ravenscanary

SHUB-NIGGURATH SOAP A blend of ritual herbs and dark resins, shot through with three gingers and aphrodisiacal spices. The soap: absolutely smooth, sheer, silken lather. When I received my half-bar from a circle earlier this week, I was very excited about Shub. It smelled divine, and was powerful enough for me to smell across the room. Shub was also the only variant of the old soaps I'd ever tried, so I was curious to compare the two. As usual with Villianess Soaps, it lathered and moisturized quite well for bar soap, and smelled fabulous in the shower. While using it, I think the scent was, of course, similar to that of the old soap, but creamier. I think the base soap ingredients are simply superior, and while they don't dull the scent of the perfume, they make it a bit richer, less sharp. However, the scent was completely gone after I got out of the shower. While the Embalming Fluid soap left a lovely clean green tea and citrus scent on my skin for the rest of the day, I can't detect even the faintest hint of Shub-scent on my skin. Very disappointing. My skin does eat the Shub perfume a bit, so this may be a skin chemistry issue rather than one with the soap.

Source: Lab bottle In the bottle: Super herbal, very green and pungent. Wet: Bugspray. Hot, cologne-like bugspray. Actively unpleasant to my nose for the first 5 minutes despite the fact that pretty much every note in this blend is normally a winner for me. Drydown: After 5 minutes the edge has come off the chemical note and the more mellow notes have come out to play. I got this largely because of the tomato leaf, which is one of my favorite notes ever from BPAL, and, unfortunately, it is very soft here to my nose, but the beeswax has mellowed the peppery-spicy notes enough that I'm not unhappy with it. There's definitely something sharp and biting about this scent. Verdict: Nice, but not entirely what I was expecting.

Source: Lab Imp A musky, sweet, dry amber. An edge of cinnamon and dried grasses, kind of a baked feeling - not oven baked dessert, despite the sweetness, but sun-baked grass.

2010 version, from a fresh decant Soft incense, resin and rose. Slightly powdery. Not at all sweet, though I expected that for some reason. A bit too Grandma for my tastes, as the powdery aspect only gets stronger over time, though it's a very pleasant scent.

Source: Fresh decant In the imp: Musty, stale water and overripe greenery. Wet: Sharp, sweet floral. Chrysanthemum and balsam, mostly. It's...interesting. Sweet-sour and almost sickly-compelling.\ Dry: Gets a slightly powdery undertone on the drydown, but remains primarily an unsettling floral. Very evocative and even pretty, for the right person. Not my thing. Though I don't think it's minty, there is a kind of cool/tingly undertone that I'm sure is the source of the comparisons by others to mint, gum, or paste. It's very unusual.

Source: Fresh decant In the imp: Green, earthy, and surprisingly lemony-sweet. Wet: The same. A surprisingly almost candy-like sweetness - I do tend to amp citrusy notes. Drydown: I get a rich, earthy note that reminds me of olive oil, but it's really overwhelmed by the sweet lemony floral. This is really pretty, but almost too sweet, and not as balanced toward the green notes as I'd like.

Source: decant In the decant: sharp, green apple Wet: Crisp, juicy green apple and sugar. Close huffing gets me a little sugar and butter. This is not a "fake" butter (popcorn butter) smell, but really a hint of creamy richness. Dry: This just keeps getting better. It remains crunchy apple with a sweet, sugary glaze and hints of spice all the way. Very nice!

Source: decant In the decant: rich, spicy fruit Wet: Pear and quince predominant, with just a tiny hint of spice in the background. It's not very gingery. I'd say it reminds me more of cinnamon. Dry: The spice comes out a bit more, but not enough. I wanted this to be ginger predominant, but alas, no.

Version: 2010 In the imp: Black, wet leaves. Kind of off-putting, honestly. Wet: ...Vaseline and Vick's Vapo-rub. I'm so not kidding. It smells like gooey petroleum jelly with a hint of medicinal ick. Dry: Less medicinal. Dirty patchouli and wet leaves. Absolutely none of the spicy or fruity notes. And still that petroleum jelly scent. This may be the most disappointing BPAL I've ever smelled.

I don't know how Beth does it...but this smells exactly like autumn air, with smoke, leaves, fading greenery and a slightly chill breeze. It's amazing. No other words for it.

Source: fresh decant In the decant: A pomegranate pomander. Pomegranate with sandalwood and clove and spice, but the pom is paramount. Wet: A fascinating blend of fruits, spices and woods. Dry: A balanced, fairly soft drydown. I dig this, though I'm not sure it's a bottle purchase.

I can't smell anything in this blend, wet to drydown, but cocoa and thyme. Chocolate and thyme just doesn't work for me. It's a weird combination. Not grossly unpleasant, but just not very appealing. The fruity undertone doesn't help. This is like some baking attempt gone very awry. This is a no.

Source: fresh decant In the decant: Intense pom and citrus, very candy-like and tart Wet: Sweet and fruity, softened by a lovely, flirty musk Dry: A surprisingly long drydown for a lighter scent, and the candy-like aspect has mellowed some to just be a playful, citrusy scent. This was kind of a surprise win for me, and will be a nice summer scent, I think.

Source: decant In the decant: rich fruity pom, with hints of herbal benzoin and sharp, high jasmine Wet: STRONG, heavy, and heady, a balance of the three notes, but all of them are smacking me upside the head. Dry: It does mellow a little as it dries, but it's just too heavily fruity floral for me in the end, though I'm impressed with the balance of the three notes.

Source: fresh decant In the decant: patchouli, the deep-dark kind Wet: patchouli...and grass clippings? Seriously. Patchouli and earthy-wet-green grass clippings. A touch of lemon pledge. Uh. Yeah, this is scary. Dry: The sandalwood comes out more on the drydown, and the balance is a little better, but this is still a fairly sharp, weird blend for me. There is something mildly unsettling about this scent, and I like earthy scents, generally speaking.

Source: decant In the decant: Musky, soft leather Wet: Musky, soft leather with a hint of amber and clove. Not thrilled by this in the wet stage. It kind of smells...funky. Not bad, but definitely a wet leather vibe. Dry: The amber, clove and sage come out more, to my relief, but they never quite balance for me. The leather remains quite dominant, unfortunately. I like all of these notes quite a lot, but somehow this just isn't working for me. I think I hoped for a dominant amber note, but instead the leather has shoved the others to the side. It's a fairly mellow leather, but I prefer it as a background note, not the star of the show.

This was definitely my favorite part of the Trick Inquisition. gingiemay's description of the scent as being an October/Samhain love-child is dead-on in my opinion. Wood, wet leaves and realistic, crisp apple. It doesn't much linger, like most of the rest of the soaps, but is very intense and refreshing in the shower. Love it.

Source: Fresh decant In the decant: Straight pomegranate. Wet: Sweet pomegranate and powdery amber. Dry: The sweet-smoky opium comes out more, as does the pepper. This is a gorgeous, slightly sweet, slightly powdery blend. It's sexy and slightly dark underneath. I'm usually a vetiver-hater, but I don't get any vetiver in this at all, even a little.

Juicy red cherry and sweet green tea, with a hint of the boozy underneath when first sprayed. As it dries I get a candy vibe from it. Pleasant, but overly sweet for my tastes.

This is an intense, heavy patchouli. It's a nice, rich oil that soaks nicely into my skin, wet or dry, but it's STRONG-smelling. If you don't want to be wafting patchouli everywhere, take care with this stuff. A tiny bit goes a very long way.

Orange-glazed cake, dotted with anise seed, and filled with custard, set beside a bouquet of celebratory funeral flowers. Version: 2010 Source: Fresh decant In the decant: Buttery, vaguely boozy Wet: Sweet, buttery orange cake. Dry: The florals come out very slightly, but this remains predominantly dense, rich orange cake. The buttery note to this is *not* the "buttered popcorn/fake butter" note but this really smells like orange pound cake to me. Notes: Light-to-moderate wear, light throw. The boozy note in the decant never came up while wearing it. Very nice. I may get a bottle of this, because I think I'll need to bathe in it to keep it around all day.

Source: Untouched decant In the decant: All opium, all the time. Wet: Sweet opium and somewhat soapy rose. Dry: Smoky, mysterious and sweet. A very intoxicating scent that's more evocative than perfumey, though at the same time I think it's something my mother would wear and enjoy, oddly enough.

Source: Untouched decant In the decant: Spicy, strong incense with an almost sweet, fruity touch Wet: Spicy, strong incense. The sweetness disappears on my skin, and it's all ass-kicking incense. Dry: Sharp, resinous and almost sour. I don't care for this, I prefer my incense blends a little lighter, and this ain't, to my nose.

Source: Untouched decant In the decant: Sage and moss - sharply green and brrrr cold Wet: Sweet sage over what smells like wintergreen dominate, but I also get the amber/wood/floral underneath. A cold but sweet perfume. I dig this, but I'm not sure how it's going to dry. Dry: More amber and floral come out. This isn't really my thing, but it's very evocative of both heat and cold, and is certainly very pretty, almost delicate.

Source: Fresh decant In the decant: Strongly almond with herbal (mostly myrrh?) undertones. Wet: Somewhat dark, complex. Spicy and herbal with a sweet citrus top note of the lemon verbena. Dry: Lemon verbena remains prominent. Usually I amp nutty scents but the almond is all gone. I think I'd like this more if the citrus was toned down, but I'm getting a faint 'Lemon Pledge over green and dried herbs' vibe from this, though it's not unpleasant.