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Showing results for tags 'Lupercalia 2018'.
Found 97 results
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Red roses, agarwood, red patchouli, benzoin, and black currant. First sniff in the sample: a little sharp, very rosy, and sooo much patchouli. Freshly spritzed: SO MUCH PATCHOULI. Wow.. rose? currant? anyone? bueller? NOPE JUST PATCHOULI! Several hours later: it calms down, and a bit of rose and a hint of sharp fruit on the edges, but mostly this is for patchouli lovers (and I am not one).
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White rose, gilded carnation, brown oakmoss, and velvet oudh. Smooth, soft, and stays close to the skin. As it dries, I can smell each ingredient taking its turn to come forward. First is the rose; I can tell it's a light-colored rose, not necessarily white but pale in color. I get no discernible Carnation but instead something golden. Next comes oakmoss. I was worried that the brown would be stronger and overtake everything but this is not the case. The oudh is very soft and smooth. They all blend together to create a seamless skin scent. Occasionally I get a nice soft waft of rose but it isn't overpowering and continues to stay close to the skin. On my skin this is a more masculine scent it would be great to snuggle up next to someone who smelled like this.
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Algernon Charles Swinburne All the night sleep came not upon my eyelids, Shed not dew, nor shook nor unclosed a feather, Yet with lips shut close and with eyes of iron Stood and beheld me. Then to me so lying awake a vision Came without sleep over the seas and touched me, Softly touched mine eyelids and lips; and I too, Full of the vision, Saw the white implacable Aphrodite, Saw the hair unbound and the feet unsandalled Shine as fire of sunset on western waters; Saw the reluctant Feet, the straining plumes of the doves that drew her, Looking always, looking with necks reverted, Back to Lesbos, back to the hills whereunder Shone Mitylene; Heard the flying feet of the Loves behind her Make a sudden thunder upon the waters, As the thunder flung from the strong unclosing Wings of a great wind. So the goddess fled from her place, with awful Sound of feet and thunder of wings around her; While behind a clamour of singing women Severed the twilight. Ah the singing, ah the delight, the passion! All the Loves wept, listening; sick with anguish, Stood the crowned nine Muses about Apollo; Fear was upon them, While the tenth sang wonderful things they knew not. Ah the tenth, the Lesbian! the nine were silent, None endured the sound of her song for weeping; Laurel by laurel, Faded all their crowns; but about her forehead, Round her woven tresses and ashen temples White as dead snow, paler than grass in summer, Ravaged with kisses, Shone a light of fire as a crown for ever. Yea, almost the implacable Aphrodite Paused, and almost wept; such a song was that song. Yea, by her name too Called her, saying, "Turn to me, O my Sappho;" Yet she turned her face from the Loves, she saw not Tears for laughter darken immortal eyelids, Heard not about her Fearful fitful wings of the doves departing, Saw not how the bosom of Aphrodite Shook with weeping, saw not her shaken raiment, Saw not her hands wrung; Saw the Lesbians kissing across their smitten Lutes with lips more sweet than the sound of lute-strings, Mouth to mouth and hand upon hand, her chosen, Fairer than all men; Only saw the beautiful lips and fingers, Full of songs and kisses and little whispers, Full of music; only beheld among them Soar, as a bird soars Newly fledged, her visible song, a marvel, Made of perfect sound and exceeding passion, Sweetly shapen, terrible, full of thunders, Clothed with the wind's wings. Then rejoiced she, laughing with love, and scattered Roses, awful roses of holy blossom; Then the Loves thronged sadly with hidden faces Round Aphrodite, Then the Muses, stricken at heart, were silent; Yea, the gods waxed pale; such a song was that song. All reluctant, all with a fresh repulsion, Fled from before her. All withdrew long since, and the land was barren, Full of fruitless women and music only. Now perchance, when winds are assuaged at sunset, Lulled at the dewfall, By the grey sea-side, unassuaged, unheard of, Unbeloved, unseen in the ebb of twilight, Ghosts of outcast women return lamenting, Purged not in Lethe, Clothed about with flame and with tears, and singing Songs that move the heart of the shaken heaven, Songs that break the heart of the earth with pity, Hearing, to hear them. Tonka, oakmoss, tolu balsam, grey amber, myrrh, and muguet. In bottle: sweet and sensual. Amber, tanka, and myrrh on top. I looked up muguet, which seems to be French for lily of the valley, if so, I am guessing it’s responsible for the very faint floral tinge to this. I’d not encountered I am guessing that beautiful new resin overlay is the tolu balsam. In any case, in the bottle, I’m getting a gloriously unique resin blend. Wet: Heaven. If you like amber based resin scents, this may very well be the queen of them. Dry: Very gentle and somehow familiar, though I’m not able to put my finger on why. It is more feminine than anything I generally wear except Dia De Les Muertos, but I will likely where it anyway because it is that good.
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Sweet pea and vanilla orchid, plum blossom, Aglaia flower, orris root, osmanthus, and violet leaf. i don't wanna be first, because this isn't so much a review as rambling thoughts (which most of my reviews are i admit), but i've been waiting for weeks for someone else to post and i need to get this out of my system before i forget. somewhere around 89/90 (or, rather, 7th grade) a drugstore scent called Malibu Musk came out. i don't think it was ever all that popular, but it had been around up until last year i think it was finally discontinued. i liked it, i've always liked it, and an older guy i knew, in my best friend's band, well, Malibu Musk made him a little nuts. in what probably would have been delightful ways, if we'd ever gone there, but i had a boyfriend. every few months whenever i'd wear Malibu Musk, i'd think of him and grin, even if i hadn't seen or even talked to him in a decade. freakishly, a few years ago, when i did happen to be wearing Malibu Musk, my husband and i ran into him at a BBQ place. the hug i got turned a little awkward, but 20+ years of friendship kinda smoothed things out, i think. anyhow. i ordered Discarded Silks because the plum blossom, orris root, and violet leaf sounded nice. sweet pea i can do without, vanilla orchid and osmanthus can be amazing or meh, and like everyone else i have no idea what an aglaia flower is. i haven't used this on my hair, but i've worn it sprayed on my skin like perfume. at first, it really was more sweet pea and orchid than anything else. but after a couple of hours? it smells like i wore Malibu Musk last night. there's something a little sweeter hovering around the edges, but this smells so very much like the early 90s in all the best ways. so my graduated-from-high-school-in-the-90s girls? (and boys, of course) you might dig this.
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Basically fruit roll-ups for your naughty bits: wild cherry and sugared up strawberry with hot pink peppercorn. DO NOT ACTUALLY PUT THIS ON YOUR NAUGHTY BITS. Fruity candy! Specifically, fruity gummy candy with maybe a hint of marshmallow? It’s reminding me heavily of a Lilith scent—maybe The Devil Will Work for Idle Hands or Battle Fairy in Training? The fruit note is also similar to what I get in Rajnbow Swirk. This is a fun and lighthearted fruity scent!
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No jokes here: who wouldn’t love a heart-shaped hot tub? A bubbling vat of red musk, sweet red wine, benzoin, red oudh, and lush magnolia. This is JUICY in the best way. Benzoin gives it the crackling pop of fizziness you might expect from a hot tub (though I always think soda when I think benzoin), and the red musk and magnolia blend together to make it velvety smooth with a hint of trailing smoke from the oudh. Ultimately, this is a candied (red wine note), fizzy musk, and I loves it, my precious.
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For he seemed to me again like a king, Like a king in exile, uncrowned in the underworld, Now due to be crowned again. A sinuous leather variant of BPALs Snake Oil. Only side-by-side with Snake Oil can I tell the difference between these in the bottle. It really was appropriate to name this after the snake's skin -- the leather wraps around the familiar blend like a sheath. And it's a grower, constricting slowly until it just might become the thing someone notices about the scent if they just happened to catch it in passing. It also nicely amps the woods in Snake Oil, which probably don't get enough love. If you have a man in your life who loves Snake Oil but it's too sweet for him to wear, he will probably be unstoppable with this.
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Raw patchouli, oakmoss, cassis bud, bergamot, and blackcurrant. Smokey, earthy goodness. The oakmoss tethers everything together, I think, and makes it entirely coherent. I slathered this all over my arms as well as my hair in hopes this would last all day on me—and it did. This is a beautiful, beautiful scent, and not my usual fragrance profile. I need about a dozen bottles of this.
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Red rose, Siamese benzoin, and blood orange. In the bottle, this is one of the rosiest of the Rose hgs. There's something else, not exactly citrusy, like the perfume oil, but 'other' Freshly spritzed,warm red roses! The benzoin is there, but I'm not getting as much of the orange as I do when I apply the straight oil to skin. This is a drier version, but a nice rose. After a while - throw is good on this one, this mostly rose with a kind of dry orange peel and slightly resiny finish. Wish it was a bit juicier in the orange department.
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Tea roses, pink sandalwood, hay absolute, and vanilla orchid. Holy top notes batman! This goes on all sharp rose and orchid flower. If this rose were on my skin, it would probably go sour (as roses sometimes do on me). I know there's something under that, like a dry sandalwood/hay note, but it's hidden under the top notes. It's too much orchid for my taste. Everything is reading as a sickly sweetness because of it. If you actually like orchid, you'll enjoy Douze a lot more. Fairly good throw.
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The Depths of Despair White chypre, French lavender, rose geranium, opopponax, Peru balsam, bois de rose, lime, and vanilla absolute. This smells like a masculine cologne with an extra dash of lavender. I keep thinking I am smelling oakmoss, which may well be a component of the chypre. There is a splash of lime which adds some sharpness. I do get a suggestion of rose geranium now and again, but it is barely a tease. Quite long lasting. I am enjoying huffing my braid immensely, but also going a bit mad trying to place where I smelled this before. It could very well be from a perfume counter, as this does smell like a traditional male aftershave to me. Mmmmm!
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Cacao-dusted red rose petals. Wet: OH, SO CACAO! The combination is interesting, because you can also smell the rose petals underneath, which are pink-soft and sweet, like Faith (or was it Hope?). Drydown: There's a too-short period where the two combine together in the most interesting way. I would love to stay in this unique and pretty place, but . . . After an hour: It's just soft rose with an occasional whiff of cacao if you breathe deeply enough. It's pretty enough and I may keep my imp, but I'm undecided. Strong throw, longevity.
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Red rose petals dusted with a trove of ancient spices. I always love the spicey rose blends, and this one is no exception. Here the rose and spices blend into something sophisticated and lovely; in fact, this reminds me of something that I can't quite put my finger on. It has a very classic feel to it, and would be appropriate for the office as well as a night out on the town.
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Poppy smoke, velvet jasmine, sweet three-year aged patchouli, and black plum. Remember how Blood Countess was all opium smoke and plum and some florals? Yeah. This is like that. Smoky. Plummy. Florals to make it smell like perfume instead of a beverage. I was hoping for a bit more patchouli, since this could be a little dirtier and Id be a little happier. I dont like the scent of plums after theyve been on my skin 8 hours, they smell like crumbled dusty jolly ranchers. But its ok because I verrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry much that smoky poppy top note and Ill just wash it or whatever at the four hour mark. Chosen by my friend and stolen by me because it smelled much too clean on her skin chemistry.
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WOMB FURIE In the middle of the flanks of women lies the womb, a female viscus, closely resembling an animal; for it is moved of itself hither and thither in the flanks, also upwards in a direct line to below the cartilage of the thorax and also obliquely to the right or to the left, either to the liver or spleen; and it likewise is subject to falling downwards, and, in a word, it is altogether erratic. It delights, also, in fragrant smells, and advances towards them; and it has an aversion to fetid smells, and flees from them; and on the whole the womb is like an animal within an animal. -- Aretaeus the Cappadocian Oh, that wily womb! Hippocrates and his followers considered the womb a mobile creature, causing mayhem as it writhed its way through a woman's body. Sometimes this ornery organ, due to lack of sexual activity, would create conflicts within a woman's system or would become blocked itself, causing anxiety, nervousness, water retention, and sleeplessness. With the assistance of doctors, nursemaids, hand tools, or, occasionally, self-manipulation, this vexing condition could be alleviated through hysterical paroxysms. Or, as we call it nowadays: orgasm. An itch that needs to be scratched: Snake Oil and three types of honey. To be honest, and snake oil have a less than great record. Straight up snake oil makes me deal with two hours of annoying spice before it gives me the soft vanilla, and none of the Snake pit were a success. This however, has PROMISE!!! The honey cuts out the harshness that the indonesian oils do when they're on my skin, and they're not taking over. I can still tell i'm wearing snake oil, but it's got some honey underneath. The honey and the vanilla also last for a long time, so i'm definetly not getting the disappearing act that I usually associate with snake oil blends. I highly recommend giving it a try!!
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Spiked for your pleasure: protrusions of pomegranate and pink peppercorn. This is absolutely beautiful! At first it is just juicy, dark pomegranate that is just a little bit tart. As it dries it gets sweeter, almost syrupy (in a very good way) and more sultry. It reminds me a lot of the Black Pomegranate SN. I get a halo of the fresh, floral qualities of the pink pepper, though it is very well blended with the pomegranate.
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Crushed grass, dandelion sap, green oakmoss, lettuce leaf, and white pepper. Opening the bottle, greeted immediately with a splorty wet blade of grass, and definitely a little bit of that milkiness of dandelion sap. I love Beth's grassy scents, so I'm very excited that there's so much GREEN in the description. Applied to the skin, it's definitely like wow, like more mushed crushed grass leaves, and as it continues to dry down, it gets rounder. I really like the Blade of Grass Halloweenie that appears on occasion, but that is more of a 'cold wet grass,' whereas as this sits on the skin, I can get a tiny prickle of heat, the vegetable note is more than just 'park grass,' I think it gets a bit more fullness from the addition of the lettuce. I kind of smells like when you chew on an unseasoned leaf of lettuce. Wet, cool, crisp. With more time, this doesn't evaporate as fast as Blade of Grass does on me. That's a very brief-lived, environmental scent. Tennis Match seems to have a bit more staying power, and a bit more 'dirtiness' (oakmoss?) My verdict: slightly different, more wet/full-leafy Blade of Grass, without dried leaf note, and with a little spicy mossy base, but still reads forward as grassy.
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Black terebinth, tamil nadu sandalwood, frankincense, black chestnut, and myrrh. Wet: Smooth myrrh, frankincense and chestnuts. Dry: Something unbelievably pleasant and gorgeous. The pine peeks out for just a minute and then it is fades beautifully with the rest of the notes. I love it!
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Cherry blossoms cascading onto a snowdrift, white wisteria buds, and ume petals. In the bottle: Pine and cherry blossoms Wet: A blast of minty pine sweetened by cherry blossoms Dry: As it dries, it becomes sweeter and creamier, the pine goes away. I don't get any wisteria, and I think the ume petals are adding to the sweetness. It eventually dries to a sweet, slightly vanilla cherry blossom scent. This scent seems to have a lot going on, but it dries to such a lovely scent. If you like Bpal's cherry blossom note you should give this a try. And if you're like me and don't like the Snow White snow note, this is the minty, piney snow note.
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White sage and patchouli with Himalayan cedarwood, sweet labdanum, and brown sugar. Sorry, this one ended up a bit stream of consciousness! In the bottle it is a very sharp sage with an edge of the cedarwood. Wet on my skin I get a peatiness that makes me think of a good whiskey, but the patchouli is just behind it peeking out from under. Drinking whiskey in a long established library on a rainy day somewhere in Ireland. As it dries I'm having a problem tearing my nose away from the scent, it is gorgeous. There's a slight citrus fizz to it and the sage has softened a lot. Gradually it softens out to a smooth herbal patchouli, so mellow and comforting that I think I will fall asleep with my wrist pressed to my nose. There's still a faint trace in the morning.
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Green tea, plum blossom, white musk, jasmine blossom honey, and lemon peel. This was probably the Shunga I was most excited about. It has all the notes I was craving for from Shungas - teas, fruit, and florals. Something light, fresh, crisp, and springy. I was a TEENY worried about the lemon peel because I tend to amp lemon even in scents it's not listed as a note in and turn everything to lemon Pledge. That's DEFINITELY not the case with this one, thank god! I was in love at first sniff. It's giving me a bit of Embalming Fluid mixed with RPG Good. You know, know that I look, this contains all the notes of Embalming Fluid minus aloe. The musk is the same sugary sweet musk from RPG Good, which I love. It's definitely more floral than Embalming Fluid - the plum blossom and jasmine aren't distinctly detectable to my nose, but they give the scent an overall richness and fullness that isn't present in EF. I really like this fragrance, unfortunately the throw and wear length aren't the best. Maybe I'll turn it into a perfume spray.
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Rice milk, warm myrrh, red currant, red amber cream, and a trickle of vetiver. Oh dear, I'm first! Well, this one I'm nervous about because it was a whim of a blind bottle. I'm gonna admit now I usually don't seek out vetiver, and I often outright avoid it. It can be a scent-hog and often drowns out the rest. But here I go! Fresh-from-the-mail testing: In the bottle: I am pleasantly surprised. This smells like an expensive, sophisticated unisex perfume/cologne to me in the bottle. I think the vetiver gives it a little push towards cologne but I also get a small sniff of the red currant too. Wet: I'm getting a cacophony of scent! I can't tell what I'm smelling but so far, so good...! My husband has tried to help me but is shaking his head no. He said it he smells powder, I think that's the amber. Dry down: I'm still having a hard time sniffing the individual notes. I can't really suss anything out other than I think the most dominant scent is myrrh and amber. I am getting the powdery scent too now and something a little creamy which is either the rice milk or amber cream. However, when I huff this for science ...I'm starting to get a little headachey... I can't find the red currants and I got it for that + rice milk. Honestly, there must only be a trickle of vetiver, because i can't find it's earthy astringent self anywhere on my skin. 3.1 RE-TEST: Okay, what a difference a few days make. The headache-inducing high-pitched note is calm, and it's a creamy, red-fruited myrrh scent on me...and now I love it. I need to stop testing fresh!
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Blue lilac, peach blossom, plumeria, pink rose, and ylang ylang. First sniff in the decant, PEACH, I got more peach (and like fruit more than flower) on first sniff than anything else, but there was a kind of pinky-purple light floral scent behind it that came next. Fresh application: Beautiful, light, floral halo. The peach blossom is definitely blossom now, and the lilac has taken center stage. The rose is playing second fiddle quite happily in the background, and (for me) the dreaded ylang ylang is no where to be smelt. Hour or so later: It's soft, light, not much throw. The flowers have all largely blended together now and give me the feeling of being in a fresh spring garden. I love this!
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Red roses, agarwood, red patchouli, benzoin, and black currant. In the bottle: nice mix of rose, wood, and the patchouli/benzoin to round it out. Wet: agarwood starts to come out more Dry: Scent dominated by the agarwood with the patchouli playing a supporting role. I can barely smell benzoin, but, unfortunately, the rose goes away somewhat quickly and is never the star of the scent. Overall, I think this makes a nice, rounded wood scent and it had good longevity on my skin. I would not describe this as a rose scent at all.
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You did not need to creep into my heart The way you did. You could have smiled And knowing what you did, you have kept apart From all my inner soul. But you beguiled Deliberately. - Alice Dunbar-Nelson Honeyed tea rose, lavender water, red benzoin, bois de rose, and rose amber. A very straight-forward scent, exactly as described. Wet, there's a sugary powdery burn off period. Raises up around me in a powdery pink cloud and dissipates after 30 min. Smells like super fine dusting powder. Drydown is even-keeled, sweet, and glowing roses. I'm loving this! Roses and lavender water with plenty of warmth from the benzoin and amber. Victorian-ish, but way sexier. Yesssss.
