Om Ali (also spelt Umm Ali) actually means Mother of Ali, and it's a dessert that you'll find at any feast or large gathering in Egypt. It's a very simple bread pudding that is made with a sweetened milk mixture, and generous servings of clotted cream. Unlike most bread puddings, this is instead made with pastry and once baked, it is topped with all manner of nuts, sultanas, and even coconut. Om Ali is truly a regal dessert in texture, flavour and potentially origins, and it's definitely something you should try out.
If you want to see how I make Om Ali, or prefer video recipes, check out the full video recipe here

What is Om Ali

The simplest way to describe Om Ali, is a bread pudding that uses pastry instead of bread. This is traditionally made with Goulash (A pastry similar to filo, not the dish I covered last week) pastry sheets, which are baked and then soaked with sweetened milk. The benefit of using pastry, is that it will absorb some of the sweetened milk without developing a soggy and mushy texture like bread does. Personally I forego the Goulash pastry, and instead make this with either Croissants or Palmiers, which I toast before soaking in the milk. I find that the puff pastry used in those goods ends up with a very similar texture to the Goulash, while the crispy-ness of it, helps to give the pudding structural integrity. When the pastry has been soaked, it's added to an oven proof baking dish then topped with a healthy amount of clotted cream. Before it goes under a broiler, it's sprinkled with sugar and then allowed to caramelize and form a crystalline skin on top. Once it comes out of the oven, it's topped with your chosen toppings then served while steaming hot.
It's an extremely simple recipe, that is easily customised by the toppings added to it. It's common to add lots of nuts to the dish, such as hazelnuts, flaked almonds and pistachios, which provide the pudding with a crunchy contrast to the soft texture. Adding sultanas or raisins is also common, and they provide a squishy texture with bursts of fruity sweetness. You'll commonly encounter Om Ali at weddings and parties in Egypt, as it's a common buffet food and easy to make in large quantities. My mother in law likes to make it for family feasts when we have a large number of guests, but in my household we make it when we are having a Middle Eastern themed dinner. Despite it's easy recipe, a lot of people purchase Om Ali from a local dairy store, these are just like green grocers, except they sell everything related to dairy (Cheese, Yoghurt, Milk, Cream, Puddings, Butter). Another common place people get Om Ali, is from pudding shops. There's a number of chains operating throughout Egypt, that you can pull your car up to and get a drive through Om Ali, or Rice Pudding (My kind of drive through).

Cultural Context

The theory goes that Om Ali which means mother of Ali, is named after one of Sultan Izz al-Din Aybak's wifes who had a son called Ali. Izz al-Din Aybak, was the first sultan of the Mamluk Sultanate (1250-1517). When the Ayubbid dynasty (Saladin's Dynasty) fell in 1250, Shajarat al Durr became the first Sultana (Female Sultan, not the fruit) to rule Egypt. The Syrian Emirs refused to pay homage to her, and so Izz al-Din Aybak married her and was installed as Sultan. Some time later a conflict between them arose, and in the fashion of sultans, Shajarat al Durr had the sultan assassinated in his bath by his servants. She was arrested and then beaten to death by the servants of Al-Mansur Ali (One of Izz al-Din Aybak's sons) and his mother (she's Om Ali). The pudding gets it's name from Al-Mansur Ali and his mother, who it's said, ordered the palace chefs to make a pudding to celebrate the new Sultan and had it distributed to the public.
Despite it's supposed regal origins, Om Ali is very much a dessert of the people. It's quite cheap to make, and it's common for the nuts to be replaced with cheaper varieties such as peanuts to save on costs. Egyptians have a strong sweet tooth and winters get quite cold, so the popularity of a hot pudding is no surprise. Of course modern twists on Om ALi are made, I've seen some with cocoa flavored milk, and you can even get Om Ali with ice cream for a hot and cold mix..

Flavor Profile

A spoon full of Om Ali, will have a number of different textures on it. First there will be the crispy texture from the top layer of pastry, this is usually coated in a thin layer of sugar which adds a crunchy sugar texture similar to creme brule. Then you'll have softened pastry, which will have absorbed some of the milk, but will still retain it's shape and will not be soggy. You'll also have some of the sweetened milk mixture on your spoon, which if you use a high quality milk, will have a creamy and silky texture. Then there's the crunchy textures you get from the nuts, and the squidgy textures from the sultanas. Together it's a wonderful mouthful of alternating textures.
In terms of flavour, the milk is supposed to have a creamy buttery flavour, while being quite sweet. My recipe is not as sweet as others I've tried, and it uses brown sugar as well as white sugar for some caramel notes. Most of the flavour you get will come from the nuts or sultanas you choose to use. Hazelnuts and flaked almonds are the classic choice though you can also use pistachios instead.

Ingredients

Om Ali (Makes 4 large portions or 1 family size serving):

• 450g (16 oz) Croissants or 400g Palmiers (Bakery croissants will probably be denser than grocery store croissants, so you may need 600g)
• 1L (33 fl oz) Whole Milk (High Quality, preferably jersey cow or buffalo)
• 250ml (8.5 fl oz) Extra thick cream or clotted cream (High quality, preferably jersey cow or buffalo). You can also add cream to regular milk for a similar texture
• 75g (2.7 oz) Brown sugar + extra for dusting
• 75g (2.7 oz) White sugar

Toppings:

• 50g (1.8 oz) Hazelnuts
• 50g (1.8 oz) Almond flakes
• 50g (1.8 oz) Sultanas
• 25g (0.9 oz) Dessicated Coconut You can use any nuts or other fillings you like

Directions

To prepare the croissants:

1. Using a bread knife slice the corners (ears) off of each end of your croissants
2. Slice the body of the croissant in half and then slice it into bite sized chunks
3. Line a baking sheet with grease proof paper, and place your croissant pieces on it in a single layer. Turn them so the inner part of the croissant is facing up
4. Place the sheet in the oven to bake at 180c (350f) for about 6 minutes, until all the croissant pieces have browned and dried slightly
5. Repeat until you have done all the croissants

To prepare the nuts:

1. Peel your hazelnuts and remove any of the brown skin
2. Using a knife chop the nuts into large chunks
3. Place the nuts on a baking sheet lined with grease proof paper and bake at 180c (350f) until toasted
4. Remove immediately from the tray and allow to cool

To prepare the milk mixture:

1. Add the milk to a large pot on high heat
2. Add in both the brown sugar and white sugar, and stir the pot, allow to come to a boil
3. Once it boils and foams up, remove it from the heat and use immediately

To assemble the Om Ali:

1. In an oven proof baking dish, place your baked croissant pieces. I prefer doing individual servings.
2. Add any toppings you want to include over the top of the croissant pieces
3. Add enough milk so the pastry is just barely emerging from it. You can add more croissant pieces if necessary to get it to the right depth
4. Spoon over as much of the cream as you can and then top with some more brown sugar
5. Set your broiler to low and place the puddings beneath it
6. Once the cream has melted and the surface of the Om Ali has caramelized, remove it from the oven
7. Garnish with more nuts and serve once it is no longer a scalding temperature

TL;DR - we taught a computer to make up indie perfume names and descriptions. It was hilariously bad at it.
Inspired by this post about AI-generated candle descriptions, my brother and I decided to try training the gpt-2 (an AI computer that's available for people to tinker with) on indie perfume names and descriptions. Neither of us are experts (he does some coding for his engineering job; I barely passed one CS class in college) but it turns out that people who know much more than we do have been working to make artificial neural networks accessible, and it actually wasn't too bad.
To train a computer, you need data. Lots of it. Thankfully, this sub came through for me, with this spreadsheet of over 1500 perfumes compiled by the amazing u/vanityclaire (Sadly it's outdated for shopping, but still good for this.)
Then we had to train the ANN. We thought we had an instant success when it began giving us names like "Banana Peel in a Graveyard," but it turned out we were simply underestimating the enduring weirdness of BPAL names.
(Incidentally, I think BPAL should release a perfume called The Enduring Weirdness Of BPAL Names. Just for fun.)
However, eventually we succeeded. We found that the models that generated creative names were mostly the ones that generated boring descriptions and vice versa, so I'm giving them mostly separately. Feel free to match them up, or suggest names or notes for them :)

CGI Names

• The Hummingbird of Love
• Brimstone and Broom
• The One Under The Bed
• The Last Basilisk
• The Poorest Florist
• Unmuffled Whispers of Nature on Musk And Wood With White Musk And Blue Musk And Black Musk And Blue Musk And Woods And Carcass (according to the generated notes, it smells like apples and has no musk!)
• Shadower
• Midnight Vaporize
• Black Bee
• Spiced Tomatogram
• Barked Potato
• Scandal of You
• Normally Spiced Nutcrack
• Radical
• Blackburn's Bowmaster
• Blackburn's Beer Float
• Bubbled Cranberry
• Window of Doom
• Leatherndress
• Lament of Three
• Lush Guano
• Killer Kitten
• The Last of the Wild Boars
• House of 1000 Corpses
• Take Me Apart By Myself
• Calla Her
• Fairy Curd
• The Rise & Fall of Sun Quan
• Chamomile & Mushroom Mist
• Jack & The Divine Jam & Mallow
• Salty Beer
• Disney Tuna
• Tea Cotton & Bark
• Silent But Deadly
• Hivemind Tea
• Gelatin Spice Latte
• Louis III and Eric
• Ex-Human

And finally, the computer would like to suggest that if there are Rose Mallow, Violet Mallow, and Cocoa Mallow perfumes, then there is no good reason not to create Cherry Mallow, Banana Mallow, Cobalt Mallow, and Python Mallow. Obviously.

CGI Descriptions

And then there were the descriptions, which ranged from normal to......I have no idea what some of these are about. Here's a selection:

• "Dab a bit of black pepper on your hand, and voila! You have now mastered the art of pepper playing pranks on your fellow man! You can wear this one as a necklace or carry it as a wild card in your life (there is no telling which way things will turn out from here)"
• Alienation, torture, and the horrible, dark arts. Inspires vengefulness, patience, kindness, and a deep awareness of one's fellow man.
• "In honor of the official patron Goddess of Foodies and Foodies, I am proud to present to you The Saint of Food. The scent for my fantasy girlfriend would be one with no name, no place to be, no idea how she is supposed to look or behave. Divinely sophisticated and perfect for a night out at the opera in the heat of summer with friends, followed by a long (but not uncomfortably romantic) nap." (It's like a perfume/witchy/niceguys crossover!)
• "A tart, romantic dupe of Earl Grey Tea: red currant, black cinnamon, and sweet patchouli."
• Evil incarnate: this is a perfume sacred to the satyrs — ravens, storks, moths, and locusts. Their scent is a blend of ancient Egyptian and Greek Myrrh, with a touch of bright, crisp linen.
• An intoxicating blend, a game of musical chairs: plumeria, orange blossom, orange blossom, pear, orange blossom, orange blossom, and anise.
• Roll-ups, mildewed raincoat, and duct tape.
• The ultimate, audacious, and incredibly risky scent. The blackest of the blackest of the black. (Is it patented by Anish Kapur?)
• Hair of the Dog, feline and canine.
• Fizzy pear, peach and/or coconut.
• Molly - A true wet martini waiting to happen when you drop it into the black stream bubbling beneath the surface. Like sipping on a forest fire and smelling the forest for the first time you realise why it was there in the first place and that's the 100% real forest smell. Wettest of all to those that have smelled the effervescent hazelnut you instantly know how to behave when you are at a 10% ABV gathering. Very very very pretty and not very foody.
• "Alfred Hitchcock's Texas Chain Saw Massacre is both a psycho and a horror story. A plantation romance, the couple is accused of murdering one another and stealing bride and dance from the beautiful, innocent, innocent, beautiful, little-known "Red Woman". They are said to be close to reconciliation, but their troubles are far from over. They have one more thing in common: they both starred in horror films. (Cameo by dandyboy1911. An elegant blend of elegant chamomile, bay rum, and attar of rose.)
• Amelesia - Fabulous layered citrus and musk, full of citrus, and musk given the edge of life. Amelesia is freckled, gaunt, and suffering from the effects of post-traumatic stress with long slow comings and goings.
• World War Z - California, dust, and jelly beans. This is what World War Z smells like. Scent and rampaging madness.
• Celadon Noir - Deep mucus and golden violets.
• An immaculately scented blend of Vanilla, Sandalwood, Amber, Tonka Bean, Fragrant Remains, and a tiny hint of Kosher Hieroglyphics.
• "A delicate, enchanting blend of delicate pekoe tea cakes dipped in warm, juicy cherry pie."
• Winters Whore 1 - This fragrance embodies a scent of the cold, winter air sweeping over dark alleys and winding through the backstreets of the poor women. A warm scent with a delicate hint of green and a wild note that you could swear was frumpy but was actually made to match your scent, it was the scent of the coldest and most beautiful winter decorations that was placed down at night on the front porch. Named for the woman on whose house it was placed, who was murdered by a rich, powerful man and who was buried with his wealth as an inheritance. Upon seeing it appeared, the man went into a rage and threw the pillbox in a dumpster, the lady who was with him sped away in a carriage with her children and was strangled to death by her own husband, and the children were taken and made into an act of prostitution and the rich man was hung and after being shot and killed by a gang of gallows men. Upon his hanging, the ex-potentate declared that the flower should be used as an aphrodisiac and the bullet should be placed in the flower, after which the balloon should explode with the rich man's name written all over it, and he would be granted a new life. The original recipe said that the flower should be used for seduction and that the bullet should be placed in the flower, but with the old lady's body being strewn with flowers, that hasn't worked out so well, and now it's just used as perfume for the sheer loveliness of it all. This elixer base is made with a tea rose accord and consists of: (1) 100% pure tea resins and leaves (2) tea rose essential oil
• Vamp - A sharp, dirty scent: black musk, tanning lotion, grapefruit, tonka bean, balsam pine, tobacco flower, amber, and soot-covered black armpit.
• Shadower - A scentedored variation of the standard shantymaker's scentedored variation of "bathtub gin". A lavender fougere, a hint of lilac, and a touch of lilac persimmon.
• GRAPE SODA - crunchy black agar & crisp white peppermint
• Dirty Laundry: The scent of a laundry-free home, in addition to the scent from your favorite brand of laundry detergent.
• Dirty Laundry 2: A full moon, a rich oud wood, and a few wildflowers. It is the perfect fit for any day of the week.
• Under a thick layer of black licorice, a layer of purulent, rancid skin – pure and lovely. Underneath, a layer of frankincense, a layer of myrrh, and a tiny drop of patchouli.
• This is a blend of my personal scents, very bright. It's very floral and earthy, very perfect. Just perfect for fall. (If Trump were a perfumer)
• Chypre which isn't chypre, but a blend of chamomile, chamomile, lemon peel, chamomile, honey, and vanilla
• The Holy Roman Empire, also called the Byzantine Empire, was a geopolitical entity in Europe and Asia, spanning the Eastern Mediterranean, Central Asia and the Arabian Peninsula. Its princes and administrators ruled over empires, trading centers, and slave markets. Their spices, town flowers and incense were the principal sources of pleasure in their households. Sweet Arabia was the dominating sweetener in their oude and they used it in their legal codes and official documents, too. Although technically the same product, Holy India is a very syrupy blend of subtle Himalayan and African fruits and spices that have been oxidized and given a thick, refined taste. Although the Eastern Orthodox Church historically used the spice in their liturgy, it is in no way a synonym for the Greek word "Christ," and it is not a synonym for the Roman numeral "one," either

CGI successes?

And then there's a few that I think the computer got more or less right! I bet these would sell:

• A deliciously perverse and sinister blend, imbued with power and grace. The scent of a perfect lover, a scent that has no equal. Thick black currants with a hint of leather and ginger, spiced with vanilla, cinnamon and allspice.
• The scent of an elite assassin, trained to such a degree that only a mere mortal would dare approach. A virginal, sweet scent, imbued with power and grace. (Okay, this doesn't have notes, but it should. I vote for florals and resins.)
• Tsunami is the scent of an oceanic treatment. The ghostly and sorrowful beauty of submerged coral, and a warm tingling of citrus. The exotic and the familiar on the verge of dissolving into each other. The crisis and the triumph of hope.
• Crimson and Black - This is the scent that earned the Grim Reaper his reputation as the most terrifying man in history. This is that scythe-wielding, black-clad Grimm who roamed the land as a wild scent. Crimson and Black musk blends with frankincense, cedar and oakmoss to create a haunting and sultry blend reminiscent of a haunted cemetery. A piquant yet comforting, comforting and comforting.
• Hellfire and the Dark Side of Evil: A long dead and powerful blend of three potent and deadly opiates: opium resin, honey, and smoke. (Yeah, pretty sure I'd buy this!)
• White Tea, Mandarin, Lemon, Orange-Juice, Opium, Rich with Sheng Pine Tar and Ghost bamboo. (This too! Anyone have a dupe?)
• Pure, sweet, and ferocious. A malevolent yet charming blend of Vanilla, Sandalwood, Amber, Lavender Bergamot, Lavender Essential Oil, Lavender Cauldron Smoke, and a Vanilla Accord (okay, the notes need adjustment, but Lavender Cauldron Smoke sounds amazing)

So. That's the post. Favorites? Least favorites? Any that you want to make up notes or names or descriptions for?
Also, you can find the unfiltered dump of all our results here - feel free to go looking at everything I didn't include!

Hi everyone! With Resurrection starting today, I thought I'd post some quick 1-2 line reviews of some of the scents on offer. If you're having trouble deciding, I hope some of these reviews might help you!
An Excellent Day for An Exorcism (Cathedral incense, black clove, burned parchment, tarnished silver, sacred woods) - Smoothest clove scent I’ve ever tried. The incense isn’t too harsh, but I can’t pick up much paper from it. A clean, yet dark scent.
Bad Reputation (Rolling paper, cannabis, cherry cola, worn leather jacket, torn magazine pages) - The cherry Coke is fizzy, the cannabis is just there enough to make it funky, and the magazine note is so realistic. One of my absolute faves.
Baker Street (Earl Grey tea, dark aged vanilla, sweet tobacco, mahogany chairs, dusty leather-bound books, and a drop of blackest musk) - This leather, went straight car leather on me. It ruined all other notes in the scent for me, my skin amped it too much. I wish I had a better review, but skin chemistry.
Boardwalk (Coconut pulp, coconut milk, Coppertone, sand, sea breeze, driftwood, melted vanilla ice cream cone, sticky cotton candy) - this is one of my favorite beach scents! I love salt water taffy and it comes through strong. The salty air and coconutty sunscreen just paint the picture of a lovely beach afternoon.
Cruel Summer (Beach rock, hot sand, palm fronds, sunblock, salt, rum) - what a coincidence, one of my other favorite beach scents! While Boardwalk is walking through a populated beach area, CS is like walking along the ocean alone in the late morning. It’s salty, it’s warm, it’s the Carolinas bottled.
Dead is Better (Sharp fir needles, cracked asphalt, wild blackberry thorn, grave mud, cold fur) - I don’t like most pine scents, but this is amazing! Real pine needles and blackberries squished onto the asphalt. I live in Virginia, and it reminds me of Virginia country roads.
E Lucevan Le Stelle (Dark earth, night gardenia, starlit cobblestone, ambergris, galbanum, tree moss) - If you don’t really like gardenia, you will not like this. It’s a waxy white floral. Strong earth notes, too.
Good Morning, Bayside High (Sun-baked cement, rows of metal lockers, sprinklers on dry grass, towering palms, beach sand, shaved ice) - Why do I love the smell of hot cement so much? It’s here, it’s strong, and it’s sweet from the melted shaved ice. I think the shaved ice “flavors” are lime, orange, and cherry.
Habanera (Aldehydes, guava, bergamot flower, water hyacinth, sparkling jasmine, wild clover) - Fizzy! I love aldehydes. I found this to be quite similar to Jean from the 2020 Spring Collection, except this one isn’t very sweet. The jasmine in this is lovely and not funky in anyway. This is like a floral soda in a scent.
Hesperides (Apple wood & blossom, sweet cherry, magnolia flower, clover honey, hedione) - The jasmine is very present. And I kind of wish it wasn’t, because the cherry and the magnolia are so pretty. The jasmine adds a fuzziness that I personally don’t care for.
I Killed The Teen Dream (Vanilla bean ice cream, pink spun sugar & marshmallow, white cake crumbs, candied citron, a cracked jawbreaker, duct tape, gunpowder) - This scent makes me think of Harley Quinn. I get the candy, the bubblegum, the duct tape note is strong and accurate. I have no more notes. This is a hilarious atmospheric blend. Highly recommend.
I Wanna Be An Airborne Ranger! (Breakfast cereal, melted marshmallow, strong coffee, library books, denim jacket, teen angst) - Sixteen92 converted me to coffee scents with this one. It’s one of their most popular scents for a reason! The Lucky Charm marshmallows, the clean denim, the creamy, sugary coffee. Great everyday scent, easy to wear.
It’s History, It’s Poetry (Tobacco, whisky, polished wood, typewriter ink, city sidewalks, carousel lights in the rain) - A definite kettle corn note, kettle corn covered in motor oil. A good slosh of whiskey, as well. That great stone note it back. And yet, it’s just not for me. I wanted it to be a bit sweeter. A great atmospheric of a carnival in the rain.
Ligeia (Ash, gardenia, opium haze, aldehydes, white iris, honeycomb, ambergris, cold skin) - I tried this one to get out of my comfort zone, but I didn’t care for it. I don’t like honey notes very much and this wasn’t an exception. The opium is very prominent, and so is the ash. A bit too heavy for me.
May I Admire You Again Today? (Pink petals, pale amber, soft violet leaf, sparkling tuberose, candied ginger, strong lips) - This was one of the perfumes I was praying would come back, and it did! I regretted selling my extra sample because this is my perfect floral. It’s the color millennial pink in a bottle. Gingery tuberose makes it kind of sparkly-smelling. It’s perfect. Don’t sleep on this one!
Mind Over Matter (Sheer vanilla, black tea with milk, silver iris and delicate lace slashed with bright red musk and glowing embers) - I really, really wanted to love this. I wrote my senior capstone on Carrie. But it sadly goes so savory on my skin. Sometimes it’s a nice red musk with a tea background, and then sometimes it smells like burnt Fritos. It makes me so sad. It fits the book well, though!
Moirai (Black fig, black & red tea leaves, ginger root, coconut milk, papyrus) - Coconut and papyrus! Surprisingly a very dry scent, I don’t get too much fig. Feels very upscale.
Morganite (Sparkling peach, green melon, almond blossom, candied papaya, hibiscus flower, vanilla orchid) - Gummy bears! Gummy candy, all melted down and poured over your skin. Sugary good time.
One Good Scare (Glowing jack-o-lanterns, charred marshmallows, roasted pumpkin seeds, falling leaves, campfire smoke) - If you want a pumpkin scent without spice, this is for you. Roasted pumpkin seeds and creamy sweet pumpkin flesh, it’s a simple scent that doesn’t have to try too hard. Very nice.
Party At the Moon Tower (White cupcakes with popping candy frosting, spiked punch, faded sunscreen, lake breeze, a distant summer bonfire) - this smells exactly like sleepovers at my best friend’s house as a kid. It’s a comfort scent for me. It’s drinking red Kool Aid and eating snacks by the pond. It makes me emotional.
Peachy F—ing Keen (Peach preserves, white nectarine, black raspberry, syrupy benzoin, vanilla musk, rum) - For some reason, this reminds me of peach frozen yogurt, my favorite, topped with fresh fruit and those fruity popping pearls. The surprise hit of last years’ Anniversary for me.
Prom Queen (White chrysanthemum, sticky honeysuckle, cherry limeade, red lollipop, smudged mascara, innocent cashmere, blood accord) - Quite literally, a prom corsage soaked in a Sonic Cherry Limeade. I love everything about it.
Save Ferris (Funnel cakes & lemonade from Wrigley field, salted pretzels, bright blue skies, cool Lake Michigan breeze, Bueller… Bueller…) - Soft pretzels are some of my favorite treats, and the pretzel note here is fluffy and salty and mixes beautifully with the sweet lemonade. The “cool air” note adds a subtle hint of mintiness that perks up the whole scent. Worth the hype!
Serres d’Auteuil (Spring cherry blossom, pink pepper, Grasse rose, hothouse ferns, warm sun, sweet heliotrope) - if you love pink pepper, this is a must have. A crisp, spicy scent, but a cold spicy as opposed to a warm spicy.
Sick, Sad World (Dry breakfast cereal, steamed milk, used bookstore, crisp newspaper, wool jacket, knee-high black) - Again, sadly, the leather wasn’t good on me, I had to destash. But the cereal being more of a Cocoa Pebbles than Lucky Charms of I Wanna Be An Airborne Ranger! and the book page note is subtle.
Talia (Vanilla, moss, ivy, soft musk, stone) - this one was a bit flat on me, I don’t think that the fern note works on me. The stone note that S92 does so well is there, but not as strong as I would like. The vanilla is cold, not very gourmand.
Thank the Dark Lord (Spiced caramel toffees, soft wool scarf, witch’s herbs, cardamom latte, a tray of warm cookies) - smells like getting melted salted caramel all over your sweater. slight cinnamon spice in the background. very fall scent.
The Bottling Room (Sterile glass, electricity, copper, hot light bulbs, lab-grown flowers, synthetic greenery) - I’m picking up a bottle of this this year! It’s so starchy clean, the slight electric crackle in the background. It’s Nurse Ratched, melted down in a bottle.
The Fall of the House of Usher (Pine & fir needle, frozen hemlock, amyris, sweet myrrh, shadowed stone, precious woods) - This is basically Room 237 without a minty note from the birch. Very similar to Turn of the Screw, but not as sweet, and missing that great ink note. The myrrh is strong, so if you don’t like myrrh, I wouldn’t recommend it.
The Path of Night (Black oak & acorn, blood moon, sticky benzoin, frankincense tears, votive candles, cold snakeskin) - If you want a really strong forest/animalistic scent, look no further. It’s too intensely earthy for me, the oak is a little too masculine here.
The Primrose Path (Soaked earth, lichen, ancient oak roots, grass, water lily, heavy stone, a tangled garland of faded spring blooms) - Lying at the bottom of a clean riverbed among the smooth stones and watery greens. A true Ophelia scent. No further notes. Gorgeous.
The Princess Di of Reagan High (Coconut milk, star jasmine, pink birthday cake, warm honey, white amber) - The honey is strong for me, but the coconut milk cake is delicious! If you’re scared of jasmine, give star jasmine a try, it’s much fresher than a regular jasmine note. Fluffy cake on a beach.
Theda (Tart sangria infused with ripe summer fruits (white peach, nectarine, berries, citrus), dark vanilla, wild vines, rose absolute) - I looooove wine scents, and this is delicious. A cold sangria in a glass with rose petals floating on top.
They F—ing Forgot My Birthday (Wedding cake, orange blossom honey, burned sugar, soft vanilla musk, unlit birthday candles, would you stop feeling sorry for yourself?) - this is my exception to my “no honey notes” rule. Orange blossom honey is rich and the slight tartness from the orange tempers the sweetness of the scent. Vanilla wedding cake drizzled in decadent honey, it’s almost sinful. It’s worth the hype, IMO.
Time After Time (Watermelon lipgloss, peony blossom, new roller skates, vanilla malt, sugar musk) - Wow, the nostalgia hits hard. It smells like the 2000s! The Lip Smackers, the pleather, the vanilla soft serve from the roller rink. It always makes me smile when I smell this.
We Are the Weirdos, Mister (Dragon’s blood resin, cleansing white sage, snuffed-out candles, spell books, metal and ash, dusty tarot cards) - Ooo, yes. Resin that has crystalized into a caramel with a light dusting of ash over the whole scent experience. Very young witchy vibes. I wish I had this scent in high school. It was never a phase, Mom!

I went a bit nuts during this last month. There are a few more that I haven't smelled yet .So will add on to the list. I tend to lean towards musky, smoky, woody, (fl)oriental, 1001 nights, dark fairy tale, flying carpet scents. That sounds crazy. I know. But that's what I dig. But there are plenty of roze, floral and citrussy fragrances on the list! Exceptions are always a wonderful surprise.
​
Nishani
Ani:
The opening reminds me a bit of Light blue from D&G, then it melts into this vanillic, ginger, , warm cosy, yet light fragrance. Totally Unisex.
Hacivat-
A similar citrussy opening but where Ani is sharper, this is juicier, and then the wood notes comes through very nicely. It becomes dryer ( with that citrus) and more woody instead of sweet, the more it develops. This is a happy scent, simple fragrance, nothing mind blowing, but a very wearable and Pleasant one.
patchuli khoza-
I mainly smell Black pepper, Leather, Patchouli and a hint of honey at the end to sweeten it up. I'm sure there are flowers in there to lift the whole thing up a bit, but I can't detect them seperately. Simple, okay.
Heeley
bubblegum chic:
Wow, lmao, what is this. My brain just can't compute this. Yes, bubblegum, but made out of flowers? Bubblegum for grownups? In a non sweet way? I wan't to like it for its originality and accuracy, but it is not me. I'm not a floral, bubblegummy kinda gal. But A+ for imagination/creativity!
Hippie Rose-
Yeah, Woodstock rose water all the way. Fresh green opening, like wet morning dew and freshly cut meadows, with a crisp wet rose blowing in the wind. almost aquatic. And then there's that hint of hippie patchouli and smoky amber, and this clean innocent smelling musk. Super unisex to me. Def a spring/summer fragrance. Gorgeous and fresh!
Sel marin-
Growing up at the north sea, this is a pretty realistic interpretation without it becoming too realistic. As in, this gives you an abstract interpretation of marine like qualities of an ocean. It is what you smell at the pier without smelling the pier itself and all its glorious rotting decay. It is more of an experience than enjoyable to me. it has this fresh citrussy note, but then the salty sea air comes in, and yep, there's that tang of marine seaweed water that just keeps on going. I see how people like this, I prefer the real deal, just not on me when I'm around people lmao.
Cardinal-
This is love at first sniff. This is the most wearable church incense I've encountered so far. It has all the qualities of a churchy incense without it becoming too much. This is because of the linen note they put in. It gives this serious scent a modern, uplifting, fresh laundry vibe. Modern, mysterious, comforting, clean, gorgeous!
Amouage
Reflection man-
Yeah, watery, like a reflection pool, with oriental flowers in the background and some woody notes. beautiful, very wearable, stolen by husband.
Lyric man-
Yeah, no, I love Amouage, but this is a hard pass for me. It smells like musty old lady toilet soap. Sorry.
Lilac Love-
Big hit of pretty Lilac, that settles into this non sweet chocolatey floral goodness. Sophisticated, mature, gentle, non offensive, pretty without being too girly.
Memoir woman-
Oh Amouage, this is shockingly good. This smells like the fresh smoke of an oriental incense stick, dark woods, moss, smokey, mysterious, floral, dry. And that drydown. Just sensual dark mystery all around. This is not for softhearted girly girls. This is for more mature women that don't give a rats ass about what others think.
Opus VII- Incense bomb, too much of it. heavy, dark, very hard to wear for me or husband even.
Parfum de marly
Delina-
schreeching sharp synthetic smelling lychee bomb. You know that accumulated cheap headache induscing smell you get when you step inside a cheap commercial fragrance store? Yeah. that's what this reminds me of. Maybe for young girls that like Escada.
Delina exclusif -
Same as the previous one, only more cloying powdery loud musk added to it.
Meliora-
Affraid to say this, but all I get is cheap dollar store bathbomb.
Darcy -
again.....So generic that I can't even pick out individual notes. I really don't understand the hype. But maybe I'm just crazy!
Safanad-
And then there's this little pretty. Light airy pretty orange blossom, so light, it almost lifts up. But then there's this not too sweet vanilla note, and a hint of musk that keeps her grounded. Pretty, lovely, mature and classy fragrance for every day.
Layton exclusif-
A modern interpretation of a cold, wet mossy forest floor with dry woods. A rich dude in a sports car would wear this to show off his richness without too much substance.
penhaligon's
Halfeti-
Very masculine to me. Leathery, smoky, modern, almost like a leather seat in an office. I don't get too much else. It hits me in the face too much.
Elisabethan Rose-
This is a weird one. I starts out like a fresh pretty rose, but then the tangerine takes over, and it becomes a bit too old fashioned for me. On the dry down it turns soapy, and the tangerine still lingers. If you like rose fragrances, it is definitely unique enough to try.
Ruthless Couness Dorothea-
This is an interesting one too. I can smell boozy smoky wine with sage and vanilla and a hint of ginger. It is modern though, and quite wearable.
Bewitching Yasmine -
If you like Yasmine dominant fragrances, this is an absolute beauty. I however don't ( Alien by mugler...brrrr) So yeah, all Yasmine lovers, try this one!
Floraiku
Sound of a ricochet-
Simple good quality warm sandalwood, with a background on non sweet vanilla and tonkabean on the dry own. Simple, good quality, very pleasant. Stolen by husband.
Zoologist
Camel-
This is what an Egyptian night market smells like, and everything a camel would be carrying in a caravan through the dessert. Antique metal pots, sweet dates, dried fruits, incense, spices, herbs, some leather hides, dust, smoke, dirt and a hint of animalic mystery. This leans towards a vintage oriental...at its finest. One of my favorite discoveries.
Memo
African Leather-
To me this smells like a combination of L'air du dessert & Istanbul by Gallivant. Gallivant being more simplistic and light, dessert being more complex and dark, and African Leather a safe midway.
Lalibela-
It has this typical dominant Tabaco note that I don't like. It makes it hard to smell anything else, and when I do, the combination of rose, vanilla and Tabaco make me queasy. If you are a woman who likes smoky Tabaco, this is a winner, because it does lean quite feminine. I just don't like the tabaco.
Imaginary Authors
memoires of a trespasser-
Imagine an old Oak wood barrel that maybe used to contain vanillic rum, on a ship filled with dusty old books, dry woody dusty memories of a pirate's long forgotten glory days. The after ripples of it, now a long forgotten memory. Simple, not sweet, but effective, nothing mindblowing, but cool to try! My husband loves it, he stole it.
Indult
Tihota-
If you like a good quality simple vanilla, this is it. The musk gives it a hint of burned caramel. And holy moly, does this ever have good longevity. 12h in and I could still smell it. Yummy, edible, cosy, simple, but good.
Arquiste
Anima Dulcis
This smells nothing like the notes listed on Fragrantica. I do not smell any vanilla, or cinnamon, or paprika. I smell incense, oregano , wood, maybe a bit of the cocoa that is listed. Strange. Pleasant, but strange.
Hermetica
Sandalsun-
hazelnut, praline for adults. Not really sweet. Interesting, but it starts to become a bit overbearing after a while.
Hiram Green
Arbole-
This opens like a spicy dirty rose, even though there is no rose. Must be the patchouli! Then loads and loads of tonkabean/vanilla with a powdery and dry wood in the background. It is nice/okay :)
Histoires des Parfums
Ambre 114-
A good stable woody ambery dry scent with hints of herbs like thyme and spices like nutmeg in the background. Good in all its simplicity.
Xerjoff
Lira-
Lemon, vanilla cookie batter. Very linear, no depth or mystery here. Nice, but nothing shocking. I dare even say overrated, especially for that whopping price tag.
Naxxos-
Smokey sweet Tabaco and honey, almost cloying. My husband loves this one. I can appreciate short bursts, before I get nauseous. It is a well developed unique fragrance though. I just don't like heavy Tabaco scents. If you do, this one is a good one!
Andy Tauer
L'air du dessert du marrocain -
What can I say. Imagine lying under a dessert night sky filled with stars, next to a fragrant bonfire with fragrant wood, with a breeze of herbal spices drifting your way. Enchanting, dry, but beautiful.
Au Coeur du Dessert-
This one got stolen by my husband. It is like the previous one, but it continues where the bonfire started. More woody, more herbal, where the previous one is softer and a bit more floral. Either one are gorgeous.
Incense rose-
Uhm, wow! This almost smells like what I imagine a vintage coca cola drink would smell like, mixed with heavy incense. and then I realize it is the mandarin notes that are giving that metallic like vintage tang to it. It is interesting, but not for me, because I cant get over the metallic edge. Def worth a try though!
Une rose chypree-
This is like a hippie trinket shop explosion. Loud and all over the place, messy, happy, chaotic, a sour note even. Then she calms down, and it becomes more chill, like the spacy girl who sits behind the counter, reading some obscure hippie novel while laughing out loud. Intriguing, but too much of a good ( and a bit disheveled crazy)thing for me.
Phi une rose du Kandahar-
Wowzers, this is good. This is not your typical rose. This is your Incensy, musky, powdery rose with a hint of vanilla. And what a beautiful rose it is. Not sweet, not dry, but fluffy and musky. A bit smoky and incensy the more she develops. More mature and daring. I say a bit feminine leaning.
L'artisan Parfumeur
Mont de Narcisse- My husband smells Band-Aids, I smell wood chips/shavings from the swiss alps.
Safran Troublant- Pretty rose with a splash or Saffron, nothing too complicated. Okay.
Comme des Garcons
Series 3 Insence: Avignon- Yeah, this is a realistic Catholic church, with cold stone walls, and dusty dark passage ways. reflective/meditative. I appreciate this, but for me it is too dark and intense to casually wear. I would love to try the rest of the series, since I do love incense.
Gallivant
Istanbul- Turkish markets that smell of woody spices, light floral, anise, licorice, fenugreek like vibes. Stolen by husband...again.
Ex Idolo
Love & Crime
Linear sugary chocolaty cinnamon with a burst of pink peppery spice. Cute, but I've outgrown these type of scents.
Bonus:
Lolia Lempicka
L- Yeah, Xerjoff Lira, eat your heart out. You know that depth and mystery that is missing in Lira? L has it and then some. Warm citrus, cinnamon, vanilla, smoky, musky, ambery, sweet, yet dark and deep. This is gorgeous and complex for a Gourmand. Also discontinued, so I'm coveting the last 30 ml I own.
Guerlain
Shalimar- Oh how I love you.....In the drydown that is. Because that Civet opening? Omg, yeah, that's fecal. Like poopy baby diapers. It goes away in the dry down though. And then this powdery incense, vanilla comes rising up in the most oriental, glorious vintage way. Gorgeous. But be warned. This is not a modern every day fragrance, and she's pretty filthy and apologetic! Not for sugary girls!
Souffle Intense- Review On its way!

With everything that had happen, Diana thought camp could use a little moral. And one of the best way she knows how to do that is through baked goods!
And that is how the baking workshop idea was born. She spent hours thinking about what she should have in her workshop and after considering everything from frosting to to vinegar and baking soda volcanoes she found the right idea- her 1 recipe pleases all cupcake recipe!
She set everything up for the workshop and waited for campers to come.
"Hello everyone, today I'm going to teach you one of my classics- it my 1 recipe pleases all cupcake recipe. It's a very easy recipe for beginners and it's 100% customizable, so you each can make your own flavor of choice.
I will start with a demo with tips and tricks and show you how you can make different flavors all using the same basic recipe."
She started the demo giving tips along the way, starting from the first ingredient, butter.
"Make sure your butter is soft."
Then the sugar-
"We add the suger and we whip it up together, this method is called 'creaming' and this will get a lot of air inside and will make sure your cupcakes are fluffy!"
Through the eggs-
"Add your eggs one at a time and make sure ot got fully incorporated before adding the next. This will help maintaining the air as well as preventing lamps."
And finishing up with the flour, baking powder and milk-
"Mix gently only until combined! If you over mix the batter with the flour it will become dense and will lose all fluffiness."
After the basic batter was done she moved to the customization, she divided her batter into individual bowls.
"So now you can really make any flavor you want. My first example will be a chocolate cupcake- I'm just adding cocoa powder like so... the next is if you're more of a fruit person- blueberry lemon. I'm going to add some fresh blueberries and lemon zest, you can see how easy it is to customize cause like here you can have lemon, you can have blueberries or both!
Next we add crashed Oreos for cookies and cream cupcakes and for my final example carrot cake- I'm adding in my shredded carrot, my raisins, my chopped walnuts and some cinnamon.
Now it's your turn! I'll move around to see how you're doing but also don't be afraid to call me if you have questions!"
Ooc: hope you'll enjoy this! If you want to interact with Diana, ask her a question, need help costuming a specific flavor or anything else, feel free to tag me!

Hello! I've never posted a review here, but I've been gathering hex scents for a while now, and figured why not review them! I love browsing this sub just to see peoples creative descriptions (mine are not that) and what other people like and dislike :] About me: I think i have dull senses (or maybe my skin eats perfume), because i can't seem to smell perfume after a while. If i end up with something that really lasts on me, i love it more. I like wood smells, sweet smells, some florals, incense smells, forest smells, etc. I don't really HATE anything (well, i didn't think i did..... ) Eight of these are full sizes that i mostly blind bought on description, two were free samples, and six were from ajevie. Here goes!
​
I am going to start with my full sizes
​
Leopardite: ( Mysore sandalwood, golden sandalwood powder, vanilla husk, chamois accord, Alaskan cedarwood, tobacco leaf, black oak, cardamom, saffron threads, miel blanc. )
​
For me, this is such a beautiful scent! It is woody and somewhat spicy, dry, and very comforting. When it dries it gets a twinge of sweetness that is nice, and it lasts a long time. I had some of this on my wrists still the next morning which is a huge bonus for me! All in all, i'm so glad i ended up getting this one. I was considering Santal or Santal vanilla instead (which i got as samples), and i honestly prefer this one as it has way more depth.
​
Hygge: ( stroopwafels, cardamom-infused custard, oatmeal porridge, pink peppercorn, smoked vanilla, myrrh, fir balsam. )
​
This is my favorite perfume from Hex, and possibly of all time. I love cardamom and warm, sweet smells. This evokes a cozy snow day, inside your house where it's warm, and your cat is sitting near you in your favorite blanket with fuzzy socks and warm tea. And you just baked something delicious. I dont think it's an atmospheric or anything, it's clearly very food smelling, but it's beautiful. It's strong for an oil too, i can smell it all day, into the next day, and everyone else will smell it too. It's sweet, spicy, has depth, and is ideal for me. I do not smell any Fir.
​
Moon: ( smoked vanilla, frankincense, Peru balsam, labdanum, amber, vetiver, Atlas cedarwood, patchouli, and night musk. )
​
So, i was very much looking forward to this one, and on first sniff i was almost horrified by it lol. It was sharp and almost astringent smelling. However, once it dries, i seriously love it too (that's going to get annoying to hear probably, but i love most of the scents i got.) The tree smells go so well with the smoked vanilla, and the frankincense and patchouli give it sort of a sexy smell. It's slightly sweet when it dries, but very incensey and sexy. I am not great at describing smells it turns out lol.
​
Aziraphale: ( marshmallow-topped hot cocoa, rice, wool, crêpes, leather-bound antique books, and old, wooden bookcases. )
​
This is going to be my least positive review, and im very sorry for that. Opening it just now to re-sniff it to jog my memory gave me in instant headache. I only smell the leather in this. Heavy, strong, overbearing leather. When i first got this i wore it and i had to shower and take off all my clothes, and showering didn't even fully get rid of the smell. It made me so nauseous. It's stuck in my computer wrist rests (it's mostly gone now). It's OVERWHELMING. i don't get any notes other than leather , other than maybe burning. If you're into that, go for this. My eyes are watering right now in a bad way.
​
Gold Skulltulla: ( golden amber, cardamom, vanilla orchid, vanilla bean, tonka, myrrh. )
​
Well, this has every note i love lol. This is a lighter, sweeter version of Leopardite to my nose. I love it, but i don't think i needed both. It disappears on me quickly, unfortunately. It's so beautiful, and it does have some things that make it unique however, like the slight slight floral smell. It certainly brings a brightness. I realized i will love any perfume with cardamom , vanilla, myrrh, or amber.
​
Morphine: ( steamed milk, lavender buds, honeyed apricots, chamomile tea, honey, white amber.)
​
I love this one so much, especially for sleeping. It's sweet from the amber and honey, herbal from the chamomile and lavender, and has body from the amber. This really is a beautiful scent. If anyone is disappointed about lavender london fog getting the 86, they should try a sample of this. I might try to craft a drink that tastes like how this smells lol. I wish i had a room/linen smell of this.
​
Moonstone: ( argent ambre, night-blooming jasmine, evening air accord, lunar musk. )
​
I really like jasmine a lot, so of course i had to have this. It isn't particularly exciting, but it's very nice. It's very cool smelling. It is clean, fresh and a lot more "mainstream" smelling than a lot of what i normally pick. I can't wait for the weather to start warming up some, because i think i'll be wearing this very frequently.
​
Rose Quartz: ( rose bud, pink grapefruit, passionfruit, cream soda, pink bubblegum, raspberry mimosa accord, pink pepper. )
​
This pulls very heavy grapefruit on me, and for that i am thankful for. I love grapefruit! It reminds me of my best friend in high school. I get the rose on dry down, and perhaps some raspberry mimosa, but my rookie nose doesn't get much else. I honestly thing this perfume screams "pink".
​
Okay, so i got two free samples (i had two orders), and they were Sucre Bleu ( A veritable sweet-shop explosion: pink gumballs, Juicy Fruit gum, gummy bears, Pop Rocks, rainbow candy-coated popcorn, Skittles, caramel chews, Twinkies, marshmallow Peeps, red licorice whips, Sour Patch Kids, caramel corn, Smarties, cotton candy, waffle cone, peachy gummy rings, jawbreakers, candy corn, gummy cola bottles. ), and Red Musk (Eastern temple resins and spices, rose, pepper, sandalwood. Simultaneously clean AND sexy/dirty. ). Sucre bleu reminds me of un-vaped vape juice, the kind you get in a big squirt bottle for a mod. I don't vape anymore, but i actually really like this smell lol. It just smells like candy! slighty creamy, VERY sweet. Not sure i'd wear it much, but im not mad about getting it lol. Weirdly comforting. Red musk is kind of the opposite, it is very sexy. They were right to describe it as dirty and clean at the same time. It's so cool how that works. It smells like incense, spices and wood. I might get a big one of this. If sucre bleu is a kid going HAM in a sweet shop, then Red Musk is whatever you view as a hot person, picking out incense in a hippie shop, for a date later where they know theyre gonna be fucking.
​
My ajevie samples were as follows:
​
Old Scratch - blackstrap molasses, bourbon, pumpkin pie, candied ginger.
​
This is ginger molasses on me! also smells like.. butterscotch? I do get a hint of bourbon, but i wouldn't call this boozy. more like cooked bourbon frosting.
​
Butterbeer - sweet, golden, drippy butterscotch, rich vanilla ice cream, hot buttered rum.
​
THIS is butterscotch lol! Very sweet and heavy. I also get the rum, but again more like a rum butterscotch sauce for the ice cream. This smells the way the melted stuff at the bottom of an ice cream bowl with hot butterscotch sauce would smell.
​
Lavender London Fog - earl grey tea, steamed milk, vanilla, lavender simple syrup.
I prefer morphine to this. It's nice, don't get me wrong, but morphine has way more body and is a little more interesting. For some reason something smells a little sour here.
​
Blue Moon- blue musk, grapefruit, neroli, night air accord, lime peel.
​
I haven't given this one a fair shot, because the citrus is kind of overwhelming for me. The lime in particular i guess. It isn't bad, but i am not sure i'm ready for such a bright fragrance right now. If you love citrus, this is for you.
​
Santal- sandalwood incense, golden sandalwood, Mysore wood accord, vanilla sandalwood.
​
I like this, It's sandalwood, what's not to like lol. It's kind of faint on me sadly, and my skin eats it quickly. Maybe better to layer with.
​
Santal Vanille- sandalwood incense, golden sandalwood, Mysore wood accord, vanilla sandalwood, marshmallow fluff, vanilla bean extract.
​
This is a very creamy, pretty scent. I prefer this to the Santal, because the marshmallow and vanilla bring out the sandalwood and compliment it very nicely. If i had to choose between the two, i would most certainly choose this one. However, Leaporadite was my favorite sandalwood scent from them out of the ones i got. I am glad i didn't blindly FS this one tbh.
​
​
So, if you read that, thank you lol. I really like Hex scents for the most part. I will likely not buy any with leather notes however, because it seems it gives me a massive headache. If anyone has any questions let me know, lol.

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comes with twelve genuine patented BobCo(TM) Just Add Water RealCows(TM), holographic Treana'ad moomoo carers with their own VI, and everything you see here! (batteries not included, please wait 4-12 hours for delivery)
Dee dee dah dee! It's BOOOOOOB-CO!
TELKAN FORGE WORLDS
Is it weird I want one?
---NOTHING FOLLOWS---
TREANA'AD HIVE WORLDS
Every time I see that had I have to remember they don't make those any more.
---NOTHING FOLLOWS---
CYBERNETIC ORGANISM CONSENSUS
Just fab one up. Templates are on GalNet.
---NOTHING FOLLOWS---
TREANA'AD HIVE WORLDS
It's just not the same. There's just something about BobCo stuff that templates don't replicate.
---NOTHING FOLLOWS---
PUBVIAN DOMINION
Cheapness?
TREANA'AD HIVE WORLDS
Don't be such a Grinch.
SIS! HURRY UP! IT'S ABOUT TO BE BACK ON!
There's just... you know... something about old BobCo stuff.
---NOTHING FOLLOWS---
MANTID FREE WORLDS
Don't start without me!
---NOTHING FOLLOWS---
We now return to the Sol System Broadcast Network Holiday Special, already in
PUBVIAN DOMINION
IT'S STARTING!
---NOTHING FOLLOWS---
MANTID FREE WORLDS
Whew. Made it.
Blow on it, it's hot.
---NOTHING FOLLOWS---
HAMAROOSA PINCHING TIME
What are the white things?
---NOTHING FOLLOWS---
BIOLOGICAL ARTIFICIAL SENTIENCE SYSTEMS
Marshmellows. Hush.
---NOTHING FOLLOWS---
in progress.

HOW P'THOK TOTALLY ON PURPOSE AND NOT AT ALL ACCIDENTALLY SAVED CHRISTMAS!

The spaceship was drifting as P'Thok looked at the unfamiliar controls. He'd only been on a few Terran ships, most of them captured military vessels, but he was pretty sure that none of them had control buttons and levers like this one.
Half of the buttons were different colored nubs with a clearish looking granular color. Most of the levers were colored with red and white spirals and either ended with a U or a wide multicolored disk. He wasn't precisely sure, but he was starting to think that there was something strange about the spaceship.
P'Thok adjusted his Moomoo tender hat and opened his faceplate, staring down at the controls.
His speed was five times a sparrow's flight but three seconds less than the day after tomorrow.
Chittering nervously he looked again. That made no sense, but he'd heard some Earthlings used bizarre measurements, but that was ridiculous.
"Mister P'Thok, I need to get back home and to my bed," the little Terran girl said. "After all, a Christmas story I've already been read."
"What was the cargo he was stealing so fast?" P'Thok asked. "I'm pretty sure the fuel in this ship isn't going to last?"
P'Thok frowned and tapped his translator. That last bit sounded weird.
"Presents and whizzbangs and tickle trikes for boys and girls galore," the girl said, kicking her feet where she was still in the chair. She was wearing a pink one piece suit with foot coverings that P'Thok had to admit looked pretty comfortable. Even the lace collar around her neck. "Fun stuff and neat stuff and some made with love not bought from a store."
"Umm, OK," P'Thok said. He looked at the navigation display. It had all of two markings on it. The ship, which was done in such a way that it looked like candy, and a star marked "Korvatunturi" underneath it.
P'Thok knew of most of the Terran settlements in the area. He'd just left New Terra with Moomoo's, ice cream, and tobacco, and there wasn't a Korvatunturi anywhere in the sector.
Maybe the ship had a new type of drive?
"I'm going to go check the drive. You stare here, little darling," P'Thok said, putting on his best Moomoo Carer Terran accent.
"I will Mister P'Thok. I'll watch the clock," she said, smiling.
P'Thok nodded and went back through the airlock. He hopped from outcropping to outcropping till he got to the bottom. He opened the next airlock and stared.
There were brightly colored packages, festooned with ribbons, everywhere he looked. They were piled haphazardly to the ceiling, in piles, and strewn about. There were large ornamented Terran foot coverings, laying on the floor, stuffed with toys and candy and fruit, some of them the contents spilling out onto the floor.
P'Thok held out his hand, catching a few flakes of frozen condensation on his palm.
The environmental system must be out, he thought to himself. He moved forward, skirting around the boxes and crates, the stockings and stuffings, even passed by a roast beast with all the trimmings that smelled delectable.
There were even evergreen trees festooned with decorations tossed here and there, complete with blinking lights and stars on top.
What primate madness have I found myself involved in? P'Thok wondered.
He passed several rows of compacted frozen precipitation that was fashioned into three spheres, each one smaller than the one beneath, stacked one on top of another. Each one had a black hat with a nifty brim that looked pretty spiffy to P'Thok, while others had small conical hats with a white puffball on the tip like the green thing had been wearing.
P'Thok grabbed one and shoved it in his pocket. Maybe the Matrons would like it.
At the back he opened the door to the engineering section, passing inside. He hit the lights and looked around.
There was fazoozals and caroozals, noomphy pumps and stungee dumps, marvelous condusers and fabulousa transoozters. There were wheedles wheedling and speedlings speeding. A whirling twirling jumping slumping spinning space of whirlamagig of contraptiopns and fantabulations.
P'Thok stared in shock.
Nothing he saw belonged in a spaceship engineering and drive room.
He wasn't even sure what any of it did, and he'd once stolen an armored ice cream transport.
He approached one of the many many many consoles, looking at the labels, which had such strange writing as "frosting thickening level thickener" and "creamy filling whipper stiller" and "choco-pecan-strawberry-injector".
The intercom clicked. "Is everything OK down there, Mr. P'Thok?" the little girl asked. "Of the equipment you should take stock."
"Um, everything's OK, small Terran female," he answered, looking around at everything.
He wasn't sure, but it looked like one of the wheels made of sugar and other ingredients had gotten slightly dislodged. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and pushed on it.
It clicked back in place and everything around him began moving. Some equipment whistled, others chimed a merry tune, and still more began turning or pumping or clacking or clanking.
P'Thok rushed out of the room and closed the door behind him, slumping against it and sighing. He brought out a cigarette and lit it, standing next to the stacked frozen water, and puffed at it.
"The tinsel drive is almost charged up," the little Earth girl said over the intercom. "I'm making cocoa would you like a cup?"
"Um, yes?" P'Thok said.
WE'LL BE RIGHT BACK AFTER THESE MESSAGES!
LEEBAW CONTEMPLATION POOL
Did this really happen?
---NOTHING FOLLOWS---
TREANA'AD HIVE WORLDS
Yes. And we'll fight anyone claims otherwise.
---NOTHING FOLLOWS---
LEEBAW CONTEMPLATION POOL
OK, OK, take it easy.
---NOTHING FOLLOWS---
TNVARU GRIPPING HANDS
I get it. This was made right after you guys encountered the Terrans, wasn't it?
---NOTHING FOLLOWS---
MANTID FREE WORLDS
Yes.
---NOTHING FOLLOWS---
TNVARU GRIPPING HANDS
And you guys didn't really have any culture beyond "Must Lay Eggs!" and "Please don't eat my head!"
---NOTHING FOLLOWS---
PUBVIAN DOMINION
>Laughs
Yeah, that was pretty much them.
---NOTHING FOLLOWS---
TNVARU GRIPPING HANDS
I totally get it. Matron Sangbre and Matron Nakteti are making a movie based on when they met Daxin and how they got to Earth. This is kind of like that.
---NOTHING FOLLOWS---
HAKANIAN FLOOF ZONE
Woah, check it out! A hoverbike with a radio, jet boosters, max ceiling of three hundred meters and autopilot!
I totally want one!
---NOTHING FOLLOWS---
MANTID FREE WORLDS
They don't make them any more. Too many kids slammed into each other or sucked birds into the intakes and crashed or flew into orbit somehow.
---NOTHING FOLLOWS---
HAKANIAN FLOOF ZONE
Wait, those are for kids?
Who the hell gives kids something like that.
ALL>TERRANS!
ALL>laughs
MANTID FREE WORLDS
Hush, it's back on.
---NOTHING FOLLOWS---
WE NOW RETURN TO THE HOLIDAY SPECIAL, ALREADY IN PROGRESS
P'Thok exhaled the last of the smoke out of feet, ignoring that it made perfect smoke rings, and moved back through the cargo area. In several places large dolls of small Terrans with pointed ears watched him, their outfits brightly colored and festive looking.
When he got to the bridge he looked around. The tiny human female gave him a large mug, hot to the touch, with whipped cream on top.
"Mister P'Thok, I made you a drink, you will like it I think," the human child said.
"Thank you, tiny human," P'Thok said.
The controls were all lit up and one big button was flashing. P'Thok moved up and stared at it, watching it flash. Idly he took a sip of the hot drink.
It was pleasant to the taste, reminding him of a heated bowl of Choco-Marshmallow Flavor Bomb Ice Cream. He took another drink, gave the equivelant of a shrug, and pressed the big red button.
The ship flew into motion. P'Thok shot backward, the mug in his hand leaving behind a long trail of whipped cream and hot chocolate, until he hit the back wall with an "OOF!" noise. Sparkles and small birds appeared around his head for a moment until he shook his head.
The ship picked up speed and P'Thok felt the chitin on his face began to ripple and pull backwards, deforming his head. It wasn't painful, but he could see his reflection and it looked like his mandibles were flapping.
The ship suddenly came to a stop and P'Thok flew through the bridge to slam against the viewsceen, all sprawled out, a leg or arm in every direction, still holding onto his mug of liquid choco-bomb.
He slowly slid down with a squeaking noise and landed on the floor.
The ship was making a beeping sound and P'Thok got to his feet, took another drink to calm his nerves, and looked at the panel and the viewscreen.
A large planet, all white and blue, with clouds swirling around, was getting closer.
"Oh no, Mister P'Thok, the controls have gone out," the tiny Terran girl said. "If I can't get home my parents will shout."
P'Thok stared at the instruments. "I'm not sure what to do."
The little girl pointed a long braid of multicolored ribbon twined with shiny metallic silver threads. "You'll have to take that, go out on the hull, lasso the cosecone, then give it a pull."
"I'll burn up on reentry," P'Thok said.
The little girl picked up the vanished green creature's red hat with the white fluffy border and white puffball on the tip. "Wear the Gurnch's magical hat, it will protect you from heat and things like that!"
P'Thok sighed, moved over and picked up the hat, and swapped it out for his moomoo tender hat. It fit comfortably between his antenna sheathes on his spacesuit helmet.
"All right. We're falling fast," P'Thok said. "I'll go out and pull the nose up on the ship."
"And then we'll land and be done with part of the trip," the little human female said.
P'Thok moved back into the central traverse tube, checking the long strand of ribbon and silver metal.
He'd practiced the art of lassoing moomoos on his own world, so he let the large loop fall out of the coil of rope, moving to the airlock.
It had power, allowing him to cycle it and go outside.
The ship was heading toward the planet, falling nose first.
P'Thok clumped outside the ship, his magnetic boots making it so he had to walk slow, stiltingly. He got halfway forward and let the lasso fall.
The ship was starting to enter atmosphere, heat from reentry making the round ball at the end of the nosecone glow a bright red.
P'Thok twirled the lasso over his head and let it fly, compensating for the pull of the planet and the thin atmospheric drag. The end of the lasso widened out and dropped over the nosecone, and P'Thok pulled back, expecting nothing.
The nose slowly began to rise as the ship dropped into atmosphere, rapidly dropping. P'Thok held onto the rope, pulling tight, like he was trying to get a meanmoomoo to stop.
Fire roared around the strangely shaped ship as it dropped into atmosphere, heading for the snowy expanse of trees on the surface. The ship left behind tree shaped puffs of white smoke as it fell to the ground, surrounded by fire.
Finally the ship slammed into the snow and P'Thok was thrown from the ship, flailing through the air, giving out a strange cry of "YA-HOO-HOO-HOOEY!" before landing in the snow and making a perfect Treana'ad shaped hole.
WILL P'THOK SURVIVE? WHAT SECRETS ARE IN THE BOXES? WILL THE TERRAN GRUB GET HOME?
YOU'LL FIND OUT, RIGHT AFTER THESE COMMERCIALS!
AKLTAK SOARING WORLDS
This is so exciting, I don't even care that there's no way a 'magic hat' would keep him from burning up on reentry.
---NOTHING FOLLOWS---
TREANA'AD HIVE WORLDS
I know, isn't it great?
---NOTHING FOLLOWS---
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Death & Floral - Black Friday '20 & Winter '21
This review is long and long overdue, but I’ve been spending a lot of time getting to know these scents and figuring out what works for me, and I'm excited to share what I've learned. Before I review the actual products, I want to highlight the above-and-beyond customer service that D&F has shown again and again. Any time I’ve asked a question via the chat on the website, I’ve gotten a friendly and helpful response within minutes (can’t be easy for an indie company, I’m sure!) and they’ve always honored my requests down to the detail. I made a large order for Black Friday, but a lot of the scents I picked out really didn’t work for me. I discovered that the ones I didn’t like had either heavy musk or strong sweetness (which I do like on their own, but that’s the weird thing about perfume—it may work for your nose, but not on your skin). With fresh knowledge and a better understanding of my skin chemistry, I returned to the chat to ask for recommendations. They stayed and chatted with me for almost an hour! Based on what I said I didn’t like (strong musk and sticky sugar) and what I do like (fruit, citrus, and light sweetness) they picked out Painted Pears, Color Me Blood Orange, Honeycomb, and No Nukes Smog Spray. I can say, hands down, these recommendations were 100% spot on. This was such a great experience, and I don’t think I’ll ever want to pick out scents on my own again! I feel so fancy with my personally-curated fragrances, and they all work so well on my skin. I’m going to add the scents that didn’t work for me to my next donation to Project Beauty Share, and hope they end up in the hands of someone who will love them.
Another thing that I’ve learned after getting to know these fragrances is that D&F seems to have a signature note that appears in most (but definitely not all) of their scents. You know how all Lush products smell like Lush, regardless of what scent the product itself actually is? It’s the same phenomenon happening here. In my opinion, the D&F signature scent is botanical and musky—like the basement of a flower shop. It’s a blend of things fresh and old, which is a beautiful, literal representation of the name, Death & Floral.

• Color Me Blood Orange - fresh Italian orange blood blended with autumnal spices and honeysuckle

This was my absolute favorite, and is the scent I keep coming back to. It’s fresh and clean, barely sweetened citrus. The honeysuckle is a mysterious background note that deepens the tart orange and, to be honest, I didn’t even notice the autumnal spices. As many other people have mentioned, D&F “autumn spice” notes are usually very subtle, which I absolutely love. Also, I can’t get over the fact that this actually smells like blood orange (not a sweeter cara cara orange) which elevates it as a more mature and unique citrus fragrance. In fact, I would say this isn’t sweet at all, just fruit and florals—a really great twist on orange blossom fragrances I usually gravitate towards. Overall, this is a perfect perfume for me!

• Painted Pears - pears, golden vanilla, sandalwood, dark amber

Shout out to all the pears! I really like this one. It’s like a super-ripe, fancy pear wrapped in gold foil from Harry & David. It’s definitely sweet, but sweet like ripe fresh fruit, not cooked, preserved, or spiced. Vanilla is the next prominent note, and sandalwood & dark amber are very much in the background, just serving to deepen the scent a little bit. At its base it’s reminiscent of Bath & Body Works, but more subtle and complex. This is a perfume that the all-American girl next door would wear during her first week at college.

• Honeycomb - green and floral honey, not sweetened. Deep honey of the earth

I was very interested in the Honey Accords collection, but stayed away from this one based on the description. I assumed “deep honey of the earth” would be extra musky, and if it wasn’t for the recommendation I would have completely missed out. It’s actually my favorite honey scent so far (even better than Bless Your Heart, Honey). It’s pure classic clover honey, clean and simple. I close my eyes and see the bear-shaped bottle. It’s sweet, but not sticky, with no D&F note. It’s the lightest of all the honey scents I’ve tried so far, and would make a great layering fragrance. It lasted several hours on clean skin, and the smell lingered a bit the next morning.

• Milk and Honey - calming and soothing creamy spring honey blended with milk

This is an interesting one. Smelling it right out of the tube, it doesn’t have much of a scent at all. If anything, it’s a little bit grassy. At the beginning of the day it still smelled like not much. Then throughout the day I was picking up a very unexpected and quite predominant herbal note that really reminded me of Scream Ferociously. After about 5 or 6 hours, I definitely do smell sweet honey. I still have no idea what the first top herbal note is, but like Scream Ferociously, I’ll call it an herbal tea shop. I really underestimated this one on a first sniff and I’m really glad I gave it a fair chance to develop on the skin.

• Autumn Honey - light honey and autumnal spices blended with cloves and fresh apples

I absolutely would not have bought this one if I hadn’t seen so many glowing reviews for it on this sub. You aren’t kidding! This scent really delivers. It’s crisp, sweet, juicy, red apple nicely balanced with light honey. I appreciate that the autumn spice notes were super subtle, because they generally don’t mix well with my skin. I tried it on after getting out of the shower in the evening, and could still smell some of it in the morning. I put on Cardigan after, and it layered really nicely with the remnants of the scent.

• Last Days of Wonder - lemon chiffon cake batter, yellow icing flowers, sweet pollen and light honey nectar

I picked this one out based on the description, because I wanted it to be Bath & Body Works Bright Lemon Snowdrop SO bad (RIP) which smells like lemon pound cake. This definitely isn’t it! On the first sniff, I instantly get the classic D&F note I mentioned earlier: floral and musky. I really don’t get any lemon or citrus at all, but more like sweet cake in general. I would describe it as a sweetened, lightened, tamed representation of the D&F note. This would be a great pick for if you like bakery scents in theory, but avoid them because of bad experiences with Bath & Body Works-style funfetti frosting-from-the-can body sprays—I can assure you that this is nothing like it.

• Red String of Fate - red musk and black, burnt amber blended with golden honey and black molasses

I told myself I needed this one to complete the folklore collection. I feel like this scent ties Scream Ferociously and Cardigan together, and unites the three as parts of a set. Now, for the actual scent, it’s a refined, mature, dark, musky honey. Straight out of the tube, it’s almost sexy. Unfortunately, my skin really hated it. Almost immediately after applying, it started to smell musty and old. It’s not old like old lady perfume, but old like it’s been aging in an attic untouched for years. I will admit, that’s absolutely a vibe and one that totally resonates with folklore—but personally, it did not mix well with my skin. That said, I give it full credit for creating a vivid image in my mind, which is what D&F does best.

• Blockbuster - Friday night autumn air, sticky caramel candy, small wafts of buttery popcorn, rows and rows of movie choices, and lonely un-bought candy corn sitting at the register

I remember Blockbuster enough to remember that it did have a distinct smell, but this is not quite it (maybe it needs more notes of plastic DVD cases and dirty carpet). I don’t get buttered popcorn, just “sticky” candy, but more like cotton candy than caramel. In my opinion, it pretty instantly makes me think “state fair,” and makes me feel like I just got off a rollercoaster and all the different sugary junk foods I ate that day are flashing before my eyes. I put this scent on right before I went to Target, and literally two (different) random people who passed me said “what IS that SWEET smell?” I did think it was sweet, but didn’t realize that it was strong enough to catch strangers’ attention—through their masks, even!

• The Peach Queen - delicate blend of rosy golden peaches, skin musk, and white amber

This scent is an instant favorite. It’s very similar to Witch Baby’s Rest in Peach, in that they both smell like something halfway between fresh peaches and peach rings. It’s not a true-to-life fresh fruit scent, but it’s not candy-sweet either. No matter what it is, it’s unmistakably peach. I think it will be very wearable.

• Santa Baby, Pay Off My Student Loans Tonight - freshly fallen snow, peppermint hot cocoa, crushed red velvet

I’ll admit I had high expectations for this one—who doesn’t love peppermint hot cocoa? I got some woodsy scent with a layer of herbal garden mint, but not sweet candy peppermint. I was hoping the hot cocoa note would be like Bath & Body Works Hot Cocoa and Cream, but to me, there’s not even a hint of chocolate. That said, I gifted it to my friend for Christmas, and she said she instantly smelled hot cocoa. Curious to hear if anyone else has tried this scent!

• Cursed Old Fashioned - vintage whiskey, orange slice zest, brown sugar, and cherries

I got this one as a gift for my boyfriend, and I think it could actually be one of my favorites. Jealous! It’s a gentle, refined citrus scent with brown sugar and (subtle) whiskey undertones—it smells like a cocktail but not like alcohol. This is a really nice unisex scent that anyone could wear. If he doesn’t like it, I’ll be stealing it! This is what I used as a reference when looking for recommendations, and I think Color Me Blood Orange hit everything I loved about it and more.

• Nothing Rusts in the Desert, the Air is Full of Ghosts - pink cactus flowers and sweet grass, with notes of warm rain and woody dry vanilla

I got this unlisted scent as a gift, admittedly just for the name. The scent is very reminiscent of Bath & Body Works Cactus Blossom, which is nice. It’s a very clean and fresh smell, and a little bit soapy. Oddly enough “warm rain” somehow actually translates here. It’s a pretty clean and subtle fragrance and it would make a great day-to-day scent, or even layer with others. I gifted it to my friend, who confirmed it smelled just like desert rain. This scent really nailed it when it comes to capturing a vibe, and I would recommend it to any nostalgic desert dwellers.

• Capitalist Figs - black figs, blackened honey wine, and swirling black sugar on bed of black patch

This one is strong. Seriously, it’s STRONG. No joke. The entire package smelled like just this one scent, and it permeates everywhere. I love figs and brown sugar, but I didn’t really get either note in this scent—honestly, it just smells like the D&F note, with heightened florals. This is a scent for anyone who believes that D&F fragrances aren’t strong enough. I wanted to love it for the label alone (which reads, “Don’t internalize your hatred of capitalism, hate it openly, clearly, and vocally”) but I won’t be able to keep it because the strong smell escapes the container I keep my perfumes in.
Single Notes

• Candied Ginger

This one’s really simple and beautiful. Fresh, spicy, real ginger. Not much sugar or sweetness, but enough to tell that it’s candied ginger, and prevent the fragrance from stinging your nose like actual ginger does. This scent is very versatile and light, with no D&F note.

• Honey Butter Biscuits

Okay, I’m impressed, it actually really smells like real buttered biscuits with honey. I’m pretty floored that this distinct scent could be captured in a bottle. I love unusual food smells in candles, but it smells too much like real, actual biscuits to wear on my skin! I really wish I had this scent as a candle or room spray instead, because I’m still amazed that it perfectly recreated the scent of warm, flaky, buttery biscuits.

• Cannabis Brownies

I got this one as a gift for a fellow fan, and I was actually tempted to keep it for myself. Now I’m certainly no stranger to the stuff, but I was relieved that it doesn’t reek of weed. In fact, I personally found it almost unnoticeable, but your results may vary. This scent is classic fudgy chocolate brownies. I don’t know if the name is just for fun or if there really is a cannabis note somewhere in there that I’m overlooking, but like plenty of these others, the name is definitely what drew me to buy it. Curious to hear others’ impressions of this one!

• Smoked Honey Whiskey

I think this one is okay. I got a lot of honey scents, and this one doesn’t stand out much. I do get smoky notes, but I’m not sure I could identify whiskey. It’s like a lighter version of Bless Your Heart, Honey, but with a significant amount of smoke; however, it’s much closer to wood fire smoke than tobacco smoke. As a result, it’s not quite as sultry of a scent, and when combined with the honey, gets dangerously close to BBQ. It separates in the bottle, and needs a good shake.
Smog Sprays

• Oh, Honey! - candied honey and bourbon with globs of sticky caramel and fresh cocoa beans

This scent is very faithful to the description: “globs of sticky caramel” is completely, entirely, 100% accurate. It doesn’t smell like honey as much as it does smell like brown butter and caramelized sugar. It smells delicious, and the scent really lingers, but it did not mix with my skin when I sprayed it on. This is a scent I would love in a candle, but it’s not my personal perfume preference.

• No Nukes - sugared tangerines and smooth sandalwood under a blanket of bright orange amber

This is absolutely tangerine and sandalwood, and I really love it! Oh, Honey! was way too strong for me. I think this scent is my favorite use of the D&F note, meaning that it blends well and doesn’t overpower the other notes. The best way to describe it is earthy orange, and I think it will pair well with Color Me Blood Orange or Lush Karma. Both of the Smog Sprays have seriously impressive staying power, and usually linger in my hair until I wash it out.
Final thoughts
Hits and misses and all, I really love D&F. The hits totally hit, and the misses just helped me figure out what notes to avoid in the future. Another thing I love about D&F is the complete lack of FOMO marketing—nothing is truly limited edition, and can always be bought as a custom scent in the future. I think that this is so important, especially as someone who often gets got by the threat of exclusivity. I really appreciate the freedom to take your time, consider your options carefully, and muse over the possibilities before pressing order at your leisure. I’m glad that I have plenty of time to enjoy these scents and actually use them—but, when I’m ready to buy more, I will definitely be coming right back to D&F.

It’s been a rough year for a lot of people and who knows what 2021 will bring. I’m no professional, but I’ve learned a thing or two over the years from practice and from working in a bakery that might help some of you that are considering gifting baked goods next year, so here we go.
The only thing I buy on sale after Christmas would be Christmas themed dessert/treat bags since now I just bake cookies for everyone since in the long run it's much cheaper than spending $50+ per person. Last year I got some on sale for 0.50 as opposed to $1-$2. If you decide to bake cookies and have a lot of family members... find out what cookies they like and buy butter whenever there's a good sale and keep in the freezer. To not overwhelm yourself by making all the cookies on the same day, make 1-2 cookie doughs throughout the week of that month and then freeze till you need to bake them. If you didn't shape the dough into balls beforehand let the dough thaw just enough to pull apart and shape into balls, place on a baking sheet and bake for the required time. Waaay less stressful than spending all day making a bunch of different cookies from start to finish.
I prefer baking also because I know they'll enjoy it/possibly get excited for it. Buying gifts for people you never know if they'll actually use it or just donate/regift to someone, which would make me upset tbh since I thought of them when buying it and I wasted money on them and they didn’t appreciate it.
So you wanna bake cookies for multiple people but don’t have much time...
Cookie dough can be made ahead of time and frozen till needed. The two methods I do are either to wrap the cookie dough in plastic wrap and freeze it as a brick. When I need to bake cookies I take the cookie dough out and let it thaw for a few mins on the counter till I can pull it apart and shape into balls, then arrange them on a baking sheet and bake for the amount of time needed. The second method is to measure out the dough into balls, and freeze them on a parchment paper lined plate or a tray lined with parchment paper. Once frozen you can store them in a ziplock bag, box or in in Tupperware, and then place on a baking sheet and bake for the amount of time needed. There is no need to let the dough completely thaw. By freezing the dough balls beforehand it keeps them from sticking to each other, which can then lead to them breaking unevenly when trying to pull them apart. It’s a headache and a waste of time that you might not have.
If a recipe calls for sour cream and you only have plain Greek yogurt then you can substitute it for the Greek yogurt, and vice versa. This will change the moisture level/texture of your baked good so do so at your own risk...you'll still end up with a yummy cookie or bread but it won't be the same as the original recipe end result.
Greek yogurt, sour cream or vegetable oil can make for a more moist muffin/cake.
If a recipe calls for brown sugar but you only have white sugar, you can substitute it for white sugar, and vice versa. (There's a bit of discourse about this in the comments. I only do this if I run out of a certain sugar without realizing. You'll still end up with a yummy cookie or muffin, but the texture and moisture will be different compared to the original recipe. My argument would be to experiment and if it works, it works. Research yourself if you can replace certain sugars for your cakes, muffins, etc).
Some essential accessories you should have if you’re planning to bake and you're a beginner:
-Baking sheets
-Parchment paper or if you can splurge a bit, silicone baking mats (so you don’t have to waste money on parchment paper)
-An ice cream scooper (with the little lever). So much easier to measure out your cookie dough with one of these and the lever makes it easier to get the dough out of the scoop.
-Silicone spatula (can be bought at dollar tree—Betty Crocker brand). Great for scraping cake batter completely from the bowl
-Measuring cups/ Measuring spoons. Just make sure that the measurements can’t be rubbed off the utensils because then it’ll be difficult to tell which is which (This tends to happen with dollar tree brand measuring spoons—get them elsewhere).
I frequent Dollar Tree whenever I’m near one and there are 4 things I buy there when I don’t need it in bulk because I don’t use it too much, or have since bought at Costco because I use it so much now. If you have a dollar store near you, you should not be paying more than $1 for these items:
-powdered sugar
Only worth it if you don’t use it much. If you’re planning to make a lot of cakes, then just buy in bulk from Costco or buy the bigger bag from the supermarket.
-canned pineapple
I use canned pineapple for carrot cake and even pour in some of the juice into the batter. The leftover pineapple juice I use to make a drink.
-brown sugar
**store in an airtight glass jar. Have any glass pasta sauce jars you’re tossing? Wash it very well and let it dry. Smell the jar. Still smells like sauce? Wash it again and the smell should be gone unless you had a garlic/pickle infused jar...then don’t use that jar. You don’t need mason jars to store dry ingredients. You already paid for the tomato sauce jar. Use it.
-parchment paper:
***NOT WAX PAPER. COMPLETELY DIFFERENT. Putting wax paper in the oven will cause the paper to catch fire. No one wants to deal with the fire dept so close to the holidays. If you plan to bake a lot of cookies through next year then either get some parchment paper (which can be reused a few times) or splurge and get a silicone baking mat. Reusable and lasts literal years. There are affordable ones on Amazon, but I got mine from HomeGoods 5 years ago and sometimes use them for roasting vegetables in the oven as well.
Usually when it comes to baking the two most expensive ingredients to buy for the first time are extracts (usually vanilla) or additives like nuts or dried berries.
I personally find vanilla extract to be a must for baking, but it is pretty pricey, especially depending on where you live. It’s ok to start using cheap vanilla or even fake vanilla (which is the cheapest). Most people can’t really tell the difference in taste between real and fake. I started off with using a bottle of Mexican vanilla I found at Walmart for 0.99 (Molina Mexican Vanilla Blend) and have found it at the ethnic grocery store for 2.99 and at the time it worked just fine for me as I learned. Vanilla never goes bad (even with the ‘best by’ date, so you can keep it for literal years.
I have since upgraded to a 8.99 vanilla from Trader Joe’s that I’m happy with and now use the Molina Mexican Vanilla for my French toast batter.
If you don’t want to bake cookies, you can bake loaves of bread or even make your own jam!
During the summer if you find strawberries or blueberries at a really good price, buy a few containers, wash them well and then freeze them for a few months till needed. Jam can be made with fresh or frozen fruit. As long as you somewhat sterilize the jar, jam should keep in the fridge for up to a year. Banana jam is the cheapest in my opinion because I can get a large amount of bananas from Costco for less than $2. If you know anyone that has kids I’m sure they wouldn’t be opposed to receiving homemade jam to use for a PB&J sandwich or to use on some toast (it can even be used for linzer cookies).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62iSrXQHhUA&ab_channel=OnePotChefShow
Challah bread goes from $4-$6 in the supermarket, but you can bake your own loaf for less than $1 if you already have the ingredients. My family loves when I make Hokkaido milk bread (similar to challah—but fluffier and a bit sweeter) because on Sundays I use the whole loaf to make French toast for my family. You think challah French toast is yummy? You need to try Hokkaido milk bread French toast! Here is the video I used as reference, and if you make more than one loaf, you can either slice the whole thing before freezing so the person you’re gifting it to can keep it in the freezer and grab a slice when needed, or just freeze the entire loaf:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvmHqkvhzuA&t=440s&ab_channel=emmymadeinjapan
Another recipe that’s cheap to make is Italian biscotti (nuts and dried fruit are pricey, but buying chocolate chips in bulk or just making anise biscotti are the cheaper options)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2odwIl34Q_I&t=418s&ab_channel=FoodWishes
If you have rolled oats in your pantry for when you make oatmeal, then you might have everything to make my favorite oatmeal raisin cookies
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdUCcdu7iUs&t=2s&ab_channel=BiggerBolderBaking
And here is a dairy free chocolate cake (no eggs, butter or milk) that even someone with allergies can most likely enjoy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86o4gUPqVKU&t=43s&ab_channel=JennyCanCook
If you want to keep it dairy free for the frosting then just sift together some powdered sugar and cocoa powder and add a tsp of water or alternative milk at a time till the desired consistency.
And here are copycat Starbucks blueberry muffins that are cheaper and yummier (they freeze well if you can’t eat a whole batch within a few days)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiVrLY6OkOc&ab_channel=SimplyYummy
If you have any baking questions or any questions in general I am more than happy to answer them to the best of my knowledge!

Howdy Mixers,
Some simple ways you can contribute to the sub:
1) Respond to a post and even, just maybe, win a prize! (see the first paragraph here
2) Tell us What you are vaping on?
3) Share your recipe in the Monthly Recipe Thread
4) Upvote content you want to see more of or useful comments
​

Introduction

Smoking and vaping tobacco share similarities and differences. It is often said that vaped tobaccos flavors or aromas are more like the aroma of the unlit tobacco, akin to walking into a tobacco shop and inhaling the smell. And what a wonderful smell it is! I used to love when I was in Midtown Manhattan and passed by the Nat Sherman shop on 42nd St. If you have never been, don’t go. Not as a vaper, don’t do it. It glorious. Go to the Porto Rico Importing Co. stores and buy some fine coffees instead. If simply because the smell is like a blanket of warm, moist earthy rich goodness. Not that cheap dry chemically dirt raisin flavor of a pack of Pall Mall 100’s Unfiltered. This is an oasis for smokers like me, one of many. Yet, not anymore…
Switching to vaping, like many, I thought to avoid tobacco flavors to move as far from the drug that ruined-my-life. Despite that, my first mix ever was a House Mix cigar flavor that was gross and way over nicced but it took. I bought the device and the mix for an overnight trip where I was uninterested in either smelling like smoke constantly (and being found out) or wearing a patch and having those crazy nicotine patch dreams. When I returned, I pulled out of the glove box my packet of Nat Sherman Hint of Mints (I always had money for smokes), lit up, and gagged. Holy Smokes! All I could taste was ash and burning. And I had the damndest time inhaling it since all I could feel was pain and a tightening of the throat.
Decided to look online for e-juice descriptions. “Google, what is the BEST e-juice flavor?” That search came up with a few results that seemed sketchy but one stood out: Black Note. Black Note is a NET (Naturally Extracted Tobacco) that is quite good and comes with a steep and hefty cost. But, hey, what did I know and, if this new way of life were to take hold, let me buy the best and see if it can’t work for me. So I tried a small bottle of Legato. Notorious coil murder aside, my precious Baby Beast tank delivered the smoothest flavor compared to that OG Cigar bottle (which I still have from april 2017 in my drawer, black as night). Yeah, well, that led me to vape shops which would let you try stuff and, despite all the sugary fruits and strawberries and cream/custard ubiquity, there I was with a handful of pre-mixed juices that kept me off the stinkies solid since.
It was the stranglehold of not being able to reduce nicotine consumption efficiently (0mg/3mg/6mg/wha?) that led me to researching how to make my own ejuice that led me here looking for answers. In late 2017, the FLV Tobaccos were gaining in well deserved popularity for their complex flavors and you can see some early pre/post release reviews show how mixers were trying to figure out the flavors and how they mixed with the INW and FA tobaccos that were more widely available at the time:
FLV Cured
FLV Red Burley
FLV Native
FLV Kentucky
Etc. The point is, I tried many a tobacco flavor that was available readily shopping off the names (mostly FA -- still scarred) and was like nahhhhh this isn’t for me. But look how far we have come from My First Tobacco Order from 4 years ago to u/ChemicalBurnVictim’s wonderful post Getting in to Tobaccos and even more specifically, Battle of the Baccos: Turkish v. Oriental.
And with all that said, and nearly vaping tobacco flavors semi-exclusively for the last 3 years, I STILL struggle to explain what in the hell they taste like. I guess a strawberry can be realistic, juicy, authentic, jammy, or whatever. But how in god’s name do you explain a bacco? Mostly, if you vape a lot of them, you notice the accents and that can drive your pairings later on. Cedar note here, coffee note there, woodsy and leafy but what kind? Is it a brown crinkly leaf? This is madness.
So how are tobaccos described by smokers? And, how much of that relates to vaping, which can be significantly different?
That’s a great question. I’m not sure how deep commercial cigarette smokers go into describing their tobaccos but RYO (Roll Your Own) smokers may be more familiar with terminology relating to the source of the tobacco. Cigar and pipe smokers are going to be where our greatest body of information is at the internet search fingertips and a very quick search came up with some interesting results that may apply. Unfortunately, linking to these articles is against Reddit terms of use and I am remarkably lazy at using work arounds so I will keep this somewhat condensed. My hope is that the tobacco flavor community will chime in here and provide opinions at how to guide the ongoing discourse around codifying tobacco flavors to provide more consistent information for casual vapers looking to dip their toes into the flavors when they are ready. Most of this will apply as much to single flavor concentrates as to blends and mixes fairly easily.
Let’s start with an adaptation of some stuff I cobbled together from a 10 minute search online:

1. Flavor
2. Body
3. Balance
4. Strength
5. Aroma or Room Note
6. Finish

Flavor

We can say “Duh” all day long but, after having been heckled (and rightfully so) by u/mLnikon on Noted for saying “Leafy” as a descriptor for a ‘good’ bacco and “Leafy” again as a bad thing. I realized I lacked the appropriate vocabulary to describe what I was tasting. And, metaphors can only take you so far despite the joy of saying “Grandma’s bathwater” repeatedly. I’ve found a few charts that really help with identifying categories for describing categories and specific notes within those categories here:
flavor charts
The chart and the table should be self explanatory. Add some of your favorite tobacco vocabulary in the comments (or just the funniest descriptions you’ve heard)!

Body

Here’s one that we can probably all relate to with vaping. How do these flavors actually impact your palate? Texture, richness, weight and overall mouthfeel are all important components. For tobaccos, from a source that links to tobacco products: “in conjunction with body is texture. Words used to characterize texture include leathery, meaty, silky, creamy, soft, succulent, woody, chalky, dry, oily, and spicy.” TPA Western is leathery (actual leather lol), INW Vanilla for Pipe is woody, FLV Arabian is spicy, etc.

Balance

This one, in my humble opinion is a bit trickier. A real cigar might touch on the taste receptors on the tongue: bitter, salty, sour, sweet, umami. We do know that some of these experiences are simply not in the cards for vape juice, most notably salty and sour. Maybe you can get impressions of them but it does seem to be a missing factor in flavor impressions. (Do you get a salty impression from FLV Beer Nuts? No, saline does not add a salty taste.) Bitter, I’m not as sure about (please chime in here, people) and sweet is a no brainer. Would umami be DAAP? I dunno, you tell me.
That said, balance for a tobacco flavor, in this mixer’s humble opinion would be more along the lines of “What accents/notes are needed to ‘complete’ this experience?” With this in mind, some tobacco flavors are very strong stand alone flavors and can carry a recipe all on their own while still having a function as an accent. Some are complex in flavor but seem to have one aspect a little more prominent than the others. All around, this comes most importantly into play in the mind and imagination of the mixer. Let’s say you have a flavor like FLV Red Burley that is very moist with a prominent nutty note and people say they also get a cocoa note as well. You may want to play to that cocoa to bring it out more or just use RB low in a mix to accent another bacco with that nutty note where a bit of moisture is also welcome.

Strength

This is going to be a less useful term as it relates to vaping as from smoking, but hear me out. Strength applies to the nicotine content of a given tobacco or blend. Since diy mixers directly control that nicotine strength level, how does this apply here. In a weird way, I personally find that some flavors behave differently at different wattages. A really interesting recipe that delves into this aspect can be found in u/matthewkocanda’s Amorphous. I am here to argue that some flavors/recipes do shine in different ways at different temps and vaping styles. I am by no means an expert on this but I do know that u/wh1skeyk1ing’s Gold tastes quite differently at low watts mtl over higher watts dtl (yes better and new gold ducat works quite nicely when you don’t know any better). So do make note here that strength does indeed have a kind of place in our lexicon.

Aroma or Room Note

This one may be the least important for you, yet more important for your loved ones. While you may not be Brad with your pack of donut lies, there can be some serious cat pissy room note vibes from some tobacco flavors. A traditional pipe tobacco room note can be extremely enticing, and occasionally in vape form we get that. To me this is a bonus, but the opportunity to create a vape with this in mind is there. Go wild.

Finish

An often overlooked aspect of flavors on my part, the finish is the lasting and lingering note after the flavor or mix is exhaled. This can range from lingering ashy notes to woody or spice notes. The way INW Bahraini Apple Gold leaves that lingering anise tingle on the tongue in u/tbx12’s Simple Apple Shisha Hookah is like heaven. Or like the way he blended it to cover it up in TB4 and end with a slight cocoa touch at the end.
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That's all for now. Check out Prior Tuesday Tutorial posts written by a host of people. Please feel free to comment on anything you like at all, but particularly if you have an idea for a future post, if you'd like to write one, or if you caught a mistake or misinformation in my post.
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keep mixin and keep sharin,
- i
Edit: wanted to add this post as part of the 'history' of discovery of tobacco vapes and you can even see a young pup doggo trying to make heads and tails of it all in there. Top 5 Tobacco Flavors from 3 years ago as FLV was gaining mucho traction.

Got some new samples from a Kyse order, a swap, and a blind full buy, so I figured I'd drop some thoughts! I've been looking for more peach and cold/rain scents!
RIS
Hexennacht MossyPeach (Peach, sun-warmed meadow, cedar, sandalwood, vetiver, tree moss, oakmoss accord) I've been dying to try this, and I got it in a recent swap (which was very well packaged and included candy and a wholesome note :)) I can see why people say it's a green peach, and I'm actually a fan of it! The whole green unripe peach skin vibe is really strong on my skin, with this hint of peach underneath that grounds it, but the whole thing disappears in 2 minutes! If anyone knows whether Hex's Parfum Extraits have better lasting power than their oils, please let me know - I really want to FS this one.
Death and Floral The Peach Queen (Delicate blend of rosy golden peaches, skin musk, and white amber.) I weep, for this smells like apple, and I do not know why. Now, it's a lovely, light, refreshing apple (blossom?) scent, but I was promised peach gosh darnit. DS - in hopes that it's actually peach on someone else.
Lotus Noir Snow Petal (Ozonic ice-cold air in the lung and through the nostrils tickling the trigeminal nerve, the crunching electrical charge of ice against the teeth, the clean metallic amnesia of all frozen tundra whether city or country.) This is such a genuinely disturbing alien scent that I had to scrub off in five minutes because it was weirding me out. It's... definitely ozonic but in a deep space kinda sense? It almost evokes this imagery of gray flesh, dulled electricity, and metal. I would try to describe it better, but that would require unsealing it again. DS - for the aliens living among us.
The Adventuress Soap Co (I actually haven't seen this mentioned here before, but they do really nice perfumes with a travel theme - so like mountains, Tokyo, etc. and are pretty decently priced! I blind bought three bottles in a fit of sporadic impulse right at the start of my indie adventure because I thought that samples were a gimmick.)
Reykjavik (Icicle and Musk: Icicle accord, cedarwood, and musk ): I love the idea of "atmospheric cold scents" (hence the encounter with Snow Petal), and Rejkjavik is a lovely, snowy perfume that somehow hits the icicle head-on, but with a lightly sweet fog over it. And, it's got perfect throw where I'll put it on my wrists and I'll catch hints of it as I'm driving or typing, but never in an overwhelming sense. FS - So glad I have a full size!
The next two are DC, so I don't have the official notes, sorry!
La Neige (the snow) It gives off the same cold note as Reykjavik, but this is more your-skin-but-better: like if you just took a shower and decided to stand out in the snow for a bit. DS - I'd wear this if I didn't have Reykjavik.
Alpenglow (the glow of the sun seen on the mountains) A sunny, tiny bit powdery (but not candy-like) citrus. Honestly, this is a very pretty, wearable scent that isn't too sweet as well, and a gentle, uncomplicated "wake me up in the morning" perfume - I just haven't reached found myself reaching for it because I prefer florals over citrus. DS - for the campers who see sunrises rather than my green garden self.
Overall, I really like this shop, and I already am planning on placing another order now that I know my preferences better! They hit that sweet spot between atmospheric and wearable.
Kyse (So, right before I received this order I figured out that I am not a gourmand fan. None of these worked for me, but take my reviews with a spoonful of salt. I also didn't bother testing these on my skin, so the Kyse ones are bottle-sniffed).
Gardenia Sucre (Creamy, dewy gardenia with sugared milk notes and subtle woods): Floral cookies, like sugar cookies with those edible flowers - literally teeth-achingly sweet. Pretty, but tooooo sugary edible for me. DS to a high-end dessert shop.
Peche de Yuzu (Peach, Yuzu, Jasmine, Vanilla, Tonka Bean): This is like a (yellow) flesh peach that's almost over-ripe, at the sweetness level of canned peaches, but balanced out with this realistic sour note. I almost liked this one, but it was a little too one-dimensional "Yep, that's a peach" for me. DS in search of white peaches.
Vanille de Cedre (Vanilla bourbon CO2, beeswax, boozy notes, amber, dried fruit, wood, tobacco): Did someone say alcoholic wood drenched with vanilla extract? Because that is what this is. DS - I do not like vanilla-centered perfumes (a very unfortunate preference of mine).
Cacao Noisette (Cocoa powder, hazelnut, caramel, Tahitian vanilla, and soft snuggly musk): This was like nutty, powdery chocolate which was pleasant, but made me just want to make a milkshake instead of wear it (which I did). DS I'd rather drink it than smell like it.
Macarons (Heliotrope, marzipan, hint of cherry, caramelized sugar, velvety vanilla custard, and a soft smooth myrrh): Not much here other than it's like a vanilla macaron with the crispy sugar smell you get from creme brule. DS - I'd rather buy a macaron and eat it.
I would not buy from this store again because gourmands are not my cup of tea, but I wish they were because TAT and shipping was uber-quick, the prices are bonkers cheap, and I love that they do sample bottles rather than the little plastic stick samples.

I've been getting quite a few new scents these past few weeks, so I figured I would put out some thoughts on a bunch of them! These are my first orders ever from Kyse, Fantome, and CP- so let's get started :D
I'm a fan of STRONG scents, I don't mess around much with super subtle perfumes. I'm also not a huge fan of indie style florals (which is wild, because my favorite perfume ever is Tom Ford Black Orchid and apparently that is considered floral, who knew?). I lean more gourmand / tea / fruit / boozy / tobacco / vanilla in the scent category, so keep that in mind.
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Kyse

Cacao Noisette: Cocoa powder, hazelnut, caramel, Tahitian vanilla, and soft snuggly musk. My thoughts: Smells just like Nutella, but with a little hint of heaviness to it…like musk. This is such a warm scent, I just want to cuddle with it and drink rich dark chocolate. Or, maybe just eat Ferrero Rocher. Very gourmand, but not fake sweet. A very adult cocoa scent. I really like this one. If you want a sexy hazelnut/cocoa smell, this is it. Verdict: 5/5 would FS
Vanille Debauche: Vanilla Bourbon, Beeswax, Boozy Notes, Amber, Dried Fruit, Wood, and Tobacco My thoughts: Soft, smoky, woodsy tobacco with fresh, sexy vanilla extract. Seems a little light, honestly, but I do get whiffs of it through the day. It is a really strong scent on the skin, so there's that at least. The vanilla extract scent is to die for and I like the aura of mystery this scent gives off with the booze and the gentle bourbon. I smell no fruit. The vanilla is the forefront of the woodsy aspect, so if you fear woodsy/tobacco, those aspects aren't super overpowering. The boozy vanilla extract it the forefront.
Verdict: 4/5 would FS
Macarons: Heliotrope, marzipan, hint of cherry, caramelized sugar, velvety vanilla custard, and a soft smooth myrrh. My thoughts: My husband picked this one over Cacao Noisette when I was wearing this on one arm and Cacao Noisette on the other. He was like, 'ooh that smells good, I like that one a lot'. It does somehow remind me of biting into a raspberry macaron! Not sure where I'm getting the raspberry from, but who cares, it's heckin' fab. Sophisticated gourmand and fruity. Very nice, will full size. I get strong whiffs of this during the day, very good sillage here. Once again, impressed with the quality, not tooth-rotting sweet, but instead very intriguing and wearable.
Verdict: 5/5 will definitely be full sizing this.
Sérénade aux Fraises: Strawberry, passionfruit, plum, Moroccan rose, cream, Tahitian Vanilla, organic sandalwood, violet leaf, musk, and black agar My thoughts: It reminds me of a sharp strawberry scent at first, almost like a strawberry vodka. I wasn't too thrilled with how it opened up, to be honest. There was something...bitter about it? It does dry down very nicely though, giving me the feeling of a strawberry cheesecake, but not overwhelming. Soft. It's okay. Not what I'm looking for at the moment...plus it didn't seem to really line up with the expected description above.
Verdict: 3/5
Gateau de Carnavale: Funnel cake, vanilla latte, toasted brown sugar, and apricot. My thoughts: Ehhh...a little disappointed. The scent is utterly faint and just not awe-inspiring for me. Sort of just smells like a faint, sugar dough. That's about it. If you like softer scents and also like funnel cake, you will like this. I just didn't get too much out of it and could barely smell this on at all.
Verdict: 2/5
Miele: Honey, mango, plum, apricot, jasmine, organic tonka bean butter, sandalwood My thoughts: Opens up with pure honey. This is a sweet scent and the fruits only add more 'oompf' to the honey aroma. If you love honey, this is what you have been looking for your whole life. Somehow, it sort of reminds me of a lovely tea with lots of honey. Comforting, delicious honey aroma with the mango and apricot in the background.
Verdict: 4/5
If anyone has any other Kyse reviews, I'm dying to know more about a few of their other vanillas! Getting ready to place another order with them, as I am very impressed with their scents (though, one warning, the small spray samples seem to leak terribly during shipping, which is disappointing).
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Fantome

Amria: Sultry, dark, mysterious. Crushed rose petals, honeyed figs, black currants, and black tea. Hints of tonka bean, orange blossoms, amber, and dragon's blood My thoughts: Starts out very berry heavy. There's something powerfully green in this. The amber is soft. Unique scent. Not totally in love with it yet. It makes me think of red berries and sharp green thorns. This isn't floral, but it also isn't straight fruity. If you like botanical and exotic scents, you will probably like this. Not a warm scent, sort of chilly actually. Literally, I think of thorns and berries when wearing this. Exotic and sultry is accurate, but also -green- and sort of sharp.
Verdict: 3/5
Ectoplasm: Spooky, goopy marshmallow over bone chilling white musk, sweet amber, a gossamer sugar glaze, dark myrrh, and creeping greenery My thoughts: At first glance I really liked this, but then it changed into straight botanical. The marshmallow gives me strong vanilla bean vibes for some reason, which I like. Perhaps it's that tasty sugar glaze? The greenery starts out a little strong and persists a little too much for my tastes. This scent is also very strong, I can smell it emanating from under my long sleeve shirt. I'm shocked I didn't like it, considering so many people have wonderful things to say about this scent...but the greenery is just overpowering on my skin.
Verdict: 2/5 - it's just a little too odd for me. It's not gourmand in my opinion, it's more botanical and green.
The Fox Sisters: Spiced cardamom cake with orange zest and candied red currants, caramel cream, dragon's blood resin, and flecks of vanilla bean. My thoughts: A winner! Spicy orange, vanilla cake! A little bit of tea is in the aroma, from what I'm getting. Pretty, but sort of faint. Maybe 2-3 hours on my skin.
Verdict: 5/5
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Cocoa Pink

Black Apple Noel: CP Black, juicy golden delicious apples smothered in mouthwatering sticky sweet caramel coating and rounded out with ghostly ribbons of vanilla bean noel My thoughts: OMG. Seriously, delicious apples just oozing with creamy caramel! The vanilla bean makes this totally decadent. Literally, this makes me think of biting into a delicious apple, the crunch, the tartness, and the yummy caramel make this a winner. So glad I bought this as a FS. I sprayed this on during the day and the next morning I woke up in a yummy cloud of caramel apple in my bed.
Verdict: 6/5
Jean's Ghost: Blood red rose petals, Madagascar vanilla, sparkling champagne overflowing her glass, vanilla ice cream flecked with aromatic beans, bright plum and maraschino cherries for Jean Harlow's ghost. My thoughts: Possibly too floral. Maybe the champagne is ruining this for me? Shock. Any time I try smelling this, I just don't like it. This is not a gourmand scent, FYI. Very heavy on the rose, I get no cherry or vanilla in this. This is basically if some drunk bro spilled his Brut all over you and then sprinkled you with rose petals XD
Verdict: 1/5 - not for me
Naughty Pumpkins: Sexy foodie scents. Spiritueuse Double Vanilla and exclusive triple amber blend CP Black mixed together. Then, sweet pumpkin is added in. My thoughts: light. Smells like sweet vanilla with pumpkin, a few fall spices. But, this is a very gentle scent and I'm not in the market for gentle at this point. The amber is way too soft, barely noticeable.
Verdict: 4/5 - it's yummy, I'm just not down for it at the moment
Magnetic: Exotic sandalwood infused with gorgeous streaks of black vanilla bean, sugar crystals, rum raisin, smooth tonka, tobacco leaf and golden amber - a blend to keep you coming back for more My thoughts: Oh, yes. Gorgeous. Deep and mature. Elegance in a bottle. Definitely smell the vanilla and the rum raisin. Kinda boozy, but the sandalwood makes this complex and warm. Sandalwood does get stronger on drydown. Would maybe FS
Verdict: 4/5
The Unred: This blend would make any vampire or other undead creature stalk your bathroom. Buckets of bloody orange juice, sweet vanilla, bourbon vanilla, sandalwoods and ambers. Hide this one well or you will find it missing by morning My thoughts: I'm mostly just getting orange juice from this, so...idk. Maybe a brunch sort of scent. It makes me think of drinking a mimosa with my gal pals. Sometimes, this also has a creamsicle scent to it, but I already have a perfume like that. Don't get me wrong, it's nice. I just don't need another like it at the moment.
Verdict: 4/5 - if you like mimosa's or creamsicles
Cranberry Noel: Tart cranberry with no spice notes, sweetened with vanilla bean noel My thoughts: OMG. Berries and cream! Rich, ice cream like vanilla. This is delicious. Does dry down a bit like a cherry throat drop though...yet, somehow still yummy? This was a freebie I received and it certainly surprised me!
Verdict: 4/5
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The end :D
If you are looking for Alkemia reviews, this is one of my posts, though now it probably could use some updating: 13 x Alkemia Reviews
I have a decent sized order coming from CultFragrances soon as well, so if anyone is interested, I'll probably do a review on those too.

Norman was in need of some fresh bread for turkey and cheese sandwiches this week. He could just as easily buy a loaf of factory made white stuff at the store, but he preferred fresh made bakery bread when he had time to go purchase it.
He figured if he was going to indulge, it might as well be as pleasurable as he could manage with his meager resources. Plus, he liked to vote with his dollars and support local business when he was able.
Norman dawned a surgical mask and a then cloth mask with a nice plaid pattern on top. He entered the Simmons & Son Bake Shop to wait his turn in line.
The woman before him was purchasing a half dozen vanilla cupcakes that looked absolutely scrumptious as Clyde Simmons packaged them into a powder pink takeaway box. Their pristinely white frosting crowns swirled into a mesmerizing spiral perfectly aligned against the pale yellow cakes plopped precisely into place within the cardboard holders and tied up with a classic strip of twine.
Norman smiled at Clyde from beneath his masks and Clyde waved back with a gloved hand. “How do Norm?” “Do good. Yourself?” Norman replied, getting a tickle of delight from the familiarity of being called “Norm.” “Oh things are just fine here. Working on my granddaughter’s third birthday cake, that’s the big excitement today.” Clyde explained, gesturing to the back where his oldest sons, Clyde Jr. and Noel, were hard at work on a festive two-tiered cake with a drippy jam center.
“Alright, congratulations!” Norman replied nodding in his sons’ direction. “What’ll it be today?” Clyde asked. “Usual,” Norman said, “Seeded country loaf, sliced and wrapped.”
Clyde set to work choosing one from the back wall as Norman enjoyed the faint aroma of butter and coffee that penetrated through his mask.
“Hey is that Norman back there?” Noel called, recognizing him from behind the cloth. “Hello there Noel. Many happy returns to your daughter.” Norman called out from the other side of the counter. “Norman, we picked your business card out of the jar yesterday!” He called. “You get a free pastry.”
Norman was taken aback. They had never picked his card out of the jar before. “You don’t say!” He exclaimed, trying to mute just how excited he really was. “Sure thing. Pick out whatever you want, on the house.” “Well gee, thanks.” Norman replied.
He scanned the racks and rows in amazement. He considered the chewy sugar cookies with their delicate rainbow crystals. The dense chocolate chip cookies with their rich cocoa morsels. He took a long pause on the spicy melt-in-your-mouth ginger snaps. But Norman had had plenty of cookies in his day. He figured he better try something he wouldn’t usually purchase for himself.
He admired the ornate slices of layer cake with shiny lemon curds, fluffy merengues, velvety ganaches, and vibrant fruits oozing from their centers.
The yeasty donuts with crystallized glaze and gelatinous cream centers were quite tempting as well, especially as a young baker set out a new tray, fresh out of the oven.
The fragile chocolate bonbons topped with intricate designs and flavored with exotic essences couldn’t be overlooked. Norman wouldn’t ever consider purchasing those for himself, not even on Valentine’s Day.
The gooey puddings and chalky scones, each tinged with berries and served with a side of freshly whipped Chantilly cream, quickly drew him away though.
Rich brownies glitzing with frosting and dense fudge bars gleaming with candied toppings enticed him as well. Every shelf he turned to seemed to catch his eye and caress his appetite.
Ultimately though, Norman chose a plain vanilla cupcake, just as the woman before him had purchased. The moment he’d seen childhood classic slide into the old style bakery box, he knew deep in his heart that he longed after a big, sugary, creamy, spongey, mouthful. Nothing would satiate him more than to enjoy the simple yet masterfully crafted flavors coalesce in expertly textured indulgence across his tongue.
He could barely contain himself as Clyde boxed the cupcake up along with his bread. He went out of his way to choose one with an especially puffy top for Norman.
“Good choice, just put those out.” Clyde remarked as he rang Norman up for the bread. “Glad to hear it, they look mighty fine.” Norman complimented him as he took out cash for the bread.
Norman dropped his change in the tip jar and Clyde thanked him as Norman collected his brown bread bag and pink pastry box to hurry home in order to enjoy this treat in his backyard’s sun chair.

Wow. Just got back into brewing after a fifty year break. High fives. A lot has changed. Upgraded to a little 80 gallon system. Efficiency is. Through. The. Roof. Kveik is so last year and I upgraded to Philli Sour. Its a monster. I also 05 it. Such a classic yeast. How how do you add fruit?
I BIAB.
Decided to West coast session NE Russian lawnmower Imperialise every thing now. I even Imperialised my dog getting it up 48%abv but its so crushable. Hope he doesnt turn into a bottle bomb. Brew day was 8 minutes (including cleaning) and I had a little taste of him even though its got 9 years to age. So crushable even now! Just kettle sour.
You should BIAB.
The recipe is some two row with some 2row, tomorrow, cocoa nibs, some extra too row and some row row row your boat. I also added some red rye and chocolate malt chocolate malt, chocolate malt and some unmalted malted wheat with barley I roasted myself. I just like threw it in the oven and this stuff comes naturally. So roasty. I also added some bottle dregs of a bud lite and a bourbon barrel age creamsicle california common. Exclusively hopped with hops that start with A to 300IBU. And Lemon drop obviously. So Droppy. Anyone know when I should whirlpool my dryhops?
Just BIAB with Philli.
I decided to give it an achingly laboured covid 19 name and though about it more than the recipe. I named it Covid 1984 for no reason what so ever. No connection to Big Brother. No personal connection to 1984 as Im a college kid born in 2015. How do you cover up fermentation smell?
Do you guys keezer because I keezer. I asked 47 different people about fridges then keezered my balls off. Some one said they were unkeezered on their first all grain. I high fived them because first all grain. Punched them in the face for not keezering. They didnt even refer to bottling as "packaging." Not that I bottle anymore. Keg Master Race. Just kettle sour. Secondary has no place in making beer either. Neither do bland lager makers but I respect their skills. Its Pseudo Lagers now anyway.
JFBIAB
Can anyone explain what Water Chemistry is? Like whats water? Can you just do the maths for me? You can just google the watwr reoprt.
JFBIABYFC
Anyway my brewing philosophy is keep the beer simple with 19 different malts. Theres no need for any temperature control so just let it free ride up to the coldest it should be and constantly monitor it to make sure it stays there. Ive never really sanitised but my beers are always good so make sure you star san religiously. You can drink it. I drink everything in a blind triangle now. Just kettle sour or throw it in at flame out.
What was your most crushable beer?
Happy New Year and fuck Belle Saison.

So I've finally accumulated enough samples from yall that I feel like i can actually contribute to the community's reviews! I've purchased literally a handful in swaps and 1 order from Alkemia where I got a 6ct sample pack (those thoughts will come shortly!). However, my lack of enjoyment when it comes to sweet, foody, gourmand smells has left me semi-limited when purchasing. It seems like yall LOVE YOUR SWEETS. Nothing is more disheartening that getting 3 notes into a scent and then seeing WITH A THREAD OF VANILA CURVING THROUGH THE BOTTOM. Or Amber. Both overwhelm any other note on my skin. In case you haven't figured it out, I'm a newb when it comes to scents and picking out the 1 green dipped moonstone flower harvested from Jupiter being drenched by reindeer pee thats peeking out at 36.5 minutes of dry down. I just know if something smells good or not lol. Anyways. On to my top 4 most disappointing samples!
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my skin: it eats everything. nothing lasts. nothing has throw when I wear an oil. mainstream EDPs seem to not do that. oils do. so these 2 factors will not be included for me because I feel like my experience isn't standard.

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Cocoa Pink Demagorgon- actual notes: Dried autumn leaves, golden amber, bright red maple leaves, dark blackberry wine and old wood overcome with patches of moss bring this fragrance to life. Notes I smell? Caramel. Pine. and BOYS aftershave. Like an immature boy's scent who lathered his fathers shaving cream on his face, realized he didn't need to shave, and then just WIPED it off. This was super disappointing to me because I do NOT like sweet scents on myself. So the fact that CARAMEL came through above everything else really hurts my soul. I really wanted an autumn foresty scent and this smelled nothing like it. Upon dry down theres just a candy sweet scent left behind. Like an old Werthers candy that you already finished eating 20 minutes ago. Its the smell of that aftertaste. 4/10 WNRP . It loses 2 pts for the notes not even showing up on me.
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Darling Clandestine Inked- actual notes: A sting of sea salt and leather, splashes of communion wine, the essence of raw skin. Notes I smell: leather. lever 2000. Actually a good description would be a leather coat that was just taken off by someone who JUST bathed in Lever 2000. Its like sniffing the inside of that coat. The longer it dries, the more Lever-y it becomes and the leather disappears and suddenly it smells like VANILLA Lever 2000. I was also disappointed in this because the leather just... vanishes. I was hoping for a sweet leather, or musky leather, and I got soap. The dry down that lingers is vanilla covered Lever 2000 soap. wtf skin... 6/10 WNRP but it's not a bad scent. just not for me.
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Astrid Hair Whipping in the Wind Wildly- actual notes: Chilly wind accord, Sea spray accord, Moonflower, Lily of the valley, White spruce, Wild spearmint leaf. Notes I smell: fruity laundry soap. It smells like someone tried to scent laundry soap with a fruity gum and really didn't mix it. The more it dries the more Febreze it becomes on me, with a soapy undertone. This was purchased in an attempt to dupe my CK One Summer and the whole ocean vibe seemed to fit. But i had the wrong notes so this wouldn't even READ close let alone smell the same. whoops. Despite KNOWING the notes are completely wrong, I still unfortunately didn't like it. I'm not sure where the fruitiness came from and thats the biggest issue. If the fruity didn't linger, I think I'd like it. 4/10 WNRP again lost points for weirdly wrong notes on me.
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Nui Colbat Honu- actual notes: Coastline sage, white rice, and sunlit tide pools where the seaweed sways beneath crystal clear water. Notes I smell: something sugary/sweet/almost fruit. The thing is that the fruit dies down after about an hour. But even thats too much for me. This really does smell aquatic and the notes are dead on. However, I think it's the sage that's ruining it for me and turning the scent too sweet. When I smell it, it's like OOOOH AQUATICnopeheresthesweetness. I guess what I'm trying to say is that halfway through a whiff on the skin, it turns sweet. Like the longer you smell it, the sweeter it gets. Along with it being sweet, if you sniff too hard/back to back, you start smelling Febreze. I know this is the second time I've mentioned this and you might be thinking that my skin might be contaminated. Well, we have the PINK aerosol bottle. The smell im getting is from the OG bottle.
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All in all, I've really enjoyed all of my samples. I really like the experience of seeing what turns on my skin and what reads more and then comparing to other reviews. I'm also hoping for some thoughts on notes that go fruity/soapy on other people, I just feel like I'm the only one!

Help me make a winter festival to remember.
Help me make a winter festival to remember.
1.) Dragon horn ring toss
2.) Devil dragon egg pie!
3.) Woollen clothes shop for those cold noght.
4.) Fried manticore.
5.) Catch the Quickling scrambled.

1. Hot mulled cider
   
2. Fried cinnamon-spiced meat dumplings
   
3. Snowball target throw
   
4. Wandering magician apprentice casting Warmth cantrip for a fee
   
5. Carolers
   
6. Medical station with hypothermia treatments available.
   
7. Snow sprites for sale (they look like little animated snowflakes, but they don't live more than a couple of days)
   
8. Fun-find in the snow (a few small prizes are hidden in a fenced-off corral full of snow; for a price five people at a time search for the items for five minutes. No magic allowed!
   
9. Your face (or your SO's face) sculpted in ice while you wait, only 10 coins!
   
10. Hot bath/sauna (produces a LOT of vapor)
    
11. Trained snow or ice golem (in tent, you must pay to see it)
    
12. High-speed sled ride (basically like a roller coaster) Sledding (on sled, on shield / on board / on another person)
    
13. Chopping logs into firewood (speed challenge)
    
14. Climbing a steep ice hill
    
15. Ice Block Smashing - trying to smash solid blocks of ice with a sledge hammer (strength)
    
16. Ice Fishing (largest fish / most fish caught / rarest fish caught)
    
17. Ice Sculpting (artistic skills)
    
18. Igloo Building (survival skills) Ice / Snow Fort Building
    
19. Snowshoes race
    
20. Dogs/Reindeer Sled Racing
    
21. Snowball Fight
    
22. Tug of war on a frozen lake or pond
    
23. Walking across a frozen log (balance test)
    
24. Face Painting
    
25. Festival Masks / Costumes
    
26. Fur Clothing
    
27. Hot Drinks (hot cider, hot chocolate, hot coffee, hot tea, mulled cider, mulled wine)
    
28. Hot Soup or Stew
    
29. Pies
    
30. Pot Pies
    
31. Meat Dumplings
    
32. Roasted Nuts
    
33. A drunk tank. Competitors drinking ale and balancing on a slippery log over two tubs of ice-water. Loser has to pay the bar tab, winner gets free ale and bragging rights until challenged again. Great entertainment!
    
34. A religious play about candles, fire safety, and how flammable certain orphans' parents are.
    
35. The bonfire leaping competition. Loser dies by third degree burns, but doesn't have to live with the knowledge that their failure had a good chance of failing to resurrect the Sun in the coming year.
    
36. The Feast of Ice. All the orphans sit around the table and try to eat as many icicles as they can before the hourglass runs out and they are forced back to hard-labor. Losers have to go home hungry; as do the winners.
    
37. Naked Ice Sumo Wrestling. Nothing like a little rancid bear grease and freezing water to really get the ol' adrenaline flowing! Followed by a soggy loin-cloth competition.
    
38. The Hunt of the Wren. For some reason, a hundred and so years ago, the local clerics declared that human sacrifices were required in order to survive the Winter Famine. A sacrificial victim was chosen from the Orphans, according to rumor, named 'Wren'. The orphan was crowned Ruler for the Day and treated to the best meal the starving locals could afford. Later that night, Wren escaped and was never seen again. The whole village was out, calling for Wren, but never found them. Lots of people died that year, and even the Clerics died, and the whole town ate them to survive. Ever since then, at this time of year, the whole village searches for Wren, and then when noone finds them, the village goes to the local cleric's house and, you'd never believe it, there has never not been a feast prepared since then! It's a Winter Festival Miracle!
    
39. Shoot the Festival Star! Every year, someone shoots down the star placed at the top of the Winter Festival Tree, and the mayor gives them a 100 gold reward. For the last ten years it has been a group of bandits that pull off the lucky shot. This year's gonna be my turn.
    
40. The rich people hire waifs to stand outside thier windows as a sort of badge of honor. A silver penny for a bit of sorrowful sniffling for an hour or so? Sign me up!
    
41. The Burning of the Festival Goat. For the last one hundred years, the Clerics of the Goat God Temple have tried to outdo the Clerics of the Sun God Temple by building an enormous goat out of straw. They try to guard it until after New Years, but it always burns before then. All Hail the Sun God!
    
42. An alchemist selling lesser potions that keep people warm for a few hours (these aren't strong enough to give resistance to cold damage, but you definitely can tell the toasty-warm difference after drinking it). Due to the relatively easy-to-find ingredients for the potions, they're quite reasonably priced.
    
43. An area set up for a snowball fight, even with a wooden fence around it. (the area is used for training horses in the warmer months.)
    
44. A temporarily awakened snowman/snow golem next to the road/path who's happy to socialize . They're aware their time being sentient is limited, but this only drives them to have even more fun with the time they have.
    
45. A play about the story of an adventuring party who defeated a cruel ice dragon ages ago. A few mages are helping with the special effects.
    
46. A lodge where big game hunters gather to sell and brag about there most recent kills. It has a warm, cozy atmosphere if you don’t mind the many, many monster heads adorning the walls.
    
47. • Smithin' Kearns - 2 parts cream, 2 parts coffee liqueur, 1 part ginger beer, nutmeg sprinkled on top.
48. • Orange Chocolates - They are shaped and colored like the fruit known as an orange but they taste exactly like chocolate.
49. • Tennover Topple - A game on a walled, slanted table with 30 pegs. 5 pegs are not secured to the table and fall over with a small nudge. You slide a weighted disk down the table using only gravity in an attempt to knock down all 5 pegs in one go.
50. • Snow's Piercer - A pop-up shop which sells the finest tools to manage snowfall near your home and business. Specialty shovels, flame throwers, and coarsely ground salt are among the wares hawked here.
51. My game has festivals, and we have a waffle stand - it’s called the Awful Waffle, and it serves different random things waffled. Somehow it’s become beloved by the players and I’ve looked up a million waffle recipes. (Sweet potato waffles, cinnamon roll waffles, tater tot waffles, falafel waffles.)
    
52. Ice Tavern – What it sounds like, a tavern built out of ice, like the ice hotel in Jukkasjarvi, Sweden.
    
53. Waffle Stand – Serves hot, fresh baked waffles.
    
54. Release of the floating lanterns – After dark the villagers/city folk gather and light lanterns made of very thin and light paper so the heat from the flame makes them lighter than the surrounding cold air and so they float up into the night sky.
    
55. Stand serving heated wine containing local spices that makes it a little sweet, served with raisins and almonds. None of these are my ideas. I kinda grabbed these off the Internet and some other sources. I don’t remember where they came from but wanted to share some good ideas.
    
56. Greased Pig Catching Cannot be completed without being unencumbered (movement rate of 25 or better) Individual initiatives for all contestants involved, each gets a chance to catch the pig in order of initiative (roll to hit AC 18, after all, it’s a greased pig you are trying to grab bare-handed), and must then roll successfully against Strength and Dexterity, failing either roll allows the pig to escape. Continue round-to-round until the pig
    
57. No Holds Barred Racing This assumes all racers have the same movement rate, otherwise the whole thing is pointless. Make a fifty-space “track”, each competitor starts off at one end. Roll individual initiatives for each racer. Move racers their Initiative roll spaces each round. A racer can try to trip, grab, or otherwise screw up another racer by taking a -2 penalty on his racing roll and making an attack roll against the target who must be within 2 spaces. If the attack succeeds, the target suffers a -4 penalty on his racing roll (cannot be less than 0).
    
58. Punch Drunk This paired “game” involves drinking a flagon of ale, then punching the opponent in the face. After each drink roll a save versus poison, or suffer a -2 on all further rolls this competition. After each punch, roll a save versus paralysis (with your opponent’s Strength bonus as a penalty) or be knocked on your ass and be out of the match. A breather between rounds allows you to reduce your drunken penalties from failed saves against the ale by 2 before taking on one of the other winners of the previous round.
    
59. Dragon's Revenge Contestants fill their mouths with liquor and then spit it through a torch at a small cloth target made up to look like a knight. Roll to hit with this missile weapon (with a -4 penalty for not normally having training in spit-based weapon systems) against an AC of 13 (small target). But just hitting the target isn’t enough – it has to be flambeed. Roll 1d4 damage for the flaming alcohol. The target has 3 hit points.
    
60. Fire Juggling Must successfully juggle balls of fire for longer than the other 1d12 contestants. Each contestant rolls initiative and turns go in that order. Each round, the contestants juggles an additional ball of fire, starting at 1. Must roll your Dex + Acrobatics - (# of balls of fire) or lower to successfully juggle for the round. (eg, Dex of 14, Acrobatics of 4, round 3. Must roll less than or equal to 14+4-3 = 15 )
    
61. What's that Smell? 1d20 contestants are seated at a table with blindfolds on. Each round, something will put put in front of their nose and each contestant must guess what it is. Players are welcome to say anything from normal to absolutely absurd things. Last one around wins. Contestants must roll 1d20 to see if they were right. On a roll of 10 - Perception, they were correct. On being incorrect, they get one more try. If both attempts are failed, they are knocked out. The DM is expected to reveal an absolutely completely absurd thing as the right answer. (eg, roasted dragon's thigh, pickled basilisk lips, a dwarf's bum, etc.)
    
62. Up and Over Contestants must successfully hurdle increasingly tall obstacles while running. This is a sprint. First to hurdle height of 20 wins! All contestants go at the same time. Must successfully roll 1d20 higher than (Height - Acrobatics) to hurdle, starting with Height of 5 and increasing by 1 every round. (eg. round 5 with Acrobatics of 2, roll minimum of 10 - 2 = 8 ). On a failed hurdle, you must keep trying to jump that height. (after jumping 5, must jump 6, then 7, then 8, etc. until jumping over 20 all as fast as everyone can)
    
63. Ball Under the Cups Two contestants against each other. One is the Deceiver and one is the Perceiver. Deceiver has 4 cups and places a ball under one and then shuffles the cups. Each round, contestants swap as perceiver and deceiver. First to 5 points wins. Deceiver must attempt to hide the ball from the Perceiver in any way possible, either by moving the cups quickly or by attempting to completely remove the ball from the table. Deceiver rolls 1d4 either way, but the number is only important if they kept the ball on the table. Someone else (likely DM) must be aware of the Deceiver's choice. Perceiver gets (Perception - 1 - [Deceiver's Sleight of Hand] ) attempts (min 1) to guess where the ball is. Off the table, 1, 2, 3, or 4. When guessed correct, Perceiver gets 1 point. If it was correctly guessed Off the Table, perceiver gets 2 points. If wrong all attempts, Deceiver gets 1 point. If wrong all attempts and was off the table, Deceiver gets DM's choice.
    
64. Hot soup in a bowl made of ice
    
65. Goose cooked in the style of Bacon
    
66. A Honey popsicle that is very attractive to bugs of all sizes
    
67. Spicy Cabbage
    
68. Guess the number of ferrets in a hole in a town park
    
69. Extinguishing 10 candles in a room while blindfolded as quickly as possible
    
70. who can wear the most clothes for ten minutes straight
    
71. Icicle carving contest: first, contestants find the largest single icicle they can, then make an ice sculpture using only their single icicle and an ordinary hammer and chisel to do so. The winner's sculpture gets used as the centerpiece for the feast table that night.
    
72. Snowball based bottle game: contestants get three snowballs per try, and have to knock over a stack of bottles, some of which may be frozen together. Offers packets of tea/cocoa that can be added to hot water(available elsewhere)
    
73. Moose grazing: a particularly odd game, halfway between a contest and a kids game. Contestants must wear a hat with large, heavy antlers, then attempt to find a small item hidden under the snow, and must be on their hands and knees the whole time. There is a small group of adults who have set up a more difficult version, and they are oddly competitive about it.
    
74. Some kind of magically frozen flavoured sherbet, in different colours of the rainbow!
    
75. Stealing from the winter festival my DM ran last week:
    
76. Snap-dragon: Place heated brandy in a large shallow bowl and light it up, then drop raisin in. Take turns trying to snatch a raisin out and eat it without burning your fingers or mouth.
    
77. Feuerzangenbowle: soak a large cone of sugar in run, then place it on tongs above a vat of mulled wine. Light the sugar on fire and let it melt into the holiday punch.
    
78. Mimic toss: a set of tamed mimics are laid out on the ground, with their mouths open. Pay your gold to get three chances to toss a ball into their mouths. Get all three shots in and you win the big teddy bear. The balls are, of course, sized slightly larger than the mimic's can swallow. A natural 20 on your toss will lead to the ball getting lodged in and you must try to get it back out before the mimic chokes.
    
79. Has maple taffy been suggested yet? You pour boiling maple sap onto snow and then pick it up with a stick. A lot of places in Canada do it, it’s really neat (and totally delicious).
    
80. Whittles Wooden Birds, a small stall form a traveling merchant named Whittle. The stall is run by a 35 year old gnome he sells various wooden birds as wells as a few rats and fish. If anyone asks if he sells dice or some sort of game pieces he will turn pale and deny every doing such a thing and timidly try to get them to leave him alone before closing.
    
81. He was the victim of a cult cursing a dice set he made into summoning a demon and now he is on the run form anyone who brings it up this was just an idea in my head that I came up with so if you want to add it to you're game you could change the reason.
    
82. A winter wonderland cafe served by snowmen. Ytsorf is a dwarven summoner, with strong magic he controls snowmen to walk around and serve the customers.
    
83. Background if you want the option for a longer plot. In actuality he is a necromancer using the corpses of some children that recently vanished. A insight of 16 or higher will find the light scent of rotting flesh or a droplet of blood seeping through the snow.
    
84. Snow show - Guest wizards who can cause the snow to turn different shimmering colors as it falls, while others cause it to glow or glitter. They put on a 15 minute show at the top of the hour. Winter is beautiful.
    
85. Dragon teeth - the casting of runes by crone witches as the telling of a PC's fortune of the year.
    
86. Pop-snaps - small firecrackers pulled by two participants that give a snap and a few small sparks, spewing forth small paper toys and perhaps a copper or two if you are lucky
    
87. Hot Spiced Rum - Fire rum warms the coldness within. Drinking with a buddy or in a contest is most welcome during the festival. For some, that's the whole point.
    
88. Tales by the fire - Large bonfires are lit to warm the gathering spaces, to ward off the cold and to remind the festival goers that the sun hasn't deserted them forever. Bards and elders gather to tell young'uns and all who would listen about the oldest stories they know, the founding of their village maybe or what they've seen in their many years.
    
89. Snowshoe and ski hut - A place to rent snow gear for the day. For an extra fee, you can catch a sleigh ride up a large hill, where you can join the pandemonium of children sledding, skiing and otherwise rolling downhill. Watch out for Timmy!
    
90. Butterscotch soup - Ya'think it might be a bit too sweet for you, but there is just something soul-warming about the flavor.
    
91. Parsnip root - Giving one of these as a treat to your herbivore mount is better than your average carrot. Kinda got a spice to it, livens them right up on a cold morning. Rumour is that the winning sleigh team eats them every morning for breakfast.
    
92. Potluck Feast - All the townspeople bring their favorite casseroles to share...odd dishes with some of the wackiest flavor combinations that you can imagine. Carrion Worm Curry? 7-Day Surprise? an Odd Jello that looks like a monster you fought recently? But it is a feast, so pile it on!
    

What else would y'all include?