LiberAmoris

Ooof, I love this. Apple X is the polished patchouli apple of my dreams. Wet, that juicy red apple note looms large and delicious. But as it starts to dry down, the patchouli and teakwood come forward and balance that fruity note out. The white and red musks and vanilla cream are more apparent 10 minutes in as this mellows into the most awesome slow-jam apple. It's the olfactory equivalent of a Sexy Apple Halloween costume.

 

Will probably pick up a backup bottle of this one because I think it will age spectacularly.

I couldn't pass up a perfume with a moonlit musk note. The sea salt and ambergris make for a classic aquatic, but that moonlit musk really makes this wearable for me. As it dries down, it gets sweeter and brighter, until it smells less like a wave and more like a moonbeam...like it crashes over and over until it thins out and gets lighter. This is a clean smelling blend, the kind that I think I could easily wear a dot of to even the most scent-averse workplace.

Spiced Autumn Cider smells a lot like the mulled wine cider that I make during the holidays. Apple cider and a light, dry wine note are the base, and the ginger, clove, and cinnamon follow. The tangerine and black peppercorn notes are the most subtle on me, rounding things out and adding a slight juicy citrus note and slight additional spice. Wine is not always the best note on me, but it behaves well here and doesn't come across like wine in the way I'm used to...it smells fully mulled and more sedate. There is a faint alcoholic 'sparkle' to this, but it's not overwhelming.

This smells fantastically seasonal, and I wish there was an atmo of the same scent! I may end up using this in my diffuser because it's just such a great smell to have in the air at this time of year.

Wet, this is all caramel and green apple with a bit of cinnamon. The cookie comes forward as it dries down, with the oaty, burnt sugar note that I get from Sugar Skull. That sugar note can be a little iffy on me, but I love the caramel apple opening.

When I was a kid, we didn't have many sweets in the house unless it was a holiday or birthday...my brother and I would get a small cookie after dinner if we ate the healthy bits. But there were always marshmallows in the pantry and maraschino cherries in the refrigerator. And when wet, Yipe! is the nostalgic smell of that maraschino cherry jar when I opened it to fork out one radioactive-red sweet. It's a very strong cherry-vanilla scent with an edge of almond. As it starts drying down, the cream comes through and this smells more like a real dessert. The blackberries pull in a darker berry note, making the cherry a black cherry.

 

A couple of hours after applying, this is still black cherries and cream.

 

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Leda is just...amazing. First of all, let's talk about the sandalwood. Even though this contains white sandalwood, it has the persistence and heavy-lidded density of red sandalwood on me—incensey and sensual. The white oudh, pearl orris, and translucent spiced petals are gently in tension with the crimson and gold musks, and it smells like red and gold musk giving a thin gilded coat to something opalescent.

 

As it dries, it gets lighter and lighter in feel until it seems to float away, but make no mistake, this is one hell of an incensey blend in the main. If you like Smut, Sinus Amoris, Spellbound, Hygeia, and O Love and Time and Sin...this feels like it's in the same family. A red musk-centric blend on my skin that made my husband think I was burning actual incense. No, that's just how I smell.

Yum! A Little More Tea is predominantly sugar cookies and a spot of Earl Grey tea on me. There's also honey and cream here, but they're not overwhelming on my skin. The honey is stronger than the cream, especially on the drydown. Mostly I get the cookies, from start to finish.

Merged with existing topic!

Portrait of a Young Woman with a Unicorn is really lovely. The vanilla, ruby musk, amber, and orange create a creamy, golden orange-red feel that's complicated in the best way with frankincense, saffron, cardamom, anise, and fennel—and a hint of smoke and honey. Overall, it's like a spiced vanilla-orange on me with a musky-ambered base. It's elegant and well-blended, upscale and straddling the line between a modern amber and a gourmand. If I didn't have so much hair gloss already and just the one head, I would be waffling over whether I should snag a backup of this beauty (and I still might). It smells like the colors of a sunset, my friends.

I'll echo Teamama: hugs to you and your caregivers and family.

 

Sometimes I use BPAL to anchor and comfort me and it's usually not so much about a specific scent, but about the right scent for me that day. I dot a little on my collarbone and do some deep breathing exercises, to enjoy the scent and to dispel anxiety.

Crucifixion is a lovely feature for red clove: Frankincense, dried red roses, and myrrh with soft orris, labdanum, and red clove.

Allegory of Chastity is indeed super pink! And super pretty.

Bestiaire du Moyen Âge is an amazing capture of the art. This is a blue, green, and pale-white-pink palette of notes, all working together. The watery blue musk, grass, mint, and pine needle notes center this solidly in the fresh, airy outdoors. Although any of those notes could overpower, they're kept amazingly in check. The strongest note on my skin is the apple blossom, and it's so pretty. It smells like a combination of tart green apple and sweet white flowers. The overall effect is of springtime in a bottle: blue skies, blue water, green grass, fresh mint, aromatic pine needles, and cascades of pale pink and white apple blossoms. Lovely!

Crucifixion is frankincense, red rose, and myrrh in almost equal parts on my skin. The rose really does smell dry...this is not a lush rose, brimming with dew and volatile oils, this is a dried rose that gives off a historic and slightly dusty notion of itself. The clove, labdanum, and orris support and add depth. There's a church incense angle here that I find really nice, and the overall scent is very relaxing to me. I agree that this will age beautifully, and I'll be pulling this out again in the late fall and winter to wear.

The Unicorn, Rushing is my favorite unicorn from the first release. This is truly ethereal on my skin— the pale lilacs lead, with orris and mallow flower trailing. There is no marshmallow note listed, and I get none from this blend. Queen of the Night is referring, I think, to the night blooming cereus. I have no idea what it smells like, but there's a slightly waxy, white floral here that might be it. The white moss and dusky mist notes smell like a shadow of oakmoss and something aquatic—light as air. But it's the lilac that has me spellbound. I love the smell of lilacs and here they're spun like moonlight into a pale floral masterpiece. Gorgeous!

De Vos' Unicorn is so fun. The sugared peony, rose-tinted vanilla, and apricot send this into sweet fruity-floral territory, with the white musk grounding and blurring, and the lavender adding a spike of something herbaceous and slightly astringent. I get zero marshmallow from this—the listed note is mallow, a plant/flower. That said, the sweetness from the sugared peony and apricot do give the impression of a confection...but at least for me, this is more 'sugared bouquet' than 'floral marshmallow'.

 

This is sweet enough that I'll need to be in the right mood to wear this, but it's a keeper. I think it would be tough to wear this and be in a bad mood!

Like others above, St. Clare was a bit of a surprise for me. Rum notes in perfume tend to get very loud on my skin—I amp booze, what can I say. So when I first tested St. Clare, I was expecting a rum ball of sorts, but what I got was a gentle, fuzzy, soft cloud of tobacco and white sandalwood and mahogany and oudh. It's as soft as the downy fur on that tiny brown unicorn! The rum and vanilla give this a bit of a gourmand turn, but it's mostly light, layered woods and tobacco incense.

 

I dabbed some of this on my husband this morning, and it smells even better on him—we're going to have to share this bottle.

Allegory of Chastity is pure sweet pink roses and cream. I get just enough jasmine and rosehip to make things interesting and impart a slightly tart, indolic edge—but if I didn't know it was in here, I'm not sure I could pick it out. Dry, this is similar on my skin to Venus Libitina, if you subtracted the cherry note from VL.

 

Very pretty, and chaste as f*ck.

Of the Unicorn is definitely earthy—that's such a good word for it, Herb Girl! It's patchouli-dominant on me but far from simple. The orris, agarwood, and ambrette add subtle notes of violety oudh, sweet soil, a hint of woodsmoke, and an undercurrent of cinnamon-vanilla animalic musk. The result is a sexy, earthy patchouli blend that's also gentle and very relaxing to wear.

Mythological Scene smells regal. Wet, the orris butter, red sandalwood, and mandarin are the most prominent notes, with the patch and leather close behind. The ambrette musk comes out as this starts drying down, and gives it a rawer edge that works well against the elegant orris. The bergamot, bourbon vanilla, and saffron are tougher for me to pick out, although they seem responsible for the red-orange-gold glow imparted to the sandalwood and musk. Once it's fully dry, I catch bits of the saffron for sure.

 

This is totally beautiful and so difficult to describe. It's like something outdoorsy—warm woods and musk—up against something refined—orris and leather—burnished with something bright and gourmand—saffron, vanilla, and mandarin. I'm going to love wearing this now, and also in the fall.

It was 94 degrees today and humid as hell. These are the days that call for Lick It!

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I have a new lilac love. The Unicorn, Rushing Against the Tree, Fixed its Horn so Fast in the Trunk that it Could Not Draw it Out: Ethereal white orris, pale early lilacs, mallow flower, Queen of the Night, white moss, and dusk-lit mist.

 

For some reason, the lilac lasts so long on my skin in this blend and it remains a star player from opening to drydown. Definitely back-up bottle worthy.