Notable LEs from 2012 and 2013?

[detritius]

I've been out of the LE loop for about two (broke-ass) years, and now that I've got some cash on hand again, I'd like to know what I've been missing. Some of my favorite notes are amber, honey, smoke, star anise, apple, cinnamon, and spices, but I'm always willing to branch out, although I've found that roses, violets, moss, dirt, aquatics, pine, juniper, plums, and figs tend to disagree with my skin. So, any ideas? Any popular favorites or hidden gems you can recommend me?

[ReallyZeb]

The ones that come to mind for me are:

 

AE Aegypti - Five honeys with vanilla orchid, gardenia, dragon's blood resin, gingergrass, and turmeric

A Thought From Propertius - Sweet honey, white apricot, and a touch of cayenne pepper

Hesoid's Phoenix - Golden amber, bourbon vanilla, and sweet oudh

 

You also might like [Redacted] Dragon - Raw red ginger, pink pepper, red carnation, sweet clove, vetiver, heartwood cinnamon, and jasmine sambac though I haven't tried it as cinnamon rips my skin off

[tziporra]

I liked the following LEs that you might also enjoy:

 

Dark Chocolate with Merlot Infused Cherries and Star Anise

 

So Below

 

Nuages Gris

 

Go to Sleep, Darlings

(I just think everyone would like this, regardless of their note preferences).

 

Welcome back!

 

Tzi

[Aviatrix]

I second Hesiod's Phoenix for a beautiful amber blend.

 

Also, Autumn Fancies was a little hidden gem for me. Also a very pretty lemony amber blend.

[skyelyric]

Hesiod's Phoenix is amazing, if you can find it. Barring that, if you do the hair gloss thing at all, Implacable Beautiful Tyrant is very similar.

 

I haven't tried them, but Hope and Fear Set Free and La Lugubre Gondola seem like they might also be wins.

 

2012's Punkie Night was a gorgeous spicy tart apple scent.

[The_Garnet]

Feed Me and Fill Me With Pleasure has a lovely honey amber note.

[Zii]

These aren't all quite in the scent profiles you listed, but they are some of my favorites, so I thought I'd give you a run-down. Some of the ones I'm listing might be dupes from older years that you might have, but I thought I'd list them anyway:

 

Sylvia: Snuggly brown musk, spicy carnation, leather balsam, bourbon vanilla, terebinth pine, yew berry, and a touch of clove.

I know you said no pine, but this is a really snuggly complex and spicy warm pine. It's sister bath oil Sudsy She Wolf, is also divine.

 

The Spell of the Eastern Sea: Sea salt, kelp, and twisting willows.

An aquatic without aquatics. It's a very green, sharp salt air sort of scent and it might get around your chemistry issues with aquatics.

 

Lurid Library: The incense-tinged scent of forbidden tomes and the musk-laden remnants of infernal servants.

 

This is a lovely incense blend with a really nice smokey warm feeling to it.

[Ella LaRose]

Holy crap! This was dream amber year!

La lalugubre gondola was the best for those who like a deep amber blend! More amber then blend!

So below was just swoon worthy for amber lovers

Hesoids Phoenix is a stunning golden day amber

I also fell madly for und ver der toten an amber chocolate boozy blend that just constant morphs for scent entertainment!

I have been so happy being an amber addict