LiberAmoris

Knight in Shiny Armor is one of my favorite scents on my husband. Perhaps because it shares four notes with The Bow and Crown of Conquest (leather, vanilla, carnation, and lavender)? Knight is brighter, perhaps due to all the polishing—and the lavender is more prominent. The oakmoss and clary sage also add a nice mossy, herbal quality. An hour or so after he applies it, the metal dulls a bit, the other notes deepen and muddle, and oh my, does it smell good.

Mmmm, mossy white rose. This is a very slightly sweet white rose, framed with mosses and resins. It's the resin + rose combo that gets me in the end, because they're just so good together! On me, the closest comp is Parlement of Foules plus Zombi, minus the dirt note. Definitely white rose here. Very nice, relaxing rose. Good wear length as well.

Gold and Tears is glittering in the same way that the champagne blends are effervescent...there's definitely a shared quality between the two. It's also one of the strongest perfume oils I've tried in a while. It's really strong! Just a dab will do ya. The combo of amber, carrot seed, and grey musk is very peculiar and tough to describe. I also pick up on something watery in here (reminds me slightly of the warble-y amber from House of Mirrors). Wet, it's almost too much on me—it's sweet and musky and almost fruity, if there was a bright sweet fruit that smelled like musk. Dry, everything calms down a lot, and the carrot seed comes forward (smells a bit like carrots and earth and something herbal to me?), which is great. It ends as a sweet carrot musk, which is better than it sounds. I really enjoy the ride and it's wildly unique. I'll let this one age a bit before making a final decision.

I love how gentle this blend is—it's like the perfume equivalent of a soothing word in a time of need. Wet, I can smell all the notes, although white plum is a new one for me. But the green tea, honey, pale plum, ambergris, and vanilla flower are all there. Dry, most fall away and I'm left with green tea, honey, and a just wisp of the others. It only lasts an hour or so on me, and then it's really difficult to detect. But it seems right somehow, like it whispers something sweet in the ear and then is gone. I reapplied a few times today and didn't mind because that wet phase is so lovely.

If you've never tried Shub, you should—it's a BPAL classic. It's one of those blends that walks the line right between foody (the ginger and resins smell like some amazing ginger candy at times) and sexy/incensey. If I don't wear it for a while, I miss it and have to find my rollerball so I can give myself a good coating.

 

Shub hair gloss smells wonderful when I apply and for an hour or so afterwards, but then the smell is almost completely gone—which is so odd, because it's so intense right out of the bottle. I wish it lasted longer, but it smells great when I'm drying my hair in the morning and then my hair is smooth and frizz-free all day.

Venus Caelestis is really pretty. In my mind it's like a pale blue-grey sky dotted with stars. The blue lotus is watery and contemplative and wide. It pushes up like a vaulted sky. The amber, myrrh, and frankincense are like a dropped anchor for the blend, bringing everything down to earth and letting the top and bottom notes create a wide space between them, giving the impression of airiness and distance. The lemon is both sugar and peel, so the sweetness and bitterness are in balance. The citrus brings everything to a point, or many small points, that cut through the floral and resins like light...something clear and bright. Overall, this wears as an ambered, slightly incensy blue lotus on me with a lemon twist.

 

The lotus is handled beautifully here, but I think this will smell even better on me after some aging, which should intensify those bottom notes.

Neutral was a frimp from the Lab in my last order, and I'm so glad I got to try this one! It is a lovely skin musk, and this would be perfect for people who want a low-key, clean scent to wear in a setting where personal fragrance is discouraged, as this smells like clean skin, or the remnants of a nice shampoo or soap. The smell is tough to pinpoint. I'm getting musk and white flowers, maybe gardenia or honeysuckle? The floral note is one that includes a very faint smell of banana. Normally the smell of banana is pretty much the worst thing in the world for me, but here it smells more like a pale, golden yellow, like unripe bananas and white flowers, rather than the ripe, too-sweet banana smell that I find off-putting.

I've had a bottle of Tombeur for years, but it lives in my husband's BPAL drawer. He doesn't usually wear scent unless I ask him to or it's a special occasion, but yesterday he was looking for something to go with an afternoon of drinking beer and playing Assassin's Creed Unity (otherwise known as 'Saturday' on his calendar) and this was what he picked out. And wow, it's aged so well! It's musky, lavendered vanilla sandalwood on him with a dash of Snake Oil. The lavender is particularly nice here...paired with the vanilla, there's a gentle, relaxing aspect of the blend that contrasts beautifully with the blood musk, patchouli, and vetiver. The vetiver is very light here, and I could barely pick up on it (although that could be due to the aging). So good!

A Peculiar Spirit has a good dollop of the black tea note that I really like and that seems to smell like licorice on some people...here, it has a licorice-y edge even on my skin, but I don't mind it. I get a lot of tobacco, and a bright spark of neroli, with the oudh and benzoin trailing. It doesn't surpass Furo or Blacker than the Raven Wings of Midnight as my favorite black tea perfume, but I like it and think the tobacco is particularly good here. I moved this one over to my husband's BPAL drawer, because it smells really good on him, like a smoky, woody, black tea.

John Watson is metal and oil—with a little linen and lime. I'm going to age this a bit, but my early impression is that I don't love wearing this on its own...but do really enjoy this layered with Sherlock. On the drydown I do get a bit of tweed...it's amazing!

Ugh, this is so good. Sherlock Holmes is tobacco plus soap (in the best way) plus Morocco on me. I've smelled a lot of rosin in my day (my best friend from childhood was an amazing violinist) and pick up on the rosiny resin from time to time, which hits me like a brick-wall flashback. But mostly this is manners meets man—something clean and leisurely up against something striving and dynamic. I bought my husband a bottle, but got a frimp from the Lab that's all mine.

Every time I wear Ivory Vulva, it smells a little different on me. Mostly it's coconut marshmallows, but sometimes I get more of the amber, and sometimes it smells a bit buttery or gingery, and sometimes I get a big dollop of the macadamia milk. But it's delicious no matter how it's sliced. I wouldn't reach for this every day—I have to be in the right mood for something this sweet and foody—but I really enjoy it. Yum!

Venus Victrix is much softer than she sounds—on me this is patchouli and peru balsam right out of the gates, with the red musk and red roses coming forward on the drydown. The wood moss and sandalwood keep things grounded. After about 20 minutes, it's still mostly a resiny and woody blend, but the red roses give it a rosy, lush roundness.

From the note list, I thought this might be a strong blend, but it's very soft with little throw. Definitely an intimate scent—the victory here is personal.

Comparison of Celebrated Beauties is like floral marzipan on me!

 

The almond/almond flower is the most prominent note, followed closely by the vanilla cream. The mimosa gives this a floral edge that's springy and cuts the foody-ness of it in a nice way. Even so, this is a bit like a flowery dessert in the best way possible. Feels like it's in the same family as (distant cousins to?) Boo and Dana O'Shee.

Alma Venus sure is pretty. I get blood orange, orange flower, and honey/beeswax in equal measure, with the ambergris, neroli, and tuberose acting as supporting players. The cedar is very, very subtle. I wouldn't know it's in here if it wasn't listed. The neroli is prominent when wet but dries down to a mere whisper. About an hour after application, this is primarily a sweet burnished orange and orange flower blend...very elegant and upscale.

I'm reviewing Mount Fuji Reflected in Lake Misaica because I'm a little worried that it will be lost in the shuffle amongst the other Shungas this year, and I think it deserves a shoutout. This blend is like the palate cleanser to all the sweets and florals in the Lupercalia release. The best way I can describe this is green, as the most prominent notes when wet are oakmoss, black cypress, mint, and pine. The labdanum (which smells a bit like green-brown ambergris here), white sandalwood, and white cedar anchor this blend and come forward on the drydown.

Wet, this is a cavalcade of mouthy greens, a little tingly due to the mint and the camphorous spangle of evergreens. As it dries, the oakmoss pushes forward like a marathoner. Fully dry, this is oakmoss chypre with white sandalwood and white cedar—pale woods and oakmoss. The mint and cedar do not amp on me in the slightest—the mint burns off early and the cedar is held in check by the oakmoss.

If you love oakmoss...definitely try this one! It's like the cologne version of walking through the woods in early, early spring, when a cold snap is still possible and the evergreens are still bleating their song of survival over the trepidatious spring herbals. I'm going to put this bottle with my husband's collection, and convince him to wear it on our next evening out...and wear it myself, from time to time.

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.

The Onnagata and the Pillow Roll is a beautiful cedar blend. Cedar sometimes gets a bad rap, but it's a lovely wood note! And the Himalayan cedar note is so contemplative and mellow. Paired with the rose, bergamot, and white patchouli, there's a really meditative vibe going on here. The pink peppercorn and hay absolute are much fainter on me.

 

Wet, this is cedar plus a lot of lovely, blurry complexity. Dry, the cedar and bergamot do something on my skin that smells a bit sharp. I'm going to age this a bit and test again, because there is so much going on here that I enjoy! The white patchouli is just as lovely as ever, par exemple. Those whom cedar loves...this is your Shunga!

I ordered Venus Libitina but was worried about the orris and bourbon—orris can give scents too much powder for my tastes, and the boozy notes like bourbon can amp on me and be a little too much. But the blend here is really nice. On me, the notes are detectable in the order of the scent list—rose, cherry, cream, bourbon, and orris. The bourbon and orris are both very light and give the other notes a kind of subtle 'pastel cordial' feel. I'm also surprised at how much I'm enjoying the rose-cherry-cream...it really is like some luscious dessert, yet the rose water makes this primarily a floral on my skin, and very wearable.

 

ETA: After wearing this a few times, I think it might be one of my favorites from this year. It smells like the colors of a Mendl's box.

For Each Ecstatic Instant is so good. This is an incensy patchouli-jasmine-rose blend on me, and I'm so excited to have two new jasmine loves from this year's Lupercalia release (Venus Genetrix is the other, and shares notes of jasmine, black amber, and bourbon vanilla).

 

Amongst the other lovely Lupers in my order, this one offers the most unabashed, unrestrained, no-holds-barred trip to sexytown. It's well-blended, but I can definitely pick out the red rose, jasmine, and patch—the other notes act as a kind of scrim, blurring any sharp lines like a scarf thrown over a lampshade. The jasmine here is gorgeous. What I love about jasmine is that it straddles the line between floral and feral...as if a blossom could smell both at its prime and about to turn and start decomposing all at once. It's like a flower fulcrum, and there's something lovely about being right at that point (a point that is usually so fleeting). In combination with the other notes, it's a stunning incense to have at the end of a wrist (or other parts).

 

Really wonderful, and definitely being worn on my next date night.

I looove jasmine, so Venus Genetrix is right up my alley. This is a jasmine-heavy blend, with the jasmine tea note skewing softer and 'steeped'both more velvety and more condensed. The black amber darkens it up and adds depth. The vanilla bourbon here seems to actually give off a bit of bourbon at first (not sure how that's possible, considering that there's no bourbon in bourbon vanilla), making it smell almost like some fantastic cocktail. That burns off quickly and the vanilla deepens as it dries down.

 

A few hours after application this is almost gone on me, but when I sniff my wrists or my clothes where it touched, I can smell the most beautiful darkened jasmine sweet tea. It smells like something that would come in a dark purple bottle, and be prized as a potent aphrodisiac. Love it.

Aristocratic Couple is truly cardamom-spiced apricot preserves...so delectable. Wet, it's mostly apricot and cardamom, and as it dries down the cardamom burns off a bit, leaving a yummy apricot-vanilla skin scent. I love cardamom, but like this best after everything has settled down. Uncomplicated and beautiful!

Prosperous Flowers of the Elegant Twelve Seasons is lovely. Wet, I get a big hit of patchouli, but on my skin that quickly settles down and the wood vanilla and leather come forward. The honeyed saffron sweetens it up, and the labdanum is doing something here that reminds me a bit of tobacco. This would fit right in with some of my favorite autumnal BPAL blends. At times the wood/leather is a little much for me, but only when I'm sniffing my wrist—in the air around me I get more of the patchouli and honey.

 

After an hour, it's really settled down and the honey and vanilla have come forward to balance out the leather and wood. I'm looking forward to seeing how this one ages!

Mmmm, coconut. The note here is absolutely the white flesh of a mature coconut...so realistic that I can almost taste it. It's by far the most prominent note on me, with the honey and saffron rounding things out and adding very subtle sweetness and faint floral notes. It smells a bit like a very nice tropical vacation, not in a suntan product kind of way but in a drinking fancy cocktails/swanning around in caftans kind of way. It's rather transporting to wear this on a cold day.

This was the only bonbon from this year's bonbon box that I picked up—I can't resist Haunted. I have a 10ml from 2004 or early 2005 that I'm still working on, and it's only gotten better with time. There's just something about the combo of the amber and black musk that's so straightforward and yet so...haunting?

Wet, Haunted Bonbon is chocolate-forward, with the amber and black musk in the background and a very faint, almost citrusy tang. As it dries, the chocolate recedes until what's left on me is a richer Haunted—a little darker, a little more bready, with a slight molasses-y note adding complexity. A half hour after applying, the chocolate is almost gone but I can smell it informing the other notes, and I mostly get a marriage of dark, rich supermusk and golden amber.