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Showing results for tags 'Lupercalia 2014'.
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Nightshade accord-infused summer honey encased in dark chocolate. This is a creamy, soft honey, softly herbal blend with a touch of cocoa. The herbal note fades quickly, and leaves a lovely sweet floral with little wisps of the chocolate swirling around. This is not a complicated scent but it does have lasting power, I can still smell it's unique scent three hours later. For such a soft scent I think that's pretty good. One bottle is enough for me though.
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Vanilla orchid, black amber, coffee bean, labdanum, champaca, and oudh. In the bottle: a soft creamy floral followed by a resiny light coffee note-yum. On my skin, I first smell a light creamy, resiny cafe mocha like scent mixed with a woody note. Surprisingly, I get no orchid here at all. I thought that this would be a heavier scent on me but it is predominantly a light creamy, lightly resinous, slightly sweet, scent. When it completely dries down I am left with the essence of the cafe mocha scent with a touch of the vanilla orchid ( more very light vanilla really)finally making an appearance and blending with the woody goodness of a simplistic Oudh. I can't believe that with all of what seems like dark notes, this can be such a light and airy scent on me. Another beautiful scent!
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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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Fig milk, vanilla, orchid, and ylang ylang. Absolutely beautiful blend. Lusciously soft & creamy fig with a beautiful floral blend of ylang ylang and orchid. These two floral notes do not overpower the blend at all, rather they fall into the background just enough to make the whole blend almost "powdery". Gorgeous!
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King mandarin, green mint, green tea leaf, and white musk. I was very excited for this as I have fallen hard for King mandarin and must try everything that has it as an ingredient. I have tried this three unique times and each I get something different, so hold on, it's going to be a bumpy ride! In the bottle, mint is the most prominent. I'm not a mint lover (but I don't hate it, either) and not very familiar all the varieties. It's not soft like Go To Sleep, Darlings, Ded Moroz, Green Tree Viper or Snow, Glass, Apples, but sharper, ice-inducing mint, take-a-deep-breathe-and-feel-it-in-your-nose and the back of your throat. But the mandarin is there, tempering the cool with sunshine. I was most worried about the tea as it seems to overtake most scents on me, but this is not the case. It wants to hide, buried deep under the mint. Right now I'm not getting any musk (white musk, like in Fae, is one of my favorite notes). Now for a caveat: I always step outside to test my perfumes. Normally, it's very humid here (Florida) and it helps me judge sillage. But a wonderful thing happens as I step out (and it's cold for Florida today with low humidity); the mandarin steps up and now I am getting a perfect balance of mint and mandarin. A perfect scent for summer; cooling and refreshing. As this dries, there is a battle for dominance between the mint and mandarin, each in time taking the lead. The mandarin stays on top; the mint closer to the skin. The mandarin is crisp, clean; the mint, cooling; a perfect reflection of the battle of nature and season, yin and yang, finally melding together as one. Tea is making a quick appearance and stays close to mint; very fragile leaves needing a slow, steady warmth to expose its true nature, too afraid to take the lead. I am hoping with a little age the musk will help to temper and keep everything in check. The first time I tested (right out of the mailbox) I thought this needed less mint and more mandarin/musk, but today, after sitting for three days, it feels absolutely perfect and is an accurate representation of the image chosen for the label; quickly aggressive, calming, soothing and then, surrender and passion. eta: After several hours of being on my skin, the tea made itself know. A light, close-to-the-skin scent of tea, orange and a hint of musk. No mint to be found.
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Black tea, bergamot, red patchouli, peru balsam, and bourbon vanilla. In The Bottle: I get a sharp sliver of bergamot with a hint of the peru balsam- though the peru is also more sharp than I would normally expect. Wet On Skin: The tea note blooms spectacularly on my skin pretty much on contact. It's a really lovely, unmistakable lemon-y black tea. Dry Down: All black tea (with a hint of the bergamot citrus) all the time. In All: A light, close-to-the skin sort of scent. Although I'm slightly disappointed (and frankly confused) that the patchouli, balsam and vanilla have all chosen to simply not show up on my skin, I am really excited about having a straight-up tea scent. This is definitely the same tea note from Time's Infliction and my sadness with that scent was that I just wanted the tea. Now that Furo is in my life, I can have my tea and my Infliction too
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Piss off, Saint Valentine! Lupercalia is an ancient Roman celebration, held on February 15th, that kicked in the advent of Spring with a very, very festive purification, fertility and sexuality ritual. The ritual began near the cave of Lupercal on the Palatine, an area sacred to Faunus, as well as Ruminia, Romulus and Remus. During Lupercalia, Vestal Virgins first made offerings of sacred cakes to the fig tree under which the she-wolf suckled the Sacred Twins. A dog and two goats were then offered in sacrifice to Faunus. The blood of the sacrifice was smeared onto two naked patrician youths, who were assisted by the Virgins, and the blood was wiped clean with sacred wool dipped in milk. The youths donned the skins of the sacrificial goats, wielding whips made from the goat skins, and then led the priests and the Virgins around the pomarium, and around the base hills of Rome. This was a ceremony of great happiness and merriment, and was of particular interest to young women: being touched by the goat-whips young men that led the procession ensured their fertility in the coming year. It is believed that, after the initial rite, male participants would draw the name of an available maiden, with whom he spent the rest of the night. This scent is for the Luperci, the Chosen of Faunus, the Brothers of the Wolf: raw, down and dirty patchouli, Gurjam balsam, and essence of Sampson Root sweetened with the heightened sexuality of beeswax, virile juniper, oakmoss, ambrette seed over honey and East African musk. ... am I really the first? Oh dear! Stage fright. In the bottle: Patchouli, smacking me in the nose! Beeswax, moss, earthy, dirty, powerful. The husband likes this. Wet on skin: Patchouli and juniper, with a honey-sweet undertone, but the sharp woody note is on top. Dry on skin: Patchouli and a heavy, sweet musk. Juniper's still there, but the musk is overpowering it. Over time: Woody and sweet and musky. This is a heavy, woody, honey-sweet scent; patchouli likes me, as usual, and is sticking around as the strongest note. The juniper has receded almost entirely, leaving me with only a quiet sharpness in the woody scent to remind me of its presence. Overall: I expected to like this, and I'm not disappointed. It's a very earthy, sexy kind of scent, not a pretty or delicate scent; this is precisely what I wanted and expected out of it. Elf still likes it, too. Bonus. I used to wear patchouli straight, but I like this more; it's more complex and appealing. 4.5/5 - not hoarding like I do with Geek, but I'm glad I got a bottle, so it will last me a nice long time.
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Sweet pea, cherry blossoms, and sugared cream. In the bottle when it first arrived: Upon opening the bottle, I get the sweet pea note. I have the single note, so I know it is the main floral I am getting in the bottle. However, the sugared cream note makes it a sweeter sweet pea (if that makes sense). I can smell another floral in the background that must be the cherry blossom. This is really promising! In the bottle a few days later: The cherry blossom note is far more prominent after the blend has settled for a few days. However, I can still detect the sweet pea note. Wet: I can detect all of the notes, but the cherry blossom note is the dominant note on my skin at the moment. It is really lovely. Although it is cherry blossom, I can detect cherry in the note (much like I get apple from the Lab's Annurca Apple Blossom single note before the blossom dominates). The sugared cream note is emerging more over time. It is more cream than sugar on me. Dry: Ah, the 'sugared' part of the cream has made an appearance! This has dried down to a sugared cream (like the kind one would eat with a scone) with cherry blossom. Verdict: Absolutely lovely. I will definitely be keeping my bottle and may get a back-up bottle if I don't fall in love with too many scents from this Luper update. *edit* On second wear, the sweet pea is more prominent on me than it was during the first wear, and the scent is even more gorgeous than it was before! I think this is going to age wonderfully. I may need a second bottle.
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Sake and matcha tea with amber incense, golden sandalwood, and yōkan. Straight out of the bottle is a light boozy scent (sake) followed by a sweet amber scent. On my skin, it is beautiful. The sweet light boozy scent fades somewhat but the amber lingers and the lovely sandalwood comes into play and mixes with the yokan, which I found out to be a jellied dessert made out of red bean paste, agar and and sugar. This scent seems almost slightly creamy, and I can almost detect a bit of citrus although no citrus is listed. This is a light, breathtakingly ethereal scent. If you are on the fence about this at all, but it, you won't be disappointed. This is absolutely stunning and I'm thrilled to have it.
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SAINT FOUTIN DE VARAILLES Echoing the worship of ancient fertility gods, some early Christians attributed the power to grant blessings of reproductive fruitfulness to Christian saints through accidents of folk-etymology. A syncretic saint of questionable origin, he is possibly the result of a merging of the deity Priapus, or Mutinus Mutunus, and the sainted, semi-mythical first bishop of Lyons, Ponthius, often pronounced Fontin by the common folk of France where his veneration was concentrated. Saint Foutin's name is an amalgamation of Pothinus and the verb foutre, which means "to fuck", effectively granting this saint the prerogatives and powers of his predecessor, Priapus. Saint Foutin was said to cure venereal diseases and other genital maladies, grant fruitfulness to women, and restore potency to men. Scrapings of stone from the groin of one of the saint's statues in France was said to cure all sexual ailments. At other shrines, offerings of wine were poured onto the saint's penis, and worshippers molded ex votos in wax shaped to represent their afflicted body parts to leave in his care, either at the foot of his statue or hanging from the roof of his shrine. Beeswax, frankincense, dried rose petals, and a dribble of wine. So far, this is my 2nd favorite from the update. It's GORGEOUS. On me, it's predominantly a dark, tea-rose type scent that's bolstered by the smooth and sweet beeswax, the dark, resinous frankincense, and the tiniest hint of sweet, boozy, dark red wine. It's very feminine in a heavy, dark, and Victorian-gothic-romance type way. The throw is amazing for the first couple of hours, but at around the 2 hour point, it starts to fade quickly, leaving behind a weird after-scent on my skin that's kind of flat and powdery. But that's entirely beside the point because when it reaches that stage, I can just reapply a teeny tiny bit (since a little goes a very long way). This is really beautiful and I can't wait to dress up and wear it on a night out.
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A perfect red rose darkened by vetiver, opium tar, labdanum, and red benzoin. In the bottle: Well hi there, vetiver! On my wrist, wet: Vetiver! And yet a little something spicy and soft blooming underneath. After 20 minutes: At this point, I can't identify the vetiver as vetiver (and I LOVE vetiver). It has blended perfectly into a softly spiced rose. This is not the "straight from the florist's cooler" rose of Rose Red, but more of the slightly soapy Rose Cross rose. The vetiver holds the soapiness back as the rose note develops. After 40 minutes: Now a soft, powdered rose. The vetiver at this point is not really perceptible. The drydown process for The Sick Rose is very interesting. The wet scent is really nothing like the mature, dried bloom on the wrist. If you don't care for vetiver, I don't think its use here is a deal-breaker because it compliments the other components so well. Vetiver tends to amp on my body, and I found that it was beautifully muted and balanced after the initial drydown period. No note in this blend is overpowering-- in fact, I find it to be one of those scents that draws people closer because it's such a soft, unusual scent. I will wear this all spring.
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Rice flower, white cream, tea roses, abalone accord, white moss, beeswax, tuberose, and red currant. I think this might be my favorite of the Lupers I ordered this year. It feels opalescent to me, with hints of color—like white streaked with fine pinks and reds. The rice flower, cream, and rose are the most recognizable notes, with the abalone adding a hint of salty tang and the moss gently grounding everything. The beeswax, tuberose, and red currant are very subtle. In the bottle I can smell the florals much more clearly than on my skin. On the drydown it's absolutely beautiful and incredibly delicate—and the kind of blend that even people who are a little wary of floral notes might enjoy, because everything is so well-blended. It has cream, but it's not foody. It has florals, but it's not stridently floral (at least on me!). It has abalone and red currant, but it doesn't smell of the sea or dark berries. It smells like cloudy light through white, pulled-down shades, and the intimacy of skin on skin. The closest comp I can think of is To Helen, from the 2008 Lupers...also a favorite of mine. And it reminds me a bit of Chaste Moon. It shares a creamy, dreamy quality with both of those blends—and yet, of course, it has a distinct and luminous voice of its own. Tough to describe but definitely worth trying. ETA: Absolutely my favorite from my Lupers order, and it's hard to keep myself from wearing this every day!
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Champaca magnolia, bourbon vanilla, blonde tobacco, and white honey. This is from a bottle straight from the lab. First impression- Wow. Definitely a cousin of Red Lantern, or maybe even a closer family member. That's the blonde tobacco, and it's all sweet and lovely on the first skin application. Next on the dry down, I'm really getting a sugared floral, which must be from the champaca magnolia. It reminds of something BPAL that I've smelled before and loved, and can't quite place. I hate when this happens. The tobacco and honey seem to anchor this with a warm heat- there's no giant honey overtone like Womb Fury, and the vanilla is not sticking out, it's an all around player. At this point it just seems to be a Day Walker, or lighter, version of Red Lantern. I tried this last night before I went to bed, and this morning right when I woke up, I thought, Midnight on the Midway. That's the other BPAL this reminds me of, and on today's retest, I can definitely say they share similarities. Overall, it's a fantastic blend and I'm glad I didn't hesitate on this blind bottle purchase. Since it's lighter than Red Lantern I'll get more wear out of it, so a backup may be necessary before the lupers come down.
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White sandalwood, Italian bergamot, Siamese benzoin, tobacco flower, and caramelized honey. In the bottle this smells so familiar to me but I just can't place it. It is warm and inviting, tantalizing with an underlying subtle sweetness probably from the caramelized honey. After wearing it I find that it is very light and not as heavy as I expected it to be after smelling it in the bottle. There is a light (very light) spice, some gentle whiff of citrus that is really soft and pretty. The warm sandalwood combined with the other notes makes this a beautiful fragrance that wears almost like a high end perfume. This is light and airy and delightful!
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A kiss of fire and frankincense: exquisite Hojari frankincense painted with red benzoin, Ceylon cinnamon, blood rose, pimento, and jasmine hedoine. Frankincense and rose are 2 of my favourite notes, so when I read the description for this one, I definitely needed a bottle. In the bottle, a strong resin-y scent is most prominent. Wet on my skin, the frankincense dominates and for a brief time, it seems as though it is the only note present. After about 20 minutes, the rose takes over and beats the frankincense until it abdicates its resinous throne. There is a secondary note that peeks up in the drydown that I believe is jasmine hedione -- it doesn't scream true jasmine to my nose, but does seem to be in the same family. I can't detect any cinnamon or pimento, but perhaps with some aging, they might make their presence known as well. Overall this is more a pretty floral on my skin rather than a resin-heavy blend. It is very nice and light and seems perfect for those wanting a fresh spring scent.
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Ethereal grace in earthly form: cherry blossoms, pink roses, and graceful white lilies under a sheen of pale honey. This is the second Lupercalia to break my heart this season. I love cherry rose scents and have been looking for something to replace my bath and body works Japanese Cherry Blossom. I knew this was a bit of a long shot but had to try because it's a cherry rose. We have sweet, feminine roses, delicate cherry blossom, delicious soft honey. And then LILIES that come in and stomp all over it and turn the fine concoction to soap. Pretty in the bottle, pretty on my skin for the first five seconds, then the lilies go hot screechy diva on me and suddenly, it's a dove bar. The good news is that I think it's a skin chemistry thing. This might be positively glorious on the right person. It's truly lovely in the bottle.
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A soft raiment of woven sighs: gossamer orris root and silken white magnolia over a sheer dove-grey musk. I purchased this mainly for the musk, I love musk anything. So I wasn't disappointed when I smelled the bottle and it was...musk! On my skin I smell what I believe to be violets-soft, dewy, just budding violets. Then the violets intertwine among the baby soft magnolia and then heavens opened up and skies rain gently down droplets of dove grey musk upon these baby flowers. That's what this scent is like, the gentlest of floral scents. The magnolia and orris root (violets) and musk together are soft, gentle, subtle, delicate, graceful, truly an elegant scent.
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King mandarin, passionfruit, Moroccan rose absolute, labdanum, and amber musk. I bought a bottle of this unsniffed because I adore King Mandarin, and generally fruit + musk equals win on me. I am not disappointed! I would put this in the same family as my beloved Sumai No Sechie. It's fruity, but the musk gives it a beautiful, complex anchor on which to do its thing. I'm not getting rose per se, but I think it's also serving to deepen the fruit notes. The mandarin and passion fruit are really lovely together, and I'm not getting any labdanum now (I did smell a bitter sharpness when this first came out of the mailbox, but it has smoothed out wonderfully.) Sometimes labdanum does unpleasant things on my skin. This is a very pretty, close-to-the-skin scent that I think would be perfect for everyday wear, especially in warmer weather. While the King Mandarin is very dominant when wet (which is fine by me), the dry down is far more blended and subtle, slightly musky with just a faint sweetness. Really lovely.
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White honey, camellia, and tobacco. Whoa my goodness is this lovely. It's very rich, like a gathered bouquet of camellias and tobacco leaves dipped in honey. It's pretty dern sexy and I think that it will pair very well with Dolly Kei.
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Green tea, tobacco absolute, and agarwood. In the bottle this smells very rich and tobacco like. On my skin, it lightens up and it is warm, woody, a bit resinous and earthy. The green tea gives it the lightness and airiness it needs to make this a great Spring and Summer fragrance. The touch of warm tobacco and rich agarwood (Oud) gives it richness and depth. This is a gorgeous scent and will get better with age. I might need a second bottle of this.
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Sweet tonka, ambrette seed, golden musk, and smoky myrrh. I had to have a bottle of Playful Cat just because of the label art. I also wanted it because of the sweet tonka note. In the bottle, it smells incense-y. I mostly get the smoky myrrh note, and a hint of something that reminds me a bit of a note in Hair Loosened and Soiled in Mid Orgies -- it's either the ambrette seed (which I know that Orgies contains) or the musk note. When it is first sprayed, the myrrh note is quite prominent, and then it turns into a very powder-y scent. I had the boy walk into the livingroom to smell it, and he said it smelled like baby powder. (Note: He does not normally say this about scents.) I actually have to agree with him on that one. Once he said it, I couldn't stop smelling baby powder myself... well, a more expensive baby powder. Then, the myrrh note (and the note that reminds me of something in Hair Loosened and Soiled in Mid Orgies) returns. I will update this review if the scent ends up changing after settling for a few days, but at the moment, I am not loving Playful Cat.
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Green tea, yellow sandalwood, apple blossom, and white bamboo. This is yet another amazing scent from this year's Novel Ideas. In the bottle I smell lots of fresh apple and a hint of green tea and bamboo. Wet on my skin I get a lot of apple and green tea. It's sweet, like a spring shampoo that lingers in the bathroom after a shower. There's a hint of bamboo underneath, grounding it. I don't get any sandalwood. Dry: The apple has faded a lot, and is now a background note with its lingering sweetness. The green tea is strong, along with the bamboo. It's not as sweet now, instead very fresh, like a Japanese garden in the sun. Every now and then I'll get a whiff of something deeper, most likely the sandalwood. It's almost creamy at times. The notes have balanced out beautifully. None of them is overpowering. They harmonize gorgeously on my skin. This is definitely a win, and I'm highly considering a second bottle!
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A goblin’y take on Smut! Smutty Goblin Musk sweetened with sugar and tonka, and woozy with dark booze notes. I simply couldn't wait to try this straight out of the mailbox. This, by far and large, is one of the most fantastic HG scents I have ever tried. To me, it is like the best brown sugary parts of Sugar Skull decided to have a romp in bed with the best musk(and non grapey) notes of Smut. It's slightly boozy and I'm so overcome with joy that I'm feeling kinda woozy! I'm thrilled to pieces with this HG.
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Peach blossoms and cherry blossoms with red musk, Oaxacan amber, copal, lilac, and white sandalwood. In the bottle: lovely soft peach and amber, yum. On my skin: soft peach mixed with soft cherry with my favorite red musk. The red musk is not screaming here but rather playing nicely with the peach and cherry blossoms. So far everything is going very well. The amber is also light and so is the copal (resin) and the sandalwood. Only at the very end do I smell lilac at all and that swirls in and out. This reminds me of walking through the tea gardens in San Francisco, a very calming and peaceful blend. Not only would I wear this during the day, I would wear this to bed to help me sleep. It it soft and comforting.
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Rose oudh with fossilized amber, benzoin, blackened labdanum, golden myrrh, and dark musk. Ah, pressure's on! Wet, this is the dark musks with a hint of red rose. There's mostly the sweet resins and amber, all a deep, thrummy, spicy melange that provides a nice base for the subtle rose in this scent. I am mostly getting a rich, chewy, deep and delicious amber/myrrh base. The rose is just a gentle hint, but it provides a touch of lighter floral in this resinous choir. Worth a try! ETA: This reminds me of the rose in Elizabeth of Bohemia, but more resins. Also, strangely, the rose amps MORE over time, so different from my first impression.
