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Showing results for tags 'Lupercalia 2013'.
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WHEN THY WILL STUNG THE WORLD INTO STRIFE Dost thou dream, in a respite of slumber, In a lull of the fires of thy life, Of the days without name, without number, When thy will stung the world into strife; When, a goddess, the pulse of thy passion Smote kings as they revelled in Rome; And they hailed thee re-risen, O Thalassian, Foam-white, from the foam? Dragon's blood resin, red ginger, bourbon geranium, thorny rosemary, red sandalwood, pink pepper, and green coffee bean. Herbal, spicy, dry. I forgot that this has geranium in it - which is an amping note. The geranium and rosemary together make this into a more 'therapeutic' smelling herbal blend. After it is on the skin for a little while, the pepper and ginger lend it a cool but spicy heat, which is a hint sweet. This does not have much 'coffee' note, nor is it a very strong dragon's blood. I think the sandalwood is grounding a few otherwise flighty, airy notes. I would say this is a scent that represents a 'sting' beautifully! I'm going to have to try it a few more times.
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THE THIRST OF UNBEARABLE THINGS By the hunger of change and emotion, By the thirst of unbearable things, By despair, the twin-born of devotion, By the pleasure that winces and stings, The delight that consumes the desire, The desire that outruns the delight, By the cruelty deaf as a fire And blind as the night, Lavender, white fig, and Atlas cedar. Unburned: Lavender! Lot’s of glorious lavender with fig for sweetness and cedar for backbone. It’s beautifully designed, perfectly blended. Burned: Perfection! Each of the elements separates more as it burns while still playing together beautifully. It’s still lavender dominant, woth a simpliar balance as it had unburned. The heat is only making it richer and better defined. I’m utterly happy with this and with it were general catalog.
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Hinoki wood, ho wood, white clove, and suminagashi maple leaf. in the bottle: whoa UBERGREEN! it's like someone sliced a tiny branch of a tree open with a pocket knife and let the watery sap drip out. freshly cut grass! dandelion stems! green green green! wet on my skin: more green! it is being grounded a tiny bit by what i assume are the woods and there is a TINY bit of spice from the clove...but boy, this is mostly just bright, fresh green to me. dry on my skin: the clove is coming forward a bit now and the greenness of the maple leaf has subsided enough for me to start getting whiffs of a nice, well-rounded spicy, green woodsy scent. unfortunately my skin seems to be having a bit of a reaction to this. it is absolutely lovely, but i'm not sure i will keep it around due to my skin being sensitive to it.
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Milk accord, tuberose, oakmoss, Asian pear, opoponax, and carrot seed. High pressure, not just because I'm the first to review but because this is such a complicated symphony of smells. From the bottle, this smells vegetal and medicinal. I wasn't sure what to expect from this and I'm not exactly feeling great about my purchase. On application, this is just shrieking, high, herbal weirdness (in fairness, it was literally delivered a half hour before wearing). I want it OFF. BUT THEN..... The pear comes into play. Not a juicy, sweet pear, more like the smell through the skin of the pear before you take the first bite. And the IDEA of milk. The opoponax then comes to the forefront as a sharp, myrrh-like incense. This smells expensive, like vintage Cartier. Everything quiets down and becomes smooth, sweet and resiny. It's gorgeous and I think it will age beautifully. So if you've ordered this don't freak out when you open the bottle and first put it on. Your patience will be richly rewarded. Lovely, unexpected, and I'm very happy to have added this to my bpal menagerie.
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FIERCE MIDNIGHTS AND FAMISHING MORROWS Seven sorrows the priests give their Virgin; But thy sins, which are seventy times seven, Seven ages would fail thee to purge in, And then they would haunt thee in heaven: Fierce midnights and famishing morrows, And the loves that complete and control All the joys of the flesh, all the sorrows That wear out the soul. Black plum, wild lily, and tobacco. This is truly beautiful...the plum is dark but not "jammy" to me, the lily is deep yet pretty, the tobacco is faint but grounding. For some reason this smells really similar to oak leaves and kyphi to me which is the only reason i don't need a full bottle. Great stuff though! ETA: different enough for a full bottle...possibly two
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THERE YET SHALL BE SORROWS In yesterday’s reach and to-morrow’s, Out of sight though they lie of to-day, There have been and there yet shall be sorrows That smite not and bite not in play. The life and the love thou despisest, These hurt us indeed, and in vain, O wise among women, and wisest, Our Lady of Pain. White sandalwood, black cypress, wormwood, creeping willow, and rue. Unburned: The first impression is bitter wood. My note impressions are tentative, as I only know about half of the well enough to be sure of identification. Either the cypress or the willow or both are dominant. The wormwood and rue form a second strong faction. The sandalwood is soft, tying them together. Burned: Fairly delicate, slightly sweeter though still essentially a bitter wood. The wood mix shifts a little as the sandalwood comes out a little more, and if it was cypress dominant before, it’s now willow or vica versa. Meanwhile, the thing I suspect of being rue moves in front of the thing I’m pretty sure is wormwood, but it could be the opposite. It’s pretty, but I wish there were more throw.
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THE TWILIGHT WHERE VIRTUES ARE VICES In a twilight where virtues are vices, In thy chapels, unknown of the sun, To a tune that enthralls and entices, They were wed, and the twain were as one. For the tune from thine altar hath sounded Since God bade the world’s work begin, And the fume of thine incense abounded, To sweeten the sin. Honeysuckle, Moroccan jasmine, and opium smoke. I've had this candle sitting next to my seat on the sofa for a few days now, and let me tell you, it's a marvelous scent even w/o being burnt. The honeysuckle, Moroccan jasmine, and opium smoke just mingle and meld together in the most amazing fashion. So I burnt it for a while last night, and the living room's air had a lovely and delicate scent about it that wasn't too floral, but wasn't too "dirty" (that's the only word that can apply) either from the opium smoke. Just a wonderful blend. If this was a perfume oil, I'd happily wear it, but only when would be just me and the SO, maybe out dancing. It really evokes twilight time in some silken boudoir, before the lamps are lit, and when one has lazed about in bed all day.
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A FAREWELL TO FALSE LOVE Sir Walter Raleigh Farewell, false love, the oracle of lies, A mortal foe and enemy to rest, An envious boy, from whom all cares arise, A bastard vile, a beast with rage possessed, A way of error, a temple full of treason, In all effects contrary unto reason. A poisoned serpent covered all with flowers, Mother of sighs, and murderer of repose, A sea of sorrows whence are drawn such showers As moisture lend to every grief that grows; A school of guile, a net of deep deceit, A gilded hook that holds a poisoned bait. A fortress foiled, which reason did defend, A siren song, a fever of the mind, A maze wherein affection finds no end, A raging cloud that runs before the wind, A substance like the shadow of the sun, A goal of grief for which the wisest run. A quenchless fire, a nurse of trembling fear, A path that leads to peril and mishap, A true retreat of sorrow and despair, An idle boy that sleeps in pleasure's lap, A deep mistrust of that which certain seems, A hope of that which reason doubtful deems. Sith then thy trains my younger years betrayed, And for my faith ingratitude I find; And sith repentance hath my wrongs bewrayed, Whose course was ever contrary to kind: False love, desire, and beauty frail, adieu. Dead is the root whence all these fancies grew. Pale lavender, sweet violet, balsam of Peru, and paperwhite narcissus. Sniffing from the bottle: it's hard for any note to stand up to lavender, and when I sniff this from the bottle, that's pretty much all I smell. On first application, it's pure lavender, as well - though a very wearable lavender, not medicinal at all. Slowly I start to sense a gentle sweetness start to glow through, and I assume it's the balsam of peru. Which, to be honest, I knew was sweet, but I didn't really think was going to be this sweet. Of course, the description says "sweet violet" as well, so although I'm not really getting Violet out of the scent, perhaps that's lending to the sweetness. It's interesting...after half an hour or so when I put my nose to my wrist I still smell strong lavender, but the scent cloud floating around me is almost like purple candy. Paperwhite is not one of my favorite florals, and so I'm very pleased that it doesn't seem to make much of an appearance on me. I think this is a very adult, smoothing, elegant scent, but not particularly mournful. And now that I'm concluding the review, I'm just noticing that I'm starting to get whiffs of violet. It's an elegant purple, this scent. Maybe not for everyday, but really lovely.
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Okay, to start out with I love BPAL's white chocolate note as it tends to be the one that goes least wonky on my skin and stays true to form. That said, I cannot smell much of the white chocolate at all! This is sharp green in the bottle and citrusy mate on the skin with just a hint of hazelnut and banana cream. After it dries down a bit, the mate lessens and I can start to smell a somewhat creamy chocolate, but it's not prevelant. At least fresh, this is not a very foody scent, so if you're worried about smelling like chocolate or bananas, I think you're safe here. There is also not a lot of throw, but I should mention that my skin tends to eat scents. All in all I'm curious to see how it ages and if it'll get more foody and less mate-y.
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Fossilized amber, juniper berry, wild musk, oudh, vetiver, white cedar, black currant, oakmoss, and leather. I want to preface this review by saying this has at least one death note for me and one or two other ones that can be kinda iffy, but I'm really intrigued by it all the same, so I'm going to be open-minded about this review and hope for the best. In the Bottle: Cedar, juniper, oakmoss and black currant. They all slip over each other, not actually mixing, but just taking turns at being the fore-front note. Wet On Skin: The cedar is still in the mix, though, to my relief, this variety is (so far) NOT becoming hamster cage on me- hurray! In fact, the white cedar and the amber are combining to make something very similar to the beautiful desert-sweetness of Tombstone. This is starting to really come together. Dry Down: This has turned into a slightly sweeter (because of a teeny, tiny bit of juniper coming through) version of Tombstone. Which is great, because I really appreciate the warmth of a good desert scent, and this will fill that space in my collection. In All: Low throw. A nice daytime scent that will bring a lovely warmth through the rest of the blustery winter months and then be welcome again come high summer.
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White amber, mimosa, orris root, osmanthus, labdanum, Siamese benzoin, and jasmine sambac. very white-smelling to me. a lovely, light, floating scent, with the jasmine leading the charge on my skin. this reminds me of easter, april showers and the first blooms of spring. it's absolutely lovely...even though i'm not a fan of florals, i may hang on to this one, as all these appear to play nicely on my skin. i would definitely wear this one on the occasion that i want a girly, floral scent. for me, it stays true from bottle to dry down.
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Dark Chocolate with Wormwood, Fennel, Sweet Flag, and Lemon Verbena, Dusted with White Sugar whee! wow, my decant is mostly chocolate sludge love it! very hard to mix though. initially, there is a blast of chocolate, followed by a whiff of lemon and the slight hint of licorice. dry down seems to be a slightly smokey chocolate that's been kissed by sugar. pretty good, actually -
KHAJURAHO The fabled Khajuraho temples of India are shrines of love in all its myriad forms. They are a celebration of love itself – transcendental, spiritual and erotic. This is a rejection of sorrow, spiritual ennui and despair. The sexual motifs that adorn the temples, and the temples themselves, are monuments to ecstasy and to passion, and through that, they are also monuments to spiritual fulfillment. It is believed that the realization of moksha by dedicating oneself to adhyatma and dharma can be attained only by first experiencing sexual satisfaction. In the midst of the drudgery and struggle that we sometimes endure during the course of our Earthly lives, it is vitally important that we remember the joy found in kama, and that in kama we can achieve transformation of the body and soul. This is a blissful, euphoric blend based on an ancient Indian love potion: honey, date palm, tuberose, davana blossom, amber, white sandalwood, vanilla bean, Damask rose, and champaca flower. This is one of my favourite candles to have next to me while taking a nice long soak in the bath. It has a light to medium throw that is comprised of mostly sweet honey with wafts of amber and sandalwood. Just like the scent description mentions, it does have a certain euphoria about it and dare I say, a sexual overtone. But don't be misled -- this is not a "one night quickie" type of scent or candle. Instead, it represents a long joyous celebration of love that allows true understanding the world and its beauty through both physical and spiritual journeys. It reminds us that we can become truly fulfilled even when the world seems to pull us down.
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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.
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OUR LADY OF PAIN Cold eyelids that hide like a jewel Hard eyes that grow soft for an hour; The heavy white limbs, and the cruel Red mouth like a venomous flower; When these are gone by with their glories, What shall rest of thee then, what remain, O mystic and sombre Dolores, Our Lady of Pain? Sumatran patchouli, blood musk, white lavender, opium tar, and black orchid. Um whoa...I think this one was made for me. I will be honest- I literally tore through my package 10 minutes ago and immediately put this one on...immediate love and I can only imagine how beautiful this will smell when it has had even a day to settle. Dark, sorta sharp (its brand new...) opium tar laced black orchid with a GORGEOUS soft, dark patchouli underneath. When I first applied, it was mostly lavender and opium tar...the lavender almost disappears and morphs into black orchid...I suspect she will resurface in an hour or so! After 20 minutes...opium poppy laced black orchid over soft patchouli...not the patch from mme. moriarty or #occupy...soft, and sultry. This perfume is sultry ad infinitum. I cannot possibly do this perfume justice with the words that exist...yes, its that frickin' good. Hoard worthy indeed... ETA: I reapplied just a touch and it dried down with a bit more lavender. Yeah...200000/10. ETA again: I can't compare this to anything I've ever smelled because it is truly unique, in my humble opinion. If this scent had a song double, it would be: "The Moment I Said It" by Imogen Heap especially the end, beginning with "Don't..."
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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.
