Penance

I'm having a similar issue, findaghost, but with another scent. I've recently gotten two frimps of Tamora from the Lab (in two separate orders a couple of weeks apart). I was planning on ordering a bottle after receiving my first one, but now I'm waffling because they're noticeably different. One (the first one I received and the one I really like) is a medium-deep amber color and smells like sweet vanilla amber with a touch of fruity florals. The other is a pale gold color and smells much stronger on the peach blossom. I remember that I wasn't thrilled with Tamora the first time I tried it (years ago), but I don't remember why. I had assumed it was because amber wasn't one of my favorite notes back then (it turned sour), but maybe it was because I got one of the golden/fruity imps instead of the darker/amber-vanilla imps. Could it be an aging issue? Maybe, if the Lab happened to throw in a well-aged imp the first time around and a fresh one the second time. I tend to think it's more likely to be a batch variation, but I obviously don't know that for a fact. I'm nervous about ordering a bottle now.

Origin: 5mL bought on LJ. Preconceived notions: I've only seen the Will Call reviews for Chaotic, which mention musk, resins and fruit, so I'm not sure whether to expect something similar or something totally different from v3. First sniff: Mint and some sort of musk. It reminds me in a way of Helping Hand (the TAL blend) without the chocolate. Wet on skin: More of the same, but now with a bit of something that smells almost like lime or some other tart fruit. It's very faint, but it adds a tiny tang to the scent. Dry down: The mysterious lime/fruit note is gone (it could have been a skin chemistry thing, since my skin's been known to create odd scents during the wet stage of some scents) and I'm getting anise or licorice, musk, mint and soft spices of some sort. The bottom line: This is a nice scent, but it's not for me. I don't do anise or licorice or fennel or anything similar. Glad I got to try this, though.

I agree that they're not very similar at all. Red Lace was a light, generically sweet, powdery red fruit scent with cotton and Mme. Moriarty is darker (it starts out relatively light, but still darker than Red Lace, and then gets much richer and deeper as it ages) and deeper. I didn't get any patchouli at all from Red Lace and I don't really get an identifiable patchouli note, but it does add a darkness to the scent and I can tell its there.

Origin: 5mL bought second-hand. I don't remember who I got it from, but I do know that I got it very cheap, which is why I took a chance on it. Preconceived notions: I bought this before finding out that Battenberg cake has almond in it. Unfortunately, I loathe the smell of almond. Almond oil in perfume makes me horribly nauseous, so I'm nervous about trying this one out, although I've been told that the almond in this is virtually non-existent. I'm hoping that's the case. Everything else sounds...well, interesting. I'm not really going to say it sounds good, because I can't really imagine a perfume that smells like cucumber sandwiches and Earl Grey tea. It doesn't sound bad, either. Definitely interesting. First sniff: Foody, but not in an overpowering or cloying way. Teatime in Roswell is very mild. I get soft, faint cucumber, light cake and just a touch of tea. It's almost clean smelling in the way that cucumber-melon scents smell clean, not in a soapy way. Wet on skin: Uh-oh, is that almond I smell? I do believe it is. It's faint and it's on the marzipan end of the spectrum (which means it's more tolerable than flat-out, in-your-face almond, but still not something I'm going to enjoy smelling), but it's there. I don't get cucumber or tea at this point. Instead, it's all light, white cake with marzipan filling. It's still a mild, gentle scent. I can see this being a great scent for a child or for an adult who can't or doesn't want to wear a strong scent but wants to smell nice. Dry down: Thank God, the almond has faded quite a bit. It's still there, but it's a lot like the pseudo-marzipan note in Snow White. It adds a touch of marzipan-like sweetness without crossing the line into true almond territory. Mainly, what I'm getting is a mishmosh of buttered bread (which is like a lighter version of Bread-And-Butterfly), cucumber (adding a light, watery greenness) and a touch of white cake. It's a very pastel scent. Pale green, yellow and white. The tea is nowhere to be seen. This tea party is all about the food, not the drinks. The bottom line: This isn't the sort of scent I typically wear and it's not something I would wear everyday, but I have to say that I actually like it once it dries completely. I could do without the wet stage, but it doesn't last long and (thankfully) it doesn't trigger my nausea the way strong almond scents to. It's just not a scent I enjoy at that stage. This isn't bad in the end, though. It somehow belongs in the same mental category as TKO for me. They both have a sort of "little girl's fantasy land" sort of thing going on, although I'm not sure how many little girls fantasize about eating cucumber sandwiches at their tea parties.

This is my (not so) "short" list of favorite BPAL scents. Things get moved in and out now and then, so this list is constantly in a state of flux, although most of the older scents are perma-faves. Bolded scents are ones I would wear any day, regardless of the sort of mood I'm in, without hesitation. I love the other scents, but not everything is something that I always feel like wearing. Anne Bonny Aureus Badger The Black Rider Black Temple Burlesque Troupe Bloodlust Brom Bones The Buggre Alle This Bible Captain Cully Cathedral CD023 The Coiled Serpent Coyote Dancing Koi Dark Chocolate, Whiskey and Cognac Truffle Eat Me Fenris Wolf Fighter 51 The Forbidding Foyer Gothabilly Hellion The Infernal Lover (red musk) The Infernal Lover (no red musk) Invasion of the Flesh-Eating Reindeer from Uranus Ivanushka Tarot: Judgement Lump of Coal Lust v7 Madame Moriarty, Misfortune Teller Mad Sweeney March Hare Mole Monster Bait: Closet Mouse's Long and Sad Tale (very aged) Mr. Jacquel Nonae Caprotina #OCCUPYWALLSTREET Paladin Panther Moon Penitence Pinched with Four Aces Quincy Morris Rivet.Goth Rogue Scherezade Sin Snake Charmer Snake Oil Storyville Troll Tushnamatay Typhon Umbra Velvet Bandito Voodoo Queen Western Diamondback White Chocolate, Black Raspberry and Apricot Cordial Truffle White Peacock The second string favorites: (A lot of these would be in my main favorites box if I had more room. Some are in here because they're too similar to other favorites already in The Box of Awesome and others are here because I really like them, but have to be in the right mood to wear them. Still others are just ones that I wear often enough to want them to be a little more accessible than the scents in my BPAL cabinet are.) Blue Moon 2004 Boomslang Calaveras CD: Misfortune Teller v3 Chaos Theory VI: Recursive Self-Similarity V7 #36 Damnation Dorian Elf Elf v4 Event Horizon The Forbidding Foyer Half-Elf Herr Drosselmeyer King of Spades La Mano del Destino The Lion Magic, Do as You Will Marianne MB: Underbed v1 Miskatonic University v3 Pancake Breakfast Phyllocrania Paradoxica v1 Phyllocrania Paradoxica v3 Queen Mab Queen of Spades Raven Moon The Red Rider SAQQARA v2 Stranger in Camp Tamora

Bold = I own at least one bottle (or at least a partial bottle in a couple cases) of this scent Italics = I own an empty/tester/very low level bottle Waiting to be tried: Aeval Alice's Evidence Alien Invasion All in the Golden Afternoon Andreiphontes The Apple of Sodom Arcana Baghdad Baku Baneberry Bathsheba Bensiabel The Black Apple of Saturn Black Heart Black Hellebore Black Lily The Black Swan Bleeding Heart Blood Moon 2008 Blue Phoenix v2 Boadicea BRAII (tester) Cabaret.Goth (sniffie) Caligula CD: The Geek Show (unreleased prototype; tester) Champagne and Party Hats (tester) Chaotic (unreleased prototype version; tester) The Chilling Cellar Chintamani-Dhupa Cobra Lily Cockaigne Cordelia Couple Consulting an Enpon (sniffie) Croquet The Curator Danube Dead Man's Hand v8 (tester) The Death-Horse Deadly Nightshade Honey Deep in Earth The Deep Ones Defututa Delousing Powder Detox Dia Diwali (tester) Dragon's Reverie Elegy IX: The Autumnal Envy Epitaph Erato Eros Ether Evening Cicadas and Red Peppers Evil (unreleased prototype version; tester) Expressive Head Faeu Boulanger Faunalia The Festival of Anuket The Forest Reverie Frumious Bandersnatch The Ghastly Garden Golden Wave The Gorobble Hairy Toad Lily Halloween: New Orleans Haloes Hi'iaka Horreur Sympathique Hymn to Proserpine (or Prosperpine...that's what my imp says!) Iambe Ichabod Crane The Ides of March 2010 Illuminati Cotillion The Isles of Demons Jerusalem Cherry Infused Honey Jólasveinar 2010 Khandita Kitsune-Tsuki Kubla Khan Kumari Kandam Lamia Languor La Primavera Leather Phoenix Les Bijoux Les Fleurs du Mal Liberty Libra 2007 Love-Lies-Bleeding Lulu (unreleased prototype version) Lyonesse Mag Mell The Mandrake Charm Manhattan Mania Manipura Marquis de Carabas Masquerade Mead Moon (sniffie) Miaiphonos Mictecacihuatl Molly Grue Monarch Moscow Motley The Music of Erich Zahn MVJHL Bake Sale v3 (tester) Niflheim The Night Hag Visiting the Lapland Witches Noisome Clockwork Tin Locomotive Odd Portents Ode on Melancholy Ogygia Old Demons of the First Class The Old Goblin Olokun Oneiroi Parthenope The Phantom Wooer Philologus Phobos The Phoenix in Winter Phoenix Steamworks The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (tester) Pollution Pontarlier Pothon Meter Prurience Queen Alice The Reaper and the Flowers Roses, Pearls and Diamonds Rozpustnica Sanctus The Sea Foams Milk Sed Non Satiata Sekhmet v5 Shanghai Shattered Shill v1 (tester) Shoggoth Silenti (sniffie) Slobbering Pine The Sluggard Smokestack Smoky Moon 2009: Tristesses de la Lune Snap-Dragon-Fly Soothing System v1 Sticky Pillowcase Stimulating Sassafras Strengthener Strawberry Moon 2009 Suspiro Symmakhia Tabula Smaragdina Terpsichore Toad Toad Hall To a Woman The Torture Queen The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil Trinket The Triumph of Death Twinkle, Twinkle Little Bat Uncle Travelling Matt Unveiled Velvet Clown Velvet Unicorn Verdandi The Vine Violet Ray White Chocolate Mango Buttercream Whoso List to Hunt The Wild Swans at Coole The Witch's Garden Yürei On the way: Dark chocolate with merlot-infused black cherries and star anise French Tobacco Mayan chocolate with annatto seed, Anaheim pepper, cinnamon and vanilla bean Sic Erit Voyeuristic Monkey

The first part of this list can be found here! I had to split it up because it was getting cut off otherwise. Purple = love this scent (these are my absolute favorites, the best of the best) Green = like this scent (there's a lot of variation here, I may like it--even like it a lot--but just don't absolutely love it or I might think it's nice enough but not the kind of scent I enjoy wearing) Orange = this scent is just okay (I try not to lump scents into this category if I think they're nice but not for me; these are mainly the scents that I don't hate, but can't see a lot of appeal in, on me or on someone else) Red = don't like this scent (I rarely actively hate a BPAL scent...these are the scents that provoke an immediate "Get it away from me!" reaction for some reason, often because they have almond or rose in them, but those two notes aren't automatic qualifiers for inclusion) Bold = I own at least one bottle (or at least a partial bottle in a couple cases) of this scent Italics = I own an empty/tester/very low level bottle BOOM! Studios: Bette Noir Diabolus: Akuma Baobhan Sith Black Annis Black Phoenix Black Widow Blood Countess Bloodlust Bluebeard Catherine Deimos Dracul Ekhidna Fenris Wolf Goblin Hellcat Hell's Belle Incubus Kuang Shi Kumiho Loup Garou Maenad Malice Marquise de Merteuil Masabakes Medea Nephilim Nocnitsa Noir Nosferatu Phantom Queen Phobos Rage Serpent's Kiss Szepasszony Troll Typhon Unseelie Venom Villain The District: Countess Willie Crib Girls Josie Doc Constantine’s Pharmacopoeia: Bruised Violet Compound Excolo: Aglaea Aizen-Myoo Alecto Al-Shairan Anubis Bastet Baron Samedi Centzon Totochtin Clio Coyote Czernobog Elegba Eos Euphrosyne Eve Gaueko Grandmother of Ghosts Hades Hecate Kali Kurukulla Lilith Loviatar Nemesis Nyx Obatala Ochosi Odin Ogun Old Scratch Oya Peithos Pele Persephone Polyhymnia Queen Mab Sacred Whore of Babylon Santa Muerte Shango Skuld Tezcatlipoca Thalia Thanatos Urania Urd Xiuhtecuhtli Yemaya Gris Grimly: Detestable Putrescence Hideous Heart Hellboy: Kroenen Liz Illyria: Antony The Apothecary Caliban Desdemona Goneril Iago Jester Juliet Katharina Lady Macbeth Lear Oberon Ophelia Othello Queen Gertrude Robin Goodfellow Rosalind Tamora Three Witches Titania Titus Andronicus The Last Unicorn: Arachne of Lydia Captain Cully Elli's Song Hagsgate The King's Daughter Magic, Do as You Will The Midnight Carnival ParaNorman: Hippie Ghost The Mad Tea Party: Alice Bread-and-Butterfly The Caterpillar Cheshire Cat The Dodo The Dormouse Drink Me Eat Me How Doth the Little Crocodile Jabberwocky The King of Hearts The Knave of Hearts The Lion Mad Hatter March Hare The Mock Turtle's Lessons Mouse's Long and Sad Tale (I only love this when it's very aged, otherwise it's a like, not a love) The Pool of Tears The Queen of Hearts The Red Queen Rocking-Horse-Fly Snooty Rose Tiger-Lily 'Tis the Voice of the Lobster Tweedledee Tweedledum White Rabbit Marchen: Baba Yaga (GC version) Beer From the Marsh Woman's Brewery Belle Vinu The Black Rider The Chicken-Legged Hut Egle The Grave-Pig Grief The Light of Men's Lives The Little Sparrow The Little Wooden Doll (not so great on my skin, but pretty in the bottle or a scent locket) Moonshine and Mist The Night-Raven Prunella The Red Rider The Rose Rumpelstilzchen The Sea Foams Blood Serpents with Glittering Eyes and Forky Tongues (kind of in between; I like it but it's bordering on being just okay) Vasilissa The White Rider The Witch's Repast Neil Gaiman: Aziraphale The Buggre Alle This Bible Crowley Hunter The Ifrit (tester) Ligur Famine Hastur Mad Sweeney I. The Magician Mr. Ibis Mr. Jacquel The Potters' Field Shadwell Sunbird (LE) The Velvets War Panaceas: Lustration Moxie Quietude Safari Seduction Succor TKO Phoenix Steamworks: The Antikythera Mechanism (I'm ambivalent about this one) No. 93 Engine The Robotic Scarab (in between liking it and feeling meh about it) A Picnic in Arkham: Al-Azif Arkham Azathoth Brown Jenkins Cthulu Miskatonic University Nyarlathotep R'Lyeh Shub-Niggurath Rappaccini's Garden: Belladonna Black Hellebore Honey Black Rose Blood Lotus Blood Rose Bohun Upas Death Cap Destroying Angel Devil's Claw Dian's Bud Hemlock Hemlock Honey Love-in-Idleness Mandrake Mantis Moon Rose Shadow Witch Orchid Strangler Fig Tobacco Honey Wolfsbane Yellow Jessamine Honey Yew-Trees RPG: Chaotic Cleric Dwarf Evil Elf Fighter Gnome Good Half Elf Halfling Lawful Mage Neutral Orc Paladin Ranger Rogue The Salon: And There Was a Great Cry in Egypt Carceri d'Invenzione Cloister Graveyard in the Snow Death of the Grave Digger Garden Path with Chickens The Isle of the Dead The Smiling Spider Two Monsters Sin & Salvation: Anathema Black Dahlia The Bow and Crown of Conquest Cathedral Damnation Death on a Pale Horse Dorian Fallen Faustus Gluttony The Great Sword of War Greed Hellfire (original) Hellfire (new) Hymn Jailbait Laudanum Lex Talionis Lust Magdalene Malediction Nero Oblivion Paramatman Penitence Roadhouse Rose Cross The Scales of Deprivation Sea of Glass Seraphim Sin Sloth Tzadikim Nistarim Vice Wrath Somnium: Nanshe Somnus Temple of Dreams Vampires Don't Sleep Alone: Tombeur VILF (the wet stage and early drydown are made of fail, but the later drydown is nice enough) Wanderlust: 51 Amsterdam Athens Bayou Bengal Cairo Crossroads Delphi Dublin Eden Florence Glasgow Gomorrah The Hamptons The Hanging Gardens Hollywood Babylon Ile de la Tortue (tester) Kathmandu Kostnice Kyoto London Machu Picchu Manila Morocco New Orleans Paris Port-au-Prince Port Royal Rome Santo Domingo Silk Road Sri Lanka Sybaris Tenochtitlan Tintagel Tombstone Uruk Venice Vinland Whitechapel Yerevan

Origin: 5mL from the Lab. Preconceived notions: I was so excited to see that the Lab had a cicada scent. I love cicacadas! The notes sound intriguing. I love the smell of tree sap, amber and moss) and I like hemp and rice milk, but hay is touch and go and I don't know how I'm going to feel about the acorn (that note in particular has me very curious), corn stalks (I love the smell of actual corn stalks, but I'm not sure how well it's going to translate into perfume for me) and almond blossoms (I despise almond; the scent of almond oil makes me nauseous, but I'm not sure about almond blossom). But, the Will Call reviews have me worried. I don't want a foody scent and I don't want lots of almond. I want something plant-like and sappy. I have a feeling that I might regret buying this one, but I had to try it for myself since the notes sound so interesting and I love the idea of a cicada scent. First sniff: Uh-oh. Do not want. I sniffed this when I first got it in, recoiled and set it aside, thinking maybe it needed to settle. Opened it up to sniff it again today after giving it 10 days to rest and it's still the same. I'm not even entirely sure how to describe this. Nutty hay mixed with something weirdly cookie-like would be the best I can describe it, I think. Wet on skin: No better than in the bottle. In fact, I think I might like it even less at this point. There's something coming out that smells like hay only greener. I suppose it could be the corn stalks, but it doesn't smell like actual corn stalks to me. This is such a weird scent. Now, I don't have a problem with weird scents, but this one's weird in a way that makes my stomach turn a little. Dry down: I really should have listened to the Will Call reviews, but I've been known to turn scents that other people don't like into something pretty awesome, so I had to take the gamble. Plus, the whole cicadas thing. Can't forget that. Brood XIX is actually pretty nice smelling once it dries down (it loses most of the weirdness along the way), but it's just not my kind of scent. In the end, it reminds me a bit of The Chicken-Legged Hut mixed with some of the porridge from Halfling (but without the berry note I get from Halfling). It smells kind of like cookies, kind of like nutty grains and kind of like hay. It's definitely on the foody side on me, but it's not entirely foody. The bottom line: I so wanted to love this and I'm tempted to keep it for the concept, but I'm trying to break myself of the habit of buying/keeping oils that don't work for me just because I like the name, concept or label art. I just don't like this sort of foody scent, so I guess it's going to find a new home.

Origin: Near-empty tester bottle from Absinthetics. Preconceived notions: The notes in Velvet Cthulhu sound fascinating, but I'm having a really hard time imagining what it's going to actually smell like. I've smelled all of these notes either individually or in other things, it's just the whole putting them together thing that has me scratching my head. I love trying scents with weird note combinations, though, so I'm excited to give this one a try. First sniff: It's hard to pick out individual notes here. It's very much a green scent. The main thing I'm smelling here is the Touareg tea (which is a kind of mint tea served in parts of Africa; I had it when I was in Morocco and it's delicious and smells wonderful), but there's also a sort of bright citrus thing going on. It makes me think of the Lab's green tea note, which isn't listed here, but would fit in with the other notes. Wet on skin: Mint tea mixed with wasabi. That sounds disgusting when I look at it in writing, but it doesn't smell bad at all. It's a strange combination of minty sweetness and slightly spicy greenness. I think I'm starting to get the khus and coriander now, too. There's an almost herbal thing going on in the background. Dry down: In the end, Velvet Cthulhu dries down into a nice woody tea scent (I'm still getting mainly Touareg tea, but also a bit of the pu-erh) with faint hints of herbs and resins. It's still a green scent, but a muted green mixed with shades of brown. The bottom line: This is unique, but not as weird as I was expecting it to be. It actually smells pretty awesome in the end, although it's not necessarily the sort of scent that would appeal to everyone. I may end up getting a bottle of this one. Edit: Spelling. I can't seem so spell Cthulhu right to save myself.

Origin: Lagniappe from a generous seller. Preconceived notions: I absolutely love the name and artwork, but the notes here are iffy to say the least. I don't do florals with very few exceptions (I sometimes like lilac and can tolerate osmanthus, honeysuckle and orchid in small amounts) and this sounds like a floral bomb. I do like grass scents, so it's not all bad. I'm going into this with an open mind since the Lab has a knack for creating scents that shouldn't work for me but do. Maybe I'll get lucky and this one will be a rule breaker. First sniff: First off, let me say that I'm terrible at identifying floral notes. The only ones I can reliably identify are lilac and rose. Others I sometimes recognize and sometimes don't. I can tell you if a floral scents is heady, tropical, creamy, etc. but I can't tell you what actual flower I'm smelling most of the time. So, keeping that in mind... What I smell here is soft grass (not the intense, super sharp green grass note that sometimes crops up in BPAL scents, but a softer, springier grass note) and a mix of soft, gentle florals. It smells like a garden in spring and it's actually really lovely. For some reason, I want to say that it makes me nostalgic, but while we had a small flower garden when I was growing up, it didn't smell like this (probably because the only flowers in it were tiger lilies and roses). This is a very feminine scent. The kind of scent that makes me want to put on a sundress and sandals and sit outside with the sun on my face. Wet on skin: The grass is a little more prominent now, but it's still mainly a riot of different florals. While it's a very floral scent, it's not obnoxiously floral and it doesn't make me feel like I'm going to develop a raging migraine at any moment. It smells natural rather than perfumey, if that makes sense. There's a hint of something weird hanging around the edges, though. It's somewhat bitter and unpleasant. I've only had two other scents (One to Tie, Two to Win and Trachelophorus Giraffe v3) go weirdly bitter on me and while they were more intensely bitter than Garden Path, the effect is similar. The offending note in One to Tie was almost definitely the dandelion, but I'm not sure what it was in Trachelophorus. I'm guessing there's some sort of green plant stem note in here that's doing something similar. Dry down: The weirdness gets worse as the oil dries. It's a subtle bitterness, but it's enough to be off-putting. There's also a very faint pepperiness. I'm guessing it has to be coming from the nasturtium (big leap there, since it says right in the description that it's "peppery nasturtium"). I, unfortunately, hate peppery scents, so while it's subtle, it still stands out to me. The end scent is a sweet, innocent spring-time floral blend with soft grass (and the faint bitterness/pepperiness I mentioned before). If those two party crashers stayed away, Garden Path would be very pretty. The bottom line: I have to say, I like Garden Path with Chickens in the imp. It's spring/summer in a bottle and it really brings out my inner flower child (as opposed to my inner stinky hippie, which gets indulged almost every day). But it doesn't seem to like my skin very much, unfortunately, so this is one of those scents that I have to wear in a locket so that my skin chemistry can't wreak havoc on it. Still, I like it enough that I bought a bottle after testing my frimp.

The first scent that comes to mind for me is Silas Ruthyn. It's not a scary scent, but whenever I smell it, I always think of a Victorian mansion that's fallen into decay, with heavy, deep purple velvet curtains and thick carpeting and a resident who wears old-fashioned smoking jackets and dabbles in the occult. It's got a sort of atmospheric evilness to it, which I love.

51 is the perfect summer scent for me. I don't normally wear scents seasonally (if I love something, I wear it whenever I want), but 51 just screams "warm weather" to me. The honeydew is fresh and juicy and the florals and light musk are delicate and airy. It's a huge departure from my usual heavy incense/musk/leather blends, but I love it.

Origin: 5mL bought on Etsy. Preconceived notions: I really like the released version of Boomslang, so I'm looking forward to giving this version a try. First sniff: Yep, that's Boomslang, alright. The scent is recognizable, but the chocolate is lighter in this version than the released. This version has the light chocolate of a fresh bottle of the released version, but mixed with aged Snake Oil. I can see where people are getting a nutty vibe from this. It does have a faint sort of hazelnut-like scent. But I think that just might be one of those phantom scents that come up when certain notes are combined. Wet on skin: Light chocolate, aged Snake Oil and a stronger hazelnut-like note. Normally I hate the smell of nuts, but this is nice. Dry down: The (pseudo?) hazelnut scent is gone and I get aged Snake Oil and soft, but rich chocolate. It's less chocolatey than the released version, which is fine by me because I sometimes find Boomslang to be just a little too heavy on the cocoa. This is a warm, comfortable scent but strangely sexy in its own way. The bottom line: This isn't too far off from the released version. It seems to be more of a difference in note ratios than anything. I like both versions and, while they're similar, I'm glad I have both in my collection.

Origin: 5mL from the Lab. Preconceived notions: I love wood and sap scents (and the smell of sawdust) and I think the rocking-horse-fly is adorable, but I've put off trying this one because of the privet (sounds like it could be a very sharp green) and the shellac (can't say that I enjoy the smell of that). Curiosity got the better of me, though, and I ordered a bottle unsniffed. Hopefully it works! First sniff: Whoa, privet! That's exactly what I was hoping I wouldn't get so much of from this scent. It's not that it's a bad smell, it's just too intense and sharp and stabby for me. It makes me think of my childhood, but not in a good way, weirdly enough. I can't really tell what else is in here at this point. It's just overwhelming privet in the bottle. Wet on skin: Still mainly privet, but the wood and sawdust are starting to come out. I don't smell shellac specifically, but it doesn't smell (entirely, since there's some sawdust here) like raw, unfinished wood. If you took my childhood neighbor's woodshop and added one of the big bushes growing outside my best friend's house, you'd have something very much like Rocking-Horse-Fly. It's still too much privet for my liking, but it's better than in the bottle. Dry down: Weirdly enough, once this dries, a sort of green aquatic note comes out of nowhere. It smells like Water of Notre Dame of all things and I've got no clue what the culprit is. I actually like the scent of Rocking-Horse-Fly now, although it's nothing like what I was envisioning. It's a calm, peaceful scent and vaguely sweet. There could be a touch of sawdust here, but it may just be the power of suggestion at work, since I doubt I'd pick up on that if I didn't know it was in here. The bottom line: Crazy skin chemistry strikes again? I never used to do bizarre things to scents and I've never had my skin go crazy over a scent I've worn and loved for years, just new scents that I've tried in the last year or so. Either I'm doing something to Rocking-Horse-Fly or my nose is broken, because in the end it smells nothing like shellacked wood, sawdust, privet or any combination of them. It smells sweet, clean and aquatic in a blue-green sort of way.

Origin: 5mL from the Lab. Preconceived notions: It's no secret that I love vultures. I always have. My mom still talks about how whenever we went to the zoo when I was little, I had to see the vultures first. So Meskhenet's got that going for it right off the bat. I've been putting off trying it because I wasn't sure about the notes, but with the Carnaval temporarily disappearing and the possibility that I might never see it again (if it were discontinued due to a component issue before the Carnaval scents came back), I took a chance on it. I love frankincense and olibanum, apparently, since it's another type of frankincense and I like oris and hyssop. The rest of the notes are unknowns. I don't like florals and non-woody green notes are hit or miss, but something about this sounds really pretty, even if I can't quite imagine what it's going to smell like. First sniff: Soft, feminine and slightly sweet in an aquatic floral sort of way. I couldn't tell you what was in here without the notes in front of me. I'd probably peg it as a sweet, blue-green aquatic (I normally hate aquatics, but a very select few of this variety work) with a touch of something floral in a tropical sort of way. Reading a description like that and comparing it to the sort of scents I normally like, you would probably think I would hate this, but I don't. It's actually pretty and something I would wear, albeit not every day. Wet on skin: Now the more "me" notes are putting in an appearance. It's still mainly a clean, sweet, slightly aquatic floral scent, but there are soft resins here. It's feminine and peaceful smelling somehow. Dry down: I was really loving Meskhenet until it suddenly developed the dreaded pepperiness that I've gotten from several blends in the last 6 months or so. I'm going to guess that it's the frankincense or olibanum. I've never noticed pepperiness from frankincense blends before, but I have a bag of frankincense resin that does have a slightly peppery note to it, so I'm going to assume that has to be the culprit. It's very faint, but it's just enough to keep me from completely liking Meskhenet on me. The bottom line: This is a pretty scent but I know that that tiny little bit of pepperiness is going to drive me crazy, like an itch I can't scratch, so this one might be better suited to use in a scent locket, even though the bottle scent doesn't have the lovely resins that it has on my skin (before it dries completely).

Origin: Tester from a generous seller. Preconceived notions: I'm not sure how I feel about PX117 going into this, although I want to try it for some inexplicable reason. I really don't like citrus scents (I do like orange in small doses in combination with black tea, resins and/or cinnamon, but that's about the limit of my tolerance for it) and I despise anise. But there's something about this that kind of makes me want to try it. This could be one of those scents that my subconscious seems to know will work in spite of the notes being made of fail. I've learned to trust those instincts, so I'm cautiously optimistic here. First sniff: Orange. Orange cake to be precise. Sort of like poundcake and sort of like the orange cake that my mom used to make all the time. There's a sugary sweetness to it, too, like vanilla frosting. It's very sweet and foody in the bottle and makes me think of an orange version of P013 (which I really like in spite of the citrus aversion I mentioned before). Like P013, it smells like it would be right at home with the original Monster Bait series. Wet on skin: Hmm, this isn't heading in a good direction. The sweetness turns cloying when it hits my skin. It's got a strong scent, too. I only dabbed a little bit on and it smells like I put on a good-sized smear. The scent is very similar to the one in the bottle. It's just that it's gone significantly sweeter and more intense. Dry down: That's better. PX117 calms down quite a bit as it dries. Some of the sweetness from the vanilla frosting (or whatever it is that smells like it) disappears, and the final scent is like a moist orange poundcake with a tiny touch of orange creamsicle. It's sweet and summery and still quite foody. This still makes me think of both P013 (with orange instead of lemon) and the original Monster Bait scents. Thankfully, I don't get any of the anise that some people have mentioned. Just moist orange cake with a touch of sweet icing. The bottom line: Just like P013, this isn't the sort of scent that I normally wear, but I actually like it. It's not something I would wear every day, but it's definitely staying in my collection.

Origin: 5mL bought on Etsy and testers from a few generous sellers. Preconceived notions: I like clove quite a bit and I'm a fan of spicy scents, although they're not the sort of thing I wear every day. I also like amber and most of the other notes being mentioned in the other reviews. To be honest, though, SAQQARA v2 isn't one of those scents that screams "TRY ME!". It sounds nice, but not spectacular, in spite of it's popularity. But I am looking forward to trying it. First sniff: Spicy for sure. I'd have a hard time saying what all is in this, but I'm going to say clove (definitely) and maybe some amber, cardamom and bay. It's not a foody spice. It's exotic and somehow antique smelling. It's pretty but it doesn't wow me right out of the bottle. Wet on skin: Ooh, this is starting to remind me of Lamia v3, which in turn reminds me of a clove cigarettes-inspired perfume from another company (which has listed notes of clove, cinnamon, cardamom, tobacco, amber, sandalwood and incense). It's still predominately spice (clove and cardamom), but there's a soft sweetness that makes me think of amber. I don't think there's tobacco in here, though. Dry down: Definitely similar to Lamia v3 on me! Which is awesome because I really like Lamia v3, but can't bring myself to pay the going price for it. This is a sexy scent to my nose. Spicy and enticing. Dry and not at all foody. It's got quite a bit of throw, too, which is great for a strong scent lover like me. The bottom line: I didn't think I was going to need two bottles of this, but now I'm regretting only buying the one when I had the chance. This is a real beauty and a good replacement for Lamia v3 since they smell so similar on me.

Origin: 5mL from the Lab. Preconceived notions: I've been working my way through the Snake Pit and Australian Copperhead has always been towards the bottom of the list (above Asp Viper, which has almond and is automatically guaranteed to be a scent I don't like, and Cottonmouth, which just doesn't sound that appealing since I hate florals), so I'm not sure how well it's going to work for me. The Snake Oil, amber, cardamom and smoked vanilla sound good, but I despise neroli with a fiery passion and I've never smelled acai berry before (I'm not much of a berry fan in general, so it's probably not going to be one of my favorite notes). Fingers crossed that Australian Copperhead likes me. I've been pleasantly surprised before by the Snake Pit blends. First sniff: Sweet but tart berry. I can see where people are getting candy out of this. It has an almost Sweet Tart sort of scent, but Sweet Tarts if they were made in an exotic berry flavor. I get a tiny bit of Snake Oil and smoked vanilla, but mainly this is berry, and a rather unique berry at that. It's not looking all that promising at this point, but I never give up hope on a blend I buy (and most that I get as frimps) without at least testing it, so I'm forging ahead. Wet on skin: Okay, we're getting somewhere now. The berry is still the dominant note (it's smells deep red/purple and tart but sweet at the same time), but I'm starting to find some of the other notes peeking out. The Snake Oil is putting in a barely there appearance and I get a tiny bit of smoked vanilla and what could be the faintest touch of amber. It's less candy-like now, but still sweet. Dry down: Ooh, I like this once it's dried completely. The end scent is soft, sweet, and feminine. Smoked vanilla with a touch of Snake Oil and amber and an overlay of slightly stronger, sweet/tart berry. The dreaded neroli never puts in an appearance, which is fine by me. It's not something I'd wear every day, but it's much more wearable for me than I expected it to be. The bottom line: Australian Copperhead definitely isn't my favorite Snake Pit blend (that honor goes to Western Diamondback), or even a runner up, but I really do like it. It's oddly innocent smelling for a scent named after a venomous snake.

^ This. I have imps of Mouse's LAST that vary from very pale gold to a medium-deep amber. Currently, I have two deep amber and one pale gold. I couldn't tell you what color the oil in my bottles is, but I just checked the imps.

Not exactly an LE, but I find Magic, Do as You Will to be a poor man's version of Voodoo Queen, minus the spice. It's slightly drier, but the dark fruit and incense/resins are along the same lines. Add a little Arachne of Lydia and you'd have a fairly reasonable replacement for Voodoo Queen. At least the way Voodoo Queen smells on me, anyway. Everyone's skin chemistry is different and I may not get notes that other people do and vice versa. But I thought I'd throw it out there since we all know how pricy Voodoo Queen is (especially me since I just dropped some big money on a bottle from the Lab's eBay auctions). And on the same note (and I'm sure this has been mentioned before in reviews, if not in here), Devil's Night is like a poor man's Storyville. I have a bottle of Devil's Night 2006 and that's what I'm basing this on. I tried 2005's version when it came out, but can't remember how similar it was, and I haven't tried the other years, so they may or may not be equally good replacements. I sometimes wear Devil's Night instead of Storyville on less than special occasions where I want a similar sort of scent without dipping into The Precious. Neither one is a perfect replacement, of course, and they may not smell fairly similar on you, but it's worth a shot if you can't afford or don't want to pay the price for a bottle of Storyville or Voodoo Queen.

Origin: 5mL bought on Etsy. Preconceived notions: I've been on the fence about trying this one and passed it up when I made my ginormous Etsy order, but grabbed it after all when I saw that there was only one bottle left. I love incense, amber and wood, but I'm iffy on the Lab's beeswax note and I don't like florals (especially rose) or baby powder. So this one is a real gamble. First sniff: Beeswax. The Lab's beeswax note always smells strangely creamy to me, with a touch of something that makes me just a tiny bit queasy and this is no exception. It has a scent that's similar to The Light of Men's Lives, but there's something else lurking in the background. I just can't figure out what it is yet. Wet on skin: Uh-oh. I smell rose. Granted, it's the scent of an unopened rosebud, complete with a touch of green stem (very much like Rose Red, which is about as close to being wearable as a rose scent can get for me), but it's still rose. I hate rose. It's second only to almond on my list of most hated scent notes. This isn't looking good. Honestly, it's a pretty scent. It really is. I can recognize a scent that other people would find beautiful and this is one of them. It's just not something that I enjoy and want to smell like. Dry down: It takes quite a while (a few hours, probably; I lost track of time, but I'm guessing it's been about 2-3 hours), but finally Tetramorph v2 dries down into something that's pretty and appealing to me. Somewhere along the line, a pretty, golden resinous note comes out. Amber, with maybe a touch of something else...myrrh, maybe? And there's still a hint of sweetness here. There might be some vanilla in addition to the beeswax. It reminds me a bit of Jacob's Ladder at this point. The bottom line: I'm not entirely sure how I feel about Tetramorph just yet. I think it's probably going to end up being one of those scents that I rarely (if ever) wear because I don't like the wet stage and don't have the patience to wait it out. The late drydown is nice, but it's not unique enough on me to make it worth waiting hours for. I may see if my mom likes it before I decide to move it on to a new home. It seems like it might be more her style since she's a rose lover and enjoys soft, non-foody sweet scents.

Origin: 5mL from the Lab. Preconceived notions: I've been curious about Pickled Imp for quite a while, but never got around to ordering it because I've already got a spice heavy blend (Three Witches) in my collection and I wasn't sure how pine and cinnamon, clove and vanilla would work together. But with the Carnaval disappearing for a while, I figured now was the right time to grab it. I am finding that the Lab's pine sap/tar note disappears on me in no time flat. My skin just seems to absorb it and it goes completely AWOL within minutes, so I guess that it's going to be more or less irrelevant here. First sniff: Cinnamon rolls! Cinnamon rolls over a very faint layer of pine needles to be exact. It's sweet and spicy and very foody. It makes me think of Cinnabon, but Cinnabon at Christmas with a live pine tree by the counter where they're making the cinnamon rolls. Wet on skin: The same as in the bottle. This is definitely different than Three Witches. It's sweeter for one, but also more foody since it doesn't have the pepper that Three Witches has. I'd swear there was cream cheese frosting in here rather than vanilla. That's hot sweet it is. It's bordering on being cloying but still manages to smell delicious. Dry down: As predicted, the pine is AWOL. Even the faint hint of it I got before is gone without a trace. All I get is cinnamon rolls. It does make me think of Christmas, even without the pine sap. Why I would associate cinnamon rolls with Christmas, I don't know. It's probably the inviting warmth of the scent. It just smells cozy and makes me think of roaring fireplaces and warm sweaters. The bottom line: Who knew that a pickled imp would smell like fresh-baked cinnamon rolls? This is too sweet to be an everyday scent for me, but I do really like it. I don't normally wear scents seasonally (if I like or love something, I wear it whenever I damn well please), but somehow Pickled Imp just feels all wrong for summer. I have a feeling this will be one of the incredibly rare scents that I only wear during certain times of the year (autumn and winter in this case).

Origin: 5mL from the Lab. Preconceived notions: I originally didn't buy a bottle of Pussy because the notes make me think of Spicebush Swallowtail, which was just too sweet for me. But, since the Pussy moth is quite possibly the most adorable bug on the planet (the caterpillars look like they're wearing Tina Turner wigs, tell me that isn't awesome) and the reviews sounded promising, I caved and got a bottle. I hate orange blossom, although I don't know how I feel about orange blossom honey, and I'm not a big fan of brown sugar in perfume. Saffron is generally okay and I like tonka and love tobacco. So this one could go either way. First sniff: I was anticipating something much sweeter and foodier than this. It has a sweetness to it, don't get me wrong, but it's not intensely sugary the way Spicebush was. I'm getting tobacco and honey with just a touch of tonka. It's surprisingly gender neutral. Wet on skin: This is nice. It smells vintage, or even antique, somehow. The scent just somehow makes me think of the 1920's and 30's. Why, I have no idea. It's honey and tobacco with just a touch of dusty sweetness from the tonka. It's fairly light and not cloying. Dry down: This definitely isn't like Spicebush Swallowtail. Not even close. The honey is still the main player, but it's not a sticky, cloying sweetness. It's sweet but sophisticated smelling. The brown sugar and tonka add just a bit more sweetness, while the tobacco and saffron add a nice richness and depth to the scent and keep it in the gender neutral range. The longer it sets on my skin, the more integrated the notes become until it turns into a very nice tobacco scent with hints of spice and honey. It's like walking into an expensive cigar shop, which wasn't anything like what I expected going into testing this. It's a little bit sweet, a little bit spicy (not in a cookie spice sort of way), a little bit smoky and very rich smelling The bottom line: I'm glad I gave Pussy a shot. Not only do I get to laugh like an idiot when I think about the name (everyone's got an inner 5th grader inside them somewhere, whether they want to admit it or not), but it smells quite nice, too. I love tobacco scents and this is much less intense and less masculine than my other tobacco favorites (Herr Drosselmeyer, Hellfire and Famine). Plus the label is adorable! A hairy moth! It looks so snuggly!

You're very welcome!

Original - white label October 2006 - orange label April 2007 - purple label July 2007 - pink label June 2008 - green label February 2009 - black label March 2009 - deep red label November 2009 - tentacles label August 2010 - dancing skeleton label May 2011 - black with red/black swirled 13