KezzieZ

This one was an imp that I got from an order a little while back. I’ll admit, the notes had me a bit shy to try it. Whole I didn’t expect it to be bad or anything, I’m just not a personal fan of some of the listed notes and I’ve never played a druid before. Still, it doesn’t hurt to try. In the Imp: It smells like an old forest with some sharp, citrusy smell. Wet on Skin: I definitely smell the forest: trees, soil, and cut gress. To be honest, I find those sorts of smells a bit stifling, but it definitely does its job of having the proper atmosphere. The citrusy note seems to back off pretty quickly, or maybe settles more into another tree scent. Dry: it’s very faint now. I mostly smell fuzzy wool with a small, underlying sweetness. It makes me thibk of a cozy scarf or sweater. I feel like there’s still something green or earthy there, but it’s super light and I can’t catch an exact beat on it. Some of the sweetness might actually be from some Pumpkin Sugar I wore yesterday that I had bought on the previous year. I’m kind of interested to see how this might do in a scent locket, especially since I don’t feel this one will last all that much longer.. While dirt and grass in particular feel stifling to my nose, I’m still curious because this does smell properly atmospheric for the druid class, which is cool, even if I’ve never personally played one.

In Bottle: I swear, in the bottle, this perfume smells like a tea blend I really like (Mycroft by Cara McGee on Adagio's website). I definitely smelled the spices (cinnamon and cloves in particular, though certainly others I can't accurately identify on my own) as well as the coffee. The buttercream and maybe the rum give it an almost chocolatey sweetness, but not overbearing like the actual chocolate note in Bliss; I'll admit that Bliss smells delicious, but I'm not a huge fan of smelling like I slathered fudge on my wrists. Wet on Skin: I feel like the rum picked up. Still getting the spices and buttercream with maybe a little coffee lingering. There's a fruitiness (definitely that rum) to it that I don't think I smelled as much in the bottle. It's all pretty warm and pleasant. Approx. 1 Hour Later: The buttercream is pretty faint by this point, but the coffee amped up a bit. The spiced rum is definitely still there, too. Overall, this is nice. I'm not the biggest person on foody smells, including coffee, but this one's pretty good. I feel like it has really good throw, but I'm not sure I'm the best judge for that. Chose one of these (these meaning this scent and the Irish Coffee Buttercream available) since it was also a charity scent, but I'm glad I picked it up in general. I think I'll particularly want to use it during the cooler weather and holidays as a warm pick-me-up.

In Bottle: Floral perfume, incoming stormy weather, and a citrusy bite (maybe the lightning notes). Wet on Skin: Same, but it softens a bit. There's still a small sharpness, though I feel like I'm mostly getting that floral perfume. Actually, it feels that the stormy notes and florals tend to morph back and forth in strength. It does have some throw to it, though it may be because the fans in the house are on full blast. Several Hours Later: I had fallen asleep for several hours, so it's understandably weakened by that point. It smells more on that citrusy/stormy side. I still get a little floral in there, but it isn't as strong. There's also a bit of a warm, maybe boozy note in there with a little anise (I guess that's the absinthe, though I don't know what that actually smells like). Honestly, it's a cool scent, though I think the florals were a bit much in the wet stage for me in this case. Still, I'd solidly recommend trying out a sample to see how it goes.

Still somewhat forgoing my usual format for reviews, though I feel I'll get a bit more in-depth with this one than Smut (my other favorite Lupercalia scent). This starts off as green apple (or maybe apple simply tarted up by the lavender and/or bergamot that can also be smelled) and vanilla cream. I think the white patchouli is somewhat hanging in the background at first. The vanilla cream feels like it could have been cloying without the apple to settle it down; as it is, the whole thing smells great to me. Later on, the white patchouli moved forward and the apple died down to a small fruitiness. The vanilla cream is still kept in check. Honestly, I had veen mildly concerned about the patchouli since some other patchouli scents have been way to strong for me (like Masquerade or Obsidian Widow), but the white variety patchouli in this is a pleasant muskiness as far as I can tell. Overall, this is the favorite of the Lupercalias on my first year purchasing any (also got Hoiru, Smut, Womb Furie, and Diligent Instruction for the Bridal Night). In fact, it's one of my favorite BPALs in general since I have a bad habit of falling in love with limited editions (such as The Serpentine from the Lilith collection). VetchVesper might be right about the whole lavender thing since The Serpentine is lavender-heavy.

2017 Version I'm not doing my usual review format since I didn't write down my observations and while wearing it (plus, I happen to be wearing a different scent at the moment). This smells somewhat like Snake Oil to me, weirdly enough, but better. I'll be the first to admit that I've tried Snake Oil a couple of times and it just hasn't worked for me. It's not bad, but it's not incredible. Smut, on the other hand, is like a version of Snake Oil that works on me. There's also something to it that reminds me of back when I tried Dee, but more gender neutral. Basically, the musk is super nice, the boozy notes aren't too strong, and the sugary part balances it nicely. The whole thing is... pleasantly spicy, I guess? And pretty gender neutral, like I mentioned. It sometimes seemed to morph a bit, but never into unpleasantness. Smut and I Too Beneath Your Moon are the winners as far as Lupercalia scents I've tried.

Fixed Air: the essence of knowledge. Not the possession of knowledge, per se, but the desire for knowledge, the path itself, and the drive to seek truth, both personal and universal. This is a scent of progressiveness, modernism and intellectual curiosity, and of unpredictability and independence. This is the perfume of the humanist and inventor, electric with caprice: clove, mastic, and spikenard with benzoin, tonka, sweet vetiver, frankincense, and white pepper. I've been waiting for this one to come out and was super curious about how it would smell, since I'm an Aquarius. This review isn't going to be very exacting since I'm not really all that seasoned when it comes to BPAL perfumes. Usually, I stick to the safer sounding stuff outside of trying out frimps. In Bottle: There's a lot going on. I don't know a lot of these notes, but I think I smell cloves and frankincense, at least. Wet on Skin: I think I smell pepper and tonka as well. The perfume as a whole is sort of making me think of cinnamon, but not quite. It's sweeter and more medicinal. Maybe some of that is the benzoin, but that's one of the notes I don't know. An opinion I got is that it smells like lily of the valley. I don't know what that specific flower smells like, but I'll admit this does kind of have a general lily smell. Approx. 1 Hour Later: It was basically the same by that point. Occasionally, it would morph a bit in terms of which notes were stronger, but it smelled overall the same. I think this one is a keeper. While I'm not sure if it's as much of my style as other perfumes I've tried, it's interesting, and I think I'll wear it once in a while. I'd say the closest other full-size perfume I have to this one is probably Nasty Woman, though there's certainly differences.

Ethereal musk, blonde woods, and dusty Bible accord. I was really interested in this perfume once I noticed it. I love the book Good Omens and I've been really hoping to find a bookish perfume that's not too masculine (I tried Dee and it was pretty awesome, but a bit too masculine for me and I wish I could have tried a bottle of The Book, but I finally got to shopping around in BPAL after the cutoff date for that one). In the Bottle: The scent is very cologne-y. Lots of wood, cedar-y, and I think I can smell the dusty book note as well. This somewhat reminds me of a drier version of Dee (also without the leather there). There's also something sort of similar to pencil shavings in the way that the notes combine. In general, it's pretty strong. Wet on Skin: The wood is settling down a bit. It's still pretty strong at the moment. Approx. 1 Hour Later: The scent is getting a little sweeter. Maybe that's the particular musk that the description mentioned? I like this much more now that it's settled down. I really like this one. I think at some point, I may try layering it (maybe with Good for more initial sweetness or a single-note perfume if I see one that's interesting and available).

I hade no idea where to post a review for this. Glad I finally found the topic. This was one of the main items in a Trading Post order I made. In a previous Black Phoenix order, I was given a frimp of Dorian, which I reviewed previously in the forums and really liked (there's some note I feel keeps me from loving it, but it's one of my faves so far anyway). Needless to say, when I found this in the Lilith 2016 lineup, I had to try it. In Bottle: It smells like Dorian, but more floral and with a tad more vanilla. Basically, exactly what it should smell like (granted, I have no clue what snowdrops actually smell like other than floral). Wet on Skin: It's sort of the same on my skin. The scent is a more floral version of Dorian, maybe a little sharper (in an almost citrus way) and less musky in general. I'd say the additions of the flowers and extra vanilla makes this more on the feminine side than regular Dorian is. I'm enjoying it so far. Approx. 1 Hour Later: It's pretty much the same right now. I genuinely enjoy this scent. ------ I think I'm going to be heartbroken when this one discontinues (I may try to get an extra bottle before it does). The Serpentine smells amazing and I think it's my favorite perfume so far. The florals and extra vanilla cut Dorian in just the right way to my nose. Considering the timing of the month, this may smell different on me later, but I'll be more than glad to try it out pretty often in between new stuff. Additional: Since I got this review up late, I did order an additional bottle of The Serpentine before the Lilith orders closed.

This frimp I recently got sounded pretty darn good. I haven't tried anything that's all that fruit heavy or tropical, so I was very curious from the start. In Bottle: I smell something like mango or guava, maybe some coconut and banana as well. I also get florals and some greenery. Wet on Skin: There's sort of a citrusy edge there now. The whole thing smells tropical, mostly like in the bottle. While someone else said it smells soapy (and I think I understand the vibe they're getting it from), but I don't really think it smells soapy personally. Approx. 1 Hour Later: Faint amber and that's about it. I think my skin eats this particular scent. There's basically nothing left on me. ------ While it wasn't terrible by any stretch, the time it lasts on me is not anywhere near economical enough for me to consider it even if I loved it. While it is that time of the month, I doubt that would make such a dramatic change in duration all on its own. This one's just not for me, but I would recommend trying out an imp if you like tropical smells (and to test if the duration is any better on your skin).

This one was a frimp I got from a Trading Post order and I was very interested in trying out something that has parchment and tonka notes, so I had to try this one out fairly soon out of the lineup I was sent. The leather had me a bit unsure, but I'll tell you how that turned out below. In Bottle: I opened this one a bit early out of curiosity and whew! Very masculine to my nose and spicy, which I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised about. I definitely smell the leather note in this. It has somewhat of an antique study room smell to it, I think, with the leather, wood, and old parchment notes together. The spice I'm picking up must be the incense. I was somewhat hoping the tonka would sweeten it up, and I suppose it might a tiny bit. Wet on Skin: First whiff is leather and it was pretty darn musky, but it seems to be settling down a bit. Getting more wood (especially rosewood) and incense, I think, maybe a little tonka and parchment underneath. It's some strong stuff, but pleasant for what it is. Still smells a bit masculine, but at least more on the unisex side of masculine, I suppose? It smells like some sort of familiar cologne and still makes me think of an antique study, though the incense and tonka are coming through more than in the bottle. Approx. 1 Hour Later: The scent is still very cologne-ish, but I feel that it's just a tad lighter than before. It's mostly the incense and tonka with some musk underneath, probably from the leather note and maybe the parchment. Occasionally, the leather and rosewood move forward. ------ Out of all of the more masculine-leaning scents I've tried (this, Masquerade, and Tavern of Hell), I appreciate this one the most. This smells bookish in a warm, pleasant way to me. It leans a bit too masculine for me personally, but this could be great for someone looking for a more masculine scent that smells like some sort of classic old study room.

This one's a frimp from a Trading Post order. I have to admit that this one has my interest from the small amount of notes in it. I've had a liking towards blends with tea notes so far (Dorian and The Dormouse), so that also has me curious about it as well. In Bottle: Super floral. I smell all three notes, but especially the white tea and rose. Wet on Skin: There's something almost citrus-y about this scent on my skin. It's very green as well. I can't really catch distinct notes in it at the moment, but I think the carnation may be coming out as it settles. I'm faintly getting rose in the throw. Approx. 1 Hour Later: By this point, that citrus smell has almost entirely dissipated. While I feel that I can smell the other notes, this is mostly rose on me and I feel that's what other people would detect on me (not so much the other notes). Maybe my skin amps this rose note. ------ It's a pleasant enough fragrance, but I already have a perfume with rose in it and I'll probably get another as a Christmas present. This one doesn't offer me anything very new, but it's worth trying if you're a fan of rose and tea notes (if you like tea notes more than rose, I would suggest trying out an imp of The Dormouse, though it is still slightly floral with some peony and the scent can come off a tad soapy to some people). I personally didn't get much carnation in this (surprising, considering the other reviews), but it may be the timing of the month also interfering with the scent somewhat.

I tried out my imps of Chaotic and Good together, layered in that order. I already tested out both of them individually and did small reviews of them. Wet on Skin: That's an interesting smell. It's green and sweet. I feel like I'm catching more individual notes from Chaotic (like the wasabi and heliotrope) than I am from Good. It's a nice combo so far, though. Kind of clean and woodsy maybe? Approx. 2 and a Half Hours Later: While I can still detect a little wasabi, it's mostly musk and a tiny bit of sweetness (mostly sugar cane, I think) left. It's pleasant, but there's not a ton to it. ------ This smells pretty darn good, but it seems like it's canceling itself out relatively quickly. Still, I'm glad I like the smell of my alignment and, maybe when I add a race and/or class, the staying power will be a bit better. Maybe I can also try out layering in a scent locket. EDIT: Actually, I think I keep detecting this sugary throw every now and then, but I can't really describe it? It's been about a half hour since the review time itself. The perfume itself is seriously light on my skin, so I'm not sure if the throw is actually from it or not. I think it is from the Chaotic Good mixture, though. Uncanny.

The is a scent I was interested in (especially the name since I'm going to a masquerade ball next year). I ordered an imp out of that curiosity, not solidly sure of which notes would turn out the strongest. In Bottle: First impression is orange blossom and patchouli. Not half bad, but we'll see how it goes. Wet on Skin: I think the ambergris is coming out as well. The carnation must be very light. This is a bit more masculine than I was expecting, but it's certainly not unpleasant. Approx. 1 and a Half Hours Later: I think I should start off by pointing out that, while I was on a morning walk, I could detect a citrusy throw from this one; I just thought it was neat that I caught it in passing. Overall, I feel like it's the same: patchouli, ambergris, and orange blossom for sure and not sure I'm getting any carnation. ------ The whole thing smells like cologne to me. It's not unpleasant, but I'm not digging it on myself. I might try it again someday, but it's firmly in my personal no pile so far. Just not my style.

Lyonesse was an imp that I ordered in my last BPAL order since it sounded so interesting (I really like vanilla smells). I had completely forgotten this had a stargazer lily note to it, but that has piqued my interest; I think stargazer lilies are cool, but they smell STRONG and I wouldn't be able to have any in the house whether I'm feeling cool with the scent or not since they're toxic to cats. There are several notes I've never smelled before, so I guess we'll see what I think and what familiar things I can parse out. In Bottle: I'm detecting a lot of things. In the bottle, this is sweet for sure. I think I'm getting vanilla, musk, stargazer lily, and maybe also the sea moss. I think, other than the sweetness, I could also describe this as floral and herbal. Wet on Skin: On my skin, I think I'm getting more of the stargazer lily. Maybe also some background musk? I feel like the notes are swirling around a bit, so this is coming off as a morpher to me. I kind of want to say the scent has become somewhat aquatic? Maybe that has to do with the sea moss. Like I wrote before, I don't know all of these notes. Approx. 2 Hours Later: I think this became vanilla and musk-centric, with other notes still lingering. The scent reminds me of one of the Crimson Peak atmo sprays (The Golden Hour) though I never had the chance to check out the perfume incarnation of that one. Admittedly, this isn't as powdery as the version of The Golden Hour I have. ------ I really like this first impression. It's not too sweet and the different notes have me puzzled in a good way. Trying this also makes me feel more confident that a stargazer lily note will not necessarily drown out everything else. I'll see how I like the imp as I continue to use it (in rotation with the others I have; I may need to pare down the selection later).

This is the second class I've gotten out of the RPG Series. Bard had been sold out at the time, so I tried Mage. This time, Bard was available, but only in the full size. I decided to risk that and used a wand cap to apply. In Bottle: I definitely smell the bay rum and honey in this one. Maybe the harp wood and whatever the brass note is supposed to be as well? Wet on Skin: The scent smells warmer on me, if that makes sense. I still smell the same notes, but with the musk coming out as well and I think the wood is amping. Getting a definite throw to this one, too, but that may be from using a wand cap on a full-sized bottle instead of using an imp. I like that it's not too boozy on me. Someone else mentioned that I smell like lilies. I can smell that now. It's something about the way the notes are mixing together on me. Approx. 1 Hour and a Half Later: I think I'm picking up that brass note again? There's something on me that smells a bit cold and metallic inside of all of those warmer notes. I don't hate it or anything, but I'm conflicted. I'm not sure I dig smelling somewhat like metal. It does seem to fade in and out. ------ It's not half bad, though it was a bit strong and I'm not loving the brass note. It might help to apply with a lighter hand next time. Like Chaotic and Good on their individual tests so far, I think this may be more balanced out once I trying layering it with other RPG Series perfumes (that is what they're for). I think I'll try some more individual imps I have from other stuff first (not sure yet), but I plan on trying a Chaotic Good mix before tossing Bard in the equation.