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Showing results for tags 'Lunacy 2016'.
Found 12 results
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The Amalthea Gossamer Ring: flecks of pink ice haloed by rose-tinted amber. For me, this scent is definitely in the "snow" category of BPAL scents. I don't get much Amber or Rose specifically - more of a rounded, adult smelling ice scent. I think the Amber is taking the edge off of the snow note because I don't get that ozone-y scent here. Ugh, this is a terrible first post!
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A scent of bright fortune through abundant resources: wheat accord, hay absolute, and petitgrain with roasted nuts, toasted vanilla, golden honey, and sweet vetiver. The first impression of Himalia on my skin is of toasted nuts and grain floating in creamy vanilla, like some otherwordly oatmeal. Then I smell the honey and hay mixed in, the former blending into the vanilla, and the latter into the grain. The creamy grain reminds me of Dana O'Shee, but this is, on the whole, more rich. It's been a while since I sampled Dana, and I should do a side-by-side, but this seems a bit like Dana but more complex and rich, and with less overt almond. There's an almost chalky texture in the sniff -- not in a bad way. It makes me think of oatmeal softening and breaking down into smaller and smaller parts, very slowly, in milk. And then, on the end of a sniff, I get an undercurrent of vetiver. There's a goodly amount of sweetness in the rest of the blend, and it's hard to tell where that ends and the sweet part of the vetiver begins, but after a minute or two, the specific tone of it reminds me an awful lot of Death Adder. The Death Adder vetiver in this grows as Himalia dries on me. This is a harvest vetiver blend! Completely dried, Himalia softens considerably, with even its vetiver snake resting its head on its coils and going to sleep. It doesn't vanish, but blends in. The fragrance goes Full Cozy. I like it.
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The smallest of Jupiter’s Inner Moons. This is a maternal perfume: warm, comforting, and protective. Goat’s milk accord, white honey, cacao-dusted amber, white coconut, white rose, and benzoin. The honey is really amping on me and I'm getting musty musky honey -no coconut, rose, etc. This is fresh from mailbox, so will retest and revisit this post!
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O Jove much-honor'd, Jove supremely great, to thee our holy rites we consecrate, Our pray'rs and expiations, king divine, for all things round thy head exalted shine. A smooth vanilla myrrh, streaked with cracks of java vetiver, styrax, and coffee absolute. In The Bottle: A lovely soft coffee candy scent. A mix of the coffee and vanilla-myrrh, obviously. It's a goof start- the myrrh isn't doing the baby-powder thing thus far that it usually does in my presence. *fingers crossed* Wet On Skin: Same, but with the java vetiver creeping in and a range non-food sweetness? Is this the styrax or the myrrh doing something unexpected? Dry Down: Coffee and baby powder In All: Well, I gave it a shot, but this is what myrrh does with my skin. I keep hoping and the rest of the notes in this gave me good reason to hope but my chemistry just won't allow it. To the rest of you, the hints that I got before all hope was lost would indicate that this scent is otherwise a lovely, yummy coffee scent. My loss is your gain- off to the swaps I go!
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Orbiting alone: cold black labdanum, olibanum, and eucalyptus bulb drifting on a starry white aldehyde. The oil smells cool, like a little wisp of the eucalyptus. On the skin, it's a very rich, resinous oil. Quite thick. Reminds me very much of Oblivion, the chewy, costus/labdanum is strong, and one of my favorite essential oils. There's just a tiny little whisper of cold. I don't detect too much brightness from olibanum. It's nice, and quite resinous - a little bit like a colder Jacob's Ladder from the Yules, but not nearly as complex. It's a chewy resin that does veer towards cold, but not minty by any means. Once it's drier, the dry aldehydic notes do arise, kind of like an aura of shine.
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An irregular scent, jittery with celestial perturbations: artemesia, rose geranium, white lemon, grey musk, ambergris accord, and a spark of ozone. There are some notes in this scent that I'm unfamiliar with: artemesia, white lemon, and grey musk. So, I'm not sure what was causing the unpleasantness I found in this scent. In the imp this smells sharp and bitter and it stays the same on the skin. Add to that, that a smell develops underneath the sharpness that makes me slightly nauseous. I also get an airy quality from the ozone which is the only aspect of this scent that I like. I never got any ambergris or rose geranium I was hoping for. Oh well.
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The glittering crimson and gold musks of Sparta enveloped in gilded white swan feathers of pearl orris, white oudh, white sandalwood, and translucent spiced petals. So lovely. It reminds me of a more refined version of nag champa incense. Very dark, resinous oil, the perfect marriage of orris and incense.
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A liquid iron core encased by swirls of iced lavender swimming through a subsurface ocean, dotted by palimpsests of dark oudh. Ganymede, the largest moon in the solar system at more than twice the mass of Earth's moon, appears here as an almost clear oil. I'd like to say its water ice and iron-rich core are well represented here, but I don't pick up much of either of those. The first impression on my skin is a burst of lavender, a bit harsh, with a faint tint of ice when I look for it. Around 10 minutes later, an earthy, smooth note comes out, which I'm guessing is the lab's oudh. It's less heavy than oudhs I've tried from other perfumers in the past, and friendlier on the nose. I still get lavender, but nothing else now. I like this, but I don't smell the metal I had hoped for. I'll see how it settles. Edit: On a retest after this cooled off in my dark basement for a few days, I smell lots of iron in the bottle, and on me, there is also iron in that cool lavender. It's an interesting effect for a planet theme, though very simple-smelling. The lavender isn't as harsh now, either, but the metal gives it a bit of hard personality: like, this is the lavender that sets its fist on the table and won't budge on anything. This lavender doesn't care what you think of it; it just does what it means to do, uncomplicated, not mysterious. At around 15 mins when the oudh comes into play, it's downright friendly, comparatively. Lavender after hours, still a command character, but more relaxed and less steely-eyed. I think aging will help.
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Tidally locked to Jupiter's sacred plants: white musk, salt-touched white sage, Oman frankincense, nutmeg, and gently honeyed saffron. In the bottle: Slightly cologne-y aquatic with a bit of spice. Wet on my skin: White musk, salt, and sage all typically do a cool, slightly aquatic cologne thing on my skin, and this is doing that while wet. Dry: Sadly, the frankincense and honeyed saffron aren't really showing up in this yet, and I think it will require some aging to bring those notes out. Right now, this is that cool, salty cologne, with the nutmeg contributing to the cool feel of it and bringing in some spice as well (nutmeg and sassafras go coolly herbal on my skin). I know this doesn't seem like it should be an aquatic, but it really kind of is on me, and I actually rather like it even though the frankincense and saffron are MIA so far. This is a close-ish cousin to Pottaskefill from the '15 Yule run, and a more distant cousin of Mary Read and Calico Jack.
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One of the Inner Moons, Metis is tidally locked to Jupiter. A scent of prudence, skill, and wise counsel, she is the perfect Moon to kick off a new year with a grounded, steady, firm foundation. Clary sage, oakmoss, white pine, and terebinth. In the bottle: Lots of sage and a little pine. Wet on my skin: Fresh sage and pine needles! Dry: This is a very green, foresty-tree scent on me. The primary note is bright, realistic, fresh-picked sage, like the sweet mountain sage I occasionally bring in after hiking. Next are the white pine and terebinth, which smell to me like the needles and leaves (no bark), and terebinth has a particularly sharp scent that, along with the sage, brightens this so it's more of a golden-green sun-dappled forest than a green-brown forbidden forest. The oakmoss is the least-present note on my skin, serving more to soften the whole blend just enough that it's pretty rather than Pine-Sol. Metis doesn't have a whole lot of throw once dry, just wisps of sage and pine that I catch from time to time, but it has a definite presence within a foot or so of my skin. I think that with some aging it will strengthen and maybe darken a little as well.
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Irregular and reddish, porous and cold: a rocky red musk, with lumps of frankincense and opoponax, crusted with ice. Where to begin with this scent?! I find it to absolutely amazing. I have never tried one of the red musks before, but I know that I tend to do well with the musk in Dorian, Venus Cloacina, and Lyonesse, along with frankincense in everything, so I decided it was time to treat myself. So here's my thoughts. In the bottle: I don't know opoponax by smell so I can't say if it shows it's self anywhere for me, but twist open and take a sniff I really get that crust of ice. It's got the brightness of almost a menthol infused medicine. In the back you can only just smell a faint musk, but it's sweeter than the usually sharp scents I tend to get. Wet on skin: it's got a lovely red color, and that brightness of the ice is immediately gone, now it's just a cool tinge to the whole smell. It doesn't seem to have much throw and just kind of sits around my wrist. The scent of it though. The frankincense has gotten a little bit stronger, which is to be expected on me, but it still has this slightly sweet but sharp tingly smell to it. Dry down: Goodness I don't know what my body chemistry does with this particular blend because I have never had another test do this: the first hour it seemed like the scent was going to be nice, but sit close to the skin when suddenly about an hour, hour and a half later I start really throwing it. I tested it twice once pre and post shower, and with different activity levels so I guess it's a grower not a shower. When my Round 2 hit the sweetness has faded and I feel it grows just a touch more sensual. In all I really like Thebe and I'm glad I went for it, but it feels like it would work best as a winter smell for me. For fun nights out when you want to feel sexy, but not Snake Oil sexy. and now I'm off to review Golden Champa. what a great day.
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A volcanic swirl of colors: yellow jasmine, green mint, black patchouli, white sandalwood, and red poppy with rivulets of volcanic red pepper musk and a blast of sulphur. Oh goodness, I've never been first to review anything... well, here goes. When I got this fresh out of the mail, it was all jasmine, all the time, and while I don't mind jasmine, I was disappointed to find that it was all SN in the bottle as well as on me. However, I told myself to let it settle for a few days, and by now, I'm getting the following: In the bottle: Still very, VERY jasmine, but you can tell something is lurking behind it, and there's a sharp overtone to it (probably from the pepper musk). On: Once it has dried, the other notes come forward a bit more - the patchouli, sandalwood and poppy don't stand out as distinct, but provide a depth that the jasmine note really needs to be kept from screaming. The base reminds me a bit of Languor, perhaps due to the poppy (I haven't had enough poppy blends to where I would be able to tell red from black, but it's somehow very calming). There is a hint of an edge from the pepper musk peeking through once in a while, as well as tiny glimmers of freshness that might be the mint (though it doesn't register as "minty" beyond that freshness). The only thing that's definitely AWOL on me is the sulphur. Wear length seems to be medium-ish - it doesn't stick around forever/overnight, but it also doesn't go poof after only an hour or two. I like it as it is right now, but I'm hoping that aging it a bit more will strengthen the non-jasmine notes even further. I'll hold on to my bottle and see what happens!
