LiberAmoris

Matthew 18:6 is another lovely vehicle for champaca (I'm so excited that this note is popping up in so many places!). Champaca is a glowing, incensey floral on me, and the sandalwood and honey give this a slightly sweet and powdery edge. Simple in the best way—pure. Feels perfect for summertime.

If you love amber and clove, do not pass on Luke 10:25-37! This is gorgeous, with golden amber as strong here as it is in Inez. The clove follows closely behind, and the white sandalwood and saffron trail. And it truly smells golden to me, the kind of scent that plunges quickly into 'skin scent' territory, but not before drowning one in sticky, chewy, resiny, nearly caramelly amber for a good two hours of decadent bliss.

Golden amber, vanilla musk, myrrh, cedar, carnation, and red sandalwood. Like the other Ladies of the Grindhouse, I'm really excited to be, in some small way, a part of Beth's Carnaval and her art. Thank you, Beth. I absolutely love that in an alternate universe I'm whoring it up with some of the finest women around. And Jenn's portrait is stunning---I only wish I looked that exotic and regal in real life (read: wow, look at that décolletage)! I was so excited when I saw the notes for Inez, because I am a complete amber fiend. I love the earthy sweetness and depth of it, and the way that it seems to ebb towards a skin scent over the day, until there's just a golden tracery of it around me and no way for me to tell where the smell of my own skin ends and the amber begins. BPAL blends that are amber-centric always fade like sunsets on me in the most lovely way. So I was hoping that Inez would be mostly amber with the other notes rounding it out and making it a little complicated and a little warm. And that's exactly what I get when I wear it. In the bottle, Inez is undeniably amber. To me, amber always smells a little like caramel and honey with something almost fruity on top and something rooty or earthy at the bottom. It's sweet without being foody, although it can be almost buttery. It smells golden and warm and rich. It's a dense note, and one that seems to envelop and encompass other notes when it's paired with them, rather than allowing them to sit above or below it in layers. I can smell the vanilla musk as well, which makes a lovely complement. And then there's the carnation, which always strikes me as a bit spicy for a floral. It gives Inez a subtle kick. On my skin, the bottom notes are more prominent. The myrrh, which I was most concerned about, is quite lovely here, beveling the edges of the blend with something pleasantly sharper. The cedar and red sandalwood anchor the blend from inside but do so almost invisibly---at times I catch wafts of the sandalwood, but it's not overpowering. Because Inez is at heart such a resiny blend, there is something incensey about her, something calm and meditative and slow and sexy. Sexy in a come-closer kind of way. Sexy in a slightly disheveled, not-trying-too-hard kind of way. Sexy like when women pull their hair up without using a mirror. Or like waking up after a long night out---to sunlight pouring in through the window and the smell of the perfume worn the night before suffused in the sheets, like goodness spent and scattered. She's just lovely, and I'll be wearing her often.

Ugh, I love this. Like A Girl is deeply in the skin musk category, like if Grooming Scene in a Brothel + Morocco pulled back so far that they were almost sheer. This is beautifully wearable everywhere; vanilla and sandalwood is like the smell of skin in heaven. Also, what a lovely cause to support! I will likely need another bottle before this skates on.

I dreamed I reviewed The Eternal Queen but it was all a charade. I bought this because tuberose is my homegirl. Gardenia is beautiful. And I'm obsessed with the vegetal modifier in BPAL...it always goes somewhere interesting. The Eternal Queen does not disappoint. This is 'go big or go home' white waxy florals, with ambergris, vanilla musk, and amber—and a hint of something vegetal, rooty. Like carrot or parsnip, in a good way. I agree that this smells tropical (thank you, white florals) but it's truly 'queenly' in the most sheer way possible, as this is the kind of scent that confidence pulls off beautifully. It's gorgeous, but you gotta love gardenia and tuberose, my doves. If you love those notes, invest and profit.

Blood red pomegranate with tobacco absolute, Haitian tobacco leaf, and oudh. This post is merely a placeholder for future reviews. Whoever is first to review, please report this post using the report button below, so a mod can merge it with yours. Thanks!

Blood red pomegranate with tobacco absolute, Haitian tobacco leaf, and oudh. This post is merely a placeholder for future reviews. Whoever is first to review, please report this post using the report button below, so a mod can merge it with yours. Thanks!

Blood red pomegranate with tobacco absolute, Haitian tobacco leaf, and oudh. This post is merely a placeholder for future reviews. Whoever is first to review, please report this post using the report button below, so a mod can merge it with yours. Thanks!

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A goblin’y take on Smut! Smutty Goblin Musk sweetened with sugar and tonka, and woozy with dark booze notes. This post is merely a placeholder for future reviews. Whoever is first to review, please report this post using the report button below, so a mod can merge it with yours. Thanks!

A goblin’y take on Smut! Smutty Goblin Musk sweetened with sugar and tonka, and woozy with dark booze notes. This post is merely a placeholder for future reviews. Whoever is first to review, please report this post using the report button below, so a mod can merge it with yours. Thanks!

Oak bark, pine pitch, and blood red mistletoe berries. This post is merely a placeholder for future reviews. Whoever is first to review, please report this post using the report button below, so a mod can merge it with yours. Thanks!

Oak bark, pine pitch, and blood red mistletoe berries. This post is merely a placeholder for future reviews. Whoever is first to review, please report this post using the report button below, so a mod can merge it with yours. Thanks!

`I wish I hadn't cried so much!' said Alice, as she swam about, trying to find her way out. `I shall be punished for it now, I suppose, by being drowned in my own tears! That will be a queer thing, to be sure! However, everything is queer to-day.' A sea of salty tears drowning out Alice's light floral perfume. The Pool of Tears on me is a hazy aquatic mingled with a very subtle floral, perhaps carnations? I like the watery floral effect, and it absolutely conjures up Alice's tears. Eventually the aquatic does 'swallow up' the florals on my skin, and the drydown is primarily a fresh, breezy, oceanic smell. Aquatic lovers will definitely enjoy this one!

"raw patchouli, opoponax, and a coppery dry blood exhale" This post is merely a placeholder for future reviews. Whoever is first to review, please report this post using the report button below, so a mod can merge it with yours. Thanks!

Dalliances by Candlelight is a satisfyingly simple and affecting blend of white patch, beeswax, and honey. White patchouli smells to me like patchouli stripped back to something nearly translucent, like the idea of patchouli without overt earthiness. It has a nutty edge to it that's pleasant and nearly gourmand on my skin. Blended with the beeswax and honey, it becomes sweeter and more foody, like Platonic caramel. Candle wax, the sweetness of skin, the gentle tang of patchouli—definitely a sexy blend.

I'm loving all the releases with champaca this year. Lovers at the Entrance to a House of Pleasure Spied on by a Kamuro Through the Hanging Curtain gives a mouthy flower like champaca a run for its money by adding another big-personality flower, gardenia. These two heavy-lidded beauts make this a consummate summer floral on my skin, with the oakmoss and tobacco anchoring the base. Vanilla orchid is less prominent but adds a creamy, waxy note that helps to smooth things out. Champaca remains the strongest note after drydown, much to my delight.

Cat Chasing Butterflies is a pretty, musky floral—light as a butterfly. Peach blossom smells sweet (almost like the floral note contains a drop of honey), slightly waxy, and slightly powdery to me. It blends with the amber and musk to make a delightful skin scent. The almond cream is used very lightly here, and I don't know if I'd be able to pick out the almond at all after drydown. Would be a great 'gateway BPAL' for the uninitiated who like florals, and it layers wonderfully with Snake Oil.

Mmmm, L’Intention Fait Valoir les Bagatelles really is like a lavender spin on Earl Grey. I love the Lab's black tea note, which does have a slight anise or licorice edge to it, and it's used nicely here. It's not a strong blend on me, but rather a hazy, gentle tea blend with a plush, resiny base of benzoin.

Fortuna Felix is my favorite of the Fortunas. Probably because I adore the champaca note, which is nicely featured here. The blood orange is juicy and bright, and the champaca and osmanthus make for an incensey white-yellow floral that strikes me as very summery. The tobacco, clove, and vanilla help anchor everything and round it out. I can absolutely see the similarities to Lush's Karma...I love Karma, and this is like a more complex and beautiful version of that scent on me. Definitely makes me feel happy, just as described.

Oh, the orrisssss. Alabaster Vulva is a 'white' blend, with layers of sheerness building to a semi-opaque floral. Narcissus is a quintessential white floral, really tough to describe, but to me smells powdery, papery, green, earthy and gently indolic. Orris butter smells like iris plus roots plus something creamy, almost buttery. The combo is a scent that pulls notes from below the ground and above the ground: stirred soil, a bit of bitter root, the stem, and the flower. White amber and vanilla warm the blend up, and bergamot gives it definition. This would be the perfect perfume for a Hitchcock Blonde, an austere, untouchable floral with a subtly animalic center.

Frost-dusted honey. The White Bees Swarming is very straightforward and very pretty—honey, honey, honey (and a little frost). The frost is so light in this that it truly is just a dusting. As with the white lilies hair gloss, I think this one would also be perfect in the spring...the honey is warm and sweet like late winter/early spring sunlight. It's tough to describe the type of honey here and I'm sure others will capture it better, but it reminded me of the type of honey I love in Crib Girls. Even though Crib Girls is a melange of many different honeys (and other notes), there's a similarity that makes me happy (I love Crib Girls!). Maybe because the honey note in The White Bees Swarming also has an almost floral tinge, like honey from wildflower-loving bees? Whatever it is, I like it. This hair gloss could be a revelation for those who love the honey note but don't like the way it smells on their skin...and for those who can wear it on their skin, it will be a great layering gloss. I can't wait to try it with Osun, Bengal, Honey Moon, and O—just for starters. I wore it with Crib Girls today and the combo is out of this world.

Uff da, this is gorgeous. Blauer Mond 2018 was nice when first uncapped, but then I set it aside for a few months to settle—and now it's stunning. Blue musk and amber are front and center, but the myrrh, opoponax, terebinth, and tobacco make this resiny, incensey, and beautifully muddy in the best way. The oudh is very light on me; I'm not even sure I would guess it was in here if it wasn't listed. Like pine/tobacco incense dipped in Titian blue on the drydown. Love this and only wish I'd been prescient enough to pick up a backup bottle.

VENUS ERYCINA Venus of the Prostitutes Honeysuckle absolute with white gardenia, red patchouli, red amber, and crushed diamond accord. The Lab's honeysuckle note smells just like the real thing to me. It's really pretty, but it's a sweet flower and I have to be in the right mood for it. This morning I was! Wet, Venus Erycina is primarily honeysuckle on me with gardenia making it even richer and sweeter. I can smell the red patchouli and red amber bringing the florals a bit to heel, and there's something slightly sparkly or effervescent that I imagine to be the crushed diamond accord. Dry, this remains a heady, broadcasting floral with a 'red bottom' and a diamond crown. I can see myself wearing this in the summer, and it pairs beautifully with Chorion hair gloss.

Lavender smoke and golden amber, rushing by like a shadow on the wall. Galloping Dreams is simple and lovely. Grey-purple lavender (smoky in a dusky way) and warm amber work together here to create a very effective sleep/relaxation spray. I sprayed my bed linens last night and slept so well! The amber brings down the herbal pitch of lavender (which can sometimes smell a bit astringent to my nose), so I'm free to spray more heavily than I might otherwise. Some night I'll have to spray this and then wear The Air & The Ether for maximum lavender + amber effect.