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Showing results for tags 'Shungas 2018'.
Found 43 results
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Wisteria and white clove, green tea leaf, and frankincense. So... unexpected. Wet, I get a bit of the clove, but only like the top part of it - medicinal, sharp. I also get a smell that reminds me of the inside of a dried ume plum, and also maybe... camphor? What? As this sits on my skin and dries down... It's still very clovey... oh, wait, what? White Necco wafer? This smells like a clove cigarette. There's maybe some kind of more non-sweet, crumbly and sticky frankincense, a little sharp-sweet smoke. I don't get much of the classic 'green tea' note. I'm also struggling to find any lush wisteria. The color I see is... browns/ochre, gray-white or even bone-white wisteria, thin, sharp, not like purple unfurled blossoms. If there is a bit of that note, it's only a faint accent over the clovey-resin nature of this scent. I'm so very confused. But if you like clove...
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Mushroom, tomato leaf, brown oakmoss, and pink pepper. If anyone was wondering, this does not smell like matsutake at all, (I am very familiar with the smell, as I mushroom pick them), or even anything resembling a fungus. I'm getting something like a green, vegetal herbal smell, with maybe a touch of dirt. It smells airy and clean. Great for spring. BUT IT DOES NOT SMELL LIKE MATSUTAKE!
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Honeyed amber, teakwood, almond, and coconut. Sweet coconut-speckled amaretto! Lab almonds tend to turn to amaretto on me: not boozy, but the almond syrup sense of an amaretto. This becomes a buttery amaretto swirled with freshly shredded coconut. The honeyed amber is also a player, adding a lot of smooth, almost creamy warmth. Even in the top phase I get a hint -- a grounding influence -- of the teak I love. This is a tropical beach vacation scent: a novel almondy drink served in a coconut shell under a frond-thatched, teakwood bar.
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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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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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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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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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Soft auburn musk, clove bud, honeyed patchouli, oakmoss absolute, cashmere labdanum, cedar, and mimosa blossom. In the Bottle: Musk, cedar and honey. Smells sweet and rich On the Skin: Not as sweet on the skin. The musk is warm and I get the auburn aspect as it's not dark and not white. The honey and patchouli simmer along but gain some strength On the Drydown: Gorgeous, light honey, musk and the characteristic patchouli scent. The clove makes its presence known but doesn't take over, just adding a smoky spiciness. The mimosa isn't evident. Nice but fleeting on my skin
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Crystalline azure musk, orange blossom, water lily, hinoki wood, Texas cedar, and night-blooming jasmine. Was super interested in this melange of scents all together. I have no idea what to expect. Wet and in bottle, it's a weird mix of orange blossom and... maybe the sweetness of blue musk? Applied to the skin, it's a very strong thrwoosh of something very similar to fabric softener? Maybe it's the orange blossom. As it has a bit more time to settle down on the skin... I'm getting the two florals mixing together - orange blossom and water lily. Definitely getting a very beachy aquatic floral vibe. The jasmine is adding a little bit of ferocity in the background, a bit of depth, however the floral stays a... um, Mediterranean floral? Crisp/clear, and high. The blue musk kind of evens everything out and it's a little sugary. Hinoki and cedar really aren't too apparent. There may be a little 'sandiness' or 'woodsiness' at the base, but it's definitely not cedar-shavings/pencil cedar. Very subtle. It keeps this from being purely a floral scent. I'd say this is one of the more surprisingly 'beachy' scents. Light, airy, and somehow a little 'salty' without having the salt note (which on me turns into tortillas). I like this one a lot!
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Kadu leaf, white lavender, plum and ume blossom, a drop of pale cedar and crystal musk. first applied there is a strong note of chemical but this burns off quickly, leaving a bright and elegant, classic-in-feel perfume that then holds true for the rest of the drydown. plum/ume fruit focused, with the lavender and kadu keeping it close in kin to fancy dept store perfume. although there is a touch of sweetness, this is a far cry from fruit syrup. I amp cedar always and forever, but not in this blend. the cedar grounds the scent without standing out. strong throw and lasts overnight and into the next day. I picked this scent as a random extra decant to try. I was curious about the kadu, wary of the cedar and a fan of the other notes. there was speculation in the luper thread about what the heck kadu would smell like. folks/google suggested a range of things from almond to bitter herb to squash blossom. I don't get almond, nor do I get anything forwardly foodie as pumpkin/squash. there is a hint of leafy bitterness that anchors the fruit that is completely removed from the dead leaves notes and the herbal notes (mugwort, sage, thyme, etc). this is a sophisticated beauty and one of my 2018 luper favorites.
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Blue lilac, white sage, orris root, sweet pea, a smear of crushed blueberry, and tobacco leaf. Very lilac when wet. A beautiful, light and sweet lilac. There's a hint of fruitiness. This reminds me of Blue Flasher, with its slightly berry floral. The blueberry is not terribly potent, though. A hint of squishy blue juice! There's a streak of brown-gray smoke, the tobacco adding a little darkness and depth. I can also smell a bit of a powdery sparkle, clay-like, but lighter. Must be the sage and orris! I think there are kisses of sweet pea dancing about as well. This is very complicated. Lilac lovers should try this. And if you liked Blue Flasher, you should definitely give this bolster a whirl.
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Terebinth, hemp, and champaca resin. Yum, champaca. The Emerald Kaya atmo is champaca-heavy, with the terebinth and hemp rounding this out. On this balance this smells like champaca (white-yellow sweet-spicy flowers) with an earthy streak, and it is glorious. I need at least one moar bottle of this one.
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Salt-splashed silk, spiced cedar, hinoki wood, sea musk, a strand of kelp and a squeeze of lime. It starts out just as you are dreading it will, corn chips and dryer sheets. And its the DRYERSHEETS shrieky type scent that some aquatics are just determined to morph into. And then an hour later its all delightful warm salt soaked dried silk and you wonder why you were ever worried about the thing. My friend asked when I ordered it what silk smelled like and I said, I dont know except that it smells like silk. Which this does. Exactly and evocatively. I love it, and its even worth the pain of corn chips and dryer sheets to get there.
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Blue lilac, pink pepper, birch tar, juniper berry, and lemon peel. I couldn't resist another lilac blend after Cave of Treasures last year In the bottle: A similar vibe to Cave of Treasures with that round lilac note. A touch of juniper in the back On the Skin: Lilac and juniper making an unusual but nice combo, lush but almost candyish. On the Drydown: The lemon peel peeks out to add slight bitterness to tame the sweetness of the lilac. The birch tar is not forefront but adds a smokiness and the juniper adds a freshness and slight fruitiness. This is actually quite the morpher within a narrow scent band. A tiny bit of spicy kick from the pink pepper. I think, like Cave of Treasures, this will come into it's own after a brief period of aging.
