hlinspjalda

In the vial: Light wood and patchouli with the brightness of tea and a touch of sweet floral. Wet: Airy sandalwood note, just the tiniest touch crittery which I think might be the cumin. Bright, though, and just a bit sharpish. One hour: Soft light cedar/sandalwood incense. It still has a bit of brightness about it but the cumin and floral are nowhere to be discovered. Never did get any vetiver. Two hours: Very pleasant soft light incense. It's a little dry for my taste, but has a delicious overtone of some bright note. I suppose that is the tea. The floral is more noticeable now, too. Four hours: Still holding on at the level it was at two hours ago. It seems a trace sweeter now, as if the patchouli is outlasting the wood finally. Sandalwood is iffy on me, but this is one of the nicest sandalwoods I've tried.

I got a decant of this because Dragon Moon '08 was a huge win on me. In the vial: Wood and evergreen notes, with a menthol-y herbal cast. This smells complex, deep but invigorating. I hope it loves me as much as Dragon Moon ‘08, although it has some additional notes. It smells much less of dragon's blood than ‘08. Wet: Ah, there's the dragon's blood. Not terribly different from Dragon Moon ‘08 at this stage, except maybe a touch more complex. One hour: Wow, I quite like this. It's round and sweetly resinous, a little grassy, with none of the notes sticking out obtrusively. The dragon's blood is definitely less obvious than in Dragon Moon ‘08. I should probably acquire a bottle of this. Two hours: This is pretty, and less aggressive than ‘08. It's now calmed down to something that's clinging closely to my skin. It is more comforting than invigorating, and it's very well blended so nothing dominates.

I bought this partial bottle (decant circle leftover) unsniffed. Every listed note is usually good on me, so I am looking forward to it. In the bottle: More helichrysum than anything else. That's a note I adore from Aquae. This time it is light rather than earthy, but the overall scent is rich and fruity with some resinous pungency. No trace of the lilac-ish floral note I associate with dragon's blood. Wet: The first impression is woody, but then it goes over to earthy. I get the cedar and helichrysum about equally, and the dragon's blood as an afterthought. The citrus notes are not particularly identifiable, which is odd because both of them are usually good on me. One hour: The resin note has matured a bit, making everything a bit flatter and smoother. Although the helichrysum is still light, overall the scent is woodier now too, moving a bit toward Voodoo territory. Part of the reason I bought this scent is because of how much I love Voodoo. This one is very light by comparison, but there are some similar vibes involved. Two hours: Now I'm getting more citrus than before. It seems slightly sweet, more lime than bergamot. Overall it's warm and spicy-ish, smells a little like sticks (for some reason, that's the image it's giving me), and even though it's not as drop-dead gorgeous as some scents I keep sniffing it and smiling. I expect I'll wear this from time to time, probably when I want something whimsical.

I was excited to try this one because it has many of my notes of love in it. I wasn't sure about the orris, which is often iffy on me. In the vial: Jasmine, with a hugely fruity side of apricot and quince. Wet: More jasmine, but the fruit is right there. The apricot is more like dried than fresh, very rich, concentrated, and a bit tart. There's something floral-apple-ish that I think is the quince, not as intense as the quince note in Ginger Skull or Autumn Moon of the Mirror Stand. One hour: This is lovely: gentle pointed floral (jasmine and orris cooperating), with very floralish fruity notes. It's probably just a shade too dry for me (orris does that on me), but the fruit nuances are so pretty! It stayed nice on me for hours. Most of my fruity scents are juicy, but this one was somewhat dry which makes it interesting. I'm still not sure about the orris, but I really liked this one and should probably test it again.

This one's full of notes that I love, with one troublesome one: jonquil. In the vial: Very strong sandalwood and frankincense. Wet: A nice frankincense note, lots of sandalwood, but something a little disquieting in this one. Must be the jonquil; we don't get along well. One hour: Much better now that the clove woke up and joined the party. I get a sweet honey-musk base, lots of wood and frankincense, a touch of clove, and a brightness atop everything else that must be the tea leaf. This is pretty good on me. Once the clove activated, the jonquil dropped back. It got into a really pleasant zone and stayed nice on me for seven or eight hours. The tea didn't last as long as the other notes, being a bright top note that faded steadily. I like it quite a lot and will be evaluating it again for bottle status.

This was my first choice to try of all the Lupers based on the list of notes it contained, all of which are good on me. I seem to have had a very different experience with it than the other reviewers so far. In the vial: Thick, chewy, heavy, sweet, with a nice patchouli edge to it. Wet: Very sweet, chewy, thick. I get honey, patchouli, and something very dense, almost creamy, flat and sweet. One hour: Still surprisingly thick and chewy, but not quite as overwhelming as before. I thought it might be the bourbon vetiver, but I haven't had this reaction to the other scents with bourbon vetiver as a listed note (Wulric and The Hag). It has a lovely honey note, some nice rose, but that thick note is stronger. It reminds me a bit of Brotoloigos and Banshee Beat. For most of the day this stayed very thickly and heavily sweet on me. At seven hours it was still going strong, with lots of honey and a bit of patchouli. I was surprised by how comparatively little vetiver and rose I got from it. I will probably try this again in about a month to see whether it's mellowed a bit, because I'm drawn to the list of notes and to the poem it represents. But as it stands it's too intense for me.

Nobody's mentioned this yet. To me the freshly opened bottle (just arrived) smells like myrtle branches! I'll come back and edit this after I give it a proper test, but myrtle! ETA: I have not worn this as a perfume, but I have been wearing it in my scent locket almost nonstop for three months now. I still get more myrtle than anything else from this scent. It is beautiful, cheering, energizing, and comforting all at once.

I had an unfortunate incident with this imp and spilled half of it on myself. I'm not a foodie lover to begin with, so that was kind of disconcerting. At first it smelled like cake and spice, definitely a pleasant edible baked product. As the day wore on, though, it became very strong red ginger (a nausea-inducing death note on me) and vanilla with a creamy base. After about ten hours it had worn down to a fairly clear vanilla extract sort of note minus the alcohol -- so vanilla bean, I suppose. But there's definitely red ginger in this one, my skin told me so.

I bought this bottle unsniffed because it's chock-full of notes I love. In the bottle: Amber and dark musk, sort of Schwarzer Mondy. Wet: There's still amber and sweet dark musk, but I am also getting a honey-sweet floral and a touch of fruit. The musk isn't at all powdery. This has major promise. Half an hour: Chewy and dark, very much in my zone but with a major difference. I suppose it's the kewra that adds that wonderful edible-floral note. Usually Nepalese amber is beyond my zone, but this one I may have to keep. One hour: Oh, I quite like this. The kewra and fruit have teamed up now, the amber has lightened, and the musk isn't obtrusive. Two and a half hours: Fruit, amber, musk, and the very sweet floral kewra note. The dark fruit notes are a little more pronounced, and the amber less so; I like it better this way, because it seems deeper and darker. Five hours: This one is a winner! The dark fruits are so pretty, and the floral is so different!

EMBALMING FLUID BATH OIL A light, pure scent: white musk, green tea, aloe and lemon. In the vial: Light green tea with the perfect quantity of lemon, overlaid with an additional, light, unidentifiable green note that I guess must be the aloe. Wet on skin: I use these in the shower as moisturizers. When it hit my skin, there was a moment where something amped up that I think must have been the white musk. It died back immediately, though, and all I got was an overwhelming, delicious blast of the same scent I got in the vial. The lemon is light, not bitter like peel and not acidic like juice. It's not sweet like candy either. It's perfect, just perfect! Dry on skin: This is a light scent, but it clings more tenaciously than most of the BPTP bath oils have on me. A day and a half later I was noticing it on my pillowcase, my towel, and the shirt I'd worn the day before. My daughter loved it and my husband didn't object to it, which is about as perfect a response as I ever get to bath oils around my house. This scent is fabulous. It didn't morph on me despite the fact that I don't do well with white musk. It's an ideal hot weather bath oil, evoking cooling and calming images without being either overtly foody or in-your-face citrusy. I love it, and I want a bottle! Next I think I'll try the matching soap....

In the bottle: Wow, this one is complex. I get evergreen, tart fruit, something like iris/orris, and a peppery-spicy note. Didn't get much of the expected musk, amber, or patchouli at all! Wet: I get the dark fruit notes, the peppery one, and something sweet above a gentle rose note. There's so much more going on with this one, though, that it's hard to pick it all out. Definitely needs to brew a while. One hour: Still dark unsweet fruits over a very complex midrange. I like this one very much but it's quite difficult to isolate most of the notes in it. But the main discovery for me is that the musk, resins, and florals aren't dominating the mix the way I'd expected. Two hours: Less fruity now, with a light dry woodiness about it. There is a bit of resemblance to The Wild Swans at Coole, which is one of my recent favorites, so I guess it's the "white chypre" blend which they have in common. (I have no idea what distinguishes a white chypre, but I'm guessing there's not a lot of patchouli in this one.) I am still amazed by the way the other ingredients are overcoming the expected musk, resin, and patchouli. This is really exceedingly complex and, on me at least, it smells like nothing save itself. Three hours: Now the balance has shifted back in favor of the fruit again, but only just. The mossy aspect of the chypre has done its usual souring on my skin, although in this case it's manageable due to the many other mitigating ingredients. On me this is a 4 out of 5, and I will definitely wear it.

In the vial: I get the tiare first, with fruity overtones and definite sugary edge. Hopefully this will be the tiare that works on me, because it's so lovely! Wet: This is warming up delightfully, more floral than fruity and with the warmth of musk beneath. One hour: I love this. It's light, girlishly floral and youthful, cheerful. I could see wearing this when I wanted to smell innocent but beautiful. Four hours: Very light, but still the impression of a tropical floral. The floral's very mature now, heavier, perhaps that's the musk. At any rate, never got any chocolate and very little apricot. But I like this a lot. Don't know if I'd have call to use a whole bottle of it, though, it being so girly and all.

In the bottle: Delicious tart fruit and balsam, with a bit of herb. Wet: Citrusy currant with a spicy substrate that is probably going to be the cedar. I like this, it's both brightly cheerful and warm-spicy. One hour: Fruity sage wood. It's still very fruity, but there's more of a biting herbal wood about it than before. It reminds me a bit of a very cheerful Coxcomb, only without the heavy musk substrate. It's got enough balsam obvious in it that it reads as a Christmas-related scent also. The French vanilla is behaving well and staying in the background. I like this quite a lot. Four hours: Still pleasantly fruity, with light wood and herb notes. This is probably about as nice as red currant ever gets on me; it's got an almost floral aspect to it, like the pear note sometimes gets. But it's still got that tart sweetness to remind me it's a fruit. I expect I'll be keeping this bottle; it would probably go very nicely with Tomoe Gozen bath oil.

In the bottle: Evergreens, honey, and bayberry. This smells bright, cheerful, sunny. Wet: Evergreens and a light version of the snow note, warming up at once into honey and fruit. The pine cone note reads as peppery wood. One hour: Kind of ozoney but with a snow note. The sweetness isn't juicy, isn't cloying, isn't fruity; it's just evocative of warmth and light. The evergreen is still pleasant; this kind of reminds me of Ice Prince, only without the strong floral element. Two hours: Honey note has matured into the tired floral scent. It reminds me of some kind of cooked honey, I'm not sure what, maybe teiglach sauce? No, it's more like the syrup in which I candied citron peels last fall. Cooked honey, a bitter citrusy impression, and something to make the mouth water, all inside a sunshiney wrapper. I continue to get the bayberry/evergreen counterpoint, also. Three hours: Still the cooked citrus-honey impression, with an underlying muskiness that might be the amber. It clings to my skin and I keep trying to breathe it deeper.

White amber and zdravetz are what made me want to try this. In the vial: A rich vanilla, a tart but pleasant floral, and a touch of amber. Although I am uneasy about it, there's something about it that draws me. Wet: White amber first, a floral I like a lot (is that the zdravetz from my beloved Schwarzer Mond?), and a light sugary vanilla-musk impression. One hour: There's something almost fruity about this, but mostly it's white amber and vanilla. Four hours: This now has a faint citrusy cast but still white ambery and floral. The vanilla is persistent, but stays true (unlike some vanilla notes, which mature badly on me) and is very light. This is pretty.

In the vial: Apple blossom first, then a tangy thing that might be mint, then a honey. Delicate, but penetrating. Wet: The honey takes lead. It is a floral honey with almost an almondy side note, rather reminding me of the honey from Lupanar. The apple blossom is trying to hold its ground, but the mint ducked out. One hour: Very floral honey and apple blossom with just enough mint to notice it's there. My daughter liked this one on me. Four hours: It was a little strong there for a while, a lot like Lupanar actually, but it's calmer now, less sweet and a bit more complex. My skin loves it too. Must decide whether I need more.

Cedar and frankincense are two of my favorite notes, and they didn't disappoint in this one. In the vial: Delicious frankincense note with a note that makes me think of polished coffin wood. Wet: Boy, that frankincense note loves me. This is the same note I get from The Blasphemare Reliquary, and I love it. The polished wood note has receded some; it's not the more intense cedar I usually get. One hour: Ah, that's the dusty note I love from The Marquis de Carabas. Here it's more sedate and remote, less intimate thanks to the frankincense and wood. There's a static sort of moodiness to this scent that I really like; it's like coming into a room and breathing the air and everything becoming entirely still as you absorb a new mood. Two hours: Softer now, with a less insistent frankincense impression. It is dry, resinous, woody, with that tickly-warm dust note. Three hours: Soft, warm, dry, woody, a lot like Bony Moon but less reserved and understated. I like it very much but would be prone to use this scent to scent other things -- moisturizing lotion or sugar scrub -- rather than as a standalone perfume.

In the bottle: Piercing clear airy note, a touch of something crittery, and metal. Unsettling, rather like the Lamia prototype. Oil astonishingly dark brown. Wet: Salty warm dark musky scent with metal at the heart of it. There's something teasingly tart, like grape skins or barbecue sauce, almost a vinegary note. Hour and a half: Tangy woody-spicy with some musk, very definitely a sort of smoked barbecue kind of scent. There's still something metal at the core, though. Four and a half hours: Strong herbal note over wood, still with that spicy-sharp smoky impression. Ten hours: Still a lingering dark smoky tart metallic-tinged scent.

I agree with Absinthetics: this spray smells unprepossessing in the bottle. It also seems less intense than most of the other ones I've tried; it took three spritzes to scent my den rather than the usual two. Also, I had to go away and come back an hour later to notice it -- but by that point the place smelled gorgeous. The orchids are the star of this scent, a lovely restrained and somehow old-fashioned scent. But there's a well-blended underpinning of amber and gentle vanilla-musk notes that reads very golden to me. It gives me the impression of L'Estate, I think maybe because there's a similar amber note. ETA: It is very long-lasting once it gets going. I can still notice it 36 hours after the time I spray it.

In the vial: Aquatic high floral. Wet: High floral with aquatic background. No detectable rose, smoke, or cocoa notes. One hour: Much calmer now, but somewhat soapy. I get a strong sweetness with a rosy overtone, but rose is not where the soap is coming from. This one is really puzzling, nothing at all like I expected. This one also disappeared into my skin pretty quickly and was gone after a couple of hours.

In the vial: Vivid, roundly spicy green, with a sweet tang. Wet: Unusual. There's a tang of something almost like tomato paste, a rich sweet bitter-pointed organic scent. Stimulating. I like this very much. Half an hour: Not so pointed now, but still with that bittersweet foodish impression. It also smells rather like golden grass. Hour and a half: More foodlike now, with a definite rooty/herby scent, yet not the typical roots or herbs. I'm guessing this is probably rooibos, mostly.

In the vial: Fruity pomegranate, spice, a touch of neroli, and the warmth of resin. Wet: Fruit amped immediately, although it's already back in balance. The rest of the scent needs a while to settle down; it's got quite a lot of elements wanting to be noticed. Half an hour: I think the opium is coming up; it's resinous, but dark. No sign of the vetiver yet, though. Hour and a half: Fruity, resinous, a touch of spice and floral. This is a bit like Eustephanos without the rose. Never did get any of the vetiver or carnation. The pomegranate-amber axis is what holds this one together for me. I like it, and it works on me.

Pomegranate is a note I do well with, and pumpkin isn't. I was so excited to see a whole grove of pom scents this year! In the vial: Delicious! Very fruity pomegranate, a touch of lavender, something woody, and it's very bright as well. Wet: Fruity wood with lavender and a touch of something warm, maybe the myrrh? One hour: The fruit note has subsided into gentleness, and the woods and lavender have taken over. There's something almost citrusy about it, and there's a warm spiciness underneath. It's not going to be the home run I hoped it would be, but it's very nice. Three hours: Woody light pomegranate. I'm not so much getting sandalwood as I am cedar, but it's very well behaved cedar. (I can tolerate the stronger kind too, but this is very civilized.) The myrrh and wood give it a traditional sort of undertone, but it's a little sweetish on top. Still haven't gotten any cloves, per se. This was the best of the whole Pomegranate Grove on my skin, which was what I expected judging by the listed notes.

In the vial: Boozy, smoky fruit. Wet: Boozy vetiver with smoke like burning leaves. One hour: Sweet woody boozy vetiver. It hasn't gone powdery sweet on me the way black musk does, although I expect it will later. The currant note contributes a dark rich tannic sweetness. Three hours: After a long time, this got less boozy. It's gone over to musk and vetiver now, with a spicy-woody undertone. I like it better this way even though it has less throw and presence.

In the vial: Oh, lovely! Musky herb and then suddenly ozone and mint! Wet: This has a lot of the cold snowy vibe about it, and some of the metallic impression of Metal Phoenix and Tin Phoenix. Half an hour: This is nice. There's enough deep warm base here to balance the high notes of evergreen, citrus, ozone, and mint that often don't work on me because they're too sharp. I like it. One hour: This is the nicest citrus/ozone/metal/mint combination I've tried. It's nicely balanced by all the darker and more herbal things. Four hours: Still very nicely behaved on me, although more ozone metal than mint or citrus now.