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Monday, November 17, 2014

Review & Recommendation: All 6 Winter Scents + 1 Fall(?) Scent

BathSabbath is having a sale until Nov 1! Use the code SCUTFARKUS for 10% off!

As anyone who read my comments on IMAM knows, BathSabbath is one of my favourite perfume brands out there. They're definitely great at realistic scents, especially gourmands, and they managed to make one of the most perfect baked scents ever - Keelhauled. I've given decants of it to 2 people so far, and both of them reported to me that they're buying full-sizes since their boyfriends have stolen their decants. Yup. It's that good. I also notice that I attract loads of positive attention (especially from hungry children) when I wear that, probably because I smell like a walking bakery.

Oh, and my favourite coffee scent (Duncan Hills), and blue scent (Holy Diver) are also BathSabbath creations. So yeah, I'm in love with this brand.

Their quality is also very impressive, and I get a good throw & longevity from them. For all my past BathSabbath reviews, you can click on the BathSabbath tag on the side or here.

Anyway, on to reviews. Done blind as always, until the TL;DRs are written. Overviews are written when anything surprises me.


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Black Xmas


"Devil's Wine! Notes of Apple and Orange zest, Cinnamon and Clove on a base of tart cranberries. Contains essential oils."

Oh crap, vitamin gummy scent. It's the cloying grape coloured ones, with orange. After about 10 minutes, it starts smelling like an orange-grape soda. I hate grape soda so I'm not a fan of this scent. There's a dry, spicy wood scent somewhere in the background, but it's mostly orange-grape soda. Oh and the fizziness went flat after a while too. Flat orange-grape soda. Worst. Drink. Ever.

After close to an hour, this scent finally calms down to become that typical clean cranberry Christmas scent I always smell in malls and shops close to Christmas. It brings back memories of Christmas present hunting in an American mall. One of those sterile-looking ones with bright lights like this:

South Coast Plaza, oh how I miss thee!
Image courtesy of globalgoodgroup.com


It's still an artificial sort of scent, but it's making me very nostalgic...I really miss Christmas in the US. I'm glad I'm heading back this December!

TL;DR: Flat orange-grape soda morphing into Christmas shopping in an American mall.


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Christmas with the Devil


"The classic combination of Frankincense and Myrrh. A smoky, musky blend rounded out by notes of Vanilla and Cinnamon. Contains essential oils."

This kinda smells like a whiteboard marker. Er. After about 15-20min, I get something creamy coming in, but the whiteboard marker smells keeps coming back to haunt me. The dry down for this scent is a very dry, woody smell that's leaning towards dusty.

I tried putting it on my boyfriend to and it still smells like a marker. On the bottle, it mostly smells like whiteboard marker, but just a bit creamier.

TL;DR: Whiteboard marker.

Overview: I wouldn't call it smoky, or musky, it's more light and "hollow" like the smell you get from whiteboard markers. I'm now getting an image of baby Jesus' house smelling like whiteboard markers thanks to the gifts of frankincense & myrrh.

UPDATE 19 Nov, 2014: Virginia will be reformulating this scent, so it's worth trying it next time :)
So different from my experience with Alchimia


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Dead Winter Dead

"The cold, crisp scent of Sweet Balsam, Siberian Fir, Cedar leaf and a touch of Mistletoe. A perfect Winter scent. Contains essential oils."

Oh gods, this smells like a luxurious ski lodge on Christmas.


This lodge is so gorgeous! The prices freaked me out until I saw what's included...3 meals, wine, sleigh rides?? Now I want to stay here!
Image courtesy of Vista Verde
There's that icy eucalyptus/balsam scent with pine, and a tartness that always reminds me of winter berries. This is awesome. Oh for anyone looking for a pine scent that doesn't smell like detergent, this is it.

As this wears on, my skin chemistry starts hating it and coming up with this sour, dry tea scent. There's still the tingling sweet iciness that I love, though.

TL;DR: Winter cabin in Christmas turning into dry tea.


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Duncan Spice Latte 


"The Duncan Spice Latte is a seasonal twist on our Duncan Hills soap, Freshly brewed coffee with hints of vanilla, cinnamon and cream and a kick of sugary pumpkin spice. "

This is the lonely scent I mistakenly classified as winter before I checked the scent descriptions. I only saw it listed as a soap, but I guess the perfume oil for it is available too.

I was freaking excited for this even before I sniffed it, because Duncan Hills is my favourite coffee scent ever. Sure enough, this is like a realistic spiced latte scent. I feel like I'm snowed-in in Starbucks and enjoying their winter lattes. It's just so heavenly and I really recommend it. Unfortunately, my skin eats up the spices in about 20 min and it starts smelling a bit more like plain coffee, but I still love the scent. I need to test this next to Duncan Hills to see if it's worth getting both.

TL;DR: Spiced latte.

Overview: Ok, so I tried both of them together and in the beginning, Duncan Spice Latte is definitely sweeter, with spices that Duncan Hills doesn't have. Getting Duncan Spice Latte in full size is still tempting at this point. Then at about 20 min, the spices in Duncan Spice Latte started getting overpowered on me. It's still sweeter than Duncan Hills, but they're getting too similar to justify having both in full size. Duncan Spice Latte also smells like it has more milk in it than Duncan Hills. Still too similar though. Oh darn it. Once my Duncan Hills run out, I'm getting this in full size though!


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Mistress for Christmas


"A rich Gingerbread, with notes of Nutmeg, Cinnamon, Clove and Vanilla on a bed of spicy Ginger. The sexiest part of Christmas if you ask me. Contains essential oils."

This is heavenly. It starts off as a watery creamy scent that reminds me of creamy Asian desserts. It's creamy, but not so thick to the point where you feel your arteries screaming in terror. I'm eating kembang tahu right now, and it smells just like that. It's this delicious, creamy soy pudding in ginger soup dessert and looks like this.

Despite looking like baby mush it tastes amazing. I promise.
Image courtesy of Cooking With Mama Miyuki and you can find her recipe for it here.


As it wears on, the scent gets heavier until it smells like a gingerbread, only with more fragrant spices to make it smell more like a wearable scent rather than something that'll attract hungry children.

TL;DR: Some gingery dessert.


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Winter Madness


"Buttery, creamy Eggnog with a kick of Nutmeg, Cinnamon and Clove! Contains essential oils."

On first application, something went sour on me. Not good. There's also this oily margarine smell that was freaking me out. This only lasted a few minutes though, and my skin finally amped up the fall spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, etc.) scent. The fall spices are so amped up, it's all I can smell and the scent becomes pretty ordinary. I still smell a bit of margarine oiliness in the background, but I really have to be looking out for it.

The dry down is this creamy, slightly cloying clay-like scent, with fall spices.

TL;DR: Fall spices.

Overview: Looks like the eggnog note is the one that's not agreeing with me. If I try hard, I think I can sniff traces of eggnog, but I have to really look out for it since it mostly turned into an oily margarine scent or a creamy clay-like scent.


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Wizards in Winter 

"Sweet, fresh Peppermint with a touch of Vanilla. Contains 100% natural essential/infused oils."

Vanilla & peppermint. I personally love it since it smells more like a mint rather than a toothpaste, which a lot of minty smells end up smelling like.

TL;DR: Vanilla peppermint mint.




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