Lycanthrope

Briefly: Chocolate musk, with a much more commercial-type vibe. The cocoa burns off within the first hour and what is left is the musky sandalwood. It reminds me very strongly of Primal Element's Ariel.

Tenacity, force, strength, stability, and determination: Chinese musk and gleaming white metal with honeysuckle, rose mallow, verbena, and carnation. I didn't see a prior review of this up... so here goes. Metal Phoenix smells very faintly citrussy and airy-sweet in the bottle. On me, it has that burnished metal note present in Bed of Nails, Torture Queen, sort of a faint airy musk. This is followed with very soft, sweet florals, kind of like the aura of scent around a cold flower, if that makes sense. There's a little spice from the carnation but it's not very potent. It seems to be very light, and over time there's a veeeery slight powder-sweetness at the extreme drydown. Very good, but with less floral than I'd like, and more nice balance between mild citrus ozone and bright cold florals.

Odd! I found this imp tucked in with my Irish Poets bottles. It has green lettering, and perfect for St. Patrick's Day, which is just around the corner. This is definitely an 'earthy' scent, possibly some sort of resin/galbanum, not dirty in a 'dirt' or 'patchouli' sense but with a certain lightness. It's fairly hard to pin down, and I always have trouble without a note list. There's definitely blades of grass or clover, it's peeking around the top of the scent, and then that sort of smooth snappy metal note (maybe representing the gold or cast iron pot?). Oh, dude, there's De Sade leather in this at the end. Mmm. Very intriguing. I'm going to wear this out tonight. Oh! I need to wear green!

I'm always quite afraid of rose geranium, as it totally annihilated a few good scents for me. This smells very watery and salty, aquatic, in the bottle. On my skin, it plays totally different and turns into a very strong resinous salt scent. The strongest notes on me are the moss and salt. This does almost remind me of something more that I would eat, maybe how Tako smells in a good japanese restaurant, or the kelp salad with a touch of brine. I wish this were more like Thalassa to me, since I found that scent to be a beautiful combination of water and the almond-type scent, lending it a kind of foody aquatic nature that worked out really well. I'm not certain Octopus is doing that. I may consider diffusing it, or wearing it in a locket, to capture that airy ocean scent. Also, for now, I will wear it so that when people ask me what I'm wearing I can say, "Oh, don't you know... it's octopus!" ...

Since I do not have a CleavageTM I tested Stentor on my upper left bicep. It's a common place where I test things as I am gaming. Holy cow! PEPPERMINT'D! Also, this has that severe mentholated cooling that I'm feeling. Similarly as above it is a veritable swirl of mint. I think there's a little sourness from the lime but it's a brightness more than sour, and I've always had a blind spot for juniper berry. The tea is not a strong potent 'Apothecary' style tea. It's a very sweet peppermint and lasts a long time. This is starting to remind me of this little camphorated tube thing that my mother used to use to rub on upset stomachs. It came in a small white and had a burgundy base... Taiwanese Americans, help me out here... in that it has that minty smell but a touch of herbs that is bringing to mind 'mothball,' but only in a very complimentary way. Or, erm, Ricola? Perhaps a soothing mint syrup? Keep in mind I -love- herbal cough syrup, so I'm a freak of nature. This is pleasant, but I can't see myself wearing this regularly. When I next have a cold I will apply this to my chest, because it is bracing!

13 is significant, whether you consider it lucky, unlucky or just plain odd. Many believe it to be unfortunate... ... because there were 13 present at the Last Supper. ... Loki crashed a party of 12 at Valhalla, which ended in Baldur's death. ... Oinomaos killed 13 of Hippodamia's suitors before Pelops finally, in his own shady way, defeated the jealous king. ... In ancient Rome, Hecate's witches gathered in groups of 12, the Goddess herself being the 13th in the coven. Concern over the number thirteen echoes back beyond the Christian era. Line 13 was omitted form the Code of Hammurabi. The shivers over Friday the 13th also have some interesting origins: ... Christ was allegedly crucified on Friday the 13th. ... On Friday, October 13, 1307, King Philip IV of France ordered the arrests of Jaques de Molay, Grand Master of the Knights Templar, and sixty of his senior knights. ... In British custom, hangings were held on Fridays, and there were 13 steps on the gallows leading to the noose. To combat the superstition, Robert Ingersoll and the Thirteen Club held thirteen-men dinners during the 19th Century. Successful? Hardly. The number still invokes trepidation to this day. A recent whimsical little serial killer study showed that the following murderers all have names that total thirteen letters: Theodore Bundy Jeffrey Dahmer Albert De Salvo John Wayne Gacy And, with a little stretch of the imagination, you can also fit ”˜Jack the Ripper' and ”˜Charles Manson' into that equation. More current-era paranoia: modern schoolchildren stop their memorization of the multiplication tables at 12. There were 13 Plutonium slugs in the atomic bomb that was dropped on Nagasaki. Apollo 13 wasn't exactly the most successful space mission. All of these are things that modern triskaidekaphobes point to when justifying their fears. For some, 13 is an extremely fortuitous and auspicious number... ... In Jewish tradition, God has 13 Attributes of Mercy. Also, there were 13 tribes of Israel, 13 principles of Jewish faith, and 13 is considered the age of maturity. ... The ancient Egyptians believed that there were 12 stages of spiritual achievement in this lifetime, and a 13th beyond death. ... The word for thirteen, in Chinese, sounds much like the word which means “must be alive”. Thirteen, whether you love it or loathe it, is a pretty cool number all around. ... In some theories of relativity, there are 13 dimensions. ... It is a prime number, lucky number, star number, Wilson Prime, and Fibonacci number. ... There are 13 Archimedean solids. AND... ... There were 13 original colonies when the United States were founded. Says a lot about the US, doesn't it? In our paean to all the mysteries surrounding this enigmatic number, there are thirteen lucky and unlucky components, including white chocolate, dark chocolate, apple blossom, honeysuckle, frankincense, allspice, nutmeg, black tea, tonka, and sandalwood. I did a search for 'Thirteen' and 13, and I didn't see it come up amongst the search results. Apologies if there exists a thread already... So... whereas white label original thirteen was cocoa oranges, purple label was spicy cocoa clove, green label 13 actually is... chocolate apples, with a bit more creaminess than the prior two. There's a similar feel to the blend that is akin to the past incarnations of the scent - a touch more herbiness, some 'substantiality' to the scent beyond just cocoa, but it's most definitely an interesting mashup of a milky, creamy chocolate and what is like apple rind (not so 'juicy' per se, it reminds me of dried apples). So, cocoa mixed with some herbs that keep this in line with the other 13s, but blended up with dried green apples. Staying power is moderate on me and there's a decent waft. After about thirty minutes my skin has eaten most of the notes, it's mostly cocoa with a tiny dry bitterness to it.

Yaksh has very little throw. I would best classify it as a soft, slightly cold, grayish blue misty scent that stays close to the skin. The dominant notes are dry (must be the iris root, chamomile, moss, sandalwood), with a little bit of quiet petals (tuberose and morning glory). The jasmine is not overpowering, but over time on the skin you can tell that it is there. On my skin jasmine does a quiet amp, so this dries down to a very faint floral. I loved the color and several of the predominant notes, but I don't think that I would need more than my decant.

For starry-eyed lovers: NYMPHIA White rose, apple blossom, mango, cucumber, coconut, and lavender. Ok... so, turning my sniffer into my taste buds for a little bit! These are well wrapped, little golden disks a touch smaller than traditional butterscotch discs. So many notes, yet this comes across as a beautifully divine, honeyed floral. It tastes like I am eating sunshine and flowers. The candies are pretty sweet, but awesomely complex. The dominant 'fruit' notes all behave well as they all seem to be a sweet coconut milk kissed with a touch of green (cucumber?). The rose, apple blossom and lavender are subtle but you can tell that they are present... especially if you have just let the candy sit for a while and after it has dissolved. Quite amazing! We need a constant edibles section on the BPTP, with very odd flavors! Because this is very intriguing - like eating perfume!

Ambergris accord, kelp, pale oakmoss, sea buckthorn berry, mugwort, petitgrain, frankincense, and salt. In the bottle, it smells like salt and sea air, definitely less ozonic and 'breeze' and more of the sandy/salty ocean scent. I've got high hopes. I love aquatics! Especially when they are CRAB PEOPLE. On, wet, it really morphs, I still get the salty quality but there's definitely a strong petitgrain scent - I can pull that note, stems, leaves, twigs and all, to the forefront. The kelp then steps in to add a very slightly fishy quality (Kani? Kani??? I love yoooooo), and now, mysteriously, it smells a little like those imitation crab sticks. Or maybe that's my brain. I don't know. After a little bit the cologney ambergris accord sidles up the front going 'HI I'M A WHALE. WHO DIS CRAB.' And... over a little more time, the whale and crab accords kinda hit it off, so I'm left with a very watery, extremely oceanic, breezy citrus tree/plant scent. I think, like salty petitgrain made of oranges. In time, the resins (frank) and smokey scent (mugwort) make this a little stormy. This is not a replacement for my much missed Kingsport, but it's a good, roiling oceanic marine that doesn't depend upon florals or lily to make it fresh. Do not use if you don't like petitgrain, because yup, it's a strong dominant note! After a few hours, this dries down to a mysterious salty cologne. Not a sweet or heady perfume drydown, salt salt salt. Very nice, if you're a marine aquatics fan.

THE LILIES AND LANGUORS OF VIRTUE Calla lilies and lily of the valley with white lilac, narcissus, osmanthus, asphodel, and Egyptian musk. Yowza! This is strong and very floral! I get tons of the lilies pushing to the surface, all like "DOOOOD WE ARE LILIES," and then the sharp, off skatole of lilac kicks in. After the immediately sharp parts of the floral, the airy asphodel and osmanthus + musk appears to provide an airy base that is very pretty. This smells remarkably airy and innocent. Like... in a wedding dress, or what a bouquet lying on the table smells like. It's strong, though, light, almost citrussy white floral.

She Who Spies Tuberose, mandarin, jonquil, black sandalwood, green musk, styrax, hyacinth, and violet musk. Strong tuberose on application, with a airy background, sappy florals. It's quite 'wet' and the violet part of the musk adds a bit of depth. On drydown this is mostly a sweet, sharper floral, tending towards tuberose waxy but kept less cloying by some of the other notes. Drydown is stemmy, with the top note of tuberose. I am a fan of this, may be getting one bottle. Very strong throw, but a thin scent, if that makes sense.

Now I smell like I'm wearing bubblegum perfume and am layered with a little whipped white chocolate mousse and a tiny hint of crunchy nuts. The mate is a sharp leafy herbal, like tea but not quite. This is so weird.

2013 version. I had the original release and hold that to my standard of Khajuraho perfection... I am disappointed by the balance of notes in this year's Khaj, whereas with my old bottles of Khajuraho and its occasional returns, the most I get wet and also silling from my skin is mostly tuberose, champaca, and the rose and davana - it is a sweet floral rose dominant with a little spice and 'crunch' beneath it. The other components, while present, did not elbow to the front. In this situation I smell mostly honeyed dates, amber and a very strong vanilla note. I'm not getting as much floral. While this is not BAD, since this is a sexy vanilla honey amber, I am missing the higher pitched, elegant exotic floral from my other bottles. I will use this, but probably not in the same realm as my hoarded Khajuraho.

Wow. Just spicy enough, smooth, sweet, dripping honey and amber, with an ouevre of leafy patchouli. It goes on me like golden amber and has the sillage of a top quality amber, not too sweet from the vanilla and just dirty enough from patchouli to be edgy without overwhelming everything. Want more!

A little bit of smoked ham from the wet bottle, which on the skin remains ferocious and prowling. Not pretty at all. The darker notes of vetiver, opoponax and the hiba wood lurk together as a swirl of menacing, gritty deep woodsy tones. The leather is likely a dark, dark leather, and then as it dries down there's the powder sweet sharp of bay and the deep sharp of clove. It smells like what a leather bar should be, mysterious, dark, gritty, with a little smoke and clove cigarettes, and plenty of warm bodies graced in supple well worn leather.

Straightforward, dusty gold, with a hint of the amber from Gelt peeking through without dusty cocoa. I would say this is almost the floral version of Gelt, in that the dust is supplied by the orris! I love the dry, cold iris of Cytherea, and this is somewhat similar to that - still plenty of rooty, purple goodness, but with a sweet, honey-like warmth. I have to be cautious as amber does not tend to vary on my skin - and I have plenty of amber scents. I kind of smell like 'LUSH,' although I have no idea what's giving me that scent association as the notes are nothing like that. I just get reminded of a melange of pleasant components. Maybe I smell like a bubble bar. Maybe I need some sleep. I do like this, this will require more testing to see if I need more than this one bottle.

Smooth, white floral, like a wedding bouquet, in the bottle. On the skin, jasmine comes rushing out at me. This is a cold, cool jasmine, not spicy or golden, and reminds me a bit of the one Grindhouse lady with the green underwater hair (oh, jeez, sorry lol). I'm hoping that the jasmine calms down, because this is all I'm detecting at this moment. There's a bit of the costus/labdanum, giving this some warmth, and if I snorf just long enough to get used to the jasmine, I can get a hint of the orangy-citrus mimosa and dusty orris. Sadly, this is definitely becoming the jasmine show on my skin, and I have to really work to get the other notes. I can't detect the osmanthus as a single note, it's probably what I'm confusing with the mimosa. Has a throw like a very elegantly dressed elephant. Wowzers! Not for me, I don't think.

Holy savory spice, batman! Deceptively sweet chocolate in the bottle, wet, smells like Gelt. On the skin, boy howdy, is that a slightly funky chocolate - it's probably the Annatto, and this comes across as a gourmand, not terribly sweet, dark cocoa chocolate. The spice and heat, you can FEEL it in your nose as you smell it. WOW. There is a hint of vanilla, and dribblies of cinnamon - I get this heat less as a frank cinnamon, and more of a slow burn heat from the pepper. The annatto, I assume, is this overarching savory, bready scent that really keeps this away from being a chocolate, melt your teeth type of scent. It smells like a fancy truffle, or ground cocoa powder with cinnamon powder, like something you might drizzle over a chicken breast. Gourmand fragrance, yes, but not cavity inducing in the least, perhaps one of the most fascinating chocolates I've experienced in scent form. Over time, the vanilla peeks forward a bit more, so... jeez, this is stunning. NOT like Bliss, Vice, Gelt. SIMILAR to Cassia/Chocolate/Bacon, and I have no idea what the frug, maybe like, the chocolate version of Chimera?

I'll have to see how this ages. I have always had problems amping rose geranium when I make aromatherapy blends, and this is no exception - I am not getting too much patchouli at this time - definitely TONS of red musk, a type that crescendos over time as I wear it. The two dominant notes on my skin are a very herbal rose geranium, and red musk. The sweetness and sharpness don't do too well on my skin at this time but, like all things in my collection, this will be set aside and in a year I'll probably fall in love. Maybe a re-review at that time? Spicy, herbal red musk, with a little thrummy base, but not as much as I hoped when I read the patchouli. For some unknown reason, this seems like the color yellow green in my head :| WTF, brain?

I admit I was a bit grabby and impulse ordered a lot of the Lupercalia scents. This is mostly because Beth's takes on Lupercalia (passionate, sweeping, and a bit on the dirty side) appeals to my inner fragrance hound. That said I think I got this because I really liked Bezoar, that polished wood scent, and the name 'Antique' brought that to my mind. It's very weird in the bottle, almost sweet and softly musky. Definitely feel that amber glow. On the skin, initially, I'm pretty hesitant, this is weird and kind of a mishmash. Given a little time, it really starts to transform into a beautifully -polished- scent, that smells old. How? What? Whales? The woodsy notes all play together very well to give the impression of a fine cedar chest. I definitely get a cedar as the predominant wood note, and it is strong enough to make me think briefly of hamster bedding - however, it's supported and softened by the amber and oudh/vetiver just enough that it's not dry and biting. I'm getting a very soft, soft leather here - this is not the cold, bracing leather of Iago or of Brom Bones, but a warm, snuggly leather. The musk is not terribly apparent, and I can't feel the black currant though I'm sure it's adding a little sweetness. Overall it turns into a very interesting, warm/sweet balsamy cedar. I will probably not use this too much in warm months. I'm tempted to put this on some old cedar closet balls and throw this into my closet drawers!

Hello, rose! How are things? Oh, I see you brought some friends, and they seem like interesting people! Come in, there's plenty of cookies for everyone. Wait? Why are you the only one coming in? Oh, you're THAT rose. The one from Ysabel. Ulterior motive, extreme rose. Like, REI-equipped, climb up the sheer face of the flatirons, overpowering red, red, big, giant blossomy rose. You are like the rose at the party who no one can get a word in edgewise. Oh, wait! I am getting to know your friend, lemon verbena! ... and like most lemons/verbenas it's just you two, chattering away like the Real Perfume Notes of Beverly Hills Reunion with Andy Cohen, Yet Another Snarky Jerky Gay Host. Neither of you wants to give up on my skin, but both of you are vying for the top. I can't smell much else. And I'm tired, like an inadvertent peripheral person in a Real Housewives show, picked up by the camera, awkwardly smiling while some kind of hot mess occurs next to them. No... no. Not for me. ETA: Yar, and apple blossom is there, but it's like the not-quite-as-tragic supporting Housewife, but still dramatic and not a good match.

Pleasant, brightly herbal and citrus as overtones, for me, sadly I get mostly lemongrass. I tend to grab onto citrus notes, in particular things like lemongrass/palmarosa/etc. and amp them to high heaven. The blend does smell like a very fancy aromatherapist's blend, like the inside of a herbal apothecary or something. I'm mostly getting the lemongrass but around the edges there's a bit of medium grounding from the sandalwood and the angelica/gums. Not for me, but probably for someone else!

Oh, no, this did not work on me at all. Galangal, pepper, cumin and fig read to me as a foody, and then there is a distinct, sweet, jarring peppermint note (true peppermint!) The blend is eerily cooling, yet reads as distinctively red, as Mars would be. Opoponax does bad, bad things on me in this perfume, and as the whole blend dries down, it emerges, whomping all about. The tobacco leads to a smoky, but discoherent, eerie scent on my skin. It reminds me overall of Macbeth and the Witches with the foody front. Do not want!

So, so weird. But yet I had to try it, mostly for the violet. Anything violet? YA HAR DIS WULF, YAR. It's got a very interesting mix of sharp wood/resin and spice, sweet fruit, and then the opium/violet combines to make it all murky. It smells like shadows. Wet, the cypress is dominant and you can get both the pomegranate and tamarind as a scarlet fruit note. On my skin, I do amp pomegranate, but this dies down pretty quick and I'm left with a bit of spicy opium. The violet is not very strong. Drydown is mostly resinous, hint of spice. It definitely on me does not read as 'violet,' which is why even though I can detect it in the blend I probably won't go into hoarding mode on this one!

I had a lot of hope for this, given that it has many intriguing florals. I get everything kind of whomped out by the Galbanum and lettuce. I amped the lettuce in last Unicorn, so it smells like a chopped iceberg lettuce. I can tell that the rest of the florals are trying to come out, but then I bring up hints of parsley and then more galbanum, and a fleshy yam. I... what... grocery? I think this requires more testing, but innately I am not drawn to this blend.