Pom, which is front and center for only a few minutes. To join it, the chypre makes its appearance and continues to feature strongly throughout drydown. Pretty, but absolutely a perfume-y fragrance, akin to Dragon with a Jaunty Cap, which I love for similar reasons, or possibly somewhat like this years Yule release with Cassiopeia, also loved.

If you're into fruity blends, you NEED this. Desperately. In the bottle I knew it would be glorious from the maraschino cherry, but on it becomes this spunky fruit punch blend (as mentioned above) with maybe some cream added? I don't know, but it is less a pumpkin floss and more a Beaver Moon blend to me. Yaaaaas.

Gnarly, glorious patchouli for daaaays. It's deep, dark, and... fuzzy (AND fizzy?!) almost. Patch lovers need this.

Not very foodiewhich is almost disappointing to me, but I can get behind it for what it is. More pumpkin than brownie, this fragrance is pretty understated and probably a good scent to wear to work around Halloween for juuuust enough pumpkin to be festive. Doesn't wear very long on me, and dries down to what a batch of cocoa and sugar smells like before being combined with other ingredients and baked to make brownies. Edit: layered with Dead Leaves & Squished Candy Corn, this is MAGNIFICENT.

Totally digging this, but most Dead Leaves blends reads very masculine on me. Luckily, the black cherry and orange twist gives it just enough femininity for me to get away with wearing it with a short skirt and heels or even flamed up if I throw on a faux leather jacket to round it out. I'm going to see how it wears on my partner—may update soon!

LOVE. Citrusy candy corn with a hint of pumpkin. What's not to love? (Pumpkins don't always work for me, but this was totally wearable!) Dries into what the remnants of a candy corn bag smells like. Yum.

I was hoping this would work for me, but it's a big NOPE. Something in it goes off and turns almost sour—I think it's the Pom/eucalyptus combo. This could work on someone who can wear either of these alone, but if one doesn't typically work for you, I doubt it would go over well together.

I actually don't mind this in all stages. It's a bright, sharp lemon, somewhere between one of those lemon candies you find at Cracker Barrel coated in sugar to keep it from being too sour, and a lightly sweetened lemonade on a very hot day. I get almost no orange blossom from this, but that's okay—I'm Floridian . Dries the same way it opens: high, sharp, bright. Not a cleaner scent on me, thankfully!

I quite like this, but like Dorian and Antique Lace would wear it only in specific situations. It's both delicate and commanding–a beautiful blend meant to captivate, for sure. It is strongly Dorian with some Antique Lace components—but I think I also smell some minty lavender every once in a whiff. Who knows! I've smelled too many things today between the boardwalk on the beach and dinner and perfumes. I feel like a puppy whose nose is both happy but possibly overwhelmed. Therefore YMMV.

Honestly, this is a cacophony of scents to me. I smell each mentioned blend (ish) at some point if I'm searching for them, but they all somehow manage to make sense together and blend very well if I'm in it for the harmony. On me, it smells more masculine. I would probably wear this to a soccer match or other sporting event, but for a daily scent, though nice, it wouldn't be a go-to just because I think I prefer wearing a less... woody (but not what you usually think of when you think woody"wood" phoenix is more about the solid center or heart of wood than it being a woodsy fragrance, to me!)... scent on the day to day. It is strong (as in persevering!), powerful (as in having power underwing!), and daring (as in it would chance to be brave!), and those aren't typically traits I would ascribe to myself except in specific instances that are not part of my daily persona. Best saved for moments when I want to evoke those feelings, and hopefully for the winning team . ETA (almost six months later): this has become an interesting scent I still cant place fully. I still dont see me wearing this every day, but I have worn it on several instancesmostly during soccer games, as I had thought, hah. Today it is rainy and gloomy, and I feel like it will fit in perfectly with the weather... not because it is gloomy, but because there is almost an aquatic undercurrent to this on me. Must be thesalt-slicked wood mentioned.

Beautiful but very light wear—mostly frankincense wet, but then it meets cinnamon shortly after as it begins to dry... and then there's some clove that starts to sneak its way in to the picture. Lovely, light, and evocative. Glad to have a bottle.

I was so, so generously frimped a full-size, one mL vial of this for the holidays from a Madness member (thank you, Alexis!). I cannot even begin to describe how good this blend is. It has its hype, of course, and for very good reason. Storyville is utterly delectable: a warm, rich, skin scent that whispers your deepest fantasy so you have to lean in closer and closer and closer. I pick up hints of cocoa, coffee, perhaps tobacco?, and the lightest touch of a sweet musk. Whatever this is made of is damn delicious. Though it's a bazillion dollars when it appears on market, I highly recommend getting your nose a whiff of this beauty.